Exposition of the Undead, Part 3

Going back to the present day, I focus on the backstory on the group of dedicated vampire hunters and how they are introduced to this vampire plague and unrelenting darkness.

Robert

            The wedding lasted for over a week, or that is how it felt at least.  His high school sweetheart eventually became the old ball-and-chain, but he only concentrated on the great times they had together.  His wife, Lauren, glowed radiantly that evening in her flowing white gown.  They shared vows with each other, danced in a bond that he held dear to his heart, drank delectable wine and swapped stories with all his friends who stood up in the procession.  Clanking beers with one another they reminisced on the glory days of high school.

            Philip was heading off to college in the fall and he could not be happier for his friend.  He kept on talking about how he wanted to become a writer.  Hector laughed at the thought, but he stood behind his friend’s decision.  He was going to miss him thoroughly.  Brett drew a picture in his mind of his friend being on the New York best seller’s list, and Robbie smiled from the fact that it could be a possibility.  Philip asked him personally what his plans were now that he got hitched, and the only thing on his mind had been the honeymoon.  He mentioned how a married man needs to take care of his family and Hector cackled at the idea.  They all sat at the head wedding table laughing and engaging in small talk well until the clock chimed past the midnight hour. 

            All of that happened five years ago and not a day goes by where none of those archaic memories comes flooding back.  Now he was a man and happily married to the one woman who reciprocated her love in return.  His wife and him wished to grow their family instantly, and on their honeymoon, she made a man out of him.  And Robbie enjoyed every sexual second of their passion.  They spent their honeymoon down in the Florida Keys.  Lauren, excitable in nature, was thrilled that he took her to such an extravagant location.  He wanted to give her the world, but reality chimed in about 9 months later.

            Erin had been born on a Friday afternoon, and the realization kicked in to high gear.  Robert needed to find a job and quickly.  However worried thoughts painted a doubtful picture in his mind.  Of course, the first two years were filled with desperate times.  They went from living with his parents to living with her parents to renting out an apartment in the downtown area.  Looking back on it now he recalled all the times he had to fix leaky pipes, upholster the bathroom because the toilet overflowed, how Erin would keep the neighbors up at night and an eviction notice was plastered on their door the following morning.  Robbie regretted living in such an environment, but they had to endure such hardships while Robert applied for the firefighter’s academy.

            Never a great test taker, it took three times until he received a passing grade.  Once he got accepted the money came rolling in.  In about another year Lauren and he were able to afford a 1,500 square foot house in the suburbs.  The commute down to the fire station took about an hour’s drive but Robert never minded a good day’s work.  Never a stranger to hard labor, he succeeded where other people naturally gave up.  He propelled himself up the totem pole of success within the station.  Over the years he was promoted constantly working his way up to the chief of station 212.  His veracity became determination, and he did everything he could for his wife and daughter. 

             He watched his daughter grow up right before his eyes.  Remembering how she had been nervous on her first day of school.  Lauren basically shoved her inside the bricked hallways of kindergarten.  She hated school which Robert never protested.  He too never enjoyed the everyday psychobabble of teacher’s handing out homework and grading test.  He was the type of person that preferred action over studying.  In return his grades slacked due to his laziness and off-putting personality.  ‘I guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree,’ he would tell Lauren as they talked before bedtime.  She tried countlessly with Lauren to smarten her wits and to apply herself.  Eventually Lauren excelled in classes such as English and art.  When he worked the night shift on the weekends, he thought how Erin inherited those traits from Lauren.

            As time marched on, Robert occasionally would see his friends from high school.  Every once and a while he would bump into Brett if they both were on call that day.  Him being a firefighter and his best friend being a paramedic it was bound to happen.  Probably more times than he could mention.  At first it was the casual chit-chat, catching up on lost time, talking about what they were doing that weekend or if they wanted to grab a beer after work.  Over the course of a year or two those moments rarely happened, and Robert concentrated on work.  He believed his friend Brett had the same responsibilities as him so the few times they ran into each other turned out to be nothing more than a wave and a simple ‘hey.’

            Hector sporadically called him out of the blue about three times a year.  They talked about getting together to rustle up some good memories and have lunch.  The four times they met up within the span of three years had been quite uneventful.  Hector mentioned instances that Robert refused to remember like the time when he passed out in the neighbor’s pool after trying to hit on his old girlfriend from high school.  He tried to put that thought to rest since there was nothing more to be said.  The last time they went out for lunch they barely spoke, glancing up at each other as they ate.  Hector said something about opening his own business but midway through the conversation Robert turned a blind eye to what came out of his mouth.  He shrugged it off as if nothing was said and told the simple tropes, ‘Erin is doing good in school,’ ‘Lauren started a new career,’ ‘I just got promoted,’ etc.  That was the last time Hector called.  He recollected a tidbit of what they conversed about, Philip graduated from college…blah, blah…and the thought regressed into the back of his skull.

            Life became mundane after five years.  Time reared its ugly head and another year gone turned him one year older.  One year wiser.  One more year down the drain.  Lauren still held her beauty like a sparkling angel.  If he aged horribly, she aged magnificently.  Erin acted more like a teenager than she did as a child.  Of course this led to pointless bickering, Robert would laugh, and Lauren would discipline.  This led into arguments between him and Lauren but Robert laid down the suave charm she came to love and they made up by having sex in the backseat of their car more than once.  Robert lavished a great life but not everything was perfect.  Throughout all the arguments, his child growing into a young woman, there came a stream of promotions and a series of connections he had with city ordinances.  Friends hauntingly became a distraction and a waste of time.  Just another distant memory until one disturbing day. 

            A call came into the station.  The dispatcher rang through the intercom relaying the location of the hazard.  A squad of Robert’s best men rose from their bunks, a couple of off-duty apprentices that played blackjack in the lobby quirked their heads to the blaring siren. 

            “Move it or lose it guys.  This is standard protocol and procedure,” Robert stormed out from his station office into the bay area, “I want two cadets in the front car.  Harrison and I will ride shotgun.  Apprentices…you two…on top of the rig.  I want ambulances and a paramedic team when we arrive down at 49^th street.  McKinnon…radio community hospital, tell them to have at least two nurses and one doctor ready for intake in case we have any casualties.  On the double gentlemen, this is the biggest one we had in months.”

            Two large fire trucks exited station 212 and headed to their designated location.  Dispatchers blurted out coordinates and the number of civilians in the vicinity of the outbreak.  One of the dispatchers mentioned at least one victim caught in the explosion.  Explosion?  That heightened Robert’s awareness tenfold.  The location was a local dive bar in the inner city.  A little hangout that supported and catered to policemen, firefighters, and the like.  His squad garnered enough time to dispatch to the local police department.  The boys in blue should be on location within a matter of ten minutes. 

            Across an intersection of oncoming cars, most pedestrians pulled over towards the curb allowing a firefighter rite of passage to do their duty.  This is what he lived for; the adrenaline kicked into high gear.  Sirens blared and sang their magical tune.  Another block and his eyes glazed over from the sweltering flames flowing up into the graces of heaven.  “This is it gentleman.  I want everyone prepared just in case there is damage to the exterior walls.  Harrison…get those hydrants open on the double…bring the cadets with you, they could use the training.  McKinnon…I need you on the ground…looks like we got a wild one…have the axes and sledges on ready.  We might have to go in.”

            The firefighters took all the necessary precautions.  McKinnon directed curious onlookers to stand at least 50 feet back from the impact zone.  Harrison twisted open the latch while the cadets followed protocol by hooking up the hoses.  Another fire truck arrived from station 319 and Robert talked to the chief captain who pointed out hot spots to his squad.  The two discussed an entry point and five guys, three from his squad and two from the captain’s, began to break down the front door to the bar.  Standard procedures proved to be useful in any situation, especially an uncontrollable fire such as this one.  Two squad cars approached the bar, and the officers began to direct traffic coming from either direction.  The ambulance wasn’t too far behind and showed up a moment later.  Two EMTS were already attending to a person that caught flying debris in the arm.

            “Looks like we got a scorcher,” the captain of station 319 said proudly.

            “It’s been a while since we had one like this,” Robert explained.  He pulled the jacket over his overalls and Harrison handed him his chief’s helmet.  Once the entrance to the bar broke down to the efforts of both squads, Robert went inside with his men.  Two of them had the snake-like hose under both of their arms and the other three used their axes to knock the remaining debris out of the way.  A tight formation of seven men stormed inside and the hose created magic that Robert loved to watch.  Steam began to rise as he pointed to weak points within the foundation.  Two men started to chop at a support beam to control the spread of the fire.  The second team came in steadfast, two men from station 319 armed themselves with their water coiled weapon and spread wave after wave of nature’s remedy.

            Out of the corner of his eye Robert caught a glimpse of a person, “One stranded…looks like where the bathrooms are located…I want one man controlling the radius of the spread…the other find the hot spot behind the bar…come on, men…this is what we do for a living, now haul a*s!  We got a fire to put out!  I’ll grab the civilian…make sure the ambulance is out in front on my command and ready for transport.” 

            Robert lumbered over some bar stools and hopped over a blazing table that looked like someone played poker from the night before.  The intense inferno dulled down to a simmer; his squad eased the flames to a grinding halt.  Robert took his axe and wildly chopped at a downed beam in front of him.  “Just relax sir, I’m going to get you out of here.  Stay right there and don’t move.”  But the more he looked at this man, he awkwardly stood still like he had been a ghost haunting the place.  His hands wrapped around his back and arched straight upward, he looked as if he was standing there for a long time.  He wore a top hat and a set of sunglasses which made him appear ghastly.  Not even on his arms moved an inch, a tremble did not occur, and his stature seemed unaffected by the fire surrounding him.  Robert thought to himself, ‘It’s like staring at a painting.’

            “I’m so glad you came here, Robert.” The man spoke quietly as Robert approached the unflinching man.  His thoughts raced as he grabbed hold of the man’s arm.  Wrapping his body around the man’s, he looked blindly at Robert through yellow-tinted beams.  The stench radiating off him was unbearable.  He smelled of wet dog mixed with sulfur and iodine.  Robert grasped his arms and pulled him out from the corridor the man cornered himself into.  As he dragged the man by the shoulders, the man could care less of the destruction hailing down around him and solemnly stared at Robert, “You better be prepared for what comes next.”

            Ignoring the man’s incoherent rambling he maneuvered the man out the entranceway.  By this time half of the fire had been tamed and the hot zones were under control.  Three of his squad members pulled out and began to tamper and seal the raging fire to minimal levels.  The man disregarded the other firefighters only concentrating on the hero that saved his life.  Robert pushed him out of the way, his emotions flaring like the fire on the inside.  This man’s esteem resembled that of a cool head with absolutely no emotion.  He did not even want to direct the man to the ambulance as he took off his helmet.  He wondered if anyone noticed this strange man but him.

            “You’re free to go.  I would get checked out if I were you.  Make sure you don’t have any third degree burns or anything sprained,” Robert hesitantly spoke to him, his eyes narrowed in on the weirdness oozing off the man. 

            The man swiftly took off his glasses and peered at Robert.  Those eyes mimicked that of a cat, the yellow tint bore needles into his soul, “Thank you for rescuing me.  I owe you my life.  I cannot say the same for your wife, Lauren, and your daughter, Erin.”

            Robert froze as little nerve endings rolled up and down his spine.  Whoever this man was threatened the sanctity of his marriage and fatherhood.  Robert grimaced as most of the firefighters walked around him attending to the fire that lulled into a dull heat.  Almost like Robert and the man defied time and space, and the world spun around them both unrelenting.  A wicked grin spread across the man’s lips as terror seeped through Robert’s pores.

            The police began to tape up caution and warning signs.  Paramedics and officers attended to stray civilians.  All the firefighters paid no attention to what Robert had experienced.  He wished to call over an officer to examine the strange man with the top hat but something otherworldly told him not to.  The man sternly placed his sunglasses over his nose and looked up at Robert for one last time.  He nodded in conjunction with his intentions and the smile disappeared from his graying visage, “My mission is complete.  Have a wonderful day.  Give my best to your family.”  The man laughed maniacally as he casually walked down the street.  Robert’s eyes followed the man until he saw something disturbing.  The man seemed to vanish into thin air leaving smoky gray trails that kept moving forward down the sidewalk.  He glanced around at his squad, the officers, the chief from station 319, and no one seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary.  Robert was not even sure if what he saw was real or not, but it disturbed him to his core the entire time until the cleanup crew came and the detectives showed up from downtown to open up an investigation.  They questioned Robert, the chief of station 212, and he only stated the bare minimum.

            The entire day drowned out around him and all menial tasks back at the station seemed uneventful.  He sat in his office reclused from the outside world playing the whole day’s scenario over in his head.  Who was that man?  And most importantly, how come no one noticed him but me?  The awkwardness of the events harbored more questions.  It made him reminisce, he never even thought of any past memories when he was on active duty.  His family and job always came first.  His priorities were set in stone.  Staring at the clock, he watched the black handle fall on number 11.  Lauren would be sleeping when he opened the garage that evening.  She indeed was a heavy sleeper, and nothing ever disturbed her not even when Erin would cry as a newborn.

            On the drive back home, his high school friends flooded the backside of his cranium.  The first time he remotely thought of them.  How Brett and him shared typical grammar school shenanigans, getting into trouble running up and down the foul smelling hallways of the school and being swept away to detention, blamed for pointless acts of recklessness in recess.  Then high school propped up, and his base of friends grew exponentially.  There he met Philip and Steve and Hector.  Long lasting friendships were formed, dating for the first time, being egged on by Hector to join them on the football team but settling on baseball.  It was one of the few sports he excelled in, and he remembered how their team when down to the state finals during his junior year.  It all seemed so distant now and his family materialized before his eyesight.  Lauren and Erin grew to become much more important, so he placed those memories into the caverns of his mind.  But this was the first time in a long time to have those memories resurface.

            Maybe that strange studious man brought out those memories.  The more he pondered the frivolous weirdness of the whole situation, the more his old high school friends circled his mind.  It felt like his life got jumbled into a million jigsaw pieces.  But his wife, Lauren, always placed things into perspective for him, she knew exactly what to say to bring him back to rational thinking whenever the reminiscing made him morose.  She indeed was his rock, and he loved every waking moment with her.

            Stopped at a red light just before making a left turn, he canted his head towards the left to see a man staring at him from the crosswalk.  The same black top hat and haunting silver rimmed glasses adorned his face.  A similar or possibly the same black outfit aligned his figure.  That impervious sly smile stretched across his lips.  Robert froze and sat stunned and perturbed.  A nervous uneasiness of feeling off trembled into his hands which tightened around the steering wheel.  A simple nod from the man gave Robert the incentive to race home.  Memories of high school sped away as did his car, and the flood of images of Lauren in trouble or even worse, if Erin got hurt in any manner, melted back his tired bones back into reality. 

            The previous fifteen minutes of driving seemed like an eternity.  His car reached up to 70 miles per hour as he raced down the highway like a speedster jolting headfirst off the starting line.  He barely realized that the fuel tank flashed empty.  “Damn!”  He would have to get off at the next junction, thinking to himself he could always take the back roads home.  Sure, it added another ten minutes on his ride home but the thought of his car stalling on the highway was even a worse case scenario.  The car spurted as the exit ramp twirled and twisted into a busy area of the city.  Big neon lights that glowed displayed 2.35 per gallon at the next available gas station.  His car came to a grinding stop to the closest fuel pump. 

            Robert quickly brought out his credit card and placed the spout inside the 15-gallon tank that made up the Toyota he drove to and from work.  His feet eagerly shuffled back and forth as he constantly waited impatiently.  Toes tapped nervously under the soles of his shoes.  His head tilted downward only thinking of what this shady inconspicuous man could have meant when he said such things.  A tapping sensation landed on his shoulder coming from a person behind him for at that very second everything else was inconsequential. 

            “Robbie,” an old friend from his past took over the whole display of his vision, “It has been a long time hasn’t it.”

            Standing before him was like seeing a ghost from his past.  He thought he placed those memories back to their archaic slumber but Philip stood in their way.  His mind immediately went to Lauren and Erin but concentrated more so on his friend, “Phil.  Long time no see,” a smile hid all the tension building up, “It’s great to see you.”

            Philip slid his hands into jacket pockets, his hair unkempt and sort of wavy, dressed like he lived in a halfway house.  The smile faded momentarily into a soft frown holding some kind of secret knowledge.  Both of them stood scarily silent facing one another.  For a brief minute no words could describe them meeting at a random gas station.

            “Well, it’s great to see you.  We should get together for lunch or have a beer one night.  Catch up on the good old days.  But right now, I’m on way home.  You remember Lauren from high school?”  Philip nodded but Robert saw his eyes glaze over, “Well…” he lifted up his hand to reveal the ring around his finger, “Almost seven years now.  I should have sent an invitation to the wedding but the last time I heard you were busy with college and other things.  So, I did not think it was that important,” Philip’s arms started to shake and Robert gazed down at them sensing that something might have been wrong with his old friend, “I am sorry I never stayed in contact with you over the years.  With all the promotions down at the fire station, Lauren going back to school to obtain her degree, my daughter, Erin, turning six come this fall and starting the first grade…I kind of lost track and life caught up with me.”  That was when tears formed in his best friend’s eyes.  Robert gulped as the emotions carried over to him seeing how his friend shared the sentiment between them.

            “Robert,” Philip sobbed as he stuttered his next words, “I do not want you to panic but hear me out.  I know I haven’t always been a good friend.  I still remember the big fight we had before I left for college.  Those two things I can never truly take back, I should have called you so many times just to bury the hatchet.  That’s not why I’m here tonight.  It is about Lauren and your daughter…I think they might be in trouble.”

            Robert eyes widened and filled with unfiltered doubt.  Somewhere in the back of his mind, the thought of his daughter hurt or mangled or kidnapped appeared in the forefront of the rational world.  The gas pump dinged, and he scurried with the lever in his hand.  Philip rested a hand on his old friend’s shoulder but Robert swashed it away, “You show up out of the blue and I haven’t seen you in about seven or eight years.  And now you tell me that Lauren might be in trouble,” immediately his thoughts focused on the man with the black top hat, “I saved a man earlier today on an intense call.  Does he have anything to do with what happened to them?  He threatened me by mentioning Lauren and my daughter’s name.”

            “I may not know who this man is but I have ran into the people he works for.  We still have plenty of time before something bad happens to your wife and daughter,” Philip started to drag Robert towards the front seat, “Let me come with you.  I’ll fill you in with the knowledge I have about these…people.  We can still help your wife and daughter if we hurry.”

            On the entire ride back to his suburban home Philip sounded like he was talking nonsense.  Vampires, the undead, his sister Sarah, the disappearance of their seventh friend that tagged along with them back in high school, Henry Morris.  Philip rambled on about finding his grandfather’s hunting equipment, that they were family heirlooms dating back to the civil war.  Philip whispered about a book he found but his old friend refused to divulge what was written in it.  Everything Philip said sounded like it came out of the pages of a fantasy novel and Philip mentioned that Hector was involved heading towards his house at the very moment in a separate vehicle.

            Of course this led to a heated argument.  They bickered back and forth like an old married couple.  Robert cursed and swore that Philip got too involved in esoteric matters, and he should have put all that occultic mumbo jumbo to bed.  Philip told him about his research when he attended college, and the more he pressed into the world of the unknown, it became overbearing.  Robert questioned him further about this shadowy unknown man and Philip shared that this unseen fathomable force might have stemmed from his family from the past.  He spoke plainly about whatever this darkness was, it began to fester and spill out onto the people he cared most about.  He never would have imagined that these…vampires…troubled and affected his friends in insufferable secretive tactics.  Robert stated a rebuttal that there might have been a probability, if what his old friend said was true, they were portrayed as a mob of interconnected beings.  Even his own words sounded ridiculous as their conversation lasted well over half an hour before they sped down his neighborhood block. 

            Hector wasn’t too far behind.  A large conversion van hightailed his old friend’s Toyota all the back to where he lived.  He understood Philip was sharing all the information he and his friend researched on a day-to-day basis.  A gurgling upset stomach rumbled just from the thought of it.  When both vehicles parked simultaneously in front of the auburn trimmed house Hector poked his eyes towards the front door only to see it broken into.

            Philip tried to calm down his friend as Robert vaulted from his car.  His legs pumped ferociously, and he heaved out a solemn cry.  No words described what Robert contemplated and Philip ran after his dear old friend.  But it was too late, Robert stormed through the front door bypassing all the kiddie toys strewn out across the porch.  Hector jogged up his front lawn until he yielded from a death-defying scream.  Philip’s legs faltered and fell back hearing the terrible yell echo well into the night.  Both Hector and Philip eyed each other, both of their minds concluding that they were already too late. 

            Hector slowly ascended the porch steps and smelled a fowl stench lofting in the entrance.  Philip pulled a sharp object from the belt of his pants.  Hector glared backward toward his friend and garnered a wooden stake in his right hand.  Preparing for the worst they both entered in the house that resembled death itself.  Hector’s jaw dropped and Philip’s eyes turned upward to see their best friend’s wife hanging from the ceiling.  Robert calmly sat on the couch adorning his living room, his hands clasped together in some type of thought prayer.  The crying ensued and fell in droves upon the embroidered carpet.

            “Oh Lauren,” Robert sobbed, “I should have been here.  I should have been here to protect you both.”  Hector’s remorse synched with his friend’s emotions as he sat next to friend putting an arm around his shoulder.  Philip noticed the rope tied around Lauren’s neck; it was soaked in blood which disturbed him to his core.  His eyes landed on the kitchen and noticed the linoleum floor plastered in a pool of blood.  Philip tip-toed into the kitchen with a buoy knife at the ready in case someone decided to jump out and attack.  Robert watched intently as his friend entered his kitchen and when he came back out into the living room, Philip reacted like him with no words to describe the gruesome catastrophe that occurred to his daughter Erin.  The three of them showed zero emotion as Robert’s cries dried up without any form of resentment on his face.

            “If what you told me in the car was true, Philip,” Robert folded his hands into bold tight fists, “Then these creatures must pay for what they did to my family.  I didn’t believe you at first.  It sounded like one of your many fantasy stories you published over the years,” his eyes turned to face his friend Hector, “I want…no…I need to help you find what this madness entails.  Cause if I just walk away from all this, have a funeral and a wake for Lauren and Erin, go back to my job as if none of this ever happened, continue my life without a wife or daughter, then what is life worth?  What is my purpose?  More of our friends could get hurt in the process.  And I cannot let that happen.”