Vampires at large

It was dark when he opened his eyes, not just dark as if the windows
were covered but there was an absence of light. There was no window to
the room and the door had a heavy, dark, black velvet curtain
completely covering it. It was so dark that a pinprick of light would
have shone like the sun. Daylight had never entered the room. He lay
there and wondered what had made him wake with a start. He listened; it
was so quiet that if a mouse tiptoed across the room he would have
heard it. He heard nothing, so what had woken him? He cautiously arose
and carefully made his way into the next room. It was dark in there,
except where the moonlight streamed in through the open window. Now he
knew that someone had been in his house. He would never have left the
windows un-shuttered; he would never have left them so that the light
poured into the room lighting the portraits of his ancient family. He
certainly would not have opened the window. His skin prickled but he
still could not hear anyone. He sensed them.

" Who's there? I know there is someone there. "
A soft wind disturbed the dust and the motes glittered in the
moonlight. But no one answered his query.
He felt hungry but didn't want to leave the room until he had found his
mysterious visitor. He sat down and waited, soon whoever it was would
make themselves known, he knew. He also knew that he was safe, no one
would have come into his house unless they knew him. It wasn't worth
the risk. He had seen people run in terror when he went out, so he knew
that the local people would not come into his house, they were too
frightened that they would never leave it. The rumours were unfounded;
as far as he knew visitors had always left the house in the same
condition they had entered it, alive. His grandfather had been the
source of the legends concerning the disappearance of visitors;
especially young girls but he had no proof that there was any truth in
them. And that was long ago, but time added dimensions to the stories
as they were passed from generation to generation. But he was not his
grandfather they had nothing to fear from him.
Just as he was about to give up and go to find some food he heard a
small laugh. He recognised that laugh, it was his young cousin.
"Lucy? Come out, stop messing around."
His cousin Lucy came into the patch of moonlight.
" Hello cousin, I thought you might be out tonight. I was going to join
you. I thought that you should get some fresh air into this room so I
opened the shutters and the windows."
" Lucy, you're a pest. Where's Aunt Jane? Why are you here
alone?"
Lucy pulled a face, " I'm fed up with always being with the family. I
wanted to come here by myself. And I was right, nothing happened to me.
I'm here safe and sound. Don't send me back Freddie, please. Take me
out tonight. Let me come with you."
" I might not be going out tonight."
" Then you'll starve, there's no food in this house. I know I've
looked."
" Maybe I don't need to eat tonight "
" Oh Freddie, you do, you must. Oh don't tease me."
She stamped her foot and stood there glowering at him.
" You're a goose Lucy. You know that I don't eat every night. But, now
then don't pull that face at me, I am going out tonight. And since I
have an uninvited guest I suppose I must take you with me, as you so
rightly said there is no food in the house."
" You should keep some here."
" I prefer not to. Now be good and close the windows and the shutters.
I'm going back to my room, please don't follow me."

He went into his room and stood there trying not to laugh. His cousin
was so hasty and impetuous. She hated the rules of family life and
tried to get away whenever she could. When he thought that he had given
her enough time to do her tasks he went back into the sitting
room.
" Do you have a coat? Or something warm to wear?"
" Of course I do. I came here didn't I? Where are we going?"
" How hungry are you?"
" I'm starving, I haven't eaten today. It was about eight-o-clock last
night when I last had a meal."
" You poor thing, and you're a growing girl. Well I can't let you
starve to death can I? Come on"
He took her hand and they left the house together.
Rising gently into the air Freddie took Lucy's hand and they flew away
at high speed. Flying was one of the things that Lucy loved, her father
didn't always let her fly they rode in a coach pulled by horses. Her
father thought it was more becoming. Her father was rather old
fashioned; he kept to the old ways, whereas Freddie was a modern man
with modern habits. She wished she could live with him.
As they landed Lucy's mouth began to water,
" I can smell food."
Freddie sighed, " Of course you can, that's why we are out tonight
isn't it? For you to get something inside you? Come on we walk from
here"
Lucy didn't seem to know how to walk; she skipped by his side, ran on
ahead, and circled him in her excitement.
" Does Aunt Jane know where you are?"
" Yes, I left a note to tell her. You won't send me back will
you?"
" I don't have anywhere you could sleep."
" Oh Freddie, it's such a big house, there must be a spare room
somewhere, please."
" Well.. If Aunt Jane says you can then you could stay for a couple of
days, but I've nowhere you can sleep. There's spare rooms so you'll
have to get one ready for you."
" Thank you thank you thank you" trilled Lucy as she skipped away from
him.

The smell of food was getting stronger, Lucy ran back to Freddie
" What are we eating tonight?"
"Pork"
"Pork? Oh I thought it might be something more exotic."
" No, tonight it's pork. Tomorrow if you're still around I might take
you to something more to your extravagant tastes"
Lucy giggled and looked at him from under her eyelashes.
" And if you don't behave yourself I won't take you. How's your
education getting on? What level are you at?"
" I've not done my Flying yet but I was first in Metamorphosis and I'm
top of the class in Stealth. And I'm ok with telepathy"
"Good, then let's try some Metamorphosis, let's see you become a
bat."
She stood in front of him and gradually with the awkwardness of a
beginner became a bat. He sent her a telepathic message to follow him
and off they went to a nearby pig farm.
" Here's your dinner, but you have to feed in bat form, that way you
shouldn't be able to gorge yourself."
Freddie watched as she found a suitable place and delicately began to
lick the blood.
" She's got good manners," he thought as she flitted to another
pig

When he saw that she wasn't going to kill any of the animals he too
changed and began to feed. Long experience had shown him that feeding
off animals in the guise of a bat was less traumatic to them. And he
also didn't drink as much even when he was himself again he still felt
sated. When he had finished Lucy was still in the shape of a bat .He
changed back to human form and asked her why she hadn't
"I'm going to fly."
" But you haven't mastered flying yet, you can only flitter for a
while. The only way you can really fly is by holding onto someone who
can fly. Don't be silly."
She took no notice and tried to fly away only to gracefully sink to the
ground. Lucy changed back to her human form and looked slightly sorry
for herself.
"I thought that if I was in the shape of a flying entity I would be
able to fly. You make it look so easy."
" It is easy but you have to learn how to do it. Keep having the
lessons and you'll be fine. At least you didn't crash land and hurt
yourself."
He took hold of her hand and lifted her into the air. They flew to her
house where they asked Jane if Lucy could stay with Freddie.

" I suppose so. But only for a couple of days and send her back if
she's a nuisance. Don't let her interfere with your work Freddie. And
don't forget to take some clean clothes young lady."
" Mother. Don't fuss. I'll go and pack a bag now and you can check it,
unless you want to pack it for me."
"No I want to talk to Freddie. Go child and leave us alone."
Lucy stomped out of the room; she just knew that they were going to
talk about her. But they didn't.
" I'm worried about you Freddie," said Jane
"I'm ok Aunt Jane. I've been working too hard, having Lucy visit will
give me a break."
" When are you going home?"
" I'll go back after Jane comes back here. I presume she doesn't
know?"
"She has no idea. Will you stay there? I wish we could go back but your
Uncle James won't even think of it. You know how important he thinks it
is to have a presence here. If we go there'll be no one left and so
many people will wonder about us. He's far more interested in
destroying the old rumours and legends but it might mean substituting
them with new ones."
Freddie agreed with his Aunt Jane. The people of this planet needed
their legends and myths, especially the horror ones. He thought that
they felt more secure in the present day if they could recite stories
of ancient horror. Although the people near his house still held that
the myths were true, which is why they avoided him. If only they would
talk to him and he could tell them the truth. Neither he nor his
ancestors had deliberately killed anyone. Yes he needed blood but
animals could supply that quite easily. Whilst he and his aunt were
talking about this Lucy came into the room, she tried not to be noticed
but with both her mother and Freddie there it was impossible, she
realised that she still had a lot to learn.
" Have you finished talking about me?" she demanded.
" Don't be childish Lucy" said her mother. " We have other things to
discuss without talking about a spoilt child."
Freddie could see that Lucy was hurt by her mother words
" Your mother was trying to get me to take a holiday."
" Can I come with you?"
" Not this time, you've still got to finish your education. When you
graduate I promise that I'll take you on holiday."
" Where? Somewhere I've never been before?"
" Yes, somewhere you've never even thought of going to. I promise." He
looked at Jane and she nodded.
Lucy was ecstatic, a real holiday with her favourite person. Freddie
was the best cousin in the world. She thought about telling her friends
all about it but then caution promoted her to say,
" Can I tell my friends?"
"Let's keep it a secret for the moment, shall we? You can tell them the
day before we go."
They said goodbye to Jane and as they flew off towards Freddie's house
he could hear her singing,
" I've got a secret, I've got a secret."

They had to hurry but they managed to get a room ready for Lucy before
the darkness vanished. Freddie said " Sleep well Lucy, Stay here until
I come to fetch you."
She drowsily nodded her agreement and he went off to his room for a
rest, the darkness of his room was comfortable to him, he relaxed and
wondered just how Lucy would feel about her holiday when it came. She
was such a child still; she had so much to learn, even after her formal
education had finished. But he also knew that Jane was the right person
to educate her. He lay down to sleep. The absolute darkness lulled him
and soon he slept as if he was dead.
The next day he woke as usual, nothing untoward had disturbed his
sleep. He got up and went to wake Lucy. She smiled up at him and
said,
" I'm starving."
" When are you not starving?"
"Hmmm let's see. I'm not sure. Are you hungry?"
" No not really but I'll take you somewhere you've never been before
for your evening meal."
" The place we are going to for our holiday?"
" No, I told you that would be some place entirely new to you."
" Where are we going tonight? Please tell me."
" Get dressed and I'll tell you, but first I'll have to do something,
so don't rush getting ready."

He walked away and went into his room. He locked the door and opened a
cupboard. He reached into the cupboard and pressed a very small bump in
the plasterwork. There was a slight noise and a large case appeared in
the cupboard. Freddie took the case to his bed and opened it. Pressing
a few of the seemingly random colours he spoke rapidly but quietly. The
box buzzed twice and Freddie closed it and put it back into the
cupboard. Pressing the disguised button he sent it back to the recesses
from which it came. He knew that no one else could access the box, the
controls responded to him and him alone but he still didn't want to
leave it lying around. Lucy called to him
" I'm ready now Lucy. Come on let's go and eat. I have a real treat in
store for you." He said as he walked into the sitting room.
" Are you going to tell me where?"
" It's somewhere hot and there's a restaurant by the sea. It's in the
Caribbean."
" Jamaica? Are we going to Jamaica?"
" Yes. That's if you'd like to go there."
" Oh Freddie, I'd love to go there. Will it take us long?"
" No, but we must start now."
They left and holding Lucy's hand he flew to Jamaica. Landing on a
beach he looked around.
" You said that there was a restaurant on the beach. Do you mean one
for us?"
" There's a big party here at this time of night and tonight is a
special day so there will be lots of people here. I thought that you
might like to sample some. But I warn you don't drink too deeply, these
people will tolerate us because they have been drinking and taking
drugs and that we don't want too much of their blood for the same
reason. Sample some and we will go on to eat elsewhere if you want
to."
" Will they struggle? Will they taste different? I've never tasted
anyone who has been drinking before."
" You'll just have to try some and see, won't you?"

They joined the beach party and Freddie looked on as Lucy joined the
dancers, she soon managed to persuade a young man to leave the party
for a while and Freddie watched as his cousin delicately lapped the
young man's blood. She was so careful that he would never notice what
she had done. After a short while they rejoined the party and Lucy came
over to Freddie.
"It's so different. I can see why you told me to be careful I could
have drained him so easily."
" But then we wouldn't have been allowed back."
" None saw us."
" I did and I saw someone else watching you. If you had gone beyond the
agreed boundaries they would have killed you."
" Killed me? How? I thought that it was very difficult to kill
us."
" The simple way would have been to expose you to sunlight, never
forget that it will kill us."
Lucy hung her head, for a moment she had forgotten that sunlight would
kill her then she said,
" I'm hungry will we go and eat now?"
" I'm waiting for a sign."
An old woman came over to them; she beckoned them to follow her.
Leading them into what was almost a jungle she stopped at a crude hut
and went inside. Lucy hesitated and looked at Freddie. " What do we do
now?" she whispered.
" The old woman is waiting for you to drink her blood, she's old and
wants to die. She's been preparing for this for weeks. If you decide to
do it please be careful and don't drain her completely. I need her as
well."
Lucy went into the hut and drank from the old woman, but it wasn't the
same as the blood from the young man but her hunger has stopped. She
called Freddie and he asked her to leave the hut.
" You'll be safe outside. Just wait for me. If you're still hungry
there's a goat just down the path to the right."
She decided to leave the goat, as Freddie might need it.
In the hut Freddie approached the old woman
" Are you sure? Are you sure you want this? "
" Yes, I'm sure I'll still be able to use me knowledge for the benefit
of the village. Please do it now."
Freddie leant over her and drained her completely. Then he bit his
wrist and let the drops run into her mouth. With a shudder she grabbed
him and drank deeply. Freddie pulled away.
" No more, now you must rest but tomorrow night you must feed. Not
before, do you understand?"
Weakly she nodded and sank back onto the rough bed. Freddie left her
making sure that no light would get to her and as he staggered out
feeling light-headed he grabbed hold of Lucy.
" Get the goat there's a dear."
She hurried away and brought the goat to him, he took a deep draught
and sat up recovered.
" What's wrong? I've never seen anyone like that when they've had a
drink."
"Nothing's wrong I'll be fine let's go home"

Back home Freddie went to bed and Lucy decided that her cousin was an
exciting if mysterious man to be with. Lucy stayed with Freddie for
another day until it was time for her to go to school. It was a small
school attended by the children of the diplomats from all over the
earth
Time passed and she finally came to graduation day having mastered
Flying, and Stealth and the various other skills needed to survive in
such a hostile environment. As she said goodbye to her fellow graduates
she excitedly told them about her impending holiday.
"I'm going with my cousin Freddie"
" The good-looking one? The one who comes here for speech day?" asked
her friends
" Yes, He's going to take me somewhere I've never been before. He won't
tell me where but he says that I'll love it. We are going for at least
four weeks."
Her friends were envious; all they had been promised was two weeks at
the usual resorts. Lucy raced home and started packing but her mother
stopped her.
" You won't need to pack much Lucy. Freddie will provide everything you
need when you get there. He wants to keep the luggage down to a minimum
to keep the weight down. You will be ok with Freddie, he will look
after you."
" Keep the weight down? Why where are we going? I thought we would fly
there ourselves."
" You will find out when Freddie decides to tell you. For now just take
what you need for a night and go to his house. He will meet you
there."
Lucy was curious, now her mother was being mysterious and her father
simply hugged her and said goodbye, really grown-ups were impossible at
times.

At Freddie's house she wandered through the rooms but couldn't find him
so she sat down to wait for him. Finally he came in and said
" Do you need to eat?"
" No I'm too excited to want to eat, when do we go?"
" We can go now. Come into my room when I call you."
" Freddie went into his room and retrieved the case. He opened it and
pressed a complex arrangement of colours. The he called Lucy to come
into the room.
" Stand by me Lucy. We're going on holiday."
Lucy wondered how but stood next to her cousin. The next thing she knew
was a feeling of being rushed through the air, she shut her eyes to
avoid any dust blinding her but then the feeling subsided and she
cautiously peeped to see where they were. Much to her disappointment
they were inside a room. One that looked very plain and boring, turning
to her cousin she was about to ask where they were when he spoke.
" I know that this is not quite what you expected but believe me it's
going to be far more exciting than Australia or Scandinavia. This is a
space ship, we are going home."
"Home?" I've only just left home."
" Our homeland rather than where you have lived with your parents. I
guess I'd better tell you. You know that we are not the same as the
inhabitants of Earth; they call us vampires and evil fiends. But we are
not evil; it's just our way of living, that's why I won't feed off the
humans. Well, the main reason we are different is because we are from a
different planet, from a different galaxy. It's going to take us a long
time to get home but I think you'll find it's worth it. While we are
getting there you'll be in stasis and learning all about our homeland,
it's language and it's traditions."
" How do you know that I'll love it?"
"We all do when we get there."

They entered stasis and were woken when the space ship was orbiting
their home. Transporting down gave Lucy the same sensations as before
but this time she kept her eyes open so that she could see where she
was going. Looking around her when they had landed she said,
" Is it night time? Is it safe?"
" It's always safe for us here. Our sun isn't a yellow sun like Earth's
and we won't burn to death. The light has a different wavelength. We
have nothing to fear from living here; even the wild animals won't
threaten us. And we don't drink blood here; our food is high in what we
need. You have had some experience of eating solids?"
" Yes, Mother made me eat fruit. I did wonder why, she said that the
bulk would help fill me."
" She was right. And now I'll take you to your house. You'll be living
on my estate until your parents come home. I know your father is
reluctant to return but he's over the retirement age and must return.
We will send a new diplomat to Earth. One who is less old
fashioned."
" Will it be you?"
" No, I'm staying here, I've done my stint there, now I'll stay here
and look for a wife and maybe raise a family."

Lucy spent days enjoying being able to go out during the day and
sleeping at night, she loved the feel of the sun on her skin and after
initial doubts she found that she really liked the food. The strange
plants fascinated her and the animals she saw were cute and furry,
rather like the Australian wombats. Freddie had been right, this was a
place she loved, and she never wanted to leave it. Being a vampire had
been fun but being home was better.