Vampyres in the Night (imagine blood dropping from big red letters)

Prologue

We write the year 1532 anno domini. The poor people in the small cities not only have to survive bad hygiene conditions, lack of foot(caused by the newly found love for oversized bear-traps people are happily placing on most unfortunate places) and the complete absence of good weather, but also the occasional encounter of often vile creatures whose existence is commonly ignored or denied. These include werewolves, vampires, mother-in-laws and funny little floating things only children can see. But while most of them act as usual and kill or frighten poor city-dwellers as often as possible, we have to note that some of the vampires have begun to act different. Odd, to say it more exactly.

Usually a vampire went once a week to the city next to his graveyard, found himself some human with a tasty looking throat and killed him. This happened always by plunging two long and sharp teeth in the victim's throat and drinking his blood, which was naturally the source of the vampire's strength and vitality. Actually vampires could live many hundred years, if they only drank enough blood, took many nice naps in their coffins and avoided sunlight, garlic and angry mobs with wooden stakes or sharp weapons made to severe heads.

But since more and more humans were going mad ( which was in some cases the fault of the mentioned mothers-in-law ) the vampires began to fear that the human's madness was infecting and stopped drinking their blood. Of course it was abvious that a noble vampire with a good-looking black cape could not drink animal blood and manage to keep an acceptaple reputation, so they became vegetarians, and for quite some time, if you made a nightly trip to the local graveyard or the vampire castle behind the spooky forrest behind the graveyard, you could indeed watch vampires sucking at various vegetables. But alas, the fact that carrots made your eyes better was completely wrong! This not only meant that a whole lot of children became mad because their mothers had lied all their live to them, but was also a great problem for those vampires who had made the carrots to their favorite vegetable. In fact the carrots had exactly the opposite effect on vampires after some years, which made them decide to switch back to human blood.

And all this has the effect that the poor city Wrnmd ( well, since cities are a rather new thing in this part of the world people don't have experience with good-sounding names for them yet ) is being invaded by more and more short sighted vampyres ( ok, the human's madness actually was catching, and the affected vampires decided that a 'y' sounded better then an 'i' ) who have forgotten how to kill people the right way, which is a rather big problem for them. Furthermore, to the disadvantage of the humans, some of the vampyres in their madness also seem to have forgotten the centuries-old tradition that vampires don't like garlic or that they should die when someone stakes them, which some people who met a short sighted vampire found out in a rather funny way that involved indeed many stakes, because in the vampire's vegetarian years the humans have forgotten where they have to put the stake.

And if that wouldn't already be enough...hey what are you doing there? Who in the hell are you? What? Wait! No! Argh!!!

- We are deeply apologizing for our misbehaving narrator. He has been...removed...now and will no longer bother you. Please forgive us -

Chapter 1: The Chase

Again that scratching sound. Coulin Mangar came to a halt and turned his head in a rush, but again all he could see was the wet darkness of the street behind him. He hurried on trough the rain, arms over his head in a futile effort to save his black hair from the falling water. And again he heard that sound. It was hard to make out anything against the rushing rain, but he was sure he had heard boots scratching over the stony road somewhere behind him. He hurried on, faster now as before. Again the sound, nearer as ever before. When he turned around he thought to make out some shadow moving around a distant corner. But why was he so frightened then? Perhaps he was not the only one trying to get home now. And in the thick rain it might as well have been his imagination that played him a trick. He hurried on. But again the eery scratching sound, and when he turned around this time he was sure to see a black shape moving toward him. He fastened his step, his breath coming short and his heart beating faster. After a few dozen paces he slowed a bit and turned around again, sure to see nothing but rain behind him. But when he saw a black shape coming ever nearer he began to run. He ran as fast as he could, but every time he looked behind him, the dark shape chasing him was nearer then the last time. His heart pounded in his ears and his endurance began to vanish. Only now he noticed that he didn't knew where he was. In the dark and the rain he could not make out any remarkable signs and in his fear he had lost track of which way he had taken. Despair flooded trough him when he suddenly realized the wall looming up in front of him. A dead end. No way of escape. His follower right behind, and no way to get out. A few paces before he reached the wall he stopped, coughing, trying to gain some breath. His whole wet body shivered, but not from cold. After a wave of nausea from the too hard effort of running had overcome him, he was ready to face whoever the dark shape was that had chased him. But when he turned around his gaze fell on an empty street. The only things he could make out were the rain and shadows. Black shadows.

When a lightning strike cut trough the black sky and unbearable loud thunder rolled over the city, the shadow in front of him vanished, revealing the pale gaze of a dark clad shape, showing two long white teeth. With a snarl the dark creature rammed it's sharp teeth in his flesh.

In the next moment, accompanied by his scream, the creature pulled his head back, shrieked and began to spit on the ground while making ugly sounds.

"Aargh! What the hell are you doing??? You bit me in the shoulder!!! Wait till i get my...wait...you...you are a v...va...a VAMPIRE!!!! And you bit me in my shoulder!!!"

"Umm..well not exactly. I am a Vampyre!"

"A Vamp-Y-re!? And you bit me in the shoulder!"

"Umm...yes, forgive me but..well, you know i don't see very good.."

"You don't SEE very good?? You are a SHORT SIGHTED vampire??"

"Umm..Vampyre please."

"A short sighted Vampyre! What the hell is wrong with you??"

"Why, nothing. I'm fine, thank you."

"What...i thought vampires were...well actually i didn't believe vampires do exist, but you know what i mean, i thought vampires were EVIL! Well, you bit me, but i mean, vampires are supposed to kill people, not to apologize for failing to do so...are you sure you are all right?"

"Why, sure, yes. I mean..well actually...i..i....i can't do it anymore! I...forgot it! I mean, i USED to be evil, really evil, i must have killed a hundred people, but...all those...yes, they changed me! They made everything go wrong! It's all the carrots fault! They made this! Stupid carrots! They are so evil! They made me so...so...nice! uu...uuuu...uuuuhuhuuuu...."

And he couldn't believe his eyes when the vampyre began to weep. He leaned on his shoulder and weeped as ever a child who had to eat too many carrots had.

"I mean..snief....i mean i was good once! I am still good, am i not? I did the chasing thing good, did i not?"

"Umm..well i suppose so...i was actually quite frightened...although now i don't see why anymore.."

"And..and the trick when i appear in the lightning flash, i did that good to, didn't i?"

"Oh yes, that let my heart freeze...for a moment that is, until you bit me.."

"Oh, oh yes...does it hurt? I'm really sorry about this, but well, i thought i still could do it..kill people i mean and drink their blood and..you know, those vampire things.."

"Oh yes, well it doesn't hurt much..i guess you didn't bite with enough strength....no, wait! i mean you did it good! yes, it was a..good bite..but perhaps you have hit my bone so the wound isn't very deep..."

"Yes? You think so? Thank you, i gave my best."

"Umm..well i think i had better go home now...you see, it's still raining and i don't want to catch a cold."

"What? You..you mean you will already go home?"

"Already?? Well, i suppose so.."

"Oh. That's sad. Now i am alone again.."

"Uh wait, don't say...vampires are alone usually, aren't they? I mean like lying alone in your...er..coffin"

"Well, yes..i mean earlier i was like always alone, but the carrots...the evil things changed me...and..and...i don't want to be alone anymore...i...i am frightened."

"WHAT? Frightened?? I think people are supposed to be frightened about vampires, but where do we get when the vampires get frightened when they are alone??"

"Please..."

"Oh well. Fine. Come with me then. What the hell am i doing?? I'm inviting a vampire...but oh well. Who cares anyway. Come with me then, but don't try to bite me again, or i will defend myself!"

"Oh sure! Thank you so much! This is really nice of you!"

"Ok Ok, just be silent and follow. Oh, and perhaps i should tell you my name. I am Coulin. Coulin Mangar."

"Oh yes, please forgiveme, i forgot to introduce myself. My name is Pit."

"Umm..Pit?? Shouldn't a vampire name sound ancient and evil or something like that?"

"Well, i used to have another name. I was called "Umbeloras de'Caparnas, Dreaded Lord of the Night and Slasher of Throats". But some of the other vampires called me Umdeca Drelonislat, because back then vampires were always busy with killing people and lacked the time for using so long names. But then...the carrots...they...they made me change my name."

"Oh...i understand...yes, the carrots...evil things...."

Meanwhile the rain had stopped, but still fog waved trough the wet streets and waterdrops were falling from roofs and splattered on the ground. The dense fog made it difficult to see far and so it took more then half an hour until the unlikely pair reached the first street Coulin could recognize. From there it was only a few streets farther to Coulin's house, a thing made from stone and wood, that was, like most of the other houses in this street of not-so-rich people, truly architectonic offensive. In other words, its steep walls and planks denied at least 12 physical laws, most of which had something to do with gravity, at the same time. But that was perfectly ok as no one who had been involved in the houses' building had had any idea that those laws existed.

But hoping to finally enter a warm and dry place the unlucky two were rushed over by a pan-flinging thunderstorm which became a small openmouthed staring woman after the pan, which was made of more then five pound solid steel and originally aimed at Caulin, hit Pit right in the face, knocking him unconscious.

"Umm...good throw! He was really beginning to annoy me. Thank You." Coulin was quick to say to the former thunderstorm that had become his wife Maeg.

"Thank yo...hey wait! I wanted to hit you! Where have you been? I'm sitting at home all evening waiting for you and you don't come home! I was so worried about you...i could kill you! I really hope for you that you have a good explanation where you have been in this terrible weather!"

"Uh yes, of course, I...well it is a long story...involving a...mad...vampire...uh..vamp-Y-re i mean."

"Hoho you really think you can get me with such a cheesy story? Coulin Mangar i WON'T forget this!!! ....oh....wait...what...AAAAAAH"

Maeg had seen something white shining on the edge of her vision and only now had looked in the direction of the still unconscious lying Pit. What disturbed her the most and led to her unexpected shriek was the realization that this white (and a little bit orange) looking thing was actually one of Pit's teeth, which was undoubtedly a good deal longer and sharper then a tooth should be.

But Maeg was never a person who was easily frightened (in fact she was more the sort of person who swings heavy pans in the faces of unhuman beings, given they have something that could go for a face) so she calmed down fast after her husband had told her the night's events and that Pit definitely was not really dangerous.

When Maeg was not trying to hit people with something or shout at them she usually was a quite a hospitable woman so she decided to take Pit in the house, or better said: let Caulin carry him in, to make him a hot soup and look after the place on his head where the pan had hit with full force and where meanwhile a small red-blue mountain had grown.

What neither Caulin nor Maeg did think of in this moment was the fact that vampires can not enter a building without being invited. This proved quite a problem now, since the unconscious Pit did make no visible try to wake up. Coulin wasn't exactly sad about this fact, so he decided to just lean him against the wall outside the house until he wakes up.

He finally could close the door then, happy to be on a warm and dry place. Maeg made a hot dinner then and soon they both forgot about the little mad vampire who was snoring outside their house...