Strigoi (Part 6)
The next morning...
Justin drove through the streets of Orlando as quickly as he dared, occasionally
looking at the piece of paper in his hand that held a name and the address that
he was trying to get to. He was about to meet with a "vampire expert"
and he was so anxious to get there he could barely keep his hands on the
steering wheel.
He had visited 4 occult shops in one morning. In each one he had asked for any
information that they had about vampires and for the name of someone that might
be considered an expert in vampire lore. From the first three shops he had
walked out with books on vampires and nothing more. From the fourth shop he had
walked out with a phone number and a name - Hank Jefferson. He had immediately
called Hank Jefferson and was enormously pleased when he told him to come right
over.
He turned right onto Hank's street and slowed down drastically as he began to
read the numbers on the houses. He found the right house five seconds later and
parked in front of it. He practically jumped out of the car and ran up the
walkway to the front door in his eagerness. As he knocked on the door he ignored
the feeling that he was being silly and wasting time in trying to get
information on creatures that didn't exist. After all, he had been ignoring the
feeling all morning, he could certainly ignore it now.
The door opened and Justin found himself face to face with a tall, much older
gentleman with gray hair and a kind smile. The man promptly stuck out his hand
in greeting. "Hi there. My name's Hank. You must be Justin."
Justin took the proffered hand and was surprised by the strength in the grip. He
nodded and smiled back. "That's right Hank. Thank you so much for meeting
with me on such short notice."
"No problem at all. It's not like I have anything else going on. Come on
in," Hank said as he stepped back.
Justin entered the house and shut the door behind him. He followed Hank through
the modest living room and into a bright sunny kitchen.
"Have a seat," Hank told him as he motioned to one of the kitchen
chairs.
Justin sat and watched as Hank took a chair across from him. An instant later,
Hank bolted upright.
"Oh lord, where are my manners? Can I offer you something to drink
son?"
Justin smiled at being called son and politely declined. Despite the fact that
he felt very comfortable with Hank he wanted to get down to the reason for his
being here. Vampires.
Hank apparently sensed this for when he spoke again he got right to the point.
"So, you want information on vampires eh? Is it for a term paper or
something?" Hank asked.
"No, it's..."
Hank interrupted him and held up his hand. "No wait. Don't tell me. Someone
that you care about is being bitten by a vampire and you want to find out how to
stop it."
Justin looked at him in surprise. "Yeah, that's right. But how did
you...?"
Once again Hank interrupted. "Because that's the only reason people come
and see vampire experts. Unless it's that term paper thing. So who's getting
chomped? Your girl?"
"No. A very good friend of mine named Chris. And I don't even know if he's
getting "chomped". What am I saying? I don't even know if vampires
exist! For all I know I'm going crazy." Justin exclaimed. Now he felt
silly.
"Well, of course they exist. Vampires are as real as you or I," Hank
said calmly.
Justin looked at him curiously. "How do you know that?"
"Because I've seen 'em that's why. Killed my share too. Back in the day I
was quite the sought after vampire hunter you know." Hank puffed his chest
out with pride.
"Hank, don't take this the wrong way, but...how do I know that you're not
crazy?" Justin asked hesitantly.
Hank laughed, a deep belly laugh that brought a smile to Justin's face. After he
managed to settle down he said, "Well, I guess you don't, now do you?"
He paused. "Tell me what's going on with your friend. Tell me about the
things that made you start suspecting."
Justin sighed and began to tell Hank everything. He started with the recording
session just a mere three days ago and ended with how Chris woke up last night
in the hospital calling out "she's so angry" for no apparent reason.
When he finished he looked at Hank expectantly.
Hank nodded grimly. "Yup, that's a vampire all right."
Justin hung his head. "Oh boy."
Hank continued to nod. "Sorry son. I hate to be the one to deliver bad news
like this."
Justin merely shook his head, not knowing whether to believe this man or not.
Not knowing whether he wanted to believe him or not.
Hank cleared his throat. "Well, you've come here to get some facts about
vampires, so let's get started. I'll start with the basics. First of all,
vampires are the undead. Animated corpses that need the blood of the living to
continue to exist. Now the way they work is this; they usually find a person
that they're attracted to for whatever reason and then they go pay 'em a visit
at their house. Once there they have to get permission from one of the house's
residents to enter. They usually do that through a type of mind control that
their victims can't resist. Now a vampire only needs to be granted permission
once to keep entering a house. After that, it's like an all-you-can eat buffet
at Sizzler for them."
Justin found himself chuckling despite the subject matter.
"The vampire will then visit night after night until either the victim dies
or they decide to stop and move on to someone else. Now, if the victim dies from
the blood loss, and ONLY from the blood loss mind you, then that person will
turn into a vampire within three days time."
Justin looked confused for a moment. "You said that sometimes the vampire
just stops and moves on to someone else?"
"Well sure...they only turn about 40% of the people they bite. Maybe even
less. If they turned everybody they bit, the world would be overrun by vampires
by now!" Hank exclaimed as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Why don't they turn everyone they bite?" asked Justin.
"Well, I'm not exactly sure. I'm not Anne Rice, I've never interviewed
one." Hank paused to laugh at his own joke while Justin gave him an amused
smile. After a moment he stopped laughing and resumed talking. "No
seriously, I don't know. I think it has something to do with the fact that
they're solitary creatures. Vampires don't have vampire friends. They don't even
hang out with the vamps that they do turn, despite their supposed deep
connection."
Justin shook his head quickly. "Ok, ok. So how do I know if this particular
vampire intends to turn Chris?"
Hank turned completely serious again. "Well, you don't son. That's why you
err on the side of caution."
"So, how do I stop the vampire?"
"Well, garlic and wolfsbane will repel them. So will religious objects like
crucifixes, eucharists, holy water, things like that."
Justin leaned forward. "How do I kill one Hank?"
Hank also leaned forward until he and Justin's faces were only a few inches
apart. "Ram a wooden stake through its black foul heart."
He sat back. "Or you can cut off its head. Sunlight will also do the job,
so will fire. That's it. Those are the only options you have."
Justin put his head in his hands. "I can't believe that I'm actually
considering that this is a possibility Hank," he said.
"I know its hard to accept. Believe me kiddo, I know. I wasn't always a
believer either."
"Hank isn't there some way to prove that Chris is actually being attacked
and that it's not just anemia? Before I go and turn vampire hunter I've got to
have proof."
"You mean you want more proof than you've already got?" Hank asked.
Justin nodded fiercely. "Yes."
Hank sighed. "Ok, here's what you do. Give your friend a crucifix."
"Huh?"
"Give your friend a crucifix. If he's been bitten by a vampire then he
won't be able to touch it or look at it."
"Really?"
Hank looked at Justin levelly. "Yes. Be prepared to hear me sound
melodramatic." He paused then, "A vampire is unnatural, it is an
abomination and an affront to God and everything holy. Although your friend
isn't a vampire yet, if he has been bitten then he has been tainted, and God
will have already begun to shun him."
Justin felt his heart sink at the kind man's words. He whispered, "What do
I do Hank? What do I now?"
Hank placed his hand on Justin's forearm. "Stay with your friend tonight.
When the vampire comes for him don't interfere. I know it will be hard for you
to watch and not do anything but you have to let the vampire feed as if
everything were normal. Your friend just received a blood transfusion so he'll
be in no immediate danger. Then, when it's over, follow the vampire to its lair.
Once you know where it hides, leave immediately! This is very important Justin.
Do not try to fight the vampire on its own ground at its strongest time; you
will almost certainly lose. Leave and return in the daylight. That's when
vampires are at their weakest. Then kill it by God; kill it."
Justin looked at the old man's solemn face and he believed. He believed with all
his heart and soul that everything this man had told him was true. He believed
everything he had seen with his own eyes over the past three days. He believed
and he was afraid.
*******************
After thanking Hank profusely over and over again, Justin had left his house and
driven to the nearest jewelry store where he picked up a brand new shiny gold
crucifix.
He had hopped in the car and was now on his way to Chris' house where he knew
that Chris and his friends were waiting for him. As he drove he continuously
gazed at the sun as if the mere act of looking at it would persuade it to stay
up in the sky longer.
He looked at his watch. 'Four o'clock. Only one hour left til sundown,' he
thought nervously.
He had already decided that he didn't think he could do this alone and that he
was going to enlist one of his friends' help. The question now was which one.
Which one could he trust not to completely laugh at his plan? Which one could he
trust not to completely crack under the pressure of seeing a real live
bloodsucker? He thought it over as he drove the last few remaining blocks to
Chris' house, but was unable to make a decision.
Once he arrived at the house he parked the car and walked up to the door,
carrying his new purchase with him. He knocked on the door and waited patiently.
A moment later it was opened by a very angry looking JC.
"Justin, where the hell have you been?" JC asked as he tried to keep
his voice low so that the others wouldn't hear.
Justin studied JC's face for a second, trying to determine whether he could tell
him the truth or not.
'No, not him. He's too damn stubborn and closed-minded to ever believe what I
have to tell him,' he thought.
"I told you I had errands to run," he said aloud.
"What kind of errands were so important that you couldn't be here for your
friend? Chris has been asking about you all day. Dammit Justin, you can be so
irresponsible sometimes!"
Justin merely looked at him and shrugged. "I'm sorry JC. But I had
important things I had to take care of. Private things," he said with an
emphasis on the word private. To himself he thought, 'If you only knew JC'.
JC grunted, "You're impossible," and stepped aside so that he could
enter.
Justin walked in the room and looked around. "Where's Chris?" he
asked.
Lance answered as he walked up to him. "He's upstairs taking a nap before
dinner. He's doing a lot better but he's still pretty wiped."
Justin looked around again. "Where's Joey?"
Lance gestured towards the kitchen. "He's cooking."
Justin nodded and looked at Lance as if seeing him for the first time. Nice
Lance. Kind Lance. Lance-the guy that would never in a million years call a
person crazy even if he thought they were. Lance-the guy who would go along with
a friend's scheme no matter how bizarre it sounded to him simply because he was
their friend.
Justin smiled. He had found his helper.
Justin threw his arm around Lance's shoulder and began to lead him away from JC.
"Lance buddy, you got a minute? We need to talk."