Avenging Autumn: Seasons Change Book 1 of 4 (8 page)

“
What happened to him?”

“
According to most accounts he was
mistakenly killed in battle by his own soldiers. The Turks took
credit for the kill and cut his head from the body. His head was
sent to Constantinople, where it remained on display as proof that
the Impaler was really dead. His body was laid to rest in the
isolated island monastery of Snagov.

“
In 1931, a genealogist and an
archaeologist were assigned by Romania to dig around the island and
study the historical monuments. When Vlad’s grave was dug up his
body was gone, casket and all. There’s no telling how long it was
missing or who would have taken it. The body is still missing to
this day.”

“
Creepy,” Jack said
quietly.

“
What about killing them?” Frank
interjected, “Tell the boys the most effective ways to take the
vampires out.”

“
Silver bullets, decapitation, and
a stake through the heart are all very effective, the stake being
the surest and most satisfying way to dispose of them. The crucifix
and holy water are good defenses against them; however holy water
is only effective as a weapon in large amounts.

“
In Romania, they have a ritual
that’s still practiced to this day. When a vampire is captured, he
is stripped naked; his cloths are placed in a coffin and buried in
an unmarked grave. The vampire is then taken away deep into the
forest where the heart is cut out of the chest and the body is torn
limb from limb and burned in a great fire. Lastly, the heart is
thrown into the flames. Those who have taken part in the ritual
come near the fire so as to be fumigated by the smoke. All should
be burned; flesh and bone, or else the smallest scrap could be
enough for the vampire to materialize. Occasionally, the ashes are
collected and mixed with water to create a powerful potion for the
sick.”

“
What about garlic?” Jack
asked.

“
Bullshit,” James responded,
“complete and utter bullshit. You throw some garlic up in front of
a vampire and he’ll grind it into powder and sprinkle it on your
neck just before he sinks his teeth in.”

“
Thanks, James, I think that will
do for now,” Frank said.

“
Not a problem, you guys just stick
with those silver bullets and you’ll be just fine. I’m here anytime
you need me, just give me a ring.”

“
Alright, talk to you
later.”

Jack ended the call and looked at his
father.

Noticing the expression on his face, Frank
said; “Don’t look so nervous, we’re going to be just fine. It will
be daylight soon and we’ll go in, take care of these guys while
they’re sleeping, and that will be the end of it.”

Jack still looked doubtful. Frank glanced over
his shoulder and saw Benny was asleep with Autumn still laying
against his chest, twirling her hair, an expression of deep
con-centration on her face.

“
Aren’t you tired, Autumn?” Frank
asked.

“
I don’t think I need sleep
anymore,” she answered in a distant tone.

“
Alright, what about you Jack? You
look like you could use some rest.”

Jack let out a deep sigh, “Yeah, I suppose I
could.”

He leaned over and rested his head against the
win-dow. Knowing his father’s trouble with sleeping lately, he was
confident he wouldn’t dose off while he was driving. Jack thought
he could never sleep after the night’s events. Five seconds after
that thought he was asleep.

When he awoke it was daylight, and they were
sitting in front of a large house a couple of miles south of Gary,
Indi-ana, with the sun rising in the east.

More killing was about to begin.

7. The First Five

Benny’s car was in the shop the night they
went to the concert, and as much as he despised Jack’s friend,
Marvin, he and Autumn were forced to hitch a ride with the two of
them, as they were heading to the concert as well.

The show went well. L7 was the opening act and
they were alright, but nothing to write home about. Manson and his
band put on an amazing show, one that Benny would praise for years
to come.

After the show, the foursome made their way
back to Marvin’s Oldsmobile and pulled out of the State Fair
grounds after a very prolonged wait in concert traffic, only to
have a tire blow out once they got a mile down 38th street. Marvin
pulled the limping car into a gas station parking space and killed
the engine.

“
It’s no problem, guys,” Jack said,
“I’ll just throw on the spare and we’ll be moving in no
time.”

“
Uh, that’s not really an option,
Jack,” Marvin stated. Marvin was a strange little guy with a hair
lip, and a voice like a puppet. It was the voice that made Benny
laugh uncontrollably whenever he was high, and even then he was
giggling a little despite the predicament they were in. “I’m afraid
the spare tire is flat as well.”

“
Alright,” Jack returned, “I’ll
just call The Old Man to come out and pick us up.”

“
He’s not going to be happy,” Benny
put in. “It’ll take him at least an hour to get here from
Triloville.”

“
Yeah, but he’ll do it
anyway.”

Autumn wrapped her hands around Benny’s arm.
“I really have to pee.”

“
Me too,” returned Benny. “Hey,
Jack, we’re going to go find a bathroom.”

“
Alright, I’m going to hit that
payphone over there.”

The three of them got out of the car, leaving
Marvin to twiddle his thumbs until they returned.

Benny and Autumn walked over to the gas
station bathroom only to find an out of order sign taped to it.
After questioning the attendant, they were informed that the
closest public bathrooms were at a small motel just down the
side-walk.

Less than a block away, the couple walked into
the dim lobby of the Yellow Brick Motel and asked the balding creep
behind the counter for the facilities.

“
Just down the stairs.” he said,
“Women’s on the left, men’s on the right.”

The two of them walked down the small flight
of stairs and Benny couldn’t help but notice how poorly lit the
entire building seemed to be.

“
Alright,” he told Autumn, “I’ll
see you back out here in a few.”

Benny pushed the door open and flicked the
light switch up. The light did not come on. His need to relieve
him-self far outweighed the childish fear of the dark he suddenly
felt, so he let the door close and blindly made his way over to the
urinal.

He undid his pants and began to urinate and
laughed out loud because he knew he wasn’t even close to hitting
the urinal. He just let it flow, though, all over the wall and down
to the floor.

With a shocking suddenness, the air went cold.
So much so that he could feel the moisture on his nose hairs begin
to turn to ice. He looked around even though he knew there was no
point. There was no light at all in the tiny bathroom.

A whisper tickled his ear and he was sure he
wasn’t alone. The whispering was immediately followed by a harsh
sucking noise and Benny hastily fastened his pants and went for the
door. As he cracked it open, the dim light from the hallway fell on
an animalistic face hovering over a dark lump on the floor. His
hand slipped off the door and the room went dark once again. He
groped for the handle frantically, but couldn’t seem to get his
bearings.

The thing behind him whispered again,
something intangible to his ears, possibly another language. He
could hear the bare footfalls of the creature on the linoleum
floor. It was coming closer.

Finally his hand fell on the door handle and
he pulled it open. Light poured in again and for the first time
Benny noticed he was breathing incredibly hard. He looked back into
the dark bathroom, but this time found nothing. Whatever had been
in there before was gone.

A hand fell on Benny’s shoulder, giving him a
fright that threw him against the hallway wall. He let out a
relieved breath when his eyes fell on Autumn.

“
Jesus Christ, you scared the hell
out of me,” he breathed.

“
What’s wrong with you?” She
giggled.

“
I just saw something really freaky
in there.”

Autumn opened the door and peered inside.
Benny looked around the corner with caution and saw the bathroom
was still empty.

“
Or maybe I didn’t, I don’t know.”
Benny stated with confusion.

“
Come on, let’s get you
home.”

Autumn helped Benny get to his feet and the
two of them made it back to the car. Twenty minutes later, Frank
showed up to rescue them.

Benny could have chalked up the strangeness of
the bathroom to a bad high, but somehow he didn’t think so. He saw
something that night, he just didn’t know what.

“
Are you sure this is the place?”
Benny asked.

Autumn closed her eyes as if she was trying to
get a psychic reading from someone who had been long dead. “There
are five of them in the house, the sixth is far away. To the
west.”

The four acres of property the house sat on
was sur-rounded by a twelve foot high, brick wall. The Writemans
positioned themselves in the shade of a tall apple tree on the west
side of the wall. Autumn was staring up at the brightly colored
leaves and the large, juicy apples.

“
Mmm, I wish I could eat one of
those apples,” she said.

Benny looked at the ripe fruit that was
hanging down from the branches and knew they would be delicious.
“I’m sure they’d taste terrible,” he said.

Autumn smiled at her husband’s attempt to
cheer her up. It obviously worked.

The Saturday morning air was cold enough to
see the breath escaping their mouths (with the exception of Autumn
of course) so Benny and Jack now donned their pullover sweatshirts
and pulled the hoods over their heads. Frank was wearing an old
beat up army jacket that he picked up in a surplus store in
Greenwood. They all wore swords strapped to their backs, as well as
an array of guns and wooden stakes hanging from their
belts.

“
Alright,” Frank started, “vampires
are known to have human servants who guard their caskets during the
day. I want you guys to boost me up so I can take a look over the
wall.”

Jack clasped his fingers together and gave his
father a foot hold while Benny shoved his behind upward toward the
top of the wall. Frank pulled himself the rest of the way up and
peered at the property beyond. After a few minutes he looked down
at the others.

“
I can see only two guards on this
side of the lawn,” he whispered, “I’m going in, you guys circle
around to the east wall and come over, we’ll meet at the front
door. And remem-ber; keep it quiet.”

Frank hefted himself over the wall and dropped
quietly onto the lawn. The grass, he noticed, was nearly as high as
his waist, and held a large array of fallen leaves inter-woven
throughout it. As he moved in behind a tree for cover, he thought
to himself; I guess vampires don’t really get into lawn
care.

Suddenly from his right came the sound of
something moving quickly through the grass like a squirrel on a
caffeine rush. As the thing cut a path through the yard, moving
steadily closer, Frank could hear it growling and snarling angrily.
He raised his left arm up just in time to block the animal’s
attack. Sharp canine teeth sank into his jacket sleeve, puncturing
his skin. The creature locked its jaw onto his arm and Frank
finally recognized his attacker. A pit bull terrier. He hoped the
boys would be able to handle anymore that were around.

With a swift movement of his right hand, Frank
pulled a knife from his belt and jammed it into the dogs head. The
pit let out a yelp, but miraculously held his grip. Frank twisted
the knife hard and the dog released his arm and fell lifeless to
the ground. From behind he could hear another dog moving toward him
fast. As he turned, he pulled his sword from its sheath. The timing
was perfect. The blade entered the pit bull’s open mouth and
removed the top of its skull.

With the sword in his hand, Frank carefully
peered around the tree. The commotion had caught the attention of
one of the guards and he was headed toward the tree with an M-16
held to his chest.

Luckily, the tree’s trunk was thick enough to
hide Frank from view, and as the guard came up beside it, the old
man quietly moved around the opposite side with his sword held
high. As the guard examined the dead dogs lying in the grass,
Frank’s blade fell, decapitating the servant from
behind.

Re-sheathing his sword, The Old Man turned his
at-tention back toward the rest of the property.

The house had a balcony that wrapped all the
way around the second floor, where another guard was posted.
Looking up now, Frank saw that the second guard was moving toward
the other side of the house, apparently not noticing the killings
that had occurred below.

Frank slowly crept in toward the front
door.

Meanwhile, on the east side of the wall,
Benny, Jack, and Autumn had just found a good place to climb
over.