Vampire Bits

Like the werewolf, the vampire's mythology has been eclipsed by pop culture.

For starters, sunlight does not destroy vampires. the vampire of myth had no problem with daylight. Neither did Dracula for that matter. While he did sleep in a coffin during the day, he is able to go out in sunlight, but his powers are limited. There are other famous vampires such as Lord Ruthven, Varney the Vampire, and Carmilla that were active during daytime too -- although they do prefer the night. In fact, vampires didn't even start dying by sunlight until 1922 in the silent film Nosferatu.

The crucifix, another mainstay of vampire pop culture, has no roots in vampire mythology either. It wasn't introduced until the novel Dracula.

Stakes, however, do play a part in traditional vampire myth. They was usually made of hawthorn, aspen, oak, or juniper and were used to pin the vampire in its grave, traditionally through the heart. However, the stomach or in the back was supposed to have been just as effective. The stake didn't kill the vampire alone though. After it was pinned in its coffin, the vampire was either burned or the head was severed and garlic was stuffed in its mouth.

So yes, garlic also has a place in vampire myth. It wasn't just protection against vampires though but witches and demons too. It was worn around the neck and hung in a house. It was rubbed around doors, windows, and chimneys. Even livestock were rubbed with garlic in order to protect it from vampires.

Creating a vampire had nothing to do with a bite either. Someone could become a vampire through a number of ways, such as an animal, usually either a dog or cat, jumping over their grave or dying of a wound that wasn't treated with boiling water.

Vampires in mythology weren't pale,  skinny and sexy either. They were dressed in their funeral shrouds and bloated and red-faced. Dracula wasn't even the first vampire with sex appeal either. See Lord Ruthven, in The Vampyre by John Polidori, who was based upon the poet Lord Byron -- Mr. Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know.

Last but not least, vampires could be living as well as dead. These vampires were usually born with some deformity like a caul, a membrane of amniotic fluid, covering their head or possessing a full set of teeth or a spine that resembled a tail. They were said to prey on other living people using magic, such as the evil eye or psychic attack. In Romanian lore, a pregnant woman who does not eat salt risks giving birth to a living vampire. the seventh son of a seventh son or the seventh daughter or a seventh daughter was also destined to be a vampire as well.

I did my best to eschew vampire pop culture cliches when creating the vampire citizens of Welcome to Harmony and its follow-ups. In fact, I steered clear of vampire myth as well and tried to come up with my own version, more or less.

My vampires (Nikolas, Julian, Patrick, and Rolfe -- More will be introduced in the upcoming Bloodties.) are bloodsuckers, but they feed specifically on a victim's life force, for which blood happens to be the vessel. They're living dead. The life force they ingest keeps them in a state of pseudo life -- keeping their organs and other systems functioning.

They can live a long time. Nikolas is somewhere between 500 and 600 years old (I mean, let's face it, wouldn't you lose track at some point or at least stop counting?). The downside to this is if you are turned into a vampire at a young age, you'll stay that way until you die -- something Julian and Patrick both have to deal with in Welcome to Harmony and later in Bloodties. Garlic and crucifixes have no effect on them either. To kill them, they must be decapitated or their heart must be punctured (which if you think about it, will kill just about anything).

They're more serpent like, a nod to a lesser known story by Bram Stoker, The Garden of Evil aka Lair of the White Worm. When they turn a human, they inject a venom into them that kills them but brings them back as a vampire. They also have a natural charm, similar to the way some snakes mesmerize their prey before killing them.

They also morph too. I couldn't resist adding that little touch. They can appear normal, in order to fit in with humans, but when they attack the fangs come out, along with black talons and red orbs for eyes.

That's all I can manage for now. I'll do my best to get this blog out once a week, but I'm not making any promises (working full-time as a teacher does take its toll on body and mind).

Don't forget that Welcome to Harmony is available for sale at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com as well as all other online outlets.  Getting it onto the shelves of my local Barnes and Noble store got derailed for bit, thanks to an unexpected shift in staff -- but still remains a possibility.

And the next Harmony book, Gwen Gladstone, is reaching the end of the rewriting stage and should come out in spring -- early summer at the latest.

Ta for now,

DT

Gwen Gladstone Chapter Two

A friend of mine recently told me that I should be posting on my blog at least once week. I haven't even been coming close to that. Oh, well. Maybe it's time to start putting some more energy into this.

The rewriting process for Gwen Gladstone has been going well. I'm having it beta read by some fourth-sixth graders and an English teacher I know. So far, the responses have been great. It looks like I should have it ready for publication by spring, as planned.

In honor of that, I will post one last chapter of Gwen Gladstone on my blog. From this point on, and for the predictable future, my further entries will be original works much like Werewolf 101 and Werewolves: Do They Live Among Us? Those seem to have been really popular.

Chapter Two

Grandma and I returned home to our haunted house. I called it that, because Mom’s presence, her spirit, lingered there. Even a year later, I’d turn a corner and expect to see her sitting on the couch with a cup of tea, watching the news or in the kitchen making dinner.

Next week would have been her fortieth birthday. As usual, we’d visit her grave, bring flowers, maybe even light a candle. I liked the idea of honoring Mom on the day she was born instead of the day she died.

Grandpa Jim – Grandma’s husband – was buried in the same cemetery so we’d see him after that. He died a year before Mom did. He was only sixty-five and a health nut like Grandma. He exercised and ate right, was in perfect health, just like her. But he still developed an aneurysm. I swear, it was like our family was cursed or something.

I headed up to my room, which had gone through a lot of changes since Mom died. For starters, all the Katy Perry and Beyonce posters were history. In their place, I put up posters of these bands from the 80s I’d been getting into. The Cure, Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen. Real dark, depressing stuff.

I painted the walls too. Not like with a roller. But pictures. All the crazy stuff I’d been seeing in my head and feeling in my heart since Mom died. My room looked like Hell now, literally. Or at least how I imagined Hell would look like. With spires of blue-black flames swallowing the faces of tortured souls. Oh, and don’t forget the demons. There were lots of those.

Dad had been away on one of his business trips when I started doing that. When he got back and saw what I’d done, he flipped out big time. Grandma was able to calm him down though. At the time I was seeing this counselor, who encouraged art therapy, so Grandma convinced Dad this was a good way for me to vent and reminded him we could always paint over it later. He backed off after that and would even tell me how cool my pictures looked sometimes, even though his jaw made this weird clicking sound every time he did.

I know I promised Grandma I’d go back to therapy and start taking my meds again. Even though I knew they wouldn’t work. And as far as therapy went, all the different counselors I saw, they all had the same thing in common. Eventually, they all wanted me to confront my demon. Whenever I felt him coming, they wanted me to not do my ritual. To just let him come. In order to prove he didn’t exist.

And I knew my demon wasn’t real. Only every time I told myself that and tried to face it, I couldn’t. I’d get scared out of mind.

I stretched out on my bed, just wanting to rest my eyes for a few minutes. When I woke up, the sun was setting. Dad was due home tonight from his latest business trip, to Portland or Seattle or someplace like that.

Grandma had probably picked him up from the airport already – which meant he probably knew about me getting suspended. I sat there for a moment before heading toward the door. Instead of waiting for him to come to me, I might as well just get it over with.

Halfway down the stairs, I spotted Dad and Grandma in the living room. Dad was still in his suit. His suitcase and laptop sat at his feet. He was usually pretty worn-out from his trips. The last thing he wanted to deal with when he got home was me getting in trouble at school. Again.

At that moment, my courage fled, and I started to head back upstairs. Too bad for me Dad just happened to turn in my direction.

“Well, speak of the devil,” he said.

Oh, well. So much for a quick and sneaky getaway. I walked into the living room, Dad scowling at me the whole time. Grandma stood back. I couldn’t quite get a read on what she was thinking.

“I heard about what happened at school today,” he said.

“Yeah? And?” I replied.

Dad’s eyes popped with anger. Grandma frowned at me, over his shoulder, so I decided to dial down the attitude a bit.

“Sorry. I’m – I’m sorry.”

Dad settled down. “Your grandmother said you two talked after that. You said you were ready to make a change. Go back to therapy. Start taking your meds again.”

I stared at the floor then back at Dad and nodded. He managed a weak smile.

“Well, at least something good has come out of all this,” he said. “I want you keeping up on your schoolwork this week.”

I nodded yes, waiting for some insane punishment to be handed down. Dad checked his watch. He grinned and headed upstairs with his suitcase. Wait. Was that it? Do your homework. That was the only punishment I was going to get?

“I put a roast in the oven, Craig,” Grandma called after him. “It should be ready in a few minutes."

“That’s okay. You and Gwen go ahead and eat. I’ll make myself a plate later.”

Grandma and I watched him disappear up the stairs. What was going on? Last time I got detention, Dad took away my iPod and laptop. I get suspended for a week, and he barely even blinks.

Then again, he had been acting pretty strange lately. He was going to the gym on a regular basis, buying new clothes, and when he was home, he’d disappear into his room for hours. I turned to Grandma. For some reason, I got the idea she knew exactly what was going on with Dad.

“Why don’t you go set the table,” she said as she started up the stairs.

I stood there until Grandma was out of sight. I was in enough trouble already, being suspended from school and all. I should have just gone and set the table like I’d been told. Instead, I headed upstairs. I had to know what was going on.

I peeked around the corner to see Grandma standing outside Dad’s bedroom door. They were having this intense conversation. I was trying to be quiet so they wouldn’t hear me, but to be honest the two of them were so absorbed in what they were saying I could have stomped around like a mad elephant, and I doubt they would’ve heard me.

“Craig, you can’t keep putting this off,” Grandma told Dad. “You’re going to have to tell Gwen. The sooner the better.”

 “You know how she’ll react.”

 “Tell me what?” I said, cutting in.

 Grandma and Dad whipped their heads my way.

 “Gwen, I thought I told you to set the table,” said Grandma.

 I placed my hands on my hips and stood firm. “Excuse me, but I figured this was slightly more important. Now what the heck are you two keeping from me?”

Grandma gave Dad a cross look. He nodded and then faced me. He took a breath to steady himself before he spoke. “Do you remember that convention I attended in San Francisco in April?"

I crossed my arms. “Yeah? So?”

Dad’s face lit up. A smile crept across his lips. “I met someone there. Her name’s Victoria. Victoria Weatherly."

My arms tightened around me. I did not like where this was going.

“We spent a lot of time together during the convention. Since then, we’ve been talking a lot on Skype.” Dad smiled, the way he used to smile for Mom. And only for her. “I like her, Gwen. I really like her."

My stomach tightened up. I couldn’t breathe. All I could think to do was run to my room.

“Gwen. Gwen!” Dad called after me. “See. I knew she was going to react like that,” I heard him tell Grandma.

She said something to him, only I couldn’t hear it over the sound of me slamming my door as hard as I could. I crawled onto my bed and clutched my sheets. Before I knew it, I was crying. Dad had met someone. Mom had been dead for barely a year, and he met someone. He was already moving on. How could he do that to her?

“Gwen?” Grandma peeked into my room. When she saw me crying, she hurried to my side. “Oh, Gwen. Honey.”

 She reached for me, but I pulled away. “You knew, didn’t you?”

 Grandma had a very guilty look on her face. “I found out a couple weeks ago. I could tell your father had serious feelings for this woman so I told him, then and there, he needed to say something to you. He promised he would. Only he kept putting it off. I’m sorry you had to find out like this."

“Aren’t you mad at him?”

“For what? Meeting someone? Gwen, you knew this had to happen eventually.”

I twisted my sheet in my hand. “I guess. But it’s not right. It’s too soon.”

Grandma played with my hair. “When would have been the right time? Next year? The year after that? Ten years? Never?”

I sat up beside her. That last one sounded pretty good.

“Gwen, do you think your mother would want your father to be alone for the rest of his life? Don’t you think she’d want him to fall in love again? To be happy?”

“I can’t believe you’re playing the Mom-card again. Twice in one day.”

Grandma grinned. “It worked so well the first time.”

I managed a smile. She did have a point. Mom wouldn’t want Dad to be lonely. She’d want him to meet someone else. I didn’t like it. It was going to take some getting used to. But I’d try my best.

Dad knocked then pushed my door open enough for him to slip through.

“Everything okay in here?”

I glanced at Grandma then at Dad and said, “Sure.”

Grandma smiled and rubbed my back.

“You off to talk to Victoria on Skype?” I asked. Unfortunately, it came out a little more snarky than I intended.

Dad slid his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, um, about that. The reason why Victoria and I wanted to talk today was because – well, she’s coming for a visit – this weekend.”

I shot to my feet. “She’s what?”

“She’ll be here on Friday,” Dad continued.

I turned to Grandma, who looked just as shocked as I did. She shook her head at Dad. “Brilliant, Craig. Just brilliant.”

That's all for now. If you're still interested in the story, Gwen Gladstone A Tale from the Town of Harmony should be available for sale in spring at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. 

I've actually already started the third Harmony book, which will focus on the  town's vampire population. In honor of that, my next post will be entitled Vampire Bits.

DT