Sequel: The Blue Scales ›
The False Vampire
Call of Duty
“Take that! And that!”
I stared at Elisa, watching her play Call of Duty. It was a game I simply could not play, but, as it turned out, Elisa practically lived on it.
“Oh no you didn’t! Take that!”
She also frequently talked to the screen, like the characters could hear her. Of course, they couldn’t. She was much like Trish in that sense. Talking to themselves, believing it made them feel better.
I watched as Elisa decapitated people on the television screen. Blowing off peoples heads, stabbing them with knives. Silently I chuckled, she never failed to surprise me.
As the room darkened, I continued to watch Elisa. We were moving into the second hour of her killing people, when Trish came out, her long skirt replaced by shorts.
“Elisa dear, can you please lend…”
“Adrienne”
“Adrienne a pair of your shorts?”
“Yes mum”
I watched as Elisa paused the game, to walk into the only room I had not been in yet, which left me wondering, where was Jae’s room?
About five minutes later, she returned, closing the door behind her firmly. In her hand she held plain black shorts. After handing them to me, I walked into the bathroom, it was small and looked like it had recently been renovated. The rustic feel that was a general theme through the rest of the house did not apply here.
Swiftly, I changed, walking out to the bathroom. After I had closed the door, a pair of green gardening gloves flew at me. They looked well worn and frayed in some places. Pulling on the gloves, the fingers were slightly too long.
“Well girl, come on. Haven’t got all night ‘ya know?”
She laughed lightly before walking out the front door. By the time I had followed her outside, she was already on her knees, dirt smeared up her arms.
She was murmuring quietly to herself, or rather the ‘sprites’. It was then I remembered something Trinnean had said to me, about the Folk.
“Trish, what do you know about the Folk?”
“Almost everything, why darling?”
“I was told to ask you guys about it”
“Oh. Well, in that case” for a moment she was silent, pulling weeds from her garden.
“The Folk, they are both fiction and non-fiction at the same time, they are your dreams and your nightmares. Everything that has ever been dreamed, imagined, written or sung is known as the Folk. Though you do get your respective races, we just call them the Folk in general.
However, throughout the ages, humans have given them all names. Such as vampires, ghosts, brownies…sprites” she looked at me, a twinkle in her eyes “They all have their own characteristics. Some appear as fantasy creatures, some look like humans. Others can shape shift between one form and the other.”
“As in werewolves?”
“Not just werewolves darling. Some of the more developed faeries can shape shift, or use glamour, as they would prefer to call it, to take on a human form. In reality, behind the glamour they have pointed ears, gossamer wings and are about four inches tall.
Mermaids, well they can shape shift too, at least, the more civilised ones can. I believe the only difference between their different forms is that one has a tail” she trailed off, starting to hum to herself “oh! And pointy ears as well. Most of the Folk do!”
We laughed together.
“So, did you go to university to learn all this?” I winced as I struggled to pull out a rather large weed, the roots spreading out quite far underground.
“Oh no! University! Pssh! I read…a lot” once again, she laughed “Of course, I have heard many people claim they were such things as shape shifting dragons and gorgons. Some even claimed to be vampires”
Laughter was once more heard, breaking the silence of the night that spread around us. The full moon had risen in the sky, its rays reaching at as with eager arms.
One thing I did not expect, was that some flowers petals uncurled and bloomed underneath the light of the full moon. Something, I didn’t expect even more so, where to see tiny people sleeping inside, with tiny gossamer ears.
Lightly, a hand came to rest on my shoulder, making me jump slightly.
“They are sprites” Trish whispered gently into my ear “Adrienne, please understand something, no one is to know what you’ve seen tonight, or the consequences may be dire”
Understandable. Numbly I nodded my head, praying for sanity. Then, I blacked out.
When I came to, I was lying in bed, staring at my ceiling. My muscles ached, especially my arms. My mind was blurred, not recalling how I got here.
I remembered being sunburnt, horribly so. Then the Purswells quaint little cottage.
Trish Purswell. I remembered her bandaging my arm, and Elisa playing Call of Duty. Then…nothing…
I stared at Elisa, watching her play Call of Duty. It was a game I simply could not play, but, as it turned out, Elisa practically lived on it.
“Oh no you didn’t! Take that!”
She also frequently talked to the screen, like the characters could hear her. Of course, they couldn’t. She was much like Trish in that sense. Talking to themselves, believing it made them feel better.
I watched as Elisa decapitated people on the television screen. Blowing off peoples heads, stabbing them with knives. Silently I chuckled, she never failed to surprise me.
As the room darkened, I continued to watch Elisa. We were moving into the second hour of her killing people, when Trish came out, her long skirt replaced by shorts.
“Elisa dear, can you please lend…”
“Adrienne”
“Adrienne a pair of your shorts?”
“Yes mum”
I watched as Elisa paused the game, to walk into the only room I had not been in yet, which left me wondering, where was Jae’s room?
About five minutes later, she returned, closing the door behind her firmly. In her hand she held plain black shorts. After handing them to me, I walked into the bathroom, it was small and looked like it had recently been renovated. The rustic feel that was a general theme through the rest of the house did not apply here.
Swiftly, I changed, walking out to the bathroom. After I had closed the door, a pair of green gardening gloves flew at me. They looked well worn and frayed in some places. Pulling on the gloves, the fingers were slightly too long.
“Well girl, come on. Haven’t got all night ‘ya know?”
She laughed lightly before walking out the front door. By the time I had followed her outside, she was already on her knees, dirt smeared up her arms.
She was murmuring quietly to herself, or rather the ‘sprites’. It was then I remembered something Trinnean had said to me, about the Folk.
“Trish, what do you know about the Folk?”
“Almost everything, why darling?”
“I was told to ask you guys about it”
“Oh. Well, in that case” for a moment she was silent, pulling weeds from her garden.
“The Folk, they are both fiction and non-fiction at the same time, they are your dreams and your nightmares. Everything that has ever been dreamed, imagined, written or sung is known as the Folk. Though you do get your respective races, we just call them the Folk in general.
However, throughout the ages, humans have given them all names. Such as vampires, ghosts, brownies…sprites” she looked at me, a twinkle in her eyes “They all have their own characteristics. Some appear as fantasy creatures, some look like humans. Others can shape shift between one form and the other.”
“As in werewolves?”
“Not just werewolves darling. Some of the more developed faeries can shape shift, or use glamour, as they would prefer to call it, to take on a human form. In reality, behind the glamour they have pointed ears, gossamer wings and are about four inches tall.
Mermaids, well they can shape shift too, at least, the more civilised ones can. I believe the only difference between their different forms is that one has a tail” she trailed off, starting to hum to herself “oh! And pointy ears as well. Most of the Folk do!”
We laughed together.
“So, did you go to university to learn all this?” I winced as I struggled to pull out a rather large weed, the roots spreading out quite far underground.
“Oh no! University! Pssh! I read…a lot” once again, she laughed “Of course, I have heard many people claim they were such things as shape shifting dragons and gorgons. Some even claimed to be vampires”
Laughter was once more heard, breaking the silence of the night that spread around us. The full moon had risen in the sky, its rays reaching at as with eager arms.
One thing I did not expect, was that some flowers petals uncurled and bloomed underneath the light of the full moon. Something, I didn’t expect even more so, where to see tiny people sleeping inside, with tiny gossamer ears.
Lightly, a hand came to rest on my shoulder, making me jump slightly.
“They are sprites” Trish whispered gently into my ear “Adrienne, please understand something, no one is to know what you’ve seen tonight, or the consequences may be dire”
Understandable. Numbly I nodded my head, praying for sanity. Then, I blacked out.
When I came to, I was lying in bed, staring at my ceiling. My muscles ached, especially my arms. My mind was blurred, not recalling how I got here.
I remembered being sunburnt, horribly so. Then the Purswells quaint little cottage.
Trish Purswell. I remembered her bandaging my arm, and Elisa playing Call of Duty. Then…nothing…