A vampire tale

When I was five years old, I witnessed my parents’ death.

 The night of the attack I had awoken to the sound of breaking glass and my father yelling. The clock on my nightstand told me it was a little past 1:00 a.m. Cautiously, I climbed from my warm bed and made my way across the moonlit bedroom. My hands shook a little as I opened my door and stepped into the cold, dark hallway.

 I can vividly recall how long the hallway seemed that night and how cold the hardwood floors felt on my bare feet. I remember wishing I had put on my warm, fuzzy slippers. My favorite nightgown suddenly felt too thin, and I shivered, resisting the urge to jump back into my bed and hide there until the sun came up.

The house was mostly silent now as I tip toed down the hall except for an odd sound that was coming from the living room. When I finally reached the end of the hallway, curiosity overcame my fear.  I peeked around the corner and stared in confusion at the woman who was effortlessly holding my father up against the wall.  His feet were dangling inches above the floor. I noticed that he was still wearing his work shoes. I remember thinking that he must have been working late again and my mother was going to be upset.  

My eyes moved upwards toward my father’s neck where the woman’s face was buried, and I realized the noises I was hearing sounded a bit like when you are slurping soda through a straw. The woman seemed to sense my presence and she turned to face me letting my father’s limp body slide to the ground.

 The vampire standing before me appeared young and her jet-black hair fell in waves around her shoulders, her eyes were bright yellow, and her mouth and chin were covered in blood. She held my gaze as she lifted one finger to her crimson lips signaling for me to remain silent. She moved quickly across the room and for the first time I noticed my mother’s bloodied body lying on the floor.

 I watched, horror-struck as the vampire scooped my mother up and leapt through the window and onto the snow-covered lawn disappearing into the dark, winter night. 

The police would later find a trail of blood leading into the woods behind our home but there were no footsteps in the snow, and they never found my mother’s body. With over two acres of land separating us from our nearest neighbors there were no witnesses to talk to other than myself.  Of course, nobody believed my full story. Who could blame them, really?

I was sent to live with my grandmother in a nearby suburb. I tried my best to act “normal” and well adjusted. However, I spent my childhood researching and planning. When I grew up, I was going to find the monster who killed my parents, and I was going to destroy it.

Twenty years later I would find myself standing outside a small, log cabin in the middle of a forest. The cabin was located about fifty miles away from the home I had lived in for the first five years of my life. I shook my head, finding it hard to believe that my parents’ murderer had been this close all along. I had her now though.

  I had tracked the monster down the previous day.  There had been rumors online about a few animals (deer mostly) who had been found drained of blood. My internet search brought me to a forest where I had been exploring for hours. The sun had just set, and I had been resting briefly with my back against a large rock formation. I had just put my water bottle back in my pack and had placed my hand on the cool surface of the rock to pull myself to a stand when I happened to glance around the corner. Something in the river caught my eye. About twenty yards away standing naked, waist deep in the water was the woman. Luckily for me, she wasn’t looking directly my way, but I could clearly see her dark, wavey hair and her eyes were glowing yellow. Her image had been burned into my mind and I knew without a doubt that I had finally found the monster I’d been searching for. 

Barely daring to breathe I remained as still as the stone I was leaning against. I waited for the woman to exit the river and get dressed. Watching carefully from my hiding spot, I noted which direction she took as she walked away. It felt like hours passed before I worked up the courage to finally move and make my way back to my car. Resisting the urge to run and possibly draw attention to myself I moved cautiously through the trees and toward the road where my car was parked. I would come back during the day when I would have a better advantage.

The next morning, I retraced my steps back to the rocky formation and made my way down to the riverbank. From there I followed the path I had seen the vampire take the evening before. Not far from the river stood a log cabin with no windows. 

I had been standing outside the cabin for several minutes, listening for movement inside and had heard nothing but the rustling of leaves in the breeze. I moved toward the cabin pulling my katana sword from its sheath as I stepped onto the weathered porch. After spending years researching vampire mythology, I had decided that cutting off the head was the safest bet. Just as I reached for the doorknob I heard my name, “Anna.”

The voice was familiar to me, and I froze in my tracks. 

From behind me the familiar voice spoke again, “Anna, we’ve been expecting you would find us. Please put the sword down.”

I turned around and standing there was the monster. She was wearing a long black dress and was holding an oversized umbrella over her head. Her pale face was actually quite beautiful, and she hadn’t aged a day since that evening when I found her in my living room. Then, I saw the source of the familiar voice. Standing next to her, holding another large umbrella, was my mother.

The sword fell from my hand as I stood staring in disbelief.   The two women kept their distance, not wanting to appear threatening. The monster who I had spent my life hunting spoke next, explaining what had really happened twenty years ago.

The vampire whose name I would learn was Elif, had been hunting deer in the woods behind our home. She admitted that she had often peered through our windows, fascinated by our human lives. She had noticed the escalating arguments between the man and woman who lived there, and she was worried about the human child. 

Elif usually hunted well after midnight and on the evening of the incident she noticed the man had gotten home especially late. She had heard the man yelling and had looked across the yard and through the large bay window in time to see him plunge a knife into the woman’s chest.

 The vampire moved swiftly and before the man could even remove the knife, she had crashed through the window and had pinned him to the wall. She didn’t usually feast on humans but took exception in this case. 

Elif had hoped the child would remain asleep in bed and had always regretted that she had to take her mother away in front of her, but it was necessary. The vampire didn’t have the ability to save the woman’s life, however, she could give her a new one.

 Elif and my mother had waited for years, hoping I would find my way to them so I could know the truth and so my mother could see me one more time. They had stayed here longer than they should have.

It was time for them to move on and find a new home. Although the two vampires were usually very careful to dispose of their prey, the area was becoming increasingly populated. A few times in recent months people had caught them off guard, forcing them to abandon an animal carcass in order to avoid being seen.

My mother blew me a kiss from where she stood. She was unable to give me a hug. Her feeding instinct was still too strong. She smiled apologetically before she and Elif turned and walked away into the dense forest beyond the cabin.

I sat down on the porch watching them disappear into the trees. Years of vengeful anger slowly melting away. Underneath the anger was the sadness and loss I’d never truly allowed myself to process. I let the tears flow freely. I stayed until the sun was low in the sky. Then, standing up, I put the katana away and I stepped forward, leaving the cabin behind me.