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Just A Vampire
By Delilah

Introduction

The story you are about to read is fiction, but it isn't fantasy. Most of it is taken from the actual events of my daily life. Most of the characters are based on my friends and family. The only fiction is that the Hunters haven't attacked me ...yet. Vampires are real, but not as you know them. We are not the monsters that myths and legends portray us to be. We are human, just like you. We go to school, have jobs, have families, we grow old, and we die. We do need to feed on energy from our surroundings in order to stay healthy, but we only take what is freely given. The monsters are those who hate us, ...those who hunt us. For those who harm and kill for hatred are the only real monsters in this world. People tend to hate what they fear; they fear what they don't understand. I write this story to introduce you to my world, so that through understanding, this story may forever be fiction.

Chapter 1

"Move you stupid log! " Tammi shouted, shoving and groaning at a very large log sawed from an old dead tree. She wiped beads of sweat from her brow and gathered a few stray wisps of hair and put them back into her long, brown pony-tail. Her legs and jeans shorts were streaked with mud and scratches from thorns. She smacked a mosquito on her arm. Her cropped light blue t-shirt was soaking wet, not from sweat, but water from the hose to help her stay cool in this already muggy morning in the South. She had been working since sun-up on the yard of the house into which she and her family had just moved.

"Rrrr, come on you damn blasted log!" she snarled as she shoved the top with her foot, trying to rock it free. Finally it broke free from the ground and weeds. Tammi struggled with the tangle of weeds and thorns and then wrestled the log across the field to the brush pile. With considerable effort, her tired muscles straining and shaking, she stood the huge log on end so it stood higher than her own head, and let it fall with a loud crash into the brush pile.

"Whew! I'm glad to be rid of you," she told the log as she sat on a large inverted paint bucket in the shade to rest. She looked around. The old place wasn't much to look at now, but it had a lot of potential. The house itself was in good condition, and the old red barn just needed a coat of paint. But the barn yard, the field, the pens, and the garden all needed much work to correct almost 10 years of neglect. Tammi had been at it for almost a week and she felt like there was no end in sight.

"Mommy?" said a small voice. "Hi Izzy Wizzy, what's up?" Tammi asked her sleepy-eyed 4-year-old, Isabelle.
"I'm hungry, she said, twisting her long, curly locks of blond hair in her finger.
"Didn't Tiffany fix you some lunch?"
"She's on the computer and won't get off," Izzy whined, looking up with her big blue eyes.
"Come on then, lets go get her!" Tammi playfully ran up the hill with her daughter to the house.
As they came in the kitchen door, Tammi called to her older daughter, "Get off the computer!"
"Mom! Wait! I'm chatting with Gothpanda and Daisy! I told Izzy I'd fix her lunch in a minute!"
"Well it took her five minutes to come get me! Tell everybody bye and come eat lunch."
"I'm not hungry Mom!"
"I didn't ask you if you were hung-"
"Mom!"
"NOW!"
"MOM!"
"No computer for a week!"
"Ok, ok!" Tiffany typed, "I gotta go eat lunch with my mom and my little sister :P Bye..."

14-going-on-21 Tiffany rolled her eyes and huffed as she entered the kitchen, "What are we having?"
Tammi had started washing some fresh carrots from her neighbor's garden. "Well, what do you want?"
"I'm not hungry."
"How about some salad and ...cheese toast?"
"I want macaroni," said Izzy looking over the back of her chair.
"You always want macaroni," sighed Tammi. "How about cheese toast today?"
"I don't want any cheese toast," whined Isabelle.
"Oh God, here we go again!" groaned Tammi. "How about some Jello?"
"Unh uh,"
"Umm, pbj?"
"No."
Tiffany laughed as she picked up Turbo, the black and white family cat.
Turbo wasn't thrilled about being picked up and squirmed to get down.
Tiffany allowed him to jump down.
"So what are you going to eat?" glared Tammi.
"Ummmm," Tiffany rolled her eyes and looked into space, "I'll find something."
Tammi returned her attention to Izzy, "Apple?"
"Maybe,...can I have apple dip?"
"Oh, I don't have any left. We'll have to make more. How about you help me make some?"
"I don't want apples."
Turbo was now rubbing against Tammi's legs. She shoved him away with her foot. "Fine! Make your own lunch, Tammi snorted as she dropped the carrots in the sink and left the room, tripping over the cat.
"Mooommyy?!" squealed Izzy, "What can I eat?!"
"Eat Turbo!" Tammi shouted back from the living room.
"Here kitty!" Tiffany giggled. "Can I make tuna salad?" She called to her mom.
"Yay! Tuna! Tuna!" danced Izzy.
"Sure! That'll be great!" Tammi yelled back.
"Come help me, Picky," Tiffany teased her sister.
"Hey! Who you calling Picky, Picky!" Tammi scolded, overhearing from the living room.
Tiffany instructed Izzy, "you get the celery, ok? And break off 4 pieces." "Ok" smiled Izzy. She liked helping with lunch. Together they washed and chopped a small apple, a carrot, a pearl onion, some red cabbage, and the celery. Izzy stirred it all up in a big glass bowl. Tiffany added some sweet cucumber relish her mom had made, a chopped boiled egg, a big dollop of fresh homemade mayonnaise, and 2 big cans of tuna. Izzy stirred it all up with a big wooden spoon.
"It's done!" announced Izzy when she was tired of stirring.
Tiffany gave a quick stir around the edges as she told Izzy, "ok, that looks pretty good. Can you get the crackers?"
Izzy was already on her way to the cabinet. She opened the door and sat on the floor with the big gold-colored tin filled with homemade soda crackers. Desperately the 4-year-old tried to open the tin. It was so large, she couldn't quite reach around it.
"Uuuggh," she made a face, "I can't open it."
Tiffany picked up Izzy who still had her arms around the tin and sat her in a chair so the tin sat on the table with Izzy still trying to open it. Tiffany popped the top off the tin. Izzy immediately grabbed a cracker and shoved it in her mouth.
"Wait for the tuna, stupid," said Tiffany as she brought the bowl of tuna, plates, and spoons to the table. She served 3 plates with salad and crackers and sat down to eat. "Mom! Lunch is ready!"
Just then the door opened and a well-built army officer entered the kitchen. He wore a camouflage uniform with captain's rank and "Mackincrow" on the name tag.
"Mom! Dad's home!"
Tammi trotted into the kitchen with a big smile and jumped into her hubby's arms. "Hi, Rick! I didn't know you were coming home for lunch!" "Neither did I," said Rick, giving Tammi a quick peck on the cheek. "We got the afternoon off. Down day. I thought I could help you in your garden this afternoon," he said, washing his hands in the sink.
Tammi smiled with delight. "Maybe we can get the rest of it done! ...Of course you could always help me unpack boxes," she sighed as she looked at a stack of 5 more boxes in the corner of the kitchen behind the table. "Sure," said Rick, getting another plate and spoon, "whatever you want. I'm yours."
They all sat down to enjoy lunch.

Darron Bowick sat on the edge of his bed. The room was dimly lit; loud violent music was playing. He was dressed in a pair of black jeans. His chest was bare, showing a body well-built for a young man of 19. He sat with a fixed angry stare at a poster on the wall -a poster of a vampire holding the limp body of his lady victim. As if entranced, he focused on the blood dripping from the vampire's fangs and the victim's throat. In front of him under the poster was a large fantasy dagger on an alter covered in black velvet. A red candle sat on each side of the dagger and lit the room. Above the dagger on the wall at the base of the poster was an elaborate filigree cross made of silver. Darron reached for the dagger and a sharpening stone from a drawer in the nightstand next to his bed. He began honing the blade to razor sharp as he stared at the blood on the poster. His music screamed:
"...vanquish evil, slay them all!
Kill the vampire!
Kill the vampire!
Kill the vampire!..."

Tammi stepped out of the shower onto the organic cotton bathmat. Being a vampire made her extremely sensitive to her environment. One of the things that bothered Tammi was artificial chemicals. Even dyes sometimes made her itch. So her choices for clothing, bedding, and bath fabrics were usually free of chemical dyes and bleaches, and organic if possible. But this did not mean they were boring. It is not commonly known that cotton grows in colors other than white. Her bath mat was a blend of three colors of cotton, sage green, pecan tan, and natural white. Her bath towel was a finely striped green and white. Her hair towel was the same stripe, but pecan colored. As she was wrapping her hair with the towel, Rick came in.

"Woo! It's hot in here!" he exclaimed as he wiped the steam off the mirror. He began to undress for his shower. "So I guess you can start planting stuff now, huh?'

"Yeah, I think so. It's too late to plant peas or lettuce, it's too hot now,... but I can plant corn, ummm, ...squash, oh! tomatoes of course and cucumbers and..." Rick wasn't really listening, but Tammi kept talking as she left the bathroom, and continued talking to herself. "...and some dill... oh! onions, and peppers, and squash...did I say that already?...I wonder if there are any apple trees out there?" She asked her reflection in the mirror as she put on a clean pair of jeans shorts and a little purple top, vegetable-dyed of course. Her bedroom was also a lesson in organic living. The furniture was hand made by Tammi's father out of pecan wood from his orchard. He too was a vampire, Tammi was sure of it, but he was completely unaware of his nature, or why he got depressed and tired if he had to stay out of the woods for any length of time. His hobby and talent was woodworking, and his skill showed in the elaborate carvings in Tammi's furniture. The headboard was carved with intricate filigree, and the four posts were rope-carved with spire finials. There was a dresser under the windowsill, a nightstand on each side of the bed, and a taller chest-of-drawers by the closet. All were made with hand tools and hand carved to match the the designs int eh headboard.
The sheets were green organic cotton, dyed with green vegetable dye to make them even greener, green being good color to sleep on, promoting health and wealth. A thick organic cotton blanket topped the sheets, and a beautiful cotton spread finished the bed. Tammi had painted the spread with vegetable dye to match the colors of the cotton and wood, and her father's designs in the furniture.

Rick called from the shower, "Tammi!"
Tammi came in the bathroom. Rick poked his arm from behind the shower curtain. In his hand he waved a razor blade. Tammi grinned and poked her head in the shower. Rick flexed his neck to show off his veins.
"Mmmm," Tammi's eyes dilated excitedly, but she reminded Rick, "Didn't you tell me you had that big briefing with the General tomorrow morning?" "Yeah," said Rick, "So."
"So you should save your energy for tomorrow, I can wait."
"It's ok, Babe, I've got plenty to spare!"
Tammi smiled "No." She turned and headed out of the bathroom. "I'll see you when you get out." She turned and stuck her head back in the door, "By the way, have you seen my journal? I can't find it."
"Nope, I'm sure it's around here someplace."
Tammi left. Rick sighed as he looked at the blade in his hand. He set it on the shelf outside the curtain and finished his shower.
Presently he came into the bedroom, clad in his bath towel. Tammi was napping on the bed.
"So....what are the girls doing?" Rick smiled, slyly.
"They're next door. Pam offered them dinner. Izzy's been waiting to play with Lori all day."
Lori, Pam's granddaughter and Isabelle were the same age. "Did I tell you about Scott offering Tiffany a summer job helping him milk the cows?" Pam and Scott ran a small dairy farm, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Scott's son Mark was taking Rodeo lessons during afternoon milking time, so Tiffany agreed to help until Mark's lesson time changed in the fall.
"Nope. That's cool. It'll be good to give her some responsibility. So are they going to be over there all evening?"
"Yep, I told them to come home at 9."
"You mean we have the whole evening?" Rick smiled eagerly as he crawled on top of Tammi.
"Mmm whatever shall we do?" Tammi grinned back.
"Come on, let me get the razor and you can feed."
"Absolutely not Rick." Tammi told him firmly. "You need to be your best tomorrow. I don't want you to be tired."
"Oh, but I love it when you drink my blood. It feels so good -it's like part of me flows into you and becomes part of you."
"Tomorrow, after your briefing, ok?"
Rick sighed, "ok, maybe the girls can go to Pam's again." Rick began kissing Tammi.
"I phik Phiffany..." Tammi tried to say.
"What?" asked Rick looking up, a bit irritated at Tammi's distraction. "I think Tiffany wants to go to a movie with some of her new friends." "We'll talk about it later," Rick began kissing Tammi again. Tammi purred. Together they spent the evening enjoying each other.

Darron walked down the sidewalk. He was headed to the downtown library not far from his apartment. He was wearing his black jeans and a black t-shirt featuring a picture of his favorite goth band. Around his neck he wore an ornate silver cross on a silver chain. Darron walked up the steps and into the library. He walked straight into the meeting room where two of his friends waited.
"Hey guys," He greeted, nodding as he shut the door.
"Hey Darron, so what's going on?" asked Jason Pearson, Darron's best friend.
"Check it out!" Darron placed a journal on the table. It was just an inexpensive diary with a fantasy art print of a dragon on the cover.
"What's that?" Asked Tom Macovich, Darron's other friend.
"There's a vampire in town."
"What?!" laughed his friends, looking at each other.
"Read it!" Darron shoved it across the table at Jason.
Jason opened it and began to read out loud, "'sometimes it's difficult to control this beast, the desire, the pain,'....oooohh" he scoffed, making scary hand motions.
"Keep reading," said Darron seriously.
Jason glared at him is disbelief, "whatever, man." He began reading again, "sometimes I fear it is the beast that is in control, driving me to feed as I stand by and watch myself."
"Turn to the marked page," Darron instructed.
Jason complied and began at the top of the indicated page, "the blood fills me..." Jason's look became more serious as he read, "the desire to take the whole life into my body, sometimes I fear I will not stop."
"Read the next one," urged Darron.
"'Tonight when I fed from him it was so wonderful! His life filled me. I connected so well! I could feel what he was think...' God! That's creepy! Is this for real?! Where did you get this?"
"A guy that works for a moving company. He got it from this military family that moved in out at Oak Ridge." Darron looked at his friend, "We can't allow this. Not in our own home town! This abomination must be destroyed!" He shouted as he slammed his fist on the table. Darron had often preached to them about the dangers of vampires and had insisted that they were real. Until now they found his obsession amusing, but this diary....
Jason continued reading to himself with Tom looking over his shoulder.

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