A Vampyre's Tale...

"For you humans are parasitical creatures, that need to be culled, otherwise you will grow too big for this realm you call home...”

Darkness falls upon the land. The modern day serfs, with an unknown urgency, make their way to the safety of their homes. Most “normies” don't know why a fear grips them when darkness falls. Even the luminescent electric lighting brings them no comfort.

My dear humans, you have a fear of the night, perhaps from your far distant ancestors, a time when WE fed upon them much more openly. I say “we” because I am not of the modern day line of homo sapiens. I’m not like you. My lineage is far more ancient.

We were here during long ages past - a history that's been obscured. Even I know only a little, and of that, I cannot with certainly distinguish between mythology and fact. Still, what I do know with every fiber of my very being, is that I'm a hunter and humankind is my prey.

I remember long ago, when the world was young, the sun had not yet risen, but instead there was eternal night. Not total darkness, for the lands were lit with the gentle light of our mother Selene, the light of our true home. The full moon is a holy day for us where we are obliged to hunt to keep the balance; a long tradition enacted over aeons’ past.

“What was that child? Speak louder for I can read your thoughts. Foolish human who hast not learnt how to still the constant chatter of your primitive minds. We, the Vampyre, unlike you, have total and utter focus on our goals, which makes us superior. We are smarter, quicker, and faster than you. The reason you fear the dark, child, is because of me and my kind. For you humans are parasitical creatures that need to be culled otherwise you will grow too big for this realm you call home.”

Tonight, as luck would have it, the moon is at its zenith, shining with an icy glow that energizes my cold blood. Tonight I hunt and my prey is... you!

The streets are almost deserted. A few late-night stragglers are still around. Unfortunately, they’re in pairs or groups. What I need is a lone individual, so there will be no witnesses. Luckily I know the layout of the place, which you'll likely know as the quaint City of Bath in Somerset, a foolish, childish name devoid of its original meaning. Long ago, in times long forgotten, I knew this as the City of Ba-Ath. So named after the founder of our kind - the Vampyre God, King Ba-Ath. He of the blood red eyes. The winged one. He who had cunning and foresight; he who made the laws that my kind follow as we spread throughout the world. You, mortal, are lucky; for nowadays, we keep to the shadows. But back in those mist-shrouded, moonlit times, we offered relentless and horrifying sacrifices to our God.

Recalling those times, sublime elation courses through my very being. The memory is like a drug. The sheer joy and satisfaction, I felt, at seeing lines of your shivering, fearful, terrified, ancestors chained up, and being led to the slaughter for me and my kind to drink from… Ahhh, the sanguine elixir! The finest of your human-made wines would be as stagnant water in comparison.

Wait! I've seen one of Ba-Ath’s messengers, a bat… (the winged ones we call “dragons of the night”). A fortuitous sign, to be sure, for our God has let me know that the hunt begins…

Yes, I see my prey, a young woman with long, wavy black hair, falling below her shoulders, a rosy glow upon her cheeks and lips. Oh such beautiful smiling lips, blood red, truly my favorite to feast upon!

Gliding out of the shadows, I silently approach her. Strangely, she shows no fear. I always find this amusing, as when I bare my fangs, my target is guaranteed to be in such abject terror, she will be paralyzed with fear, unable to move or make a sound.

Right, it's showtime…

There's nothing she can do: garlic, crucifixes, and holy water, are not effective against us. In fact, we were the ones who brought the rumors of their effectiveness to humans in the first place; it helped them feel in control. A false sense of control, admittedly, and an ineffective one. But that was our game. Sometimes I even play along and pretend your simple toys and amulets work before taking a killing bite. Ah well, no matter how many centuries pass, it never gets old; just like me.

I move towards her on the sidewalk, shadowing the quiet rows of Georgian houses, with the sound of cars in the distance, and the leaves of the trees blowing gently in the ice cold breeze. She shows no fear even as I bare my fangs and go in for the kill.

Momentarily distracted by the thought of the sweet life-giving prana flowing through her veins, I almost don't see it… a shadow darting in front of me… hissing venomously, its razor sharp claws swiping towards me. My nemesis suddenly leaps towards me, protecting my quarry with rage in its shining luminescent eyes.

I make a hasty retreat, my nemesis guarding my would-be game from me.

For you see, we of the the bat, have one real opponent on this earth - and that is the cat! It's a tale of battles long fought since the rising of the sun. Perhaps I should have called this dear reader "A Cat’s Tail" instead.

Tonight my quarry escaped. But no mind, perhaps next time it will be you dear mortal?