A Vampire's Tale

Jackson looked at his friend Samantha. She looked simply beautiful in her red dress. Her long black hair framed her slightly angular face. Her green eyes seemed to shine with an inner light and her light golden skin seemed to glow. She smiled, revealing sharp fangs. He felt a chill down his spine. They stood facing each other on the roof of a church, somewhere in the city of New York.

Although they looked like an ordinary pair, they were not. Both of them were creatures of the night. Vampires. Jackson was a vampire. He had been one for a long time. He'd been turned into a vampire by a rather mysterious character named Rufus Maximus. Rufus was a vampire who had been around since the time of Ancient Rome. He was the lord of the vampires. One of the oldest of the undead who still walked the Earth. Rufus was the one who turned Jackson. Jackson was nineteen years old in 1922 when he became one of the undead. Samantha was far older. She was twenty three years old in 1890 when she became one of the undead. Jackson and Samantha had known each for a long time. He was the rather shy kid from the country and she was the vivacious and outgoing city girl. They met six years ago in Boston. Back then, they were both different. Jackson was a tall, well-built young man with black hair and pale blue eyes. His skin was very pale, almost bone-white. He was accustomed to wearing black. Jackson was still getting the hang of the undead thing.

There were a lot of myths about the undead that baffled young vampires such as Jackson. Vampires could not turn into bats. They couldn't turn into smoke either. They couldn't fly. They were stronger than most humans. Also, they were more agile. They could spontaneously regenerate, rapidly healing from injuries that would kill ordinary people. They could see their reflections in mirrors. They could walk into churches. Holy water and garlic couldn't hurt them. They were quite vulnerable to the effects of sunlight. Sunlight would burn to ash any vampire exposed to it. Vampires still needed to drink blood in order to survive. There weren't that many of them around in the world. Jackson was an outcast. He hadn't adjusted too well to life as a vampire. He only drank animal blood and shunned both humans and vampires.

Samantha was very different. She was a very beautiful vampire. She had grown stronger in the long time that she had been alive. She hunted anything she pleased. Samantha was known to be a dangerous vixen even among the undead. She served no one, but she went wherever she wanted. Her sire, the infamous vampire lord known as Rufus Maximus forbade anyone from hurting her. He saw himself as her father and although she would never admit it, she saw herself as his daughter. The fledgling vampire known as Jackson lived in the basement of an abandoned building in New York city. Samantha lived in a penthouse apartment watched around the clock by the Familiars, humans who were loyal to the vampires. Samantha lived like a princess. Jackson didn't like his newfound existence. He didn't like it at all.

Jackson had been walking around in the streets when he saw Samantha. As usual, she was causing trouble. There was a gang shoot-out between some gang and the police. Like all civilians, Jackson ducked for cover. Samantha went right in the middle of it. She was curious, as she would later tell him. She picked up a gun and shot a cop with it. Just for the hell of it. Samantha was a sociopath even before she joined the undead. Jackson had actually been a decent guy. He ran after Samantha and chased her to a building rooftop. He faced her there. Samantha was looking beautiful. She was cackling with a glee. She had killed a cop and gotten away with it. She wasn't worried about getting caught. Any vampire could take on a whole squad of police officers and come out on top. Samantha was no exception. In fact, she was stronger than the average vampire and far more ruthless.

Samantha looked at Jackson, waiting for him to do something. She actually found him amusing. A vampire who wouldn't feed on humans. He was an anomaly. She loved to bother him. He'd been made by the same master as she was. He was way too meek to become a true predator. She thought he wanted to fight her. He was taller than her and a bit bigger. She was a lot stronger because she drank human blood regularly and was actually a trained fighter. She knew how to use her vampiric strength and speed to maximum efficiency. She felt confident that she could take on Jackson. She'd taken down vampires far stronger than he was. He glared at her.

"If you continue to hunt humans in my territory, I'll be forced to do something about it."

Samantha stared at him. Who did he think he was? She wanted to beat the bastard and crush him before killing him. Jackson met her gaze without flinching. His fangs were bared. She was almost shocked. She advanced toward him. She moved deliberately slowly and stood less than three feet away from him. She reached out and gently touched his cheek. He blinked. She smiled a broad grin.

" You're so cute, kiddo. Don't make threats, okay? I'd hate to have to kill you."

With that, Samantha leapt off the edge of the building. She landed on the nearby roof, fifty feet away. She ran from rooftop to rooftop, moving at a speed that amazed even Jackson. She was fast! Pretty soon she could barely be seen. Jackson watched her go. She had power. He knew that he might not be able to take her down if push came to shove. She was seriously dangerous. Samantha was the kind of vampire without any respect for others of her kind. She only lived for the thrill of the kill. He knew he would have to face her, and others like her sooner or later. The number of vampires in New York was growing and their predations on the human population was getting noticed. Jackson didn't want a war to take place between the humans and the vampires. He feared for himself and others of his kind should humanity learn of their existence. The vampire community needed to learn discretion. Jackson only drank animal blood. He had sworn never to prey on a human. If only he could convince his vampiric brethren to do the same.

The vampire Jackson looked up into the heavens. The sky was growing lighter. It was almost dawn. He hurried home. He had a lot of things to do. Like catching some sleep and formulating a plan for stopping the vampires who were invading his territory and the humans he had come to view as his to protect. Trouble was brewing on the horizon and the young vampire didn't know if he could survive it but he was gonna try....

To be continued...