From: dag@col.hp.com (David Geiser)
Subject: A Vampire Tragedy, Chapter 3
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 18:45:58 GMT
Organization: HP Colorado Springs Division

I am posting this for txdv1@isuvas.iastat.edu.  Please do not mail to me.

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Chapter 3:  End of the Beginning

	She looks up from the terminal to check the clock, 9:00 pm, a
rather pleasant surprise.  She returns her attention to the report that
she has just finished.  After a bit she examines her notes on the case
for the umpteenth time, checking for something, anything that she might
have over looked.  Seeing nothing she turns her attention to the window
in time to see the sun set.  A rather spectacular display.  The bright
vivid colors reflecting off the few remaining clouds left over from the
excessive rain that had plagued the town and area around it all day
yesterday.

	The clouds broke up earlier in the day allowing for a rather
beautiful afternoon, one that she was unable to enjoy because of work.
Really a shame too, considering that she's the coroner for the police
department and the work she had to attend to was a young girl who was
killed on her wedding day.

	She goes into the lab area to recheck the body, she may have
missed something.  She looks at the body and shivers as she recalls the
actual cause of death, blood loss.  She's seen people who had bleed to
death before but there had always been a definite injury that had caused
it, a knife or bullet wound, a traumatic injury from an accident, all
ways something obvious, except for this time.  This time is different,
this time there are no outward signs of blood loss.  There are no gaping
wounds, no blood stained cloths, not even a drop of blood congealed on
her body of the area around her, almost as if...  The door opens and
Toron enters the room.

	"Ready for diner?  I do hope so, desert too."  She looks up with
a start.

	"Yes, I am actually finished here, for the most part."  Toron
gives her a quizzical look.

	"For the most part?"  She walks over to her desk and picks up
her purse.

	"I'll explain later.  You'll just have to wait for the formal
report tomorrow.  Tonight lets just forget about work and relax."  They
leave.  As the door closes behind them something moves in the lab......



	It's night as she drifts down the street.  The distance between
the lights creates a lonely pattern of alternating light and dark.  The
street lights add eerie shadows to the area around them.  Strangely
enough she has no more trouble seeing in the dark then the light.  She
does not take the time to notice this, she does not even notice the
difference, there is only the drive, the need.  There is someone,
something that she must find.

	She doesn't quit know what she is looking for, only that she
must find it.  It calls to her, pulls at her.  Her movements are not her
own.  She is like a robot at the power of some unseen controller.  All
that she knows is that she must find whomever, whatever it is that is
pulling her strings.

	All that she remembers is going to the townhouse were she was to
meet Johan's mother and cousin.  A rather rainy day, as if that
mattered.  She had paused out side for a moment, slightly curious as to
why she had come early, before entering the house.  Johan had given her
a key.  She must ask him how he managed to get the use of a town house
like that.  She went to turn on the lights and then something, someone
grabbed her from behind.  The terror overwhelmed her and then she
blacked out only to awaken on a rather cold slab of a metal table in a
dark room.

	There he is by a lamp post that hasn't worked in years.  His
appearance startles her out of her dreamy recollections.  He has the
look of someone in their late 20's or early 30's, and the feel of
something by far more ancient.  His hair is ash brown and has a rather
wispy quality to it.  He is average in build as well as height and, in
the dim light from the moon, his face looks almost as pale as a
corpse's.  His hand feels colder then ice as he places it one her
shoulder and takes her with him.  As he turns her away from the street
she catches a pale yellow glimmer from his eyes as though he had just
recovered from some long feverish dream.

	They walk in silence threw the dark empty streets until they
come to an old stone building that dates back threw the ages.  There
they stop.  He opens the door and enters.  She silently follows at his
beckoning, her will still not her own.  As he shuts the door she notices
her surroundings for the first time in his presences as if just having
wakened from sleepwalking.  As she looks around her she notices him
walking through a door on the other side of the hall.  She quickly
follows even as her mind tells her to run in the other direction.

	"Come my dear and we will get better acquainted, you and I."
His voice is a soft whisper and she finds that as before, she can't
resist his command.  The room is a quaint study with only one window
that was bricked over when another building was built next to it.  The
room has an archaic look to it as all the light is coming from gas
fixtures and scattered candles.  There are cases filled with books of
all ages.  There are more books stacked everywhere, except for two
chairs sitting in the middle of the room.  In one of the chairs sits the
man who brought her here.

	"Sit down my dear and I shall explain all to you."  She sits in
the chair across from him as he indicates.  She does not exactly
remember moving to the chair and it occurs to her briefly that he is
controlling her.  The thought departs as quickly as it came.

	"First is first, we must dispense with a few formalities.  I am
called John Storn, you are?"

	"I am Colera."  She hesitates a moment as if fighting with
something inside her.  "Colera Jenson, soon to be Colera Lenvel."  He
smiles a smile that can only be described as cold and dark.  A smile
lacking all substance.  In a moment it is gone leaving only a shiver of
remembrance to haunt the mind, as well as the soul.

	"Let me explain what has happened to you."  His voice has dank
ancient feel to it as he talks.

	"A few weeks ago I saw a painting of you which I talked the
previous owner out of."  He indicates to a painting that is hanging on
the opposite wall.

	"It was not long after that that I first laid my eyes upon the
real you.  I decided then that I would have you.  My first attempt last
night was a failure.  Luckily, however, the weather conditions gave me a
lovely second chance.  This time, as you can see, I did not fail."  He
pauses.  "I must mention something else before you retire.  In order to
really have you, I first had to make you into what I myself am, a
vampire.  I hope that you find your new existence to be satisfactory."
He smiles again, this time it almost touches his eyes, almost.  She finds
herself smiling back.

	Instantly she finds herself hating this man.  It occurs to her
that he is someone who will stop at nothing to get what he wants and
usually gets it.  He decided he wanted her so he got her.  No one gets
Colera Jenson that easily, not for long, not with out paying for it.

	"Oh, one more thing.  Since you are now one of us you must learn
how to survive in our world.  Right now you know nothing of how to use
your powers or how to hunt.  It is common practice to apprentice out to
an older vampire who can teach you these things."

	"Oh, and who might you have in mind", she comments
sarcastically, "the ever famous Count Dracula?"

	"Well, you do seem to have a sense of humor.  No I plan to teach
you myself.  You are, after all, my fledgling."

	"What does that mean exactly?"

	"Simply that I made you and as such I am your master."

	"Master?  As in I do as you say, like it or not?"

	"You will have no choice.  Just as you did this night you will
find yourself compelled to do as I say.  You will find it rather hard,
if not impossible, to resist, even for a second."  She sits silently,
her mind running threw the information that he just passed on to her.

	Well if I am a vampire, meaning that he really isn't insane as
he appears to be, then I have the rest of eternity to rid myself of this
'man'.  For now it it probably best is I play along with him and bide my
time.  It just might be in my best interest to learn what he wants to
teach me.  It would be useful and I don't seem to have any choice in the
matter.

	"I seem to have little say in this matter", she says out loud,
"so I will pay heed to what you have to teach me.  If things are as you
claim, then I shall have to pay extra attention to what you teach.  If
not, it shouldn't hurt anything.  For now, however, I am rather tired
and would like to get some sleep.  If you would show me to my room I
would be thankful.  Or is it a coffin?"

	"Yes", he replies, "of course, please come with me."  He seems
rather pleased as he leads her to a room in the back.


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 Isn't it funny how Jesus was so peaceful and Christians are so pushy?

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