Melabeth the Vampire

by Hood, E. B.

  I gave his hand a little squeeze, “I will not bring any harm to you, I promise. I really like you.”

  “Ok” David said with a little smile.

  The rest of the time on the bus was fun after that little fight, if that is what you would call it. We talked about music, movies, and shopping. He promised me that when we got to my stop that he would take me shopping at a mall he knew of. I still had a little money left; also I planned on using my super powers to rob some of these passengers of their cash. Now, not only were they blood donors but they were ATM’s too.

  David had not slept much last night and had decided to take a nap. I told him, worry about nothing I would watch over him. And then a few minutes later he was sleeping. This of course means there is only one thing for me to do on this bus while he sleeps, and that is to read his journal.

  * * *

  I always feel the presence of people around me. I even know when there is a ghost in the next room. I never even knew when this girl set down next to me. She could have been there for a half an hour I don’t even know, and that really bothered me.

  When I finally got enough nerve to try to talk to her I wasn’t really ready for what I discovered. Soon as she faced me she was completely unreal. Her face was like marble, perfect from flaws. Her eyes are what really give it away, they’re too big, like two blue orbs of power. I noticed she keeps her sunglasses on around everyone else; I think she screwed up, she really did not mean for me to see those eyes.

  It would not have mattered; I still would have known that she is not human. I also know she is no ghost, even though I told her that’s what I believe she is. I was half hoping she would tell me, but at last she does not want me to know. At first I was thinking maybe an alien or something. I can always feel someone’s spirit, but not hers.

  After I started talking to her, I finally felt her spirit. It only shows itself when she has an emotion. And then it’s like a freight train, when I play songs that make her happy, I can feel it. If they make her sad it’s like someone kicked me between the legs. At one point she tried to kiss me. The lust came off of her in waves; I wanted to rip her clothes off, and could hardly control myself. When she stopped that emotion, I felt like I needed a cold shower, and she never even touched me.

  I have to keep reminding myself, this girl is dangerous. I knew soon as I realized she was sitting next to me. I felt the fear pass through my system, warning me of danger. Somehow this girl is keeping a ghost tied to her; how? I don’t know. The ghost’s name is Carrie. She is real friendly, and, as far as ghosts go, not anything to fear.

  She spent the whole night trying to warn me about Melabeth. She at first made little jokes about how dangerous her friend was, nothing too obvious. Later that morning I feel asleep. I was awakened by Carrie. I am not sure where Melabeth went, but Carrie was in a hurry to tell me something. So in short she warned me that Melabeth was dangerous and I should not hang out with her for too long. Then she told me to pretend I was asleep before Melabeth got back.

  Not long after Melabeth had returned, she and Carrie fell into a conversion that sent me back to sleep. I know deep in my heart that she is dangerous, but there is something else too.

  She is funny, smart, witty, strong, and hot as hell. Did I also mention the curves on this girl? There’s something more than good looks. Something terrible has happened to her, I just know it. She is strong in spirit; she got angry at me, and it shook me to my core.

  Her power, yes, but most of all the pain, pain like I have never known. It overwhelmed me; she thought I was scared of her hurting me. Maybe I was, but mostly I was reacting to emotion; it just confirms to me that something truly awful has happened to this girl. I am completely intrigued with this girl. I am still trying to make a decision on if I should follow the white rabbit. She’s starting to wake; I will finish this later.

  * * *

  Why that little shit. I can't believe that Carrie was warning him. Well, I am not sure how I feel about that. On one hand, she is probably right to watch out for David’s well being; on the other hand, she has no right to warn people about me. I shall let this go; what choice do I have? If I give Carrie a hard time, David will find out about it. Then David will know I have been sneaking into his journal, and I don’t want to get caught; how else can I find out what he is really thinking? No, I guess as long as Carrie does not tell David that I am a vampire, and then I will not have to punish her.

  I woke David up shaking him, "sleepy head, we’re here. Let’s move; there is important shopping that needs to be done."

  "Ok, ok, just ten more minutes." David said, then stretched, yawned then stood up. "Alright let's get a move on. If I don’t start to walk, my legs will shrivel up and fall off from lack of use."

  * * *

  I was having the time of my life dragging David through the mall, and he was enjoying himself too. Of course that’s probably a lot to do with the fact that I was flirting so much.

  I was trying on a lot of outfits. "David, what do you think of this skirt? You don’t think it's too short, do you?"

  "Well it looks great, but it is a little short," David said as his eyes were locked onto my ass. “I don’t think it fits."

  "Oh," I was having too much fun; there would have been little difference if I just gave him a lap dance. "What about this outfit? My underwear isn't showing, is it?"

  "No, I like that one. And I loved the dresses from earlier." David said trying to be helpful.

  He was picking the ones I was going to buy, which was a good thing because I was modeling a bunch of outfits that made me look like a whore. I would hate to think that’s the way he would like his woman to dress.

  I was trying on a red dress that I loved. I found black tights and tall boots to go with it. The boots went up to my knees and had high heels. I could have never worn heels before I was a vampire. Now I could balance on stilts. I was looking at myself in the mirror, singing and dancing in my new outfit.

  "You’re amazing" David said from behind me, "I have never heard a voice like yours. And you dance like nothing I have ever witnessed." Then he took my hand and dragged me over to him. "I could watch you dance and listen to you sing all day, but you should probably stop for now."

  "Why" I said with a little pout, "if you like it?"

  "I do like it" David said reassuringly, "I love it, it’s just that. Well…" then David lowered his voice and whispered into my ear. "It makes your special side stand out. If you could see and hear yourself, well you might not believe you’re human."

  I looked around and noticed some other shoppers were staring at me. This one girl was grabbing her friend and pulling her around the corner to where we were. I could hear her saying to her friend, "you have to see this girl; she is amazing; I think she’s totally unreal."

  "Oh, I see, let’s buy this stuff and get out of here," I said with a sense of urgency.

  "Good idea," David said gathering my stuff and heading off to the cash register.

  I spent all of my money. Well, I guess you could say I spent all of the other people's money. I had four really good outfits, plus boots and a pair of shoes. I was wearing my new outfit; it was a dark blue skirt that went to my knees. And I had a great baby blue blouse to go with it.

  I put the rest of my new clothes into my gym bag; I threw away the stolen clothes; they didn’t fit anyway. After that I went with David to the food court so he could eat.

  David sat across from me with two slices of pizza and garlic bread. He also had bought two Pepsis, one for each of us. I was sipping on my Pepsi as he took his first bite. I loved the taste of Cola, and dying had not changed that. Furthermore I was learning that I had to pee, so liquids did not bother me. Food, on the other hand, never stayed down for long. So even though I would love some of that pizza, especially since it was my favorite food, I was not going to eat any, not unless I wanted to go to the girl’s room and throw it up, Yuk.

  David finished swallowing and then took a drink of his soda and said,
“Do you ever have to eat?”

  “Nope.”

  “Can you eat?” David said as he took another bite of his pizza.

  “Yep, but I always throw it up; so yours truly is on a liquid diet.” I don’t know if I am being too honest so I added, “Plus, I thought I said no more questions?”

  “Is that not a question that you just asked me?” David said between bites.

  “You’re right, it was. I meant no more questions about me, smartass,” I said smiling.

  I was really enjoying hanging with David. I know that eventually I will have to tell him. Once I do, I fear that this will end, that he will fear and hate me. I will try to enjoy this as long as possible, so I will have to stop the questions for a little while. “Ok, I will amend my rule about questions. You can ask questions, just not about my special side.”

  David laughed; every laugh was so wonderful to me. Then he said, “Well, that’s okay, I have some less inquisitive questions, such as, where are you planning on staying in California? Do you have a place, or are you staying with someone?”

  “Ok, never mind; let’s go back to no questions about me,” I said with a frown. “So where are you staying?” Then putting an oversized smile on my face, and holding my head at a slight angle.

  David almost spit his drink out. Then he said, “Oh come on, I should be able to ask where you are staying.”

  I shook my head back and forth in a no motion, and crossed my arms over my chest.

  “You don’t scare me,” David said. “I am staying with my mother. She lives in Beaumont; it’s about a twenty minute drive from here.” He looked at me for a minute. Then he reached a decision. “So you don’t have any place to go, do you?”

  “The world is my oyster,” I said defensively.

  “Stay with me,” David said with a serious face.

  “Don’t know about that,” I responded. I really wanted to stick with him. I don’t even know where the bikers lived. And those kinds of guys don’t stay at the same address for fifteen years. I was lonely and with David everything felt better. Then again, if he knew, what I was? “I will think about it. That’s not a yes.”

  David’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “I will talk you into it, and don’t worry about my mom. Trust me, she will let you stay. And if not, I will help you find a place; I am your friend, and I need to know that you are not sleeping outside.”

  Wow, David’s a pretty amazing guy, willing to step up for a homeless girl. Of course I bet it helps that he thought I was hot. Still you have to work with the tools God gives you. “Thank you, really. You are the first person to worry about me in a long time.”

  After that, we decide to go back to the bus station to catch a ride to Beaumont. David had to call his mom to tell her why he was late. He wasn’t supposed to get off in San Bernardino. The next bus wasn’t going to leave until later in the evening. So, with time to kill, David and I put our stuff in a locker at the bus station. Then we decided to take a walk to where all the uptown stores were.

  More shopping!

  After checking out some local shops, we grabbed a coffee and talked for awhile. Time slipped away from us, and the next thing you know we are hurrying back to the bus station. David reached over and took my hand; he gave me a tug as he pulled me down an alley.

  David said, “This is a short cut; otherwise we will have to make a run for it.”

  “Okay, fine by me,” I replied. Then I headed down the alley still holding David’s hand.

  I really enjoyed his warm hand, and the warm fuzzies I felt when holding his hand. All my attention was on David. He was taller than I had realized on the bus. He was at least six foot; his build was muscular, yet he was not finished growing. His arms and legs were a little on the dangly side. I think he is hot; still this relationship is doomed, I need to be careful about how I let myself feel about him.

  My head is full of thoughts and my eyes were on David, I was not using my second sight, so I was a little surprised when we came to an intersection where another alley connected; there were three men standing there. They looked like they were waiting for something. From the look on their faces, and the fact they went from relaxed to ready, they had been waiting for us.

  Chapter 5

  David and Goliath

  Two of the three men stepped into the intersection of the alleys. We had walked right up on them, and they only stood five feet away. The two guys closest to us both wore black suits, with really thin ties; one was red and the other was blue. That’s where the similarities ended.

  The one with the red tie stood to my right; he was my height and thin. He was a white guy with a pair of cheap sunglasses on; his hair was a mess, and he seemed kind of tense. He also looked like he was smelling the air; what a weirdo.

  The man to my left with the blue tie was a black man, and he stood at least six-five. He looked as if we just killed his kitten; what did we do to piss him off?

  The man behind them didn’t fit at all. He was standing about fifteen feet further down the alley; he was tall with black jeans, black tee shirt and a black trench coat. He also had big black boots, and had greasy, long wavy black hair. He had a bored look on his face and was busy playing with the silver jewelry on his hands.

  The black man boomed, “Who do you think you are coming into our territories? You must think you’re some kind of badass to walk around in broad daylight. I am going to crush your ass, you little mother…”

  “Sorry, sorry, we didn’t know this was your alley; we will go around.” David said holding his hands out in front of him. That’s when I noticed they weren’t looking at me; they were all staring at David.

  The black man threw his arms up in anger, “Oh, you think you’re funny, do you? I’ll show your punk ass funny.” And with that he reached around to the back of his jacket.

  I could tell David didn’t understand what was about to happen, but I did. Time to kick ass! This time, no messing around; I am not going to worry about eating. New goal, kill these guys, fast as I can.

  I knew that black man was about to pull out a weapon: a gun, knife maybe a ray gun. This is the future.

  I tried to flash the distance between us. Oh boy, another thing I didn’t know; during the day my flash power didn’t work, or maybe it was because I was standing outside in the sun. No matter what the reason, I will have to close the distance by foot.

  I ran at the black man and was in front of him before he could register that I even moved. I couldn’t flash, but I still was fast, and he was too busy paying attention to David.

  I caught his right hand as it rose up from his back. In his hand he had a 1911 45 auto, chrome with pearl handles.

  I did two things almost at the same time. First, now that I had caught his wrist that held the gun, I squeezed it as hard as I could, then twisted at the same time. Second, with my right hand, I grabbed his blue tie and pulled down on it hard.

  With my second sight, I could see the second man had started to run over to help this guy but was intercepted by David. The black man dropped his gun with a yelp, but he also swung his free arm at my head.

  I ducked below the swing; it was powerful but slow. I let go of his tie, jumped straight up into the air, spun around and kicked the black man in the head. I kicked him hard; there was a cracking sound as my foot connected with the side of his head.

  I landed softly on my feet, and the black man landed with a thud on his head. At almost that same moment, I saw with my second sight David taking a punch in the side of the head, by the small guy. He hit David hard, and then David sank to the ground.

  I spun around in anger; I was so mad; he hurt my DAVID. My claws and teeth came out, and I hissed at him.

  The small man looked at me with surprise, but I was a little surprised when I noticed he was not human. He had yellow eyes and sharp black claws; his teeth were sharp. He let out what sounded like a dog growling.

  Then the man said, “One slash,” he held his hand up showing me his black claws, “and y
ou’re a dead vampire.”

  He knew what I was. Still, he needed to die for what he did to David.

  I attacked; I think this surprised him. I guess he thought his little threat was enough to stop me. I ran straight at him; he swung at me, and I dove under his swing. I landed on my right knee; holding my hand flat, I struck up at his side.

  Then something happened I didn’t plan for. My hand cut through his side under his rib cage; my hand was moving at an upward angle. I put so much force in the punch, my arm slid up into his body where my hand came to rest around his heart.

  Grabbing onto his heart like a baseball, I pulled my arm back down toward me. I could already see his claws swing down after me, so I jumped back and rolled across the ground.

  His claws had missed me by inches. I stood up, and he was holding his side with a strange look in his eyes.

  Then I said, “missing something, asshole,”

  I held his heart up in my right hand; there was blood all the way past my elbow. Then I tossed it behind me like it was an old apple core. The small man looked at me like he wanted to say something, then fell to the ground, dead.

  I was suddenly knocked back by an explosion.

  There was now a wall of fire burning across the alley. The third man was standing there straight as a board with his arms out. His eyes were wide open as he chanted something I didn’t understand. Then a ring of light lit up around his feet.

  Great, a wizard, I didn’t know what he was trying to cast, but I bet I won’t like it. The wall of fire was there just to stop me from touching him while he worked his magic; that’s probably why he was standing so far away in the first place.

  If he likes distance, I better get close, and fast. So I did the stupidest thing yet. I ran straight for the wall of fire.

  I could feel the heat before I even got there; this was going to hurt, or worse. I ran through the fire as fast as I could run. The pain was so intense; I would have screamed except I feared to open my mouth in the flames.