Alcingeria Chapter Eight: An Unfortunate Fate

After finding out that Ignacio is a vampire, The Scorpions come to a shocking realization that puts their bond as outlaws and their bond as friends at risk...

Chapter Eight An Unfortunate Fate:

Tuesday June 22^nd 1690

I was stunned.

            “What?” I asked in utter dis-belief.

Upon hearing the word ‘vampire’ I automatically thought back to when I had seen Ignacio staring at my bloodstained shirt when I first woke up in this house, I also thought of the lack of windows in this house and how there were candles instead. In the horror stories about vampires that my father told me as a young boy, vampires hated sunlight. Could it be true that vampires actually exist? No, the thought was insane! I then looked around to the jars of blood that lined the shelves around the room. I started to have second thoughts. A grim sensation created a pit in my stomach.

            “You heard me. I’m a vampire.” Ignacio said.

There was a brief silence.

            “Ask your friend here. He’ll tell you the truth… From a firsthand experience.” Ignacio said that last part with a smirk.

            “Ignacio… Why did you save us if you’re a bloodthirsty vampire?” Macalister asked, fear was audible in his voice.

            “Oh, my kind sir, I believe that the answer to your question lies within the question.” Ignacio teased.

What did he mean by that? A silence occurred that lasted a few seconds.

            “Anyone? No? Well then, I shall tell you the real reason that I saved you four; I saved you because I wanted your blood. It’s what I do, you see. I come across strangers in the forest who need help, I take them in, earn their trust, feed them the poisoned food and drink, render them unconscious, bring them down here, and kill them for their blood. Of course, the fact that you four were carrying a rather large sum of money was merely a coincidence. A pleasant one.” Ignacio explained.

Robert, Macalister, Don and I stared at Ignacio in utter bewilderment.

            “What are you going to do with us?” I asked, fearing that I already knew the answer.

            “I already told you. Thanks to your friend, my thirst is satisfied… For now. When the urge for blood hits me next, I’ll kill you all, one by one and I’ll feast upon your blood.” Ignacio said.

My fear was confirmed.

            “Until then.” Ignacio said with a slight wave.

He then turned around, walked through the cellar door and closed it, then locked it behind himself. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness by now and I could see Don still on the ground, blood was dripping down his shoulder and onto his chest from the bite mark on his neck.

            “Shadow, are you alright?” I asked, kneeling down to help him up.

            “Yes, I’m fine, I just feel a little faint.” Don said.

            “I can’t believe it, vampires are real!” Macalister said in awe.

            “I know. Ignacio drank my blood quite a few times during the last few days.” Robert said. He sounded like he just woke up, which he probably did. Seeing as he has been bitten by Ignacio ‘quite a few times’ he must have passed out.

            “So what’s the plan here?” I asked.

There was a moment of silence.

            “Well, we have until Ignacio’s thirst returns, and then he’ll kill us all one by one. I would say that the plan is quite simple.” Don said.

            “So what is the plan?” Asked Macalister.

            “We kill Ignacio and escape.” Don said.

            “That much is obvious, but how do you kill a vampire?” I asked them.

            “Well, in the stories my father told me as a boy, you need a wooden stake, you need to stab it through the heart.” Robert told us.

            “Right, and Ignacio is just going to leave a wooden stake laying around for us. No, we need to make one.” I told them.

            “What do we make a wooden stake out of?” Asked Don.

I looked around for anything wooden. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness now, so I could see the shelves lined with jars of blood that I had seen earlier. That gave me an idea.

            “We could rip off one of those shelves’ support beams, snap it, and it will be jagged. We can then stake Ignacio through the heart and escape.” I said, keeping my voice low so Ignacio wouldn’t hear us.

            “That plan is foolproof, except for one thing.” Macalister said.

            “What might that be?” I asked him.

            “How do we know the stories are true? How do we know that wooden stake will actually kill a vampire?” Macalister asked me.

I shook my head.

            “I don’t know, but that’s the only plan we have. Other than wooden stakes, we know of no other way to kill vampires. This plan needs to work or we’re doomed.” I told him.

            “We must be certain. We can’t execute this plan without knowing if it’s guaranteed to work.”  Macalister said.

            “We may not have a choice. If Ignacio is true to his word, we’ll be dead in the next few days. If worse comes to worst, we need to act on Kid’s plan. Any objections?” Asked Robert.

There was silence.

            “Good. I expect us to be free after a few days. Good luck, gentlemen.” Robert said.

Just then, Macalister gasped.

            “Oh, my lord.” Macalister gasped in awe.

            “What is it, Troll?” Asked Robert.

            “I just thought that, you know. Ignacio bit you and…” Macalister trailed off.

            “What? What is it?” Asked Robert.

            “Well, since Ignacio bit you, will you… Turn into a… Vampire?” Macalister asked.

There was a stunned silence.

            “Oh, lord! That was what happened in the vampire stories that my father told me! I recall him recited a passage from a book of stories he once read to me when I was young.” Robert exclaimed.

            “What was the passage? What did it say?” Asked Don, joining the conversation.

            Robert spoke, his voice was heavy with sadness and nostalgia;

“I recall the passage saying this: ‘For those who cross paths with the Midnight Wraith, what awaits them is an unfortunate fate.’”

Author's Note

Sorry, It has been a while since I last uploaded a chapter for Alcingeria. I have been very busy with homework, but I will certainly work on Alcingeria more often now! Please tell me what you think!

Reviews

[KeithKVH]

Well, I completely didn't notice that Robert was also in the basement last chapter lol. I think I ended up mixing their aliases up, whoops. Very good chapter though, the way they're talking about legends and stuff, you don't normally get the feel vampires are legendary creatures these days even though they are. I don't usually at least, but the way this was done worked for me finally in that respect. Ignacio's setting too, it's almost like an old fable or ghost story or something, a mysterious old guy living in a dark house luring in people to kill for dinner. Very "brothers Grim".

There were only a few points of spelling/grammar, I again didn't compile them but one is easy to find:

I asked in utter dis-belief.
I asked in utter disbelief.

No need for the - there. it's one word.

[Ryan Henderson]

Thank you for the awesome review! I will fix that. Microsoft word corrected that lol

[Pajci]

Wow...the first chapter that I've read in this series/book/novel etc... It's interesting!! I have to say though, the dialogue of each character gives off the same feeling. It's sophisticated and science-y and "big." To better separate your characters give them each a specific word or phrase to say. I have a friend that says "butt-nugget" all the time haha. Anyways, different dialogue'll make the story more interesting and fun to read. Since I'm interested maybe I should read from the beginning? ;)

[Ryan Henderson]

Thank you for the review! I do differentiate the characters, however not in the dialogue. Each character has its own 'feel' and 'aura' if you will. I am glad that you enjoyed reading this so much, and if you liked it, I highly suggest reading from the beginning!

[Laura Lynn]

I read this aloud to my son (4), he laughed when I said blood, he was not expecting that, then when you said "i don't know" in the following passage... “How do we know the stories are true? How do we know that wooden stake will actually kill a vampire?” Macalister asked me. I shook my head. “I do not know, but that is the only plan we have."

Thanks, this was fun to read, it's so boring here otherwise, I have nothing to do with my kid that I feel like I can really do, it's a lot better reading it aloud than just skimming, the story becomes more to life ...now he waiting for the next chapter, but if you don't write it, I can read him tons of other things, I can't imagine we will stop reading altogether

[Ryan Henderson]

LOL I find it hilarious that your four year old son likes this! Not entirely a bad thing, at least I have an audience now, eh? Yes, chapter nine will be up soon, I am glad you (and your son) like it! Thank you for the review, this is a pretty good pick-me-up!