Deadline
Issue #3
by Tom Zjaba
CHAPTER 5: WAR WITH THE DEMONS
The next few days seem to drag on. Nat is getting used to the constant cravings and finally one night, he gives into the urges and decides to go hunting. Rog decides to go along with him, to try and keep him out of trouble. They prepare themselves and head up to the surface. It has been days since Nat has tasted fresh air, even if it is tainted with the pollutants of the city. He sucks in the air as he emerges from below. He takes a few minutes to bask in the glow of the moon. Even if it isn't a full moon, it still gives off enough light. As he stands there and enjoys the sounds of the city, the hustle and bustle of the cars driving by, he longs for the days in the sunlight. As he thinks about this, he remembers it has been a long time since he reported to his boss. He wonders if there is still a job waiting for him? Would be pretty hard to work in his present condition.
Before he can get any deeper in his thoughts, Rog taps him on the shoulder and tells him "We better get moving, the night may be young, but it doesn't stay that way for long." With that, they grab a bus and head to a nightclub. Rog sits down and Nat decides to sit in the seat in front of him. As the bus takes off, Rog begins to explain things "There are tons of prospects at the clubs. We usually go to the Goth clubs and concerts as the chicks there really dig the vampire scene. While most chicks would freak out at the sight of a vampire, the goth chicks think it is like so kinky, man." "They just let you bite their necks and suck blood?" Nat asks, as he cannot imagine for a minute why any women would allow this. "Yeah, all ya gotta do is show them those fangs and they melt. It is the most screwed up thing ya ever saw. Sometimes ya must hang around and do the nasty, but you will soon find out that sex has like no meaning to ya. Ya can really go without it as it becomes more of a pain than anything else, but these chicks sometimes don't get off on the bloodsucking alone, so be prepared. Rog says. "Why do we lose our sexual desires? Any reason that you know of?" Nat asks as he doesn't seem that comfortable the prospect of not wanting sex. He hasn't had it in a long time and the desire is still with him. Not as strong as his craving for blood, but it is still there. Maybe he hasn't been undead long enough to lose it. Rog breaks up his thoughts as he speaks "Who really knows why that happens. Dominick has a theory for everything, but I think he is full of it." "I think you were saying earlier that the reason vampires drink blood is because we cannot make our own, is that true?" Nat asks as he tries to learn as much as he can about his new condition. "Who knows? That is the general answer we hear. There was some scientist dude hanging out with us who said that our body lacked the life essence that is found in blood. So we need to harvest it from the blood or some whacked out idea of his. Dominick is the smartest and oldest of us and he doesn't say anything, so who knows." Rog tells him as he lays back and relaxes. "The only thing that Dominick keeps telling us is his Xerox theory." Rog says as he closes his eyes. "The Xerox theory? Is that the Old World/New World stuff you were talking about earlier?" Nat asks. "Yeah, I think it is a bunch of crap, just a way for Dominick to make himself seem so bloody superior to the rest of us. He is really proud of his pure bloodline that he says comes down from some vampire from the middle ages or something like that. " He says as his eyes open up some. "I could care less as I know that every person I bite, gives me a little of their strength. So, I try to look for the healthiest ones to get the best blood. But I stick with the women as I just can't get into biting men." Rog adds.
After a little bit, they arrive at their destination, "The Afterlife" a really bizarre place. Even the front door has a coffin over it to give the illusion that you are entering the afterlife. Nat looks around as they enter the nightclub and is amazed at the design. Inside it resembles a castle, complete with stonework, gargoyles and torches. All around are men and women, mostly dressed in black. Some have their faces painted white with bright red lips. There is some strange music playing that is unlike anything he has heard before. It is both loud and annoying, yet it is also very dark and atmospheric. Coming from a very sheltered existence of very safe music, Nat is unsure what to make of this. It is far different from the Barry Manilow and Elton John that he normally listens to.
Rog heads over to the bar and is quickly greeted by two young women who are dressed completely in black. They both have tight fitting, black dresses in them. One of them has long blond hair, while the other's hair is jet-black and straight. Both are wearing very gaudy black lipstick and too much eyeliner. They walk over to Rog and hug him. He smiles and waves over to Nat to come join them. As Nat comes over, Rog says, "I want you to meet a few friends of mine, Angel and Sam.” he says as they offer their hands. The blonde is named Angel and the other is Sam. Nat cannot help but think of the irony of a girl named Angel in a place like this. If it is her given name, her parents must have expected a lot more from her. Wonders what they would think of their little girl, who is about to be a snack for a vampire? As they talk, Rog suggests that they head downstairs. The girls smile and agree. Angel then says "We'll meet you in the catacombs, but first we gotta freshen up. Come on Sam." As they leave Rog says, "Girls, they can never say they have to go to the bathroom and they can never go alone." He then laughs as he walks off. As Nat follows him, they come up to a very large man who is guarding a stairway that leads down. He is a big, muscle bound man who is most definitely a bouncer. As Rog walks up, he steps aside and says, "Found some more victims, Count?" Rog just laughs and hands him a fifty-dollar bill. "Don't worry, I will try to keep the screaming to a minimum,” he says as he winks at him and heads down the stairs. Nat walks very slowly by the large man, very unsure about all of this. They then head down the stairs into a basement, which is known as the Catacombs.
As they reach the catacombs, Nat cannot help but be turned off by the dark, dinginess of it all. There are random lights along the ceiling that are flickering, which gives it an almost unearthly feel. On both sides of hallway are rows of wooden doors. Each door has roman numerals on it and very gothic doorknockers. The knockers are different for each door with a variety of gargoyles, angels and demons. Some of the doors have little signs hanging from them, much like the ones you see at hotels, telling you the room are being occupied. The entire area looks to be carved out of stone and has a very dungeon like feel to it. As they walk up, they come to the room that has an "XIII" on it. "Lucky number 13, unoccupied as always" he says. He opens the door and inside is a very large bed. There is also a sink in the corner and a small refrigerator. As Nat opens the fridge, he finds some bottles of wine in there. He hands one to Rog and grabs the other. He sits on the bed and takes a long swig from the bottle.
After a few minutes, Rog comes over and sits next to Nat. "Let me give you a few tips here. First thing is that you need to forget all that crap you see in the movies about vampires biting someone and turning them into a vampire. That is so untrue.” he says as he takes a long swig of the bottle. Nat asks, "Then how did I become a vampire? I was bit by one and turned into one, right?" Rog laughs and says "Yeah, but the difference is you were killed. The only way to make someone a vampire is to kill him or her by sucking out enough blood to kill them. We are undead and we cannot become undead until we die, duh." He starts to laugh out loud. Nat then asks, "How will I know how much is enough?" Rog takes another swig and wipes his mouth with his shirtsleeve. He then gives a big toothy smile and says, "You will know, trust me. It is like, you know that animal thing that makes the birds always fly south." Nat interrupts and says, "You mean instinct?" Rog smacks himself in the head and says "Yeah, that's it. Well, we have an instinct too. You will know when you had the right amount. Don't ask me how, but you will. Just make sure you do stop or else." he says as he pretends to be slitting his throat. "Or else what?" Nat asks with a worried sound in his voice. "Or else Dominick will kill you and the girl. He does not want any female vampires. He says something like you should never mess with your food source. I think that is all bull, I just think he is a chauvinistic pig." Rog says as he drains the bottle and throws it against the wall. He then lays back and says, "Man, I remember when alcohol used to have an effect on me. What I would give for a good buzz."
Nat gets up and walks around. He has a worried look on his face. Rog realizes this and says, "Chill man, it will be fine. What's eating ya?" Nat looks at him and says, "How about if she wants to.... you know.... if she wants to...." Rog starts laughing out loud. "Then do it man! Trust me in a few years, you will have no desire to do it, so you might as well get it out of your system now." "What do you mean in a few years?” Nat asks with a very worried look. Rog sits back up and says, "I am not saying you won't be able to, heck I can, but sex just doesn't have the same meaning. Don't ask me why, but I find it hard to look at a woman as anything more than a food source. I know it sounds awful, but it is just the way it is." "Well, I am not going to let that happen to me. I like women and I like that and nothing is going to keep me from enjoying it" Nat says as he sounds like he is defending his manhood. "Chill man, maybe you will keep the fires burning. Who knows?" Rog says as he puts a hand on his shoulder.
As Rog tries to console Nat, the girls walk in. "Started the party without us." Angel says as she sees the broken wine bottle. "Hey baby, we were just freshening up." Rog says as he smiles at her. He then grabs Angel and pulls her close. She smiles as he picks her up and carries her over to the bed. Sam comes over to Nat and says "Show me your fangs, handsome." Nat smiles real wide, feeling uneasy, as he is still not used to having them. "Ooooh, you have real nice fangs. Bet you bite a lot of girls with them?" she says as she rubs a finger over them, almost tracing them. "Well, ummm...." Nat says when Rog interrupts. "He's a virgin vampire. Your his first victim." he says as turns his attention back to Angel. "A virgin, how exciting. So I am your first victim. Don't worry, I will be gentle with you,” she says as she takes him by the hand and leads him to the other side of the very large bed.
At the bed, she begins to unbutton her dress. Button by button, she slowly works her way down. After she is done, she slowly lets the dress drop to the ground and stands there in her undergarments. She then puts her hands onto his shoulders and says "Just slowly sink your fangs into my neck." Nat brushes her hair back and bends her neck. He rubs his hands slowly over her neck as a vein almost magically appears. He begins to slowly kiss along her neck, trying to take his time when he hears her say "Go ahead and bite me. Bite me deep and bite me hard!" He then sinks his fangs deep into her neck and begins to suck the warm fluid from her vein. She begins to moan as if she is in ecstasy. "Yes, yes, harder, harder, deeper, deeper" she screams to him. He keeps sucking as he tries to bury his fangs even deeper into her. As he sucks, they slowly fall back onto the bed, in unison. It is as for the moment, they are one mind and one body. As he continues to drain her of her lifeblood, she begins to move around, wriggling her hips. He then slowly withdraws his fangs as he feels his hunger has been quenched. He then softly kisses the fang marks and then gently kisses her on the forehead. She is breathing heavy as she says, "You were great!"
Nat walks over to the wall and feels a surge of power. The blood is flowing through his veins and he is feeling revitalized. Suddenly he looks over at her and smiles. She smiles back and he goes over and sweeps her off the bed and into his arms. He then leaves the room with her. Rog looks up and smiles "The rush of your first victim, man how I remember that." Before he can wax nostalgically anymore, Angel pulls his head back down and says, "Get back to work, lover boy."
A few hours later, Nat and Sam emerge from their room. Both of them are trying to look presentable. As they walk over to the room they were at, they notice it is empty. They head upstairs and they find Angel and Rog dancing. Rog walks over and says "Took you long enough, been waiting over an hour for you." Nat just smiled. Then Sam walks over and says "You guys going to walk us home or what?" Rog smiles and says, "We better or you may be attacked by vampires."
As they are walking outside, Nat pulls Sam close. The night is chilly and her warmth is very inviting. One thing he realizes is that he feels colder much easier now that he is undead. A night like this used to be no big deal in the past, but now the chill of the night air goes right through to the bone. Sam doesn't seem to mind the closeness; in fact she finds it very refreshing. Nat is not like the other guys who get what the want and then just take off. He seems to genuinely care for her, something she has not felt for a long time. As they get up to their apartment, the girls ask if they want to come up for some drinks or something. But Rog looks at his watch and decides they better leave. It will be daylight in a few hours and that is one thing that do affect a vampire.
As they leave, they head down the street to look for a cab or a bus. As they walk, they notice the streets look very deserted, which is not too unusual for 3:00 AM. They keep walking around when Rog looks over at some graffiti on a wall that shows a bright red pentagram. As they continue to walk, they see other pentagrams that glow brightly on telephone poles. Rog starts looking real nervous. "Damn, damn, what the hell was I thinking?" he says in a very nervous voice. "What's wrong, Rog? You're scaring me." Nat says as he starts to get the same shiver down his spine. "Remember the other night when the werewolf was in our territory and how we taught it a lesson?" Rog asks as a very frightened look appears in his eyes. "Are we in werewolf territory? Is that what you are telling me?" Nat asks, hoping the answer is no. "Worse, much worse. We are on the demon's turf and they loathe vampires.” he says. Rog then adds, "They aren't like the werewolves and the vampires, they kill. No lessons taught, no second chances. And there are always a ton of them." he says as looks around, making sure the coast is clear.
As the two of them walk down the street, figures begin to appear. First they see someone sitting on the stairs and then as they walk past, they see more figures coming. "Were going to get jacked." Rog says as he sees the number of figures begin to grow. They begin to quicken their pace down the street when they notice there are some creatures walking behind them. As Nat turns around, he sees what looks like about five shadows walking along. "I only see five of them, can't we handle them?" Nat says, trying to gather some courage. "Where there's five there are fifty more of them. They aren't very tough, but they usually win by sheer numbers." he says as suddenly more begin to join the group. Soon there are about a dozen of them following them.
As they come up to an intersection, Rog sees the tunnel for the subway. He whispers to Nat "We're going to make a run for the subway. With any luck we can grab a train and get the hell out of here." As Nat looks over his shoulder again, he notices the group has grown to about twenty figures now. He then looks at Rog who is making a one with his fingers. He then makes a two. Nat sees some more figures joining the group and he begins to sweat. Then Rog makes a three and breaks into a heated run. Nat begins to run after him when he hears the most blood curdling sound he ever hears. The twenty plus demons break into a run and start screaming the most horrible sound you can imagine. As they rush over to the tunnel, they are greeted by three demons that are coming up the tunnel. "Going somewhere, vampire?" they say as Nat gets his first good look at the accursed beasts. They look very much like what you would expect from a demon. They have little horns on their heads and goat legs, which go all the way up their torsos. Their bodies are scaly and full of scars and gashes. They have sharp fangs and very sharp and long claws on their hands. They have an inverted nose and bat like ears. Before Nat can say anything, Rog kicks one of them down the stairs as the others jump at them. Soon, Nat finds this creature jumping on top of him and knocking him down. As he falls, the demons lands on top of him, snarling and trying to bite him. In an act of desperation, he pushes the demon off him and gets up. As he does, he sees the others are only about fifty yards away and coming up fast. He runs forward and pushes the demon down the stairs as they both roll down. Rog grabs one of the demons and snaps its neck, killing it. He then jumps down the stairs, landing at the bottom. As Nat hits the bottom, he rolls and quickly gets up. The demon is still struggling to get up. Rog goes over and snaps its neck, also instantly killing it. He then looks up to see the others running down the stairs, making that awful noise. He quickly signals for Nat to follow him and they run down the hallway and jump over the turnstiles. As they do, the demons begin to get closer as they easily jump the turnstiles.
Down the hallway, Rog sees a train that is preparing to leave. They make a run for it, hoping to make it before it head out. They know if they miss it, the demons will be upon them and will surely kill them. They rush over and as they get up to it, the doors begin to close. They quickly squeeze in as the doors shut and the train begins to take off. As it pulls away, they see the demons running up and banging on the windows. After a few seconds, the train heads down the rails and the demons are soon out of sight. They both sit down and breathe a sigh of relief. "That was close, too close.” Rog says as he wipes the sweat off his brow. "Why is it that I never seen these demons before?" Nat asks. "Oh you have, but you just didn't know it. They appear like a normal person, except to the undead. We see them for what they really are; just as they can instantly tell we are vampires. They can smell us.” he says as he begins to calm down. "Why do they hate us so much?" Nat asks. "Oh, they hate everyone. We have an uneasy truce with the werewolves, but the demons don't make deals with anyone, except the person who conjures them." Rog says as he pulls a flask out of his pocket and takes a swig. He then hands it to Nat. As Nat drinks, Rog keeps talking "The only thing that keeps the demons from taking over is they are constantly at war with each other. They have a chain of command and every demon wants to move up the ranks. So they keep making pacts with each other to take out a higher up demon and then attack the ones who helped them." Nat hands the flask back to Rog and asks, "So how does the conjurer keep control of them? Don't they want to take him out?" Rog finishes the flask and puts it back into his pocket as he says "Don't know, don't care, to be honest. All I know is they are very dangerous and will kill anyone who goes into their turf." With that they both rest and enjoy the ride home.
Deadline © 2001- 2008 Tom Zjaba