‘Yes you do, Our Doris. Who was this fella?
‘Haven’t the foggiest. I have never seen him before, and I probably wouldn’t recognize him if he came to my door. I was quite sozzled, Freddie! So, it wasn't a bad night. Probably about midnight we called a taxi and came back to the village, as I had my heels on and there was no way I was walking at that time of night. Four of us shared the taxi and came back. We were all the worse for wear by then. When I got in, I dropped straight off to sleep, still in my clothes and make-up. I even forgot to take Haggis out for his walkies. But that following morning I woke up and I felt absolutely terrible, so I stopped in bed all morning. I was due to meet my other two sisters Rose and Jennifer at lunchtime for a spot of lunch, but I called them and cancelled.’
Wee Renee was nodding at this and taking every detail in.
‘Jennifer called round to the deli and picked me up a lovely sandwich. Her and Rose brought it over after their lunch, with a vanilla slice. Jennifer knows it is one of my favourite’s and always tempts me to eat, even if I have been off food for ages, doesn’t it Brenda?’
‘Yes, she could never turn one down, ever.’ Brenda said matter-of-factly.
‘But I couldn't manage any of it. Not a crumb. I’d not realised, that I hadn’t changed from the previous night, and when they came in, Rose said I looked like a half dead drag queen.’
Brenda pursed her lips at this. She was holding something in.
‘I didn't eat on that day. The next day I felt the same. At that point I rang Brenda, and she came to look after me.’
‘Who looked after Haggis?’ Asked Bob.
‘My sister Jennifer and her daughter Beverly took it in turns, Bob. They are good girls and he likes them,’ said Our Doris.
‘She was very weak when I got here, I am so glad she called me, especially after what we know now, with the visitations.’ Brenda confided in them.
‘But you know, since that night, I have had the weirdest dreams. In them, I am running through the forest and killing animals. Horrible, horrible dreams.’ She shivered thinking about them. ‘And I sweat don’t I?’ She said to Brenda.
‘You do.’
‘I was just so glad that Brenda was here because since my husband died, I would have been very scared in the night on my own, waking up like that. They are so vivid. Over the last couple of nights we have heard wolves and Brenda has told me that this Anne, that is her name, who had the party, has been walking around the streets. And in them pens she hasn't got llamas or peacocks. She has a load of bloody wolves! Can you imagine that? Who would want them? But she seems to be able to parade them round the village, with no collars and leads. No one is saying anything! I expected more from Melden. If I wasn’t bedridden, I would have said something.’
This was a new development to the situation that the others did not know about and they shifted in their seats, wondering what to make of this new aspect of horror in Melden.
‘Brenda says that there are a couple of people from Melden walking around with her, so now so she has got some mates. I have been sitting here thinking….. what is a woman of her age doing, walking the streets with wolves? But now you have come along and I know that Friarmere is in so much trouble all bets are off! Brenda has told me that there are vampires there. That they seem to have taken over the village and that there was another party a while back over there.’
‘That’s right,’ said Liz, ‘I am the only one here who went to that party and there was not a lady named Anne there. The man there is named Norman. Norman Morgan. And he seems to be the boss of them.’
‘Anne Morgan! That’s her name!’ Doris exclaimed.
‘Hmm…Wife? Sister? Mother maybe? Very interesting,’ Gary interrupted.
‘So Norman bought the old Grange on the hill.’ Liz continued. ’He had a party there on Bonfire Night. A ten-piece band went because it was short notice, and we couldn’t get a full band to go. We were given separate lots of food and drink. In time, we realised that this contained his blood, which had infected us. I can only imagine that this is what happened at your party and that this Anne is another one of them.’
‘Are you saying,’ said Our Doris loudly, ‘that some dirty devil has put their blood in my food and drink?’
‘Yes,’ said Freddie ‘that is what we are saying and this is why you are having those dreams. Your body is getting ready to be transformed.’
Our Doris was visibly shocked and upset. Liz moved up the bed from where she was sitting and put her arm around Our Doris.
‘I have been infected too, Our Doris. It can be fought and it is not easy but I feel a little better every day and you seem a very strong lady. It sounds like you are through the worst of it, but I did not have any nightmares about running through the forest. I just wanted to kill people, that’s all.’
‘That’s nice,’ said Andy.
‘Yes. Particularly you, I am sorry to say,’ said Liz. She faced Our Doris. ‘I think you are very lucky to still be human Our Doris. I am the only one left. Norman got to each and every one of the ten people that were there and it was only for the fact that Andy was with me all the time, that he didn't get me too. I think with Brenda being here, and your sisters visiting at other times it prevented her from coming in. But I have no doubt that she knows that you are infected with the virus. They just seem to sense it.’
‘So what happened with the others, how does he do it? What is his next step?’ Our Doris asked Liz.
‘From what we can gather Norman, or another vampire, visits them and basically bites them or kills them. We don’t know that bit for sure as none of us have experienced a one to one attack. But whatever they do directly causes them to return as vampires. Then they seem to go and live with him at The Grange, dropping out of circulation. Losing touch with normality completely.’
‘Do you mean like the government?’ Our Doris asked. Freddie laughed and Liz continued.
‘There seems to be a way that you can resist it slightly, because there were a couple that did not fight against us at the Christmas concert. Once you are a vampire, you mainly do his bidding, unless you are very strong willed. So I think that what you were before he got to you, carries through into vampirism.’
‘I have to say,’ said our Doris, ‘that I am really scared about all this now. Especially knowing that I am in so much danger and a target for her or this Norman.’
‘Don't worry,’ Gary said gently, ‘we are here now. We have looked after each other. We know how to protect you, how to fight and we know more about him, than he thinks. You are safe now.’
They heard another howl in the distance as if to make a mockery of Gary's words. Now they needed to fight the wolves, as well as the vampires. How would they do that?
‘You had better get some rest, Our Doris,’ Brenda said. ‘We’ll see you in the morning.’
Brenda gave her a kiss and they all processed out of the room one by one. Brenda shut the door behind them. Sighing, she walked down the stairs.
Pat beckoned Wee Renee into the ladies bedroom.
‘Rene, what do you think about that?’
‘Yes, she has a beautiful headboard, there’s no denying it. I’m just off to the little room, Pat.’
Pat shook her head in disbelief. That was Rene for you.
Excerpt from Anne’s Diary
Friday, 9 December
It has been three weeks since my party for the villagers. I have been able to mark some people but still some people remain hidden. I have discovered older people sometimes do not take to the change willingly or easily but there are some exceptions. However, this area still seems to have a better success rate with older subjects that other areas. They build them strong and made to last in the north. I have to call on more infected today. I will find them all. I aren’t worried. Nothing worries me. After all, I am wonderful. There is a very strange smell in Melden. Very cheesy.
Tonight I will bathe in more blood. I feel that it does me the world of good. It enriches my skin, I h
ave a lovely blush afterwards and it is a comfort to me. Earlier I went out with my wolves on the hunt. They were howling a lot more than usual. Norman thinks sometimes they object to the wonderful changes in their bodies. I think not. How I wish I could have been infected the same way as them. Have their wonderful changes! They are so lucky! Alas, I am limited to my human abilities.
My faithful servant Sarah told me of a strange tale tonight. Sarah, and a group of my beloveds went into a kebab shop. They and the wolves were drawn there by the raw meat smell. But of course, the person inside, who cooks the meat, also drew my children. His door was wide open, inviting them in. He sent them away with a flea in their ear, but to be honest, it was not an attack from them in earnest. Just a bit of fun. That is what this new life is about. Fun! I am angry about this. He will pay for spoiling my children’s evening. Filth! We will get round to him another night. I love hunting with my wolves. The exercise keeps me fit as well as aiding digestion. There are many playthings to be found on the jaunts too. Tonight I walked past a wonderful house with walls around it. A newer house than mine. Unfortunately, this house was not on the market when I was looking for my abode. I would have chosen this instead. It is so wonderful and secure. I see that they have a camera over the front entrance. I have shouted in it for them to come outside and that I have an amazing deal for them. A fantastic opportunity! I would offer them lots of money for their abode. After a while, this deal will be done. I have told them again in the camera about this. I always get my way. I will talk to them again, in their camera. Tonight my children took two dogs and three cats from the village. From the moors we found a wild fox and two rabbits. I have taken the rabbit and the cat, for my experiments, proceeding to mix their blood this evening. I am wondering what creature this will make. I injected it into one of the people I have in my cellar. He was unwilling but never mind about that. They always scream when I come towards them with my syringe. I find it really funny. I walk even slower than I normally would, syringe in the air, listening. It prolongs my amusement. A good idea from me, again! Now I have close to twenty people for my experiments. They see what I am doing. I think they are in awe of me. Norman has kept someone down there before. I was not allowed to touch him. Norman does experiments too. This is why we are alike and I love him so much. His experiments are different than mine. He thinks that when a person is afraid for a long time, the blood tastes sweeter. Even though a bus had hit him, Norman said the blood was tastier. That is up to him. Many years ago, I took a whole pincushion full of pins and stuck them in a small child. They tasted the same before and after (which was delicious, I might add). I have TOLD him this. It’s pointless. Little brother’s eh? Len never experiments’s. He is too busy having pleasures of the flesh in other ways. Mister popular. I am fully in the middle of my testing’s and mixings. A true scientific pioneer. They are a combination of animals from the moors and people out of my houses. I constantly think about my brother Len finding out about this and what he would think of it. I know he would object. But he is WRONG! I begged Norman to not tell him. I said I am close to a breakthrough, but I am not. I would be compelled to stop if Len forbid it. I know he would too! It is all right for him to have his fun, but I cannot? I am sick of him and his domineering ways. Sometimes I wish he was human and I could rip him apart, make him into food for my wolves. I still think that would not be enough revenge for me. Not enough to make me truly happy.
6 – Blueish-Grey
It was just before six in the morning. Maurice sat in his living room alone, within the deathly silence of Friarmere. There was no comfort from the sound of even his own breath. He might as well have been at the end of the world, alone on an island of snow. His curtains were shut and behind them, there was newspaper stuck to the windows. He could hear the snow creaking outside, the weight on the roof, sometimes slowly slipping. The snow had bought down so many telephone lines now. Not as they were working before. It really didn’t matter, did it?
It had been a couple of days since he had heard any news of Freddie or the rest of the band. He was still hoping that they had escaped. As he hadn’t seen any of them walking around, either alive or dead and having not heard a word from The Master to say that he had caught up with any of them, he still lived in hope.
Maurice was so lonely. He thought that even though he could never change his situation, maybe he could change their fate in a positive way. That is if they ever came back to Friarmere. He was determined to help them in whatever way he could, whether they liked it or not.
It would probably mean the end for Maurice. But, what the hell, he would go down fighting. Helping his friends was not up for debate, especially Freddie. Norman, even though he was part of him now, meant nothing to him. Neither did the others. What Norman called his brothers and sisters. What tosh.
Maurice knew that Freddie would die for him, and he certainly would for Freddie. That had not changed since he had become one of the undead. He sat and got to work on a plan of action. How he could help his friends. If he ever gave in to the urges to feed on human flesh, then he would be lost. Maurice was still eating his liver and would be able to do this for an awful long time. He wandered over to his bureau and took out a writing pad and pen. Now to work.
By the time it was light that morning, there were already a few people up and about in Our Doris's house. Our Doris wasn't one of them and neither were Liz or Bob, but the others were wandering around quietly, taking turns in the toilet. They all thanked their lucky stars that they had made it successfully through another night of known, or unknown threat.
Each had enjoyed a good nights sleep, even though some of them were on the floor. But after spending the last two nights either in the band room or outside under a tarpaulin, it was no surprise. Compared to the last few nights they felt that they were in the lap of luxury. Besides that, they were mentally and physically exhausted, plus they ached all over. They were quickly depleting Our Doris’s stores of paracetamol and ibuprofen.
Brenda had told them the previous night that Our Doris had unlimited amounts of hot water, so they all started to have showers and baths. They changed into some of their own fresh clothes or some of the ones provided by Our Doris. For the first time in days, they felt normal.
Soon everyone was awake and Brenda had toast and coffee for everyone. She said she would go to the shops later so that they could have a more substantial meal. As it was, Our Doris had a few loaves of sliced bread in the freezer, which Brenda had got out the previous night to defrost. She just kept filling the four-slice toaster over and over again.
Liz came into the kitchen and Brenda looked over to see who it was.
‘Ahh, the very person I wanted to speak to.’
‘Ohh really, how exciting,’ said Liz.
‘Not really. It’s just an admission of ignorance. I have never met a vegetarian and I don’t know what to feed you.’ Brenda looked guilty and Liz laughed.
‘Don’t worry about it. I will have some of what you have without the meat. If I really can’t avoid the meat, I usually have a tin of tomato soup, or something. As long as we have them in, I will be fine. I will sort myself out. You have enough to worry about.’
‘That is a relief actually, Liz. Thanks. Can you round everyone up to come and get their breakfast? I will give them a shout too.’
‘I am buttering up the toast for you, but there is jam, peanut butter, lemon curd, marmalade and other stuff on the kitchen table. I’ve got a big saucepan full of porridge too,’ Brenda shouted above the increasing noise in the house. Pat had already eaten a bowl of porridge topped with golden syrup. There was a moment of pure and utter joy from Wee Renee when she noticed that there was Marmite on the table. She advised them that is was food of the Gods and insisted everyone try a bit. Everyone refused apart from Pat. She had tried hers on top of a heavily laden slice of toast. Now it had butter, peanut butter and marmite on it.
‘Oh Pat, I think you might start a trend with that. What does it taste like?’ Wee Renee as
ked. Pat tried to tell her but her dentures seemed to be stuck up with the peanut butter. She gestured towards her mug of tea and Wee Renee passed it over. She took a large gulp, swilling it around her teeth like a mouthwash.
She tried to talk, then lifted her top dentures up a little with her tongue. She took another swig of tea, tilting her head this way and that.
‘Oh Rene. I thought I’d never get out of that. The bloody thing had got me. I thought I was a goner,’ she said breathlessly.
‘What was it like?’
‘Chicken Satay. Lovely. I might have a couple more slices of that mixture,’ Pat said smiling. She then took an even bigger bite of the first piece of toast and began to try and masticate that.
‘I’d better make you a fresh mug of tea then,’ Wee Renee said. Bob was watching all of this. He took a small piece of each of the chicken satay ingredients and put them on his empty side plate. He stirred them together with his fingers then had a taste.
‘Pretty good,’ he said.
Brenda continued piling up the toast and nearly went through all of the loaves as people had five or six slices of the hot buttery comfort. The kettle went on, over and over again as coffees and teas were consumed. The rest of the women helped by either making drinks, buttering toast or washing up the dishes afterwards.
Brenda said that Our Doris was feeling right out of the loop upstairs. She still wasn’t strong enough to come down and sit there with them. However, she said there was an open door policy of visiting. And please would they use it.
Bob said he would go up because he was a little bit bored and thought Our Doris was quite funny.
Silver Banned: Book 2 of the Saddleworth Vampire Series Page 4