“What do you mean by that?”
At that moment Logan clutched his stomach and hissed out a sharp breath. Tommy jumped up in alarm but Logan waived him down.
“Don’t worry ‘bout me. Too much beer on an empty stomach is all. But damn don’t It burn like snake venom. I’m gonna go sleep this one off. Good luck finding your pal.”
He stood up and walked away without even a look back. Tommy sat there a while tempted to follow him inside to ask him more but he was sure there were no answers here. After several minutes had passed he got back in his car and left.
Day 10: Friday Final Act
Friday morning was spent in a booth with a pen, a notebook and an endless supply of coffee. He wrote constantly trying to decipher the clues that they had uncovered. He made chart after chart and no matter how he arranged things they would not make sense.
Finally he gave up went for a walk around town. The heat was miserable but he felt too restless to sit still. He waved at the passing cars and he even waved at Capt. Tuesday when he passed his store. He shuddered as he moved past. His head refused to clear however so he walked back to his car and drove home.
***
It was shortly after One O’clock when he arrived back home and he distractedly thought that he should eat, but he had no appetite. Instead he eased onto the couch to think some more, but soon his eyes slid shut on their own. Shortly after that he began to snore.
He woke, groggily, to the sound of the phone ringing. He rose from the couch stiffly and went to answer it. “Hello”, he mumbled into the receiver.
“Tommy? It’s Helen, I’m sorry if I woke you.”
“S ok,” he slurred back while rubbing his eyes with one hand.
“I have a question. Do you like football?”
He stifled a yawn with his hand. “I’m not a diehard fan, but I do enjoy it. Why?”
“Tonight is the New Damascus High Vikings’ first game of the season. Would you like to go with me?”
“I think I could manage that.”
“Excellent, I’ll pick you up at 6:30 sharp.”
He agreed to the time and they hung up. It was then that he looked at the clock on the stove and realized that it was 4:30 already. He had slept hard for three hours. No wonder he was so groggy. He also realized that he was now ravenously hungry. He decided that a shower to help wake up was his first priority. He made his way to the bathroom to gingerly shower; gingerly because at his age showering was like riding a roller coaster. It was exhilarating, but there was always a fear of falling.
One hot shower and a large sandwich later he felt refreshed. He was ready and waiting when Helen pulled up to the house and honked. He locked up and slid into the passenger seat. Helen surprised him by leaning over and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. He was even more surprised to feel a blush creep onto his face. She saved him further embarrassment by asking him if he was ready for some football in the voice of an over exuberant announcer. They both laughed and he said yes. Helen put the car in drive and they left to watch young men do battle in the dying light.
They arrived at the stadium shortly before 7:00. It was a small stadium. The home side was made of steel girders and cinder blocks. The visitor side was the standard aluminum bleachers and the whole area was surrounded by a chain link fence.
They took their seats just in time to stand back up for a prayer, the ACLU be damned, and to hear the schools marching band play a squeaky version of the Star Spangled Banner. When it was done he took a good look around and was surprised by the number of people there.
Seeing this Helen leaned over to explain, “There isn’t a lot to do here on a Friday night and around here football isn’t just a way of life, it is life.”
He started to reply, but was drowned out by the announcer heralding the football team to the field. They flooded onto the field through a tunnel made by the cheerleaders, dance team, and the flag line as the crowd cheered and the band played. It took him a second to recognize the tune as Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries.
The first half of the game was back and forth, but the Vikings slowly started gaining ground towards the half. The teams gave way to first the dance line and then the band for halftime. The band performed a rough and slightly out of tune halftime show.
“Ah, but their mothers will love it” Helen replied when he said something.
After the half the two opposing forces went at it hard but slowly the Vikings pulled ahead. It was late in the third quarter that they began to compare notes. Helen started by inquiring about his trip to the mounds.
“It was strange. I can feel that there is a connection but I can’t make it fit. What about your research, did you come up with anything?”
“I spent a few hours online last night doing research. I didn’t find many details about Kepler, just that he wrote a book about astronomy that the Catholic Church banned. I also didn’t find any more about local Native American myths. Unsurprisingly I found quite a lot about Norse Mythology.”
“I suppose that isn’t that surprising at all. Did anything stand out that might relate to what we already know?”
“Mostly it was just a loose collection of stories about various gods and goddesses with different deformities.”
“What kind of deformities?”
“Well, there was the god of war Tyr, sometimes known as Tew, who lost his hand to a giant wolf. He is apparently who we name Tuesday after. Oh, and of course there is Odin who gave up an eye to gain wisdom. He had two ravens that would spy for him.”
“It sounds like a pretty gruesome group of gods.”
“I also learned a little about Norse mysticism. The number three and multiples of three were considered significant along with certain runes. Odin even had his own rune that he used to cast spells.”
“How convenient. What did it look like?”
“It’s three interlocked triangles. They called it the Valknut.”
Something about all this struck him as vital, but he was still lost as to how it all fit together. He rolled it around in his head. A god with one hand. Another with one eye. Three triangles. That is when it hit him.
“Helen, we have to go right now.”
She looked at him a moment and then without saying a word she gathered her things and stood to leave.
When they got in the car she asked him where they were going, to which he simply replied “The Raven’s Nest.”
She started driving before looking over to him and commanding “Explain.”
“I don’t have all the answers yet, I just now know where to get them. It’s the Valknut. Three interlocked triangles. That’s what the mounds are, three triangles with a bird in the center. A bird that I bet is supposed to be a raven. The same symbol that is also on the door to the Raven’s Nest as clear as day.”
By this point they were at the nest and the conversation was cut off. The parking lot was empty of cars but he knew that this was where he needed to go. Tommy reached out for Helen’s hand as they walked. They reached the door, the door with the final damning evidence, and hesitated briefly before stepping through.
Inside the air was cool, the lights were dim, and there were three people sitting at a table against the back wall: Odie, Captain Tuesday, and Thorton Smith.
“Come in Agent McCain, we’ve been expecting you.
They moved between the tables slowly until they reached the back where Odie and his companions sat.
“Won’t you sit, we have much to discuss?”
Tommy wanted to refuse on principal but at that moment he felt old and tired and he slid into the empty chair being offered. His heart was racing and he could feel the sweat on his palms. When he had sat he looked at the men before him and asked “Who are you?”
“You know who we are.”
“You aren’t real though. Even if you were the stories say that you died centuries ago.”
“Most of us did die although not in the same sense that you understand death. We are all that’s left and we
have been greatly”, he paused for a moment looking for the right word before saying “diminished. So we came here and we’ve been here ever since waiting and watching the world move on. There once were four of us, but one has played the clown so long that he has forgotten who he is.”
He was stunned by this revelation, but surprisingly he didn’t doubt it at all.
“I still don’t understand though; why did you take Stephen? Was it you who stole the books from the Sheriff’s office?”
“We took him because we needed him. They are coming back and we aren’t what we once were, so we invoked an ancient rite to barter passage away. We took the books because we weren’t ready for you to find us yet. It was actually quite impressive that he put it all together. When we first came here the natives were astounded by us; our appearances and our abilities even in our current state. They raised mounds to honor us and we lived among them. Then the colonists came from the old world and they drove them out to build their towns and cities. So, we lived among them instead. We very rarely got involved in their affairs, save for that once during the civil war.”
Tuesday’s smile deepened as he seemed to look inward. “That was a delicious little war” he said. “It reminded me of how much I used to relish combat and it was most refreshing.”
As he was saying this Thorton was smiling and nodding in agreement.
Odie glanced at them both with mild annoyance before continuing. “The Kepler book was an excellent find on his part, a book written at a time when man was ceasing to look to the stars for insight and was beginning to study their movements scientifically. He must have used it to read the signs and portents written in the sky.”
“What do you mean ‘They’ are coming back? Who are they? What signs? What is going on?”
“Eons ago, before mankind’s recorded history, this world was ruled by ancient gods. They were cruel, vicious creatures. When they left we, and others like us, rose to prominence but now they are returning. It’s been written in the sky that they are coming again and we would flee before they do. I hear that you have even had a dream or two about what this world will be like once it’s under their rule again.”
“What do you know about my dreams” Tommy asked. His jaw and his fists clenched. He felt powerless and that fueled his anger.
“More than you do I dare say” was Odie’s reply. “No one is left here with the strength to resist them. All the old powers are dead or gone and soon so shall we.”
“Where is Stephen?”
“Don’t worry; you’ll be joining him soon. You both will.”
He started shaking and his legs felt like water. Odie was still stone faced but Tuesday looked eager and predatory. He glanced over to Helen to see her taking in quick shallow breaths.
“You can’t do this”, she said. “We had a deal! I brought them both, just like you asked!”
At this Tommy’s head rocked back as if he’d been slapped. He felt his fear mix with this feeling of betrayal. The two sat in his stomach like a lump. Tommy turned towards her, his body and his head feeling like they were a thousand miles apart, in confusion.
“What do you mean you brought them both?”
“I’m sorry Tommy; they promised me they’d take me with them. I didn’t have any choice. We had a deal”, she screamed at the men, or whatever they really were, at the table.
“I’m sorry” Odie began, “but time is running out and the old rites call for there to be three. These two were always connected and now you have built a connection with them as well. This makes for a much more powerful rite.”
Helen leapt up from her chair but Thorton caught her easily. Tommy didn’t even try to run when they came for him.
Day 11: Epilogue
The next morning the people of New Damascus were surprised to see closed signs in windows of two of the three local businesses. They were even more shocked when a harried looking Chief Hughes announced the disappearance of five people. A group that included three pillars of the community, the head librarian, and one new arrival. Sadly, none were ever found.
Author’s foreword:
Vampires was my first attempt at a vignette. In literature a vignette is less of a story and more of a single scene. I wondered what it would actually be like if vampires returned to find the current cultural fascination with them. Vampire books. Vampire movies. A whole generation of girls who think vampires sparkle and just want to be loved too. It would be a feeding frenzy.
Then I had an almost absurd image of the US government trying to combat that attitude with Public Service Announcements. The whole thing came out in a rush typed out on my phone in between classes. Much of my writing gets done on my phone between classes. It was fun to write and is quick to read. So remember, Vampires are not your friends.
They say that nothing stays buried forever. Damn them for being right. When hurricane Katrina touched down in New Orleans it destroyed the ninth ward, rendered thousands homeless, almost crippled the state economically, and uncovered the last survivors of the scourge of humanity. They were buried in a graveyard just outside the city limits for over two hundred years until their prison was swept away in a matter of minutes. Of course no one knew or even suspected their existence. Even if someone had no one was in a position to do anything about it. They slipped amongst the evacuees of a nursing home unnoticed, two wizened old men and one equally wizened old lady, and fled north. No one seemed to notice the people who went missing along the way.
They must have been astonished at the world that they were reborn into. Not only were people no longer afraid of them, but many were actively infatuated with the idea of them. Television, movies, and books had painted a pretty picture of them as romantic figures to be desired not to be feared. They certainly used that to their advantage. They moved slowly at first, in the shadows, harnessing their strength, and adding to their ranks. It was decades before they made any overt moves.
I first learned about them when the rest of the world did, when they “came out” on that nationally syndicated talk show. It was ridiculous. I was dumbfounded at how accepted they were. For every one of us that was afraid and felt that we should do something there were 10 more who was enthralled by them. The host of the show was practically on her knees in her pretty designer skirt begging to be turned. At that time I was working as a low level government functionary for the Dept of Defense. I was the one that eventually got stuck doing that useless Public Service Announcement. You know the one, “Vampires are not your friends.” As if that helped us any.
After that it snowballed quickly. Girls, and more than a few boys, flocked to them begging to be fed on or turned. They had grown up reading those romance novels and watching those movies about the sexy, misunderstood, lonely vampire and were completely infatuated with them. The vampires happily obliged.
I know that the military viewed them as a threat drew up plans to eradicate them early on. However, public sentiment was strong and it was an election year, so the politicians said nay and those proud Generals were forced to abort their plans. If we had allowed them to strike then the world would be a different place.
Other politicians tried to stop the flood of young women flowing to the Vamps, but the courts ruled that it was their bodies and that they could do whatever they pleased. Hell, in California one of them even got elected to the state senate. From then on things began to snowball for them. They bided their time until things here in the states reached the saturation point. All the while they insinuated themselves into every facet of society and then they struck. By that point they were everywhere. In the military, the police, wall street. We didn’t stand a chance.
We learned very soon that most of the myths were just that, myths. Garlic had no effect; sunlight didn’t burn them, although it does disorient them, and countless other tall tales. Staking and beheading are the only sure ways to finish one off. One thing was very true however, blood makes them strong. Remember those three wizened refugees? Well, by the time they went on television th
ey weren’t so wizened anymore. They were young, virile, and attractive. That helped tremendously with their appeal.
Under the banner of their god Ba’al, the ancient god of flies and corruption, they began rounding up what was left of humanity in North America. Blood banks were set up and people were slaughtered by the thousands men and women, but not children. Oh no, they keep the children fat and healthy to preserve their stock. They also kept a few “Does” but hardly any “Bucks”. Bucks are slaughtered for food immediately. My wife and daughter were captured during the great sweeps. I won’t lie, I cry myself to sleep most nights thinking about my poor Anna growing up in a pen like a farm animal. The thought of my beautiful Samantha being doped out of her mind and constantly being artificially inseminated haunts every moment.
The UN threatened retaliation, but we all knew that was bluster. The Vamps promised them that they were content in North America and the UN wanted to believe their lies. I know for a fact, however, that they have already started to move south into Mexico and north into Canada. A few of us are still free and still trying to fight back, but we get fewer every day. They caught and drained Frank and Sue just last Wednesday. So, we move around a lot and try to help where we can, fight the good fight, keep peoples hopes alive, but damn we’re so tired. So so tired. We’ve drifted out west where the sun is a little brighter and offers a little bit of protection. By the way, what did you say your name was again?
Author’s foreword:
A Night Under the Stars came about while my wife and I were watching far too much Dexter. I was also interested in writing something in the lines of Poe. Something dark and unapologetic.
I have an odd fascination with a company named Tumbleweed houses. They specialize in tiny houses built on the backs of trailers. I also have a fascination with characters without identities such as Eastwood’s Man With No Name. The two things combined in my head to make this story. A man with no name, no given destination and a ruthless attitude who runs across an equally brutal serial killer. I wanted to see how a killer would fare against a man as given to violence as himself.
Encounters Page 5