OK this has vampires and such but is really more humor than horror. There's a lot of fun in this tale. It is a reject from Unbelievable Stories, but I'm reworking it and expanding it into a novel. Here's a synopsis...
What if you discovered not only a cave, but a dead man with a stake through his heart lying on the floor of a sealed secret chamber? And what if that dead man opened his eyes and looked at you?
This is the situation in which biologist Ellie Harris finds herself. Her pale and impaled mystery man is but the first of her adventures in this short story.
“You know how easily he can track you.” He fingered the spear and glanced at his friend over his shoulder. Vrane’s gaze pierced searched him with predatory precision. This solution was effective, but cold. Wanting to give no sign of his intent, he dropped his arm to his side and stared at the sharp point of the stalactite dangling in front of him.
“I will not run. I am no coward.”
“It is the only way.”
“Hiding in this cave is indignity enough . I must face them directly.”
“I have another solution in mind, but you will not like it.”
Vrane tensed. “What mischief have you planned?”
Seldon slipped his hand inside his jacket, turned quicker than any of his preternatural ilk could manage, and speared Vrane through the heart with a hunter’s precision. He lowered his friend to the damp cave floor. “I did warn you that you would not like my solution.”
***
Ellie caressed the damp, rough wall. Her climb up the vertical hillside invigorated her, and now she relished the coolness of the cave she had discovered. How long has it been since anyone found the well-concealed opening and explored its secrets? She smelled and tasted the damp darkness as she carefully investigated the rocky landscape. At her chest level was a smooth area the size of her palm. When she touched the cool imprint, a deep groan echoed. The wall jerked inwards, revealing a musty room.
Her heart pounding, she picked up her small lantern and stood at the stony doorway. A new layer of dampness from inside the chamber assaulted her nose. This place had been sealed off for a very long time, judging by the dank odor. Ellie pointed the light inside. It cast oddly shaped shadows around the room. She felt like a detective on a tough case as she noted each nuance of rock. One cave she had found had ancient paintings of successful hunts on the wall. Would there be paintings here? Or maybe ancient tools left behind?
Before stepping inside, Ellie illuminated the floor. She felt her lips curve into a smile. As she cast the yellow orb before her, a shape she did not wish to see made her hold her breath. Was that a human foot? Her heart quickened. She inched forward. A foot, a leg, a hand – a man? Yes A pale and emaciated man lay with a pole through his heart.
“Oh, fantastic!” Her voice sounded strange in her ears. She would have to report this discovery to the Foundation. "I would be the one to find this." Frowning down at the body, she decided maybe if she could close the wall again, nobody would ever know about the burial chamber. If that's what it was.
Tempting as it might be to close the wall and say nothing about the hidden chamber, curiosity gnawed at her. There was something very strange about this body. Part of her wanted to get out of there; she told that part to shut up as she knelt beside the man. Calling on her science training and mentally catalogued the specimen: Male, about five feet, eight inches tall, long brown hair, small frame, no sign of decay, no dried blood, odd clothes giving a feeling that he dropped in from the past. Cause of death, starvation. He looked like skin on bones, but that stake through the heart must have killed him. He was murdered – or starved then murdered.
Then it hit her. “You call yourself a scientist? You’re an idiot!” A dead body decomposed. This man was perfectly preserved. How could he look like he could start breathing any minute?
She looked into his face, wondering what kind of man he was. His skin belonged to a porcelain doll, not a person. She had always found the rugged look attractive. The thought of running her hands through his hair appealed. Well, it would appeal if he were alive and breathing. This gruesome and gorgeous man repulsed and compelled her at the same time.
What kind of work did he do? The clothes gave no clue and his hands looked smooth. Who was he and what kind of life did he live? That hair. She was a sucker for long hair on a guy. “Ack! What am I thinking?” She looked away from his face, ashamed for thinking a dead man handsome. Her gaze fell on that awful pole protruding from his chest. Why wasn’t there any sign of blood? Suddenly, the sight of it sticking out of him horrified her so much that she braced her foot on his chest. With a grunt of effort that bounced around the cave, she yanked the pole out and tossed it aside. The mountain depths swallowed the sound as if hungry for company.
What happened? How did this poor man get here? Who put him here? Why did they ram a stake through him? The myth about putting a stake through the heart of a vampire crossed her mind. She dismissed it with a nervous laugh.
How long ago was he killed? She studied his clothes more carefully. They were in good condition, except for the hole. Maybe linen, but she didn’t know anything about fabric except that you make clothes from it. Science had always been her passion.
He looked like he belonged in the past or had been in a play or movie that was set a couple-hundred years ago. No zippers and the museum field trip look. She loved his boots. They were made for rough ground but looked good too, with thick, durable soles, hard leather around the toe and heel, and a soft leather shaft with black laces and silver decorations. The silver, not surprisingly, had tarnished.
Was someone watching her? She had the strangest feeling of being observed, but that wasn’t possible. Self-conscious, she looked around and behind her to see, no surprise, everything you’d expect to see in a cave and nothing more. She looked into his pale face and saw one eye half open. My mind must be playing tricks on me. She looked away then back again. Now the other eye, too, was partially open.
Ellie screamed and jumped back, forgetting her surroundings. Her head crashed into a slick stalactite. Though her lantern lit the tiny chamber, her world became black as she slid down the narrowing stony structure and fell unconscious to the slimy, rocky ground next to the mystery man with luscious long hair.
***
Awakening through haze Awareness seeping into him like dampness, slowly creeping in from the edges. The smell of life. A Living offering that smelled young and fresh. A lovely morsel of a woman with large brown eyes. The lass was kind enough to remove the stake from his heart. A rescuer. How wonderful! But her terror fouled the smell. She shrieked. Blood--Sweet, tangy blood! The delicious smell of vitality tantalized him.
The aroma made him keenly aware of his profound hunger. Why should he care if she was afraid? He was so weak that the thought of getting up to find food exhausted him. The smell of fresh blood powered his resolve.
The delicious scent of fresh lifeblood moved him. He sat as quickly as he could manage and looked at its source, a petite, plump woman with hair like fire lay on the ground. He wanted to leap to her and drain every drop, but motivation and desire only took him so far in his weakened state, and in the end he had to crawl over to her.
He looked at her lovely face, slightly narrower at the chin, her head conveniently turned to expose the pulse steadily throbbing in her neck.
He poised himself over her, ready to feast. The feeding frenzy came upon him as he felt his hunger, a desperate demand. His teeth poised for the draining just over her tender life-pulse.
Dear Mira – Can it be you? Too starved to be certain, he beat back his red-hot yearning, trying to regain mastery of himself. I am no fiend. I could never take Mira. He must lick the blood from the damp cave floor and suck it out of her wavy hair. That or sink back into the stupor of starvation.
Those few life-giving drops allowed him some brief clarity of thought. He could not kill the mortal woman he loved, but hunger drove him wild. Next to her, the imprint of where he had lain, a dry place on the damp cave floor. And beside it, a stake sharp as a vampire’s tooth.
Why is this here? Such a weapon should not be left here. He stepped on the thick shaft, sure he could crush it underfoot, but it remained whole.
Why can I not break the shaft? No time for mysteries now. Tangy blood-scent drew him wild. The point. He stepped on it and put the broken point into his pocket to discard somewhere else.
Sweet tangy life. I must feed!
He turned to Mira, ready to fall on her and feast, but his mind shouted at him, no! Never Mira!. I must find food now.
Feeling shaky, he left Mira and the stake and leaned on the wall in the main chamber. Too weak to walk unaided, he crept along the cave wall toward the entrance and, ultimately having no choice, took several shaky steps across the cave to reach it
All he could think of was blood. Rich, warm life. Dusk graciously deepened into blessed darkness as he reached the rough cave opening. He looked out to discover himself high above treetops on a full moon night. Profound weakness made him question his ability to arrive safely on the ground.
If I leap, I shall land in a heap, there to wait for some hapless creature to come near.
He paused at the brink and peered down onto the rocky ground below. No animals or people. He smelled large animals near, but not near enough to land next to one and drink its blood immediately. He called out urgently in his mind, come to me.
Would his thoughts reach them? Those few drops of blood would not hold him for long. If a creature did not come soon, he might fall into a stupor and tumble to the ground.
At last he smelled blood and heard slow, plodding steps. A large bull elk with one antler covering his eyes stopped directly below. The vampire skittered down the rocks, staggered over to the beast and sunk his teeth into its muscular neck. Sweet, sweet life warmed his chilled body. Delicious vitality. Tangy blood and musky elk scent became his world until the last drops filled him.
Strength and power restored for the moment, the vampire explored the woodlands in search of other prey. The moon-kissed blooming dogwoods and sparkling stream that frolicked in the gentle light held no interest for him now, for he had to feed again soon. Such a large beast would suffice under normal circumstances, but coming alive after a stupor of starvation required greater sustenance.
Why am I here? Where am I? Must feed.
As he hunted, patchwork memories of his life crept into his awareness.
Mira. Beautiful Mira with her deep brown eyes and luscious lips. Is she near?
***
Throbbing pain woke her. She shivered and wondered where she was until her mind cleared enough to recount the events that had caused her to be here. She reached up and felt her head. Dried blood covered a jagged cut. "Why isn't there more blood from this?" Head wounds tended to be among the messiest. She sat slowly, cradling her head.
Memory of the moving dead man gave her a snowball-cold feeling in the pit of her stomach. She looked between tousled strands of hair at a man-shaped mark on the floor where the porcelain stranger had been. "No. I must be imagining things…" Ignoring the throbs of pain, she crawled to the spot where he had lain. Snail slow, she reached out a finger and touched the dry ground. "At least I'm not seeing things."
"Unless I'm suffering from concussion and don't know any better. Let's see… I'm Ellie Mae Harris. It's Tuesday, and the president is George W. Bush" Pleased to have passed the severe-brain-injury tests, she dug in her backpack for painkiller and her bottle of water. "Of course, there's nobody here to ask if I'm right about all that, but I think I am." She laughed at herself. "I certainly haven't lost the habit of talking out loud to myself. I'll take that as a good sign. Beats the alternative."
She leaned against a cool, moist stalagmite, closed her eyes and waited anxiously for the meds to make her head stop hammering. Waiting for pain to abate was about as useful as watching a pot of water to boil, so she began considering what might have happened to Porcelain Man.
How could anyone staked through the heart find the strength to move? No doubt he had gone to search for food. Ellie dug in her pack again. She always carried a protein bar and some trail mix because her work often kept her in the field for hours. He had not disturbed her pack.
"I wish he would have taken my food instead of climbing down. Good thing he didn't decide to eat me." Her nervous bounced around the cave in search of the previous one.
She fingered the jagged cut again and wondered how she had managed to shed so little blood. The thought that maybe he lapped it up like a hungry hound crossed her mind, but she dismissed it with a shiver. “Ellie, you’ve read too many horror stories.”
How long had she been unconscious? Had he already made his way to the ground? She would go look when her head had stopped imitating a whirling dervish. Remembering the man's dead eyes looking at her made her wonder, "Did the conk on the head knock me out, or did I actually pass out from fear? I'm not the squeamish type." She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. "But that was the creepiest thing I have ever seen in my life! Right out of a Dean Koontz novel."
Where was the skewered stranger now, and what should she do if he came back? More pressing was the thought that she had to get herself out of the cave. "If I tell anyone I saw an un-decomposed dead man get up and walk out of the cave, nobody will believe me. They'll lock me up." When she felt steady enough, she would hug the rock face like a lover and get herself to the ground.
Anxious to escape the horror novel scene, Ellie got to her feet and tested her balance. "Good. No more dizziness and I'm fairly steady.” Maybe it was adrenaline, but she decided to leave the chamber and go to the cave mouth to peer over the edge. She paused at the panel that had opened the stony door and wondered whether or not to close it. A muffled animal sound from below – perhaps an elk? – caught her attention.
Leaving the panel and door as they were, she walked to the vertical slit that served as the cave mouth, knelt and peered into the moonlit night. A large shape lay on the ground below
"If that is an elk, what's it doing in this part of the park?" The large animal preserve was about two miles away. "I'd better get down there."
She knew full well she should not be scaling the rocks after hitting her head, but she didn't feel as if she had a choice. “I'll take it slowly this time”. Normally she climbed like a mountain goat, but with the injury and no spotter, she didn't want to take any unnecessary chances. Following her own sound advice, she embraced the rocks like a lover as fingers and toes hungrily sought each new crevice.
Although at first she heeded her own advice to proceed with care, anxiety hastened her probing steps.
"Mira, wait! I shall come for you."
The side of a cliff is a bad place to be startled. She told herself a split-second too late to lean forward and hold on. As the softly lit mountainside zoomed past, she tried to catch hold.
"Fear not. I shall catch you!"
Fear not? What century is this guy from, and why do I care at this moment as I plummet to the rock-strewn ground?
The person attached to the voice was as good as his word. He caught her in an indelicate yet effective manner, with one arm around her chest and the other between her parted legs.
Ellie landed with a startled "Oh!" She looked over her shoulder to see the pale face of the stranger. Still in his grasp, she writhed and kicked at him.
The man laughed. "Feisty as ever, Mira."
"Put me down!"
"How can I set you on your feet when you are thrashing like a beast?"
Ellie stopped fighting his steady grip. "Good point. Now get your hand out of my crotch."
"If you wish me to catch you more delicately, next time you might consider landing more artfully."
His ethereal laugh made her shiver. "Funny. Wordy, but funny."
The man took his hand from between her legs but wrapped it around her and pressed her to him with frightening ferocity. “My beloved, I thought I would never again see you.”
Gasping for breath in his tight embrace, Ellie reached back and grabbed his privates while trying without effect to stomp on his instep. Though considering that her feet dangled above the ground, it was no surprise that she could not find his tender instep. Hearing her gasp, the undead stranger loosened his grip. She gulped air. He should have screamed in agony when she squeezed his manhood.
Laughter poked through his words, "Now I am forced to make the same request of you that you recently made of me."
"Why aren't you screaming in pain?"
"Were I still a mortal man, surely I would be wailing like a babe by now."
"What do you mean when you were mortal? And why do you keep calling me Mira?"
"Release me, and then I shall set you gently on your feet, and after that we can discuss our identities like civilized people."
Ellie snatched back her hand and blushed. "Sorry." But she wasn't. It was not only the fall and timely catch that quickened her heart. The lilt of his voice, for sure, but that wasn't all.
He set her down gently as promised and turned her to face him. "Now, it must have been a long time since our last tryst, but do you not remember me?"
“Our last tryst?” The look of love and longing she saw in his face nearly made her weep. Too bad I'm not Mira. He must have worshipped her. "I am not Mira, and I have no idea who you are,” other than an incredibly handsome man with skin pale as death. Who I have the hots for. Ack, this isn't like me. She reached out a tentative hand and pressed it to his heart, but did not feel it beating. Her stomach knotted as her own pulse quickened with mingled fear and desire.
He studied her from head to toe, reached out and touched her nylon multiple pocket vest. "Pray tell me, dear lady, what year this is."
Her eyes widened. Pray tell me? Maybe he hit his head. "Two-thousand seven." She could feel color drain from her face.
"I believe I have been indisposed for a very long time."
"Indisposed?" She remembered the stake through his heart. "How long?"
He passed a hand over his eyes. "My memory is foggy, you see." He cocked his head. "I suppose you could not be her, but the resemblance is uncanny."
"Never mind Mira. Who are you? And how did you get into the cave? And what about that stake through your heart? And what’s this about not being mortal anymore."
"You ask a lot of questions."
"The list keeps getting longer. Let’s start with this. Who are you?” She waited. He looked blankly at her. This is like Sunday at the nursing home! He was here with me, but he’s losing it. She wondered if he would get violent. I better get his name if I can. “My name is Ellie. What's yours?"
"I am called by many names." He looked as if he was searching his memory for his identity.
Ellie watched his eyes lose their fire. She stepped to flatter ground n case she had to run and wondered if she could outrun him if necessary. "Many names? Pick one." Oh no, I’ve rescued a psycho! She wondered if she would live long enough to get help for them both.
He smiled boyishly. "You are a persistent woman."
hose teeth gleamed white and his canines were long and pointed like a vampire. Vampires aren't real. I've just entered the Twilight Zone or the X Files or I'm suffering some weird hallucination from the concussion. Traces of red shone against the white. He looked less emaciated than he had before. The death-cry – earlier she heard the cry and saw a shape. Not waiting for a name, she dashed to where the dark form had been. "Who did you kill?"
Dead on its side lay an old bull elk. One horn had grown in gnarled this season so that it covered his eye. The rest of the herd had ostracized him, and he had grown as gaunt as Porcelain Man. Ellie’s tear fell onto the elk’s twisted horn. "This poor elk suffered so much."
"No. No, I took him quickly. He barely felt anything."
His pleading surprised her. "I mean he suffered so much this season. Since his horn grew wrong. The other elk treated him badly and he didn't eat much." She looked up at the vampire, into his beseeching eyes. "Thank you for ending his suffering."
"Not the feast I had hoped to enjoy."
He looked around with increasing vacancy, but soon he stiffened and staked her with sharp eyes. No longer a lover’s look of adoration or the vapid nursing home glaze. Ellie saw and felt the change come over him as some animal force took hold.
The tantalizing, terrifying stranger shook violently, leaped forward with fangs exposed. She wanted to run, but there was no time. She knew she was about to die. He would kill her, and no reasoning or determination would change her fate.
Then a strange thought crossed her mind. This must not be my day to die. I’m not seeing my life flash before my eyes. She realized that, although she didn’t want him to kill her and she didn’t want to die, she was not afraid of dying.
A large animal thundered toward her from behind. Don’t panic, she schooled herself. She started to run, but the crazed toothy man caught her arm. What happened next surprised her more than anything else that had happened thus far. He sniffed several times, released her arm, and shook violently. He stared at her, mouth wide open and fangs poised.
Something hard hit her head and she heard a rough male voice say, “Oops.” Splashes of colors and starbursts like the finale of a fireworks display filled her eyes, then blackness snapped the brilliant images away.
What have I gotten myself into now? was her parting thought as she toppled to the ground.
***
“Houston, we have a problem.”
“You watch too much television. Is that why you’re late? I had a hot date planned, you know.”
“How could I forget about your love life, Mave? It’s all you talk about when
you’re not dealing with harpies, vamps and wacko ban-shees. I got waylaid by a stupored vampire.”
”Are you sure he’s stupid?
“Very funny.”
“You could’ve left him to feed, you know. Mortals aren’t our problem.”
“If it was just a meal, I would have. Trust me.”
Another voice. “Are you two going to bicker all night? Mave, if you want to be relieved of duty for the night, you’d better let Pran bring in his prize. With the full moon you know we’re going to be busier than usual. Condition?”
“Stable. Got him on rich red and sedatives now so he won’t go nuts on us. Prep a treatment room for me.”
“Understood.”
Ellie heard one male voice near her and the others might have been through a walkie-talkie. She realized she was breathing. “Am I really breathing, or am I dead and only think I’m breathing?”
“Could you breathe without talking?”
“Did I say that out loud?”
“You’d better pretend you’re still knocked out and keep your eyes closed or I may have to eat you.”
“What?” Ellie opened her eyes and saw a lab coat, black pants and hooves. Hooves? “I’ve been through that once already tonight.” She couldn’t see his face. He was bending over Porcelain Man, who lay much as she had found him.
“Keep your eyes closed or you’ll regret it.”
“Too late.”
Hooves turned toward her. “I better ask you some questions. Did you find him roaming around out here?”
His face was a cross between human and animal. Very distracting. “No.” Her head throbbed hard when she sat up. She almost forgot to breathe when she got a better look at the strange creature. His eyes glowed red and he had a sharp set of teeth in his half-open mouth. She didn’t dare try standing just yet.
“You just had to look, didn’t you. If you scream, I will definitely have to eat you.”
“I would only give you indigestion.”
To call the sound he made a chuckle was like calling a hollering baby’s cry a whisper. “Good one. For a human.”
“A demon in a lab coat?” Her tendency to blurt things out was unstoppable when she found herself in unusual situations.
“Pockets are useful when you’re a nurse.” Demon nurse lowered over her. “He tried awfully hard to resist draining every drop of blood from your body under compulsion of raging hunger. Why do you suppose he did that?”
“Wrong blood type?” Bad time to be flippant! Why do I do that?
“Cute. A mortal with a sense of humor. I still may have to eat you.” He turned back to Porcelain man and examined him “How do you know him?”
Ellie got to her feet and tried to keep her knees from shaking. “I don’t know him. He thinks I’m someone else.”
“This is your lucky day, then, because you were almost an appetizer.”
Ellie laughed, knowing full well she was close to hysterical.
“Don’t start feeling lucky just yet. It’s still early. Who did he think you were?”
“His lover.”
Hooves looked at her over his shoulder. “What brought you to that conclusion?”
The look in his eyes when he thought I was Mira.” She felt her face heat and hoped the moonlight hid the blush. “He was confused.”
“Did this fellow happen to mention his name?”
“He couldn’t remember.” She told him about the cave and the stake.
“Why didn’t you leave him alone? Would’ve saved me a lot of trouble.” He cocked his head and peered at her with one eye half closed in an expression she interpreted as quizzical.
“I couldn’t stand to see him that way.”
“Stupid move.” He sneered at her and turned back to his patient.
The other male voice came through the walkie-talkie again. “Pran, don’t eat her. I need her.”
“Cant I at least knock her out so she’ll think she had a nightmare?
“You knocked me out once already.”
A sigh from the box. “Bring her in.”
Ellie considered running, but her gelatinous legs would never hold her up. She probably couldn’t outrun them anyway. She heard a whoosh that turned out to be the ambulance, and like everything else tonight, it was not normal.
Four horses that looked like the incarnation of darkness galloped across the sky. Their hooves did not make any noise, but the sleigh-like vehicle behind them did. “Creepy.” The vehicle resembled a hearse, but without windows. In place of the “cherry” on a normal ambulance, the light flashed between infrared and blacklight.
The horses should have kicked up dust as they came to a sudden stop, but they suspended a few inches above the ground. One of them looked at Ellie, snorted and flared its nostrils.
“Get in. They don’t like mortals.” The horses stared at her with red glowing nostrils and their lips curled back.
“Uh, I don’t think I should-“
Pran roughly pushed her inside, giving her no choice. She landed in a heap on the gurney. “This gets better and better.” She scrambled to her feet as Pran slid the bed out and set the vampire onto it. At least the horses stopped snorting
If daylight ever tried to enter this vehicle, it would have been swallowed in the darkness. This was definitely a place for creatures of the night. A long, sharp instrument caught her attention. “What other, uh, creatures do you take in the clinic?”
“Just your standard demons, vampires, and ban-shees. All the people you humans don’t think exist.”
I just had to ask. This was a twisted version of riding in Santa’s sleigh. After what seemed like a half hour, they arrived. The horses backed the ambu-sleigh into a darkened garage. A pair of grey cat-like orderlies with glowing yellow eyes took the gurney out and stared at Ellie.
“Back off, guys, I had to bring her.” Pran pulled her by the arm into the clinic.
“Take him into room Three.” Ellie recognized this as the doctor from the walkie-talkie. He ran his fingers through his long, dark brown hair and looked stressed. “I’m Dr. Brandon Royce.” He reached out his hand to her.
“Ellie Harris.”
An ear-splitting, soul-shaking scream of “Nobody listens to meeeeeeeee!” made everyone cringe. “That’s a ban-shee having a bad day,” the doctor explained.
Unlike the antiseptic white, bright look of any clinic she had ever seen, this place came straight out of a horror movie. Pools of blacklight cast eerie bluish shadows onto dark grey and black walls and floors. No white or light anywhere. She wanted to pull a flashlight out of her bag. Instead, she followed in Pran’s footsteps and yelped as something wrapped around her right wrist.
“Shut up. I figured you might need some help through the dark since you’ve never been here before.”
She used her free hand and realized he had wrapped his tail around her wrist. The doctor and Pran moved the vampire onto a bed. “What’s wrong with him?”
The nurse pushed her into the room and closed the door. You’re probably safer with us, but stay out of the way or—“
“Or you’ll eat me.”
“The doctor tisked as he examined his patient. “Pran, don’t pester the mortal. We have our uses, you know.”
“Yeah, late-night snacks, appetizers, munchies for when you’re watching a movie.”
Ellie couldn’t help but laugh at that. “What will happen with him?”
“He’s stable for now, but he’ll wake up disoriented. He may be in a fog for a long time, but his memory may come back more quickly if you’re around because he thinks you’re his lover.”
Ellie felt the color drain from her face. How much did she want to get involved? “Are you keeping me here?”
The ghoul growled deep in his throat. “Not a bad idea, doc.”
“I have to go to work in the morning.”
The doctor’s only response was to say he would be back as he and his nurse left.
Protesting, Ellie tried the door but found it locked. Too tired to consider sleeping, she explored the medical implements. An intravenous bag and needle, a drawer with tools and magnifiers and other things that looked normal to her. The ban-shee’s wail made her hair stand up on end. The sound cut off suddenly, as if someone had forced her into silence.
“Mira?” He sounded like a child who had awoken from a nightmare.
Should she play along or tell her real name? “How are you feeling?”
He reached out a hand and motioned for her to sit on the bed. “Where am I?”
“You’re in a clinic.”
“I am so glad I did not kill you.”
“Me too. What’s the last thing you remember?”
His eyes lost their focus as he stared off into memories. He clutched her hand. “I have only flashes.”
“Such as?”
Fleeing. Someone telling me to hide for a couple of centuries.”
Ellie pulled back. “If you squeeze my hand any harder you’ll break it.”
He let go but rested his hand over hers. “I forget my strength.”
“Who were you running from?”
He shook his head. “I remember our last delicious night together.” He looked at her again with that piercing, longing look that instantly melted her.
“What do you remember?” She blushed with no idea why.
Dr. Royce rushed in just then. “Ah, I see our patient is awake. Are you going to be good? I don’t want you eating the woman who was kind enough to rescue you.” He plopped into the chair and spun to face the vampire.
A look of mistrust came into the vampire’s eyes and Ellie wondered if he would go nuts. She backed toward the door. Fangs got out of bed. “I should go. Thank you, Doctor for your ministrations.” He stalked toward the door.
Dr. Royce reached under the desktop. The door clicked locked and something hummed.
When the vampire saw Ellie’s discomfort, the hunted look left his eyes, but not entirely. “You are afraid I will harm you?”
The thought had definitely crossed her mind. No matter how friendly he was towards her at the moment, he was clearly confused, and a confused vampire could not be a good thing. The doctor quietly took a loaded syringe. Not a good sign. Ellie put her hands on her would-be lover’s shoulders. “Why don’t you just lie back and take things slowly. Nobody is after you now.” He put his hands up as if to push her back, but she turned on all her persuasion. How do you turn on a vampire? Maybe running her hands through his hair right now would be useful. Fortunately, it had the desired effect.
He settled back onto the bed. “Perhaps you are wiser than I.”
“You have been away from us for a long time. Rest now.”
He pulled Ellie into the bed and wrapped his arms around her.
The doctor stood smiling, arms crossed over his chest. “We may have to hire you.” Ellie knew he saw her blush because he laughed. This only made her blush harder. She tried to get up but could not. “Thank you for playing. You probably just saved us from having a wild vampire episode to go along with the insane ban-shee and the raging werewolf who’s stuck in human form.”
“That’s really comforting. Except that I’m a biologist, not a nurse, and I’m supposed to go to work in the morning.”
“I think your plans have just changed. If you try to leave and he wakes in a stupor, things could get messy.”
“Until tonight, I thought vampires and werewolves were only in horror stories.”
“Welcome to my world.” She squirmed under his scrutiny. “What is it about our man here that gets you so excited?”
“Excited?” This would be the perfect time to make an exit.
He grinned. “Your pulse jumped and you blushed brighter than a poppy.”
She spluttered before managing to say, “He looked at me as if I was the reason the world rotated on its axis.”
“Take a sick day. You won’t be able to go anywhere while he’s got hold of you.” He took out a different syringe and stuck it into her arm.
She yelped in protest.
“I need to know how he resisted his natural urge to drink you dry, aside from your obvious charms.”
Ellie watched her blood fill the vial.
“Consider it a lucky break that I’m only taking an ounce.”
He had a point. Under certain circumstances, she might have enjoyed lying in bed with a long-haired man. Like if he was human, for instance. And if the ban-shee wasn’t screaming and the stuck werewolf wasn’t howling and beating the walls. Oh, and if she could move.
The doctor grinned down at her. “Stick him with this if he gives you any trouble.” He set the sedative within reach, left and locked the door.
Maybe she should join the others and start screaming. It might be a nice release. Her mind brought up the most inconvenient question it could possibly ask: What happens when I have to pee? Not a good thing to think about. Having no viable option, she laid her head on his unthrobbing chest. How could you drink blood as a way of life and not have a pulse or breathe?
She squirmed. “Next time you find a secret cave, leave it alone.”
He talked in his sleep, and she was able to ask his name and get a few answers before she herself fell asleep.
“Get away!” Vrane let go of her and threw her across the room. That was a bad way to wake up.
Pran caught her and dropped her onto the floor. “Stay back, Human, he’s gone postal.”
Postal? How did a demon know that phrase? She would have left the room, but it was locked.
“I’ve saved you once too often already tonight.” Pran pinned the vampire’s arms to his sides.
The two wrestled. Ellie knew from Vrane’s clouded eyes that he was looking into his past. She threw her backpack at him and yelled at him to stop.
Bad move. Lost in some past fight, he fought his way toward her with bloodlust. She backed toward the bed and grabbed the syringe.
Pran matched Vrane’s strength, but the intent vampire brought him to his knees.
Ellie pressed the long needle into Vrane’s arm. “I hope that’s where you do it on a vampire.” Apparently it was, because he drooped atop the ghoul.
Panting, Pran set the patient onto the bed and strapped him in with iron restraints. “Good thing I didn’t eat you.”
Dr. Royce came in and surveyed the room’s disarray. “I see we’ve had a little adventure tonight.”
Pran rubbed his right shoulder. “She got some information out of Vrane, though.”
“A name, for one thing.” The doctor motioned for Ellie to sit in the chair.
Ellie’s interest in men with long hair had gotten her into a world of trouble, and she was ready for her normal life again. If that was possible. “He talks in his sleep. Someone named Seldon was hiding him from Gorn.”
Pran snarled. “A lot of us tried to steer clear of Gorn. He was bad news.”
“He must have been bad news if a demon is afraid of him.”
Pran towered over her. “Who said I was afraid of him?”
“Do I have to sedate you?” Dr. Royce sighed melodramatically. “I used to think human nurses were a pain at times, but they are angels compared to this miscreant bunch of ghouls I’m stuck with.”
Pran backed up as if he had been slugged and snarled.
Ellie decided that the next time Pran threatened to eat her, she would mention angels and watch what happened.
“I have your bloodwork results back.” The doctor beamed at her and she noticed that he had combed his long brown hair and put on aftershave. “Do you know your ancestry?”
“Yes.”
“Anyone named Mira?”
“No. Wait. Back a few centuries ago there was a Miranda Greensleeves.”
“That must be her. A little of his blood runs in your veins.”
Ellie hugged herself. “So I’m part vampire?”
“Not exactly. It’s not genetic.” The doctor shrugged. “That usually happens when a vampire gets intimate with a human and claims her under his protection. There’s an exchange of blood involved.”
“Did Mira become a vampire?”
The doctor put his hand on hers. The warmth of his touch reassured her. “No, or you would not be here. Vampires cannot breed. But that blood bond saved you from being Vrane’s dinner.”
Pran scowled. “I didn’t realize the fangies could do that. Me personally, I always thought humans made a better meal than a lover.”
Ellie cocked her head. “You’ll never find me anywhere near your bed. And as I told you, I’d only give you indigestion”
“I can believe it.”.
The doctor examined Vrane. “Pran, what do you know about this Gorn?”
“You two know the time humans call the Dark Ages?”
They nodded.
“Gorn and his pals. The Witch hunts too. Now I’ll admit, those were fun for me, but Gorn was in on that too.”
“Why was he after Vrane?”
Ellie shook her head. “I don’t know. He didn’t mutter anything about that.” She looked over at Vrane’s unbreathing form. “Is he ever going to be,” what would you call normal for a vampire?
“Normal?” the doctor finished. “Hopefully, once he is recovered from prolonged starvation, but I sure won’t let him loose anytime soon.” He reached for Ellie’s hand. “Come on, my shift is over. Let’s get some fresh air.”
Ellie drank in dawn’s soft glow as if it were the elixir of life. A breeze wafted his aftershave toward her. “Ooh, Drakkar, my favorite scent. Are you going on a hot date?”
“Only if you let me take you to breakfast.”
A rosy dawn crept across Ellie’s cheeks. “Oh…sure.”
Ronda Del Boccio
Writing as Cat Muldoon
3455 State Highway H
Lampe, MO, 65681
417-779-1054
rondadel.centurytel.net
14 March, 2007
Dear Ms. Barber:
What would you do if, while exploring a cave, you came upon a secret chamber, and what if in that chamber lay a man with a stake through his heart? That is what happens to biologist Ellie Harris in “Hunger.”
Ellie has several brushes with death and with the undead. The trouble begins when she cannot stand to see the pole sticking out of this perfectly preserved man’s chest. The long-haired man turns out to be a starved vampire in a feeding frenzy. And Ellie is in danger of being the dish of the day.
Pran, a ghoul nurse, stops on his way to work at the clinic to collect the new patient And threatens to eat Ellie. Because of what she knows, she must go with him.
What else happens? Ellie turns on the charm and ends up in bed with the vampire. She loses blood while wrapped in his arms. And she discovers a family secret.
Under my real name I am the best selling author of _I’ll Push, You Steer: The Definitive Guide to Stumbling Through Life with Blinders On_, (AWOC Books 2006), as well as numerous articles, stories and poems. Under my pen name, I am published in two fiction anthologies. My first novel, a fantasy romance called _Rue the Day: The Undercover Heir, Book 1_ (Wings ePress) comes out in may of this year.
I am very much open to feedback and am easy to work with. Thank you for considering “Hunger.” I hope you enjoy and select it.
Grab those side-irons, saddle up and join former Civil War sharpshooter Luther Henry for a ride into pure terror, western-style…think ‘Wild Wild West’ meets ‘The X-Files’.
