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The vampirina-ballerina stopped. She did that a lot when she told a story. Just looked off into space and thought. Night-Folk don't feel time the way mortals do. Some get distracted by their own reflection in a big shop window. They'll stand out there, real early in the morning, like two or three o'clock. Won't move or blink, or anything. Sometimes it's not even their own image that gets them. Could be the way a car parked at the curb across the street looks, or the moon, or anything, or a dead cat. Usually happens when they're alone. Not with another of their kind.
Danny watched her for a while. He didn't know what to do. Thought it was a seizure... if vampires have seizures. Then she sighed and he said - Are you alright?..... Elaina (called Kitty for a period in her youth) looked at him and said - What?..... He said - I-I-I saw you staring off like that and got scared.... The vampirina said - Don't be scared.... Then she drifted off again....
The shrouded thing with the silver ball bearing eyes came from God knows where and stood in the doorway. They were in the room with the unplugged, old early fifties television and the mohair sofa. Some fat, yellow candles scattered about gave off a little light.... made the 'eyes' look even worse. Danny didn't move. Was she going to kill him? She killed the other two drama club kids. She killed Jerry and that singer girl. Janis, her name was.... Danny almost started to cry. He just wanted to get out of there. He just wanted to go home.
Then the vampire woman said something in Russian and the shrouded thing left. Without raising her eyes, she whispered - I am not going to kill you, in a manner of speaking...... He didn't hear the 'in a manner of speaking part.' The first seven words were quite enough. He nodded. He was afraid to say anything else. But the preternatural woman in the dirty tu-tu and Playtex Living Bra knew his thoughts and said - No, my young friend. Your existence will go on. I will not send you into the dark-beyond-dark, or wherever it is we go...... You read my mind? - he asked..... No - she answered. I do not read these things after the fact. I feel them as you feel them. The experience is quite different. I can assure you....... Then Danny wanted to find out if she'd let him go home. He didn't know if night-folk feared the cops or not. Circumstances indicated otherwise. But he couldn't do anything, so he sat there in his tightie-whiteys and waited for the vampirina-ballerina to make the next move.
She inhaled and said - I was reliving an episode from my youth. A portentous event is about to unfold and such things always cause me to reflect. ....... Danny, being only sixteen years old and more into dramatics than academics, had no idea what portentous meant, so he just looked.
Elaina went on - I have seen many people leave this life and sometimes I feel it.... Danny said - I-I-I didn't know that..... She said - I am vampire, not a monster..... He couldn't help it. He asked - What about the other two?..... She said - Your friends?..... He nodded... She said - Well, I may not be a monster, but some of my 'associates' are....Danny pressed back into the sofa. He wished he'd never gone to that audition. He wanted to ask about the silver eyed thing, but decided not to.
The ever so slightly intoxicated vampirina (you know they like alcohol) sniffed and said - Old Russia was a very violent place. Czars fried people alive in huge, copper pans. I saw it, not as a mortal, but after. They scream at first. The skin on the back of the head burns off and even the bone begins to smoke. Same with the hips, the heels. Eventually they contract into a fetal position. More than a fetal position. Like a walnut. Like something in a shell. They tremble. Life lasts as long as the heart does. The lungs too, I suppose. And when they wanted to be especially harsh, they'd douse the pathetic remnant with ice water, only to do it again a bit later. They'd shear off children's fingers with large scissor-like things used by metal workers and make their parents watch. A highlight of the spring pogrom season it was. I saw old men held down on the ground, their faces cleaved in two by axe wielding mobs. Did I say faces? No, I am wrong. The blade went clear through, shattering the bone and splitting the brain. Crazed onlookers capered about and danced....
Wait. Please. Wait - Danny said. Why are you telling me this?
She gave him a piteous look and said - To prepare you for what is to come....
Then she retreated back into silence and stared at nothing once again.....
<more next time>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
click - RUSSIA ... to see more Vampire Wonderland ...
click - MUSCOVY ... to join me on Twitter...
please leave a comment. if you like, tell your friends. each post does not stand alone but is part of a longer story arc. scroll up or down to see the whole thing. thank you for any support you're willing to give me.
Danny watched her for a while. He didn't know what to do. Thought it was a seizure... if vampires have seizures. Then she sighed and he said - Are you alright?..... Elaina (called Kitty for a period in her youth) looked at him and said - What?..... He said - I-I-I saw you staring off like that and got scared.... The vampirina said - Don't be scared.... Then she drifted off again....
The shrouded thing with the silver ball bearing eyes came from God knows where and stood in the doorway. They were in the room with the unplugged, old early fifties television and the mohair sofa. Some fat, yellow candles scattered about gave off a little light.... made the 'eyes' look even worse. Danny didn't move. Was she going to kill him? She killed the other two drama club kids. She killed Jerry and that singer girl. Janis, her name was.... Danny almost started to cry. He just wanted to get out of there. He just wanted to go home.
Then the vampire woman said something in Russian and the shrouded thing left. Without raising her eyes, she whispered - I am not going to kill you, in a manner of speaking...... He didn't hear the 'in a manner of speaking part.' The first seven words were quite enough. He nodded. He was afraid to say anything else. But the preternatural woman in the dirty tu-tu and Playtex Living Bra knew his thoughts and said - No, my young friend. Your existence will go on. I will not send you into the dark-beyond-dark, or wherever it is we go...... You read my mind? - he asked..... No - she answered. I do not read these things after the fact. I feel them as you feel them. The experience is quite different. I can assure you....... Then Danny wanted to find out if she'd let him go home. He didn't know if night-folk feared the cops or not. Circumstances indicated otherwise. But he couldn't do anything, so he sat there in his tightie-whiteys and waited for the vampirina-ballerina to make the next move.
She inhaled and said - I was reliving an episode from my youth. A portentous event is about to unfold and such things always cause me to reflect. ....... Danny, being only sixteen years old and more into dramatics than academics, had no idea what portentous meant, so he just looked.
Elaina went on - I have seen many people leave this life and sometimes I feel it.... Danny said - I-I-I didn't know that..... She said - I am vampire, not a monster..... He couldn't help it. He asked - What about the other two?..... She said - Your friends?..... He nodded... She said - Well, I may not be a monster, but some of my 'associates' are....Danny pressed back into the sofa. He wished he'd never gone to that audition. He wanted to ask about the silver eyed thing, but decided not to.
The ever so slightly intoxicated vampirina (you know they like alcohol) sniffed and said - Old Russia was a very violent place. Czars fried people alive in huge, copper pans. I saw it, not as a mortal, but after. They scream at first. The skin on the back of the head burns off and even the bone begins to smoke. Same with the hips, the heels. Eventually they contract into a fetal position. More than a fetal position. Like a walnut. Like something in a shell. They tremble. Life lasts as long as the heart does. The lungs too, I suppose. And when they wanted to be especially harsh, they'd douse the pathetic remnant with ice water, only to do it again a bit later. They'd shear off children's fingers with large scissor-like things used by metal workers and make their parents watch. A highlight of the spring pogrom season it was. I saw old men held down on the ground, their faces cleaved in two by axe wielding mobs. Did I say faces? No, I am wrong. The blade went clear through, shattering the bone and splitting the brain. Crazed onlookers capered about and danced....
Wait. Please. Wait - Danny said. Why are you telling me this?
She gave him a piteous look and said - To prepare you for what is to come....
Then she retreated back into silence and stared at nothing once again.....
<more next time>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
click - RUSSIA ... to see more Vampire Wonderland ...
click - MUSCOVY ... to join me on Twitter...
please leave a comment. if you like, tell your friends. each post does not stand alone but is part of a longer story arc. scroll up or down to see the whole thing. thank you for any support you're willing to give me.
