Eternity's an awful long time and a little bit of naughtiness can hide among all that forever. At least that's what Conrad thought. He should never have been made a vampire. Little Bastid Annie did it. She wanted a 'baby.' So now we have this forty year old 'baby' that cries over movies, goes through pleated, khaki slacks like it's nobody's business and fights with the baristas at Starbucks if they mess up his gourmet iced tea order. Vampires can tolerate clear, or mostly clear liquids. Jonathon tells him he can't kill the baristas, because Starbucks is a huge powerful thing and they got their own version of 'familiars' too, plus he doesn't want any problems. But Jonathon is in a semi-catatonic state right now, not as deep as 'Papa's.' He does get up from time to time to slowly fix himself up and silently walk around the city. Edith will yell - Conrad wants to go out. You gonna let him?.... But he doesn't answer and Conrad goes out. Sarah tries to stop him, but he goes anyway. They fight. He yells and pouts... a big, mess in khaki pants. And who knows where Annie is? She wanders in and out of here whenever she wants. Sarah says she's got her own 'familiars,' some lawyer woman on Locust Street and a guy who owns a chain of discount sneaker outlets in Jersey. She brings sneakers for Billy and real cushy walking shoes for Edith. Sometimes she brings a pair for Sarah too, but Sarah says - Don't bother. I'll get my own. Most vampirinas and vampirinos are extremely vain. You know that.
So Conrad goes out... and he kills people. Did you ever see the new tv show that just went on, the one where the girl from Ugly Betty works in a place like Walmart and her boss is this whiny guy who used to be on KIDS IN THE HALL, some SNL-like comedy show from Toronto? Well, Conrad's like her boss. People on the street think - Oh, look, here comes a nice, smiling, slightly overweight, nerdy, white guy. Let's be friends and talk to him..... Behind that FORTY YEAR OLD VIRGIN -looking smile, he still has 'vampire eyes' and even if he did have to go for remedial training, he does know how to use them.
So he walks around a big department store, the one with the ten foot tall bronze eagle statue in the atrium where everybody meets their shopping partners for lunch and all. He pretends to browse around the Middle Aged And Old Guys With No Fashion Sense Department. That's where he gets his pleated pants and plaid, button down collar shirts. He's got a whole lot of pleated pants and button down shirts. Edith says she's gonna give them to The Salvation Army. Once she called some different charity. Said she had a whole mess of pleated khaki pants and plaid shirts. Lady said - Oh, don't you have anything a little bit snazzier?.... (long pause) Edith goes - Uh, no. That's all I got... (another long pause) Lady goes - Uh, yeah, well thanks. I'll get back to you.
And now the fan of all those outfits is moving toward a good natured looking, big boned girl picking out valentine's gifts for her father...... Conrad goes - Excuse me, do you think this shirt would go with a light brown sweater?... The girl comes over to see. He moves toward some merchandise positioned near the door to a little-used stock room. He's sure it's little-used. Conrad knows the territory. He asks the girl about belts. By now they're 'friends,' right? She goes over, laughs and begins to hook up outfits. Two heartbeats later, he grabs her, opens the stock room door, throws her in and bolts it. She screams. It's dark. He punches her. She stops. Then he drags her unconscious body behind cartons of hangers and the whole life-eater dance begins. She comes too a little bit...moans... says- please.. please.. please.... Only thing is, Conrad's in the zone and to him she's just meat on a plate. Pleated pants and plaid shirts don't matter. When vampires feed, they're animals. He drains out every drop and waits for the body to ignite . Then he leans against the wall and watches the 'cold' blue flames. Odd that nothing else burns, but that's how it is. No soot stain on the ceiling, just grease on the floor.
He straightens his clothes and is about to leave. No blood on him. Vampires don't waste anything. But then the door opens. He scrunches up against the floor. Two old cleaning women come in. They can't see Conrad behind all those cartons and sit down on a little bench.....
One says - I hope that son of a bitch, Lepkey, drops dead. Other says - Me too and that 'baby' boss, John, can go with him. One says - I can't take it anymore. Other says - Me either. One says - Life stinks. It's all just a bunch of crap. You're born. You live. You get old. You die... and that's it. Other says - Who knows? Them reincarnation bastards say it's not. One says - Yeah, well, if them reincarnation bastards are right, you know what happens? Other says - What? One says - You're born again. You live again. You get old again and you die again. Other goes - What stinks in here?..... She gets up and goes behind the cartons to look.... The first one hears something.... a thud?.... a groan? She goes to investigate and sees a disheveled, nerdy looking guy, on the floor, gulping down all the blood pumping out of her friend's jugular. But before she can scream he grabs her too. Breaks her neck and leaves her lying there twitching, wide eyed and slack jawed, like a fish.... He finished her off a few heartbeats later.....
Then he used their cleaning equipment to mop up the floor. After that, he changed into a new plaid, button down shirt from a not yet opened carton and left.
Killed a guy sellin' papers on the street a little later.
Somebody needs an intervention...
<more next time>
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He knows now. He read the note. 'Eternity is real'.... That's what it said... three words, inscribed on a small, rolled piece of vellum. And he just sits there. 'Papa' holds down one chair, Jonathon holds down the other. Edith goes over to check him. She brings him iced vodka. He likes that. But the glass stays there for hours. She lights aroma candles. He likes green apple. You know that. He gets mad if she forgets to buy them.
Eternity means a lot to night-folk. You've heard us say the term - Not the Shepherd, but the sheepdog?...That's what we are, the reverent ones, or the noble ones, or whatever you want to call us. If humanity goes on forever, some of us will be right here with them. We're not different from humans. We're part of them, like varied castes in a bee hive. We cull the wicked... at least believers do and Jonathon is a believer.
He'd never destroy himself. He'd never just sublimate up into space and float away on the solar wind. Some do that. They reach a point and just 'disappear.' Is that a sin?... I don't know. You know what I think? We were brought into being for a reason, sort of like earthbound angels. We have a job. We have a purpose and as long as we stay true, we do it. Renegades exist. We've talked about them here... Lorenzo and Kadeema... You know. But we try not to be Lorenzos and Kadeemas. Nobody tries harder than he does.
Doctor Franklin comes by. He sits there and talks to him. Edith brings him breaded veal cutlets, mashed potatoes and lima beans. Sometimes Edith makes Harvard beets. He likes beets. When I remember, I buy them, or she buys them, or Billy buys them. But who remembers beets? I've only been 'burdened' for maybe five years and even during my mortal days I never thought about them. I can smell mortal food... taste a little bit every now and then. Always bring it up later. Mashed potatoes and gravy still gets to me, even if the toilet gets it ten minutes later.
Mister Old Bones is even more ancient than the one they call 'The Lady Renate.' She's at least 'modern,' or 'Cro Magnon,' or whatever the term is. He's been a vampire since Neanderthal times. No one knows how long. Until we found him... well, until Grigori Usipov found him in Siberia (he's that Russian, oligarch vampire we 'work with' from time to time) no one knew there were Neanderthal vampires. Now we do. Think about it, surviving in the deep, cold forests since 'forever.' There's only a few bands. They feed on wandering reindeer herders. How many 'evil' reindeer herders can there be? Usipov says they live like the elferinos and the elferinas... small, regular drinks. No one dies, but they never get a full draught. He says they sit 'round fires in deep, deep caves, chanting prayers and telling old Neanderthal creation tales. They talk to the animals, the nocturnal ones, and the stars and planets too. Usipov thinks they talk to 'beings' on those worlds... the ones around our sun and the ones around all the other suns. Maybe they have a limit? Maybe their thoughts only travel out so far?
Eternity is real....That's what the note said. Red Paints know almost everything and they didn't say it. That little girl said it. Even she didn't know what it meant.
But others like her have been turning up all over....
Wonder how the messages all fit together?
You see, Jonathon believes and all, but I don't think he always thought about 'forever.' Now he does. We all do. No more diffusing off into the ether when all this gets to be too much. We're here, locked in the flesh, till human flesh is no more...
God knows how long that will be....
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The vampire, Jonathon speaks --- I have so many stories to tell. In 1832 I almost immigrated to California. This was about eleven years after Mexico gained its independence from Spain. The new government, influenced by both the American and French Revolutions, set out to do great things. The Catholic missions were forcibly broken up into what was known as 'ranchos.' Each mission became three or four vast holdings awarded to privileged families, much as earlier European warlords created baronies. And I almost got one. They knew me in Madrid. Some de Macabeas had remained in Spain. They feigned adherence to Catholicism and rejection of Judaism. You know. You've heard stories of The Inquisition. But if people were discrete... attending Mass... observing the appropriate holy days... contributing toward the construction of great basilicas there, as well as in the New World and careful with their servants, they could survive. After a time it felt natural ... Un cuerpo ... Un coracon... pero dos creencias...One body... one heart... but two faiths.... Many homes had two kitchens and two dining rooms. There was la cucina catolico y la cucina judio... the Catholic kitchen and the Jewish kitchen. Usually, the Jewish kitchen was a more interior room as was the space used for Jewish devotional purposes. Well, I kept in contact with the de Macabeas of Sevilla. At first I was 'the cousin' from Provence, over the border in France and then the cousin from other places, for there were Spanish diasporas all over the world, even in Muscovy. The feeling for Old Iberia is very strong. Many exiled, Spanish Jewish families never gave up the keys to la casa vieja in Spain. Many homes today in Israel or Chicago, or Manila have an ancient wooden box and in that box rests heavy, iron keys. The memory lives on.
It came to be that one branch of the la familia de Macabea was offered a rancho near Santa Barbara a beautiful place, laced with orange groves and avocado farms. There was a massive residence, a former bishop's palace... red tiled roof... thick, stucco over adobe walls. In a very real sense, a continuous style all the way from Moorish Spain.They, the family, wrote to me, in Philadelphia, asking that I make the journey and take up residence. For a while I considered it. But three thousand miles (and that's in a straight line) cross country was an impossibility back then. You have to remember that wagon trains and The Pony Express came after the 1849 Gold Rush. The First railroad, The Union Pacific, wasn't established till 1867. What could I do, pay familiars to guard my casket in a rickety flat boat? Go down the Ohio river, to the Mississippi, then across the Gulf to Corpus Cristi and up the Rio Grande?... How could I transport my wealth? Checks didn't travel well. Neither did gold bars. Who would I 'cull' along the way? You know what would have happened? Somebody would grow suspicious. Somebody would try to kill me, but I'd have to kill them first and then I'd be on the run, moving among the Indians, like a windego, or spirit of the night... An adventure? Of course. Enough for countless dime novels and penny dreadfuls. I might have enjoyed it. You've heard of my forays into the Eurasian Steppes and other places? But I did none of that, though I did send two casks of gold to Cadiz so other de Macabeas might make the trip. They sailed to Panama, then part of the new nation of Colombia, went overland across the isthmus, onto another ship and up to Santa Barbara. Some died along the way... an old abuela (grandmother) and a little baby... Such things happened. Today, that branch of my people own land up and down the Pacific Coast, including three choice properties along 'The Queen's Necklace' in Malibu. A certain Sonny de Macabea has connections in Hollywood. If something doesn't break for Billy soon, I'll see what he can do. Look, I'd like it to happen too. We'll see. How I digress. Vampires are like that. We're really reticent creatures... able to take care of ourselves, but due to the circumstances of our existence, we don't like to push. Edith saw the 'dog.'... She saw the coyote and she recognized it as a coyote. Jersey Pines people know. She whined at the front door, begging for food. It was light out. I was sleeping. Edith sensed she had a purpose, so she let her in and fed her. Then she put her in the laundry room tub and gave her a bath. That's when she saw the collar. That's when she noticed the bullet. How compliant the 'dog' was. Edith whispered - I can smell The Pines on you. The hound kissed her and whined. She was all groomed and curled up on the rug by the time we came down. Conrad was scared.... Is she like a wolf? -he asked....No, she's not a wolf. Well, I suppose she's like a smaller wolf. They say gray wolves and coyotes can breed. They have bred. I've seen big coyotes in The Pines. - said Edith.... Will she bite me? - the skittish vampire continued... Of course he knew she couldn't kill, or hurt him, but Conrad hates pain, so he had to know.... Edith said - Why don't you hold out your hand and see?.... The 'dog' kissed him. Sarah and Billy took to her right away. She was grateful for the attention. The young vampire woman ran out and bought her a rawhide chew toy. When she got back, Billy ran out to get a leash, so they could walk her. When he came in, he saw me examining the bullet on her collar..... What's that? - he said..... I wasn't sure, but two seconds later Edith's cell phone rang. It was someone from The Pines... She said - Yeah, she's here, all prettied up and fed... Then I knew. The 'translation,' the secret arcane words chanted by the little homeless girl a few nights ago was inside. Where else could it be, but that little artillery shell? And, to be truthful, I didn't want to know... <more next time> click COYOTES ... to see all episodes of Vampire Wonderland... click WOLVES ... to join me on Twitter... If you visit my Twitter page, please read the pinned tweet and if you're willing, retweet it? kindly leave comments. thank you.
Things began to happen. God bless the Red Paint People. They've seen everything and they know everything. Belonging to a continuous culture that goes back to Cro-Magnon times has to be worth something. Edith has a special friend among them, a quiet gentlemen (well, they're all quiet), named Newt. His father wanted to name him Salamander, but his mother thought it sounded too ethnic, so they compromised with another name for the same amphibious being. Outsiders think it's short for Newton, but it's not short for anything. It's just Newt. He looks like Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise. They all look like Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise. And the females all look like famed skier, now in trouble with the law, Peekaboo Street. Regular 'VW's' (WonderLanders) know that. He talks to coyotes and they talk back. They ask him what cars are and how long humans live and what's with this fire and food thing and who the hell really believes the world is round and what the hell IS 'the world?' Stuff like that. He asks them if ass sniffin' is all it's cracked up to be and what other creatures they like to hump, besides each other and humans? Most of what goes back and forth between them isn't in words. It just 'is.'
Edith asked Newt to take a look at the words she copied from the back page of Jonathon's book. She called him. Luckily, his cell phone was charged. Red Paints always forget about that. Technology is a bunch of crap to them. Years ago, they though 45rpm records were like Frisbees and electric table fans were big toe amputaters. They're nature people. You know the types.
So Newt wrote down the letters exactly like she said and did his best. Now the Red Paint population in the dense woods known as The New Jersey Pine 'Barrens' is only a tiny remnant. Other surviving Red Paints exist in Greenland, Newfoundland, Norway, Iceland and Michigan's Upper Peninsula, not to mention a few settlements along Hudson's Bay. They say tiny bands can be found scattered in remote parts of Europe too. Our crew, the Pines crew numbered about thirty six people... enough for a 'meeting of the minds.' So he blew the ram's horn (Jews aren't the only ones) and wherever they were within the 'colony' each and every Red Paint Person (the adults, that is) stopped what they were doing and 'listened.' Look, some were too far away to hear the ram's horn, but via their own, home-grown brand of telepathy, they felt the sound. The colony was still... twenty three people, some curing skins, some playing zithers, some digging deep in the cold mud and snow, looking for 'thousand year old' snapping turtle eggs. Synapses jumped from head to head. Eyes blinked a little. Guts grumbled. Brains jiggled. Then the humming started. That's when each one shares what he knows with the others. Two hundred and thirty heartbeats later, a man comes walkin' out of the trees. Mr. Edith sees him comin' toward the porch and opens the door. The cabin's a real homey place. Folks drop by all the time. Most Piney People ain't Red Paints, just in case you didn't know.
Red Paint guy nods and says - Good afternoon. Is your woman to home?.... Mr. Edith goes - Nope, she's still in the city with her vampire buddies. That's why I can drink my wine. You want some? It's homemade. Mostly bog grapes and a little crawfish juice. Nice batch too. (he holds up the old, irregular, green glass bottle) Red Paint guy thinks a few seconds, smiles and nods again. Mr. Edith gets a glass (I believe it has Barney Rubble on it) and pours him some. Got a nice, deep amber color. Smells real tasty too... Guy takes a sip and goes - I'm here to tell her 'bout 'the words.'..... What words? - says Mr. Edith. What about the wine?.... Oh, I like it fine, thank you. A true, quality fermentation, but I'm here for the words. Vampire buddy found some words. Don't know what they mean. Your Missus thought we could help...... Can you? - asks Mr. Edith..... The Red Paint guy nods a third time and asks for a piece of paper and a pencil. Mr. Edith looks in the junk drawer and gives him what he needs. Guy writes something down. Looks like two lines.... Guy says - Here, you save this. We thought she was here, but you save it. Newt'll send another copy out by coyote. Put it in an old artillery shell. Fix it to the collar. Coyote blend right into the city. Look like a skinny, gray dog. Run fast too.... How's it gonna find her? - asks Edith's husband.... You leave that to Newt. They his coyotes. They Red Paint coyotes, if you know what I mean?. Then he winks, holds up the old Barney Rubble jelly glass and asks for more. Gets some. Stays for sizzlin' hot Taylor Pork Roll and cheese sandwiches on pan toasted Kaiser rolls too. Big, old cast iron fryin' pan give 'em a real good flavor.
You might ask why Newt don't just call Edith back on his cell phone, like she called him. But he won't. 'Smarts' might come into the Pines that way, but they don't go out that way. God damned cell phones. Never know who's listening.
He fortified her with a big old steak, 'fore he send her out. Newt, I mean. Slue-foot-Sue one a the best. She a real good coyote. Fast too. Be there in twenty four hours. Edith'll feed her real nice too, 'fore she send her back. Piney Folk know.
Vampire Jonathon gonna know too, 'cause true meanin' a them words in that artillery shell.
God bless the Red Paints.....
And in case you're curious, go Google Red Paint People...
They real... You bet they real...
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Jonathon was sleeping when the houseguests left. Edith gave them each an envelope with a gift card inside... Twenty five hundred dollars on a pre-paid Visa debit card. I think it was Sarah's idea. They were thrilled to get it. The woman cried. Of course between herself and the little girl they had five thousand dollars, but children need a lot, so that was all right. The wino's card was set up so he couldn't spend it in a 'state store' (Pennsylvania's Government controlled liquor outlets) , or any other venue selling alcoholic beverages. So he bought a whole mess of counterfeit movies and sold them from outside a state store on Walnut Street. Winos ain't dumb. Spent some for other stuff... two packs of tightie-whities... matching t-shirts... couple magazines.... eighty-eight cent pack of store brand 'Bic' style pens and one of those plastic measuring pitchers bedridden men use to pee in at hospitals. Wino has some class, after all. Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. He made a lot of cash selling bottles of cheap wine on the street. Opened a bank account and everything. Spent a night in a hotel every couple weeks for hot baths and piped in porn. Life was good. The lady rented a nice room from some old woman who had a house in University City (the 30's) for about $400 a month plus chores and errands. Had a refrigerator, a microwave, access to a clean bathroom, a washer and dryer in the basement. After two weeks, the little girl was calling the old woman 'mom-mom.' Never had any memories of her 'talking in tongues' episode and Jonathon never told anybody except Edith. She looked at the words he wrote down. Said she didn't know what they meant, but would ask if any of her Red Paint neighbors knew something. Red Paint People are supposed to be one of the oldest cultures to reach the east coast of North America. Folks think they're extinct, but they're not. Little pockets survive deep in woodland hidey-holes. Quiet folks, but they know a lot. Some say they have a 'clan-mind.' What one knows, they all know. Who knows?
Doctor Franklin met Jonathon in a warm, little brasserie for dinner. The streets were still slippery and icy, though cars could maneuver, provided they kept going and didn't park. Where could they park? But the place had a lively walk-in, local crowd and Franklin's driver, Joey, left him off right out front. The head waiter came out to help the old reprobate in to his seat and Jonathon was already there.
I'm sure you know vampires are quite adept at faking a full meal... No salad, just broth... and Jonathon can eat that.... a glass of wine.... pasta Bolognese, or whatever the French equivalent was. Could always mash that up and move it around, even ask for a little Styrofoam container for the leftovers. Who'd notice? Besides, Jonathon enjoyed the atmosphere. Franklin skipped his usual Kelly green Eagles sweat suit for a slightly loose, soft wool turtleneck and a brown, velvet sport coat. Combed his wispy hair back neatly too. He really was quite charming when necessary. I don't know if this night was one of those occasions, but his demeanor was more than adequate.
Jonathon said - What did you find?..... The Eternal Patriot said - They found another child in The Holy Land. On the beach at Elat, in the south. Came right up out of the water. Even the lifeguards couldn't explain it and they watch the surf. And do you want to know what else? She was dressed in a bathing suit from the nineteen-fifties..... Does the press know? - asked Jonathon..... No, but the internet does. Everybody's on line. People at the scientific center where they took her knew. Some people on the beach saw. You know how parents and grandparents guarding kids in the surf are? They watch everything. Oh, and ask your friend Billy what Twitter's been saying about it. He knows. They think it's a feral language. They think it's something she made up. But I have a copy of what she said, a video. I'll show it to you. Some of the words sound like Basque - he whispered. Look, who knows how much people at nearby tables could hear?... They say every mysterious language sounds like Basque - added the vampire. Basque, or Welsh..... They say a lot of things - said Jonathon... But one thing they can't talk away is her costume, that bathing suit. It appeared to be relatively new, but hasn't been in production since nineteen-fifty-seven - said Franklin. They have a big beachwear industry in Israel. They know..... Jonathon asked - So what are you saying? She was 'dead' under the waves and came back?..... Oh, come on my life-eating friend, can you deny that 'miracles' happen? - said Franklin....
Jonathon didn't say a word and his dinner partner stopped a passing waiter and asked for a side of roasted vegetables....
Just a grandfather and his grandson, enjoying a meal after the storm in a warm, crowded, cozy room.
But back at the townhouse, Edith made a call to The Pines...
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We took in three homeless people during the storm. Two, we knew... the lady with the little girl who dumpster dives in the alley behind the corner with the Dunkin Donuts. Jonathon often leaves fat wallets there for her to find. Don't worry. He watches. He knows. She always finds them. The third was a guy who sleeps in the loggia fronting the Main Library on The Parkway.
Edith set them up in the basement. The rooms are finished off... storage... laundry... a little den... a sewing room... a wine room. The sofa in the den opens up, so the lady with the little girl slept there. The guy from the library got a roll out cot in the wine room, which worked out great, because he is a wino. Jonathon opened a bottle of Mosel for him. Edith gave him a nice big tuna hoagie and a pack of TastyKake chocolate cup cakes.. The other two got heaping plates of rigatoni and meatballs from upstairs. Edith does cook for me (Billy) and her, you know. There's also a tiled bath down there. The lady with the little girl went first.... Then the ghost boy, who always haunts down there and the little girl watch kiddie shows on sprout. Jonathon introduced them all, so nobody felt funny, or was scared. The lady said ghosts don't bother her, because all her favorite relatives were dead. She asked the boy if he ever came across her Uncle Scooter, but he said - no. The wino leafed through some gourmet/wine magazines and went to bed.
Doctor Franklin was supposed to come over, but with the blizzard and all he couldn't. He wanted to discuss the 'talking in tongues' children. Said he found a reference to similar occurrence in eighteenth century Denmark and seventeenth century Mexico. The Danish children were called 'the potato boys' since they roamed the potato fields in the moonlight quietly singing hymns in an unknown tongue and no one died during the three months this went on. In Mexico, it was a little girl, grandchild to an Aztec lord. She'd walk up to people in the Zocalo, never make eye contact and recite what sounded like a poem in some mysterious language.... if it was a language. Who could tell?
Vampires, being paranormal beings aren't surprised by all this. Jonathon says such children show up all the time, but usually just one or two. What we have now appears to be the beginning of an epidemic.
He sits in the library reading an old volume of Henry James... The Turn Of The Screw, I believe. Now when I say 'library' I mean the small, cozy, traditional room with the bay window fronting the street. There's a larger more formal space upstairs, but everyone from the little ghost boy on up prefers the one with the bay window. It's like a special cocoon. Jonathon liked Henry James. Few did ghost stories as well. The house was quiet. Sarah and Edith were already upstairs. I am too, only not sleeping because I have to channel this. Jonathon 'sends' it to me. He's not conscious he's doing it. Just lets me feel his thoughts and I type, up in my room, under the dormers, just below where the ghoul, Johnny Jump Up once prowled.... When downstairs, someone knocks on the library door.... a quiet, small sound... Jonathon whispers - Yes?.... The door opens and the little girl enters wearing the long, flannel gown Edith laid out on the sofa bed. Her chin high. Her eyes rolled back in her head. Jonathon didn't say a word. He just watched. The girl moved to the middle of the snug chamber and stood there in the light from a small table lamp (vampires prefer it dim). He knew what was coming. Every molecule in the room seemed to jump. Then she spoke in a low throaty voice. The vampire couldn't understand what she said. At first he thought it might be some dialect from The Caucuses, or Old Persian. But only at first. He picked up a pen lying on the side table and wrote her words phonetically on the last page of his book, till she was done. For a while she remained there, her eyes closed. Then she shook with strong, silent laughter. He blacked out. When he woke she was gone.
The only way he knew it wasn't a dream was by the little piece of blue, flannel fuzz sticking to his pants.
He picked it off, studied it, closed the light and went to bed. The little ghost boy, standing by the foot of the stairs watched him go up.
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I am the disembodied spirit narrator known as Zebulon. Many know me from before. I was a thirteen year old boy stoned to death for consorting with Assyrian witches, or at least they said they were Assyrian witches. Stoning was very rarely used. I guess I was the lucky one.
Now to our tale~~~
Doctor Franklin called our reverent vampire friend. He had Jonathon's special number. Not many did... maybe a few high ranking 'familiars' and people like that. But Doctor Franklin was a special case. They'd known each other since the 1720's, when Franklin established The Junto. Was a vampire rare in a fraternal organization based on mutual assistance and scientific inquiry? Sure, but this was Old Philadelphia and before anything happened anywhere, everything happened here.
Anyway, Doctor Franklin had some information about those 'talking in tongues' children. It seems, unofficially, tests were done and each of them shared a certain set of genetic markers. That's all he said. But he wants to retest Jonathon too. And another thing, incase you're new to all this, Doctor Franklin is not a vampire, or in any way paranormal. He's preserved via regular 'harmonic' treatments and realignments on his Grand Armonica. If you're familiar with the naughty statesman, you'll know he carried out extensive sound wave investigations on various incarnations of 'armonicas' and 'grand armonicas' and all sorts of contraptions..... Some say he tapped into The Heavenly Choir itself. Sound is a very visceral thing.
That's why Glenn Frey's music was so basic to this 'age.' I think the song up above might owe more to Don Henley, but the basic 'vibe' is the same and what can you expect from me, a two thousand year old Judean soul who used to run with Assyrian witches? My 'spirit' head STILL hurts where that first rock hit me.
I'll let you know what happens with Jonathon's genetic retesting and anything else I hear about those 'talking in tongues' kids.
Maybe Jonathon himself, or Doctor Franklin will chime in?
Sound is energy. It can break glass. It can give birth to symphonies. It can hurl curses. It can heal.
If you've ever cradled a purring cat you know that.
<more later>
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click MUSIC ... to see all episodes of Vampire Wonderland... click LAUGHTER ... to join me on Twitter... please comment. thank you... and if you're willing, PLEASE read my pinned tweet on Twitter, all of it --- it's a TwitLonger, so you'll have to click the link at the end, but it's only an additional paragraph or two. If you're a Downton Abbey fan, you just might like it....I hope...
now I have to finish watching Henry Gates and FINDING YOUR ROOTS. I LOVE that show.
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