Melabeth the Vampire

by Hood, E. B.

  The world was bright, but at second glance it was black and white. I was marveling at the lack of color, when the clouds opened up. The sliver of a moon came into view and when it did so did the world. Everything had color and depth now that there was a small amount of light.

  I realized that when the clouds covered the moon and stars, it should have been so dark, that I would have had trouble seeing my hand in front of my face. Even in darkness so complete the world was only black and white. The smallest amount of light brought the color back. I don’t know if I can go outside during the day, but something tells me even if I could the sun would blind me.

  Standing in my muddy, dirty, used to be white dress I came to another fact; I needed a bath. Then yet another thing came to mind; I had no shoes on and I am standing in snow! Yep, check, not cold, it is harder and harder trying to talk myself out of being a mystical creature of the night. Funny thing is I could feel that it was very cold, but I was not cold. I would have to describe it as walking out of my home on a cold day. The first few seconds you’re outside the cold bites at your skin, but it is not uncomfortable; after a few minutes that feeling changes. Now I am standing outside, barefoot in a thin cotton dress and even though I know that it is freezing outside, it is only knowledge and nothing more.

  Still standing over the hole I just crawled out of, I have no real direction, but I think it is time to go. I am not sure where these legs will take me but away from this cemetery is a good start. I started off walking toward the edge of the cemetery where I could see an old stone wall; I moved like the wind; I have to say it was the coolest thing ever; my feet didn’t sink into the snow, and I made no noise to speak of.

  Suddenly a noise off my left shoulder, then several things happened all at once. First I jumped really high, spun to my left; at the same time I was in a back flip, landing graceful like a cat, and as quiet as a mouse. I landed on top of a gravestone. I released a growling hissing sound; also I could see in my head an outline of the object that made the noise sitting in some branches.

  It all came together in my mind. The noise was a hoot; the image that created the noise was an owl, and my ninja moves were completely unnecessary. Well I could tell getting used to the overwhelming senses was going to be tricky.

  Tricky maybe… fun definitely. The next few minutes I was playing a fun game of jumping from gravestone to gravestone. Flipping, cart wheeling and spinning through the air, I landed on the old stone wall on the edge of the graveyard. I was dancing on the top of the wall when I let out a squeal of pain and bent over with stomach spasms.

  I will tell you being hungry is nothing new to me; I may have been homeschooled, but I have read a few books in my time, along with missing a few meals. Being a child of hippies had its ups and downs. Sometimes my parents would run out of money, and we had to beg for food.

  The Donner party comes to mind and so does Flight 571 that crashed in the Andes. Only 16 people survived that flight, and they were not living off of pudding; that just occurred a couple of years ago. That happened in 1972, the same year my mom died. And I remember listening to the story while sitting at my grandma’s house waiting to go to the funeral. The 16 survived by eating the other dead passengers on the plane, and at the time I was thinking that I would have died of starvation before I would have eaten anyone.

  I guess I am about to find out if that’s true. I don’t really believe animal blood will work. I have read vampire books and other fantasy, plus watched a bunch of vampire movies, and all of them always go on and on about the blood lust. I guess Americans have not missed a meal in such a long time that we need to believe that the hunger to take another life must be supernatural.

  Well that’s not true; when people are truly starving, we will eat anything. My problem is that, one thing about all the legends of vampires agreed upon is that vampires need human blood, and only blood. Crap, not good. So I guess eating pudding is out, and the pain in my stomach is only worsening with every passing second.

  I am not sure what I should do, but one thing is clear; I am starving. I don’t know how long I have been in the ground; I feel thin and empty. My teeth ache and my abnormally long fingers have long razor sharp claws. I stare at my own hands in disbelief. I can feel my long sharp teeth with my tongue. Maybe after I eat, I will look more human; at least that is what I am hoping. There are other problems going on in my head; where do I stay during the day? I need a place to wash, some new clothes, I look homeless, and where is all that vampire wealth? I am dead broke, no pun intended.

  I headed toward the town, first walking, and then running. At first all I could think of was the pain in my stomach, but the sudden sensation of running through the forest at such speeds took my mind off of the pain.

  I was heading down the side of the mountain, dodging branches, trees and bushes. I could feel the wind whipping my long hair behind me. My mind was keeping up with this speed; it felt as if time had slowed down.

  I let out a laugh, and of course, when I did, the black and white details of the terrain came into view in my mind. That gave me an idea, so I started to whistle as I ran, and the world lit up as I flew down the ever-decreasing mountainside.

  As I flew through the trees, I noticed with my second sight that there was a cliff coming up. I don’t know how far the bottom was, but I was wondering if I could fly. I thought it would be a good idea just to go for it. I figured I would have a gay time flying through the air.

  By the time I got to the edge, I changed my mind, but I couldn’t stop in time. I fell onto my back sliding toward the edge. The ground was too steep for me to slow down. The ground was covered with a thick layer of pine needles; I couldn’t get a grip. I slid right off the top of the cliff. And, of course, to go with my luck, it wasn’t a little way down.

  It was more like three hundred feet judging by the treetops. I was falling for the ground faster than I had been running.

  I flew toward the ground, falling like a sky diver flat on my belly. I still had plenty of time to think about what an ass I was, but my fast mind wasn’t going to help me with a fast stop.

  My luck held solid; I didn’t fly, and I was unable to grab hold of a branch of a tree. It was like I aimed for the only opening in the forest floor.

  I tried to use my hands in front of me to break the fall, but all that I accomplished was breaking my arms. Slamming face first into the ground, the darkness swallowed me up.

  When I came to, I had no idea how much time had passed, but it felt like maybe only a few minutes, which was amazing considering I should be dead. I could feel pain throughout my body which was not surprising in the least.

  Most of my body felt like a bag full of glass that someone smashed against the ground, only the glass was my bones. As these thoughts went through my head I could feel my body knitting itself back together again. It was so strange and honestly it didn’t really hurt as badly as it should, and truth be said, I think my hunger was now worse than breaking my bones.

  Pain had been like the cold air, just information, but the hunger felt like more. I had to find food soon, or I am afraid that I will be unable to move and burn to death in the sun.

  Maybe I don’t deserve to live, but I needed to exist to revenge myself to kill the bikers who brought these horrors into my life. Finally I was able to get to my feet, but I could tell I was too weak after healing myself for anymore stupid stunts. In fact it seems I will be walking normal speed the rest of the way to town.

  The rest of the trip was uneventful, and not that far from the base of the cliff, that I had just fallen off of, I came to an empty road. I crossed over the road, walked through some more woods and finally arrived at a little square of homes. Half a dozen houses of modest means sat in a semicircle. Beyond was the rest of the town, but it was still about a mile off; it was real quiet; I have no idea what time it is, but I am guessing it is early in the morning.

  I sneaked up to the first house which sat at a further distance away from the rest of the homes. I walk
ed up to the back door; I hated myself for what I must do.

  At the back door, I listened to what was going on inside. All was quiet, but, as I listened closer, noise begun to filter through the door of the house. I came to realize it was the noise of a TV from the front of the house. I couldn’t tell if anyone was home. They could have just left the TV on. So I just decided to go for it. I was hungry and had no idea how much time I had before sunrise.

  I tried the doorknob to see if it was unlocked. I guess they didn’t lock up at night; good for me, bad for them. I snuck in to find myself standing in the kitchen with only a small light on over the sink, but I could see everything crystal clear. Treading carefully, I moved to the other side of the kitchen and looked into the living room.

  Closing my eyes, the sound from the TV allowed me to see the entire living room in my head. I could see a man sitting in front of the TV, taking swigs out of his bottle. The image in my head was black and white, and I noticed it lacked detail as well. I knew he had a bottle, but I could not see the label, and I could not make out the finer details of his face. Regardless, I could see what he was doing, and that he was alone.

  With that knowledge, I went into the room and snuck up right behind him for the couch was positioned in the middle of the living room. I was too hungry to worry about much, and, with that, I attacked. I grabbed his mouth to keep him from yelling, pulled his head to one side and sank my fangs into his neck.

  The blood, oh the blood, it was everything I ever wanted and more. I didn’t know because I have never had consensual sex, but this felt great. My body shook with desire; never had I ever been more at peace in my entire life.

  At first I took the man by surprise; he pulled me over the couch, and we slammed into the coffee table, but, even with all this, I was too busy sucking and lost in the pleasure to even care. The weaker he got, the stronger I got. This didn’t happen quickly like the movies, but it was over quick enough, maybe 10 or 15 minutes.

  He lay dead. I was laying there on the floor with his body still on top of me, his face still skyward. I pushed his body off by rolling it to one side. I jumped up off of the ground. I felt like a million dollars; I was completely healed and feeling so good when I heard another noise down the hallway.

  I could make out a heavyset woman coming down the hallway from one of the other rooms of the small house. I was standing over a dead man in the middle of her living room, wearing nothing but a filthy piece of cloth over me, covered in mud with blood around my mouth. I was hoping just to kill this man and leave, but it appeared I was out of time, and so was this woman who approached me.

  “Roger what the hell is your drunken ass doing? Are you trying to wake the children…?” The woman stopped in midsentence after she flipped on the light switch.

  The sudden light blinded me; it took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust. I could see the woman clearly; we were five feet apart with a couch between us. We just stared at each other in utter disbelief. I didn’t know what I should do. She said there were children down the hall. I hadn’t even thought about that, and, at the same time, this was probably her dead husband I was standing over.

  Then she surprised me and started to speak.

  “I...I...I don’t know who…. Or what you are, but I have children. Please don’t hurt me!”

  I put my hands out in front of me like I was surrendering. “I won’t hurt your children lady. I am sorry I was so hungry.” I paused looking down at the dead man and back at her, then finished with a “sorry.”

  The lady calmed a little. Then I realized I could hear, feel the beat of her heart. I could see the pulse of her veins; this was a little disheartening. She then, looking at the dead man said, “Well Roger wasn’t worth a whole lot alive, drunk most of the time, and a lousy husband and father. I always figured the booze would get him. Then I would get the life insurance; look, if you leave without hurting me, or my children, I won’t say a word to no one.” Then she half said to herself. “It’s not like anyone will believe me anyhow.”

  She looked back up at me with a plea in her eyes. Her face changed quickly to surprise. I rushed her, leaping over the couch and slammed into the woman. She hit the wall behind her.

  The woman was my height; she had me by twice the mass not just in weight, also in build. Still her 250 lb husband didn’t stand a chance and neither did she; shoving her up against the wall was too easy.

  The sound of a picture frame hitting the ground, and her air rushing out of her lungs is all I heard. As if she was a weak child, I twisted her head to the side and bit down on her neck. All I had to do was bite and then pull my fangs out and the blood rushed into my mouth, and it was so wonderful.

  The woman trying to catch her breath, cried out. “Please… my children; don’t kill ME.”

  I licked the wounds on her neck and the saliva in my mouth healed them up. I thought this would work, because, when I was looking down at her dead husband, his neck had no marks. After he had died, I had licked the yummy blood on his neck. The wound had healed even though he was dead. This would be good to know so I didn’t leave a trail that someone could follow.

  Being that there are, in fact, vampires, I would guess that there would in fact be vampire hunters. And something else to note, there wasn’t blood everywhere just around my lips, I had licked the evidence off of poor old Roger’s neck. Heck I hadn’t even drained the man dry, but I am thinking I am stealing life not just blood.

  If the body is a car engine, then it is built to make energy for the soul. My engine died so I am just stealing the life energy from someone else. I don’t know if this is true, but I feel like it is close to the truth.

  Looking right into her eyes, I said as cold as possible. “I am leaving now. You will not see me again… if you tell no one.”

  The woman with fear in her eyes said. “I will tell no one… I swear to God. Thank you, for sparing me… and my children.” She had no backbone; that made me want to finish her.

  As I rushed out the front door into the night, a thought came to me; did someone just thank me for not killing them? Wow that is funny, to be thanked for not doing something as vile as killing children in their sleep. What a strange world we live in, and now for something completely different to think about.

  Where am I going to sleep tonight? And where the hell am I? Maybe I should have asked a few more questions to that lady? Second thought, I don’t think she could handle anymore, especially after donating blood and watching her husband be murdered, begging for her life and the life of her own children. She can have the rest of the night off.

  After I left, I found my power had returned. No longer did I feel any pain; all the damages from the earlier fall had healed. I ran at ridiculous speeds toward town. When I got to town, I jumped from tree to rooftop and back again. In fact, I found that I was more than just rejuvenated. I was twice as powerful with more speed and grace. My sight was even sharper; my second sight was there when I heard or made noise. My sense of smell and hearing were keen, beyond my reckoning.

  When I landed on rooftops and stayed still for a minute, I could put my head to the roof and hear people sleeping. I think my hearing was sharp enough to count how many people were in the house.

  I landed on a roof of a large two story home. Feeling confident this house was empty, I checked the upper stories’ windows; I found one unlocked. I guess the owner had not pictured a vampire girl hanging from her toes that were attached to the gutters. Checking that particular window and finding it unlocked, with catlike grace I opened the window and jumped through it.

  Twisting through the air landing on my feet I was safe and sound inside. It appeared to be a boy’s room. The door was open so I stood there listening to make sure I was alone. Also I made a high pitch whistle, so, with my second sight, I could see down the hallway.

  I had noticed when I was jumping around town that, when I whistled, dogs barked or howled; I had used it to make my second sight come to life. I think but don’t know that maybe I was
making the sound at such a high pitch that humans may not be able to hear it. If that were true, that would be handy and prove once and for all, that I was Bat Girl.

  I relaxed; the house was empty. I was wondering if I could stay all day without being discovered; I guess I would find out. As I looked around this boy’s room I started to take in some of the details, and something was very wrong. First, there was this huge box with a TV on top of it. In front of the box was what appeared to be a typewriter or maybe just the keyboard of a typewriter? The box said IBM. Ok I have no idea what that means.

  That wasn’t the strangest thing in this boy’s room. His bed cover was really crazy. On the cover there was the same picture over and over again; on the top of this picture were the words STAR WARS, in gold letters. Below was a picture of a man in a white bathrobe holding up what I guessed to be a flash light surrounded by robots and a giant robot with a black face in the background. Okay, maybe his mom and dad were really creative or something, but then there were shelves of strange toys; where the hell do you buy this stuff? I have been in toy stores, and never have I laid eyes on any of this stuff. Then there was a creepy doll robot guy. His face was the same as the picture on the bed, and he was holding what appeared to be a red stick. Maybe it was supposed to be a sword.

  Then I noticed the light outside. I was sidetracked by something really crazy. It was a clock; I have no idea how to describe what I am seeing, giant red numbers displaying the time 6:45 AM. Then the numbers switched with no moving parts to 6:46 AM… wow, no way. I need to get a hold of myself.

  The sun is rising; time to put a plan into action. I closed the window and quickly walked the whole upstairs trying my hardest not to get too distracted with all the stuff these people had that I have never laid eyes on before. I found the entrance to the attic, pulled the handle and up I went. Just as I thought, from the dust on the boxes, they only come up in the attic twice a year, one time to bring down the Christmas decorations and then a second time to put them away.