Chapter 6
Ralph looked at Patrick in shock, then confusion, and finally with disgust.
"No way, jose. I do hunt vampires, and I sure as hell do kill the bastards. But you are wrong about one thing, I have never hunted or killed a vampire like you, boy. I ain't gonna kill you, sorry. You are too damn important." Patrick felt his anger starting to return.
"What do you mean no way. I'm a monster, Ralph, a bloodsucking, evil vampire. I shouldn't be allowed to walk the Earth. Come on, just put me out of my misery?please." Ralph shook his head.
"No, boy. Now, damn it all, I told you?you are too important to the future of, hell, of all mankind. Don't you understand, you are the only one who can help stop the vampires from taking over the whole freaking world. The prophecy said There will come a pure soul, one unable to be tainted by evil. He shall defeat the monster within, then lead the battle to defeat the the monsters threatening all that is good. Seems pretty straight forward to me, that would be you, Noel." Patrick didn't care about the world, not anymore. And he sure as hell didn't care about some prophecy that the crazy old man could be misinterpreting.
"If you won't kill me when I ask you nicely, maybe I will just give into the vampire. Stop fighting. Then your little prophecy would be wrong?and I'd be just like the other vampires. Then you would have to kill me." Ralph narrowed his eyes.
"Or you'd kill me, and then you'd be trapped inside your own body letting the evil bastard inside you run your life. You'd have a front row seat to witness all the murder and destruction that would happen all because you were too damn scared to step up. There is another part to the prophecy, boy. If the evil is able to corrupt the pure soul, he will become the ultimate weapon for the evil, and the world will be destroyed. You want to be responsible for the end of the world, jackass? Come on now, boy, get your shit together and be a man." Patrick shook his head.
"I'm not a man, Ralph." Ralph put his hand on Patrick's shoulder, looking at him with a kindness Patrick hadn't seen in the grizzly old guard up to this point.
"You are as much a man as anyone, son. You've already proved that by beating the vampire trying to infect you. Come on, what do you say?" Patrick thought about it for a second, then shrugged off Ralph's hand.
"No, Ralph, I'm sorry. I just don't care about your war. I don't care about the world, about your prophecy, about vampires, about humans. I don't care about anything, not anymore." With that, Patrick got up and turned his back on Ralph, walking to the corner of the cell. Keeping his back to the silent guard, Patrick continued. "Now, please, go. Stop pretending to be a guard and go do whatever it is you do. You need to figure out a Plan B, I'm no savior. You are wasting your time with me." Ralph sighed, and then Patrick heard him get up and start walking towards the cell door. His footsteps stopped as he paused to say one last thing to Patrick.
"It's too bad, boy. I could have led you to the vampire that killed your wife and boy. Guess you don't care about getting justice for your family either, huh?" Patrick let the words sink in as he heard Ralph open the cell door. Could the old man be telling the truth? Patrick had convinced himself he didn't care about revenge, but now that he had an actual chance to get his hands on the bastard that ruined his life and took his Mandy and Mikey away?well, he had to admit he was interested. He spun around, calling out to Ralph.
"Wait!" Ralph stopped, trying to hide a smile as he turned around. Patrick approached the old vampire hunter and continued. "Let's say I'm interested. What exactly do I have to do for you to give me a shot at the vampire that killed my wife and started all this?" Ralph slapped Patrick on the side of his arm.
"About time, boy. Well, you would have to agree to come with me and hunt vampires. I would teach you how to find them, how to fight them, how to kill them. I would bust you out of here and then we would team up and take on all the bloodsuckers we can find." Patrick wasn't sure how he could really help.
"I don't see how I will be able to do much good. I can't use the vampire powers without giving into the vampire, which isn't an option. Even though you say I'm special for being able to fight off the vampire and stay human-ish, I'm weak in this form. I'm just a normal guy with a monster trapped inside him. Plus, I think I am growing weaker from not drinking?you know, the red stuff. How can I be useful like this?" Ralph didn't seem concerned.
"I can teach you, boy. I can teach you to use the vampire powers without giving in or losing yourself. You can have the best of both worlds. You can be yourself, Patrick, be a man...be human. And you can have all the powers of a vampire. And you can use those powers to stick it up their pale assholes."
"What about, um?eating."
"Well, boy, I can get you some blood from blood banks, hospitals, and places like that. Plus you can drink animal blood. It isn't as good or satisfying, according to some of the vamps I've tortured for info in the past, but it still takes the edge off. We can figure that out later. Point is, I can make you stronger, but keep you, well?you. So, what do you say? You in?" Patrick couldn't believe what he was about to do.
"Yeah, I'm in." Ralph pumped his fist and smirked. Patrick clasped his hands together.
"So, when do we start?" Ralph's smirk grew bigger.
"Right now, boy. Right the hell now."
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About the Author
Christopher Lee Cousino is the author of the superhero novel HOMELESS and the ZOMBIE HERO series, as well as numerous short stories. He is hard at work on many novels and short stories, including the next DEATH WITHOUT PAROLE story, so stay tuned. Christopher lives in Hudsonville, Michigan with his beautiful wife and two wonderful children.
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