Coimeadai

interference.” She explained. I interrupted her “if you know something that can help me, I beg of you to tell me, but if you won’t or can’t help me then take me back so I can keep looking for someone who will” I said, maybe a little too harshly. “Mr. Hixon, I may be able to help you” the woman said. “But the only help I can offer is for your daughter and may not be what you expect” she said. As she explained her offer of help, I felt the world spinning out of control. “So let me get this straight, you are a VAMPIRE?” I asked incredulously? “And your offer is to turn my daughter into a vampire so she doesn’t turn into a werewolf?” I asked, the world spinning deeper and deeper into the surreal. “I do not envy the choice you must make, Mr. Hixon” the woman said slowly. “But I believe what I offer is better than losing your daughter to the madness of serving Anton Sorvine” she said.

  When I got back to the hotel I had a message waiting. Max had finally called me back. He answered on the first ring, “Ok, I’m working on finding bullet molds that aren’t made of aluminum, but I have something that might help for now” he told me. “I found a silver supplier in Birmingham that sells it in a bead form for melting, and that got me thinking” he continued. “I have 3 boxes of 12 gauge shotgun shells loaded and ready to go”. I explained where we were and Max promised to get the shells to the hotel by FedEx. We both knew shipping ammo was illegal, but I trusted Max to get me what I needed.

  I had the boys stay at the hotel the next night while I took Katie to meet Gweneth the Vampire. Why did the idea of a vampire seem ridiculous when I had been running from and fighting a werewolf for the last week?

  We met Gweneth at Café’ du Monde. We sipped coffees among the tourists and natives at the landmark café. We made small talk and then left to walk, pretending to stroll along the river bank as tourists are prone to do. “I have spoken to your father about an alternative to your fate” Gweneth finally said. “I know of Anton Sorvine, and he is a sadistic bastard”, she told Katie. “As part of his pack you would be under his complete control, a fate I would not wish on my worst enemy” she explained. “How do we even know you are a vampire?”, Katie asked. I felt stupid for not asking the same thing. Gweneth stopped, looked carefully around and then faced us. She smiled and then parted her teeth. As she did so a pair of sharp fangs slide down from her upper jaw, paired to either side of her two front teeth.. As we both leaned to look closer, Gweneth’s eyes suddenly glowed red. Just as suddenly, the eyes faded back to emerald green and the fangs withdrew into her gums. Katie and I both stared for a few seconds. “Okay, well I think that answers that” I said. And we continued walking along the waterfront. During the next few hours my daughter and I received our education on vampirism, the ways to change humans into vampire, the myths and truths about the condition. As it happens, if a vampire drains a human and then changes them, they are enthralled or under his complete control. However, if a human is changed without being drained, they maintain their own control but can be heavily influenced by their maker. This second option was what Gweneth was offering. “I have sworn to never create another thrall” she told us, gazing out over the Mississippi river.

  Katie listened and asked good questions, as she occasionally scratched at the nearly healed wound on the back of her hand. “Will I be able to have any kind of a normal life?” she asked? Gweneth stopped and looked Katie in the eye and explained to her “You will need to be isolated for the first year or more as you learn to control yourself”. She explained “The change you contemplate is not a new hair color or piercing. It is a complete change in how you live and who you are” she said seriously. “At first The Thirst is more powerful than you can imagine. You would not hesitate to rip your father’s throat out to satisfy it” Gweneth told her. “But I can protect you and teach you, if you accept my offer” she said. “Eventually you will be able to lead your own life within the limits of our kind. But if you choose to follow that old world cur, you will never be free. The choice is yours to make. But a normal life is beyond you now, regardless of your choice.”

  We met with her brothers and explained it to them.

  Travis stared at us. “Wait, are you telling us that there are vampires too? I mean, it is bad enough to wrap my head around the fact that werewolves exist, but now you want to tell us vampires are real too?”

  Justin asked, “How do you know she isn’t just a lunatic or that this isn’t a setup?”. We explained the demonstration we had seen. “Besides,” I said “she never mentioned wanting the talisman and seemed to have a serious hatred for Sorvine”.

  The rest of the evening was spent talking, reminiscing, and even arguing about the right decision for Katie to make. But Katie’s decision was her own to make. In the end my baby girl decided to take Gweneth’s offer of help. The next evening I called Gweneth and told her what Katie had decided. She said she would be by to collect Katie 3 hours before sunrise. It seemed an odd way to say it, but I understood. As Katie started to leave with the vampire we all hugged, kissed and cried. It was the single hardest thing I had ever done. At least up until then. Katie walked quickly to the Gweneth’s car and climbed in. She didn’t look back.

  “I will contact you when she has tamed her Thirst”, Gweneth said, looking at me directly. “Do not try and find us. If you do you will bring disaster” she said flatly. Then she turned and took my little girl away. As they drove down the narrow street, all I could see was memories of my baby. The skinned knees, the wild hair, catching lizards on the back fence, on Christmas morning in her flannel gown with her face glowing, and all the other mental movies I had of her growing up.

  “I’m gonna kill that sonofabitch” I heard Justin whisper thru his teeth.

  “Any idea how?” Travis asked.

  Justin just sighed, and said “Not yet”. We turned and went back into the hotel. The full moon would be rising tonight. We needed rest and a plan. I needed to see if Lita had any more information.

  Once again I found myself seated at a table in Café du Monde, enjoying their best dark roast with chicory. I sipped my coffee and stared up at the slowly turning ceiling fans. I saw Lita enter and waved her over. Tall and beautiful, her smile lit her dusky complexion like a beacon as she came striding across the room. She had a blue streak in her ebony hair. I couldn’t help but smile remembering her tattoo on the side of her head from her college days.

  I stood and opened my arms. “No beignets?” she asked as she hugged me. You know, some people can hug you and its just their arms around and a quick squeeze. Hugging Lita is like a gift from the gods. You can tell she means it. And I could tell I needed it.

  I went to get her a coffee, and the requisite beignets, as she pulled out her laptop. In no time she was flying thru pages and pages, talking nonstop as she described what she had found, and what she had not. When I told her about Gweneth she stopped and stared at me. “Are you fucking with me?” she asked. I told her about all that had happened since we got to New Orleans. “You’ve been here 3 days and haven’t called?” she asked, trying to look mad. She winked behind her stylish glasses and reached out to put her hand on my arm. “I’m sorry. It must have been a lousy couple of days” she said sympathetically. I could see the wheels turning as she started planning the additional research my revelation about vampires had prompted. We talked about the kids for a bit, and her plans for her PhD thesis. Finally, I took all the information she had, got another much needed hug, and headed back to our hotel room to see what the boys had come up with.

  Our plan turned out to be renting a fishing camp on the bayou flats and loading up with Max’s silver shells. Their thinking was it would be harder to approach us on the watery bayou, and we might have a chance to fight. We made plans to fight one ancient werewolf. Apparently the ancient werewolf didn’t get the memo.

  Late afternoon found the three of us on the worn wooden porch of a rickety structure standing on stilts in a sea
of grass between the Mississippi River and a dark foreboding swamp. I stood on the porch of the building waiting for sundown. The air was thick and fetid, like the breath of a beast. As the shadows grew long, the swamp seemed to be more alive. I could hear occasional splashes and odd bird songs above the ever present hum of mosquitoes. It didn’t take long to hear the howl from the swamp. The deep roar reverberated across the wetlands like a beacon of death, and sent chills up our spines. We backed into the single room. None of us relinquished our grip on the shotguns. We waited for the attack. We waited and waited. The night was interminably long. Every sound was magnified by our fear. Every creak of the old structure was death coming for our throats. Every whisper of wind was a monster moving towards us. We waited to hear claws on the wooden deck. Waited to hear snarls and growls just outside. When the sun finally began to rise we realized an attack was not coming.

  “Why didn’t he attack?, I asked. My eyes felt like sandpaper and my hands ached from gripping the shotgun. We all peered out thru the dirty, smudged windows onto the sea of grass that was the spit of land.

  “He was calling Katie” Justin finally said. “Today I’m sure he will be trying to figure out why she didn’t answer”.

  It was an hour later, as we were loading up the Suburban, Justin’s cell phone rang. I answered it

  “Mr. Hixon, I hope you enjoyed your night in the swamp” growled Sorvine’s voice in the clipped Bavarian accent.

  “We had a nice time”, I answered, “We were hoping you’d stop in for a visit” I told him.

  “I do not yet know what you did, Mr. Hixon, but your children are not safe” he snarled.

  “You will have my kids over my dead body” I stated flatly.

  “That was my intention all along, sir” he said. I could see his feral face smiling in my mind’s eye.

  I disconnected the call. I looked at my sons, hollow eyed from lack of sleep.

  “Anybody up for another night on the bayou?” I asked.

  Grim determination was set on their tired faces. I knew they wanted a chance to avenge their sister as much as I did.

  Most of the day was spent sleeping in complete exhaustion. When I went out for food, leaving my sons making plans, Travis gave me a list of items he needed. He said it was for cleanup. I looked at the list. “Iron oxide (in any paint store), an Etch-a-sketch, Play-Doh or modeling clay, and a box of sparklers?” I asked. Travis smiled at me and said, “Ingredients for a surprise or to clean up the cabin. You should be able to get the iron oxide and clay at a Home Depot or Lowes”. When I returned with food and Travis’ seemingly bizarre list of items, I sat trying to get my head ready for what was coming.

  Well before dark we were, once again, standing on the porch of the fishing shanty. We listened for the howls. Suddenly we heard one from the swamp. It was not even close to the deep menacing rumble from the previous night. But it was far from friendly. It was answered by 3 more howls scattered across the flats and the swamp. Sorvine had not come alone.

  “Looks like he was busy recruiting” Travis said as he clicked on the SureFire light mounted under the barrel of the shotgun. We all backed into the shanty again. This time we didn’t have to wait for long. Within minutes we heard snarls underneath the shanty, followed by creaks on the walkway as something came towards the door. Hearts pounding in our chests, we stood in a circle with our backs together as we listened. Our plan didn’t seem so great now. The door burst in, the frame splintering. A beast stood in the doorway. In the instant I saw it I knew it was not Sorvine. It was smaller and lighter brown than the monster from the motel. But it was no less deadly. The circle dissolved as we all raised our guns towards the door. Three lights blinded the monster for a second, which was all we needed. Three explosions, almost simultaneously, were deafening. The beast was blown backwards by the force. We racked the pumpguns in unison. Then the night exploded into all out war as monsters crashed thru the dirty windows on both sides, snarling and reaching for us in blind rage. The bright white light from Travis’ gun illuminated one beast’s face and then the explosion as its head was spattered across the wall. Justin’s shotgun roared again as he blew the silver shot into the body of the third beast. It slammed against the wall and started wailing as the metal burned its insides. In seconds the beast lay still, tendrils of smoke curling from the ragged hole in its chest. Cordite smoke hung in the air as we stood in the center of the room waiting for more attacks. The open window was suddenly filled with snarling as another monster gained entry. Startled, I swung and fired point-blank into the face of the monster and saw the head disappear in a shower of gore.

  As the first light of dawn began to glow, we were still standing in the center of the room, our backs together, waiting for another monster that did not come.

  As the light grew brighter we all sagged as the adrenaline rush left us. The guns were suddenly heavy. Four shaggy beast lay in pools of blood and gore.

  “They don’t turn back?” Travis asked.

  “Apparently not” Justin replied, staring down at the carnage with a mixture of disgust and curiousity.

  We all wanted to leave immediately, but we knew we couldn’t just leave the bodies. In the end we dragged then to the end of the pier and rolled them into the black water of the bayou. “Let the gators have them”, Justin growled. As we started to go Travis pulled a clump of dirty, grainy looking clay the size of a softball out of his rucksack and set it at the base of the back wall. He pulled out a sparkler and stuck it down into the compound. He turned to us and asked, “Are we ready to go?”. We answered by turning and walking down the creaking walkway towards the spit of land. I heard a lighter clicking as I walked away. At the end of the walkway I turned to see Travis backing out of the shanty. I could see the sparkler going in the darkness of the room. In seconds the sparkler’s erratic light was replaced by a blindingly bright incandescence. Satisfied, Travis turned and walk to join us. “Some problems just call for the careful application of homemade thermite” he said smiling. Justin was smiling as he watched the doorway. In seconds smoke was billowing out of the door and windows as the shack was consumed. Cleanup accomplished.

  “Those were smaller than the one that attacked us at the motel”, Justin said as we drove back towards New Orleans. “I think he turned locals and sent them to test us” he theorized.

  “Which means it won’t work again unless we want to spend every night in that place” Travis stated.

  “We need a new plan” Justin said.

  “I think I have an idea” I told them, “Lita said that the man is exhausted when he turns back”.

  “According to the legends the energy used to turn and be the beast leaves the man exhausted” I continued. “There are even reports of the man being so weak he was unable to walk”

  “So if Sorvine is in a position that requires energy or strength when he turns, he wouldn’t be able to make it?” Travis asked

  Justin looked at me, mulling it over, “It might work” he said, “But the beast is sensitive to daybreak, and would probably break away and return to its lair”.

  “The beast is bloodthirsty and wants you” I said. “If you are within sight it would probably pursue you until it turned”.

  Travis looked up, “How about drowning him?”. “If we lure the monster into the water, when he changes back maybe Sorvine would be too weak to swim?”

  “That could work” I replied.

  “Sorvine is an ancient werewolf” Justin reminded us. “Even in his beast form he maintains more intelligence than those raving monsters last night. And even a dog would know it couldn’t catch a motorboat”.

  “I wasn’t thinking motorboat” I replied.

  “Then what?” he asked.

  “A kayak” I smiled.

  Both boys stared at me as if I had lost my mind. “Come on guys, surely we can paddle a kayak faster than that thing can swim”.

  “
And if not?” Travis asked.

  “Well, at least we won’t have to spend every night in that smelly fishing shack” I laughed. “What fishing shack?” Travis asked with a big smile. I was trying to be upbeat, but I knew my idea was borderline insanity.

  In the end it was the best idea we had. I max’d out my visa card on a tandem seakayak, two paddles, a pair of diver’s “pony” air bottles, and two weight belts. I had explained to the boys that if we bailed out of the boat we didn’t want to float. That would make us fair game for the beast. However, sinking with the air bottles would allow us to stay under for 5 minutes or more.

  We spent the rest of the afternoon driving along the levees of the Mississippi River scouting locations for our insane plan. We found a good spot and launched at dusk. It seemed forever that we paddled against the current in that dark water.

  Just after moonrise we saw a dark shape run down the levee. He had found us. “How does he find us so easily?”. Justin patted his backpack, “He can sense the power of the talisman, and he can smell us”. The dark shape reached the edge of the river. I imagined I saw him snarling at the horizon. Even with the moonlight, no one could hope to see our tiny boat out on the river. But the beast saw. He saw us working feverishly to paddle out toward the channel. In a flash the beast was in the water and swimming furiously towards us. We paddled the kayak towards the open channel, unaware that the beast was gaining, but knowing it was possible. The talisman began to thrum lightly in the bag. “He’s here!” Justin shouted. This was the inspiration to redouble our efforts. The long sleek craft had seemed a marvel of speed and agility during the day, but now I swore we were paddling a barge. Adrenaline was pumping as we paddled. At last we could see the monster’s black head in the moonlit waters. It was gaining and it knew it. Its blood lust was up and it could see us. The black fur was plastered down by the water. The horizon began to softly glow, announcing the coming of daylight. Normally the beast was keenly aware of the rhythms of the light and dark, but his entire being was focused on us. Suddenly my idea didn’t seem as plausible as it swam towards us at an incredible pace. “This better work” I muttered as I bent into each stroke. The beast was within 20 yards when the dawn finally broke. We were almost a quarter of a mile out in the open water. Seeing the light, the beast was finally aware of the time. He raised his head and snarled at the boat. As he turned to start back towards