11. In the Valley of the Shadow of Death
I wasn't able to think at all for many minutes. Even though my senses would force me to experience the world in an extravagant manner, what I was seeing overwhelmed my body and mind's ability to actually feel. Without any sign of reaction, still, cold, totally disconnected even from my body, my soul wailed like a distant siren, or like the abandoned pealing of a high-seas buoy.
The humble abode that had been my home for so many years, where the wife and I raised our children, looked like the inside of a cruel abattoir. Great pools of blood flooded the cheap carpet in the living room, and all the furniture was a shambles. Runners of blood climbed the walls, like vast scarlet doodles drawn by an idiot hand. Small pieces of flesh laid strewn on every surface, some with hairs still stuck to them. I went through the small rooms enveloped in my new mantle of coldness, with every new discovery making the howling of my soul sound more distant at every turn, as if the soul itself shrank while it withdrew more and more. Each room was a worse horror than the previous one. And the final terror awaited for me in the master bedroom.
It was the only room that had no blood-splattered walls or floor. But, where my bed ought to have been, there was only burnt lumber surrounded of soot and rubble. A couple of fire extinguishers laid spent in a corner, and among all this, a silhouette drawn in ashes.
Appalled, I realized that the howling that I thought was coming from my soul actually was moans coming from the immolation. With my eyes almost popping out of their sockets, I noticed that among the ashes an "L" shaped piece of metal stuck out, at the place where the hip bones ought to have been. The final fright overwhelmed me: My wife had suffered a car accident a couple of years back that left her with a fractured hip bone, which had to be replaced by an artificial implant.
As quick as I could, and finally getting rid of that coldness enveloping me, I knelt besides the figure in order to scatter the ashes with my hands.
I hadn't noticed that several minutes had gone by and I was still scattering the ashes, with reddened tears rolling down my cheeks, growling through clenched teeth along my weeping, until I heard a small laugh behind me. In a single motion, I stood up, turned around, and lifted the laughing person from the neck, with a single hand.
This was another short man, but his appearance was frightening. Even though he was attired with a plain shirt, pants and shoes, he looked like a blackened mummy. And still he smiled at me. Without wanting to hear any explanations, and still full of sorrow for what I had just seen, I passed judgment right away:
"Burn!" I yelled hatefully.
I was astonished to see this smiling mummy make a face of extreme pain, and then break out in guffaws.
"Oi! Tiddler, surely you know one must be full of blood inside to be caused to sprout flames, yah?" And he still laughed.
Not wanting to speak to him, I bit this buffoon in the neck. A single drop of blood was all I was able to suck out of him, after spending long seconds trying in earnest. But that single drop was like a nuclear explosion inside my brain. With all kinds of details, almost as if I was actually there, living in that moment, I witnessed everything that had happened in my home.
The vampire Imenand had come to Kingsville following the deafening klaxon of Benjamin's presence, which is how he is perceived by the mind of those who can read thoughts. When he arrived to the town he discovered that there was a coven here already. Imenand would destroy any vampire he came across, as a way to avoid complications later on. He was in the process of eliminating all of them when he felt in his mind the quickening of new klaxons in the town of Kingsville. Suddenly, instead of hearing the solitary bellowing of Benjamin's soul, there was a complete brass section, like the Final Trumpets of the Apocalypse.
For the first time in many centuries, Benjamin must have been creating complete vampires, with all the powers, as he did in the beginning. When Imenand arrived at my home, where the chorus of trumpets had been sounding off, he found the same scene I did. Except that my wife was still aflame. It was Imenand who took the fire extinguishers from the kitchen and put out the fire. There was nothing left to do for my wife's body, but he was able to prevent the rest of the house burning down. His purpose was to investigate just what it was that had happened here. But when he noticed that Benjamin's presence had vanished again, he lost all interest and left to investigate instead the killings at the Navy base. Later on, when I returned, he detected me and so he came to see me.
With an incredible strength, Imenand took my hand away from his neck, and pushed me all the way to the opposite wall. But he didn't seem interested in fighting. Instead, he was looking at me with a half-smile on his face.
"Benjamin did not enlighten you, did he?" Not waiting for an answer, he went on. "That would be just like him: He thinks it is better for one to explore and discover. I can see that he bestowed extraordinary powers, yah? Very few vampires could have challenged a whole platoon of modern marines without harm. Forsooth! A mere platoon of Roman soldiers would suffice to trounce any of us, turn us into minced meat, back in the day… Alas, it matters not… I am to assume that you also ignore Benjamin's new whereabouts, yah? I divine that he must have gone to abscond himself again in the Ministry of Mysteries. Bah! May he take his ease for as many decades as he desires, for now it shall be my turn to reign, seeing as Benjamin has disappeared. Which reminds me: There cannot be two kings. So, burn!"
The pain was gigantic, but it couldn't compare to the fulminating pain that I felt with my transformation, or to the numbing coldness I felt by being in this house. I took it as a passing bother only, because the flames did not sprout. And, mostly out of anger than out of resolve, I put my hand up like a traffic cop and said again, "No!"
Imenand's smile fell off his face like a wet spaghetti from a spoon. Alarmed, he resumed his attack, but the spirit refused to obey him. Not minding any of the mysterious powers of the spirit, I tried to solve this problem like I had done all my life, and in one single bound I landed in front of Imenand again. Without any remorse whatever, I punched him on the temple and kneed him in the groin. He only stood there, looking at me incredulously.
"Oi! What do you think you are doing? Do you think you will make me unconscious with fisticuuuuuuuuuuh…?"
Tired of his arrogance, before he finished the word "fisticuffs" I stuck my hand into his mouth as far as it went, and with a violent jerk I ripped off his jaw. Imenand yelled out inarticulately, retreating as quick as possible, and feeling gingerly with his hands around the hole on his face. When I saw that it was not that difficult to rip him apart, I went after him. Taking hold of anything I could grab, I started to rip off piece after piece. His hand, making a claw, which tried to scratch my face off, was the first thing that came off amid gnashing teeth and hard jerks. Each piece that I managed to rip off made me angrier and angrier, until the moment came when everything turned into a white wash in my eyes and I transformed into a destroying automaton.
Panting in a rage, several minutes later I was sitting on the floor surrounded by small pieces of Imenand. I was holding his head was on my lap, looking into his eyes, terrible eyes that still moved from one side to the other, wildly. Still furious, I collected all the scraps of Imenand's body. Once I had them piled up, I placed his head on top, carefully, making sure that he could see what I was doing at all times. Then, with a savage move, I tore my wrist with my teeth, and started spraying blood all over the trembling shreds. As if by the blackest enchantment, the pieces started fusing together while Imenand's eyes shone in understanding and terror.
I repeated the spraying several times, until the gelatinous mass started taking human form again. Then, concentrating harder than ever, I said again, "Burn!"
Watching that pyre consuming the remains of my former home, I decided from that moment on never to surrender again to the thirst, and to go far away, to wherever there wouldn't be any human beings.
I wasn't able to think at all for many minutes. Even though my senses would force me to experience the world in an extravagant manner, what I was seeing overwhelmed my body and mind's ability to actually feel. Without any sign of reaction, still, cold, totally disconnected even from my body, my soul wailed like a distant siren, or like the abandoned pealing of a high-seas buoy.
The humble abode that had been my home for so many years, where the wife and I raised our children, looked like the inside of a cruel abattoir. Great pools of blood flooded the cheap carpet in the living room, and all the furniture was a shambles. Runners of blood climbed the walls, like vast scarlet doodles drawn by an idiot hand. Small pieces of flesh laid strewn on every surface, some with hairs still stuck to them. I went through the small rooms enveloped in my new mantle of coldness, with every new discovery making the howling of my soul sound more distant at every turn, as if the soul itself shrank while it withdrew more and more. Each room was a worse horror than the previous one. And the final terror awaited for me in the master bedroom.
It was the only room that had no blood-splattered walls or floor. But, where my bed ought to have been, there was only burnt lumber surrounded of soot and rubble. A couple of fire extinguishers laid spent in a corner, and among all this, a silhouette drawn in ashes.
Appalled, I realized that the howling that I thought was coming from my soul actually was moans coming from the immolation. With my eyes almost popping out of their sockets, I noticed that among the ashes an "L" shaped piece of metal stuck out, at the place where the hip bones ought to have been. The final fright overwhelmed me: My wife had suffered a car accident a couple of years back that left her with a fractured hip bone, which had to be replaced by an artificial implant.
As quick as I could, and finally getting rid of that coldness enveloping me, I knelt besides the figure in order to scatter the ashes with my hands.
I hadn't noticed that several minutes had gone by and I was still scattering the ashes, with reddened tears rolling down my cheeks, growling through clenched teeth along my weeping, until I heard a small laugh behind me. In a single motion, I stood up, turned around, and lifted the laughing person from the neck, with a single hand.
This was another short man, but his appearance was frightening. Even though he was attired with a plain shirt, pants and shoes, he looked like a blackened mummy. And still he smiled at me. Without wanting to hear any explanations, and still full of sorrow for what I had just seen, I passed judgment right away:
"Burn!" I yelled hatefully.
I was astonished to see this smiling mummy make a face of extreme pain, and then break out in guffaws.
"Oi! Tiddler, surely you know one must be full of blood inside to be caused to sprout flames, yah?" And he still laughed.
Not wanting to speak to him, I bit this buffoon in the neck. A single drop of blood was all I was able to suck out of him, after spending long seconds trying in earnest. But that single drop was like a nuclear explosion inside my brain. With all kinds of details, almost as if I was actually there, living in that moment, I witnessed everything that had happened in my home.
The vampire Imenand had come to Kingsville following the deafening klaxon of Benjamin's presence, which is how he is perceived by the mind of those who can read thoughts. When he arrived to the town he discovered that there was a coven here already. Imenand would destroy any vampire he came across, as a way to avoid complications later on. He was in the process of eliminating all of them when he felt in his mind the quickening of new klaxons in the town of Kingsville. Suddenly, instead of hearing the solitary bellowing of Benjamin's soul, there was a complete brass section, like the Final Trumpets of the Apocalypse.
For the first time in many centuries, Benjamin must have been creating complete vampires, with all the powers, as he did in the beginning. When Imenand arrived at my home, where the chorus of trumpets had been sounding off, he found the same scene I did. Except that my wife was still aflame. It was Imenand who took the fire extinguishers from the kitchen and put out the fire. There was nothing left to do for my wife's body, but he was able to prevent the rest of the house burning down. His purpose was to investigate just what it was that had happened here. But when he noticed that Benjamin's presence had vanished again, he lost all interest and left to investigate instead the killings at the Navy base. Later on, when I returned, he detected me and so he came to see me.
With an incredible strength, Imenand took my hand away from his neck, and pushed me all the way to the opposite wall. But he didn't seem interested in fighting. Instead, he was looking at me with a half-smile on his face.
"Benjamin did not enlighten you, did he?" Not waiting for an answer, he went on. "That would be just like him: He thinks it is better for one to explore and discover. I can see that he bestowed extraordinary powers, yah? Very few vampires could have challenged a whole platoon of modern marines without harm. Forsooth! A mere platoon of Roman soldiers would suffice to trounce any of us, turn us into minced meat, back in the day… Alas, it matters not… I am to assume that you also ignore Benjamin's new whereabouts, yah? I divine that he must have gone to abscond himself again in the Ministry of Mysteries. Bah! May he take his ease for as many decades as he desires, for now it shall be my turn to reign, seeing as Benjamin has disappeared. Which reminds me: There cannot be two kings. So, burn!"
The pain was gigantic, but it couldn't compare to the fulminating pain that I felt with my transformation, or to the numbing coldness I felt by being in this house. I took it as a passing bother only, because the flames did not sprout. And, mostly out of anger than out of resolve, I put my hand up like a traffic cop and said again, "No!"
Imenand's smile fell off his face like a wet spaghetti from a spoon. Alarmed, he resumed his attack, but the spirit refused to obey him. Not minding any of the mysterious powers of the spirit, I tried to solve this problem like I had done all my life, and in one single bound I landed in front of Imenand again. Without any remorse whatever, I punched him on the temple and kneed him in the groin. He only stood there, looking at me incredulously.
"Oi! What do you think you are doing? Do you think you will make me unconscious with fisticuuuuuuuuuuh…?"
Tired of his arrogance, before he finished the word "fisticuffs" I stuck my hand into his mouth as far as it went, and with a violent jerk I ripped off his jaw. Imenand yelled out inarticulately, retreating as quick as possible, and feeling gingerly with his hands around the hole on his face. When I saw that it was not that difficult to rip him apart, I went after him. Taking hold of anything I could grab, I started to rip off piece after piece. His hand, making a claw, which tried to scratch my face off, was the first thing that came off amid gnashing teeth and hard jerks. Each piece that I managed to rip off made me angrier and angrier, until the moment came when everything turned into a white wash in my eyes and I transformed into a destroying automaton.
Panting in a rage, several minutes later I was sitting on the floor surrounded by small pieces of Imenand. I was holding his head was on my lap, looking into his eyes, terrible eyes that still moved from one side to the other, wildly. Still furious, I collected all the scraps of Imenand's body. Once I had them piled up, I placed his head on top, carefully, making sure that he could see what I was doing at all times. Then, with a savage move, I tore my wrist with my teeth, and started spraying blood all over the trembling shreds. As if by the blackest enchantment, the pieces started fusing together while Imenand's eyes shone in understanding and terror.
I repeated the spraying several times, until the gelatinous mass started taking human form again. Then, concentrating harder than ever, I said again, "Burn!"
Watching that pyre consuming the remains of my former home, I decided from that moment on never to surrender again to the thirst, and to go far away, to wherever there wouldn't be any human beings.
To Be Continued…
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