As The Blood Is Drained, It's Bad For Business
The Story Of Cayden Black
I skate down to the old bookstore in downtown Astoria. Our town is really small, so shops like this have been around basically ever since the town was built. I kick up my skateboard and before I step inside, I make sure no one is watching me enter the store. Certain that I am safe, I open the door and listen to the little bell jingle as I make my way to the front of the shop.
The owner is a little old man with barely any hair. At the back of his head where there are traces of hair, it’s completely gray. He wears suspenders every day of his life, and when he picks up a book to read, he puts on glasses that slide all the way down his nose. His name is Mr. Boo. That’s not his real name, but people call him Mr. Boo because he always seemed to remind people of Boo Radley from How To Kill A Mockingbird. Mr. Boo is completely harmless, but he still creeps people out.
“Hi Mr. Boo,” I say kindly, walking up to the front desk. He looks up from a book he’s reading.
“Hello...who are you?” I smile politely.
“I’m Scarlett Tiernel. I’d like to get a job here.” He nods his head and beckons me behind the counter. Confused, I tilt my head and look at him.
“You’re hired,” he says, “no one wants to work in a book shop and I need the help. You’re hired.” I grin widely at him and follow him behind the counter.
Cayden got up to close the door and sat back down, leaving my hand feeling hot and sweaty. I had forgotten that he was holding it. I made myself comfortable on the couch, deciding that running wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Cayden sat on the couch as well, cleared his throat, and began his story.
“On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed. My father, Ben Black, was a farmer...that was the only way he provided money for our family. We lived in New York at the time; my family consisted of my father, Daniel, our little sister Anna, and myself. Our mother, unfortunately, had died giving birth to Anna. Technically speaking, I’m nineteen years old. At the time, Daniel was just shy of eighteen and Anna had just turned seven.
Black Tuesday was not a good day for America, and it was harder on some than others, our family in particular. My father was already having trouble selling his crops, and the stock crash sent our profit into the gutter. Not long after, the Depression did exactly what its name explained-it sent my father into a period of emotional depression. Right as the year 1930 turned the corner, my father committed suicide, hanging himself with a rope in the barn. Things only got harder from there. Anna developed a terrible cough, and we didn’t have enough money to take her to the doctor’s. We tried to take care of her for as long as possible, but there was nothing more we could really do. On March 12, 1930, Anna died in her sleep. Only after did the coroner figure out what was wrong with her-she had Tuberculosis.
“Daniel and I had lost everything we loved...we only had each other left. After Anna was gone, we proceeded to go downhill from there. While Daniel would stay awake late into the night, writing or reading, I would go out and get drunk all the time, even though we weren’t really making any income. One night, I got myself kicked out of the bar I was at because after downing about three or more rounds of drinks, I confessed that I had no money to pay for them. As I staggered through the streets, a man in black approached me. He told me to follow him; he said he knew a place where I could earn money, fast. I drunkenly agreed to this man’s proposition and followed him down dozens of dark alleyways until finally he summoned me to follow him into an underground tunnel. I was intrigued and I followed. It didn’t occur to me that something funny was going on until I heard the screaming. There were metal doors lining the brick hallways, all bolted and locked shut. The screaming...it was horrible. Every way I turned, I heard people being tortured, crying out for help. I began to panic and tried to escape, but the man in black was smarter and much more sober than I was. He dragged me into an empty room and chained me to a metal table and knocked me out.
When I woke up, the man in black was smiling. He explained that he needed more recruits for his ‘rebellion’. I had no idea what he meant, but he didn’t give me much time to think. He sunk his teeth into my neck, and the surrounding area of my neck immediately erupted in a fiery sensation. It spread to the entire length of my body, making me scream. I now knew what the other people in those rooms were screaming about. That feeling, the feeling that my body was on fire...it seemed to stay that way for days, weeks, even years. It seemed to never end. When it finally stopped, I felt a great change had taken place. I was stronger, I could see clearer...everything was better. My sense of smell was increased and I could hear people from miles away. The man who captured me obviously did not know how strong I was to become, because I broke right out of the holds he had on me. I escaped, and I had the worst feeling. I had a...bloodlust.
“Before returning to Daniel, I went to seek out the thing that I wanted most-blood. But right at the moment that I was about to attack someone on the street, I was pulled aside by a girl in a bright blue dress. She didn’t look like she was from my era; she didn’t even look like she was from this planet. She took me aside and explained what had happened to me, and what I had become-a vampire. She explained that there were rules to being a vampire, that we couldn’t just kill anyone. When she had explained everything to me, I decided to wait before attacking someone. In a sense, I was starving myself. I made my way back to Daniel, where I told him what happened. At first he didn’t believe me, but-we came to the understanding that I was telling the truth. We decided to leave New York, leave our entire life behind. Originally, we decided to move to California, but we got sidetracked along the way. We headed too far north and ended up in Oregon, and that’s where we’ve been ever since. This is where we met Jackie, and this is where we made our home.”
I stared at this vampire incredulously. This whole story was interesting and all, but I only had one question-what were the rules of the vampire?
The owner is a little old man with barely any hair. At the back of his head where there are traces of hair, it’s completely gray. He wears suspenders every day of his life, and when he picks up a book to read, he puts on glasses that slide all the way down his nose. His name is Mr. Boo. That’s not his real name, but people call him Mr. Boo because he always seemed to remind people of Boo Radley from How To Kill A Mockingbird. Mr. Boo is completely harmless, but he still creeps people out.
“Hi Mr. Boo,” I say kindly, walking up to the front desk. He looks up from a book he’s reading.
“Hello...who are you?” I smile politely.
“I’m Scarlett Tiernel. I’d like to get a job here.” He nods his head and beckons me behind the counter. Confused, I tilt my head and look at him.
“You’re hired,” he says, “no one wants to work in a book shop and I need the help. You’re hired.” I grin widely at him and follow him behind the counter.
Cayden got up to close the door and sat back down, leaving my hand feeling hot and sweaty. I had forgotten that he was holding it. I made myself comfortable on the couch, deciding that running wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Cayden sat on the couch as well, cleared his throat, and began his story.
“On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed. My father, Ben Black, was a farmer...that was the only way he provided money for our family. We lived in New York at the time; my family consisted of my father, Daniel, our little sister Anna, and myself. Our mother, unfortunately, had died giving birth to Anna. Technically speaking, I’m nineteen years old. At the time, Daniel was just shy of eighteen and Anna had just turned seven.
Black Tuesday was not a good day for America, and it was harder on some than others, our family in particular. My father was already having trouble selling his crops, and the stock crash sent our profit into the gutter. Not long after, the Depression did exactly what its name explained-it sent my father into a period of emotional depression. Right as the year 1930 turned the corner, my father committed suicide, hanging himself with a rope in the barn. Things only got harder from there. Anna developed a terrible cough, and we didn’t have enough money to take her to the doctor’s. We tried to take care of her for as long as possible, but there was nothing more we could really do. On March 12, 1930, Anna died in her sleep. Only after did the coroner figure out what was wrong with her-she had Tuberculosis.
“Daniel and I had lost everything we loved...we only had each other left. After Anna was gone, we proceeded to go downhill from there. While Daniel would stay awake late into the night, writing or reading, I would go out and get drunk all the time, even though we weren’t really making any income. One night, I got myself kicked out of the bar I was at because after downing about three or more rounds of drinks, I confessed that I had no money to pay for them. As I staggered through the streets, a man in black approached me. He told me to follow him; he said he knew a place where I could earn money, fast. I drunkenly agreed to this man’s proposition and followed him down dozens of dark alleyways until finally he summoned me to follow him into an underground tunnel. I was intrigued and I followed. It didn’t occur to me that something funny was going on until I heard the screaming. There were metal doors lining the brick hallways, all bolted and locked shut. The screaming...it was horrible. Every way I turned, I heard people being tortured, crying out for help. I began to panic and tried to escape, but the man in black was smarter and much more sober than I was. He dragged me into an empty room and chained me to a metal table and knocked me out.
When I woke up, the man in black was smiling. He explained that he needed more recruits for his ‘rebellion’. I had no idea what he meant, but he didn’t give me much time to think. He sunk his teeth into my neck, and the surrounding area of my neck immediately erupted in a fiery sensation. It spread to the entire length of my body, making me scream. I now knew what the other people in those rooms were screaming about. That feeling, the feeling that my body was on fire...it seemed to stay that way for days, weeks, even years. It seemed to never end. When it finally stopped, I felt a great change had taken place. I was stronger, I could see clearer...everything was better. My sense of smell was increased and I could hear people from miles away. The man who captured me obviously did not know how strong I was to become, because I broke right out of the holds he had on me. I escaped, and I had the worst feeling. I had a...bloodlust.
“Before returning to Daniel, I went to seek out the thing that I wanted most-blood. But right at the moment that I was about to attack someone on the street, I was pulled aside by a girl in a bright blue dress. She didn’t look like she was from my era; she didn’t even look like she was from this planet. She took me aside and explained what had happened to me, and what I had become-a vampire. She explained that there were rules to being a vampire, that we couldn’t just kill anyone. When she had explained everything to me, I decided to wait before attacking someone. In a sense, I was starving myself. I made my way back to Daniel, where I told him what happened. At first he didn’t believe me, but-we came to the understanding that I was telling the truth. We decided to leave New York, leave our entire life behind. Originally, we decided to move to California, but we got sidetracked along the way. We headed too far north and ended up in Oregon, and that’s where we’ve been ever since. This is where we met Jackie, and this is where we made our home.”
I stared at this vampire incredulously. This whole story was interesting and all, but I only had one question-what were the rules of the vampire?
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yay! i was excited to write this one.