Exposition of the Undead, Part 2

Back in the present day, I concentrate on the backstory to all of the vampire hunters and how they were introduced to his vampire plague.

Brett

            The hunting trip was almost over.  Going back to his day job was brutal and he dreaded every minute of it.  The long hours of working double shifts as a paramedic were daunting to say the least.  But at least he got time off for himself on some occasions.  In between the emergency runs, fire hazards, drug overdoses, house calls, it was all worth it for his newborn.  She was the apple of his eye.  It was what he lived and breathed for on a day-to-day basis.  But it was times like this where he could kick back and relax and enjoy a nice camp outing with a couple of the regulars from work.  Sure, it was nothing to brag about, but a couple of beers and swapping stories for a weekend was what he needed after a 6-day long work week.

            Of course, he could have easily brought his daughter with him.  However, she was too young to enjoy such a vacation or at least have memories of sitting around a campfire and eating marshmallows or having her first cup of hot cocoa.  He knew that she was too young for all that and in about another three months she would be old enough to form a smile on her doll-like face when she experienced those first feelings.  As he hopped into his old roughneck truck, he said his goodbyes to his work friends, giving high fives to each other and making plans for the coming week down at the station.  It was all worth it in the long run.  It was only a matter of two hours until he got home to see that precious smile his daughter always cooed at the sight of him.

            He loaded up the remaining of his camping gear up into trunk bed, his tent, his sleeping bag, a single fishing rod, and cooler which held 2 blue gills and one marlin.  That would make for some fine dinner for the next couple of days.  He might give little Dana a piece, just to watch her spit it out.  It took him only a couple of minutes to head down a dirt road that merged onto a major highway and took out a cigarette from the center console of 5-gear stick shift.  He thought to himself how pleasant it was to get away, even if it is only for a couple of days.  Even the babysitter that was taking care of Dana had an easy job, he imagined.  Dana never gave anyone a hard time when it came to diapers, burping, baths and the like, except for him.  His only daughter acted like a pesky little demon but that just brought a smile to his face.  It reminded himself of him at her age and how his parents always said, ‘you were always such a stubborn baby.’

            The thoughts of Dana and work overrode the fact that he was still working through his recent divorce.  He thought to himself, ‘God she was a b***h.  Good in bed, terrible mother.’  It had been a good thing at the court hearing the judge deemed her unfit to be a parent on the charges of negligence and reckless behavior.  They weren’t even married over six months when Dana came along, and he noticed his wife just empty her sorrows away into a bottle.  That’s when he knew he had to do something, so he filed for full custody for his out-of-wedlock 3-week year old and won the case.  A lingering thought kept playing through his mind, ‘even the Judge saw right through her.’  Which made him even more happy because it was due to the fact she stated in the courtroom, ‘I never even wanted a kid in the first place.’  Brett took a big sigh after finishing his cigarette and threw it out the window much like he threw out his wife of only six months, and good riddance, he was better off without her.  Dana and he could have a nice happy life together, nobody else but them, and in his heart, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

            After making a call back home and talking to the babysitter for five minutes, he hung up and continued driving.  He thanked himself it was only 2 o’clock in the afternoon so he could spend the rest of the evening holding Dana and watch her play with her stuffed animals.  Of course, the following day he would start his double shift, but he was having his mother come over to babysit.  It was good living close to his family, but he would not want to put that burden on them of watching Dana every day.  They came to an agreement that they would take her three days out of the week and on his days off he could spend the entire day with her.  Sure, daily life was hectic with cooking, cleaning, taking care of a newborn but he was doing well for himself.  Being a paramedic was not a walk in the park, well with all patients one has and the constant bartering with nurses at the community hospital and the occasional drunk that needed his stomach pumped, it was who he was doing all the work for.  That was the incentive, and it kept him up most nights to give his daughter the best life he could give her.  That’s the kind of motivation that is based around love.  Unconditional love. 

            After another hour of the drive left home, he tried to calculate it the best he could.  He tried his best after high school to apply to a university, however junior college served him better.  When he was there, he found a nice trade that suited him best, medical school.  From there he applied to the EMT program in which he passed with flying colors.  It allowed him to pursue the trade further, and the following year paramedic school seemed to just breeze on by.  So far everything was going well, and it became more complete when Dana was born.  The apple of his eye.  For her everything had been worth it, all the struggles that came with his previous girlfriend and the rigorous schedule.

            It had been well into the evening when he arrived home and the sight of his two-bedroom house loomed down the block.  Acting like a small little refuge, he tried to work on it the best he could with the constant repairs and the small bag of sealant on his porch which symbolized the remaining cracks in his driveway that still required to be applied and tampered with.  And that when he saw the babysitter sitting out on his front lawn, she lifted his daughter’s little hand to wave at him as the truck halted right before the 10 by 10 garage. 

            “Hopefully the little one didn’t give you trouble,” as Brett moved out of the front seat and picked up the olive-colored cooler from the trunk bed.

            “This angel.  She pretty much slept the entire time,” the babysitter cooed just like his newborn.  Even though the babysitter looked about five years younger than Brett, she had long flowing blonde hair and sometimes she babysat wearing short skirts which left little to the imagination.  There were times when he thought about making a move but the responsibility of nearing the age of 27 stopped his advancement.  Besides his daughter came first and the thought of dating after just divorcing a woman whom he thought would make a good mother and turned out to be nothing but a cold-hearted soulless cash-grab, he wasn’t ready for another relationship.

            After bringing the rest of his camping gear and settling in, he pierced around his small abode and took a deep breath of dollar store scented air fresheners.  Being reminded of the traps he placed up in the storage attic due to a squirrel hibernating from last Spring, he took Dana from the babysitter and said his goodbyes.  He thanked her and she thanked him, and the money left upon the bookshelf when one leaves through the front door disappeared as she kissed Dana on the cheek.  Brett held her close, and he watched the young woman waltz across the front yard, and a quick thought came to him ‘don’t have any thoughts, jughead. Just turn around and make Dana her dinner.’  It took a moment but the babysitter hopped in her Toyota parked across the street, and Brett waved to her in accordance. 

            The rest of the night flew by almost as if the camping trip was a temporary notice.  Work loomed on the horizon come tomorrow, his mother would call him first thing in the morning just so he could leave the key under the doormat.  When the clock struck 9, Dana began to cry, and he warmed up one of her bottles by using all the pots inherited from his grandmother.  Putting her down for another sleepless night was always a hustle like playing checkers where the other player never moved his back row.  This part Brett dreaded the most, but it was worth it when Dana passed out merely half an hour later.  Much quicker than expected, more so than most nights where his daughter played havoc with his own sleep. 

            Her crib was in the spare bedroom, and he turned on the baby monitor post haste.  Making sure the little stars and unicorns, her favorite animal, turned simultaneously above her head and playing twinkle twinkle little star, he belted out a yawn.  All the lights were turned off, the AC kicked on full blast, the water heater hummed and rattled as he finished taking the last shower of the day.  Come tomorrow the process starts all over again.  But he didn’t mind it as long as Dana had a roof over her head, his life was almost perfect, highlighting the word, almost.  Maybe one day he could meet the right woman that would make a good mother for Dana, but those lingering memories faded as he went to bed.

            The smoke detector rang and rang almost like a ticking time bomb ready to explode.  He glanced over at the clock perched on his nightstand and in big bright green letters it showed it was 3am in the morning.  ‘Damnit’ he cursed to himself.  Back cracking as he stood up, he realized he was no longer in high school, he could no longer do the 10-mile run when he joined the junior track team.  The kinks worked themselves out as he went down the small hallway to open the linen closet where the spare batteries he bought from Ace Hardware existed.  But that was when he noticed smoke rising from the family room downstairs.

            “S**t…”  He ran down the stairs like a bat out of hell and noticed his front room covered in flames.  The drapes covered in crimson and his recliner burned into cinder.  His only thought was on Dana, he had to get her out of the house and fast.  His legs pumped up and down as he ascended each step and when he reached the top, an unknown entity tackled him to the ground.  Brett brought his arm back and clocked the intruder across the jaw noticing he was wearing a black mask with holes cut out in the center so he could get a good look at his eyes.  They were bluish in hue just like his and the man grunted when the punch landed.  Brett got on top of the masked villain and the clobbering began, getting a couple of good punches in before the intruder started to bleed from his mouth.

            Another hooded intruder came from his very own bedroom and a reddish tint was held in his hand.  He saw the Molotov cocktail as clear as day and the other masked hoodlum tossed it graciously on his bed, the embers exploded across his mattress.  “Get out my house, you b******s or I’m calling the cops!”  The second intruder just grinned wickedly but his eyes held a different story.  They were red just like the fire dancing behind him.  He swore his teeth were sharpened beneath the mask looking like a wolf overlooking his next meal, “What the hell…”  Brett stammered and something hit the back of his head which made him black out.

            He did not remember what happened next let alone have any recollection of what just occurred.  The entire time his unconscious state manifested when he smelled the burning soot and brittle wood crumbling around him.  As he neared conscious awareness, he felt himself being dragged to where he had no idea, two arms dug deep into his armpits, and another two wrapped around his ankles.  ‘He had enough of this s**t,’ he imagined.  He kicked off sending one of the masked intruders backward into the small garden in his backyard.  The other hesitated and Brett head lunged back forcing himself out of the mysterious masked figure’s grip.  Punks, that was he thought; he balled his hands into fists and started wailing upon the one behind him.  Knocking the one onto the hard cement, his foot found its way into the man’s ribcage, and he exhaled nothing but blood.

            The downed intruder pushed upward from his crouched position rummaging through a small tomato plant and some herbs as he jumped up willingly.  His eyes, nothing but two angered spectacles, focused on the man they were sent to kill due to an undisclosed mission.  The intruder’s intent cleared, and this would only garner him more renown, possibly a higher rank in the coven.  He brandished a switchblade and lunged at the victim who stood tall and proud.  “Really, come on man,” Brett smirked.  Easily Brett cold cocked him across his nose not even threatened by such a scrawny what-he-deemed kitchen appliance.  The hooded menace dropped on both knees, blood screeching down his nose into his mouth.  His hand checked to see if his nose was broken but before he knew it, a foot lodged right into his stomach and he keeled over.  The two intruders decorated his back lawn blending into the grass below them, grabbing appendages that were either bruised, broken, or busted.

            Brett raced to his back door and darted inside noticing half of the house engorged in a fiery inferno.  “Dana!  Baby…don’t worry.  Daddy’s coming to get you,” as he made his way towards the stairs going up to the second story.  But he flew back against the wall from an unseen force.  Too quick to be judged by any eyesight.  It moved horridly like a blind specter then he witnessed the second story of his house cave in.  Whatever this thing was, it capsized the entire ceiling in one gigantic explosion of embers.  The smell haunted his senses because this was no ordinary sulfur-laden stench, it stunk of a rotting corpse.  Brett knew it was too late and he made his way towards his front door the best he could.  The fire wreaked intense heat as his feet carried him across the front lawn.

            Looking backwards towards his house he saw what the building turned into, nothing but a magnitude of rage pulsed throughout his body.  Tears drained from his eyes as he looked up at his daughter’s bedroom hearing her cries come and go as the night howled its longing goodbye.  Falling to his knees he wondered how this could have happened?  Who were those men wearing hoods and masks?  And what was the thing he saw in his stairwell?  “Dana…I am so sorry sweetheart…”  He merely watched the only thing he ever loved was burned away inside the raging fire.  It was only then he heard the sirens blazing in the distance, they must have been at least a mile away and would be here in a matter of minutes.  Pretty soon ambulances and fire trucks would be striding down his street, and he would have to file a report of what transpired.

            But the whole debacle seemed out of the ordinary as he noticed something diabolical moving from one end of the roof to the other.  A blackened carcass moved side to side crawling over one edge that was near where his daughter’s room used to be.  The same two reddened eyes stared back at him, and he thought he saw this monstrosity laugh.  Tears gave way to blind rage as he glared at this transparent black mass. 

            “Why don’t you come down here, you coward and fight me like a man!”  This creature remained there stoically, not even an inch of it trembled.  It stood still like static, unflinching and unwavering.  Brett even wondered if it was coherent, it had to be.  It was listening intently, and he walked closer to his rotting corpse of a house, “You take my daughter away from me,” looking like a psychopath screaming in public at something that could not be detected, “I think you are too chicken-s**t to actually come down here so I can kick your a*s.”  He was standing underneath the creature yelling at an indescribable black mass.  From where he was standing, he could almost make out its features that appeared cat-like.  But as he neared his unfathomable intruder it leaped off the peak of his decaying house and hovered high above for a split second and descended across the street taking flight above a row of trees.

            Brett’s emotions were in full force, the calamity edging further into hatred.  Hesitation was not in his vocabulary and threw himself into his trunk.  Grabbing the extra spare keys from underneath the driver’s seat, he started up the engine which roared with frustration.  The stick shift came down as he ignored the gears, but instinct took over and his pickup truck sped off down the suburban road.  Thank the good lord he installed the Hemi with the two-intake manifold when he did, his truck barely backfired because everything wrong with it was modified to his liking.

            Every two seconds he looked up in the sky eyeing the black mass.  It glided but barely flew, dipping in and out of his vision.  Making sure his attention was on the road, this creature swooped down and disappeared across another street.  He ignored all traffic lights and weaved between two parked vehicles.  His eyes darted back up into the sky seeing this opaque blackness make a hard turn left.  He had no clue where this thing was headed, and the creature snapped its ugly head around to stare back at the truck which drove haphazardly down the road.  It yielded in mid flight and changed course dodging its engorged body left and Brett’s truck followed suit.  An oncoming car swerved and scurried along the curb of the road completely avoiding the racing truck.  Brett’s vision faltered and focused in on this unforgiving mist once more, his veins protruding out from the confines of his neck. 

            The gliding creature flew downwards and came across a big sign that just read CEMETERY on its front gate.  It bellowed its languid form through the gate acting more like a malleable ghost than something that contained mass.  The truck ran through a red light and the man behind the wheel had a serious look plastered on his face that of a racecar driver.  He completely ignored the main gate to the cemetery and stormed his front fender into the grating, busting the gate wide open. 

            “Yeah…” Brett muttered under his breath, “Figured something like you belongs in a place like this.”  He shifted the manual gear into position five and the truck howled across the barren field of graves.  Most of them slept restlessly underneath as screeching tires mulched up the foliage and one tombstone jolted upward from its unearthly state as it exploded on impact when the front bumper tore through it like tissue paper.  This blackened entity slowed down and Brett’s eyes locked on to him, and he saw this manifestation backpedal and return to its hovering motion.

            This creature began circling around a series of opened graves and growled with egregious maliciousness.  It knew this man was never going to give up his chase, and it swooped down low to graze the top of a Celtic cross that adorned one of the headstones.  In a moment’s haste Brett saw something pierce the entity, it looked like a harpoon of some kind.  An arrow landed between this creature’s eyes, and it began to falter in the air.  He slammed on the brakes with heart pounding feet as his truck came to a halt.  Eyes watched as the creature irked out a scream sounding like a wounded dog when he gets his paw caught in a snare.  Two luminescent fog lights lit up the night sky out from the darkness of the cemetery and Brett was taken aback as the harpoon and arrow had two cables attached to the ends. 

            The creature struggled to take flight again and Brett hopped out of his truck entering full sprint to where this thing crashed into the ground.  The monster knocked his head against the same Celtic cross it grazed before, and Brett made his agonizing ascent towards it.  Coming closer towards the damned creature he got a good look at what it actually was, something not of this world, something horrendous.  He could easily make out its engorged legs, its enhanced arms, its burgeoning torso. 

            “I’d be careful if I were you,” a voice echoed in the distance.  The flood lights permeated his vision, but the voice sounded familiar.  His eyes refocused and saw three more figures standing next to a large conversion van.  It took a while for his eyes to adjust but the three illuminated bodies stood in front of a series of flood lights.  Out of the three only one pointed a large fluorescent bulb at the downed creature and it began to blister and wreak in pain.  The same growling noise mustered from its throat as it gurgled out specs of blood.  Brett stood there stunned and in awe.  No more tears were warranted, only frustration beyond recognition.  This creature shuttered from the light’s onslaught and cowered in defeat.  A wave of satisfaction gripped his emotions.

            “What is thing?” He yelled at the three figures.  Two of them shut off the remaining flood lights and allowed the creature to fester and retreat in its advances.  Now there was only blackness staring back at him and two of them approached Brett.  He took two steps back and brought out his pocketknife which he held away from him as if to ward these unknown figures off, “Who the hell are you people?  I need answers now!”

            The two broke through the dark of the night and came into full view.  Out of all the people he met back in high school well into his young adult years, after all the late nights binge drinking, after visiting his old friend in college, after standing up as best man in his best friend’s wedding, he laughed uncontrollably.  His hands came around his neck trying to calm down his heart rate as he saw Hector and Philip standing before him, “How…why…what are you two doing here?”

            “Surprised to see us?”  Hector held that snarky attitude, still the same posture he gained from playing tight end on the football field.

            “We have a lot to talk about,” Philip spoke next in line.  He still looked child-like in nature but a couple of inches taller and his hair had grown longer than his usual high-school crewcut.

            Brett began to cry again as he looked upon the creature.  Its decaying body remained stationary, and its breaths were shallow.  Its movements slowed down tremendously.  From his previous encounter with this unknown intruder, he wondered what its capabilities were.  “Don’t worry, buddy.  The thing is incapacitated.  We made sure of it,” Hector finally broke the silence between them.

            “I know what these creatures can do,” Philip moved to his old friend’s side and pointed at the creature who appeared to be drugged and incoherent, “They take away the things we love the most.  The people we care most about.  These spawn of the undead have a mission and most of them are hellbent on destruction.”

            “Well, it’s good to see to you too, Phil.  Thanks for a grandiose lecture,” Brett sarcastically stated, “But nothing on God’s green earth is going to bring back my daughter.”  Hector walked toward his old friend who had not seen in over two years.  He handed Brett a bottle of cool water and Brett practically yanked it from his hand, “Well if it isn’t the calvary.  You were Dana’s godfather, you should have warned me about…about…” he charged his body forward into a jolting kick that bounced off the creature’s stomach, “whatever the hell this thing is.”

            “Vampires,” Hector scratched his head in bewilderment at what he just said.  Philip’s hand came up to stop a laugh from belting out.  “Well at least he is still tenacious,” Philip stuttered a little bit, “I guess some traits last well into adulthood.”  Both Hector and Philip nodded to each other looking at their friend march back towards them.  That was when the crying started again.  Brett looked devastated and his best friend, Hector, understood what tragic devastation does to a man.  Philip wanted to say he was sorry but bit his tongue, his eyes falling on the ground.  Standing still like two statues up on a deserted hill, they waited until Brett lost the last of his esteemed cynicism and began wailing on the creature.  Fists flew back and forth, pummeling into the creature’s body.  Hector started to walk towards his Brett but Philip placed a solitary hand on his chest to stop him, knowing the grieving process would unfold into utter madness.  Brett’s punches pounded into the creature, one right hook then a left one, and the third figure briskly approached the other two.

            The three of them stood in unison almost as armed soldier preparing to go to war.  The processing stage took its toll on Brett as tears were wept and punches were thrown.  His screams belted out and heard even by nearby possums.  “You son of a b***h…I’ll kill every last one of you until you choke…you burned down my house…you took away the one person I care about in this world…the only one…I will watch you guys burn to hell and back…” With each break in sorrowful shouts another punch broke another bone in this creature’s body.  That is how strong their friend had become.  Brett had no filter when it came to passionate discourse.  Every punch felt like a weight being lifted off his shoulders, every bone he heard crack gave his daughter the solace she deserved.  It lasted for about ten minutes until Brett lumbered up proudly, dusting the entrails off his bloody knuckles.

            “Well, I got that out of my system.  This creature deserves all the hell he put me through and then some,” Brett walked away as if he stormed off the beaches of Normandy, his fists still balled like raw iron mallets.  He began to pace back and forth, teeth gritting, his muscles tensed; he looked like a man hyped on mescaline.  His eyes burned with unbridled anger; his mouth tasted of soot the creature exfoliated from his body.  His glare landed on the third figure watching him and astonishment came into fruition.

            “Robbie…” Brett shuttered and gazed upon the third man.  His old grammar school friend frowned and sighed.  The man whom he played little league baseball with stood before him wearing a pair of silver rimmed glasses.  He was much taller than the last time they met.  He introduced to him to his future wife when they graduated high school, in return Robbie invited him to his wedding as his best man.  Brett’s smile widened remembering every moment they shared as children, riding bikes in the neighborhood park, sneaking into movie theaters and pulling off five-finger discounts.  The time when Philip brought them all cigarettes when they became teenagers.  Of course, they were underage, but Hector hounded him until his countenance broke.  Robbie’s little scare tactics where he tried to pull the most elaborate Halloween prank which landed him a one-way ticket to the ER, Philip obtaining a sprained ankle, and Hector somehow losing his wrist watch, which found its home in Brett’s sock drawer and he randomly thought about how it still rested at the bottom.  He battered away timeless memories and focused on the reality before him which stared directly in his hardened eyes.  Dana came into conscious awareness as the three friends smiled back at him knowing their strength just doubled as a team effort.

            “It’s been a long time.  I lost something important to me too and I know how you feel.  There are a lot of things that we need to discuss.  Very important things that need to be revealed,” Robbie shook his friend’s hand, and he winced from the tightness of Brett’s firmness. 

            “We have all the time in world.  No words can describe how I feel.  But right now, I could care less,” Brett turned his gaze towards Philip, “Show me where these things live or hibernate or whatever…leave me in a white padded room with one of them cause they’re all gonna’ pay for taking Dana away from me.”