The Keeper Of Darkness (a gothic tale of love, desire, desperation, and music)

n.b.: the beginning of this story can be found in the Project: Orpheus parent thread, linked below:

Post in thread '✧ Project: Orpheus - Imagine Create Share ✧'

Dec 29, 2025

The Keeper of Darkness

prologue - ‘Love You To Death' (ERICA) 1965, NYC

soundtrack:

I was sitting in a dark smoke filled bar letting the sound of the music wash over me as it took me far away from all the cares and worries of my everyday life.
The haze created by the smoke as it rose up towards the spotlights formed a sort of halo around the man i’d come to see.
Now, there he was right in front of me, sitting onstage with a big smile on his face, playing a ballad.
His rendition of the melody had almost moved me to tears; it seemed to express all of the...

• frostyjr2

• 
• 
• 

Welcome to my house.
Enter freely and of your own will ...

The Keeper Of Darkness (ch. 3, pt. 2 - 'I've Got What You Want Alright')
downtown NYC, 2013


We started walking down towards Greenwich Street as a light powdery snow began to fall from the night sky, the soft flakes forming a sort of moving veil as the streetlamps illuminated them and the wind swirled them all around us.

River’s long black eyelashes caught a few of the falling snowflakes and they hung there suspended for a few instants like pendants from a crystal chandelier before her body’s warmth caused them to melt.
She blinked, and the tiny droplets fell to her cheeks before disappearing into nothingness.

The world seemed like it was moving in slow motion to me, and it was beautiful.

I wanted this moment to last forever.

A sudden sharp twinge brought me back to reality.
Poor River … i could feel she wasn’t kidding about having to go.
‘Kinda’ was kind of an understatement. My empathetic powers made me all too conscious of the pressure building within her, aching to be released.
It wasn’t a long walk, but i began to wonder if she would make it all the way there.

She was definitely starting to look a little more desperate; one hand was pressing on her abdomen as she walked, and she was taking shorter steps now.

“Don’t worry, honey,” i said reassuringly. “It’s not too much further. We’ll be there soon; just try to hold on, OK?”

As soon as i finished saying that, River gasped and stopped mid-stride, crossed her legs tightly and bent over.

"OMG, I don’t know if I can!”
After a couple of moments River stood up straight again and then uncrossed her legs, letting out a deep sigh.
“I really thought I was totally about to lose it right then and there!”

“It sure did look that way, sweetie. Desperation usually comes in waves though, to speak from personal experience.” I smiled. “We should probably hurry, before the next one hits.”

River smiled back at me.
“Yeah, I might not make it next time,” she giggled.

She was so cute, this girl.
Every little thing she did or said was making me fall deeper and deeper in love with her.
Her beautiful soul, her lithe body, her soft voice, her irresistible scent; even her urgent need ... it all made me so helplessly, deeply attracted to her.

I put my arm around her protectively and we continued on our way towards the loft.
I could feel her shivering now, not only from the cold, but from her desperate state as well.
If we didn’t get inside soon the poor girl was going to lose it completely. although she was making a valiant effort to stay in control.
Luckily, we had finally arrived at the loft building where Hannah and i stayed whenever we were in New York City.

Another benefit of being undead; you have time to make a fortune, lose it all, and come back even richer the next time around the cycle if that sort of rollercoaster ride is your thing, and if you never lose any of it … well, let’s just say that Hannah owns houses and apartments all over the world.
The loft in downtown NYC might just be my favourite one though.
Must be my sentimental side, eh?

“Hey, honey … we’re here. Just a little while longer now,”
I pulled my keys out of the pocket of the leather duster that was still draped over her shoulders and stuck them into the lock quickly as River stood there bent over with her legs crossed tightly again, a look of sheer desperation on her pretty face.

“Please hurry,” she said. “I’m just about to wet myself.”

OMG, she had no idea how her words affected me or what that act would do to me either; I had to get her inside quickly for both of our sakes.

I opened the door, and we stepped into the small lobby.
I pressed the button to call for the elevator.
It was already there on the ground floor; the door opened and we got in, and even as i selected the top floor i could feel how desperate River was now; she was only moments away from losing it completely.

She was biting her lower lip and pushing her hand up under her skirt between her slim legs just like a little girl might and her pretty face was showing the stress she was under as we rode the small elevator up.
This old elevator was agonizingly slow too, which wasn’t helping her at all.

The look on her face, the way she was standing slightly bent over with her legs tightly crossed, her lovely scent filling up this small confined space; i was ready to make love to her right then and there.

River gasped again and firmly clamped her thighs together around the hand down between her legs.
Empathically i could feel the pressure of her fingers down there even as her other hand grabbed my arm and squeezed it hard.
I was both surprised and pleased by the fact that she had a remarkably strong grip.

“Oh, gosh, I really need to go,” she said softly.

River was almost at the limit of her ability to hold, and what with my being a shadow vampire, it was just about the sexiest thing i’d ever seen.
Her skirt was hiked up around her hand, exposing her black lace boyshort panties as she tried to relieve the pressure building up inside of her by pressing on the outside and crossing her legs together as tightly as possible.
Meanwhile, i was trying my best not to look at her; if i had, the sight would have been enough to make me lose control and i would have ravished her instantly.

As it was, thanks to my empathic abilities i could feel everything she was feeling as she started to push even more firmly down there, and it was almost too much for me to take.

Finally, the elevator stopped on the 13th floor.
I stepped out into the hallway, but as River did also she suddenly stood still, her pretty face looking down at her feet.

“Come on in, sweetie, we’re here,” i said, opening the door to the loft, but River just looked at me helplessly as tears began to flow from her beautiful blue eyes.

I could tell that she had finally lost the battle; she was wetting herself fully now. It streamed down, soaking her over-the-knee socks, and forming a small pool at her feet.

“I’m so sorry, Eri … I … I just couldn’t hold it any more,” she said softly.

The helpless look on River’s face and the sweet scent of her was starting to drive me insane with desire.
To a shadow vampire, it’s just that kind of desperation that attracts us, and then we’ll always come and find you … and your shadow essence.

So as you can well imagine, i was very excited by now. I had to keep my urges in check until we got inside, but oh Goddess, what i was going to do to her in a few moments.

“Don’t worry about that, sweetie,” i said to her. ”Come on in and we can get you cleaned up in a jiffy. I can even lend you some clothes if you’d like; we look to be just about the same size.”

River nodded shyly and walked into the loft.

The Keeper Of Darkness (ch. 3, pt. 3 - 'Loli Is Life')


She didn’t know it yet, but she had changed her life forever with those few small steps.

She was all mine now, and as soon as River crossed our threshold, she was in my arms. I slid my leather coat off of her shoulders, letting it fall onto the floor behind her, pulled her close, and felt her body relaxing against mine.

"Eri, I'm so sorry … ”, she murmured again.

"Shush, don't worry, it's OK," i whispered softly into her ear, my voice pitched to soothe her. "It's OK, baby girl."

All of the tension was draining away from her now that she was no longer desperate and as she pressed up against me i could feel her warmth.
i kissed her then for the very first time.
OMG, she tasted like sweet strawberries and her lips were so soft and moist i could have kissed her forever.
Her eyes were closed, but her body and soul were totally open to me.

This girl … she was pure innocence and pure sex at the same time. It was a deadly combination.
Luckily, i had no life to lose.

She was so light; i carried her easily to the back of the loft and laid her down on the giant bed, watching her sink into the soft comforter and feather bed as if into a fluffy cloud.

Her eyes flew open now, and with a quick fluid motion, she sat upright and pulled her sheer black microfiber top over her head, her dark hair falling back into her sweet face as she tossed it aside.
All of a sudden she grabbed me and pulled my face into her soft bosom, holding me there firmly.
Once again, i was surprised at her strength; she was powerful for such a small girl.
I liked that too.

Although i could have broken her grip easily, i didn’t want to. I was used to being the aggressive one in this type of encounter, but River had turned the tables on me and i was enjoying the unfamiliar sensation of not being in control for once.

She rolled over so she was on top of me now, pinning me to the bed. River may have looked young, but she was certainly no novice at this game; she knew how to turn a girl on, that was for sure.

I had to resist the almost overwhelming temptation to drink from her right then; not yet, I thought to myself … not yet.
Not yet. We have time.

“Oh, Eri … OH, MY … GOD, “ she gasped, as i reached up and began to fondle her her firm breasts.

I could sense that she wanted me to squeeze even harder, so i did just that, and was rewarded with a moan of pleasure from her sweet lips.

She closed her eyes again and bent her head down to my neck and sucked on it before suddenly biting down hard, her false fangs piercing my skin and drawing blood; luckily, the room was dark so she didn’t notice the strange murky color of it.

River began to suck harder and her ecstasy seemed to increase as she writhed passionately on top of me, her short skirt hiked up around her waist. She was in control at the moment, and i was the one melting underneath her as she drank from me.

OMG, this young girl was drinking my blood!

She was drinking shadow vampire blood!!

F*ck!!!!

I hadn’t anticipated this at all. Now i had no choice; i had to turn her or she would be dead before mid-morning.

Just as that thought passed through my head, i heard the front door open, and soft footsteps coming down the hallway.

Hannah was home.

-----------------------------------


“Cool, where are you?”

Normally i’d have been sitting on the living room couch either listening to music or playing my guitar, waiting patiently for her to return.

River’s eyes flew open, and i could feel her body tensing up again.
She wasn’t expecting us to be interrupted.

“Who’s that?”, she whispered nervously. “You didn’t tell me you had a room-mate!”

“We’re in the bedroom, Hannah!”, i replied, smiling.
I whispered to River, “Don’t worry, it’s OK. Hannah’s going to love you, sweetie!”

“’Oh, so it’s ‘we’, is it? Hmm, would you like a little privacy?”

I could hear the tone of amusement in Hannah's voice.
She was the domme in our relationship, so she always came and went and did exactly as she pleased, but it was a rare thing that was happening for me here.

“Actually, i was hoping you’d be home in time to meet River!”
Sharing is caring you know, even for vampire girls, and i giggled then, thinking of just what sort of things Hannah would be sharing with River and i very soon.

She walked into the bedroom, as stunning as ever: tall and slim, with magnificent breasts, long legs, glossy dark brown hair tied in a long braid down her back, those beautiful brown eyes and full sensuous red lips; yeah, she was the whole package alright, and gift wrapped in a tight black leather catsuit to boot.

Hannah exuded sex in the same way that River exuded innocence … and i was about to be made love to by both of them at the same time.

How lucky can an undead girl get?

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—- (interlude censored due to overly risqué content) —-
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The night was passing very quickly; all too soon dawn would be breaking over the city and i had to turn River right away because i could feel her life force starting to fade even as she slept curled up next to Hannah now.

The blood she’d sucked from my neck was killing her; slowly at first, sure, but once the sun was fully up the process would accelerate and that would be the end of her unless i did something that i hadn’t really been sure i wanted to do.

There’s only one thing for it once a mortal has tasted shadow vampire blood if you want them to survive the experience, and it’s not the most obvious thing in the world either: they have to consume some of that vampire’s shadow too.

Of course, that’s as much of a curse as it is a cure though, because yes, they will survive … but only as a shadow vampire themself.

I rose from the bed as quietly as i could, not wanting to disturb River yet.
Hannah was awake, of course. Shadow vamps don’t ever sleep.
She looked up at me.

“So, what’s the plan here?”

“Hannah, she’s tasted my blood. We have to turn her now.”

She nodded in agreement and with that settled i headed towards the kitchen, my bare feet making hardly a sound despite the creaky old wooden floor.

I grabbed the nearest thing that would do, which was a large bowl.
Taking it into the living room, i stood in front of the fireplace, then bent down and scooped some of my shadow essence into it, enough to fill it almost completely.
I wanted to make sure we had enough to complete River’s transformation.
I picked up the bowl and carried it carefully back into the kitchen, where i poured its contents into a tall glass over ice; it would make a sweet cocktail now that River had tasted my blood.
'Maybe even better than one of Becca's Orange Whips,' i thought, and giggled as i took the glass back into the bedroom.

River was awake now and i could tell by her extreme pallor that her life force was definitely fading faster.
She didn’t have much time left; we had to act quickly.
I lifted the glass full of my shadow essence to River’s lips as Hannah held her up.

“You need to drink this,” i commanded her.

She obeyed me instantly, submissive now. I wasn’t about to take a chance that she might refuse for any reason.

As soon as she took the first sip i could see a change come over her though.
She sat up straighter in bed as i continued to feed her the sweet-tasting liquid, taking deeper gulps as her body responded rapidly to its tonic effect.
River took the glass from me, held it in both hands for a moment and then raised it high as she drained it to the very last dregs.

“That was delicious! What is that stuff?” she asked, setting the glass down and licking her lips.

I said, “I’ll tell you later. Right now you need to get some rest,” and then Hannah and i both looked at each other and laughed.

They were almost exactly the same words we had exchanged on the night we first met, almost fifty years ago.



\/-----\/
(to be continued)

n.b.: the beginning of this story can be found in the Project: Orpheus parent thread.

Great !!!

Robb said:

Great !!!

Click to expand...

Thanks so much!

The Keeper Of Darkness (ch. 4)
'Fall From Grace'

https://soundcloud.com/frostyjr2%2Ffall-from-grace-river

Fencing Junior Championships elimination round, Women’s Sabre, 2007


Through the mesh of her mask, River could see the girl facing her.

Her brown hair was tied in a long braid which moved almost hypnotically in time with her body, her footwork sure, and her sabre blade not much more than a blur in her hands as she fought.

This opponent was obviously experienced, much more experienced than River had expected her to be. She was fast and she was tricky, weaving and feinting and making her moves hard to anticipate.

Despite River’s best efforts, the girl had scored point after point. It was almost impossible to defend against her, she was that good.

In all the time that River had been fencing competitively she had never faced an adversary of this calibre before, but her coach had told her that at this level you were up against the very best in the sport and if you didn’t belong here yourself, you’d find out pretty quickly.

Up until now, River had never lost a match that mattered, not since she was a little girl and still a beginner.

Her mother had been a competitive fencer, and her grandmother before that. It was a family tradition, one that made each of them unique and yet bonded the generations together, this peculiar art of fighting with a sword.

River had had either a pen or a sword in her hand during almost every spare moment ever since she was about 8 years old and had started fencing lessons.

Since then it had been schoolwork or fencing and little else once her natural talent had become clear to both her mother and her coach.

“She could be one of the great ones,” the coach told her mother when River was only 12 years old.
“She’s got the raw ability for sure, but does she have the discipline, the will to keep on working through all of the disappointments and setbacks?”
She paused before continuing.
“That’s what really separates the very best from the rest. Does she have the grit? Only time will tell.”

Now it was all down to this one final elimination round; win, and she would qualify for tryouts for the National team and the Olympics.

Under her lamé and jacket, River was perspiring heavily from the extreme effort it had taken her to fight back from a five point deficit. She only trailed by two points now, but time was running out and she had to remind herself to breathe deeply and to stay calm.

The score now stood at fourteen to twelve; her opponent only had to score once more to win, or simply fight defensively and let the timer give her the victory.

Some fencers attacked, while others defended in order to set up a counterattack.
Based on what she’d observed up until now, River doubted that the girl facing her would stop attacking; it just wasn’t her style.
She did seem to be getting a bit tired now though.

Possibly the girl hadn’t expected the match to go on for the full time limit, and the momentum had definitely swung at least a little bit towards River as she had now scored several unanswered points in succession.
Maybe endurance was the one chink in the armor of this adversary who had seemed so unbelievably invincible at the start.
As her coach always told her, it’s not over until it’s over.

River’s thing was counterattack, which relied just as much on successful defense; if your opponent scored on attack then no point would be scored on the counter. In the early stages of the match that’s exactly what had happened but River had watched closely, studied how the girl fought, and despite falling behind early, she hadn’t lost focus.
She watched, she adapted, and she had been able to fight her way back to within two points, but now she would have to score three to none in order to win the match.

As she stood behind her line on the strip, she could feel the sweat dripping down the curve of her spine under her jacket.
Unable to see her adversary's eyes through the mesh of her mask, River watched her sword hand intently, waiting for it to move.

"EN GARDE ... ALLEZ!" the referee shouted abruptly.

There was a sudden rapid lunge and thrust from the girl facing her but the point of the advancing sabre was blocked by River's quinte parry, deflecting it away from her head.
She was attempting a 'prise de fer' which would leave the other fencer vulnerable to River’s counterattack but her opponent parried the move easily and from that short distance she was able to land a quick slashing blow to River's arm.

“Touché!”

The buzzer sounded; the match was over.

River removed her mask, saluted the referee and the judges, and shook her opponent's extended hand.
This Becca Ward was quite an amazing fencer, that much was certain.

River had put up a good fight but she had been outscored on points in the end and so she had been eliminated from contention for the team.

As she removed her protective clothing in the locker room afterwards River was unable to prevent the bitter tears of her disappointment from flowing freely now, and there was no consolation for her in having done her best.
In her mind, she had dedicated this match to the memory of her mother, who, sick as she was, had still managed to hang on, desperately clinging to life while her beloved daughter rose through the ranks before finally succumbing to lung cancer last year.

At least she had been spared the bitter disappointment of this final defeat, River thought, even though at least a small part of her knew that her mother wouldn't have been upset that she had lost, for she had fought well.
She could almost hear her mum’s voice trying to comfort her: “You were very good today; she was just a little better.”

“That's just a nice way of saying I wasn’t good enough,” River replied bitterly.

She felt as though she’d let her mother down by losing today, and another set of words was echoing in her mind now:
‘At this level you’e going up against the very best; if you don’t belong here yourself, you’ll find out pretty quickly,’ her coach had said.

“Well, I guess I found out, eh?” she muttered.
She was angry at herself for what she saw as a failing of her skill, her will, and her character, and she vowed to leave the competition side of the art behind and never to fight again.

If she wasn’t fighting, she didn’t need to train anymore either.

‘So what will I do now?’, she wondered.

Fencing had been almost her whole life’s focus up until this moment and without that, she had no idea what would happen from here on out.


V----V
(TO BE CONTINUED)

The Keeper Of Darkness

Ch. 5 - UNIVERSAL LOVE

https://soundcloud.com/frostyjr2%2Fehb-love-v2

Antibes, France 1965

The dressing room smelled like jazz to me: remnants of smoke from half a million cigarettes, spilled well-brand whiskey, stale sweat, cheap perfume, slept-in suits, and the faint but distinctive scent of instruments and their cases.

It was between sets and the band, their friends, and the usual assorted hangers-on and hangers-out were all crowded into the small space, drinking, smoking, and jive talking most emphatically.

Hannah had dragged me backstage, saying she wanted me to meet some people.


“Man, that cat couldn’t swing if he was hangin’ from a rope,” Miles said in that familiar raspy voice, a lit cigarette burning down between his slim fingers.
He was dressed stylishly, wearing a charcoal grey sharkskin suit, a white dress shirt with crisply starched collar and cuffs, a skinny dark blue silk necktie, dark brown leather shoes and belt with a gold buckle, gold cufflinks, and a very expensive-looking gold watch on his wrist. A pair of black-rimmed Wayfarer sunglasses with dark tinted lenses was hiding his eyes.

Having missed the beginning of the conversation i wasn’t sure which musician he might be referring to but his comment elicited a round of laughter from the group assembled around him.

As Trane walked by the open door with his tenor sax cradled in his arms, Miles buttonholed him.

“Hey, man, why you always gotta play so long for?”, he asked plaintively.

"Sometimes I just can’t figure out how to end a solo,” Trane replied softly. "The ideas just keep coming, and I need to work them all out.”
He seemed distracted, as if he were only present physically; his mind and spirit were somewhere else entirely.

“Try takin’ the horn out ya mouth,” Miles replied with a laugh. "That's how Shorter does it."

Trane said nothing in reply but simply continued on his way back to the second dressing room.

Miles turned back towards us then.
“So, Hannah, it's been a while,” he said. “What you been up to?”

“Not much, Miles,” Hannah said. “I’d like you to meet someone though. This is Cool …”

“Erica … ”, i interposed quickly, cringing at the thought of the effect that hearing my nickname would probably have on these guys.
It was too late though.

“Cool, eh?” he asked with a comically exaggerated quizzical look on his face.

Not cool enough, apparently.
There was another round of laughter, this time at my expense.

As if i hadn't been nervous enough already, now i was barely able to keep it together. With the combination of my desperation, trepidation, and red-faced embarrassment all rolled into one, i was one big bundle of raw nerves.

Thanks a lot, Hannah!

Meanwhile, he had been standing about three feet away from me, and i was too awestruck to say a word … the great John Coltrane, almost in the same room as me, breathing the same air.

It was all too much; overwhelmed, i turned and ran out of the dressing room like a frightened little bunny rabbit to the accompaniment of yet another round of laughter.

Hannah followed me out back to where i was leaning up against the brick wall papered in layers of old show adverts and posters, breathing deeply, my eyes closed, trying to get myself back under control.

“Are you OK, Erica? Don’t you want to meet John Coltrane?”

‘I do, but i don’t, Hannah. I’m afraid …”

“Afraid of what? That he’ll be different than you imagined him to be?”

“Yeah, and then i’ll never be able to listen to him in the same way again.”

“Well, that’s a chance you’ll have to take, but unlike Miles, he’s actually one of the nicest people you’d ever hope to meet and pretty evolved, considering he’s only had part of one lifetime to work on things,” Hannah said with a laugh and a toss of her long dark hair.

“Come on back inside, girl.”
She took me by the hand and led me back towards the second dressing room.
I was trembling with fear but also with anticipation now.

Meanwhile, Miles had joined us, and he was chatting casually about old times with Hannah as we walked into the other dressing room.
My mind was too preoccupied for me to follow their conversation, though; i managed to catch something about Egypt but that was about it, because there he was in the flesh now, the great John Coltrane himself.

He was facing towards the corner playing his tenor saxophone, and the entire vibe of this other dressing room was something else; even though it was physically the same cramped, dingy, badly lit space as the first one, it felt totally different to me.

It felt more like a church, a cathedral even.
It was suffused with a feeling of …
well, i can’t really describe it in words but it definitely felt spiritual, as if simply entering that room and hearing that horn up close brought you into a higher state of consciousness and being.

OMG, the sound of it right there in front of me, it was indescribable; even Tesla's latest and greatest system couldn't do justice to the power of it in person.
It filled the room to bursting and then it seemed to expand even further outwards, traveling on into infinite space.
It was kind of like when i heard Wes at The Half Note the night i was turned, but this was on a whole other level.
Wes had been perfectly in tune with me at that moment in time, but this?

It felt like it was vibrating in tune with the entire universe.

“Hey, Trane, this crazy bitch over here wants to meet you,” Miles said as he gestured towards me, his gravelly rasp breaking the rapture of the moment. “She’s a huge fan, apparently.”

Coltrane stopped playing. He turned in our direction and smiled now.

Hannah fairly dragged me over to the corner where he was standing and cupped my chin, forcing me to look up from my feet.
My green eyes met his brown ones then; they were as expressive as his playing, so very full of wisdom and compassion.

He said, “I’m pleased to meet you. Are you a musician also?”

“She plays the guitar,” Hannah said, knowing i was probably too tongue-tied to answer for myself.

“Guitar, huh? Nice … how long you been playing?”

“Umm … not that long ... i’m just learning.”
Totally tongue-tied, but i somehow managed to get that out.

“Aren’t we all?” he said with a laugh. “Well, you keep at it; practice does make perfect, you know. I guess I'd better get back to it.”

Then, as he shook my hand, something really strange happened.
I could feel a sort of mystical transference of energy the moment he touched me.

“Good luck with your music, Miss,” he said softly.

Like a benediction …

And with that, he let go of my hand, turned back towards the corner and began to play again.

I could hardly wait to get home and get back to it myself now.



V----V
(to be continued)

The Keeper Of Darkness
Ch. 6 - 'Trick Or Treat'

https://soundcloud.com/frostyjr2%2Fthe-little-goblin

Hannah and Cool’s house, upstate New York, 2002


Unlike most girls her age, this trick or treater hadn’t chosen to be some sort of princess or Ariel the Little Mermaid, a character from a film that was popular at that time.
Instead, she was wearing a Green Goblin outfit; she was obviously a bit different, this little girl.

“Trick or treat!”, she said when we opened our front door to the unseasonably chilly night air.

Hannah and i smiled at each other when we saw how she was dressed as she held up her sack to receive some candy.

“I love your costume!” i said as i spilled a couple of handfuls of sweet treats into her bag.

"But aren't you cold?", Hannah asked.
All of the other little trick or treaters who had shown up so far had been wearing heavy coats over their outfits, which kind of spoiled the effect.

She took off her mask so that she could speak more clearly, and now i could see her face.
Her hair was a brown so dark in hue that it almost appeared to be black and it was very glossy and straight, not a trace of curl to it, and she had the prettiest blue eyes i'd ever seen, this tiny goblin did.
They were like lovely pools of crystal clear water.

“Oh, I never feel the cold," she replied. "Do you like the costume, really? I designed it myself, and my mom made it for me,” she said, gesturing towards a tall, slim, frail looking woman who was hovering protectively just a few feet away, wrapped in a heavy winter coat.
Then she lowered her voice.
“She wouldn’t let me be my first choice, though.”

“What was your first choice?” Hannah asked softly.

“I really wanted to be a vampire," the pretty little girl standing on our doorstep whispered.

Hannah and i exchanged another look at that.

“Now why would you ever want to be a vampire?” Hannah asked her.

“I don’t know, really … I just think vampires are cool," she replied with a brilliant smile. "All the stuff they can do, and how they live forever, and stay young, and all that stuff …”

“What about the drinking blood part, isn’t that kind of weird?” i asked in turn.

“Well, unless you’re a total vegetarian, you’re probably eating or drinking blood one way or another anyhow. You gotta eat something, right?” she replied. “And I’m sure I could figure out a way to feed without hurting anybody …”

“It sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought,” Hannah said with a laugh.

“Except for my school work and my fencing lessons, it’s probably all I ever think about,” she said, laughing now too. “Mom even took me to a doctor; she was worried I was obsessed. That’s why she wouldn’t let me dress as one …”

“What did the doctor say?” i asked her.

“Oh, he told my Mom not to worry, that I’d grow out of it sooner or later,” she replied with a toss of her little head that made her shiny hair ripple like a beautiful dark waterfall.

I kneeled down to give her a little more candy, and whispered softly so that only she would hear me.
“There’s nothing wrong with you wanting to be a vampire; at least, not the kind of vampire i think you’d be.”

Then i stood, smiled at her, and said, “Happy Halloween!”.

She smiled that impossibly bright smile back at me again and then she skipped over to where the frail woman was waiting and took her hand.

Her mother paused for a moment, stopped, and bent over just a bit, coughing into a handkerchief.
I could smell the blood on it, some of it fresh and some which had already dried.
She was slowly dying, from tuberculosis or possibly lung cancer; i could definitely sense that now.

And that was the biggest tragedy of life ... its inevitable end.
Only we vampires were exempt.

As the two of them started to walk away, the cute little goblin girl looked over her shoulder at me and said, “Happy Halloween! And thanks … for everything!”

Then she blew me a kiss as they walked slowly back down our long driveway towards the street.

Even as i closed the door tears were welling up in my eyes because i couldn’t help imagining what lay ahead for the both of them.

I couldn't get them out of my mind for a long time afterwards.


\/-----\/

(to be continued)