Vampire Chronicles: Wolf's Blood

Vampire Chronicles: Wolf’s Blood

By Nomar Knight

     My vampire stalker, Lorraina Sandoval, bit me. The traumatizing event lived on in my recurring nightmares. On most nights I would wake feeling that my dreams were real. I’d gasped for breath and pant as if I had been running for my life. The sound of a chorus of nocturnal creatures hooting and singing, transferred to my conscious state. The noise echoed around me like a crowd cheering for a gladiator. I hugged myself, shivering from the cold.

     “Why is it so chilly tonight?” I mumbled.

     I couldn’t help but notice what a wuss I had become since moving from New York. I cringed at the thought of how my friends would tease me if they could see me shivering. The thermostat read a comfortable sixty-five degrees. The cool Caribbean breeze made my bones ache. My knees snapped, crackled and popped when I got out of bed.

     “I don’t know what you did to me, Lorraina, but I’m still human.”

     When my alleged fictional character had saved me from getting killed by a mugger, she revealed that Marie Sandoval, her twin sister, watched over me. 

     “I don’t believe you, you egotistical lunatic!”

     I waited to see if my insults would draw her out of the darkness. I hoped Lorraina would appear from nowhere and show me once again how vampires made love. Unfortunately, all I got was the continuing sounds of night, followed by dogs barking nearby.

     I slipped on a t-shirt, fetched a bottle of water, and sat on my sofa, wishing for my luck to improve. Sadness remained an unwanted companion. It appeared my most exciting characters had abandoned me.

     Halfway through the bottle, I noticed a subtle change in the atmosphere. I didn’t have the usual tightening in my stomach like when Lorraina would stop by. In fact, I couldn’t identify what was different, just that something had changed.

     I felt compelled to open the main door. I did and immediately wished I hadn’t. A black wolf growled, bared sharp fangs and drooled. Its red eyes froze me in place.

     “There are no wolves in Puerto Rico.”

My statement served to enrage the creature even more. It inched its way forward, ready to make a meal out of me. I thought about ordering it to be still, hoping that by displaying authority, it would stand down.

     “Sit!”

     The sucker leaped and knocked me flat on my back. It’s teeth lingered dangerously close to my throat.

     I remembered thinking that I was a goner for sure. A wild beast that was completely out of place would see to it that my latest vampire book, LOST IN DARKNESS, would never see publication.

     “Heel!”

     The wolf got off me and stood next to a dark shadow. When I managed to take my eyes off the creature, I spotted a pair of amazing legs encased in tight, black leather pants.

     “Lorraina?

     “Guess again.”

     Marie Sandoval sported a soft smile. Her eyes made me feel welcomed. It felt as if I had known the vampire my whole life, but alas, aside from dreams, we had never met.

     “Sorry about Thunder. He tends to be quite impatient.”

     Marie helped me off the floor. Her luscious red hair cascaded over athletic shoulders. Emerald eyes weakened my knees.

     “You’re even more beautiful than I imagined.”

     “I bet you said that to Lorraina too.” She grinned.

     I stepped away from her as she reached for me. The realization that Marie was a vampire put me in survival mode. The wolf growled.

     “Shush!” Marie scowled at the beast.

     The animal rested its head on the floor. Red eyes fixated on me.

     Marie’s eyes revealed compassion. She whispered, “I would never hurt you.”

     I couldn’t believe how different she was from her twin sister. Lorraina loved playing power games. Marie seemed human.

     One second she was standing, the next, she sat on the sofa.

     “I’m not human.”

     She flashed her fangs and patted the seat so I could sit next to her. A sudden urge to run to the bathroom eventually passed as she smiled, hiding her lethal incisors.

     “Why are you here?”

     She bit her wrist, blood trickled down her hand. “Drink my essence and you shall see.”

     I smiled and sat near her. “Will I become extraordinarily strong?”

     Marie giggled. “True Blood is fiction, baby. Drink and take the journey.”

     I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. She put her bloody arm to my lips and I sipped from the ancient vampire. My surroundings vanished. I no longer sat with Marie in my living room. Instead, I sprinted through trees and bushes in a dark forest with only a full moon providing illumination. My tank top ripped from thorny bushes.

     I heard voices closing in.

     “Don’t let him get away!”

     “No witnesses!” Shouted another.

     The sound of a firecracker exploded behind me. Something whizzed past my left ear and struck a nearby tree .

     Just minutes earlier, I had been hiking in the forest, clearing my head for the night,  when I had stumbled on to four men. I hid behind some greenery and saw one man exchange a bag of cash for what looked like packets. I had no idea if it was cocaine or heroin, but I figured it was illegal on account the guy counting the money got shot in the chest. The other man with him met the same fate.      He took two rounds to the chest and one to the head.

     Normally, my cellphone didn’t have a signal that deep in the woods, but as luck would have it, the damn thing made whistling sounds. I ran as fast as I could because my life depended on my past skills as a runner. Unfortunately, I was a sprinter, not a marathon man. Sharp pains nailed my ribs and stomach. Nausea threatened to make me stop running.

     I never saw the rock so I stumbled and fell. I crashed over more rocks and landed hard on the ground.

     The two gunmen caught up to me.

     “Shoot him!”

     A dark skinned man approached. Cold dark eyes revealed his intent. He pointed a nine millimeter pistol at my face. His finger was on the trigger, ready to end my existence. In a flash, I saw a black blur and the man was on the ground. A hairy beast silenced his cries. Gun shots rang. One of the rounds came within inches of my head as it took a piece of wood off the tree trunk. The second shooter screamed for a brief moment, but was silenced. The nocturnal creatures remained quiet. All I could hear was the sound of the beast gnawing at the dead man’s neck.

     My head throbbed in pain. Blood trickled down my face. The black beast with scary red eyes sauntered to me. The smell of death inched closer until all I saw was the soothing darkness.

     The gooey tongue of a canine shook me out of my stupor. When I glanced around my living room, I noticed that I was alone. Marie and her pet, Thunder, were gone.

I assumed she could still hear me so I said, “Lorraina wasn’t lying. Thank you for protecting me, Marie. I owe you one, Thunder.”

     Perhaps some day I would write about the wolf that had saved my life. I was  thankful to be alive and welcomed the cool Caribbean breeze with open arms.  

© Copyright Nomar Knight 2015. All rights reserved.

A Knight Chills Flash Fiction Presentation.