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This is an original short story of mine. Please enjoy.
Death of a Vampiress
By Gabriel Jarboe
A typical day in Mr. Kletzky’s history class involved long, detailed lectures, several pages of overhead notes, and copious amounts of homework. This particular rainy, October day was atypical.
“Alright, class, before we begin notes, are there any questions over your local history assignments?” There were no questions, because nobody had done the assignment. No one had heard when Mr. Kletzky announced our homework yesterday, because no one was paying attention then either. Wanting to stir things up a little, I tentatively raised my hand.
“Mr. Kletzky, do you know anything about the city’s vampire legend?”
The teacher was going to be cross, until he realized that his typically oblivious class had suddenly become quite quiet, and all eyes were on him. “Um, I-I-I…” he stammered before finding himself again. “All right.”
“The legend originates sometime between the late 1300’s and early 1400’s. There are several different versions, but the general gist is mostly the same. Our town was being tormented by two vampires: more precisely, a vampire and his wife, a vampiress. The pair would venture forth from a secret lair somewhere located deep in the woods that used to be north of here and prey on the people of the village. Every night, two people were killed to satisfy the monsters’ bloodlust. When night fell, the streets emptied. People who dared venture out of their homes under cover of darkness would vanish, always to be found desecrated and bloodless the next day. The men here eventually worked up the courage to oppose the vampires, and they devised a plan to destroy them. On the designated night, a child was to be used to lure the vampires into the church, where forty men would be waiting in ambush to destroy both of them.
“Night fell, the streets emptied, and the bait-child was set. The men waited with bated breath in the church, knives and clubs at the ready. The priest brought out the monstrance and sprinkled holy water everywhere he could reach. Everything was there and ready, except for the vampires. The ambush party grew tired, and, eventually, men started falling asleep. They awoke to shrill screaming. The bait-child burst through the double doors, immediately followed by the she-vampire. Before the vampiress realized what had happened, the men pulled the doors shut behind her and attacked. The vampiress fought viciously, killing a few men, and tearing limbs off several more. Soon, though, she was seized and overpowered. With three people on each leg and two on each arm, they managed pin her to the altar. The priest took a silver sword and ran it through the beast’s heart, fixing her to the spot. With her dying breath, the vampiress cursed them, swearing her husband would kill them all and leave their carcasses to be picked clean by the birds. The men decided that the same method should be applied to destroying the husband, and the wife’s body was to be used as the bait. To further infuriate the husband, the wife’s eyes were put out, and she was left pinned to the altar.
“The next night, the men lay waiting in the church, ready to end the evil that plagued them once and for all. All of them were eagerly watching the sun set through the glass windows. Complete silence fell over the men as the reddening orb dipped below the horizon. Immediately, that silence was broken by a terrible rending. Every head turned to see the vampire standing in the doorway, holding one of the iron banded, oaken double doors. The beast hurled the door at the priest, picking the mortal up off his feet and smashing him against the far wall. Slowly, the vampire advanced on his fallen mate. Men rushed to stop him, but he broke each one with a simple twist, leaving them crumpled and twitching on the ground. By the time the vampire reached the altar, no one opposed him. He gingerly removed the sword, cradled his wife in his arms, and left with her. The vampire was never seen or heard of again, so the legend goes.”
Mr. Kletzky stopped here, surveyed the class, and sighed heavily. “If only you found the Norman conquest this interesting. Get your notebooks out. In 1066…”
 Lokapala · Sun Aug 06, 2006 @ 09:40pm · 1 Comments |
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