Deadman's Blood

by T. Lynne Tolles

  Another scene played out in which Owen had a package delivered to the young woman. A tiny leather box with a huge diamond ring inside. She was so excited. She slipped the ring on her finger and admired it as it sparkled in the light. Then she took it off and hung the ring on the red ribbon from the package and tied it around her neck, hiding it within her blouse.

  Another scene slowly materialized some moments later, taking place in the same barn with a pacing Owen. He checked his pocket watch several times and continued to pace when a figure appeared at the doorway. By the look on Owen’s face, it was not whom he had been expecting and a fight broke out between the two. This tall man was the same as the one in the woods and now that Dominic could see his face, he realized it was his great uncle, Edward Larsen. Their conversation was heated and Owen shoved his brother in frustration then turned to pace away from him. That’s when Edward grabbed the machete off the barn wall and cleanly cut Owen’s head clear off.

  Unaffected by the gruesome sight of his brother’s decapitated body, Edward stood waiting in the shadows, in the corner of the barn near the door. He checked his watch as Owen had, several times. From the door, Owen’s dead body could not be seen and that played into Edward’s plan.

  When the young, dark-haired woman – he could only assume it was the same one whom Owen been with – came into the barn excitedly, she was unaware of the predator waiting in the shadows. She stepped further into the barn, well away from the door and any chance of escape, when Edward made his move to speak to her. It was apparent she didn’t feel comfortable and she tried to leave when Edward grabbed her. His eyes turned crimson red and white, perfect fangs protruded from his lips; he took her by surprise, sinking his vampire fangs deep into the succulent, fragile skin of her neck.

  Still Dominic never got a clear view of the woman’s face as her long, auburn ringlets curtained her features. Dominic watched as her life poured from her body into Edward’s when she went limp in his arms. When he’d had his fill, which looked to Dominic as if he had drained her dry, he tossed her up, depositing her on a bed of hay. He brought his wrist to his mouth and ripped at his flesh and immediately brought it her mouth, drizzling in the thick, red liquid. She swallowed. Dominic jumped at this; he hadn’t realized she was still alive after such a draining. Once she took the initial swallow, her hands came up to his forearm and clenched it, forcing it to her mouth and drinking the blood being excreted.

  Edward threw his head back as if experiencing some kind of orgasmic pleasure and then pulled his arm away from the girl who fell back on the hay as if dead. Edward smiled wickedly and wiped his mouth of the remnants of her warm blood and closed the door behind him.

  Lastly, short scenes appeared quickly in front of Dominic’s mind’s eye. An unknown man comes in the barn to find the pair dead. A funeral for each of the victims of Edward’s dirty deed. Then a scene of such sadness Dominic could barely observe it. The woman awakes in her tomb, scared, ravenous, alone, and unaware of what has happened to her. She runs home to find her grieving family, only to be shooed out of the house as if she were a demon. Her last hope is to find her love, Owen, for some explanation so she runs to the Larsen home only to be shunned away, accused of killing Owen. All the while, Edward stands behind his family, smiling mischievously at the woman.

  The scene blurred into blackness and Dominic woke to find it morning. He was excited and confused all at the same time. What had I just seen? A dream or the past? He knew the history of the family well, but knew nothing of the turning of the woman or the killing of Owen or the outcome of the ring. Yes, the ring. The ring that had eluded the Larsens for centuries as to its whereabouts. No one knew what had happened to the Larsen Blood Diamond. There were theories and assumptions, but no one had laid eyes upon it in the last four centuries. Did he just have a glimpse of what actually happened in the past, or was his imagination working overtime on hunches that Dominic had contemplated over the years? He wasn’t sure, but it was certainly interesting and worth taking another look at.

  *****

  For most of the night, Anton was dreamless, but somewhere during the wee hours of the morning an odd dream came to him. Odd in that he felt he was not in a dream of his own, but seeing it through the eyes of another dreamer.

  He had no idea who the dreamer was or where they were, but he got the distinct feeling this was more a dream of a very recent memory. Like one might have about an argument they’d had, mulling it over, trying to look at it from a different perspective.

  The dreamer stood for a long time in an alley, seemingly waiting for something or someone. There was nothing familiar about the alley or its surroundings that Anton could discern. Just as Anton was tiring of this boring dream, a man walked by unaware of the dreamer.

  The dreamer set out in pursuit. The man appeared to be dressed like an ordinary business man - briefcase, rather expensive overcoat. He turned into a multi-level parking garage. Up the stairs he went as the dreamer also ascended silently, keeping a good distance between them.

  A door slammed from somewhere above and the dreamer continued to follow onto level three of the parking garage. Now the dreamer was in hot pursuit with bursts of speed. Not only was the dreamer a vampire, but a hunting vampire.

  When the businessman arrived at what must have been his car, Anton noticed that the light above had been broken and it was almost pitch black where he stood, nervously fumbling with his keys. Anton was sure that it was no accident that the light had been smashed where the man’s car stood as this vampire was an excellent hunter and had planned all of this in advance.

  The man finally found the button on his keys to unlock the door, making the car flash its lights and chirp strangely, and that’s when the dreamer pounced from the other side of the black SUV that was parked on the left of the man’s car. The businessman never knew what hit him as he was suddenly pulled into the SUV with tinted windows. There was no back seat in this SUV as if this, too, had been planned out to the tiniest detail.

  A slight twist of the hands and the neck of the businessman was broken clean - How odd, Anton thought. Why would a hunting vampire not bite and sup from its victim. That question was answered in the next few seconds as the dreamer reached into what looked like a black leather medical bag and pulled out a large needle and a handful of blood bags. The dreamer was draining the blood of the businessman, filling bag after bag and depositing the full bags into a styrofoam cooler full of ice, never spilling even a drop.

  But why? Anton thought. It’s obvious this dreamer is a vampire given its speed and strength, but NO vampire would knowingly drink the blood of a man already dead. Deadman’s Blood would kill a vampire and it wouldn’t take nearly as much as this vampire had taken from this one. UNLESS…that was the plan, he thought. This vampire somehow planned on killing another by slipping them a dose of ‘Deadman’s Blood.’

  Anton had never heard of anyone actually using Deadman’s Blood on anyone, except in folklore and stories he had heard from Dominic, but it seemed like such a cliché to kill a fellow vampire like that. This would not be your typical vampire murder; this would be painful and horrible like a disease eating its victim from within. A murder using Deadman’s Blood would be full of emotion and great, seething hate – the kind that festers and eats at person. Anton could not even fathom that kind of hate.

  The dreamer finished the task at hand. The body was rolled out of the SUV and nearly under the businessman’s car, then the assailant drove away.

  Anton woke to a woman’s scream and then another, which had him up and out of bed in a flash.

  *****

  Alyssa looked for Mark most of the evening to find him nowhere. She asked everyone and anyone if they had seen him and there was no sign that he had left the house since there were no cars missing. She went to bed a bit peeved about him ditching her, and at one point thought about driving home to Massachusetts; but if they were going to make it as a couple they’d have to sit down and work this out and she couldn’t do that
from home, so she stayed.

  When Mark came into the room around five in the morning after a bizarre evening of his own, he found Alyssa sleeping two feet ABOVE the bed. He was floored. There she slept, oblivious to the fact that she was lying on nothing but air. Blankets draped her and her arms were wrapped around the pillow; she looked absolutely content.

  He shut the door behind him and walked closer to the bed. “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle,” he said without thinking. His body started to blur and his skin tingled as it started to transform and he said before he changed, “Not again…” before he turned into a monkey. Brown and furry with a long tail, he beat his little fists on the bed in frustration, then started squawking loudly and jumped up on Alyssa’s floating body.

  Her eyes fluttered open to find a monkey standing on her stomach. When the realization hit, she screamed and they both plummeted to the bed, after which she screamed again, much louder and jumped from the bed, grabbing her robe as she inched her back up against the wall.

  The monkey walked slowly towards her when Josh came through the door in a panic, ripping it off of its hinges which earned another scream from Alyssa. The monkey looked at Josh and jumped up and down on the bed. Josh didn’t know what to do; he was frozen in place.

  Blake made his way into the room to find Josh a statue, Alyssa beside herself in tears and screaming fitfully, and a little monkey jumping up and down doing weird things with his buggy eyes and eyebrows.

  “Holy cow!” was all that Blake could think to say and the little monkey on the bed put a long finger to his lips and shook his head ‘no.’

  “He’s so cute,” Blake said, as he started over to the bed to take a closer look at the monkey, only to find the monkey turn his back on him, sticking his tail straight up.

  “Well, I didn’t need to see that part of you, little man. Where did you come from?” Blake said as he picked him up and deposited him on his shoulder. The little monkey shrugged.

  At this point, Anton was moving past the frozen Josh, stepping on the downed door, and moving over to help Alyssa up.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah….I just was startled at finding a monkey jumping up and down on me.”

  “I’ve got to imagine you’ve been in contact with these little guys in your career as a circus performer,” Anton said.

  “I have, but not in my bed,” Alyssa admitted.

  “Good point. Where is Mark?” Anton asked.

  “That’s what I would like to know,” she said angrily.

  The little monkey on Blake’s shoulder started jumping up and down and making a racket.

  “When was the last time you saw him?” Blake asked.

  “Last night at dinner. He went into the kitchen to supposedly get a beer and I haven’t seen him since. I’ve asked everyone and no one has seen him,” Alyssa answered.

  As Anton looked at the crowd in the bedroom, they all shook their heads while the monkey was going absolutely crazy.

  Blake said worriedly, “Do they always act so nutty?”

  Alyssa walked over to Blake and picked up the monkey, holding it like one might a toddler, and the monkey seemed to calm down. She said, “No….they are usually quite calm unless they get scared. He is awfully cute, isn’t he?”

  “He is, but where did he come from?” Blake asked as he pet the little guy on the head. The monkey swatted his hand away and put his head down on Alyssa’s chest and played with her hair.

  “I think he likes you,” Blake added.

  “Yeah. I guess so, but like you said, where did he come from?” Alyssa wondered.

  No one had an answer for that. Blake turned to Josh and said, “You know, I think you probably could have just opened the door, Man. What are you, the Incredible Hulk?”

  “Ummm. Huh…” he laughed a bit, “It’s been happening a lot lately, now that you mention it. I’ve been breaking door knobs and pulling doors off their hinges since we found Lanie.”

  “Really? Hmmm. Guess I’m not the only one with a new power,” Blake said.

  “New power? What are you talking about?” Josh asked.

  “We’ll talk about it at breakfast,” Blake said as he and the rest meandered out of the room and down the stairs to the dining room.

  Chapter Eight

  As the crowd filled into the dining room, Dominic came in from the kitchen holding a paper and sipping from a glass of red liquid that was definitely not tomato juice. He quickly hid it behind his newspaper and deposited the glass behind him on the kitchen counter. Hoping no one noticed, he cleared his throat and said, “Good morning, everyone. I hope you all slept well.”

  Many heads responded with a nod, while others mumbled yes as they started to take their seats. Dominic turned to Devon and asked, “You haven’t seen Bernard this morning, have you?”

  Devon shook his head as he adjusted his chair and then asked, “Why?”

  “No reason, I suppose.” Just as Dominic took a sip of coffee, Bernard came in from the kitchen carrying a large tray of food and juice.

  “Aw, dear friend. There you are,” Dominic greeted Bernard.

  “Sorry, Master Dominic. I was in the cellar putting away an extra shipment of bloo…I mean vampire elixir, from Dr. Rowe. With so many vampires in the house - especially the young ones, we’ve been going through it a lot faster than usual,” Bernard explained.

  “Good thinking, Bernard. You’re always looking out for us, my friend,” Dominic said.

  “I do try, Master Dominic,” Bernard said as he headed back into the kitchen.

  “Won’t you be joining us?” Dominic asked.

  “Not this morning, Master Dominic. I’ve got some things to tend to,” Bernard explained.

  “Hmmm. Very well,” Dominic said disappointedly.

  Dominic looked out over the table filled with guests and saw a small monkey with one arm wrapped around Alyssa’s neck and the other reaching down into her blouse. She blushed a bit and grabbed his tiny hand and scolded him.

  “That’s a bad little boy.” The monkey, with his expressive little face, looked at her sadly, shrugged his shoulders, and laid his head on her chest.

  “Ah…now that’s a good boy,” she replied as the little monkey melted her heart.

  Dominic said, “He’s a handsome little guy. Who brought him?”

  Shoulders shrugged and heads shook as Dominic looked around the table, then back to Alyssa.

  “I’m not sure where he came from. He was standing on my stomach when I woke up this morning. I’m surprised you didn’t hear the commotion,” Alyssa told him.

  “He just showed up in your room?” Dominic asked.

  “Yes,” Alyssa answered.

  “And still no Mark?”

  “No - nothing. I’ve been worried something awful about him.” As she said this, the little monkey stroked the side of her face with his little hand.

  Darby jumped in. “That’s so odd. Mark is not like that at all. When we were working together, he kept me apprised of his whereabouts at all times in case something came up. It seemed like a natural thing to him.”

  “I totally agree, Darby. It’s not like him at all - especially without a call with some kind of explanation.” The little monkey raised his arms as if trying to get everyone’s attention then just dropped them to his sides as if defeated, and went back to hanging from Alyssa’s neck.

  “How strange,” Dominic said.

  “That’s not the only strange thing,” Blake interjected. “Seems another one of us has a new power.”

  Intrigued, Dominic answered, “Oh? Who and what power?”

  “Josh and strength. When Alyssa screamed this morning at finding the monkey on her chest, Josh was the first to make it to her door, but instead of turning the door knob, he ripped it from its hinges.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say I ripped it from its hinges, but …” Josh tried to clarify.

  “Where is the door, Josh?” Blake asked.

  “On the floor upstairs,”
Josh answered.

  “Exactly…enough said,” Blake chuckled.

  “Well. That is interesting,” Dominic admitted.

  “I’m sorry, Dominic. I’ll pay for the door….and the door knobs….and the….”

  “Door knobs? Plural?” Dominic asked, half laughing.

  Josh’s face went crimson with embarrassment as Melanie took his hand.

  “My dear Josh. Don’t worry yourself about it, but you are going to have to restrain yourself a bit,” Dominic said with a proud smile on his face. Anton too was laughing as he saw the embarrassment in Josh’s face.

  “Anyone else notice anything out of the ordinary?” Dominic asked.

  “Why? What do you mean?” Josh asked.

  “That’s right, my boy, you weren’t here for dinner last night. It seems there are quite a few of us that are experiencing new forms of power. I’m thinking that we may all have some kind of new ability.”

  “All of us? How?” Josh asked.

  “Well, I think it had something to do with the destroying of the Bloodstone Heart. You must have felt it. After the girls destroyed it, didn’t you feel a wave go through you? To me it felt like a ripple on a pond radiating out like a tsunami.”

  “Yeah. I felt something like that in the boathouse, but Mark and I were so busy with trying to get Lanie breathing again, I really didn’t think much of it,” Josh remembered.

  “Somehow, it changed us, giving each of us a tiny bit of its power,” Dominic explained.

  “Huh? So who else has new powers?” Josh asked.

  “Blake seems to be able to move things with his mind. We found that out last night at dinner and that is how we started thinking we might all have been affected. Sally has been seeing the ghosts of my dear sister and wife wandering this house. Rowan, we think, is showing signs of pyrokinesis. Then there is Dean.”

  Dean looked up terrified and anxious. “What? I have something? What is it?”