Thursday, June 13, 12:37 PM
"Hey, Vinnie! You gonna share those?" Cid asked. He gestured to
Vincent's chocolate chocolate chip cookies.
Vincent clutched the package to his chest and glared at Cid. He
couldn't say anything because he had a cookie in his mouth.
Cid leaned back and put his feet up on the seat in front of him.
"Fine, eat like a horse. Just don't come running to me when all that
chocolate you eat makes you lose your sleek physique." He ran his hand
through his pale blond hair, a teasing glint in his eye.
Vincent shoved the rest of the cookie in his mouth and swallowed it
all at once. "Shut up before I shoot you." He said coldly.
Cid's eyes boggled. "Whoa! Now THAT'S shway! Man, how do you do
that?!"
"What?" Vincent asked, blinking.
Cid shook his head. "I'm telling you, Claude, this kid's got talent!
I'm glad you picked him up."
The blue-eyed leader of the group nodded in the rearveiw mirror. His
hair swayed slightly as if it would topple right off of his head.
"Yeah, and he's pretty handy with a shotgun, too! Say, Vinnie, why do
you still use that old kind?"
Vincent glared at Claude. "I am NOT Vinnie. My name is Vincent. How
would you like it if I called you Dirt Claude? Would that be an
acceptable name, Mr. Mud?"
Claude laughed. "Steam off! If you don't like something, just say
so."
Vincent sighed. "I've been saying that for as long as I've known you.
Anyway, to answer your question-- I like the style of an old fashioned
gun. It's crudeness in comparison to our guns today seems savage, and
after all, my--" Vincent stopped short and covered up with, "Hey, look!
Hamburgur Palace! Can we stop and eat? Pleeeeaase?"
"You sound like a kid." Claude chuckled.
Yumi leaned foreward. "C'mon, Claude!" She said. "Can't we? Me and
Tara are sick of this car! And hungry, since Vincent won't share his
cookies..."
"Get your own!" Vincent called back. Yumi stuck her tongue out at
him.
Tara ignored them. "Claude, we should stop and eat! It'll be good, we
haven't had a stretch since dawn!"
"Well, okay..." Claude said, taking the exit. "But, Vincent, this
time...?"
"Yes?"
"Don't threaten the line in front of us with death just so we can go
first."
"Okay... Sorry again..."
Saturday, June 29, 12:17 PM
The days went by pretty quickly. It had only been a few weeks before
they reached Jameston. They passed through the little town in the
middle of nowhere and were into some nearby farming country when Tara,
who was in the front passenger seat, let out that fateful cry that
changed life for all of them, indeed, for the whole planet, forever;
"Claude! A cow!!"
Claude swerved. The van screeched into a ditch and hit a large oak
tree head on. The cow lowed as if laughing at them and lumbered off.
They all piled out to survey the damage.
"Aww, dang it!" Cid said, hitting his fist on the hood of the van.
The van made a very loud noise and one of the tires went flat. Everyone
except Vincent screamed and jumped backwards about a foot.
Claude groaned. "This is going to cost a fortune..."
"Is the van all right? We ran into that tree pretty hard." Yumi said,
worried. Claude just shrugged.
Vincent was leaning back against the tree. "What'd you do that for?"
"What?" Claude asked, looking at him.
"Run into the ditch. And the tree." Vincent said, as though it was
obvious.
"I didn't do it on purpose! What, should I have hit the cow?!" Claude
yelled. Vincent looked very skeptical. Claude just rolled his eyes at
his gothic friend and gave up. "Anyway, we're going to need help. The
town is only a couple miles back. Who's going?"
"I will." Vincent volunteered.
"I will, too." Yumi said.
Cid shrugged. "I'll have to go with them. Somebody's gotta keep these
two clowns on track."
Vincent and Yumi just glared at him.
12:48 PM
On the way into town, Vincent and Yumi talked to pass the time.
"Why did you volunteer? You usually keep to yourself and don't wanna
participate in any of the jobs we find."
Vincent shrugged. "I doubted anyone else would. And besides, I
haven't walked anywhere in a while."
"Did you used to walk a lot? Before you met Claude, I mean." Yumi
asked.
"Yeah, I used to walk everywhere. You?"
"I despise physical activity of any kind." She answered robotically.
Vincent chuckled and they continued in silence for a few minutes.
"Hey! Wait up!" Cid said, running behind them. He stopped to rest,
leaning on a fence next to the road. "Aw, man... I need to get more
exercise..."
1:02 PM
Back at the van, Tara and Claude were waiting.
"I hope they don't have any trouble..." Tara said.
Claude shrugged. "They shouldn't."
After a moment, Tara added, "It's actually kinda nice out here."
"Are you kidding?! The van is stuck in a ditch! We're in the middle
of Nowhere, USA!! And who knows how long we're going to be stuck
here?!"
"Sorry... Go steam off..."
1:34 PM
Vincent stopped on the road and raised one hand to his head. He was
starting to get a headache.
"What's wrong?" Yumi asked, concerned.
"The sun is starting to give me a headache." Vincent lied.
"Oh. Maybe we should slow down." Yumi suggested.
Cid finally caught up to them, panting. "Hey... why... did we...
stop...?" he asked between breaths.
"Vinnie's got a headache." Yumi answered.
"That's not my name!" Vincent snapped.
"Whatever." Yumi said with a shrug.
"Well... let's stop... and... rest." Cid said, still winded.
"No, we'll keep going. I'll be fine." Vincent said with a frown, and
took off at an even faster pace.
"Hey! Wait up!" Yumi yelled, and ran after him.
"Aww, dang it..." Cid groaned before following them.
1:41 PM
Vincent finally stopped at the town and leaned against a building.
His headache had grown considerably worse. Why was there another
vampire in this town, of all places? Usually they were shy and fearful
of humans.
A moment later, Cid and Yumi caught up with him and also leaned
against the wall, both panting.
"Man... how... can you... run... like that...?" Yumi managed, wishing
that the brick wall provided some shade.
"Yeah... you're not... even out of... breath..!" Cid said.
Vincent groaned. "Blasted sun... We have to find some shade."
"Good... idea..." Yumi said.
"Let's rest... a second..." Cid pleaded, but it was too late, Vincent
had already taken off.
1:57 PM
Back at the ditch, Tara was belting out a song. "Eighty-three bottles
of pop on the wall, eighty-three bottles of pop! C'mon, Claude, sing!
You take one down, pass it around, eighty-two--"
"Stop singing that!" Claude finally burst out. "It's the most
annoying song in the history of the universe!"
"Well, not if you're singing..." Tara mumbled. "How long has it been
now?"
"One hour and twelve minutes. They should be getting into town about
now." Claude answered.
"Aw, man... I wonder if they can find a mechanic of some kind
easily." She said hopefully.
Claude shrugged and said, "It's a small town."
"Yeah... I'm starting to get hungry..."
"Well, we have some food in the car." Claude suggested.
"Good idea! We can have a picnic!" Tara said.
"Well--"
"Here, give me the keys. I'll set up!"
"Uh, okay..."
2:09 PM
Vincent slowed to a walk. His head was killing him. He knew what was
wrong, but he was with Yumi and Cid, so he didn't want to say anything.
"Hey!! Vinnie!" Yumi ran up to him, closely followed by Cid.
"Are you all right?" Cid asked, concerned.
Vincent couldn't answer. The vampire had to be getting nearer... the
sun started to grow brighter and colors began to dance in his vision.
2:17 PM
"There...! Claude! I'm done!" Tara called, looking over her work with
satisfaction.
Claude walked over to the picnic. "It looks good."
"Thank you! Come on, sit down."
They sat on the blanket she had pulled out of the trunk and started
to eat.
The lunch took about half an hour to eat. "Um, I'm kind of worried...
they shouldn't have taken so long." Tara said as she cleaned up the
disposable dishes and put them in a brown grocery bag to be thrown away
later.
Claude streteched out on his back. "I'm sure they're okay. Knowing
Vinnie, they probably just decided to eat something before they got a
mechanic."
Tara sat down next to him and picked a wild flower. "Yeah, I guess
you're right." She frowned and twisted the small blossom between her
thumb and forefinger. Somewhere in her mind, she breifly wondered if
flowers got dizzy. "Still, I can't shake this weird feeling..."
"Don't let it bother you too much. You know, you were right. This
place is nice." Claude said, his stress level having gone down from
extreme danger to almost none. "It's a nice day, too. Maybe it's not so
bad..."
2:49 PM
Yumi and Cid waited in what was something between a doctor's office
and small hospital.
When the doctor walked in, Yumi jumped up. "Is he all right? He just
collapsed like that!"
The doctor shook her head. "To tell you the truth, I really don't
know."
"What?! What kind of a doctor are you, anyway?!" Yumi exploded.
"Well, Vincent has a very strange anatomy... I've never seen anything
like it before. And would you know anything about these...?" She held
up Vincent's medicine.
"Umm... aren't those his anti-depressants?" Yumi asked, starting to
get confused.
"No, they couldn't be. If that's what he told you, either he was
lying or else it's some kind of home remedy. I don't know what exactly
is in it..."
Yumi blinked. "What do you want us to do...? I mean, we've only known
him for a few months. Cid! Why aren't you saying anything?!"
Cid looked up. "Hey, I'm not sure what to do, either. Seems like
Vinnie's been keeping something from us..."
"That's crazy. What could he be keeping from us? I'm sure there's
going to be an explanation for all this as soon as he wakes up!"
3:00 PM
"A lion. Definitely a lion."
"No way! It's a dog."
"Are you blind?"
Claude laughed. "You know, this reminds me of when we were kids."
Tara sat up. "What, the clouds?"
"No, the arguing."
Tara laughed and was about to say something when a red convertable
pulled up on the road and the driver asked, "Hey, do you guys, like,
need some help?"
Tara stood up and ran to the car. Behind her, Claude pulled himself
up and brushed off his clothes.
"Of course we need help...! Listen, are you on your way to Jameston?"
The two blondes looked at each other.
"Well, yeah... like, where else would we be going?" The passenger
asked.
Claude came up to the car and said, "We sent our friends into town,
but they haven't come back yet. Could you give us a ride?"
"Like, sure!" The two said at the same time.
3:17 PM
"...And then, I was, like, walking down the hall, and then, I like,
saw him. And he was, like, so cute!!" The driver, Ashley said.
The passenger, Jessica, squeeled. "Like, ohmigosh! Then what
happened?!"
After a few more minutes of torturous valley-girl speak, they finally
arrived at Jameston.
"Hey, you can just drop us off right here, okay?" Claude said.
"Like, all right... see you around!" Jessica chirped.
"But we're leaving as soon as our van is fixed." Tara said as she
climbed out of the car.
"Yeah, like, exactly... see ya!" Ashley called as the two drove off.
Claude shook his head. "I can't believe those two..."
"I'm just glad to get away!" Tara said. "Um, you don't think it's
really going to take that long to fix the van... is it?"
Claude shrugged. "I hope not. Come on, let's find a garage..."
3:23 PM
When Vincent awoke, he assumed he was in another hotel at first. Then
the events of the day started to come back to him. He shot up, his eyes
wide open.
"Dang it! I must have collapsed back there! Oh, man... I knew I
shouldn't have..." He trailed off, trying to think.
"Shouldn't have what?"
He spun around. The doctor was in the room, raising an eyebrow at
him.
"I need to go. Please give me my things and--"
"Not so fast, pal. You think I'm really going to just let you go like
that?! You have some explaining to do!"
Vincent folded his arms. "What do I have to explain to you?"
"Well, plenty of things. For instance, what's that medicine you have?
And don't give me that deppresion stuff, chum, I'm a doctor."
"I--"
"And what about your genetic make up? It's all wrong! Practically
impossible. I mean, it looks like your some kind of an animal."
Vincent glowered. "I am not! Where are Yumi and Cid?!"
The doctor realized she wasn't getting anywhere and turned to the
door. "Your friends are in the waiting room. I'll call them." She
paused before opening the door and looked over her shoulder. "But if
you think you're getting out of here anytime soon, you're wrong, my
friend." And with that she left.
"I am not your friend..." Vincent grumbled after her.
3:42 PM
Claude and Tara found a garage with a tow truck quite easily.
"Did three people come in here? Two men and a teen-age girl?" Claude
asked the mechanic at the counter.
"Dunno," The mechanic said, "What'd they look like?"
Tara stepped in. "Well, the girl is eighteen. She's got short brown
hair. One of the guys has blond, graying hair, and the other is young,
really tall and has long, black hair. He only wears black."
"Oh, them. Well, the tall guy-- the one in black, he was running and
the other two were trying to keep up. Then he sorta collapsed. I went
to see what was the matter, and they went to the hospital down the
road. It musta been an hour, hour and a half ago..."
Claude growled. "Did they send a tow truck to pick up a van?"
"Nope, didn't say a word 'bout any vans."
"All right... Tara, you go to the hospital and see what's wrong. I'll
get the van taken care of."
"Okay. I hope Vincent's all right...!" Tara said, and left.
3:56 PM
"Vincent! You're okay!" Yumi said as she entered the small room with
Cid. The doctor had other patients to take care of.
"Of course I am! Why did you bring me to this place?!"
Yumi blinked. "What? You mean the hospital? Well, you collapsed. What
were we supposed to do?"
"Not this!" Vincent put his head in his hands. "What, do you want
them to lock me up, test and experiment on me like some kind of
animal?! No, I can't blame you..." He growled in frustration and
clenched his hands ito fists. "But there has to be someone else...!"
Cid and Yumi exchanged glances. "Vinnie? What are you talking about?"
Cid asked.
Vincent sighed, looking ashamed. "Never mind. But we'll have to stay
in this town after we break out of the hospital."
"What?! Why?!"
Vincent shook his head. "Never mind that. I'll explain later. Where
are my things?"
Cid found Vincent's clothes and handed them over. Vincent noticed
that Yumi was staring out the window, and said, "Where's Claude and
Tara?"
Cid and Yumi looked at each other, eyes wide. "Aww, dang it!!" they
yelled in unison.
"We forgot!" Yumi said. "I, I'll go find a mechanic!" She ran out of
the room, glad to have an excuse to get out. She didn't realize that
Vincent wasn't going to do anything as indecent as change in front of a
girl.
Cid leaned against the window while Vincent changed into his usual
black clothes. He chuckled. "Well, Vinnie, you sure do look weird in
that white..."
Vincent glared at him and pulled his shirt, a black turtleneck,
over his head. "I am NOT Vinnie!" He snapped. He put his suit jacket
on over that as he walked over to the window. "Now, how're we gonna
escape?"
"It's just a hospital, not a prison..."
"Same thing!"
"Whatever you say, Vinnie."
"I am not Vinnie! My name is Vincent!"
"Okay, okay!"
Vincent groaned and shook his head. He would need his medicine in a
few hours. Maybe he could hold out until he made more.
"Hey, Vincent..?" A voice asked from the door.
Vincent and Cid looked up. "Tara!"
"We were just about to escape." Vincent said.
"Huh? Why? Are you okay? I heard you collapsed"
"Yeah, of course! That's why we have to escape!"
"Oh." Tara said. "But if you're okay, and you're not sick or
anything, why won't they just let you go?"
Vincent growled. "I'll explain it later, okay? Cid, help me open this
window."
"What're you going to do, jump? There aren't any trees or anything!"
"You guessed it!" Vincent said. "Now, come on!"
"You're a lunatic!"
"Oh, never mind! I'll manage myself!"
Vincent struggled to open the heavy window and climbed onto the
ledge. "I'll meet you downstairs." He said, and stepped off backwards.
"Vinnie...!" Cid tried to grab him but it was too late. "Aw, man...
we're on the third story...!" He peered down, and, to his surprise,
Vincent was standing upright, looking impatient.
"Wow..." Tara said, peering down at the ground. "I guess we
underestimate him."
Cid nodded, too shocked to do anything else for the next few seconds.
"C'mon... he's waiting for us..."
As they rushed downstairs, Tara asked, "Where's Yumi?"
"She went to find a garage." Cid answered.
"Oh, Claude already did that..."
"Then I guess the next thing on the agenda is to find her. Hey, how'd
you guys get here, anyway?"
"Well, two girls came by, and we figured that something happened and
you hadn't been able to get a mechanic." Tara answered.
They reached the first floor and walked outside. Vincent was waiting.
"Finally! C'mon, let's go!"
Vincent took off at a run. Tara and Cid shrugged at each other and
followed him.
5:34 PM
Yumi entered the same garage that Tara and Claude had before. The
mechanic looked up. "Hey!"
She blinked. "Yeah?"
"You know a guy with tall, spikey blond hair?"
"Oh! You mean Claude! Yeah, I know him. Why? Was he here?"
"Yup, he went with Lloyd to get his van. Said he ran it into a ditch
and crashed into a tree trying to avoid a cow." He chuckled. "Pretty
dumb thing to do."
"Oh... well, I'll wait here for them to get back, then."
"Okay. Shouldn't be more'n an hour."
Yumi smiled and sat down in a plastic chair against a wall.
5:47 PM
Claude and Lloyd arrived at everyone's favorite ditch. The van was
patiently waiting.
"There it is!" Claude said. "How much is this going to cost...?"
Lloyd chortled. "Well, I dunno... looks like this thing's had it too
me!"
Claude groaned. "Dang it... That means we're stuck here for who knows
how long...!"
6:02 PM
The park was a beautiful scene at sunset, especially this one. There
were pinks and purples scattered in the sky, making the whole thing
look like painting. Oddly enough, no one was there.
Vincent, Tara, and Cid stopped when they reached it. Cid, huffing and
puffing, collapsed on a bench. "No... more... running..."
Tara leaned over, her hands braced on her knees. "What a run..."
Vincent turned and looked at them. "Where's Claude? And Yumi?"
Tara stood. "Yumi went to find a garage with a tow truck, and Claude
and I found one before I came. Claude went with one of the mechanics to
get the van."
"Oh... then we should find Yumi."
Tara nodded. "Let's split up!"
"Wait!"
Vincent and Tara looked at Cid in surprise.
"Now hold on just a minute! Vincent, you've been running all day
without even changing your breathing pattern. You jumped out of the
third story window and landed on your feet. Now, I'm no rocket
scientist, but most people can't do that! The doctor back there said
that you were some kinda mutant or something. Is that true? And why
have you been hiding it from us?!"
Vincent turned away, his head hanging in shame. "Listen, Cid. I know
I owe you guys some answers. I'll explain everything, but not now,
okay? For now, you'll just have to trust me. If I'm right, something's
going on here. This town can't be what it seems. Even if it is, even if
I'm wrong... I don't think that the reason I passed out back there can
be anything good. And if we can't hurry, I might just go insane and
make the problem twice as bad. And even worse,
people will know... It's been years since anyone else knew, and that
ended in disaster. Several innocent people were killed, and I'm not
going to let that happen again. Okay?"
Tara walked up to him. "Vincent, you don't have to explain anything
if you're that ashamed."
"No, I've been keeping this a secret for too long. And besides, you
guys should know about it, if we're gonna keep traveling together like
this." Vincent turned back to them. "Now, let's find Yumi! Okay?"
6:33 PM
Yumi stood as Claude and Lloyd walked into the garage.
"Claude! There you are!"
"Hi, Yumi. Where's everyone else?" Claude asked casually.
"Cid and Vincent are at the hospital. Vincent collapsed on the
street. We brought him to the hospital and the doctor said that his
anatomy was very abnormal, and she didn't know what was wrong. Then
Vincent woke up and yelled at us for taking him to the hospital. He
said he had to escape, like it was some kind of a prison. He asked
where you and Tara were, and then we realized we forgot all about you!
So I came here and the mechanic told me you had been here with
Tara, so I decided to wait. Say, where is Tara?"
"Well, she went to find you guys. We heard what happened. Listen,
we're gonna have to get another van, or something. Anyway, we've gotta
find a place and some jobs so that we can pay off the mechanic's bill
and get a new car." He turned to the mechanic.
"Can you keep the van for a couple hours until we find a place to
move our stuff?"
"Sure thing. We won't charge you anything extra."
"Thanks. Yumi, c'mon. Let's go find the others."
"Okay!"
They left and headed to the hospital.
6:49 PM
Vincent, Tara, and Cid had split up. Tara returned to the garage to
see if Claude had returned, and the mechanic told her he had and then
left with Yumi. After thanking him, she decided to go back to the
hospital. They weren't there.
She walked around aimlessly for a few minutes, wondering what to do
next, when she was approached by a man in a buisness suit.
"Excuse me, Miss..."
"Yes? Can I help you?"
"You wouldn't happen to have the time, would you?"
Tara looked at her watch. "It's a quarter 'til seven." She answered
as she looked up. He was gone. Tara, feeling slightly freaked out,
started to back up. "Umm... hello?" She noticed she was alone. The
streets were completely empty.
Hands grabbed her from behind. She screamed, but no one came, and it
was cut short as one of the hands covered her mouth. She slammed the
heel of her boot down on the attacker's foot, hitting it as she bit his
hand, and he drew back with a curse.
Released, she ran away and made a twisted route through the streets.
She glanced behind her and saw the man gaining, fast. She turned a
corner and ran into someone, screaming again.
"Tara! Are you all right? What happened?!" Vincent asked, steadying
the shaking girl.
"V-vincent! I, I, I was being ch-chased... a man in a suit tried to
grab me, and I stepped on his foot and bit his hand... He was right
behind me..."
Vincent narrowed his eyes. "It's okay, just stay with me."
"And what do you intend to do?" A sinister voice asked from above
them.
Vincent's eyes widened at the sudden pain shooting through his head.
His hand went to Tara's shoulder as he looked up. The man was standing
at a window in a building above them. He jumped down in front of them
and grinned sadistically, revealing incredibly long, sharp canines.
Pain filled Vincent's eyes and the little remaining light grew
blinding, the colors started to swim... The vampire laughed.
"You're lagistic, aren't you? You can't stand to be around me! I love
dealing pain..." He stepped forward. A flash of pain came over Vincent
and he found himself leaning on Tara for support.
"My name is Soum, by the way. Just so you know who kills you. I
haven't had the blood of our kind in a long time. This should be good."
Soum grabbed him. Vincent felt the pain fill his body, and he
accidentaly knocked Tara to the ground in front of him, and Soum
backwards. He screamed in pain as he felt his fangs and black
batwings growing to full size in a few seconds, a very painful prosses.
The lights and colors overcame him and then went away completely. He
opened his eyes and saw that he was half lying on the ground. Tara was
in front of him, and she backed up, her eyes wide with fear.
"Tara..." He felt his fangs as he talked, something he had never
quite gotten used to. "Please, don't be afraid of me..."
Soum's eyes widened. "You're supposed to die when I touch you!"
Vincent stood. "I'm not completely lagistic. Stupid. Ya wanna go at
it now?"
Soum smiled at this. "Certainly. This'll be good."
"That's right. I'll show you to mess with my friends!"
They rushed at each other. Tara screamed, but was too shocked to get
up and run. However, it did do some good. Claude and Yumi, who happened
to be nearby, ran to see what was wrong. Cid, who was also in hearing
range of her screams thanks to the desserted streets, appeared around
another corner a moment later.
"Tara! What happened?!" Claude asked, helping her up.
That man--Soum, he tried to kill me! Vincent tried to help me and he
started to get really weak. Soum said he was lagistic, whatever that
is, and when he touched him, Vincent turned into... that, and they
started to fight!"
Yumi looked at them. "Whoa... he looks like... like..." Her voice
lowered to a whisper as she remembered the age-old tales her
grandmother used to tell her and her brother when they were little. "A
vampire..."
Just then, Soum freed himself from Vincent, who was winning, and
laughed.
"You're strong! Here, let me show you what I can do..."
Wings also grew out of Soum's back as he screamed in pain. His were
brown.
Vincent laughed. He licked a trickle of blood from his lip. "You're
such a weak, pathetic little thing. C'mon, Sis. Bring it!"
Soum's eyes flashed in rage. He lowered his head and charged at
Vincent. Vincent waited until the last second and rushed into the air.
Soum ran into the brick wall.
Vincent smirked and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "Now,
apologize to the lady so I can kill you."
Soum smiled. "Oh, you're good. I didn't expect such physical prowess
from a half-human."
"Quarter-human!" Vincent yelled. "I'm not a traitor!"
Soum smirked seeing Vincent lose himself in his rage. "Oh, really?
You've forgotten how humans hunted our ancestors. Otherwise, you
wouldn't be so passionate about saving human lives..."
"Shut up! I'll kill you for that!" Vincent screamed.
"Will you, now? I was right. Humans are evil. Look at the influence
they've had on you. You'd kill me for killing them? How pathetic. How
traitorous..."
"No! I am not! Shut up!"
"Traitor..."
"Stop it!!"
"Traitor..."
"Shut up!!"
"Traitor..."
"NO!!!" Vincent threw Soum to the ground and covered his ears.
"Weakling." Soum scoffed. He stood, slowly brushed his brown suit
off, and turned to Tara. "Now, my dear..."
"Don't touch me..." she warned, getting ready to defend herself.
"Oh, who's gonna save you? One of your piddly human friends? No one
can stop me! Not humans, not vampires! So I'll drink your blood. And
your vampire friend's. He's so stupid. I killed all those whoopposed
me! That was everyone. My family, my so-called friends... I don't care
who you are, you're gonna die!"
He grabbed Tara. She screamed as he opened his mouth and lowered it
to her neck.
A single gunshot echoed through the air. That was all it took to kill
Soum.
He fell to the ground on top of Tara. She scrambled away from him.
Vincent was there, smoking gun still aimed at where Soum had been.
His eyes filled with pain again. Hedropped the gun, barely holding in
screams of pain as he reverted back to his normal self.
He walked over to the dead Soum and knelt. "See? I said I would kill
you. You should have listened, Sis." He tasted some of the blood off of
his finger and narrowed his eyes. "Bitter... I would've guessed. You're
not even good for anything in death, Sis." He reached into his pocket
and pulled out a matchbook. He lit fire to Soum's clothes. It was only
a matter of minutes before the body was only ashes.
"Doctor Lakeson, we're imperfect. You old fool... you too, Jonathan.
You can't perfect a man-made species. Leave that to God..."
The street started to crowd with people who had locked themselvesup
at dusk because of the monster. They whispered what had happened to
each other and then started to stare at Vincent.
"Mommy! Is the demon gone? Did that man make it go away?" A child
asked. He was quickly shushed.
Vincent looked around. Everyone was staring, even Claude and the
others. Vincent clenched his fists and spun around. Everyone backed up.
He ran away through them, and they parted.
"Vincent..." Tara whispered. She was still standing there, where she
had been after Soum had been shot. Claude walked up to her and placed a
hand on her shoulder. She turned to face him, tears gathering in her
eyes. "Claude, Vincent saved me. He's no monster. I know what it looks
like, but he's still him..."
"Shh... you've had a hard time. Don't worry about Vinnie. He'll be
okay. C'mon, you need some rest."
Claude took Tara off. Yumi gritted her teeth and ran in the direction
Vinne had gone. Cid just shook his head and muttered to himself as
people started talking again.
8:03 PM
Yumi found Vincent in the deserted park, sitting with his back
against a tree and his knees drawn up to him. His arms were folded
around his knees and he had his head buried in them.
"Vincent...?" The girl asked as she neared him.
"Go away, Yumi. I'm a monster. You don't want to be around me."
"That's not true. We're both part of the group. Friends. C'mon..."
"Not anymore. I saw you guys. You were afraid... Do you know why I'm
partly lagistic? Why being around other vampires puts me in so much
pain? Because I've got more human blood in my body than intended! That
should prove it. Vampires and humans are different. Yumi, I'm a
monster... I was created by a mad scientist, even!"
Yumi sat next to him and placed one hand on his shoulder. "Vinnie,
it doesn't matter. You can't help what you are. So why're you so
ashamed? Why try to hide it? I mean, no one cares. Not in the group,
anyway. The only reason anyone has to be suspicious or untrusting of
you is because you tried to hide it from us! For some reason, mankind
became prejudiced. People hate other people for stupid reasons- because
they're from different places, or they look different, or even because
they're girls or guys! Back in the twentieth century, we finally
started to change that--just a little. And we haven't made all that
much progress, but it's better than we were, making slaves out of
people 'cause they were different and killing people 'cause they were
from another country. So why should it be any different with you? If
there's anything we should try to acomplish before we die, it's to make
the world just a little bit better. Every little bit helps, you know
what I mean? And the truth is, Vinnie, lots of people would think you
rock. I know I do. You saved Tara, and the whole town! You're a hero,
for cryin' out loud! So stop being so ashamed and put yourself to use,
already!"
Vincent looked up at her, still a bit skeptical. "You don't think I'm
gross for craving human blood?"
Yumi shrugged. "I never saw you crave it before. I guess there's
something you do to keep yourself in check."
Vincent smiled. "My pills. You're sharp. Okay, so you're right. But
still, when people found out vampires existed the first time, they
killed us. We were living in peace! Nobody ever hurt a human, but they
killed us and James, the man who let us go. I can't let it happen again
because I can't control myself. If I did that, I wouldn't be any better
than Soum."
"Vincent! Don't worry. Everything will be okay."
He looked down. "We have to find other vampires. Tell them what you
told me. Maybe, we can help... and not just a little, either."
"That's the spirit! C'mon, let's find the others!"
"Okay."
And they left.
8:35 PM
The group, finally completely reunited after their less-than mundane
day, walked into a small motel lobby.
"Can I help you?" The girl at the counter asked. "Oh!" She got up and
walked to Vincent. "You're staying here?! You?! The guy who finally got
rid of that monster?! Listen, you and your friends can stay however
long you want for free, but first the Mayor wants to see
you."
Vincent blinked. "Oh... okay."
"Here, I'll show you the way." The girl offered.
"Thanks...."
8:42 PM
"Wow, Vinnie! Looks like you really got the graditude of the whole
town!" Claude said as he, Vinnie, and the girl walked down the streets
to the mayor's office. The girls and Cid were at the hotel. Wherever
they went, everyone cheered for the hero who had made the town safe
again.
"How many times do I have to tell you?! My name is NOT Vinnie! It's
VINCENT!!"
"Whoa!" Claude raised his hands in surrender. "Sorry, Vincent!"
"That's better."
"Here it is! I'll see you at the hotel later, okay?" The girl said,
smiling at them. She giggled excitedly and left.
"Is it just me, or is she a bit... too... grateful?" Claude said,
exasperated.
"The second one..." Vincent answered.
They entered the building, and were directed to the Mayor's office
immediately. Inside were the Mayor, the Sheriff, and the Doctor from
that afternoon.
"What are you doing here?!" Vincent asked, pointing at the doctor.
"Hold on, Amigo! I'm not the bad guy here!"
"Coulda fooled me..." Vincent grumbled.
The Mayor spoke up. He was a tall man with light brown hair, wearing
a black suit and tie. "Before anyone says anything else, why don't we
introduce ourselves? I'm Mayor Luce. This is Sheriff Year, and Doctor
Sonya Steadfast. I suppose you already met."
Claude chuckled, recalling Yumi's story. Vincent folded his arms and
glowered.
Doctor Steadfast turned to the mayor. "Mayor, I was only looking out
for my patient's best interest! It may have seemed like I was keeping
him against his will, but he had symptoms of--"
"Lagism." Vincent said flatly. "I do that from time to time, and
there's not much anyone can do to help because the man who is
resposible for this in the first place has been dead a hundred years
and more. And when am I going to get my medicine back? I need those,
you know! Unless, of course, you want me to become a second Soum!"
"Well, you should have said that instead of just glaring at me, pal."
Dr. Lakeson said.
Vincent growled and took Claude by the shoulders, shaking him
slightly as if it were him he was angry at. "I have a name!! And it's
not Vinnie, or buddy or pal or chum or amigo!! And it is most
definatley not The Guy Who Got Rid Of The Monster!! It's VINCENT!!
Can't anyone get that through their heads?!"
Claude calmly slapped him.
Vincent blinked and sheepishly released his friend. "Thanks...
stressful day, ya know?"
Claude grinned and turned to the shocked Doctor, Mayor, and Sheriff.
"He gets like that from time to time. Uh, I'm Claude McCloud. It's a
mouthful, but you get used to it."
"Well," the Mayor said, "Let's get down to buisness. Vincent, I want
to thank you for solving our problem. That... vampire was terrorizing
our town. He was killing innocent people who left their houses after
dark. And if no one was out, he'd break into houses. If you hadn't come
when you did, our entire town would have been wiped out."
"Don't get me wrong, I was just protecting Tara. Until he provoked
me. Then it was personal. And I never leave personal buisness
unfinished." Vincent stated coldly.
Sheriff Year spoke up. "Vincent, what you did for our town was
wonderful. But..."
"There's always a but..." Claude groaned.
He glared at Claude. "But I'm afraid it was murder. That's a serious
offense. And--"
"Oh, stop babbling on, Sherrif. What this young man has done was
comendable!"
"Comendable...?" The sheriff asked, raising an eyebrow. "In what way
is murder comendable?"
"And what would have happened to this vampire if he had been caught,
a task you failed to fullfill, I might add, and put on trial? He would
have been found guilty, of course! And what happens to serial killers?
They are executed! And besides, it's only illegal for a HUMAN to kill a
HUMAN. Vampires are obviously not humans. They are an entirely new
species. No one knew about them until now, so how could they be
protected by law? They couldn't!"
He looked at Vincent apologetically. "Vincent, we will change that.
But we must have proof that vampires not only exist, but have human
minds and should be treated as equals. The only way I can think to do
this is to gather several vampires and tell the world about them.
You're the only one who knows where to find them. Will you and your
friends find as many vampires as you can and send them back here?"
"Claude's the leader of this group," Vincent answered, "He was my
first human friend, and I'm going to follow his desicion."
"All right! We'll do it! This is the coolest job ever! Just wait'll I
tell the others!" Claude laughed. "I can't wait to see the looks on
their faces!"
"Why?"
"Just imagine what Cid is goi-- huh?"
"Why?" Vincent repeated. "Why are you doing this? Don't you know what
you're getting yourself into?"
"Well, yeah. After you were spewing all that sick stuff about me
being your friend and all, I figured that... this is going to ROCK!!"
He punched his fist in the air on the last word.
Vincent looked at him, worried. "Claude... you're scaring me..."
Claude clapped Vincent on his back. "Don't worry, Vinnie. It's worse
than you think."
"VINCENT!!"
"Whoa, whoa...! Steam off, Dude..."
Vincent just did what he did best. Glowered.
9:00 PM
"Wow! So we're going to find the other vampires now?" Tara asked.
After getting Vincent's pills back from Doctor Steadfast, Claude and
the still glowering vampire had returned to the hotel to tell everyone
else the news.
"Yeah!" Claude said. "And guess what else? Mayor Luce says that he's
going to be able to get us a new van for free! But it's going to take
until the sixth..."
"Oh, no!" Yumi cried. "This year we were going to spend Idependence
Day with my parents..."
"I'm sorry, Yumi. We'll just have to write them about it and spend
next year there."
"It's okay... I guess it can't be helped." She smiled at the others,
even though she was obviously too disappointed to put on a real one.
"Well..." Vincent said, "I guess after we leave we can start with my
sister, Vanessa. She lives across the state. She and Zeke won't be too
pleased to see me, but I guess she'll have to suffer through it. Me,
too."
"Hey, Vinnie..." Cid said from where he was lounging on one of the
beds, "What exactly happened between all the vampires? I mean, that
Soum guy said that he killed the others because they opposed him. You
and your sister don't like each other either, and from the way you spat
out his name I'd say it was because of this Zeke person. What
happened?"
Vincent sighed. "Well, we all used to live together in this forest,
right? We lived really deep in it, so no humans ever really went there.
When a human did come across us, we took him or her captive so that
they wouldn't tell everyone where we were. That's why some of us are
Lagistic. We didn't want people hunting us down like they did when they
first found out.
"Anyway, two years ago, people were starting to come too close. So we
decided to pack up and abandon the place. Only no two families, and
some individuals like Soum, could agree on where we should go. Some
said the mountains to the north of that forest, because they were so
hard for humans to inhabit. Some said no, that's where the sirens live,
and we should go to a different place completely. There were some
psychos who said we should forget about our pills and destroy
the human race and take over the planet. Most of the vampires were
against that one, though. So everybody split up and spread across the
country.
"Not my sister and me. We decided to stay and hide the fact that we
were vampires. We could do it better than most becasue we're more
human. Most vampires have fangs all the time. Not us! Nope, it was just
Vanessa and me, all the way. 'Till this one guy, Zeke showed up. He
told her she was pretty and gave her some stupid flowers and started
spewing out all this tooth-decaying poetry, and suddenly we were
fighting constantly. I couldn't stand that guy. He was always around
her and when he wasn't he was all she wanted to talk about. She told me
she loved him and he said the same about her.
"So I decided that I would get her to stop doing this stuff by making
her decide. I told her it's me or him, and if she didn't leave him I
wasn't hanging around just so I could be ignored and all this other
stuff. So she took me seriously. Only problem is, she chose him.
"They tried to leave without me knowing it, but I caught the guy and
threatened to kill him. Then he pointed out that he knew why I was
doing that, it was because I didn't like change. It made me feel
helpless and insecure.
"He also said that if I killed him, Vanessa would hate me forever. He
was right. I let him go, but I still haven't forgiven him. He's too
low. Lower than dirt even. You wanna know why? Because he told her!
Every bit of it! She hates me anyway, and to tell you the truth, I
don't think too highly of her, either. I mean, I let the guy go, right?
What else does she want?! And so I went to the human city by myself,
got a job, and stayed there for two year. That's when I met Claude. You
know the rest."
"This Zeke person doesn't sound too... pleasant." Yumi commented.
"Maybe we should let you handle it."
Claude shook his head. "I don't think that would be too good for
Vinnie's blood preasure..."
"VINCENT!! Vin-CENT!! What about my name is so hard to remember?!"
Claude ignored him. "Let's all get some sleep. It's been a long day."
"Feels more like a week." Tara agreed.
Cid just snored.
Vincent yelled, "You made me tell that whole long story just to fall
asleep in the middle?! WAKE UP!!" And kicked him out of the bed. "That
bed's mine, anyway!"
"GYAH!! I'm up, I'm up!!" Cid yelled.
fin
(
geocities.com/tokyo/highrise) (
geocities.com/tokyo)