Melabeth Forgive Me, For I Am Sin! (4 page)

悪夢

I arrived back in Vegas by aircraft. The flight arrived early in the morning, I hurried to grab a cab. I wanted to make it back to my room before the sunrise. The sun bothered me and I was tired.

I arrived at the hotel and made it into my room in record time. I sat on the edge of my bed and stared at the wall. I didn’t know w
here any of the other White's were. I suddenly felt alone and wished that Carrie was here.

Rather than mop
e around, I decided to get some sleep. Sometimes I dreaded sleep, I didn’t like the dreams. The dreams of my past haunt me.

*                     *                     *

I am late.

“Good night sweetheart,
” I said to my daughter. I closed the door, leaving a crack so the light of the hallway would make her feel safe.

“Aaron, how long will you be out tonight?” my wife whispered into my ear. I could hear the worry in her voice.

I walked down the hallway toward the front door, with my wife in tow. I spoke in hushed tones, “A couple of hours. I will be five houses down.  Just call my beeper if you need me.”

My wife said in an authoritative way, “Listen here, Mr. Aaron
Reite,” her voice softened, “Hurry home, love.”

“Don’t worry! T
his is the last meeting I will be attending.  Love you, be back soon.” I held my wife as I kissed her and after a few moments, I went out the front door. I checked to make sure I had everything. Wallet check, keys check and gun safely slid into the back of my pants, check. I started walking slowly toward the Dexter’s house.

I was never much of a sorcerer. I happen to have a really unique ability to make magical items, like the gun that rested in my ba
ck. It had twelve rounds in it. I had spent eight hours on each bullet. Making the symbols on the end of the bullet and pouring my magic into each one, so that when the bullet hit its target, the target would explode. Not bad for a small 9mm.

Still
, I don’t have much to do with the magic community. All I ever did was help make the magical weapons that The Order used to help keep peace. Now it’s all gone haywire.

Instead of us hunting down the criminals, we are the ones being hunted down. No one even knows who or why; actually, there are a lot of reasons why. T
he Order never has had any real order. It’s always been small groups of magical citizens trying to keep our lives secret, free of government involvement and trying to keep magic users and magic creatures from running amuck.  But, like all things that start out with good, it only takes a few bad individuals to take down the whole organization.

I hav
e a wife and two children. I will not be killed for this shit. I am going to tell Mark that I quit.

As I came up to Mark Dexter’s house, I was lost in thought, but something felt wrong. I stopped walking and looked around.

It took me a minute to figure out what was wrong, it was too dark. The street lights were all out and normally Mark left his porch light on, especially the nights we were having a meeting. As I looked around, I noticed that all the houses in the neighborhood were dark, I let out a small laugh…wow, I really need to get out of this. A power outage had me scared.

I walked up the driveway leading toward Mark’s garage door, when I heard a loud bang. It was quickly fol
lowed by the sounds of smashing glass, walls and wood.

Whatever was going on, it was happening in the back of the house. It didn’t take a genius to figure out there was a fight. I pulled my gun out and froze.

What do I do, rescue my friends or make a break for home? All I could tell was that I was frozen between fright and indecision.

Suddenly there was a new sound. This one came from behind me. A
snapping noise with the sound of dead leaves being crushed underfoot.  Spinning around, I pointed the gun into the dark.

“Who’s there?” I sounded brave, but I felt my heart in my throat.

No one answered.

I heard more noise and realized that more than one person was coming at me through the dark. I grabbed my keys out of my pocket with one hand while holding my gun toward the approaching sounds with the other.

I was sure glad I brought my keys. One of the first enchantments my father had taught me was how to make objects emit light. It was one of my favorite things to turn keys into flashlights. That way I could see the lock I was trying to get the key into.

I rubbed my thumb against the key. The light came out, and I could see who was approaching. I wish I hadn’t… in front of me
were a dozen rotting corpses were heading straight for me and the lead one was only ten feet away.

I fired right into the chest of the first undea
d. The corpse barely moved back and then he started forward again.

Now I knew to kill an undead walker you should shoot them in the head, but these were my bullets. The dead creature exploded.

Blood and guts sprayed everywhere, all over me as well. The only thing left were the legs of the undead and they fell to the ground.  It was time to get out of here. I turned and headed away from the undead and toward my house only to find that another group of undead was heading toward me… I was surrounded.

Not sure what to do, I decided to shoot my way through; cut
ting a path and then make a run for it. I took aim and shot two of the undead and watched them explode. Before I could make my way to the gap, it was quickly filled with the undead. Despite being fired at, the next four undead just kept walking forward.

A large
, smashing noise came from behind me; I had to look. I turned around to see my good friend Mark smashing down the garage door. Mark was a half-giant, and why, when humans met him, they didn’t know this, always amazed me.

“This way, Mark,” I yelled. With my friend, I felt like I might get out of this alive.

Mark looked over at me then said, “Aaron, we’ve got to get out of here.”

“Just thinking the same thing, Mark,” I fired two more rounds and blew up three undead.

“Two for one, nice shooting,” Mark yelled this as he rushed in front of me.

Mark ran
toward the gap that I had made and the undead poured in behind me. I ran behind Mark as he smashed the undead out of his way. I fired two more rounds behind us and took down some of the undead chasing us.

If I counted right,
there was one bullet left in my gun. The thought was starting to worry me, but we broke through the crowd of undead. I ran behind Mark as we headed down the street, but we were heading in the opposite direction of my house.

I never thought of Mark as being fast before, but with his long legs, he flew across the ground. He was such a big guy with short brown hair and a goatee. He always wore glasses that looked too small for his face, but, despite his size, he was the friendliest guy I knew. And even his appearance seemed unthreatening, but to watch him toss the undead out of his way was something else to behold.

He headed straight into a local park and then continued into the forest. I tried to follow but the branches and trees grabbed at my clothes. As mark ran, the tree branches snapped loudly as he pushed his way through.

Out of brea
th, I said, “Mark…wait! wait up!”

I didn’t have enough air.  I had been running full out and could not yell above a whisper. I felt my foot catch a tree root and landed on my knee hard. “AAaa
aa!!” I put my hand over my mouth and winced in pain.

Mark w
as crashing through the forest. It would take a mighty sound for him to hear me over the racket he was already making. Then the sounds quickly became quieter as he moved away from me. I stood up and listened.

I heard nothing. Hop
efully I had gotten away; I planned to work a large circle back to my house. I prayed that my family was ok.

I limped out of the woods and into the
quiet park. I decided to cross the park and work my way down a block or so, then circle my way back to my house. I only had one bullet left and couldn’t afford to run into another group of undead.

I
had just passed the play set when I heard the sound of a swing. When I turned and looked, an empty swing moved up and down. The air was still, and so were all the other swings.

I spun around,
behind me stood a girl. While pointing my gun at her, I took in the sight in front of me. There stood a pretty young lady with long black hair. Wearing a long overcoat with tall boots. The edges of her black dress hung below the overcoat with a red pattern around the bottom of the dress. Her makeup was hard to make out in the light, but appeared to be black eye liner with red lipstick. It was the eyes; the eyes told me what she was.

Her eyes were
as blue as the sky, but too large to be human. I had never met or seen a vampire before, but I knew what to look for. If I stared into the eyes, she would hypnotize me; I had to kill her fast. I fired my last bullet.

The slide of my gun was now in the open position, showing me I was out of bullets. My target was gone.

“You missed,” stated a voice from behind me.   Her voice was gentle and inviting. She was close enough for me to feel her breath. It was as cold as the air outside. I had heard how fast vampires were, but I had no appreciation, until now.

“It’s ok. E
verything is just fine,” she wrapped her arms around my chest from behind me.

I felt her mouth nibble the bottom of my ear. I could feel my heart trying to break free from my rib cage as the panic set in; once again, she tried calming me with her voice. “Shhh… it’s ok, I’m not going to hurt you in fact… you’ll like it.”

I found a small piece of my voice, “Please…”

“It’s ok, you’re ok,” She purred into
my ear. Then she kissed my ear and worked her way down to my neck.

“Who are you?”

She whispered a strange name into my ear, “Melabeth.”

Her mouth found my neck.

It felt good whatever she was doing, it felt really good. Then it felt like sex, I couldn’t help but moan in pleasure. I reached my climax, but she didn’t stop.

All she had been doing was
… what had she been doing? Draining me, I realized. I started to feel the pain, followed by weakness and dizziness. If she hadn’t been holding me up, I was sure that I would fall. I heard a sound and then realized it was my gun that hit the ground.

I was dying; Oh man… she was killing me. The world went black…

*                   *                   *

I awoke screaming… it
was the worst dream I had ever had.

The dream of being
Aaron Reite felt so real, I felt his emotions. I didn’t even feel like I was there. It was truly the most horrifying out of body experience. This was no dream of my past, it wasn’t even me.

I had to go see Alice, something was wrong with that dream.

お伽の国

I was waiting outside Alice
's room for the third time this evening. The horrible dream had awoken me about three in the afternoon. Alice was a late sleeper. She normally didn’t bother to get out of bed until six. It was five o’clock and I was pounding on her door again.

I heard the lock turn so I stopped pounding on the door. The door opened and there stood Alice in her pink nightgown. Her black hair was all over the place and the look on her face was to kill.

In a very annoyed tone Alice asked, “Who died?”

I barged in talking as I invited myself in, “I had a bad dream. A dream of a man I killed. No, that’s not it; I dreamed I
was
the man I killed.”

Alice slammed the door and followed me into the living area. Alice had a very nice penthouse, complete with two bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room.

Alice tossed herself on the coach. Then said, “Since your shrink was unavailable to hear this life changing dream of yours… I have to arise early to hear it?”

I sat across from her, holding back tears, “
Yes… it was awful, it was the worst dream… or the second worst dream I have ever had. I just don’t understand, it felt so real, but it wasn’t me.”

Alice let out a breath. S
he sounded put out, “Ok I get it, you had a nightmare. How can I help?”

I jumped over and gave her a big hug, “Thanks Alice.”

Not able to hold back a smile, Alice gave in, “Well, let’s hear it. Tell me the dream and leave nothing out. In fact, start from the very beginning. Start where you killed this man.”

It was dark before
my story was finished in its entirety. She interrupted with a lot of questions. I finished telling the story and stopped speaking at the point where I was pounding on her door. Alice sat there quietly, thinking.

After a few minutes I lost my
patience, "Well… what you think? I mean have you ever had dreams like that? Does it have something do with being a vampire, or am I just feeling guilty?"

Alice had been sta
ring off into space. She looked at me and smiled, "Let's go out and play."

With a little bit of anger,
"You're not going to answer my question?"

Alice giggled, "Of
course I will… that is why we must go out and play. I am hungry, try to be patient with me. I will answer your question before the night is through."

I tried not to sound too disappointed, "Ok, where are we going?"

Alice jumped to her feet, and with a big smile she blurted out, "Candy Land."

She
ran into her room to get dressed. She called for me to follow her. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I was sure the night was about to get interesting.

*                   *                    *

Alice still had not let me in on where we were going. She had dressed us like we were twelve years old. Then she put my hair into pony tails and with her expert hands, she applied makeup that not only made me look young, but alive.

We were driving across town in a Cadillac. I quietly watched the lights go by. The lights of the strip were replaced by the lights of homes and street lam
ps. The further we drove, the more shady the neighborhood became.

“Come on…
where are we going? What is Candy Land?”

Alice snickered,
“You sound winey and needy, you’re really getting into your role.”

“And what role
is that?”

Alice laughed, “A young
, lost little girl, full of questions and unsure of what to do.”

I stopped looking out the window and looked over at Alice driving. “
Let me get this straight, you want me to act like you?"

She glanced over at me before returning her eyes back to the road. Full of
mischief, “Oh just you wait. You have no idea what the night has in store for you. We are creators of the night, we are killers. There is so much you don’t know about being a vampire. Like the fact that we can steal more than just life; we can steal memories. Oh the fun we will have little sister!”

It took me a moment for her words to re
gister. Did she say we could steal memories? If so, was that really a dream? I yelled without meaning to, “What? We can steal memories, HOW?”

Alice chuckled darkly, “I will show you… tonight… in Candy Land.”

Alice pulled the Cadillac into a parking lot. It was a casino, but not like one on the strip. There were lots of small casinos spread around Las Vegas that didn’t worry about the big lights. They were casinos for locals, the odds were slightly better, but that was just to keep you coming back. One sign stood out. It hung over the front door with a couple of the letters not shinning anymore. The sign said,
Candy Land Casino
.

“Oh whoopee a Casino,” I mocked.

Alice grunted, “You wouldn’t know a good time if it hit you between the legs.”

I answered her, “
I thought you
were
the good time.” We both got out of the car and headed toward the front door. “We do look young enough to get in?”

As we opened the door to go in
side, one of the security guards looked right at us and nodded as we passed by. I looked over at Alice and asked, “What did he see when we came in the door?”

Alice grinned, “A beautiful middle age woman, and
a old hag.”

I laughed, “Let me guess which one I was.”

Alice retorted, “You have to guess?”

I came right back with, “What about the cameras? You can’t hypnotize someone through a camera.”

She looked at me as if she was tiring of this, “Melabeth, this is a vampire city. This is a vampire owned and operated Casino. Don’t you think they know who I am?”

I conceded, “Ok Alice… what now?”

Alice led me over to the far side of the Casino, then explained. “We are hunting my favorite food tonight.”

I looked around the Casino and comment
ed, “All I see are old people and overweight middle age men. The women look rougher than the old carpet. This place is nothing like the Casinos uptown, where everything looks shiny and new. This place looked like a warehouse that had been closed by the health inspectors and reopened as a Casino. What kind of people do you like to eat?”

Alice gave me
a dirty look, “I like to kill. You like to kill. It is why we are here. If I must kill then I chose to kill hunters like myself. They hunt children, girls and boys alike. They are foul, and worthy of nothing but a painful death. They make victims of the weak and innocent. The devils of this world protect them, but not from me, not from us. Let us hunt to kill tonight and I will show you how to steal the memories of the slain. Then you may see them as the monsters that they are and you will sleep without foul dreams.”

I was taken back, but excited on the prospect of killing. That excitement scared
me. I asked, “You always kill…
monsters
?”

Alice looked at
me and for the first time ever… I saw something in her face: sadness, age, and the weight of a long life. She spoke as if her words carried weight, “We don’t always choose well. And sometimes we choose the ones we love, for we are creators of passion. Sometimes I kill the good, so I can remember what good looks like through their memories.”

I was struck into silence; we both looked away. After a few minutes Alice’s eyes meet
mine. Her face was that of a child's, she grinned as if nothing happened. She spoke carefree, “Let’s go find some perverts. Come on Melabeth follow me, this is going to rock.”

“Right behind you,” I said as I followed up behind h
er. I couldn’t help but think that for the first time ever, I had witnessed the true Alice. I was in for one hell of a night.

The
Casino ended up being a dead end. It was a slow night and apparently none of the child molesters were gambling. This did not bother Alice in the least. We left Candy Land and went by foot, walking straight out of the Casino and into a shitty neighborhood. And yet again, no one bothered us.

Walking next to Alice
, I said in a mocking tone, “This is scary, what should we do?”

Alice laughed
and replied, “See this why vampires eat good people, they are so much easier to find. This is WAY more effort than I thought it would be.”

I noticed we were heading into a commercial area, but all the stores were closed. There were also a lot of warehouses. I looked around and couldn’t find a soul. Bar
ely a car, one passed by every twenty minutes or so. I then related my new theory to Alice, “I know why we haven’t found any bad men. It’s because this area has been over hunted. I watched this show on hunting. When you hunt too heavily in the same area you can wipe a species out.”

Alice was flustered, “Ha ha, very funny. Let’s go
back. Maybe we will have time to swing by the Doll Shop before it closes.”

I shook my head, “Nope, can
't do it, not tonight, no dolls.”

Alice moaned, “Why not?”

At that moment a car passed by us, and then made a right. With excitement, “Did you see that?”

Alice was still
pouting, “See what? I bet it wasn’t a doll.”

I shook my head in disbelief
, “That was the second time that Oldsmobile passed us. I think they're circling and I counted three heads in that car.”

Alice smiled, “Alright
, get your scared face on. Remember we're lost and scared. Oh yeah, our very drunk Dad dropped us off in the middle of nowhere. Also, no one is looking for us.”

I put my arm around Alice in mock horror, “Hold me… I’m scared.”

Alice shook me off, “You suck at acting. Just be quiet and let me do all the talking.”

I mumbled, “What’s
it matter? They will see and hear what you want them to anyways.”

Alice snapped b
ack, “Get ready I can hear their car coming. Side note, I don’t like using my power… it takes all the fun out of it.”

"
Oh great, now I have to play little girl for a bunch of perverts. This night is turning out to be a barrel of laughs. Maybe I should just go home and have a good nightmare." The car had circled the block and was approaching us from behind. I could hear the squeal from the brakes as they slowed behind us.

The car came up slow
ly, matching our speed. The passenger window was next to me. The window was already down and a large arm hung out of it. He looked a little over weight, but he was also very muscular. He would have been intimidating, if I were human. The driver was a medium built man while the man in the back seat was small and skinny. They all looked to be in their late thirties or early forties.

The passenger started talking first, “Hey girls, you two all right?”

I answered without making eye contact and with little volume, “Yeah, we're
ok
.” I knew that my response wasn’t going to make them leave.

The driver started talking, “You both know this isn’t a safe neighb
orhood. I got kids your age. I wouldn’t feel right just leaving you two out here all alone. Can we give you a ride somewhere?”

Alice spoke up, “We don’t have
anywhere to go. Our father dumped us out here all alone, we don’t know what to do.”

I kind of thought
Alice laid it on a little thick, but the men just looked as if they hit the jackpot. The car stopped and the passenger hopped out. He opened the back door of the car for us. He said with a commanding voice, “Hop in girls, you can stay with me. I can’t leave you two out here in the cold, so hurry up and get in.”

We di
d what he asked and the car sped away. Of course I couldn’t help but thinking, it was close to ninety degrees out; in the cold my ass.

We didn’t h
ave to ride very long with them. They took us straight to the passenger’s house. He lived with some creepy guy and the next thing we knew, we had four men surrounding us asking us inappropriate questions. Alice was funny as she played the part. I just acted nervous and shy.

They slowly separated us.
I had the driver and the passenger’s roommate. Alice took the skinny guy and the passenger. I don’t even recall their names, I bet they had told us.

One of the men was trying to put his hand up my dress. The other man was trying to kiss me.
I didn’t open my mouth because my fangs were already out. I was ready to eat. If they weren’t such perverts they might have noticed mine and Alice’s hands. We both now had long sharp fingernails, and our fingers were unnaturally long.

I heard Alice tell one of the men, “I don’t know, I’ve never been with a man before. Before we… you know… have sex. Can I show you something?”

One of the men asked in an eager voice, “What? What do you want to show us?”

Alice smiled without opening her mouth
, then whispered real quiet, “My teeth.”