Vampire Chronicles: Thrill of the Chase
by Nomar Knight
I hid behind bushes knowing my body had betrayed me. I had become easy prey for the vampire, Lorraina Sandoval, and there wasn’t anything I could do to escape.
Screams! Loud, sickening screams raged nearby adding to my woes. I tried to rise off the ground, aware the shrubbery would no longer hide me from the hungry night hunter. A shooting pain throbbed in my right ankle.
The mortified screams ceased, allowing for the sound of angry waves crashing to shore.
In my mind I yelled, “Get up! Run! You can’t die, not here, not now.”
I knew it was a matter of time before she would find me.
To think that the day had started out with my looking for a way to relax. The previous euphoria of writing Lorraina’s story, Lost In Darkness, and the subsequent block when I began the chase scene in chapter ten, had led me to seek solace at the beach. I had arrived in the evening, bottles of water tucked in a small cooler. I relished taking a much needed break from the mundane routine of every day life. The sunset did not disappoint. Orange and purple skies slowly dipped in the horizon.
“Come on! Lorraina, why does my chase scene suck so bad? What am I missing?”
Like any writer, I tended to speak to my characters as if they were present in the flesh. Although, I made sure to be alone. People who didn’t write wouldn’t understand. They would declare me a viable candidate for the funny farm.
The skyline faded and suddenly I was surrounded by tiny stars. Glare from a majestic moon left me in awe. The lull of the crashing waves, coupled by a cool breeze, made me wish I had brought something stronger than bottles of water.
“Okay Lorraina, tell me what happens next.”
The old saying, be careful what you wish for flashed in my thoughts. The overwhelming feeling that someone watched me, made my skin crawl. Goosebumps formed on my arms.
“It’s just the cool breeze.” I mumbled, “No need to be afraid.”
“Good evening, darling!”
I sprung off my blue beach chair and turned. “What the?”
The vampire Lorraina Sandoval grinned like a cat about to swallow a canary. Green eyes contrasted with her black attire.
“How’s the writing coming along? Have you sent my story to the editor?”
My knees shook. Suddenly, my lips went dry. “I’m stuck on chapter ten.” The tremors in my voice betrayed any attempt at hiding my fear.
She licked her red lips. “What seems to be the problem, Nomar?”
There was something about the way she spoke my name. Her voice dropped in a whisper as if she was forbidden to say it out loud.
“I’m stuck on the chase scene. The opening is boring.”
One second she stood in front of me, the next she hovered by my side. Her cold breath pressed against my left ear.
“Who’s point of view did you write it in?”
I knew the predator could hear my heart pounding. It took all the courage I had not to run.
“I used Roman’s.”
Lorraina laughed. Her evil cackling had me scanning for a latrine. Maintaining the contents in my stomach proved challenging.
She whispered in my ear, “Have you ever been chased, Nomar?”
All thoughts seemed to vanish. I couldn’t move. I didn’t dare think about anything but gaining distance on the predator.
I managed to step back and uttered, “I don’t recall.”
“I haven’t fed yet.” She batted her eyes, brushing her red hair away from her face. “I’ve grown tired of you, dear.”
For a brief moment, it sounded like she had spoken from inside a tunnel. The meaning of her words filtered into my mind as if caught in a vortex of confusion. When I realized what she was implying I wanted to have the power to time leap to another dimension. Preferably, to somewhere Lorraina Sandoval could never find me.
She flashed fangs, “Run, Nomar!”
Although my mind knew what to do, it took awhile for the flight signal to get from my brain to my legs. Once in motion, the sick laughter of the terror queen filled me with dread. Thoughts of stopping and giving up entered my mind.
“No, keep going.” I said out loud.
I had to get away from the soft sand as soon as possible. I had to make it to the maze of high bushes by the road.
My analytical side took over, interfering with the frantic attempt at escape.
“What are you doing? You can’t outrun her. She’s a killing machine.”
“Shut up!” Talking and answering myself was madness.
The fact that insanity clawed its way through me added to my apprehension. I imagined running in slow motion as if stuck in a time warp.
Just when I spotted the road and my gray Corolla, the sudden change in terrain brought me down hard. My right ankle had twisted on a crack between the dirt and cement road. Sand stuck to my sweaty arms. My ankle began to swell.
She shouted, “Keep running, Nomar!”
I had been held in Lorraina’s arms before. Heck, I had even known the pleasure of making love to her. The idea of giving up faded when I spotted bushes a few yards away.
“Hello, darling.” Her voice sang a few feet behind me.
Somehow, I got up and made it to a set of vast shrubbery. I didn’t understand why she toyed with me until I recalled Lorraina enjoyed playing with her food.
I dropped to the ground again, wounded and without hope of escaping. I knew the surrounding bushes did not keep me hidden, plus, my struggle to take in gobs of air betrayed my location. Lorraina was the best hunter I had ever met. My sad fate served to remind me that there were too many things I had not yet accomplished.
Sudden screams jolted me upright. I had to fight on. I needed to survive, yet curiosity made me step in the wrong direction. Instead of continuing to my vehicle, I limped to where the screams had originated. I headed to the vampire Lorraina.
The intimacy in which she embraced a woman who had been jogging, made my jaw drop. Raw power blended with a sweet tenderness. To the average person, it appeared as if Lorraina and the woman were copulating. However, I knew the truth. I witnessed the taking of a fragile life. When she was done, she guided the woman’s corpse to the ground. The poor lady had jogged in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Nomar,” Lorraina shot to me so fast that she held both my hands in hers. “Remember what you felt during the chase. Maybe you can use it for another chapter.”
For a moment I got lost in her green eyes. She continued, “Chapter ten should be written from my point of view. Never forget what Roman is and let discovery play with the readers’ minds.”
The fog that had trapped my writing into obscurity began to lift. The allure of new, horrible discoveries made me grin.
Lorraina pressed my lips to hers. The blood of an unfortunate victim invaded my palate. She let me go and smiled, flashing her fangs for effect.
“Why did she have to die?”
She shrugged, “Even vampires need nourishment.”
I spat, “We are in modern times. You don’t need to kill anymore.”
She shook her head. “Where’s the fun in that? You are still so naive.”
In a flash, Lorraina Sandoval vanished, allowing me to live to continue her story, Lost in Darkness.
© Copyright Nomar Knight 2015. All rights reserved.
A Knight Chills Flash Fiction Presentation.
