You're in Vampire Country, Now
Ashes To Ashes, We All Fall Down
Chloe's P.O.V.
We walked, stiff and silent, up the multitude of stairs and into the other living room. A sickened Sorrow shuffled slowly behind the rest of us, afraid, no doubt, and confused. I felt terrible for her. First she saw a guy who’d been so nice to her, so nice to all of us, get murdered, and then she found out we were all vampires. Silently, almost telepathically, we voted for me to do the explaining, and I didn’t mind, it was just…having to tell her about her cousin.
Frankie’s last blood curdling screams of death rang in my ears the entire time I explained our situation to Sorrow. It was almost worse than when I lost my brother. I mean, at least I knew the end was coming for him, but Frankie…his death was so sudden. I hated Tater. Even if the master killed all of us, as long as she got what was coming to her, I’d be perfectly happy. I’d lived a long life; death would be a welcome guest. And even if he didn’t kill Tater, I’d come back from the dead and torture her in every way possible.
Sorrow listened intently, her eyes wide and frightened, as I explained everything that had happened to us in the past century or so. Everyone else shifted uncomfortably, be it from the memories I was reviving, or from the sights of seeing Frankie die, and even I found it hard to concentrate. I often said things that didn’t even make sense because I wasn’t paying attention. Like I told Sorrow that Gerard and I went to the forest to go fishing.
As quickly as I could, I explained a little bit about how my brother died and then I went to live with Gerard, Mikey, and their grandmother, Elena. I talked about some of the stupid shit we did back then, how much fun we had, how much love there was in that tiny cabin. I talked about how timid Mikey was, and how brave and bold Gerard had been. I seemed to see Gerard’s eyes falter a bit when I talked about him, but I also saw some realization. However I also saw that Sorrow was getting impatient with my tales of stupidity, so I skipped ahead to when we met him, and then how we became vampires.
I started out by telling her when Gerard, Mikey, and I were on the cliff. And then I moved onto how we became vampires. “Gerard and I were sixteen years old. We had decided to go out and explore this old as hell castle on the western edge of the Gnardale Forest. Some of the kids from the village said it was haunted and we thought we’d try to get a scare or two. Mikey didn’t want to go, I think he sensed something bad was going to happen. He begged us not to go, he though we were going to be killed by monsters or something. It’s just too bad that he was right.
“I remember getting to the castle and just seeing how immense it was. Gerard and I went in and immediately bats attacked us. Finally they calmed down but one of them kept following us. It was sort of freaky in a way but the bat was kind of cute, so we kept him.” I saw Gerard smile in the corner of my eye. “We named him Sid, later. Anyway we were walking and I just kept hearing this clanking noise behind us. I kept turning around and freaking out but Gerard just told me I was paranoid and to calm down, that it was okay. But, despite what Gerard said I still didn’t feel right, I felt like someone was following us, so I kept twisting my head around to see if I could see anyone.
"We kept walking, Gerard going on about how amazing everything looked, and how great it would be if he had enough light to draw it all, including little Sid, when I felt something, or someone, touch my shoulder. I screamed, startling Gerard and Sid. Behind me stood the all too familiar man, the horrid ghost like man who we met on the cliff. He reached out to me, but I screamed and ran behind Gerard, who swung his torch out, challenging the man. ‘It’s a pity.’ The man said, leaning in toward Gerard, ‘that you two are afraid of me. You, my angst-ridden angel, whose anger toward the world could be a drive toward strength, and a good attribute for my clan. And you, young Gerard, whose bravery and will to persevere could enable us to rule this foul world of ours.’ He walked in a circle around us. Gerard, who was startled that the man knew his name, was too afraid to move. I thought about what he said and how he knew I was angry at the world. ‘My name is Gabriel Von Draq.’ He reached out and stroked Gerard’s face. He leaned in closer and closer to him, and all I could do was watch as his lips moved back, revealing two sharp fangs. ‘It is time’. Sensing the danger I shoved Gerard aside. Gabriel stood there, shocked, and then glared at me. ‘Oh, you want to go first, love?’ He grabbed me and I screamed as his lips plunged toward my neck, but Gerard pushed him away just in time. He then chucked his torch at him, setting the tall vampire aflame. Together we got Sid and ran blindly down the path out of the castle. ‘FINE!’ Gabriel screamed. ‘YOU SHALL PAY THE PRICE FOR THIS!’” I sighed, not wanting to even remember the next part.
“We ran all the way back home. All we wanted to do was forget the whole thing, but that was impossible. When we reached the house and flung the door open all we saw was Mikey wailing in the corner of the room, shielding his face from a horrid sight. Their grandmother, my only guardian, was dead.”
We walked, stiff and silent, up the multitude of stairs and into the other living room. A sickened Sorrow shuffled slowly behind the rest of us, afraid, no doubt, and confused. I felt terrible for her. First she saw a guy who’d been so nice to her, so nice to all of us, get murdered, and then she found out we were all vampires. Silently, almost telepathically, we voted for me to do the explaining, and I didn’t mind, it was just…having to tell her about her cousin.
Frankie’s last blood curdling screams of death rang in my ears the entire time I explained our situation to Sorrow. It was almost worse than when I lost my brother. I mean, at least I knew the end was coming for him, but Frankie…his death was so sudden. I hated Tater. Even if the master killed all of us, as long as she got what was coming to her, I’d be perfectly happy. I’d lived a long life; death would be a welcome guest. And even if he didn’t kill Tater, I’d come back from the dead and torture her in every way possible.
Sorrow listened intently, her eyes wide and frightened, as I explained everything that had happened to us in the past century or so. Everyone else shifted uncomfortably, be it from the memories I was reviving, or from the sights of seeing Frankie die, and even I found it hard to concentrate. I often said things that didn’t even make sense because I wasn’t paying attention. Like I told Sorrow that Gerard and I went to the forest to go fishing.
As quickly as I could, I explained a little bit about how my brother died and then I went to live with Gerard, Mikey, and their grandmother, Elena. I talked about some of the stupid shit we did back then, how much fun we had, how much love there was in that tiny cabin. I talked about how timid Mikey was, and how brave and bold Gerard had been. I seemed to see Gerard’s eyes falter a bit when I talked about him, but I also saw some realization. However I also saw that Sorrow was getting impatient with my tales of stupidity, so I skipped ahead to when we met him, and then how we became vampires.
I started out by telling her when Gerard, Mikey, and I were on the cliff. And then I moved onto how we became vampires. “Gerard and I were sixteen years old. We had decided to go out and explore this old as hell castle on the western edge of the Gnardale Forest. Some of the kids from the village said it was haunted and we thought we’d try to get a scare or two. Mikey didn’t want to go, I think he sensed something bad was going to happen. He begged us not to go, he though we were going to be killed by monsters or something. It’s just too bad that he was right.
“I remember getting to the castle and just seeing how immense it was. Gerard and I went in and immediately bats attacked us. Finally they calmed down but one of them kept following us. It was sort of freaky in a way but the bat was kind of cute, so we kept him.” I saw Gerard smile in the corner of my eye. “We named him Sid, later. Anyway we were walking and I just kept hearing this clanking noise behind us. I kept turning around and freaking out but Gerard just told me I was paranoid and to calm down, that it was okay. But, despite what Gerard said I still didn’t feel right, I felt like someone was following us, so I kept twisting my head around to see if I could see anyone.
"We kept walking, Gerard going on about how amazing everything looked, and how great it would be if he had enough light to draw it all, including little Sid, when I felt something, or someone, touch my shoulder. I screamed, startling Gerard and Sid. Behind me stood the all too familiar man, the horrid ghost like man who we met on the cliff. He reached out to me, but I screamed and ran behind Gerard, who swung his torch out, challenging the man. ‘It’s a pity.’ The man said, leaning in toward Gerard, ‘that you two are afraid of me. You, my angst-ridden angel, whose anger toward the world could be a drive toward strength, and a good attribute for my clan. And you, young Gerard, whose bravery and will to persevere could enable us to rule this foul world of ours.’ He walked in a circle around us. Gerard, who was startled that the man knew his name, was too afraid to move. I thought about what he said and how he knew I was angry at the world. ‘My name is Gabriel Von Draq.’ He reached out and stroked Gerard’s face. He leaned in closer and closer to him, and all I could do was watch as his lips moved back, revealing two sharp fangs. ‘It is time’. Sensing the danger I shoved Gerard aside. Gabriel stood there, shocked, and then glared at me. ‘Oh, you want to go first, love?’ He grabbed me and I screamed as his lips plunged toward my neck, but Gerard pushed him away just in time. He then chucked his torch at him, setting the tall vampire aflame. Together we got Sid and ran blindly down the path out of the castle. ‘FINE!’ Gabriel screamed. ‘YOU SHALL PAY THE PRICE FOR THIS!’” I sighed, not wanting to even remember the next part.
“We ran all the way back home. All we wanted to do was forget the whole thing, but that was impossible. When we reached the house and flung the door open all we saw was Mikey wailing in the corner of the room, shielding his face from a horrid sight. Their grandmother, my only guardian, was dead.”