A Brief History

Jack was holding up his cell phone and Benny could see it was on speaker.

"We have James on the phone," Jack stated, "he's about to fill us in on everything we need to know about vampires."

James' distorted voice came over the phone, "I have a pretty big file here, are you guys sure you got time to hear it?"

"We have a long drive ahead of us," Frank replied, "so, go on and get started."

"Where should I begin?"

"Give us some history. Separate the legends from the reality."

"Well, that's a hard thing to do, really. Most of the old stories are believed to be true by the majority of vampire experts. Many tales that contribute to vampire history date as far back as ancient times.

"There is a Hebrew legend that tells of a woman named Lilith, who would lure men into her lair, seduce them, and then feast on their blood. The Romans believed in similar beings known as the Lamia. The Arabs and ancient Irish spoke of blood-eating spirits and demons.

"There are some rumors floating around that claim Lilith started a secret community hundreds of years ago. A hidden town full of all sorts of supernatural creatures. Stories are told within the vampire enthusiast circles of a woman claiming to be Lilith, the queen of vampires as she put it, terrorizing rural areas of West Virginia as recently as 1989. I know a couple of vampire hunters who claim they tracked her down and killed her, but there is no real evidence of her death."

"Do you have any reason not to believe these hunters?" Frank asked, as he pulled onto I-465, which would take them halfway around Indianapolis to I-65.

"Well, in the five years I've known them, they haven't killed anything. My guess is that this woman was an ordinary vampire with delusions of grandeur. Most of the evidence I've seen points to Lilith dying sometime in the early 15th century, but that could be wrong too. Some say she's still around and resides in a castle somewhere in Europe.

"Now the more traditional vampires first appeared in the 16th century when vampire activity increased rapidly in Europe from the Balkans as far as Greece.

"When Bram Stoker wrote his novel, Dracula, it's well known that he did a lot of research on vampires and Vlad the Impaler. Some believe that he interviewed vampire hunters and possibly even a vampire or two who knew Prince Vlad, who went by the name Dracula at times.

"Vlad Tepes was born in 1431 and was the prince of Walachia, one of three Romanian provinces, at three different times, although his longest rule was from 1456 to 1462. It was then that most of the bad things happened."

"What sort of bad things?" Jack asked.

"Old Vlad was one sick and twisted individual. He loved to impale people, no matter what the reason. Almost anyone who broke the law would end up on a pike, and Vlad loved to do it. He would even go out and eat breakfast among all his victims as they squirmed and groaned to their agonizing deaths.

"There are a lot of stories surrounding Vlad, but the most popular one is 'The Night of Terror'. See, the Sultan of Turkey, having heard the stories coming out of Romania, decided to invade the country and remove Prince Vlad from power. The Turks had set up a camp near Tirgoviste, which was the Walachian capital at the time. In a bold move, Vlad led his army on a nighttime sneak attack against the camp, in the hopes of assassinating the Sultan. The attack caught the Turks off guard, but they managed to regroup and defend the camp. Hundreds of men were killed on both sides before Vlad realized he wasn't going to get to the sultan and called a retreat.

"With Vlad's army gone the road to Tirgoviste lay open to the Turks and the army began marching with the ultimate goal of reaching Vlad's castle and terminating his rule. When the Turks reached Tirgoviste, however, they found it completely deserted. There were no people, no cattle, no food or drink, the Walachian capitol was burned to the ground and many Turkish soldiers found out the hard way that the wells had been poisoned.

"The Turks continued to the next town, only to find the same horrific sight. Town after town it continued until finally, they began to draw near Vlad's castle. With the soldiers dehydrated and starving now, the sultan brought his army to a halt at a gorge near the castle and found the most sickening site yet. There in the gorge were…."

The phone line suddenly went silent. Frank and Jack looked at each other with concern.

"James?" Frank said. "Is everything alright?"

At that moment a strange, deep, voice came on the line; "The subscriber you have dialed is currently out of service, or has left the service area."

"Fucking cell phones!" Jack exclaimed with relief. He accessed the phone book and dialed James' number. The phone rang once and then went to James' voice mail. "Damn it, he must be trying to call us back. I'll just wait for him."

After a few minutes, Jack's phone rang and he pushed the speaker button.

"Sorry about that," James said, "fucking cell phones, right?"

The Writemans all looked at each other and grinned. Frank spoke up; "Anyway, you were saying the Turks came upon a gorge with a horrific sight."

"Right," James restarted, "what they found was nearly twenty thousand impaled bodies. The rotting remains of men, women, and children from all of the villages the Turkish army had just passed through."

"Jesus Christ," Jack breathed in amazement.

"On a much higher pike were the bodies of two assassins sent by the Turks to kill Vlad before the hostilities began. The Sultan knew he could not defeat a man who could be capable of such insanity, so he and his army retreated."

"So, was Vlad a Vampire?" Benny asked.

"No one really knows for sure," James answered.

"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 to the head, 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 clothes 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."

"Fuck!," Benny said. "I guess they like to make sure they got 'em."

"Absolutely."

"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.

"Don't look so nervous, we're going to be just fine," Frank assured him. "It'll be daylight soon. 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 dozing off with Autumn still laying against his chest, twirling her hair, an expression of deep concentration on her face. What do the dead think about? he wondered.

"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."

Jack leaned over and rested his head against the window. Knowing his father's trouble with sleeping of late, he was confident he wouldn't dose off while he was driving. Jack thought he would never be able to sleep after the night's events. Five seconds after that thought he was out.

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

More killing was about to begin.