Vampire Manifesto (32 page)

“
What is all this?” I asked. Connor waded his way through the maze of wooden crates until he reached the circular staircase leading to the second floor.

“
Nice ain't it? It’s the backup safe house. Considering you burned down the last one.”

I followed after him up the stairs onto the second deck, which was just one large studio loft area. Where the downstairs gave off the implicit aura of a storage facility, the upstairs was its total polar opposite in every way. The whole atmosphere had changed from cold and sterile to warm and comforting. In one corner was a mini gym, dumbbells, a bow flex, I think and some other yoga looking equipment.

There was what appeared to be one of the largest flat screens I had ever seen in person, a cream leather sofa and the most awesome, kick ass looking video game chairs imaginable. The bed, king sized, or is it a queen? I could never remember which was biggest, was against one of the far walls, low to the ground, Zen like and a glass case was, no…it can’t be….could it?

I walked closer to get a better view. If my brother was here, he would have had a mini nerdgasim. “Is that Action comic’s #52?”

“
Hell yeah.” He seemed extremely proud of that fact. “Along with Detective comic’s #27, Amazing Fantasy #15 and Showcase #22.”

“
When did you get them? My brother, he always wanted those issues. It’s like the God trinity of comics.”

“
He can have them.” Connor plopped down on the sofa. “They came with the house.”

“
This place?” I gestured to everything around me. “It’s yours?”

He shrugged. “It is now.”

Such an odd response. “Who did it belong to before?”

“
Some douche.”

I glanced at all the awesomeness surrounding me. Was that an original Millennium Falcon hanging from the ceiling?

“
What happened to him?”

“
I burned him alive.” He announced nonchalantly, pointing to a pile of ash in front of the bed. “Just because this is a safe house, doesn’t mean that technically it’s my safe house.” His fingers deftly maneuvered the universal remote control with ease, despite the fact that the device appeared more like a detachable panel from the Starship Enterprise then a device to select HBO or NBC.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of what was left of the previous homeowner. “So how did it happen?”

“
I’m not sure I understand the question?” Connor was channel surfing, slowing in some instances, moving faster in others, finally settling on an old episode of the
Spawn
cartoon from the late nineties.

“
How did you become a Vampire?” I clarified.

“
I told you already. I don’t know.” Connor turned off the TV. “It’s all a blank.”

“
Interesting.”

“
How so?”

“
Because the question then becomes why? You should be able to remember and yet you can’t. Why? Trauma maybe? The painfulness of the transformation? But that can’t be the case, because I remember what happened to me, so there seems to be some type of mental block. Why? Now, it’s not like I know the ends and outs to Vampirism, I mean, I’ve read Brahms Stoker and watched one or two Hollywood flicks, but they never mentioned anything like this. Amnesia? Something so…unforgettable, I don’t know, seems like it would be listed with things like crosses, sunlight, bloodsucking and…oh yeah…some people don’t remember their Turning Point, but that doesn’t happen. Everybody remembers their tragic,
oh you stole my life, you made me into a monster
moment. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, just like you said, but dude, really? Finding a human finger in your french fries is an exception to the rule. Yeah it happens…”

“
I get the picture, Madison.”

“
Did I paint it?”

“
Exceptionally.”

“
Hey!” I snapped my fingers. “Stop eye fucking me and pay attention.”

“
Fair enough.” He said. “My bad.”

Connor winked. “We’ll have time to play later.”

“
Anyway…” I rolled my eyes, my enthusiasm in everything triple folding. “The only other option, which is much more diabolical and far more interesting, is that the reason you can’t remember is because someone doesn’t want you to remember. They fixed it so you can’t.”

John thought about that for a moment. “Seriously? That just seems…counterproductive.”

“
Dude, you’re standing at the Mouth of Madness and you’re looking for sanity? Diabolical plans are just that. Diabolical. There is no rhyme, no reason. They just are. Maybe your Maker is some evil vindictive little bitch and you’re just a pawn in her Vampire Manifesto.”

Connor didn’t look like he was buying it. “Or maybe it’s more complex than that?”

“
It always is.” I added. “I mean, maybe she…”

“
She?” He interrupted. “What makes you so sure it was a woman?”

I didn’t miss a beat. “Because then this discussion takes on a more male, homoerotic pretense and I’m just not ready to deal with that at the moment.”

Connor paid me no attention. “Thirsty? I’m in the mood for a mimosa with a twizzler straw.”

“
I’ve never tried one before”

“
Perfecto! Stick with me kid; you’ll be doing a whole lot of things you’ve never tried before.” There was something devilish in his response.

“
Wait…can I even drink a mimosa?”

“
What do you mean?” He asked.

“
Can I eat anything that isn’t blood?” Questions, questions, questions and all really good ones at that. Things I should have asked myself well before now, yet have neglected to do so. I’m like the worst…what did John Rogers call me? Fledgling. Yeah, that’s it.

The worst Fledgling ever.

“
It might take some getting used to at first, but Vampirism doesn’t really affect your previous eating habits from before, everything will still taste the same. You just won’t receive any nutrient value from it, you won’t be able to live off of it anymore.”

Connor handed me a sparkling drink in an overly elegant champagne glass. “If you have to puke afterwards, please use the trash can.” He didn’t sit, downing the glass before I had a chance to toast.

Connor poured himself another glass then bounced back down on the couch, landing next to me, almost causing me to spill my glass. “How’s it taste?”

“
Good.” I admitted. “Delicious even?”

Connor was giddy. “Feel like you have to yack?”

I finished the mimosa, then paused, waiting a few seconds. “All clear.”

“
Awesome!” He fired back. “Just use the bucket if your Vampire body needs to upchuck its Vampire insides.”

“
Don’t worry; I think I’m all good.”

“
Excellent.” Connor actually clapped his hands as he said that.

“
How old are you?” I asked.

“
Seventeen.”

He did look around that age somewhat, but that wasn’t what I meant. “No, how
old
are you Connor.”

“
I know what you meant.” He said. “I’m thirty-six, if you're going by my official birthdate.”

“
Okay.” I said. “That’s really not that old in the long term.”

“
For a Vampire, I'm relatively young.”

“
And how many people have you killed? Total.”

Not the question he looked like he wanted to answer, nor the subject matter I wanted to dwell on, but now that I'm a Vampire, it was just something that I needed to be aware of.

“
I don’t really know anymore.” He stated. “After around two hundred, I stopped counting. It’s not good, mentally, to dwell on such things after a certain point.”

I think he could see that look of distraught on my face. This is the future that is in store for me. “After the first one, it only gets easier.”

“
I doubt that.” I said.

“
Let me ask you a question Madison. How many people have you killed?”

I thought about it for a moment. “Three. A Fireman, the girl from this morning and a Cop.”

“
You killed a Cop?” He seemed somewhat startled. “Already?”

“
Yeah.” I could see his face replay in my mind. The horror it contained, the last moments of life before death decided to offer him an eternal embrace. “But it was an accident.”

“
An accident?”

“
Yeah…” I could witness his soul dying through his eyes.

“
Oh, I kinda burned down that apartment complex to.”

“
Yes you did.” Connor stated. “Burned down the whole thing.”

“
Yeah, but that was an accident to.” I admitted. “I didn’t know what I was and the sunlight through the window caught me. I don’t know how many people were in the apartment complex when it went up, but I know people where in there.”

“
Madison, you’ve been a Vampire less than twenty-four hours and you’re already a serial killer.” He pointed out. “Perfect candidate for Vampirism if you ask me.”

We sat there, quite, waiting for the other to respond.

"You’re coming with me." Connor exclaimed, randomly. It was more to himself then directed at me personally. Like he was devising my destiny right there in the moment.

"Coming where?" Honestly, we had only just arrived at his...safe house.

"Madison, does it even really matter? Do you have somewhere, anywhere that you can go that will offer you even one tenth the excitement?" He asked.

"Well..."

"Shut up Amber Rose, that was rhetorical at best. Besides, dead Fledgling Vampires because they don’t want to kill for survival are no bueno, like I need that on my conscience. You're on suicide watch till further notice."

I smiled. "On your conscience? That would imply that you were in possession of one to begin with."

"That’s subject to interpretation. Come on, this place is lame." Connor grabbed my hand without a second thought, pulling me after him like some tugboat caption on a mission.

"Where are we going?" I never did like surprises.

"I don't know yet. We need to experiment!" He offered back. We were down stairs and on our way out the front door before I could put a halt to his forward momentum.

"Where-are-we-going?" I demanded, gripping more forceful then intended, the Vampire in me encroaching around the last remnants of humanity my voice had left.

"Come on Dr. Evil, let's go be evil together." Was his reply.

I hopped into the passenger seat of the car. The engine roared to life and before I knew it, we were barreling off down the street. Incidentally, we ran over two mailboxes before we even reached the neighborhoods first stop sign.

"I’m almost afraid to even ask what it is you have in mind."

"I don’t know..." Connor paused. "...wanna kill some puppies?"

Now, from any other person, normally a statement like "
Let's go kill some puppies
!" would be considered hyperbole, but Connor?

"You’re not serious, are you?"

"Why wouldn't I be serious? You're the one getting all midnight train to Georgia." Connor fired off.

My brow furrowed. "Um...have no idea what that means."

Connor only laughed, shrugging his shoulders. "Look, Edward Jr., if you don't wanna eat people..."

"I DON’T eat people!" I hastily interjected. "I just..."