Vampires are portrayed as evil entities that are dead. Stories of vampires have been around in every culture for ages. In ancient Egypt there were descriptions of "Gods" that drank blood. This novel walks through the beginnings of the first vampires in 15000 BC.
The small clan named the Baska lived on the edge of the Congo in central Africa. They were hunter/gatherers that were close knit and traditional. Their nearest neighbors, the Luo (or Lwo, depending on where you are from) traded with them occasionally as their hunting grounds bordered each other. Life is hard, but good for the Baska.
Kibwe is a young man and a member of the clan Baska. He is a hunter and is emerging as a leader. He thinks on his feet and makes decisions based on the information he has. He and his sister, Sanaa are the last two members of their family and they look out for each other. Life is about to throw a curve at them.
Excerpt
The jungle sounds silenced in unison. All became quiet except the hot breezes rustling leaves and grass. Not a bug sang nor a frog croaked. Not a single sparrow twittered. Then there was a sound of something moving through the dense undergrowth in the jungle. It became more distinct as it got closer. It sounded like a group of eight to ten humans coming toward the pool. Suddenly, the noise ceased. There was an absolute dead silence. Then a large male chimp stepped out of the brush and surveyed the humans at the pool. His skin seemed pale and his eyes seemed much more intense than a normal chimpanzee’s eyes. Kibwe slowly rose. He had had an encounter with chimps before, and he knew they could be aggressive and very dangerous if they chose to be. The chimp locked his eyes on Kibwe’s eyes. Kibwe stood his spear up straight and returned the chimps stare. The chimp calmly reached to his left and wrapped his hand around a three inch diameter tree that stood twelve feet high or so. With a single upward motion of his arm, he jerked the tree out of the ground, snapping its taproot and tearing its lateral roots, leaving the chimp with a nasty root ball full of sharp edges and points. He then took his right hand and snapped the trunk off at about three feet up from the root ball. Throwing away the longer top section of the tree, he spun the wicked club he was left with upright and held it like a man getting ready to fight would hold a club. Never did the chimp allow his eyes to leave Kibwe’s eyes. Kibwe did not allow his eyes to waver either, even though he was amazed at the strength of the chimp. Kibwe slowly leaned his spear on his shoulder, allowing it and his posture to relax. The chimpanzee followed suit and allowed the club to rest on his shoulder. He turned to the bush, finally breaking the eye contact and made a single sound. Eight adult chimps and two juveniles emerged from the bush to join the male. All had pale skin where it was exposed and intense eyes. As a group they moved to the edge of the water where they took turns drinking. The dominant male was the last to drink. When he was finished, he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth in a very human gesture, waved his empty left hand at Kibwe with the palm exposed, turned and joined his kin in the brush. For a short time they could be heard making their way through the brush deeper into the jungle, and then they were gone. Slowly the jungles denizens returned to normal, singing and peeping and chirping to fill the day air with sounds of life. Kibwe looked around at his silent party. All eyes were still on the path of the departed chimps. All faces looked pale, and all eyes looked a bit more intense. He looked down at his own arms and hands. His skin also had lost some color and appeared pale compared to normal. He looked at his reflection in the water so that he could see his own eyes. He had done this before and always his eyes had been so deep brown as to appear black. Now they showed a red-brown iris with a black ring around the outside. They appeared very intense to him. At first he thought it must be a trick of the water and sunlight, but then he looked at Sanaa’s eyes which also had always been dark brown. Her eyes were red-brown with a dark ring around the outside of the iris as well! Now Kibwe was becoming concerned, and he could see the concern on the faces of his friends and sister as well.
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