z diary 5

8/14/2019 Z Diary 5

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Z Diary 5

4 AM tea

March

I have been with the flight for a week now, hiding in their chapter house and sneakingmeals when they will allow me the privilege. Did you know that a group of vampires is

called a flight? I always thought it was a coven. Apparently, that is only true for those

vampires that practice the pagan rituals or want to imagine that they are part of some

strange satanic ‘thing’ that quite frankly would be a load of bullshit if they did not take it

so seriously. Oh yes, and there are also some vampires belonging to Wicca. That

laughable concept is also quite serious, mostly among the newer vampires. Mary scorns

both groups as idiodic sucktards. Her language, not mine. I am, myself, mystified as to

how these younger ones even get past the first part of the Rede of Wicca. The Satanists I

can understand.

Mary is actually not a succubus. That term is a misnomer. I was informed that

the term is applied to the demons who act in a similar role. As they would have it, they

are called the Hedone Pact. A pact is a specific breed of vampires. She is ancient, but

she does not act the part. There is no must of the grave or quiet reflections on her life, or

even long drawn out soliloquies droning on about her life. She even sleeps in a huge bed

surrounded by satin, fur and pillows, and uses a thick comforter to hide herself from the

sun. She just goes about her business as she has done for centuries. The part about

vampires and the sun is unfortunately true. Most of them rush to their tombs and coffins

each night. Apparently, only the more powerful ones can sleep outside of one, though

any one of them can sleep in the dirt.

If you have not guessed, Mary plies her trade on the street and over the internet,

with the enviable position of getting paid to draw from the foolish men that ask for her

services. She is a pimp and a whore all in one pale, gorgeous package. She tells me that

I am quite stunning in form, even despite my obviously undead features. She lamented to

me that had I been in a city during my life, I could have been a model or a star. I laughed

at her for that. I was a hard-bitten farmwife in South Dakota during the depression, not a

glamour girl. She smiled quietly and informed me that she had once been a farm girl

herself.

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8/14/2019 Z Diary 5


“Hnnh. We have our own scents.” Said Mary. “Do you think we have lived in

darkness and death this long and not given it consideration?”

“I wasn’t aware that vampires liked to stink.” I said. She bristled.

“Not stink! Our perfumeries are the best in the world!”

“What so you like to be able to be detected by werewolves?” Mary stopped, her

mouth open.

“Oh right. But then it might mask that smell of blood. They are attracted to it as

well, you know.” She put her hands to her temples. “This house is too full for my taste.”

She said. “Flights only work for the incredibly young. I am a solitary hunter. It chafes

on my corporate board as well. They would rather be at home in their own haunts.”

“You do not have to keep us. We will survive.”

“Yes I do. You are now feral, and we must find out how to help you survive.”

“We have survived, Lady Mary. You just want to experiment on us like everyone

else.” Mary pouted and stared, half smiling.

“You are blunt, farmwife. At least you are not adverse to the thought.”

“I have the feeling that you will be more careful and wise than the human

researchers.”

“That is true. But you are not bothered by this?” I shrugged.

“To tell you the truth, lady Mary, I have never known of a time that I was not

being experimented on. Is life itself not a grand experiment? Besides, we would be

testing ourselves as free creatures soon enough anyway. At least with you we have the

benefit of a millennium of experience with the reanimated.”

“You are not concerned about my intentions?”

“No. What is human morality or consideration to those who have died once?”

Mary looked away, unable to meet my eyes.

“You betray your youth to say something like that. You fought demons and you

do not know?” she asked quietly. “In some ways you are right, but you have never been

forced to look at the abyss and see nothing but despair.” I paused. Her quietness had a

sense of hopelessness that I could not fathom. I looked down at the coffee table. It was

full of typical showcase books highlighting exotic and sunny locations. There were no

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pictures of night anywhere. Even the wax fruit bowl on the table was decorated with

images of the sun.

“It doesn’t matter to me as long as you give me the nutrition to reattach or

regenerate whatever I lose. You will have to run it by Abe and Tony, but I am sure they

feel the same way. We do not feel pain anymore, so physical harm is not as frightening as

it is for you or a living human. I just. . .I just don’t know why I was chosen to become

this creature.” I said. “Even if you were to experiment upon me to my death I would be

grateful. At least I would know whether or not I have been cursed for eternity.” Mary

smiled sadly.

“Of course. That is all we ever want to know. I have heard that from a thousand

fledglings in my lifetime.” She considered me for a moment and curled her feet under

her, relaxing. She looked every inch the creature of this millennium, except for her

alabaster skin and luminous purple and gold eyes with their red light shining behind her

pupils. Those eyes were hypnotic and alluring, even to me. We stared calmly at each

other for a long time. I wanted so very badly to open my mind to her.

“Your mind still eludes me. I want to find out how to unlock your potential. I

feel like there is something missing in you that is only starting to be expressed.”

“So what? According to you all undead increase as they exist.”

“Yes and no.” she said, taking a wax pomegranate from the coffee table

arrangement. She tumbled it in her hands. “We do not know what you are becoming. We

do not know your power other than that of survival. The others of your race have been

evolving.” I knitted my brows. This was news to me.

“How so?” I asked. “I have not noticed.”

“They have lost their scent.” She said. “They have gotten faster. Wilkinson is

somewhere here.” At this I sat up.

“He is not!”

“He is. I have been tracking him. We have been tracking him; cleaning up his

little messes. Even here in Harlan.” I shook my head slowly, mouth agape.

“I have not been told. We should have been on top of those! Why didn’t we

know?” Mary shrugged. The hair on my arms stood out.

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“I appreciate your trust.” I said politely, and picked up the other half of the fruit.

I set the pieces on the table and looked away from her at the T.V. At I sat watching, I felt

a nagging hunger creep over me. At first I was puzzled, but the nagging would not go

away.

“I am hungry.” I said. “Something’s wrong.” Mary looked at me, concerned.

“Hungry now? You don’t need to feed regularly.”

“Something’s wrong. Where are they?”

“Out with the boys.”

Suddenly, the door slammed open, and a group of haggard Phobos Pact vampires

stumbled through the door. Abe and Tony were with them, both missing limbs. I rushed

to their side.

“What is this?” Abe looked up at me, his eyes full of terror.

“They. . .we failed. They could not be contacted!”

“Who?”

“The horde. We. . .the slaughter. They are being made to be resistant.”

“No. Why didn’t you take me?”

“We were already out for the evening. Zach was showing us his haunts. You

were hanging with the girls. It was an accident.” Said Tony.

“They were in the sewers. Abe sniffed them out. Hell Mary you should have

seen them fight! By god, even we are not so vicious.” He lifted Abe’s shirt. He was

missing the soft tissue of his entire abdomen. Mary licked her lips. Now that Abe and

Tony were close, I began to feel my perception dim. They were on the verge of losing it.

“Lock us up!” I strained, the feeling infecting me.

“Hurry! The basement.” Mary directed. “Screw the carpets. Get the others! We

need to heal them quickly!”

As I was being led down, I could only just keep my psyche intact. Abe and Tony

were already straining against Roddy’s vampiric grasp. We were all put into chains.

Sometimes I do not know what is happening during a frenzy. This time I knew

vividly because I was not wounded. It is like being taken for a ride. The body follows its

own passions and needs while the mind desperately tries and fails to stop what is

happening. These are the most horrifying moments for me. There is no control, there is

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only hunger. I was in frenzy on behalf of my companions. They were insensible terrors,

ripping into living humans as if they were fish. The screams echoed in my head.

Dominic watched from the shadows, ecstasy on his face. He was getting fed at last.

When the feast ended I was curled up on the concrete floor, and Dominic was

pushing something into my hand. I grabbed onto it. It was a coffee cup filled with blood.

I drained it without a thought and instantly wished that I had not. He had a triumphant

look on his face. The blood was foul, tainted with something that I could not place.

“Poison?” I strained, wishing that I could gag. “I can’t vomit, you idiot.” I tried

to leap at him, but my chains held me to the wall. Dominic smirked.

“I saw you, you had eyes. You knew what you were doing! Hah, you are just like

me.” He kissed me on the forehead, “My dear you were glorious. I have learned much

from you and your brothers. This was no poison. You are the first to think that my own

blood is not tasty. Did Mary get to you first?”

“I’m not a fucking vampire you leering bastard! I don’t care if you taste like a

dog’s ass, I’ll piece you out!” Dominic streaked forward and took my hands, pressing his

vicious mouth into mine. I bit into his tongue. He tasted as vile as his blood. He was

quivering and filthy, and now his blood was pouring down my throat.

“I have been waiting for you to be chained down here. I have wanted you since I

first dragged you into this house.” His mind pressed into mine, dragging with it all of his

years of death and blood. The shock of him in my head made me scream. He stepped

back, reeling. His teeth were long and jagged. He had more than one set of fangs. His

eyes blazed with red light and he clutched his head in pain. His tongue gushed blood all

over the floor.

The sound of footsteps thundered down the stairs. The door burst open. Johnny

and Mary stood there in shock. Mary recovered first and restrained Dominic easily. He

was fitted with the same silver coated chains that I had on. Johnny unlocked me and I

instinctively curled into him. I have not felt so violated in a very long time.

I was brought upstairs and made to sit in the kitchen. Mary examined me

thoroughly. She was troubled and furious.

“He gave you his blood! God! He tried to rape you!”

“It. . .his blood is foul.” I whispered.

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“Yes I know. I felt that when you screamed. His blood must have triggered

something.” She grabbed my face and looked into my eyes, felt my mouth and listened

to my chest. She scratched her head.

“Wait, you heard me?”

“Yes, loud and clear, right into our heads. Listen. If you start to feel more power,

let me know immediately.”

“Abe and Tony. . .” Johnny turned back downstairs. I felt as if a thousand bees

were buzzing in my head.

“They are fine. They should be better by morning. Now, are you going to frenzy

again?”

“No. I think that is over for me. I am not the wounded one. I could not feel them

until they were almost on the doorstep!”

“I have the house warded, of course.” Said Mary. “We are nearly undetectable as

long as there is at least one of us six in here.”

“I need to go down there to them.”

“If you wish. They are not going to hurt you?”

“They cannot.” I said, standing up. The room began spinning. Mary caught me

as I lost my balance. My vision dimmed. Mary seemed to understand what was

happening. “I am going to pass out.” I said, astonished, just as everything went dark.

I woke inside a pine box. Panicked, I beat against the lid and it flew open. I sat

and panted, my fears overwhelming me. Mary sat in a chair next to me.

“Sorry about that. I forgot that you were claustrophobic.”

“I don’t suppose you’ve ever been trapped in a crate?”

“Oh yes. I suppose it is not as traumatic for us. When we lie in a space like that,

we sort of switch off. We dream, you know. Did you dream?”

“No.” Mary checked me over again, and seemed satisfied and frustrated all at

once.

“Well, we are back to normal, maybe. If you were changing. . .”

“Why would I change? I’m already reanimated.”

“We don’t know what will affect you three. We have never shared blood with

someone like you. We were afraid from your reaction that you would become one of us.”

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“Nnngh.” I groaned. “Can you still hear my mind?”

“No. No, it sort of fizzled out as soon as the sun came up.”

“The sun is still up?”

“Yes.” I got up and shuffled to the door. Mary watched me, but did not get up. I

felt sluggish, and realized that this was not the sensation of rigor mortis, but the sensation

of a person getting out of bed in the morning. “Aren’t you supposed to be dead now?”

“I am up early this evening.”

I opened the door and went upstairs. Cal sat in the kitchen, reading the evening

paper. He looked at me as I walked in.

“Oh, Janice. About last light. . .”

“You didn’t frenzy with us.” I said.

“I never have.” He said. “I thought you would kill me if you found out, so I just

sort of went along with it. What about you? Are there any. . .symptoms?”

“No. I just went to sleep for a few hours. I slept, Cal.” Cal smiled weakly.

“That is interesting. We will have to see if that is a single instance or recurring.

Yes I saw that you were unconscious, but I was not aware that you were sleeping. What

was it like?”

“I am strangely refreshed.”

“Your eyes are not jaundiced. You have color to your cheeks. Something must

have happened.”

“You mean I look alive?”

“Not quite. No. You are still quite undead my dear.”

“Reanimated.”

“Yes indeed.” He said casually. “Come, sit. I wish to have a look at you in the

sunlight.” I sat down next to him. He got up and went for his instruments. When he

came down I was made to submit to a full physical. When he had taken every

measurement and observation he could think of, he took cell samples and even tasted my

flesh. This was nothing new. What was new was that he went about it as if I was

potentially infectious.

“Doc, so tell me, is it terminal?” Cal smiled thinly.

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“Oh I think so.” He said deadpan, swirling my sample in a solution and holding it

up to the light.

I rested my head on the kitchen table, trying to sort through the events of the

previous evening. With evolving zombie reanimates, a reaction to vampire blood and a

ghoul physician already on my plate I wondered what this night would bring.

z diary 5

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