Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
https://diaryofadisabledperson.wordpress.com/2017/02/26/an-unlikely-crowd/
Posted: 26/02/2017 in Uncategorizedhttps://diaryofadisabledperson.wordpress.com/2017/02/18/deities-not-doctors/
Posted: 18/02/2017 in UncategorizedJade and the Creatures of the Night
Posted: 10/07/2015 in Fiction, UncategorizedTags: Choronzon Rises, flash fiction, Gothic Horror, Jade, Magick, Occult, Vampire
This short story was written in tribute to the one true prince of darkness.
Jade, as a student of Occultism, had come to believe in many things which would once have seemed absurd. She drew the line at vampires. None the less, there she was in a moonlit graveyard with a silver stake in her hand. There had been a number of assaults on young women in the city. There was sadly nothing remarkable about this in itself but the bite marks on their necks made these cases stand out. The women in question had not been robbed and nor had they been raped. None could remember anything of their attack.
Tristan had asked Jade to investigate the matter while he attended to a personal matter in London. It did not take her long to discover that there was a sizeable vampire community online. Most of them were clearly just role-playing but a significant minority seemed genuinely to believe that they were undead. Jade’s attention was drawn to one particular individual calling himself Johan Wülf. According to his Twitter profile he was over eight hundred years old and had been made a vampire by the Blood Countess herself. Jade thought this a remarkable fact given that she was not born until 1560.
What caught Jade’s attention was that Johan had moved to the city not long before the assaults started. Furthermore, several of his Tweets boasted of having preyed upon virgins. So it was that Jade found herself stalking him through a graveyard in the dead of night. Jade would have preferred to have confronted him in daylight. Unfortunately it seemed that Johan had enough conviction in his belief that he was a vampire to wait until after sunset before leaving the house. Jade understood from Johan’s Facebook page that he was intending to meet with an unnamed master at the old church.
The church lay on the outskirts of the city. It was a grand example of medieval architecture. Tragically the roof had been destroyed by an air raid during the war. As a kind of memorial it had never been rebuilt. Unfortunately in recent years the isolated ruined church had become a popular meeting place for those ignorant enough to practice black magick. Consequently Jade was not surprised that Johan would choose to meet his master here. Jade could not deny the place had the right kind of atmosphere; all it was missing was mist rolling across the ground.
Jade was aware of movement but gave no indication; better to let her stalker think they might catch her unawares. Stepping through the doorway into the church, Jade slipped her trusty runic brass-knuckles onto her hand. Growing up in a children’s home had taught her to be almost supernaturally aware of her surroundings. Otherwise you fell victim to an older girl’s vicious prank. Consequently Jade was well aware that her stalker was coming up behind her. Jade spun and delievered an uppercut to her would-be assailants jaw. He fell back on his arse and began to cry with pain.
Instinctively Jade took the opportunity to get the measure of her opponent. He was cute in an awkward kind of way; he had long black hair and skin almost as pale as Jade’s own. His teeth were dominated by fangs where his canines should have been. This did not shock Jade and it did not cause her to doubt her skepticism regarding vampires. There had been a much publicised case of a man given devil horns and a forked tongue by a cosmetic surgeon. Jade did not think it unlikely that fangs could be implanted into someone’s mouth.
“You will regret hurting me for you are my servant” He told her as his eyes fixed on hers. “You will do my bidding.”
“Mesmerism?” Jade chuckled. “A friend of mine once told me that’s a cheap trick.”
“Woman, you will obey me for I am the vampire lord Johan Wülf of the Clan Sanguine” He declared as he stared harder at her.
“I don’t care if you’re Bela-fucking-Lugosi” Jade told him. See the thing about mesmerism is that just doesn’t work on some people. Don’t know why but they’re kinda immune to it.”
It had begun to rain heavily. Johan was severely hampered as he tried to scramble to his feet. Jade responded by delievering a brutal kick to his crotch. Then she pushed her foot into his chest and lined her stake up with his heart.
“Don’t know if you’re really a vampire of just fucked-up in the head” Jade said. “Which ever it is, if I stick this in you, you’ll stop moving.”
“Stop…Please…No” Johan gasped.
“Will you answer some little questions I’ve got? That’s all I ask” Jade responded. “Are you the sicko that’s been assaulting women and biting their necks?”
“Yes…Yes it’s me” Johan confessed. “It wasn’t my idea. They’re paying me. I…I needed money for my band’s EP.”
“Is every vampire a fucking emo now?” Jade cried out. “Who’s paying you?”
“They’re called the School of Night” Johan told her. “I d…don’t know who they are. I…I didn’t meet them in person. They paid me by PayPal.”
“Time for you to stop moving then” Jade said with a smile.
“No…I…I answered your questions” Johan pleaded. “You were going to let me go.”
“I don’t think I actually said that” Jade pointed out.
Jade had only intended to frighten Johan. Unfortunately, his fear gave him strength. Johan twisted Jade’s foot and she fell down hard beside him. Johan leapt up but in his haste ran into the church rather than out of it. Jade was quickly back on her feet and in pursuit. The only way for Johan to go was up the ruined tower. Jade was not far behind and caught him. Flashes of lightning intermittently illuminated the scene.
“Isn’t this where you turn into a bat or mist or some shit like that?” Jade asked.
“I…It…It doesn’t work like that” Johan told him.
“Pity” Jade responded.
With that, Jade lunged forward and, in response, Johan instinctively stepped back. The crumbling stonework gave way beneath him. Later Jade would tell herself that she could not have caught him in time. Johan let out a cry which bore a perversely appropriate resemblance to the Wilhelm Scream. His body hit the ground hard. In the moonlight, Jade’s keen eyes could just make out a halo of blood forming around Johan’s head. If he had been a vampire, Jade thought then the myths of their invulnerability were greatly exaggerated.
Jade descended the steps and stood over Johan’s lifeless form. This was the third dead body Jade had seen in her short life. On both previous occasions the feeling of revulsion was the same as it was now. Jade wondered if she would ever learn to overcome that feeling. Part of her hoped that she never did; It was right for her to feel that way. The feeling was not to be confused with guilt. Jade had no concept of that emotion beyond what other people had described to her. She had come to consider this fact to be a blessing.
Jade was aware that there was someone else there; a man standing in the doorway of the church. This man was remarkably tall being almost, but not quite, as tall as Jade’s mentor Tristan. He looked at once sinister and respectable as exemplified by his slick black hair. His eyes were deep dark pits such that Jade felt almost a sense of vertigo looking into them. He was impeccably dressed in a black suite replete with an opera cape. Fangs like those of Johan dominated his mouth.
“A pity” The man said, in a voice verging on godlike. “You have done for me something I relished doing myself.”
“Who the fuck are you?” Jade asked.
“You do not need me to tell you who I am” The man said. “You must surely know me by my reputation.”
“I know who you look like but he’s just died” Jade retorted. “Don’t you watch the news?”
“You speak of the actor?” The man clarified. “Yes, of all who have sought to portray me he was the best.”
“Let’s pretend that you’re who you seem to think you are” Jade said. “What the fuck do you want with me?”
“I desire only to know if you have decided where you stand in the war?” The man told her. “We face an enemy so formidable that Michael and Lucifer are allied against him. Do you stand with us?”
“I don’t take sides” Jade informed him. “I stand alone.”
“You could not be persuaded?” The man ventured. “It is within my power to bestow dark gifts upon you. Side with us and I shall make my undead bride. You could defy death. Do you not desire that, being the mortal creature that you are?”
“Thanks but no thanks” Jade said, as she pulled up her sleeve to reveal scores of lines covering her arm. “I cut myself sometimes when I’ve had a bad day. It shouldn’t help but it kinda does. See the big one? That’s from the second time I slit my wrist. A year after I did that I tried to drown myself in the bath. I’ve got a good life right now and sometimes I’m even happy. That doesn’t stop me wanting to kill myself. It should but it doesn’t. One day I’m going to do it. There’ll be a day when it’s just too fucking hard to go on living. So no, I don’t want to defy death. I like knowing there’s a way out. You can take your dark gifts and shove them up your arse.”
“So be it” The man responded. “You may not want to take sides but you will find yourself without a choice. Choronzon rises and all will be tested.”
“I’m a Chaote” Jade told him. “That means I’ve always got a choice.”
The Life & Times of Mr Jarred Triskelion 