Heretic Blood

“It’s eleven o’clock on Long Beach’s local news station, I’m Elise Gardner and I’m here with my host, David Montgomery,” The brunette woman introduced herself and her co-host following the opening theme of the breaking news alert.

“The police have discovered yet another body of a young woman on the 600 block of Castle Hill Road. They are not able to give us much information at this time, but the medical examiner concludes the victim’s cause of death to be from a gruesome vampire bite. Officials are trying to contact the victim’s family at the moment. This is the fifth murder within the past week and a half.”

Alice scrunched her nose up as she ate her dinner. It consisted of a small microwaveable two-hundred calorie meal, grilled chicken and penne in tomato and basil sauce. Her glass of iced tea sat in front of her, dripping its condensation onto the dark wood on the coffee table. It was sure to leave a stain and a ring on the table, like the rest of the furniture in her apartment. She wasn’t the most clean and orderly person around.

She leaned forward on the couch, mindlessly chewing while continuing to watch the breaking news coverage on the television. Neon yellow crime scene tape blocked off the murder scene from unauthorized persons and police officers and medical crews searched the surrounding area.

New information from sources tells us that the victim has a signature bite of a half moon and two puncture holes on the neck. Forensics photographers have positively identified the bite as an exact match of a local vampire. Forensics has been keeping records of all identifications and examinations of the few local vampires left here in Long Beach ever since their migration fifty years ago. Right now, we’re going to talk to Blaine Henderson, an expert on legendary mythological creatures…

The murders had been the talk of the city for almost two weeks. The first girl to turn up dead was a shock to everyone. She was barely twenty-one years old and discovered in an alleyway. It was only after the autopsy that it was discovered that something had completely drained her dry of blood. Everyone knew what that something was.

Vampires weren’t so rare and uncommon in Southern California like they were half a century ago. The old historians had passed on oral tales of how they first moved to the west coast. They moved to California and they were here to stay. There weren’t many left- there were only a dozen or so vampires still lurking in the area.

Vampires lived as normal people, breaking the stereotypes of the mythical creatures in the folktales and books. There was a very small amount of tension between vampires and the old time commoners or tourists. There was even a law that said that the vampires were not allowed to feed off of their human counterparts.

Alice knew more about vampires than the next person, seeing as one of her closest friends was a hundred year old vampire, Zachary Baker. He went by Zacky Vengeance in the present day as boy’s names were shortened and less informal than a hundred years ago. Alice met Zacky on complete accident when she first got the word that vampires were practically her next door neighbors. They’d became friends and it wasn’t until months later after an unfortunate incident that Zacky admitted to being one of them.

Alice jumped at a sudden crash coming from her bedroom. She set her now empty bowl on the coffee table and got up, smoothing out the wrinkles in her yoga stretch pants. She was used to weird things happening to her, as if the city she lived in wasn’t creepy enough. By now, she was convinced she might have had ghosts in her apartment.

“Alice, it’s me,” A voice said from behind her when she walked through the threshold of her room.
She whipped around, her dark hair flowing over her shoulders. Her hand clutched the pyramid triangle necklace around her neck out of instinct. It was something she did when she was nervous or frightened.

“Zack, you couldn’t have knocked on the front door?” She asked annoyed that he’d nearly scared her to death. She released the pointed charm from her palm.

“No,” Her best friend shook his head. Zacky didn’t look like his usual self. His eyes were a deeper shade of emerald green. “I had to climb up here. They’re coming after me.”

“What, who’s coming after you?” Alice asked concerned.

“The hunters,” He hissed, but not at her. He began to pace in front of her, his footsteps silent on the area rug. “The murders, they found another one.”

“So, what does that have to do with you?” She asked slowly, shaking her head as her eyes searched his.

“Remember when I told you that every vampire has a different bite mark so we can be distinguished?” He asked Alice and she nodded. “The bites they’ve been finding look like mine… they’re exactly like mine.”

Alice stared at him blankly, taking a moment to take in the information. She remembered the news anchor describing the bite as a half moon and two puncture wounds. The latest victim had the same marking as the others. Alice had been fortunate enough to never have seen Zacky’s trademark bite for any reason.

“Whoa,” Alice gasped after a minute or so, taking several steps backwards. “You…”

“I didn’t do it,” Zacky said defensively, approaching her cautiously. “Alice, you have to believe me! I swear, I didn’t do it. You know I can’t do it. It’s against the law.”

Alice put her hands out in front of her, telling him not to come forward any more. She tried to wrap her head around the fact that her best friend had been the murderer of Long Beach for the past two weeks. She thought about how Zacky still had self-control issues with his bloodlust even after a century. It would be very easy for him to snap and lose control of himself in the wrong situation.

“I’m being framed,” Zacky speculated, still pacing across the floor. “Someone is framing me.”

“Why would anyone do that, Zack?” Alice spoke up. “Why would anyone want to frame you? Just tell me the truth.”

“The truth is, I didn’t do it!” Zacky shouted at her. “They’re going to be here any minute now.”

Zacky felt bad for dragging her into this, but he was innocent. He was in disbelief that his own best friend couldn’t and wouldn’t believe a word he said. Sure, he occasionally had problems with his hunger, but he would never resort to feeding off of a human. If they were going to come collect him, he knew it’d be the end. Any vampire that fed off of a human being would be staked and executed.

Alice thought the same thing. She couldn’t sit here while a mob of hunters took Zacky from her. She wouldn’t let him die, whether or not he did feed from the young girls. She was stuck in a moral dilemma. Could she actually picture someone as sweet and soft as Zacky murdering multiple people just to survive? Would she be able to testify and/or lie to protect him if he was guilty?

The chants and the thunderous marching of the crowd outside got louder and louder as the hunters got closer to the apartment building.

“Alice, please. I’m begging you,” Zacky said, turning to her. He held her small jaw in between his thumb and index finger gently, forcing her to look at him. “Look me in the eye and tell me you believe me.”

“I believe you,” Alice squeaked truthfully. Her eyes began to sting with tears as she gazed into his green ones.

“Thank you,” Zacky sighed in relief, wrapping his strong arms around her tiny torso.

She enveloped him into a hug in return, pressing her face to his shirt. She refused to let anyone or anything hurt Zacky. Zacky was practically the only person and family she had, regardless of him most likely living on for centuries after her death as a mortal. She was going to figure out a way. Alice could usually suck it up and get the job done.

“Bite me,” Alice murmured lowly.

“What?” Zacky sputtered, loosening his hold on her and looking down at her. He placed his hands on her shoulders.

“It’s the only way,” Alice theorized. “There’s no way your true mark and the fake mark can be an exact match. The DNA will say so. I’m the only human around to give you permission.”

“Are you sure?” Zacky asked unsure of her unusual idea.

“If it means keeping you from getting killed by the masses, then yes,” She nodded like she knew exactly what she was doing.

“Alright,” He said hesitantly, running his calloused fingertips over her neck and pulling her hair to the side. He hoped her idea would work. He also hoped that he could keep his thirst under control once he got his teeth on her.

“Just don’t make it hurt too much,” Alice whimpered anxiously, squeezing her eyes shut in anticipation.

“Sweetheart, it’s going to hurt a little,” Zacky confessed, running his tongue over his teeth.

“Okay, just make it quick,” Alice said, trying to stop herself from fidgeting nervously.

“Count to three and on three just don’t scream,” Zacky told her, leaning down to her neck again.

One, two, three. Zacky sank his teeth into her skin. The searing pain ran through her entire body but she couldn’t bring herself to scream. The sound flesh makes when a vampire makes the first bite is grisly, as if it was breaking the sound barrier. Alice’s senses were heightened as her body separated itself from the pain.

Alice grew weak and tired, eventually going limp in Zack’s arms. He pulled his teeth from her skin, licking the open wound with his tongue to help it heal faster and to soothe some of the excruciating pain she would feel when she woke up. The sweet, coppery taste of her blood made his mouth water. He knew he couldn’t take any more, otherwise he’d kill her.