Vampire Western
Prologue and Chapter 1
Prologue
There is something sublime about being under the twilight desert sky. The magnificent light display above is paid for at the cost of whatever danger is lurking in the dark wilderness below. Out in the open west, one could only hope to be so lucky to encounter something like a rattlesnake or a bear compared to the other terrors that roam in the dark. They call it the Wild West for a reason.
Such was the case for a seasoned drifter, who had seen more than a fair share of peril in his years traveling through the West. He wore the scars of many such perils on his rough face under a layer of dirt covering himself and all his belongings saddled about his horse. As the Drifter set up camp and fire for the night, he checked the dirt for serpent nests and scorpions, sprinkling the perimeter with ground cinnamon to repel venomous critters. This was a ritual learned from a superstitious travel companion who claimed to have seen the natives do it.
The drifter and his stallion nestled closely to the embers as he slept with one eye open and a pistol in each hand. It isn’t an easy task to sleep in the open desert with the chill and the outlaws, but necessity begs for whatever sleep is possible to survive. A strong man can go longer without eating than sleeping before losing all sense. The drifter learned to sleep in anticipation of urgent use of all faculty with short burst of deep sleep. And it happened as his one eye sank deeper into slumber.
A spine curdling scream echoed from the distance, startling the horse into frenzy and the drifter hastily crawled into the tall grass nearby, out of sight. He surveyed the field along the barrel of his pistol in search of the woman responsible for the cry. Another helpless scream sounded off closer than before, this time with the quick pattering of feet against the dirt. She was running eastbound, away from the closest town pursued by…what? Wondered the drifter.
The desert nights are almost as dark as caverns this late into the night. The woman was only visible for a moment because of her brightly colored dress. She looked behind and desperately pleaded, “YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS! PLEASE!” The drifter threw dirt into the fire as he took the rifle form his saddle and positioned himself closer to her location. There she was again stumbling over herself and falling into the grass out of sight. He looked through his rifle for the pursuant but there was only darkness. His heart began to race as he ran to get closer, knowing this girl, whoever she may be, is in the balance unless he acts quickly. The woman struggled to stand, rustling through the blades of grass surrounding her. Then he saw it.
Pursuing the woman was no man… but a black mass moving faster than a steam engine. The drifter thought it must be a nightmare but he could feel the sweat beading down his brow and the breath struggling to reach his lungs. Finally when he could stand to hear the woman’s cries of agony, the drifter fired. Suddenly there was silence so bleak that even the wind was in too much shock to blow.
She was gone. The woman was nowhere in sight. The drifter’s heart was pounding through his ears only now in fear for his own life. Where was the black thing that was moving so rapidly? What can move like that? His knuckles whitened around the rifle, not knowing whether to hold ground or run. He looked behind toward camp to check on the horse, still there. When he turned back, the silhouette of a man stood before him….
The drifter felt heat of the midday sun burning his face but it was the pain that finally woke him. There was a shocking puncture on his chest like a large open wound. Struggling to move, he felt the blood on himself and trembled. It wasn’t a dream.
Chapter 1
The Vanishings in Taylor
“Did you hear, Margery didn’t come home again last night?” Old Ed Henry started with his gossip as he found a seat at the saloon bar.
“How in the hell you know that already, Ed?” Interjected the tailor starting on his breakfast.
“I heard it from Bert hisself on my way over. Yup I did.” He grinned quite impressed with himself, “Can ask him yourself when he gets in later asking if you seen her.”
“You went all the way to poor ole Bert’s house to pester him about his daughter just so you can be the first to know? That is a new low for you, Old Man. Ought to be ashamed of yourself.” The tailor scolded him, but the old man just shrugged it off with a chug of his coffee.
The deputy took off his hat and decided to join the conversation by saying, “She shouldna been hanging round those gypsy’s the other night. I tried to tell her to steer clear with all that’s going on, but Margery’s as bull headed as they come. Not like that sister of hers.”
“Speaking of her sister,” Big Thelma, the saloon owner, interrupted “Alethia just got in and I don’t want none of y’all chiming off about her baby sister in front of her. Ya’ll hear me?” Thelma gave everyone in the room the look and they all went back to their breakfast obediently.
A beautifully disheveled young brunette twisted her hair into a knot and tied her apron as she trotted into the saloon. “Morning everyone,” she uttered absently as she immediately got to work scrubbing tables. Everyone quietly watched her sympathetically. The silence growing more and more trepidatious with every quiet moment.
“M…Mornin’ Alethia,” the deputy stuttered nervously. “I’m awful sorry to hear about your sister, but don’t you worry. I’m sure she’ll turn up soon.”
“The hell she will!” Old Ed Henry protested. “With all them vanishings happening in Taylor, we aint never seeing her again!”
“Ed Henry!” Thelma scolded.
“The hell’s wrong with you old man!” Hollered the tailor.
“I ought to through you in jail!” Cried the deputy.
“Its all right,” Alethia said calmly. “He just said what y’all are thinking. I can feel all your eyes watchin’ and feelin sorry but its a whole lot worse when y’all are quiet and leaving me to my imagination.” She paused for a moment staring off through the floor. “So please just keep on talkin as if I weren’t here.”
“Well, what do y’all think is causing all them vanishings?” The good doctor broke the silence into a barrage of opinions and theories.
“If you ask me, I’d say it’s them damn Gypsies stealing our things for their devil worship.” The deputy declared.
“But we’ve been losing our cattle since before them Gypsies ever set foot in Taylor,” one of the farmers replied.
As the discussion continued, Alethia excused herself for a moment and left to the back room. Thelma tried to hush everyone but there was too much excitement to control. “I hope you’re all proud of yourselves,” she said before going back to check on Alethia.
“I told you old man there aint no such thing as a chupacabra!” Cried one. “Is the damn injuns trying to take back our land!” Hollered another.
Alethia wept over the kitchen sink bitterly not escaping the sound of the men arguing about her sister in the main room. She heard someone coming in and starting scrubbing dishes.
“I know you ain’t alright so I’m not gonna ask,” Big Thelma announced. “I’m just coming in to check on you baby girl.”
“Oh Thelma,” Alethia collapsed into the big woman’s embrace. “I thought coming in here like nothing happened would make me feel there wasn’t nothing wrong. But I just can’t help thinking the worst. I mean what if something happened to her?”
“It’s in God’s hands honey. There ain’t nothing you can do to help by worrying.”
“I just hate that we left things the way we did. I wish I could see her again and say I’m sorry and it doesn’t matter just don’t go.” The poor girl sobbed into Thelma’s dress as she patted her hair.
“You don’t want these men seeing you like this. You can head on home and be with your father. Y’all need to be together right now.”
“I reckon you’re right, Thelma.”
“Thia!” One of the other waitresses rushed in the room. Muffled sound of conflict and shouting bled through the wall. “You’re gonna wanna see this.”
The saloon had formed a crowd around the bar, where the deputy held a stranger at gunpoint. The stranger was critically wounded and had a body in a large canvas bag placed on the bar top. “Give me a reason not to shoot you where you stand?” Interrogated the deputy.
“Look,” the stranger struggled to breath, wheezing between words. “I’m just trying to get this body back to her family” he gasped, “its the least they deserve.”
“How do we know you didn’t just kill her yourself?”
“You think she did this to me?” The stranger revealed the deep gashes through the tears on his shirt. “I tried to save her…but the monster…” his words began to fade.
Alethia made her way through the crowd toward the stranger, as if there wasn’t another person in the room. Her sun baked skin turned pale as snow as she stood over the body. The canvas bag merely covered the top half of her. The blood stained dress was visible from the waist down to the boots. Alethia recognized that dress and those boots to be her sister’s; but unless she sees her face, there remains a chance that she might have swapped clothes with one of the gypsy girls. She began to remove the bag, and everyone held their breath. The stranger, hanging on by a thread, warned her, “Ma’am, I wouldn’t…she’s been dead for days now…” Alethia glared disdainfully at him and continued uncovering the corpse.
Alethia gasped and fell backwards onto floor upon viewing the mutilated corpse as did even the bravest of men in the room. “Lord Almighty!” Thelma cried turning her face away.
“YOU SEE!” Old Ed Henry exclaimed. “Some kind of monster did that!”
She took a moment to compose herself, then Alethia stood up again to examine the body further. This time covering her nose and mouth to blot out what the smell of rotted flesh. There was no telling what kind of creature could do such a thing to a human being but she had to be certain it was indeed Margery. The realization upon discovering the birthmark on her left arm hit her like a dynamite, filling her with rage. As tears from anger filled her eyes, she let out an agonizing cry and punched the stranger out cold on the floor.
“Hell on Earth, Thia!” The good doctor immediately ran to pay the unconscious man attention. “The man was barely holdin’ on as is.”
Big Thelma covered what was left of the girl and tended to Alethia while the deputy checked on the stranger. “He gonna make it, Doc?”
“Well Deputy, if we hurry, he just might. But something or somebody did him up good.”
“I’ll get him to the jailhouse. You can work on him there. The Sheriff will have some questions for him.” The deputy whistled and two other deputies carried the stranger out of the saloon. He turned his attention to the two women by the body. “I’m terribly sorry, Thia…I…I don’t know what to say.”
“What is there to say?” Alethia stared blankly ahead of her.
“You just let me know if there is anything I can do.” The deputy put on his hat and began to walk toward the door. He turned back and asked, “You want me to pass the news to your Pa?”
“No,” She said. “He’d better hear it from me.”
“Alright everyone!” Big Thelma announced. “Saloon’s closed for the day. Been enough happenin’ for one day. Everybody go home or to your rooms til sundown.”
