The Anatomy of Vampires: Volume 1 (9 page)

“The volumes on these shelves are sacred and may not pass beyond these doors. You will copy what you need.”

The look in her eye told me there would be no haggling. Those were the last words she uttered before she revealed a thick ring of keys and stopped at a splintered, wooden door to her right. Thumbing through the various keys, she stopped on one larger and more opulent than the others, and then used it to open the lock. With a click, she pulled open the heavy door and gestured for me to enter. I did, but with the sound of the door closing with a heavy thud behind me, I knew I was alone and she did not join me.

What I found before me was a room clearly meant as a library and record room. There was a desk near the back wall littered with parchments, quill pens, and a single, lit lantern. Around me were cases from floor to ceiling, piled high with volumes and alchemies and other documents I was sure were very important, but I was there to search for one topic in particular. How did the Occult and the Vampires come to be? Were they before us? Did they evolve from us? Were they created as punishment for our sins most horrible, to torment our dreams in the night? I dropped my briefcase and nearly ran to the shelf closest to me and began fingering each of the spines. There must have been thousands of books in the room. Torn pages strewn on the floor and wells of ink left drying.

I didn’t know how many hours had gone by. There were no windows to let me know when the sun was rising or setting. A few times, I heard the door hinges behind me creak, and when I looked, I found tea and biscuits waiting for me. I continued my search for the answers through the pages. The nun was kind, but I can tell there were secrets about her beliefs, which were serious and scared her. I could tell she probably knew more about them at this point than I did. I knew if I asked, she would not dare tell me, possibly sworn to secrecy. Nevertheless, I inhaled the provided refreshments and kept on through accounts of disciples, volumes of history, symbolism, and the like, until at last my tired fingers graced the indigo-colored spine of one very particularly large volume leaned up in the darkest corner, nearly alone, on the very farthest shelf.

As I plucked it, the disturbed dust and cobwebs encircled me, caking the inside of my throat. I hacked it away, but when I brushed across the cover, my fingertips revealed the silver lettering in the dark face.
Draco Autem Nox: Prioris Testamenti
, which directly translated to Dragon of the Night: First Testament.

Laying it out over the desk, I pried it open, finding several of the pages stuck together. Turning to the inside of the front cover, I found two elaborate depictions of some very infamous characters. The first was of Vlad Dracul, or Vlad the Impaler, ancient ruler of Romania and the second of Elizabeth Bathory of Hungary. Desperately, I pulled my notebook out from my coat pocket and spread it to the next empty page I could find. The quill pen was hot between my fingertips and I read and read until my eyes burned, and read some more. I had found what was perhaps the single, most important document I could have found, and I wondered if the others—the ones watching—knew it even existed. I had found what was to be considered the Vampire’s bible—or perhaps the bible of all of dark kind.

Within the pages of this mysterious text, I’d taken several things. First, there were creators, supposedly, of the Vampire kind. The two, Vlad and Elizabeth, are believed to be the mother and father and the highly worshipped saints of the people cursed. Within the first unit, the pages revealed the dismal details of both of their reigns; how ruthless they were and wasteful with the shed of human blood. The book also quoted Isaiah 34:13 through 15 and discussed a character brand new to me, yet at the same time, very familiar. Lilith, the woman believed in the old testament to be the first wife of Adam, but who left after refusing to be subservient to him. The depicted result was she then mated with an archangel, thereby creating night monsters, or as we know them, Vampires. There is also a list of eight creatures that stand as symbols for darkness and Lilith:

(12) Her nobles shall be no more, nor shall kings be proclaimed there; all her princes are gone. (13) Her castles shall be overgrown with thorns, her fortresses with thistles and briers. She shall become an abode for jackals and a haunt for ostriches. (14) Wildcats shall meet with desert beasts, satyrs shall call to one another. There shall the Lilith repose, and find for herself a place to rest. (15) There the hoot owl shall nest and lay eggs, hatch them out and gather them in her shadow; There shall the kites assemble, none shall be missing its mate. (16) Look in the book of the LORD and read: No one of these shall be lacking, For the mouth of the LORD has ordered it, and His spirit shall gather them there. (17) It is He who casts the lot for them, and with His hands He marks off their shares of her; They shall possess her forever, and dwell there from generation to generation.

- Isaiah 34

My mind spun. I read on about how the bloodline was allegedly passed down through the ages from this treacherous, and demonic woman: creatures shaped by the devil, in his image as God intended mortals. And what was more, these creatures of darkness maintained the ability to catch and actually transform those shaped by God, which made them all the more dangerous indeed. I salivated at the plethora of information, scribbling tirelessly, sometimes clutching the side of my neck when the strange burning would begin to ensue. There were a few moments when my vision became blurry, but then cleared again.

Reading on and on, I finally came to a passage toward the end of the book, which began to discuss the most ancient and powerful of the covens; a group of Vampires who were hand selected by Lilith herself. The Parliament. They ruled over all of dark kind. And I realized then, exactly who visited me that night in London. The man who had given me the parchment note was one who belonged to the Parliament, and probably none other than the leader himself.

The very last until of the book entitled,
Illuminatio
, were the pages most interesting to me. It held the information I really needed, and here it is—that which will inevitably save my wife and redeem the horrifying status of the Vampire kind: The light cannot exist without the darkness. And though Lilith is considered evil by all of mortal kind, the nature of the Vampire is not meant to be evil. Not meant to be hated. The sun cannot rise and set without the moon. We cannot grow without the suffering of winter. We cannot be reborn if we do not die. Bad must exist for good to be celebrated. Balance must exist in the world, and so without the darkness, the Regime can never
truly
reign supreme. This is why they fear the Vampire. This is why Vladislov wishes to conceal them, and possibly destroy them. They want only light, and only goodness to exist, but the truth is, that is impossible. And that is the secret. Fear and hatred. Fear of what the light, and also the mortals do not understand. For who really knows Lucifer as intimately as they know their lover? And who can say who is truly acting on evil intent, and who is acting on their will to live? In order to thrive over the entrapments of the Regime, all the darkness must do is find the power to continue to exist, and to not diminish in the face of day.

I glanced over my shoulder to find the nun peering at me from behind the door. I hadn’t even heard her open it. We regarded each other silently for a few, blinking moments before she said, “Did you find what you needed?”

Without a word, I nodded. I began to collect my notebook into my briefcase and she entered deeper into the room, her sandals quiet over the wooden floors.

“I know you are afraid to read what the letter says,” she said delicately. “I know you’re afraid to put your work into the hands of monsters. But you really must—”

“And how do I know you are not one of them, or working for them, or sent here to trick me into handing over this most valuable information?” I muttered, continuing to pack my things and adorn my coat.

She looked slightly insulted, her eyebrows furrowing over her glasses and then said, “No, my son. But I do believe I have a keen understanding of right and wrong. There are still many things out there that you do not know exist. There are still many secrets and souls who are in grave danger. And I was taught to believe if someone needs your help, and you’re in the position to help them, then you’d better.”

I stopped moving. The stern look in her soft, blue eyes suggested her sincerity. I nodded. “I’m not ready to open the letter yet, sister. But when I do, I swear to you, I will do everything in my power to do what is right.”

Dark Secrets

“A thing such as magic is an endless frontier of question, knowledge, secret, and truth. Even the light at times seems dangerous and thorny, but we proceed.”

~Maldimor Foulhorn, a Phaser and scholar

It was months later I finally felt I was able and ready to open the mysterious Vampire’s parchment letter. I journeyed through cities and countries, on trains and in carriages. I spoke to many a creature. I took many a note, filling the pages of my book. And all the while, the strange letter from the strange man was burning a hole in my pocket. But I needed his warnings. I did not open it, until I felt my work was done, though in truth, the knowledge was never-ending.

It must have been damned near eight months later I finally sat down, alone with my thoughts, and the continuingly worsening pain at the side of my throat. I thought back to the man in the tavern near Mae’s Massage Parlor. The scar he had at the side of this neck. Mine was beginning to look like his—red and inflamed.

With my nearly filled journal and in the company of dust and loneliness in a dingy inn room, my mind and stomach turned in an old motel room by the sea. The foghorns blared early in the morning paired with the dinging of the bells, signaling the arrivals of the fish boats. It was there I tracked a most interesting creature—one I hadn’t heard much about before, but fleetingly in casual conversation with a rogue Phaser. Most of my friends had become the disguised people of the Occult, but I digress.

There, by the docks, the Phaser had told me of creatures who possessed the voices of angels, though the flesh of something most sinister. “You’d do well to keep away from the waters, lad,” he warned. Late at night, as I was closest to dreaming, I could hear the ethereal sounds of women singing among the crashing waves. Sirens, he called them. Devilish beings who fed on the flesh of mortals. They live hidden deep within the tides. It had been a few weeks since I’d made any sort of breakthrough with the truths about the Regime, the Vampires, and what would eventually come to pass. In the absence of any revelations, I decided to go ahead and investigate these rare and dangerous creatures. For perhaps, they might lead me to another piece of the puzzle. Or so was my logic.

I was sitting with silence on the flimsy decaying mattress. I’d just come up from the bar, and my liver was doused in gin. It was just enough to take away some of my fears about finally going down to the docks to explore. But before my courage was completely mustered, I recalled the lingering letter. Pulling it from my coat pocket, it felt just as real and dangerous in my hands as it did the night I received it. I turned it over and over again, recalling the words spoken to me by the cursed man. I realized, perhaps in a drunken stupor, that everybody who was mortal died. Everybody had their time. Eventually, mine would come also. And so I decided finally, it was the time to open and read the letter:

Dearest Mortal Friend,

Firstly, we, the Elders of the Parliament wish to congratulate you for becoming the only mortal in Occult history to be considered a friend and respected colleague of the divinely damned. We also wish to thank you for your efforts to bring forth the ugliness of the day to light, and to rid our world of oppression by being unafraid to pursue the truth.

It has come to our attention a dear member of your family has recently joined our ranks, and we wish to assure you due to your valiant efforts, your wife will be protected with our finest care. She will be hidden from the Regime and the wretched genocide that they will impend unto our world in the decades to come. You have our word.

We recognize your mortality will provide you with some limitations, and while you still breathe, we would like to respectively request your studies and findings with the intention to publish as an official, informative text of the Occult and of the Order of the Parliament. For you see, it is rare members of our kind will heed the word and warning of one such as yourself. Your words will reach more, and help more, if they are placed in our capable claws. To those who misunderstand us, your studies will provide certain enlightenment, and perhaps, help bring forth peace and understanding.

Once again, we thank you with the utmost sincerity. Upon completion, you may seek a trusted ally to help with the delivery.

With the best of intentions,

Cicero Dell’Orta

Parliament Liege

The Parliament. In all my time researching, seeking answers, speaking to the strangest of creatures, I’d heard only bits and pieces of the secret society who hid from the Regime. They thrived under the earth. They kept their location a secret. There existed an opposite equal to the Regime. As they ruled the light, the Parliament did so rule the dark. And what of their steep request? Did they really believe I would just give it all up so easily into the hands of beings I’d never met?

This only brought about more research to be done—only brought about more answers. The Parliament. Cicero Dell’Orta. But who would have the answers to my questions? Who would introduce me to the oldest, and perhaps most dangerous Vampires on this Earth? And would I publish my work for all to read?

The Parliament

“I do vow on my blood I am of the living-deceased and of the fatally cursed.”