Melabeth the Vampire (20 page)

Ezra leaned back against the rock wall, and then he said. “Yes that is what happens. Of course this has been in our favor. See, a stake to the heart will never kill you. In fact it has most likely saved more vampires in the last 100 years. That kind of wound will only awaken you from your sleep; we are all heavy sleepers.”

“I thought you said it works?” I asked

“I said it works if you do it right,” Ezra responded then went on to say. “The original way to kill a vampire with a wooden stake was first to soak the stake in oil. Then you find a sleeping vampire. One man holds a torch while the other man has a stake, and a mallet.  Now you need to understand that you don’t really have to hit the heart, but it does help to hammer in between the ribs. That way it sticks in better. Right after you hammer it in, the vampire awakes, and sits up. That’s when the second man steps in and lights the stake. The fire goes right into the blood, and we burn up from the inside out.”

“Wow; why not just cover us in oil and light us on fire?” I asked.

“You could, but then you have a pissed off a vampire on fire, and it takes a few minutes, maybe seconds, to burn through the skin and ignites the blood. In that time the vampire will rip apart anything it can get its hands on. Many a hunter has died doing just that. And if there is a water source, it can jump into, therefore the vampire can save itself before it’s too late. A hunter figured out the stake method. It was sometime during the Dark Ages;  now everyone believes if you stick a piece of wood in our chest, we will die. It’s kind of funny when you think about it. Why would a shotgun blowing out a heart not work, but a giant splinter would?”

I chuckled, and then I said. “It comes back to fire; that makes sense. What about mirrors?  I can see myself.”

Ezra shook his head back and forth. “Some legends are just stupid, and that one is one of the worst.  I do not know for sure, but I think I know how the legend was started.”

“By a mirror salesman?” I chimed in.

Ezra laughed. “I hadn’t thought of that, maybe. Mine was based on bad spirits. Some might call them demons. Some evil spirits have been known to take blood from the living, stealing the same life energy that we need. Spirits never have an image in a mirror no matter how well you can see them. I believe that through time, some people have mistaken spirits for vampires. Of course, we are much different than spirits; we have physical bodies. Even if we didn’t show up in mirrors, our clothes would.”

I had never thought about it until Ezra said that, but Carrie had no image in the mirror.  Of course, she really didn’t need one. She looked the way she looked; she couldn’t change clothes or change her hair style. She was always the same. “I have met a spirit; that makes sense to me. So let me guess, the garlic thing is not real.”

A little smile crossed Ezra face. “Well don’t jump to conclusions.  Garlic works. It won’t kill us, and, in fact, it wouldn’t even bother us, but it will help safeguard humans from vampires.”

“How?”

“Well, we cannot smell it. And, if something or someone is covered in it, we can’t track it. Our smell is almost as keen as a dog’s, so it is of great advantage to be covered in garlic while hunting or hiding from vampires. That is how it protects.  Of course someone read somewhere that it protects against vampires, so they think that somehow it hurts us.”

That made me think about, when I had read
Dracula
. Then I said. “That makes sense, because, in
Dracula
, Van Helsing hung it up in Lucy’s room. She was a lady of a large house, and I am sure whatever room they put Lucy in, was then called Lucy’s room. He was trying to hide the scent from Dracula.”

Ezra stared at me for a second, and then said. “You do know that story never happened.”

“Really, damn; I liked that book.” Then I stuck my bottom lip out.

Ezra smiled. “If it makes you feel any better, I really liked that book too.”

“I have already experienced, about being invited in.” I said. Then came the next part; this is the part I asked him about the cross.  I was really scared to find out, to think that God may hate me, or that I was now a devil against God, dammed even, but I had to ask. “So do crosses burn us?”

"The right ones, yes; that’s not the question you're aski
ng." Ezra paused, and then said, "We are not soulless creatures from the abyss of hell. Is there a hell? I don’t know; what I do know is that people have used God’s name to do great harm and good through the centuries. So you know the difference between a cleric and a wizard?"

"I don’t even know wh
at they have in common." I answered.

"A wizard’s power comes from him. A cleric will tell you his power comes from God. Let me tell you a story; in
New Mexico there was group of vampires that were worshiped. They were worshiped as children of God. Their believers in that church believed that the power that vampires had, had been gifts from God. When the vampires changed someone into a vampire, they had to die; now you know that not all will rise again. The ones that did not rise were not worthy. The ones who did were blessed by God, for each one that died, one must have gone to heaven to stand before Jesus and be judged. And only the righteous, could come back as vampires to rid the world of evil."

This almost made me laugh. "That’s not what I’ve heard about vampires; I always heard that vampires are from the devil."

Ezra looked at me very seriously. "Is the devil telling you what to do?"

"Well, no; but that is what all the books that I have read said."

Ezra laughed, and then in a serious voice said. "And those books, did they say that a stake in the heart would kill you, and if you stepped outside you would burst into flames."

I said. "Yes, you’re right." They weren't very accurate.

Ezra looked at me thoughtfully. "You're young, so you don’t remember that most of these writings you have read are new. Most of them are based on
Dracula
, and a lot of the stories have been written in Christian countries. The older writings about vampires, say all kinds of different ways of destroying us. It has always been to our benefit that there is misinformation. If you believe in God, then you must believe in forgiveness, and you will find yourself asking for it; for, in our life, it is hard not to take others."

That is kind of what I
was worried about. Then I added, "No need to ask for forgiveness yet. I have some killing to do; then I will ask."

Ezra had a worried look then said. "I will support you where, and when I can. You started your story when you awoke from the grave; I know the men who put you there did terrible things. If you ever need to talk… well you know."

"Thank you; thank you for your kindness."

Ezra looked as if he was trying not to cry, then he spit out. "Where was I, crosses, yes that is it.  So my point is that evil or goodness is not the domain of man, and evil is not the domain of vampires, but, on one hand, we, as a race, have earned our evil reputation. The reasons are many; absolute power, the long lives and the fact we are always taking. We are killers."

I thought about what he was saying. "I can see it; I can see how a long life would get you disconnected from the world. I already felt that way. Everyone I knew, my parents, friends and family, dead. I don’t understand this generation; then again I never understood my own generation… So is it a form of magic that makes some crosses hurt us?"

"Yes. Think about it; if G
od wanted to help you, do you think you would need a cross. And why would he help someone who doesn’t believe in him just because he had a cross?  Of course the funniest thing to me is the thought of a man coming before Jesus, and Jesus saying; welcome to heaven. Too bad you couldn’t keep hold of your cross. Then that vampire wouldn’t have eaten you, so come on in, butterfingers."

I started laughing with Ezra. It was good to laugh, and it reminds me of how much I was missing David. David had brought a smile to my face when I needed it the most. “So I think that covers most legends.”

“What about silver?” Ezra asked.

“Wait, is that not for werewolves, or is that for vampires too?” I couldn’t remember.

“It's for all kinds of evil supernatural creatures, and it doesn’t work for anything. You don’t need silver to kill werewolves, and the only thing it does to vampires is make them look nice.”

“So where do you suppose the silver legend came from?” I wondered.

“That one is easy. Back in the Dark Ages, the hunters figured out that it was best to hunt the supernatural as godly men. They came as priests and monks, and every creature they hunted was from the devil. If they used magic, they were not supernatural creatures themselves but using the power of God. The drawback is, that during the Dark Ages there was a plague; so this also led to an economic downturn, and the priests found it hard to get paid, or, as they would have called it, donations. The people believed that the priest should be willing to serve for free, do it in the service of God and God's people. So, back in the day money was gold, or silver. The only ones who had gold were the lords of the land, and they weren’t worried about how many villagers were eaten by the vampires. So some smart priest came up with the fact that silver kills the devil's children, and, after you killed them with the silver, the silver turned to lead. The part of silver turning to lead was lost with the invention of the gun. The priest would melt down the town’s silver, and then they would cast them into bullets. And of course they never actually used them. That’s where the legend of silver came from.” Ezra said very excited; obviously he loved his history.

All this history had me wondering, so I asked. “How old are you?”

Ezra took a moment as if he had to think about it. Then he said. “I was born in 1812; that same year my father died in the War of 1812. He fought in protection of the city I grew up in, Washington D.C.  It was 1847 when I was turned; I was thirty-five years old. You will find that most vampires give their age from the time they were turned, in vampire years, I am 143 years old, and you’re five days old.”

I giggled, and then in a babyish
voice, I said. “Feed me, feed me.”

Ezra laughed. Then he said. “After your shopping trip with the girls, I would like to start your training, just some basic stuff tonight.”

“What will I be learning?” I wondered.

“How to fight, how to be a vampire; you will be my star pupil. Don’t worry; I think you will like it.”

I smiled. “Oh, I wasn’t worried; that is exactly what I want to do.”

Ezra smiled a smile that told me that was exactly what he wanted to hear. Then he told me. “It's going to be a little while before the girls are ready. Do you have any more questions?”

I thought about it for a minute, and then said, “Yes, yes I do. What about our powers, like mind control, or flying, or how about our flashing.”

“Flashing?” Ezra asked.

“That’s what I call it when I move so fast it feels as if I teleported.” I answered.

“That's a great name, flashing, I like it; we refer to it as spirit walking, but I like your name for it better. Funny thing is that it takes most vampires five to ten years to have enough power to do it. Lea still cannot spirit… flash.”

It felt to me that they were really surprised about my powers. Ezra was saying that I was doing things that I should not be doing for another five to ten years. I felt like there was something wrong with me; it also reminded me about what Nicks told me. He was worried that the Whites would find out too much about me. What it all means is still a mystery to me, and I don’t like not knowing. Still it is probably best that I play down my powers if I can.

Ezra went on. “Well from talking to you last night, I realize that you have an understanding about most of our powers, but you have had no experience with using your mind powers. What experience do you have if any, with your hypnosis?”

I thought about that for a second. So far I was unable to do anything as far as I could tell. So I told Ezra. “I don’t think I have been able to do it. Is that what Alice did to me?”

Ezra looked thoughtfully then said. “Yes, the best way I can explain this to you is that all vampires have the same powers, but, like instruments, some are really good at playing them and some are not. Also there are different
kinds of abilities in using your hypnosis. First is defense, the ability to block other vampires’ mind games. Second is mind control; Alice is a master of this; the girl can make you see or not see anything she wants. She still has great ability with her other mind powers, but she is world class at mind control. Third is reading, the ability to know what another is thinking or feeling; my wife Charlotte is a master of this one. That is why you can’t lie to her. It is useful in a fight too, because you know what your opponent is about to do a second before they do it. I personally am partial to the first one, defense of my own mind; because I am an expert in hand to hand combat. Even though I try, Alice can always trick me with her mind games, and there is no blocking my wife. Of course this is probably because she knows me so well. With other vampires, it is not such a problem.”

“So can Alice or any of you change someone’s memories?” I have always wondered if I could do that. It would be a nice power to have; if I ever said something dumb I could just make people forget it.