Creatures of the Night, Unite!

Good evening everyone! I am pleased to say my revisions for the Short Story Contest are nearly completed. I have narrowed the list down to 5 submissions. It will be more tricky from here since all of these entries are very good! In fact, all the entries I received were well written but many of them had spelling and grammar mistakes, or awkward wording in some parts. Spell-Check does not catch everything, so you should always get a second opinion from a friend, relative, or colleague! I was thrilled with all the styles and the different interpretations of what makes a vampire. I encourage each and every participant to continue writing. Don't be discouraged if you do not win this contest. If this was a Creative Writing class I would have given every single one of you A's and B's.

I am very excited about my interview with Tami Jackson tomorrow and I hope everyone will stop back to read it! So in honour of Tami Jackson's visit and the wonderful submissions I received for the Short Story Contest I am going to post my own Short Story. I am writing it here on the spot, as Vampires have become my muse.

The First Vampire

Ailya heard a strange high-pitched hum. She plugged her ears but it did not go away. She felt her body shudder as it dematerialized. This might have come as a shock last year but nothing really surprised her anymore. 9 months ago she had met her Aunt Heather, who turned out to be a vampire. In fact, there were very few members of her extended family who were not vampires living in the Vlad Estate in Romania. Ailya currently lived in Romania as well after her relatives had decided it was unhealthy for her to live with her neglectful parents. It might have had something to do with them being vampire hunters as well.

Ailya breathed a sigh of relief as she felt her body rematerializing. She wiggled her toes, glad all her pieces were intact. She then realized she was in some sort of ancient structure. In her mind she heard a whisper. Come here child.

She stepped forward, only to realize where she was. She had heard of this place. It was Mohenjo Daro, City of the Dead. This is where the first immortals had been made. In front of her was a tomb of sorts. She recognized the inscriptions from books in the library back at the Estate. This was the tomb of Shastra Nahi Upata, or Lord Sha, the first of the vampires. Of course, he was immortal and therefore simply in a deep slumber called the Unrest. She knew at once he had summoned her to wake him.

Slightly fearful, she started the ritual. She pulled red tea-lights from her pockets and lit them around the tomb. She chanted the words that came to her. They were an ancient tongue. Then she dripped a few drops of her blood over the tomb. She was frightened, because she was both mortal and human. There were stories of Lord Sha before he had been sent to the Unrest. He had murdered many of the scientists and greedy investors who had made the Experiment possible. They had realized that despite being so close to creating a perfect immortal, it was too dangerous to continue.

As Ailya stepped back Lord Sha rose before her. His eyes glowed red in the dim light. She trembled, but he darted past her. She turned as quickly as she could to see where he was going, but her dull mortal speed was ridiculous in comparison to his. She saw clasped in his arms a young boy. The boy must have stumbled into the ruins by some mistake, and a deadly mistake at that. Sha had nearly torn him to pieces. Blood ran down his body and coated the floor beneath him. Ailya stood paralyzed watching him, but as he finished she heard his voice in her mind again. Do not be afraid. I will not hurt you. I know that in the time I have slumbered the ways of my brothers and sisters have changed. Immortals no longer kill mortals, as we once did. This was my last monstrous act. Now tell me, where do I find the others?

Ailya managed to find her voice, “I do not know where the Immortal Council is convened, but you will find brethren vampires in Romania.”

“Then that is where we shall go.” Rumbled the ancient vampire, and he grabbed her wrist, pulling her body through space once again.