Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2010 20:17:22 -0500 (EST)
From: BertMcK@aol.com
Subject: Tales of a Night Walker chapter 6

Tales of a Night Walker
By Bert McKenzie
Copyright 2010

Chapter 6

Our lovemaking was slow and intensely satisfying.  David told me he found
my body unusual.  It was cold and firm, not like anyone else he had ever
had.  But there was still a vitality to it, and despite the temperature, it
created an internal heat that David felt and enjoyed as lust.  When we had
finished, David snuggled into a cold embrace and kissed me gently.  I held
and caressed his soft, warm, human body.  "I've never touched another man
like this," I told him.  I had rarely seen anyone else naked.  My brothers
and I had skinny dipped in the creek as children, but as I grew older, I
had dreamed of being with someone like this and never thought I would.
Just the thrill of feeling his bare skin against my body excited me in ways
I couldn't imagine.  And when we finally joined, I never knew I could
physically be one with another person in such a way, and the orgasm was so
incredible.  Why I had waited so long to experience something so fantastic
amazed me.  David just sighed in contentment.  In a few minutes, he drifted
off to sleep.

I lay there listening to David's heartbeat.  His skin was so soft and warm.
I could feel the blood pulsing at the artery in his neck.  I gently kissed
David's throat and felt the keen pang of desire, the burning at the back of
my throat as I thought of how easily it would be to take David here and
now.  I could end his life and drink that warm liquid.  But I wouldn't.
How could I?  This was the man who had shown me a new way of life.  He had
shown that two men can make love and physically enjoy each other in a way I
thought not possible.  I felt a sharp pang in my heart and wondered if I
was in love.  I thought such a love not permitted, but in this brave new
world I found I could hold and kiss and touch my lover without fear and
shame.  Maybe this is why I had been preserved.  Maybe this is why I had
slept in that coffin for so long.  So that I could awaken to a world where
I could live and love as I was meant to.  But then the thought of what I
was stopped me.  How could I have a life with David?  I wasn't even alive.
I felt no heartbeat in my own breast.  My body was cold to the touch.  I
could hold my breath indefinitely and not pass out.  I could be stabbed
with a knife and continue to function with only a minimal loss of blood.
David deserved someone alive, not an animated corpse.

"What are you thinking?" came a soft voice.  I looked up into my lover's
eyes.

"Nothing," I replied sadly.

"Yes you are," David said as he roused himself and rolled to his side.  "I
can tell there is something going on in there, and I don't think it's
good," he continued, gently stroking my face.

"You have made me so happy," I told him, "and so sad.  I have never known
such joy and ecstasy, but ..."

"But what?"

"But you deserve someone alive."

"You are alive," David said chiding me.

I grabbed David's hand and put it on my chest.  "What do you feel?" I asked
him.  "Do you feel the warmth of a human being?  Listen," I said and forced
David's head against me.  "Do you hear a heartbeat?  David, I'm dead.  I'm
a thing from the charnel house."

"Don't be silly," my lover said.  "Just because you are colder than most
people and maybe your heart isn't beating as loudly as mine...I refuse to
believe you are some sort of undead.  I'm still not buying that story of
you being two hundred years old.  I've seen you awake in the daytime and
I've seen your reflection in a mirror.  You don't have fangs or speak with
a Transylvanian accent."  David pushed me over onto my back and reached
down between my legs.  "And it appears that you have all your parts and
they work quite well."

"But I am one hundred and fifty-five years old.  I was born March 4, 1800.
Just as you can't believe I am what I say, I find it hard to believe that
this is the year 1955.  But I must accept what my eyes show me.  Just a
short time ago I lived in a world that had no such things as motor cars and
airplanes, or televisions and electricity from the slots in the wall."

"Okay, Amish maybe, but, a vampire?" David said with a scoff.

I jumped out of bed and hurried to the kitchen, returning with a sharp
kitchen knife.  I handed it to my lover.  "Stab me," I commanded.  David
looked shocked.  "Go ahead, plunge it into my body.  Perhaps then you will
be convinced."

"What are you, crazy?  I'm not going to stab you."

I reached out and took the knife from him.  "Watch," I said and plunged it
into my stomach.  The blade went deep into my gut and hurt like hell.  I
realized that perhaps I was a bit overconfident and didn't take into
account the pain.  I fell back into a chair, blood oozing quickly from the
wound.  David screamed and jumped to his feet.  But I held up my hand and
with a jerk pulled the knife from my body.  "I didn't think it would hurt
so badly," I admitted as I breathed against the pain, but even as I gasped
out this statement, the pain began to subside quickly.

"What were you thinking?" David shrieked and grabbed a discarded shirt,
rushing to me and trying to staunch the blood.  "Hold this here and I'll
call an ambulance."

"No," I said firmly and wiped the blood away.  "Look."  Where the knife had
plunged in was a deep gash, nasty looking, but no longer bleeding.  David
dropped to his knees and examined the wound.  I could see the astonishment
in his eyes.  As he watched the skin seemed to heal itself, the wound
closing.  "By morning it will be only the hint of a scar," I told him.  "By
tomorrow night you won't be able to tell it even occurred."

"So...so you heal really quickly, but that ... that doesn't..."

"I heal really quickly.  I drink blood.  I can't go out in the sunlight.
And I was born a hundred and fifty-five years ago.  I think that does add
up to make me a vampire.  Even now I can see the blood coursing through
your veins.  I can see the pulse in your carotid artery.  I must restrain
the urge to grab you and tear your throat with my teeth.  I'm not sure it's
even safe to be here with you."

"I think it's safe," David said as he climbed onto my lap.  "We just made
love.  I don't think you're going to hurt me."  He then chuckled.  "And I
can't believe you waited a hundred and fifty-five years to lose your
virginity."

I kissed him gently on the neck, right where I felt my lover's heart
throbbing in the veins.  "It was well worth the wait," I told him.

"Well let's not wait another hundred and fifty-five years.  Feel like
trying it again?"  I stood, picking David up as easily as I might lift a
child, and carried him back to the bed.  We kissed as we fell in the bed
and David rolled me onto my back.  "Don't worry," he said as he lifted my
legs onto his shoulders with a playful laugh.  "I know you're really an old
man.  I'll try to be gentle."

After David had fallen asleep in the early hours, I found a robe and went
out to the kitchen to fix coffee for my new family.  I knew how Sarah
always wanted a cup first thing in the morning to try and help her wake up.
But I found her already sitting at the kitchen table with a cup in her
hand.  "You're up early," I remarked.

"Well, you try to sleep with two people making those sounds all night
long," she replied.  I instantly felt guilty.  I hadn't taken into account
her feelings.  We must have been a bit loud in our love making.  We had
disturbed her sleep, and I wondered if she was bothered by my actions with
her brother.  After all, David had told me how she had romantic interests
in me.  Did she take this as a rejection?  Was she upset with me, inviting
me into her home only to have me sexually assault her younger brother?
"Would you relax," Sarah said as she looked at me.  "Every time I say
something you get this look on your face like you've done some horrible
crime.  I'm glad you and David did what you did.  He needs someone in his
life to provide some stability, and you certainly need someone to...well
to...oh what the hell.  You needed to have sex since you haven't done it in
a hundred and fifty years.  I just have one question.  Is he still alive?"

"Yes," I answered sheepishly.  "He's alive, just asleep.  Only how can
anyone sleep when they could be doing that.  I don't mean to be rude, but
do you know how wonderful that is?"

"I've been told," she said with a dry sense of humor.  "Well I'm glad my
brother is still alive," she said and held up the bloody shirt that David
had used when I had stabbed myself last night in my insane demonstration.
"I found this in the bathroom.  I thought you might have had a midnight
snack."  David took it with him when he went to relieve himself during the
night.

"Oh, that's my blood," I explained.  "I stabbed myself when I was trying to
convince him I really am a vampire.  He didn't believe it but I think he
does now."  We looked at each other in silence for a moment, and then I
looked down at the floor.  "I really didn't mean for this to happen," I
said.  "I feel that I've taken liberty with your generosity.  Although you
seem to accept it, I know it really wasn't polite for me to come into your
home and then spend the night with your brother.  It's just that David was
so forceful in his seduction that..."

"It's okay, Jeff.  Really it is.  I love you like a brother.  Now I just
have two brothers, who happen to be very into each other."

"Well, I guess the 'into each other' part does accurately describe what
happened last night," I said with a laugh.

She shrieked with a laugh as well and replied, "I don't want to know the
details.  Please have some respect."  We both laughed with each other.  It
felt so good to be able to laugh again.  I thought maybe this was why they
called themselves gay.  "Here, you look like you could use a drink," she
said, handing him a coffee mug of blood.  "And then off to the shower with
you.  Even sitting this far away from you, I can tell what you've been
doing."  I downed my liquid breakfast and then headed to the bathroom.

A few hours later, David and I were sitting on the couch planning out our
day when Sarah came into the room from answering the door.  She seemed
agitated.  "There are some detectives from the Richmond Police Department
at the door," she said in a hushed whisper.  "They want to talk to you,
both of you."

David and I stood, and Sarah went to escort the men into the house.  We
would have met them at the door but it was a bright sunny day.  "I'm
Detective Brown and this is my partner, Detective Hollister.  We'd like to
ask you a few questions."

"Sure," David replied, indicating the men take a seat.  "If it's about
those speeding tickets, I can explain."

"We were told all three of you were at a bar last night called the Pink
Collar on 27th and Van Buren," the detective began, ignoring David's
comment.

"Yes, sir," David replied.  I had an odd, sinking feeling in the pit of my
stomach.

"There was an altercation and you were involved."

"Yes," again David answered.  "I had a bit of a disagreement with the
club's owner.  My friend," he indicated me, "came to my rescue when
Mr. Raymeir and his goons were beating me up."

"So why don't you tell us exactly what you did," one of the men said,
looking directly at me.

"As my friend said, he had a disagreement and there were two men holding
him in a back room at that pub.  A third man hit him in the stomach.  I
came into the room and pulled them apart."

"And...?" the detective prodded.

"And I found the club bouncer to help break up the fight and get my brother
back," Sarah supplied.  "Ask him.  He'll verify what happened."

"We did," Detective Brown said.  "He claims he came into the room to find
you," he pointed at me, "choking one of the men."

"When I pulled them off my friend, they hit me with a chair," I told the
detective.  "I simply turned around and grabbed the man, pinning him
against the wall until that fat man came in and told us to leave.  We left
without incident."

"And where did you go?"

"We took a cab home," David spoke up.  "You can call the cab company and
verify that."

"Oh we will," Detective Hollister replied.

"What's this all about?" Sarah asked.  "Are those men trying to press
assault charges?  Because if they are, I'll do the same on behalf of my
brother."

"No ma'am," Brown said.  "We're investigating a murder that took place
after the club closed.  It seems someone came back and killed three men.
Their throats were ripped out as if by a vicious animal.  And they were
drained of blood."  Sarah and David both glanced nervously at me.

"Don't be leaving town until our investigation is complete," one of the
detectives said.  "We may have a few more questions for you later."

After they left I could feel Sarah and David staring at me, as if in fear.
"I'm sorry," I spoke up nervously.  "You know I would never do that.  I was
with you all night," I said as I looked at David.

"Of course you were," David answered and came over to embrace me.  "It's
just a coincidence that those men were attacked."

"A coincidence that they were attacked and drained of blood?" Sarah asked.

"You don't think I..."

"No, of course not.  But I don't think this is a coincidence either.  I
mean if you're here, and you're proof that vampires exist then there might
be another vampire here too.  And he might have seen you and recognized
you.  And he might have thought you would make a good fall guy."  As
twisted as this seemed I had to admit that her words had a strange ring of
truth to them.

I kept wondering about the eyes I had spotted in the club.  Perhaps it was
someone from my past, not Armand as I had first thought.  But perhaps
another person had lived through the ages the same as me.  Perhaps this
other vampire now stalked the city.  I began watching the local news and
reading every paper David or Sarah brought home, looking for other evidence
of a vampire on the loose.  And I quickly found what I was looking for.
Murders were much more commonplace in this day and age.  The police were
calling the latest rampage the work of a serial killer, someone who
murdered his victims and drained them of blood.  But such stories were
often downplayed or buried on back pages.  Apparently the police did not
want the public to panic and so were trying to hide such stories.

But a new thought began to occur to me.  Perhaps there was a divine reason
I was here.  Perhaps I had come into this time in some way as part of the
universe's design to balance the equation.  I may have a mission of which I
was totally unaware.  Perhaps it was my job to find the other vampire that
was on a murder spree in the city and stop him, either by destroying him or
by teaching him that it was possible to live among humans as one of them.
I found I was doing quite well by ingesting the pig's blood.  I had to be
careful to make sure it was fresh, but it seemed to sustain me and keep the
burning in the back of my throat at bay.  As time went on I felt that I had
less of the murderous urges as well, being able to better assimilate into
this society.

One evening when David left town for a job interview in a nearby community,
I decided to go back to the Pink Collar on my own.  I had not been there
since the first time with David and Sarah, but I felt drawn to the bar by
the memory of those eyes in the crowd.  I sat in a dark corner, watching
the dancers swing and sway to the rhythm of the music.  Although I tried to
remain alert, someone managed to sneak up behind me.  "Well, Jefferson,
imagine running into you here," a familiar voice said.  I jumped up and
turned around.  There standing before me was Armand Dubois.  He giggled, as
if pleased with himself at surprising his old companion.  "Aren't you happy
to see me?  No kiss for an old friend?"  The term friend stung.  I
remembered our last meeting and his denouncement of me to my father.  "I do
think you must be surprised.  You must have thought me dead and buried many
years ago.  But here we meet again."

"Armand, how is it you are here?" I asked.

"The same as you, my almost brother-in-law.  I'm here because of a
benefactor who took my life and gave me a new one.  You know, I saw you
that night, when you came in here with your new boyfriend.  But I knew
you'd eventually be back here to me.  Why do you think I killed those men
in the back room that night?  It was just a calling card to get you to come
back."

"Armand, why would you do this?  Don't you know we can co-exist with these
people?"

Armand linked his arm in mine and pulled me toward the door.  "Walk with
me, brother.  There is much you have yet to learn about the 20th century."
Once we were outside, Armand guided us along the street and into a more
deserted section of the city.  "We are the predators and they are the prey.
You must learn that they are here for you.  Oh I've seen you with your new
family."  He emphasized the last word to make it a mockery.  "But they
aren't family.  Think of them more like pets.  You know here people keep
dogs as pets and in the Orient they eat them.  Well to us humans are just
that.  You can make a pet out of them, but they are still primarily food."

I shrugged Armand's arm out of mine.  "How can you say that?" I demanded.
"Think of your own family.  Think of your sister.  Was she food?"

"Ah, poor Felicity.  She didn't make the transition well, I'm afraid."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.  But we had come upon a bum lying
passed out on a bench by the side of the road.

"Would you like a snack?  I'll share," Armand said.  Before I could blink,
my companion had lifted the unconscious man and bit into the neck, sucking
deeply at the blood that gushed out.  I turned away, ashamed and
embarrassed at my physical response; my throat cried out to taste the warm
blood.  "Oh don't be so squeamish, Jefferson," Armand said as he looked up
from the gaping wound.  "This is the best way for us to get an alcoholic
drink.  Why his blood must be 90 proof at least, although I prefer a wino
to the average drunk on the street."

"What did you mean about Felicity?" I demanded.

"Ah poor Felicity.  I tried to turn her, but it is a very delicate process.
One must have a bit of restraint.  If you take too much blood, then you
don't get the mind.  If you don't take enough, you only get a sick
individual who will die of the fever.  You must just take the right amount
before feeding the individual your own blood.  That is what does the trick
you know.  Do you remember your own conversion?  No?"

I shook my head.  "All I remember was that man sucking the life from me."

"Yes," Armand said as he tossed the corpse back onto the bench and
continued his stroll down the street.  "That's how it usually happens.  You
take enough so the victim, I mean the potential candidate passes out.  Then
you make a little incision and let your own blood pour back into his mouth.
If all goes well, you now have a child.  But as I said it is a delicate
process.  Your father was very good at it."

"My father!" I exclaimed.  "He's the man who put the vampire onto me!"

"Not your flesh and blood father," Armand corrected me.  "Your vampire
father.  He's the one who converted you.  He also converted me and a number
of our family here.  Unfortunately, he was a bit sloppy in his behavior and
was eventually caught and murdered.  Burned at the stake.  I watched the
whole affair from the crowd."  I wondered how he could ever have cared for
this callous creature who stood before me so casually talking about
watching someone kill people he knew and then burn to death.  "But we have
a new leader now, one who plans and thinks ahead, not just thinking of his
next meal.  He is our new father.  You'll meet him one day.  You know that
since we had the same vampire father, we are indeed brothers.  But there
are no rules for us.  That doesn't mean we can't also be lovers."

"Lovers," I spat out the word.  "You're an insane monster.  I want nothing
to do with you."  I stared at Armand, knowing that I should attempt to kill
him.  It would be a good thing to protect the others in the city.  Armand
would only look on them as food.  But he was probably as strong as I, and I
really didn't know how to kill a vampire.

"Oh, I forgot.  You have moved on.  You have a new boyfriend now.  Little
David isn't it?  I've seen you two together.  Why don't you introduce me to
his sister and we can have a double date?"

With an animalistic growl I lunged for him, but he easily sidestepped the
rush.  I wheeled and rushed again.  This time I made contact.  We both fell
to the ground, but Armand easily tossed me aside, striking a blow that sent
me reeling.  "See what animal blood does for you, brother?  It makes you
week and useless.  You need good human blood to be able to attain your full
potential."  I jumped up again but Armand moved so quickly he was all but
invisible as he struck me before I had gained my footing and I flew back
into a car, smashing the glass of the windshield.  "Now come along," Armand
grumbled and grabbed me by the collar, pulling me down the street.  I
turned to fight again and the other vampire struck me hard across the face,
dazing me.  "Bring him," Armand commanded and I felt others grabbing me and
pulling me.  Again I tried to struggle but something hit me in the back of
the head and I knew no more.