Sundown Rising

by T. A. Bradley

  12

  My thoughts wandered as I sat next to my old friend and caretaker, Jacob Waters. I had given him what strength and longevity I could, but mortals die. There was another option for him, but he had refused that. He did not want the life I lead, if you can call it that, and for his faithful service I am honoring his request. So here I sit at his bedside, watching him die.

  Because of my mother, I can still feel the tiniest bit of sadness at his impending loss. But that is so small compared to the drive I have to find a replacement for him. I stare out of the window, watching the moon ride across the sky as the life ebbs away from my friend. By morning's light we will both sleep with the dead. He forever entombed beneath the green cover of earth, and I in my casket awaiting another sunset.

  Sitting at his bedside in the hospital was difficult. I could smell the fresh blood two floors down in the emergency room. I could smell the coming death of the ones that would not survive the night, as well as that which has already come to those who have just passed. With each passing moment, maintaining my self-control became more difficult. The smells called to me – to that part of me that knew death intimately. What remained of my mother was all that kept me sitting in my chair, keeping vigil over a dying friend.

  A nurse came in to adjust Jacob's IV. Most men would have lusted for her young body. I sat quietly in the shadows of the room watching the veins in her neck pulse, my hands gripping the arms of my chair to keep me in place as I watched that which keeps me in existence circulate through her. I did not move, and she smiled at me as she left the room. My grip eased.

  An hour before dawn, my longtime friend was gone. Stepping outside, the smell of humanity filled me. It was time for me to feed, before I retired to the confines of my daily prison, my casket. My casket! For so many years I had had no such need, but as my mother's gift waned, my father's curse grew.

  At first, I didn't understand what was happening to me. I had for so long walked freely in the sunlight that I couldn't comprehend my sudden uneasiness with it. I couldn't understand why my daytime slumbers, which gradually increased in duration, were fitful and uneasy in my own bed. It had been Jacob who understood. And it had been Jacob who had solved my problem. With lumber he'd taken from the house, he'd fashioned my daytime sleeping quarters. This he filled with a layer of soil taken from beneath my beloved willow tree. The stone building in the cemetery out back – the one that had served as my mother's prison and tomb, he rebuilt into a secure fortress.

  Initially, I had balked at the idea of moving out of the main house. There was still a small part of me tied to it because of what remained of my link to Ronnie, my dead wife and her love of the house. But Jacob's wisdom prevailed and I finally agreed to rest within the stone walls during my vulnerable hours. Hidden behind rows of thickets that no mortal could breach easily, I spent my days under the watchful eye of Jacob Waters.

  I left Jefferson Hospital and Jacob behind and walked out into what was left of the night. A big city provides so many opportunities for me, and Philadelphia was no exception. I walked down 11th Street, turned onto Ludlow and found that which I sought. In a small alleyway, a group of bikers were sharing a woman. Two of them had her pinned against a wall, while the others waited their turn. My casual approach, hands in my pockets, seemed to momentarily unnerve them. They turned and stared at me, then, leaving the woman in the hands of the biggest, moved toward me.

  I stopped, my hands still in my pockets and my eyes beginning to burn. I could see their life force coursing through their bodies; I could smell it. I waited for them, the sheep coming to the wolf.

  There were three of them and they circled me, laughing, enjoying what they thought would be their next sport. I said nothing; I kept my eyes on the one in front of me, the rest of my senses stretching out to the others.

  "Well, well, well," said the one in front of me, "What do we have here? A good Samaritan, maybe?" They laughed. I smiled.

  "I believe," I said, calmly, "that I'll have the woman, thank you."

  Again they laughed. The one in front of me produced a rather large knife. He began waving it around as if he were a Ginsu demonstrator. It made me smile, and the smile sent a wave of anger through him. I could see it and feel it. I could also feel that he felt so safe, so in control with his friends around him. But I felt something else, too. I could feel his uneasiness with my lack of reaction to his threats.

  In a moment it would be over and I would have what I wanted. There would not be enough time for me to savor the easy victory I would have. There would not be enough time for me to enjoy the puzzled looks on their faces as they gasped out their dying breaths.

  The man with the knife stepped forward, leveling it at my throat. I let him come. He reached out and grabbed my tie with his left hand and placed the point of the knife against my skin.

  "So you think you want our prize, do you? I'd say-" he turned to look at his friends, "I'd say that maybe we'll have you in the same way we're enjoying her. What do you think of that, mister suit man?"

  My hands were still in my pockets and my face calm. He pressed the knife forward, just enough for it to lightly pierce my flesh. I watched as his pupils widened. The two on either side of me closed in and I let them. They each took me by an arm, just above the elbows, my hands still in my pockets. I closed my eyes.

  "What's the matter, asshole?" the one with the knife said, "Too afraid to look at us?"

  "No," I said, maintaining a low calm voice.

  I opened my eyes and I could see what the man with the knife could see. My eyes were a deep, fiery red, my pupils nothing more than points of blackness. I opened my mouth and hissed at him; at the same time I pulled my hands from my pockets and lifted my arms and their captors into the air. Like flinging snot from the end of a finger, I sent them hurling against the brick buildings that lined the alleyway. The man in front of me let out a whimper and plunged his knife into my neck. I left it there, grabbed his shoulders and took him up. Floating above the alley, I turned him upside down and held him there by an ankle. We watched, or at least I did, as his big friend with the girl took off running. I hissed again, and let him go.

  The sound of his head opening on the concrete below fed my violent passion. I swept down the alleyway, descending on my running victim. Snatching him up by the collar, I rose high above the buildings. He kicked and screamed, but it availed him nothing. I let go of him and watched him drop, paddling the air frantically. Three feet from his impact with the ground I caught him up again. I repeated this three more times; all the time, my senses were following their fleeing victim. Following above her (my helpless biker in tow), I descended swiftly, pulling her up with my free hand. We rose to the top of one of the buildings, where I dropped her. I then took my new-found biker friend higher.

  I held him out in front of me, his will to struggle broken.

  "I am not going to kill you," I hissed. "I have a use for you. Can you understand me?" The question was necessary. In their fear, mortals often shut down their rational senses. "Do you understand me?" I repeated.

  Although he tried, he could not speak. I could feel his fear closing off his throat.

  "A nod will suffice." I said.

  He nodded that he understood. I took him down to the roof where I'd left the girl. She was desperately seeking an escape that did not exist.

  "Fetch her and bring her to me," I said, letting him go. He stood there, staring at me. I waited. I knew it would take him time to gather himself together – to understand his situation and accept the irrationality of it. I didn't have to wait long. I watched as he chased her down and dragged her over to me by her hair.

  "Very well done," I said. I reached out and took the woman by the throat and drew her to me. When I'd finished feeding, I let her limp body drop to the cindered roof and turned toward my new companion.

  "You will now serve me and me alone. Do you understand? Can you
understand what your fate will be if you ever cross me?" I pulled the knife from my throat and offered it to him. He didn't take it. I let it drop.

  He still had no words, but nodded. I smiled at him. He stood there in his leathers, no longer the intimidating one. A large wet spot darkened the front of his pants where he'd relieved himself in his fright.

  "You will serve me for as long as I find you useful. So, I'd suggest you be as useful as possible for as long as possible. What is your name?"

  I waited while he found his voice and finally squeaked out, "Adam." It made me laugh. Adam – the first man. Now he was my first man and would do whatever I commanded.

  I drew him close to me and whispered the address of the house in his ear. I then picked him up, along with my victim's body and took them both back down to the alleyway.

  "You will dispose of her and then you will come to the address I have given you. It will be your new home. There, you will watch over me during the day and assist me at night."

  My eyes burned into his, commanding him, controlling him, absorbing him. When I knew that there was no resistance left in him, I let go. I straightened his jacket, as a tailor might smooth out a customer's suit.

  "Dispose of her and come." I straightened my suit, put my hands back in my pockets and walked away, stepping over my female victim. Daylight was coming, and I was out of time.

  13

  It took several months for Adam to adjust to his new life. I tolerated his adjustment with as much patience as I could afford. There were a few times when I had had to put the fear of – I almost said, God, but there was no God in this house – it was the fear of me I put into him. And slowly, he came along. I groomed him for the life that was ahead of him. I taught him what he needed to know. I taught him what I needed from him.

  My time in daylight was now completely gone. Adam kept watch from the house. He handled the unexpected visitors, the canvassers, the repairmen (for those things which were beyond his abilities), all those who might venture onto the property. He proved himself more useful and astute than I had at first thought possible.

  Without being told, he tended the cemetery. He replaced the wrought iron gate and cleaned up the grounds. He even went so far as to carve the family name from the headstones over the doorway of my abode. The ingenuity and assertiveness he showed in undertaking it without my permission, and for my good, pleased me.

  Adam also kept track of the police reports and any subsequent interest they had, or didn't have, in my victims. It was this vigilance that finally brought to light something I had not thought possible. I was not alone. There was another out there like me. And it was not one of my making.

  Unlike some of the popular tales of my kind, every victim does not become a vampire. Such an occurrence happens only by choice. I had never made that choice. Consequently, I was at a loss to understand from where my competition had come. Yes, I was not so arrogant as to think that I was the only one of my kind in the world, but I did know that I was, or had been until now, the only one in the Philadelphia area.

  There is an intrinsic understanding in us – that we do not encroach on another's territory. It becomes too dangerous to have more than one feeding in the same area. Too many bodies bring too many questions. Our strength lies in the fact that mortals do not really believe in us. Proving our existence is detrimental to all. The situation I now faced was unheard of and potentially disastrous. I had to find out who he was. And discovery would only be the beginning. The difficult part would be the confrontation and expulsion of one of us – by whatever means necessary. It had the potential to become very ugly, very quickly.

  14

  I was in the habit of taking no more than two victims a night, usually only one. I confined myself to the disposable people, the ones very few (if any) would miss. I never took children. The poor unfortunate souls that society labeled as bums and degenerates were my primary feeding source. These were the ones the authorities would spend very few dollars and man-hours on.

  Adam and I kept a wary eye on all the reports of murders and disappearances throughout the city. We looked for patterns that were similar to my own. I hoped that my counterpart would also be following an identical approach - hunting cautiously. In a smaller area, our search would have been much simpler. I would have sensed him – smelled his death, as he would mine. A city the size of Philadelphia afforded him some measure of protection from discovery by me, as it afforded me protection from discovery by the authorities.

  December was waning. The first snowfall had blanketed the city in a white mantle. Some of the homeless had been removed to shelters. Their coalescence in great open spaces made hunting them out of the question. But there were still many that remained among the refuse of the frozen alleyways.

  My hours awake have increased. The sun sets earlier. I expend most of my energy in search of the other, yet I still must hunt. During daylight, Adam scouts out my nocturnal hunting ground, always jumping randomly around the city, always careful to be back within the realm of my protection before sunset. He too hunts, for there is a counterpart for him as well. As I must, so must the other have a daylight guardian.

  With the setting of the sun, I arose, slipped as smoke through the stones of my crypt and entered the house. I could feel Adam's exhilaration as I entered. He was sitting in the kitchen drinking a beer and waiting for me. When I entered, he began his tale.

  As he searched out my hunting grounds for the evening, he had come across another who seemed out of place in the back streets of the Cobb's Creek neighborhood. Adam told me that they had stared at each other for quite some time, each sizing up the other. He was sure that the man at the far end of the alley had been his counterpart. As he walked cautiously toward him, the man had watched and then fled.

  There was no doubt in my mind that Adam was correct. And I also knew that, at the same time I was having this conversation with Adam, my counterpart would be having an identical conversation with his bodyguard. We would meet soon. We would have to. I also knew that the other was aware of the same. I could feel the light touch of his mind, distant, but there. And he could feel mine.

  There was also something else I could feel, but wasn't sure what it meant. I felt as if I knew this one, but that may have been solely because we were the same. Yet, the feeling I had ran much deeper than that, even though our minds barely touched.

  I made my hunt and kill quickly. I had some other things for which I needed to plan. Not knowing whether the other would be an ally or enemy, I needed to take some precautions. What I was planning was dangerous. For one thing, it would draw a lot of public attention. Still, under the circumstances, it was one of those things that I felt merited the risk.

  Getting in and out of the Philadelphia Zoo was the easy part. It was the transport of the animals that was difficult. Despite my strength, the squirming wolves under my arms made my flight a bit tricky. And the mist through which we moved echoed with their growls and snarls. Once on the ground at the house, they settled in quickly. I gave them their orders and something else – something more formidable before I introduced them to Adam. I gave them my strength. They drank of my blood, but not so much as to take them all the way to "undead." I needed them to be watchful during daylight hours. But I also needed them to be able to handle an intruder of my magnitude. Once I'd accomplished this, my guardians were secure.

  For weeks after my appropriation of the wolves, the newspapers and TV crews followed the story of the missing animals. Eventually, it died down. My concern was not the authorities; my real concern, initially, was that my counterpart would know why, and by whom, the wolves were taken. But that dissipated. I came to realize that it might work to my advantage. It would draw the other to me. I needed only to wait and be vigilant.

  In a small section of the city called Roxborough, we met for the first time. I was preparing to feed. A group of teenagers were partying in a tiny c
emetery on the main street of the area, Ridge Avenue. I was preparing to take them when the other arrived. I watched her arrival from atop a building across the street. To the mortals, I was invisible, but not to her. She stopped for a moment to gaze at me and I could see the fire in her eyes. She then turned and walked toward the teenagers. I was struck by the fact that she appeared no older than they.

  As she approached, she opened the top few buttons of her blouse. I smiled. Her trap was set. The boys immediately surrounded her. I could feel their desire from here. She let them believe their desires would be fulfilled. When the attack came – it came on swift and brutal wings. She took all of them, the last of which she toyed with as a cat toys with a mouse. She pounced, lifted him into the air and then dropped him. He would run and she would be on him again. I could feel her exhilaration. Finally, a few yards from the front gate and freedom, she ran him down and took his life force.

  When she finished, she turned and stared at me. Her mouth gaped open, blood dripping from the corners, and hissed at me, the foulness within her spilling out in a large greenish-yellow cloud. It was not yet time for total confrontation – we could both feel that – she evaporated into a fog and floated out the back of the cemetery. I let her go – for tonight.

  Our minds touched again, much closer this time. What I felt actually sent a chill up my spine, which didn't happen very often. There was a human quality to her that I could feel. Like I had been, she was a daylight walker. I did not know how this was possible, and it meant that my decision to protect myself with the wolves was justified. It also meant that Adam was at risk. Further precautions were demanded.