An Artist And A Vampire 
© 1996
by
William T. Anderson Jr.

CHAPTER II
Draft 0.00





	Carl lit a cigarette while he studied the street from the 
kitchen window. We had a small apartment on the 1800 block of 
Orchid Avenue, about three blocks North of Hollywood Boulevard. 
I had come to Los Angeles trying to find Carl, who had been a 
friend of Addy’s. She told me that if I was ever in trouble, I could 
look him up and that he would give me shelter and show me 
around.

	“Lot of action tonight. I feel it”, Carl said dryly.

	“Big deal. I don’t feel like cruising” I replied in a somber 
tone.

	“What the fuck is your problem?” he shot back. He had that 
look that all macho men get when they are pretending that they are 
superior to you. But Carl is only half alive, I think. He doesn’t 
recognize or accept his feminine side, and that makes him a little 
weak minded in my opinion. But he is not weak.

	I didn’t want to go through this whole thing again tonight. I 
had been like this for about four or five weeks now. And every 
night we have the same conversation.

	Just after I arrived here, I had given him a call. As soon as I 
had mentioned Adelaide’s name, he asked me to come right over. 
When I had arrived at his apartment, which ended up being a two 
hour trip due to the damn traffic out here, he was unpacking. He 
explained to me that he had just returned from a hunting trip, and to 
please excuse the mess. He shook my hand as I entered and made 
myself comfortable in a small leather chair near the door. He 
disappeared into another room briefly, returning moments later with 
a couple of sodas.

	“Come from the airport?” he asked, as he offered me one of 
the cans.

	“Yeah! Damn LA traffic hasn’t gotten any better since my 
last visit” I replied. “It took me two hours to get here from LAX.”

	“That’s actually not too bad. I hate flying, but the last time I 
used that airport it took me close to three hours to get there.”

	There was something in his voice that disturbed me just 
then, but I still haven’t been able to isolate it, pin it down. Carl is 
closed to me. I cannot read his mind. I believe he is blocking me, 
but I am still so new to this that I cannot be sure.

	“So, how do you know Addy?” he asked.

	“We met in Australia. On an outback expedition.” I tried to 
hold my grief way down. I wasn’t ready to break the news to him 
yet.

	“That’s cool. She was always telling me about how much 
she wanted to go there. She talked about it all the time.”

	“How well did you two know each other?” I asked, 
desperate for any information about her life before we met.

	“She never told you?”, he asked wryly. “We were to be 
married...”

	I almost passed out right then. I was still recovering from 
my accident, and every now and then I would have these ‘spells’. 
They were to be married?

	“Are you okay?”, a vague voice swam inside my head. I 
guessed it was probably Carl.

	I groped for consciousness, and I was able to seize it as I 
recovered within a few seconds. “Still a bit dizzy, at times”, I 
slurred my words slightly, but he understood. “I was involved in an 
accident on my trip.” I hoped this would be enough to satisfy his 
curiosity for now.

	“I guess you must have hurt yourself pretty bad, eh?”

	“I spent a few days in a hospital in Alice Springs. We were 
stranded in the desert for four days before help arrived, so I had 
lost a lot of blood.” I wanted to avoid any details concerning my 
relationship with Addy, especially after I had learned they were to 
be married. “I’m still recovering, though. I get these dizzy spells 
now and then.”

	“Well any friend of Addy’s is a friend of mine!”, he 
exclaimed. “You can stay as long as you like. I have an extra 
bedroom, but you’ll have to help me clear it out. I’ve got a bunch 
of stuff in there, so we’ll have to figure out how to organize it.”

	His warm hospitality made me feel more at ease with him. 
This would be necessary before I gave him the bad news. I was as 
edgy as a junkie looking for a fix. I needed to calm down. I hate 
being the bearer of ill tidings. And I needed help to figure this 
whole mess out. And they were to be married......

	He went about unpacking his suitcase, and I decided to take 
a look around the apartment. It was a small two bedroom 
apartment on the south side of the building. This side of the 
building had a huge bulge in it that was a result of the Simi Valley 
earthquake in 1972. The fourth floor location provided an excellent 
view towards Highland Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard. 
Grauman’s Chinese Theater was only three blocks away. The walk 
of fame. The House of Magic, the exclusive magicians club, was 
just down the street. But I had lived here before.

	In 1972, at the age of fifteen, I had left home. The peace 
movement was in full swing. There were hippies everywhere. And 
one night I had been hanging out with some friends in Silver Lake 
Park in Staten Island. We were smoking some reefer, and some 
other people joined us. They had some LSD-25, and we traded 
some pot for some of the acid. And we all smoked from this long 
pipe which I had constructed from a dozen smaller pipes. Pipes 
were real big in those days.

	This guy that had all the acid asked if I would trade him my 
pipe for some acid. I was very smooth from the hit already in my 
system, so we made a deal. Later that evening, I encountered 
another friend of mine, a black man named Leon. And we were 
hanging out and getting high, but everyone else soon had gone 
home. So Leon tells me he hasn’t a place to stay. Now I was 
staying with my Aunt at the time on Long Island. But I was high, 
and I offered him a place to sleep, so we hitchhiked out to Long 
Island. We arrived at my Aunt’s house at four o’clock in the 
morning, and she went ballistic. She basically told me I wouldn’t be 
able to stay with her any longer, so I packed my few belongings and 
we left. I had four dollars in my pocket and a carton of cigarettes. 
Leon left me in Staten Island, but I just kept on going.

	It took me half the day to get to Cranberry Lake, New 
Jersey. I had to go there to say good-bye to my friend Michael 
before I left. But he was with his girlfriend there, and I didn’t know 
her last name or where exactly she lived, so I wandered along the 
shoreline that ran along route 206 hoping that I might see one of 
them. It was such a glorious day, and they were probably off 
somewhere having a good time, but I still enjoyed my brief stay 
there. It allowed me some time to think.

	So after perhaps two hours, I decided to move on. It took 
the rest of the day just to get out of New Jersey. But by morning I 
had hooked up with a couple of fellow travelers and we were in 
Ohio by daybreak. I turned them onto some acid, and they had 
some weed. The rest of the trip unfolded in a similar fashion. I met 
another hitcher just outside of Salt Lake City. What a wonderfully 
beautiful location! As we came down Interstate 80, through the 
Weber pass, the whole expanse of the Great Salt Desert lay before 
us. And the sun was rising behind us. It was awesome! We walked 
most of the way through town. The whole city had a real frontier 
aspect to it. And what a backdrop. The Wasatch Range, with peaks 
rising as much as 10,000 feet or more, provided a background that 
really suited this town. And many of the buildings were close to or 
over one hundred years old, and they had a stark contrast against 
the mountains and the mix of more modern buildings. It was June, 
and it was hot. We finally caught a ride across the Great Salt 
Desert. I had my first Coors in the small town of Wendover, 
Nevada, at the western terminus. Then a guy gave us a ride, and 
this guy was drunk and almost had a collision with a semi, but we 
survived.

	The police arrested him in a casino in Winnemucca, NV. 
Our next ride took us into Sparks, and we walked into Reno on a 
beautiful clear morning. We stopped at Denny’s before we got back 
onto the Interstate. We had breakfast, and then we skipped on the 
check.

	The scenery around Reno was the most spectacular I had 
ever witnessed, outside of travel brochures and the like. The trees 
were so tall, and the air was so fresh and clean. I felt as if my life 
was just beginning. One more ride took us within fifty miles of San 
Francisco. And as a stroke of ultimate luck, we caught a ride from 
the Napa Valley all the way into San Francisco. In that car were 
two college girls. They were very nice to me. They showed me all 
around the city, and then took me home and let me stay there for a 
couple of weeks. They had rented a bungalow near the corner of 
Arden Avenue and Folsom Boulevard in Sacramento, which they 
shared with six other college girls. I never tried to go to bed with 
any of them (I was still a virgin, but not for long).

	But when I left, things went downhill from there. I ended up 
on the streets of LA perhaps six months later, and that’s pretty 
much where I survived for the next four years.

	So now I had come full circle, and I wasn’t particularly 
pleased about it either.

	The apartment had a small semi-modern bathroom with a 
porcelain sink and tub, and a shower that worked most of the time. 
There was also a small window which would never shut completely.

	The kitchen was roughly the same size as the bathroom. It 
contained a sink with maybe eighteen inches of counter space on 
either side. There was a small stove. It was an older model that, 
despite it’s age, was still quite effective. There were large built-in 
cabinets that ran to the ceiling, and cabinets below the counter and 
sink. There was a small three foot square plastic table in the corner, 
but there were no chairs in this room. There were two windows in 
this room as it occupied the corner of the building. There was 
almost always a gentle breeze wafting between these two windows. 
I thought that there should be a chair or two in here, as it would 
have made a perfect spot for relaxing and reading books. And it had 
a nice view towards the strip.

	The living area was small, perhaps twelve feet by fifteen. 
Carl had only two small leather chairs, a ratty looking sofa and a 
small coffee table in the room. This made the room seem a little 
more spacious, but it was painted a faded blue and it made me feel 
claustrophobic. There was no stereo, not even a boom box. When I 
had asked Carl about this, he had told me that he hated modern 
music, and would I please respect him and not play any while I was 
here. I wanted to seek out the source of his hatred, but I didn’t 
press the issue any further. I was, after all, his guest.

	There were two windows in this room, one a small bay, that 
looked down towards the LA basin. If it were not for the constant 
smog, you could probably see the ocean from here also.

	Off of the living room was a small hall that led to the 
bathroom and the bedrooms. The two bedrooms were also small, 
although Carl’s was larger. He had provided me with a room that 
was really more like a large closet with a window, but I needed that 
window. I knew that I would go insane in an enclosed room. I 
suffered from claustrophobia, and I do not like closed spaces. The 
room would be large enough for my purposes. I had to sort out my 
feelings.

	The owner of the apartment building was a crusty old sort, 
and definitely gay. He gave Carl a deal on the apartment because he 
wanted to sleep with him. Carl says he’s never let the old codger do 
anything, but Carl is so....he will sleep with anything that moves. So 
I figure that’s the deal on the rent, and I let him know that I wanted 
no part of it. He shrugged and told me it was cool, but that he still 
hadn’t done anything with the guy.

	They were to be married. I was heartbroken and I was 
confused, but I had already been that way when I had arrived. 
Adelaide had been trapped in the fire and I could not save her! I still 
had hardly known her, in the way that  humans learn to know each 
other. But our love was pure. And that covered a myriad of sins, 
both hers as well as my own. My heart wrenched as we lost 
contact. For me, the world had stopped turning. Her mind voice 
had just stopped. I reached out to her, but I was still so weak. I 
could not hear her or find her anywhere.

	Now I had to tell Carl about her demise.

	I did not know him well enough to know how. I had no idea 
how long they had been together. There were so many unknowns, 
and I was in no shape to go looking for a place of my own. I had 
only a few hundred dollars left upon returning to the United States, 
and I had no idea how long I would be able to survive on that. 
Especially in this town! I was still not knowledgeable in the ways of 
the vampire. I needed Carl right now almost as much as I needed 
Adelaide, but she was gone. I believed then that I would never see 
her again, and he had become my friend. But I still avoided any 
conversation regarding her. I could see his hatred. I was still afraid 
that when he knew all off the facts, he would blame me for her 
demise, and I needed his help.

	Carl cannot read my thoughts as Adelaide had. I have tried 
to get him to tell me why, but he always skillfully evades the 
subject. So I have to trust him. But he has treated me as his friend. 
So I respect his privacy on that particular subject, for now.

	“Are you going to answer me, or not?”

	I was startled out of my reverie by his insistence. “I just 
want to be alone.” I was hoping he would leave it at that, but I 
could see that he was getting tired of my lame excuses. I would 
have to tell him my story very soon, or risk being thrown out on my 
ear. He was starting to become suspicious.

	“Do you have a problem with blood!”

	He was laughing at me now.

	“Afraid to suck a little blood, are we!”

	He was jumping around the room like a crazed kangaroo, 
laughing at me and taunting me. I just sat there with the same kind 
of blank stare I had remembered seeing on Brent’s face when I had 
found him with Addy’s torn blouse. If Carl had wanted to attack 
me, I would have been lunchmeat. But he seemed to be enjoying my 
misery, though I had not told him it’s source, and I just sat there.

	“You’re never going to heal if you don’t take nourishment” 
he said, a note of sudden concern in his voice.

	“I cannot...”

	“Bullshit! At least you could go out and get yourself some 
pussy. It would sustain you.”

	But I did not want to be sustained. She was gone. She had 
taken me. She had transformed my existence, and I was happy 
because we would be together forever. But now she was gone, and 
I found myself wishing she had let me die in the desert. It hurt so 
much, but I could not end myself. I was too weak.

	“I am not going to help you if you continue like this”, he 
gave me his ultimatum.

	“I cannot...”, I began. And he started dancing around and 
teasing me and laughing at me again. It was as if my misery were 
somehow joyful to him. This made it even more difficult for me to 
tell him what had happened. They were to have been married. I had 
known her only a few days, and we had been married. It was the 
happiest time of my existence, and now I did not know how to tell 
Carl.

	Since my arrival, he had been my only friend. He made sure 
that I had everything I needed. And he never asked for any money. 
I would be lost on my own right now. He was my anchor. And I 
would teach him things. Sometimes he would listen, and he would 
become ecstatic whenever he would grasp a particularly difficult 
philosophical pattern of thought. Although he is quite intelligent, he 
seems to have a learning disability. At times, this is a tremendous 
barrier to our communication, and at other times he seems to grasp 
the most complex ideas almost immediately.

	He frightens me. He is violent and vengeful. I am not sure if 
he is this way naturally, or if he was taught. He claims to be an 
orphan so I tend to believe he was taught, but I cannot be sure. 
There are times......

	“Well, I guess you’re going to stay inside again.”, he 
resigned as he grabbed his black leather jacket and turned to leave.

	“Happy hunting”, I said as he began to walk out the door.

	“We need to have a talk later...”, his voice trailed off as he 
closed the door behind him.

	I had been dreading those words for close to five weeks 
now. I had used every possible diversionary technique known to 
man in those five weeks. I knew that eventually I would have to 
come clean, and it looked as though it was going to be tonight, 
unless I could think of something fast. Carl would normally be gone 
nearly until morning, and it was still only 9 P.M.. I had at least until 
then to figure a way out of this mess.

	I had also been trying, with no success, to contact Adelaide. 
I just wanted so much to believe that she had survived, and that 
somehow she would find her way here. And then I wouldn’t have 
to tell Carl anything. She would know how to handle this situation. 
But it was useless. Each time I tried, I became weaker both 
physically and spiritually.

	I was barely surviving now.

	The raw meat that I consumed daily had enough protein and 
blood to keep me alive, but not much else. I knew that I could 
sustain myself with a steady diet of sex, but every time I thought 
about sex I would think of Addy, and I would lose interest. I 
thought that perhaps I would be able to do it if I could find 
someone who looked like her. But that only made me feel more 
lonely, and all of the women I had seen since meeting Adelaide had 
not interested me in the least. I wanted to die.

	There was a knock at the door. I glanced at my watch. It 
was only 10:30. Carl would not have forgotten his keys. He always 
keeps them in his jacket pocket, I thought. I reluctantly stood to 
walk to the door. There was another knock. I called out, “coming, 
just a second...” I opened the door, and there was a woman 
standing in the doorway. “Yes....”, I began.

	“Hi. I’m Ellen from 4G. Down the hall.” She seemed about 
25 years of age, with an exceptional tan. The roots of her bleached 
blond hair were just starting to show.

	“What can I do for you, Ellen from 4G down the hall?”

	She giggled as she asked, “Is Carl home?”

	“He’s gone for the night”, I replied in my best monotone. 
Carl hadn’t told me much about any of our neighbors. He keeps to 
himself, mostly. I just figured he hadn’t known any of them.

	“Mind if I come in?” Her voice sounded eager.

	I saw a look in her eyes that reminded me of an old friend, 
and so I motioned for her to come inside.

	“I don’t think Carl likes me very much”, she seemed to be 
looking for something as we took seats on opposite sides of the 
living room.

	She was about five foot six, slightly overweight but still 
very attractive. Her hair fell to a point just below her shoulders. Her 
eyes appeared to be green when I met her, but in the dimmer light 
of the living room, they seemed to be blue.

	“What’s your name, stranger?” She smiled broadly as if she 
were thinking some devilish thought.

	“Bill”, I croaked, the dry feeling in my mouth almost 
drowning my response to a whisper. “Would you like a soda?”, I 
offered as I cleared my throat.

	“Thanks, Bill, I would.”

	I rose to go to the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator and 
pulled out a couple of cream sodas. I have loved cream soda for 
years, and Carl always brings home a few six packs whenever he 
goes shopping. As I turned to go back to the living room, she was 
standing almost right behind me. She put one arm around me and 
looked right into my eyes, and she smiled.

	“I hope you’re not gay”, she said as her hand moved down 
to my buttocks and gave a squeeze.

	I found it highly stimulating. “No”, I replied.

	“Good!” She put her other arm around me and we kissed 
passionately.

	I immediately felt better than I had in weeks. Her passion 
seemed to fill me with energy. I dropped the sodas to the floor as 
we maneuvered ourselves to the floor of the living room. We were 
groping at each other like starved lovers. I practically ripped my 
clothes off in a frenzy of wanton desire. She pulled her pants down 
over her ankles, and I impulsively moved to get on top of her. She 
held out her left arm and stopped me, while grabbing my throbbing 
penis in her other.

	“Stop”, she whispered. She sat up and pulled her pants off, 
along with her panties. She must have also removed a condom from 
one of her pockets and she held it up to my face and smiled as she 
said, “Don’t want any willies now, do we?” She deftly slipped it 
over my pounding member.

	We rolled around on the carpet for several hours, making 
love three or four times. I was feeling so strong. Afterwards we lay 
on our backs on the floor. I glanced at my watch, it was 2 A.M. I 
still would have a few hours before Carl returned. I lit a cigarette 
and stood to look out the window.

	“Mind if I have one of those lover?”, she said referring to 
my cigarette.

	I pulled one from the pack and knelt to put it to her lips. 
She grabbed it quickly, sat up and kissed me on the cheek.

	“That was fun”, she purred, a look of satisfaction on her 
face.

	I got my lighter from the window sill and lit her cigarette. 
She started to put her clothes back on as I returned to the window 
and looked down towards Hollywood and the strip. I wondered 
where Carl would be now. How well did he know this woman? 
Was she a girlfriend, or just a casual fling? I started to take a quick 
tour as far down as La Brea, perhaps, but was interrupted by 
Ellen’s voice.

	“Carl’s so quite.”

	Her words brought me back into the room. I looked over to 
her.

	“I think he’s gay, too.”

	Her revelation didn’t really startle me. I knew that Carl 
would sleep with men or women. Though he seemed to prefer 
women, at times he seemed to have a hatred for them that was 
undeniable. I wondered if he had also slept with her. But why 
would she think he was gay if he had?

	“He hardly gives me the time of day”, she sighed. “I’ve 
come over a few times, but he only lets me stay for a few minutes. 
He acts kinda nervous and all, you know?”

	“I really don’t know Carl well enough to say.”

	“Oh, that’s okay. I think you’re cuter anyway.”

	Her flattery made me blush slightly, something I hadn’t 
done in a long while.

	“We should do this again soon.”

	She had already dressed and was getting up to walk towards 
the door. I had a thought just then as I asked her politely, “I don’t 
suppose you have a portable cassette player I could borrow?”

	“Sure I do! I’ll be back in two minutes.”

	She picked up her shoes and moved towards the door. As 
she opened the door, she turned and said, “Anything else you need, 
lover?”

	“No thanks, Ellen. I think the cassette player will do for 
now. You could stop calling me lover, though.”

	“Great, honey. I’ll be back in a jiffy!”

	She left the door ajar as she returned to her own apartment 
to get me what I had asked for. Music. I still had tapes of my 
music. I also had a few commercial tapes. Let’s see....Pink 
Floyd....Peter Gabriel...Camel. Maybe a few more. I don’t 
remember. Carl had asked that I not play any modern music while I 
was here. But he would still be gone for several hours. I could at 
least enjoy some music until he was due to return. I might even 
have a classical cassette, or two. I wonder if he also hated jazz.

	I have always loved all kinds of music since being a young 
child. My father was an Opera singer. Bad term, I know. He was a 
Tenor. We always had music in the house. I think it must have 
driven my mother crazy. Who knows?

	Anyway, I loved to sing as a child. I had given my first 
public performance at the age of nine. I was in a home for children 
in Rhinebeck, NY, location of the oldest continuously operating Inn 
in America. George Washington ate there. Can’t remember the 
name of the place, though it was almost next door to the home. 
Astor Home was run by a group of nuns at the time. I don’t 
remember what sect they belonged to, but they were Roman 
Catholic, I’m pretty sure. There would be students from a nearby 
seminary who would come to help out the children by running 
baseball games and swimming tournaments and all manner of other 
sports. I had a real talent for swimming and diving, and I could stay 
underwater for two minutes or more! I won several trophies in state 
competition as a child here, but I don’t know if my father ever kept 
them. I think he must have been ashamed of me because of what 
had happened. He never displayed my trophies, so I must assume 
that he was ashamed of me. 

	They also would take us on day trips to the Hudson River, 
which would always thrill me. But the food that they served was 
making me feel sick all the time. And I would have to shit in the 
woods, against a tree. I always have hated that. They also took us 
camping. We went to Norrie State Park on the banks of the 
Hudson. We went to Lafayette Campground at Lake George. We 
went to Bash Bish Falls in Taconic State Park.

	I really love camping. I love the smell of cookfires, heating 
pots of coffee in the morning. And the nighttime cookouts were 
always so exciting. The smell of fir trees everywhere. Toasted 
marshmallows. We would go fishing, too. Then we would cook our 
days’ catch at the fire. It was so wonderful, I almost didn’t miss my 
family, but I loved my sisters so much. And I would only see them 
perhaps once a month. My father would bring me presents on the 
weekends, but I just wanted the dream to end and for me to go 
home. Except it wasn’t a dream....

	“Hi, Bill.”

	The door swung open and Ellen stood there beaming. She 
was holding a small cassette player in her left hand. She hung her 
hips in a seductive fashion that made me want her again that instant. 
But I held back. I did not want to exact too much energy from 
either her or myself tonight. I didn’t want to press my luck, either.

	“Here it is. The power cord is inside the battery 
compartment.”

	“Thanks very much”, I replied. This would be good.

	She set the cassette player down and moved to kiss my 
cheek. “Let’s get together next week, okay Bill?” She moved her 
lips to mine and we kissed again as she said good night.

	She quickly moved to the door, turning to smile at me once 
more before pulling it shut behind her. I had enjoyed her company 
tremendously. I had not felt any guilt, and was now feeling much 
stronger than before.

	This was something that Adelaide had never explained to 
me. I was ignorant until Carl had pointed out to me that vampires 
can survive for long spells without blood, as long as we have a 
steady diet of sex. It’s a medium grade source of energy. We drain 
the victims passion slowly, so they never even notice. It leaves few 
harmful after effects, and Ellen had given me energy in the most 
pleasurable way. She would probably have no ill effects, her passion 
had been so strong. She was so young and healthy. By tomorrow 
afternoon she would be back to one hundred percent, and I could 
live for weeks on the energy she had transferred to me. I felt like a 
new vampire!

	I do so hate the taste of blood.

	I regained my train of thought as I moved to pick up the 
cassette player and take it to my room. It was a medium sized 
boom-box with a cassette player, CD and an AM/FM radio. It also 
had a five band graphic EQ, but I really hate those things so I set it 
for flat response. I opened the battery compartment, and sure 
enough the power cord was wrapped inside the tiny space. I 
removed it and then replaced the cover as I looked for an unused 
outlet. It wasn’t difficult to find. Between Carl and myself, we 
don’t have many things to plug in, so even though there were few 
outlets in this old building, we were never far from an available one 
in this apartment.

	I scrounged through my suitcase looking for my cassettes. I 
hadn’t really unpacked since arriving as there was nowhere to put 
anything in the small room anyway. So I lived out of my suitcases. I 
only had the two suitcases with some clothes and a few personal 
items, plus I had my pack. I would keep most of my important 
personal gear in my pack, though. I always felt that should I ever 
have the need, I could just grab my pack and I would have all my 
basic survival gear in one place. Toothbrush, comb, razor, extra 
fangs...you know.

	And then I found what I had been seeking.

	I have always carried tapes of my music with me. I would 
listen to them to remind myself that I was an artist. That someday I 
might return to my art. To lose myself in their permanence...

	This has always been the artist’s greatest disappointment. 
Once it’s recorded, or fixed, we will always find and fault our 
imperfections. And these can either become totally unbearable, or 
simply annoying at times.

	For the true artist does ever seek perfection, or the perfect 
distortion of perfection, and we can never be perfect except in total 
innocence.

	This I had always felt was one of my strongest artistic 
points. I had only rarely tried to play others’ music in my lifetime. 
So when I became a composer, I was unspoiled. I had learned how 
to read basic charts, but I remain mostly unskilled in that area, and 
so I am free to create masterworks without the restriction of higher 
knowledge. Books can only describe the beauty that comes pure 
and from within. They can never teach anyone to create, only how 
others have created.

	I am unfettered in this creative capacity. I can create what 
my ears and my mind and my heart say is right. I create for myself, 
and if others enjoy that is a good thing.

	But my art remains pure for this reason. Adelaide had said 
that my heart was pure, and I had not known what she meant at the 
time, so I had denied this fact. How could I be pure? I had not lived 
a life of piety. I was a bad boy. I had done some nasty things in my 
life, how pure could I be? But she would insist. She was humbled, 
she would say, by my modesty. Yet a part of me knew that she was 
correct. I was not entirely responsible for the way my life had run 
it’s course. I had been abused, and beaten and raped. And Adelaide 
told me that I was lashing out at the unfairness of my predicament 
when I had done those bad deeds. That I was still the same little 
boy, that I was her brave knight. I would always be so embarrassed 
when she would say this. But I love her so much, I do not want to 
believe her when she acts this way. It is as if she feels she does not 
deserve my love. She has been so good to me, and all I can feel 
sometimes is that I do not deserve her. And now she is gone...

	I pulled the cassette out of it’s case, removing the J-card at 
the same time. I slipped the tape into the player and pressed play. 
As I started to read the card, the music began. ‘Dreams In The 
Sand’. I had written this song with the drummer from my first band, 
Marc. A fine musician and composer. He had composed the music, 
and I the words. It was a simple song, with a complex theme:

	Set sail on an ocean shining blue...
	The sea holds dark secrets down in the deep...
	Where no one can see, where no one can see...

	Dreams in the sand carry me away...

	An island looms on the horizon, drawing nearer...
	The setting sun always shows the path you’ve taken...

	Dreams in the sand carry me away...

	Dreams in the sand you’ve dreamed of a land...
	Now the secret’s in your hand...
	Elusively you reach for understanding...

	Dreams in the sand carry me away...

	I had often given people misleading clues as to the meaning 
of this particular song. It pleased me that each individual would 
have their own unique explanation for the words. This was a high 
compliment. I often strive to create works which have a common 
theme but will mean vastly different things to different people. This 
is the pinnacle of perfection in art. The goal. Make them feel and 
make them think. Activate both sides of the mind. Get the old juices 
flowing.

	As the song continued, I though about Carl and the story he 
had told me so far regarding his younger days. Carl had been 
orphaned when his father had been killed in World War One. His 
mother had died giving birth to him, and he had been living with his 
Aunt in New York while daddy was off fighting in Europe. When 
she married a year and a half after his father died, she decided to 
put him in an orphanage. He was eight years old at the time, and 
quite a bit of a trouble maker. The other children in school would 
always tease him about his parents, and his poor heart just could 
not accept all this abuse, so he lashed out at everyone. I cried as he 
told me his story because I could feel his pain, yet he tells it as 
calmly as if he were an outsider, as if it had happened to someone 
else and he was just telling the story. I understood why he had 
lashed out after suffering so much verbal and emotional abuse at the 
hands of so called children. More like rats...

	We have shared horror stories of our childhood days over 
the past few weeks, and I understand his hatred. Having lived 
through the same sort of nightmare as a child myself, we shared 
certain things that few others can directly relate to.

	But Carl and I are on quite opposite sides of the fence as far 
as many other issues are concerned. I have felt his wickedness. He 
has a vicious side that frightens me. He is capable of torture, of 
extreme vengeance. And although he has not shown any outward 
hatred towards me, I have this feeling that he is hiding something. 
And yet, he seems so concerned for me at times. I have to tell him 
when he gets back about Addy, and I don’t know how to begin. I 
have been staying away from any conversation that would have 
cause to bring her up, and he hasn’t mentioned her since I first 
arrived. I do not trust my instincts on this one, either. I closed my 
eyes and lay back on the mattress to lose myself in the music......

	I must have dozed off because I was awakened by the 
popping sound that these cassette players make when they stop 
automatically. It was a good thing, too, because a few moments 
later I heard Carl’s key turn the lock as he entered the apartment. I 
hurriedly moved to hide the boom box. I did not want to piss him 
off, and I also wanted to be able to listen to some music later.

	“Yo Billy boy!”, he quietly exclaimed as he closed the door 
behind him.

	“In here”, I replied, also in a quiet manner. No need to 
disturb the neighbors, you know. I heard each of his footsteps as if 
he were pounding his feet on the floor. I knew that this was not the 
case, however. I was getting ready to face the truth with him and 
my senses were heightened as they will be on such occasions.

	“Feeling any better?”

	There was a genuine note of concern to his question. I had 
learned to trust this aspect of our relationship. Although Carl 
endlessly teases me for my morose moods and my dislike for the 
taste of blood, he seems to truly care about me. Since arriving here, 
I have given him little reason for any other type of behavior. I have 
taught him without prejudice everything I can about philosophy and 
science. I have also tried teaching him music, but he has absolutely 
no interest in any music as far as I can see. He claims disdain only 
for modern music, but he lacks all interest so I must assume he 
doesn’t care for any type. I don’t wish to test him on it, though. 
And he has taught me many things about being a vampire. He has 
taught me how to drain energy during sex, a subject Addy had 
never enlightened me about. I guess I know why. He has taught me 
other tricks, although he has not been helpful with my attempts at 
projection. It’s as if he does not want me to know certain things. I 
cannot fault him, however, as he has been my only friend here.

	“I am, as a matter of fact, feeling better”, I gave a wide 
smile as I rose to shake hands with him. “I met our neighbor Ellen, 
from the apartment at the end of the hall.”

	“That crazy bitch! She must have more than a dozen steady 
boyfriends!”

	“Ask me if I care”, I said, still smiling. He gave me a big 
hug just then and started laughing quietly.

	“Yeah, she’s been bugging me for awhile”, he said casually. 
“Not my type, though.”

	“She’s close enough for me. As a matter of fact, I plan to 
keep seeing her on a regular basis”, I was rather proud of myself. 
Ellen had said she thought I was cuter than Carl anyway, which 
made me feel confident that we would continue our affair.

	“Just be careful you don’t hurt her, pal”, he said with 
concern in his voice.

	“I’m not sure I understand what you mean”, I said.

	“Just don’t sleep with her too often!” 

	“Why not?”

	“You could get her addicted! I’m sorry, I should have 
explained this you. If I were you, I wouldn’t see her more than once 
a week”, his voice had an edge to it as if I had violated some prime 
directive.

	“I see. I will be more careful in the future.”

	“How many times......how long did you make love?”

	“About three hours, I think” A look of deep concern came 
over his face as I said this.

	“You better not see her for a couple of weeks, or you’ll 
never be able to get rid of her”, he whispered before he turned and 
headed for the john.

	He had told me that having sex with a vampire can addict a 
human lover in a very short span of time. I had not been aware of 
this when I had met Adelaide, and it had explained many things. 
Except that I had not had sex with Addy before I fell in love with 
her. But Carl had never given me any specific information on what 
the acceptable limits would be. There has been much confusion in 
vampire lore over these aspects. Many times it might appear to the 
uneducated that a vampire has taken a certain person, when in 
reality that person had simply become addicted. While we are 
having sex and draining the energy from these persons, they 
perceive a higher awareness of their sexuality. This creates a kind of 
super orgasm. This makes it a simple matter to seduce and 
continually drain these victims.

	But now Carl was explaining to me that humans could 
become so addicted to this heightened state of sexual arousal and 
satisfaction, that you could accidentally take them without realizing 
it. This could make things very uncomfortable. Whenever possible, 
we endeavor to avoid killing too close to home. Even vampires like 
a certain amount of stability, you know.

	“So how did it go tonight?”, I asked. I was hoping that he 
would forget about our talk if I could show a brighter mood.

	“Screwed a couple of bitches I met outside the Roxy”

	“I used to go to that place years ago. I had a friend that 
worked down the street.”

	“Fuckin’ whores wanted to go two on one. That’s what I 
love about LA. So many kinky babes...” He removed a cigarette 
from his pack and lit it in the dark. The shadows danced about the 
room for the few moments it took him to do so. “So how’s our 
neighbor?”, he asked with a satisfied grin on his face.

	“Very nice, thank you. I like a woman who gets right to the 
point, if you know what I mean.”

	“Well, now, you are feeling better, aren’t you!”, his grin 
widening to a full fledged smile.

	“I guess I am. It was so easy...”

	“Don’t kid yourself, Bill. You underestimate the powers 
you and I posses. You can have almost any woman you wish. I can 
show you...”

	“That’s okay Carl, I think that will sustain me for awhile.” 

	“Have it your way Bill, but a little variety never hurt 
anyone.”

	“I haven’t...” I caught myself before I let it out. I almost 
blurted out how I hadn’t really wanted anyone since meeting Addy, 
but caught myself in time.

	“Haven’t what?”

	I thought for sure this would be the moment of truth, but he 
continued.

	“Well, it doesn’t matter. All that really matters is that you’re 
feeling better. Maybe tomorrow night you can go cruising with me. 
No blood or anything, we’ll just go to some places on the strip. 
Things have changed quite a bit since you lived here.”

	“That sounds like it might be fun.”

	“Good. I’m going to get some rest now, if you don’t mind”

	“Go ahead. I think I’ll shut down for awhile myself.”

	“Maybe we’ll have that talk later.”

	“Sure...” I replied. I was hoping my improved condition 
would put this off for awhile longer, but I was prepared to face the 
truth. I needed to get this out of my system anyway. I knew that if I 
continued to hold it all inside that I would wander back into my 
morose moods, and I certainly did not want that to happen. This 
was the first time in weeks that I felt better. This was the first time I 
saw that maybe life as a vampire wouldn’t be so bad after all. Carl 
had said I could have almost any woman I wanted. Having always 
been on the short end financially to have ever achieved this kind of 
power in my former life, I was intrigued by the possibilities.

	I awoke about 3:30 that afternoon. It was a hot, hazy day, 
quite typical for this time of year. The suns’ rays lit the eastern wall 
of the room with a cross pattern from the framework of the 
window. I sat up and gathered the items I would need after my 
shower. I had been sweating on the sheets all day, and since I 
hadn’t washed off after my fling with Ellen, I was feeling dirtier 
than usual.

	I hadn’t noticed him leave, but Carl must have slipped out 
while I was sleeping as he was not in the apartment. No matter, I 
needed to clean up. I was drying off when I heard him enter and 
close the door.

	“Yo, Bill...” he shouted.

	“I just finished in the shower, I’ll be out in a minute.” My 
voice echoed in the small bathroom. Great place to record vocals, I 
thought.

	“I’ve got a surprise for you”

	I put my clothes on and got my stuff together before leaving 
the bathroom.

	“I’ll be right there, Carl. I just want to put my things away.”

	“Why do you always put your things away, Bill? You live 
here. You can leave them in the bathroom if you want, you know. I 
don’t mind.”

	“It goes back a long way with me”, I said as I entered the 
living room and sat down in the chair by the door. This was the 
chair I had sat in when I first arrived, and I had become a bit 
attached to sitting in it. Carl had seen that this was the most 
comfortable place in the room for me, and he always seemed to 
leave it available should I want to sit there.

	“Tell me”, he said as he plopped himself in the other chair.

	“I always like to keep the bare necessities in a pack, so 
should I ever need to split in a hurry, all my basic stuff is in a 
convenient location. It keeps me ready to travel on a moments’ 
notice”, I concluded.

	“That’s a mighty good idea. I think I might start following 
your lead on that one, big brother.”

	Carl had taken to calling me his big brother. He had never 
had any siblings, and he adopted me as his big brother since I had 
lived a longer stretch as a mortal than he. There were certain areas 
where this was valid and others where he played the part better than 
I could. But I accepted him as my little brother. Johnny had died 
when he was only fourteen months old, and I gladly accepted Carl 
as a living substitute. At this juncture in time, he was the only 
family that I had. I couldn’t very well keep in contact with my real 
family. They would certainly notice the changes in me. They would 
notice that I was not working towards my art. They would know 
something was wrong with me. They would notice when I did not 
age as they did, and then one of them would ask the impossible. 
There was no doubt that this would happen sooner or later, and I 
was not about to be put in that position. My own fate is one that I 
gladly accepted, but now there are many times when I question 
myself on this very decision.

	If only I had thought more of the consequences of my 
decision, but I was madly in love with Adelaide and I threw caution 
to the wind. I hadn’t thought about art at the time. I was the only 
one who was still interested in my music. But the industry had not 
been kind to me, and I surrendered. That was my first mistake. 
Now there was little choice I could make in the matter. If I became 
popular now, people would see that I was not aging as the years 
went by. I would have to stage my own death somehow. Once I 
had staged my own death, I would have to get my face changed. 
You can’t bloody well run around with a famous face and not be 
noticed. So here I was, all dressed up and nowhere to go, as it 
were.

	“I heard you say something about a surprise...”

	“You bet! I brought you some Thai stick, Billy boy!”, he 
reached into his pocket and withdrew a small foil package, which 
he then tossed across the room to me.

	“Thanks”, I replied excitedly as I swiped the package out of 
the air with my left hand. I hadn’t smoked any Thai stick in years. 
After moving back to New York in the late 70’s, I hadn’t seen 
anything like Thai. We would occasionally get some Hawaiian or 
California bud, but mostly we get stuff from Jamaica, South 
America and some good domestic varieties. Thai stick was special, 
though. It had always been my favorite. I had a girlfriend here years 
ago that would always bring a stick or two when she came to visit.

	She would come over to this place I had on Gower Street 
and roll up a nice joint for me. She would then stick the joint in my 
mouth and light it, while she proceeded to suck my dick. She would 
always make me smoke the whole thing and get as high as I could 
before I came in her mouth. She wouldn’t stop sucking until I was 
ready to go again, then she would take off her clothes and we 
would make love for hours. The first time we met, we made love at 
least fourteen times in a twelve hour period. We were both raw at 
that point, but she still wanted more. She was almost the perfect 
woman...

	“I’m going to get myself a soda, would you like one?”

	“Sure, thanks. Make it a ginger ale. I got you some 
cigarettes while I was out, they’re on the kitchen table.”

	I reached into the fridge and pulled out a cream soda and a 
ginger ale, then turned and grabbed the cigarettes from the table. 
Dunhill Blues. One of the nice things about this part of town was 
the ability to procure rarities such as this. There are so many 
eccentric people in and around Hollywood, there is a big market for 
imported specialties. This makes it almost like New York, where 
you can buy anything at any time of the day or night. The large 
number of eccentrics also makes it quite a bit easier for we 
vampires to move about unnoticed.

	“I think maybe I would like to cruise around a bit tonight.”

	“Really?”

	“I think it’s about time I start becoming less of a recluse.”

	“Cool. I have to run a few errands before then, but I figure 
we could go out by 8:30 or 9:00.”

	“Great. I want to see what this town looks like after 20 
years of changes.”

	There were a couple of places I wanted to check out in 
particular. There is a street just a few blocks north of here, in the 
Hollywood Hills, called Hightower Drive. It’s a short street, 
perhaps only two or three blocks long, and at the top is a tower 
with an elevator. I wanted to ride to the top of that tower and look 
out over city. This had been a great vantage point and you could 
see from downtown LA all the way to Santa Monica. I used to 
come here years ago to just look out and think.

	Right now, though, I needed to do my laundry.

	“You need anything cleaned for tonight?” I won’t usually 
do this for friends, but Carl was more like a brother at this point, so 
I offered to clean anything he might need.

	“No, thanks. I’ve got more clothes than you anyway!”, he 
chided me.

	“Thanks a lot!”, I chuckled, as this was the truth and it 
didn’t really bother me. I went to my bedroom and gathered up the 
dirty clothes and packed them in a duffel I had for this purpose. I 
grabbed some quarters, and headed for the door.

	“Remember what I told you”, Carl reminded me before I 
left.

	“Remember what?”

	“Nevermind.”

	I walked down the five flights of stairs to the basement 
laundry room. I had the place to myself and packed my clothes into 
the washer and put in my quarters. There was a single overhead 
light bulb in the stark room, along with an office type couch with 
metal legs and vinyl cushions. The cushions were ripped in a dozen 
places and mended with duct tape, and the metal frame swayed 
from side to side. There was a milk crate at one end of the couch 
with some magazines in it, and I decided it might not be a bad idea 
to see what was going on in the world. Unfortunately, all the 
magazines were at least four months old. Carl didn’t have a 
television, and I didn’t have the money to buy one either, so we 
basically stick to books. He has a few friends here and there who 
get us books from the library. I had always been too busy in my 
former life to do a lot of reading, so I had been catching up on 
some classics while I was figuring out what to do with my new 
immortality. But I had made a new friend. Perhaps Ellen could also 
do me some personal favors.

	“Hi, stranger!”

	I looked up and she was there.

	“Fancy meeting you here!” Ellen’s voice was nearly ecstatic 
as she tossed her laundry bag on the floor and sat on my lap, then 
gave me a very passionate kiss.

	My penis became erect almost immediately, and I had to 
push her back to control myself.

	“Hold on there!”, I exclaimed as I stood up. I couldn’t take 
the chance of another sexual encounter with her so soon.

	“What’s wrong, honey?”

	She looked at me with a look of total lust in her eyes as she 
turned and closed the door to the room, and twisted the lock all in 
one swift motion.

	“You know, I was so satisfied last night, I just couldn’t 
resist some more of what you got!”

	She pushed me down on the couch and pulled her T shirt 
over her head. I hadn’t seen her breasts at all the previous night, 
and they were beautiful. She removed her sweatpants and I could 
no longer control myself. I grabbed her buttocks and pulled her to 
me. My tongue and lips caressed her nipples, then moved down to 
her belly. I gently pushed my tongue into her belly button, then ran 
it down to her moist vagina. I grabbed her and gently lowered her 
to the sofa, then buried my face between her legs. She was 
practically screaming. She was so moist and delicious, I could not 
stop myself.

	She pushed my head away after a few orgasms, then went to 
get her laundry bag from which she removed it’s sole contents: a 
comforter. She folded the comforter and laid it on the floor in front 
of the couch. I finished removing my clothes and we lay on the 
comforter together kissing and caressing each other. She moved 
down and started to suck my penis. I hadn’t had a blow job since I 
had returned from Australia, and it was heavenly. I wanted to suck 
her vagina, but she pushed my hand away when I tried to swing her 
around, and just kept sucking. I exploded in her mouth a few 
minutes later, unable to hold back any longer against her wonderful 
assault. She licked every last drop before she stopped and lay down 
beside me.

	“I just had to have you in my mouth”, she said as she kissed 
my cheek.

	“No complaints here.”

	“That was so good! I hope you don’t mind my coming 
down here...”

	“What do you mean?”

	“After last night, I was so overwhelmed. I followed you 
down here.”

	“Is that why you had a clean comforter in your laundry 
bag?”

	“Guilty” she said as she smiled at me.

	“So how do you feel?” I tried to mask my concern. I wasn’t 
sure how affected she might be from this encounter.

	“I slept like a baby last night, but I feel a little tired now. I 
guess you’re wearing me out. I never had a man do that to me 
before, I usually wear them out!”

	She put her arms around me then, and hugged me.

	“I don’t suppose you’d like to move in with me?”, she 
whispered.

	This caught me entirely by surprise. Carl had said that Ellen 
had a dozen steady boyfriends. I wondered if she was being serious.

	“You must be kidding.”

	“Not for a minute. Do you want to stay at my place for 
awhile?”

	“Let me think about it.” I didn’t have a quick out for her 
question. She was serious, and I was unwilling to get too involved 
with anyone right now. Besides, I could have her whenever I 
wanted, so why should I move in with her?

	“I could fall in love with a man like you.”

	“You don’t even know me.”

	“I’ve got a good feeling about you.”

	“You feel good, and so do I. That doesn’t mean we should 
live together.”

	“Okay, honey, you think about it. I think I’ll take a nap here 
with you.”

	She reached her arms around me and instantly fell asleep. I 
was quite comfortable myself, and saw no harm in my doing the 
same.

	We awoke to someone banging on the door.

	“Yo, Billy boy! Are you in there, brother?”

	“I thought you hardly knew him”, Ellen looked at me 
inquisitively.

	“We’re not really brothers, just blood brothers. Yo, Carl, 
I’ll be right there.”

	We both hurriedly put our clothes back on, and when I gave 
the go sign to Ellen, she unbolted the lock and opened the door. 
Carl stood in the doorway and gave her the once over. He smiled 
slightly as he surmised she was okay, that I hadn’t done any 
permanent damage to her.

	“Hello”, he said to Ellen as she backed away from the door 
to let Carl enter the room.

	“Hello, Carl”, she drawled her greeting sarcastically.

	“I see you two have been at it again.”

	“Again? Whatever do you mean, Carl? Bill was just helping 
me with my laundry.”

	“Laundry...okay. If you say so.”

	“What’s your problem, Carl”, I asked with a tone of disdain.

	“Look here, buddy...”, he started to give me a hard time, 
but relaxed his gaze and smiled, “I’m just very protective of my 
friends.” He looked straight at Ellen when he said this.

	“I would never do anything to hurt Bill, if that’s what you 
mean”, she replied in a very serious manner.

	“I’m just upset about something else, Ellen, pay no attention 
to me.” Carl gave her a tentative smile and stepped inside to sit on 
the sofa.

	“That’s okay. I understand. I think he’s pretty special, too.”

	“Thanks, both of you, but I can take care of myself”, I 
replied. I tried to sound a bit angry, but I don’t believe either one of 
them bought it, because they looked at me and started to laugh. I 
laughed too. I take myself too damn serious sometimes...

	“So are we still on for tonight, dude?”

	“I don’t see why not.”

	“Oooh! Are you guys going out tonight? Can I tag along?”

	Her voice was full of youthful exuberance and she had a 
pleading look on her face, but I had to refuse. I needed to go out 
with Carl and get my new bearings. I had already waited too long.

	“Sorry, Ellen, but Carl and I are going out alone tonight.”

	“Oh, okay. But don’t wear yourself out too much, I might 
have plans for you later!”

	“Okay, thanks for your concern.”

	“I wouldn’t want anything to happen to the best lover in the 
world, now, would I?”

	Without waiting for a reply, she gave me a big hug, then 
grabbed her comforter and laundry bag and moved to the door.

	“Knock on my door when you get home, okay Bill?”

	“I sure will”

	She gingerly stepped through the door and disappeared up 
the stairway humming something that sounded familiar, but I could 
not place it.

	“I warned you about seeing her too often”, Carl sternly 
reminded me.

	“I’m sorry. She followed me down here and ambushed me.”

	“I told you that we can be habit forming. Now you know 
what I mean.”

	“I guess I should hide out for a few days, eh?”

	“We’ll see. She seems to be okay, but sometimes it is hard 
to tell when someone has had too much.”

	His words were the words of experience. I knew that I 
should pay them heed, but I hadn’t been able to control myself. 
Men are by their very nature sluts. It doesn’t take much womanly 
seduction to take us exactly where they want us to go. I had to be 
more aware of this as time passed, or else live a life of constant fear 
and paranoia. The more victims are taken, the harder it becomes for 
us to maintain any stability. Neither Carl nor I were in any position 
to pack up and leave. Neither of us had any real money to speak of, 
and friends are few and far between when you are a vampire. I 
figured we might also roll some humans while we were out 
cruising. This would help us to build our emergency fund. I had just 
started thinking about this lately. What if we had to pick up and 
move? How would we survive without leaving a trail of bloody 
victims? We had to start thinking about the future. It is, after all, 
the only thing we have.

	We silently walked up the stairs to the apartment. I went to 
my room and tried to organize it a bit before we went out. It was 
7:30. I still had an hour or so to kill before we left.

	I thought about ways I could avoid Ellen for the next couple 
of days. She would need time to recover from the energy I had 
taken from her. Yet still I felt a hunger. I wanted to go to her 
apartment and make love with her all night. But Carl had told me I 
could have almost any woman! I wanted to test this sooner or later, 
I might as well start learning some more tonight. I might like to 
survive on my own for awhile, and there was still so much to know. 
Adelaide had only the time to show me some basic mind tricks 
before we were parted. She had taught me how to project myself, 
and she had taught me to recognize mind links. She had spent a lot 
of her time trying to teach me this. She explained that not all 
vampires are kind to their own. There were some, she said, that 
would try to destroy any other vampires within a certain territory, 
so as not to limit their own food supply or their ability to remain 
unnoticed. I went to the window. I extended myself, this time I 
traveled up Highland Avenue towards the San Fernando valley. 
Past Hightower Drive and the Hollywood Bowl. There were a few 
new buildings a little further along this route, which I had traveled 
frequently years ago. My memory was still pretty vivid on certain 
locations, but I was really just practicing. I only went perhaps three 
quarters of a mile before I headed back to the apartment.

	It was now about half an hour past sunset, and the sky was 
still glowing slightly when Carl called to me from the living room.

	“You almost ready to go?”

	“Give me another five minutes.” Projection still makes me 
dizzy for several seconds after I return to my body, so I wanted to 
make sure I was steady before we left the apartment. I also wanted 
to have a soda before I left. I have a real problem with dry mouth, 
and I wanted to be sure that I wouldn’t have to spend any money 
right away. I still had most of what I had left when I came here, and 
I wanted to keep a reserve.

	“Looking sharp there Mr. Bill”, said Carl with a broad 
smile.

	“Thanks, mate. I figure I might as well look decent. Who 
knows where we might end up?”

	“Good point, bro. Perhaps I should wear something a bit 
more...”

	“Forget it”, I cut him off. “This is the best I have, and I 
don’t feel like being second best tonight.”

	“Ho ho! No problem, buddy! I was just...”

	“Yeah, yeah. I know. Thanks anyway.”

	“You must be feeling a lot better, eh?”, he replied with a 
touch of anger in his voice.

	“I am, thank you, and a quite a bit more aggressive. I didn’t 
realize how low my energy level had been, I had been so low for so 
long now.”

	He relaxed his tone as he replied, “Good. I feel like having 
some real fun tonight!”

	“What do you mean?”

	“You’ll see. Just be prepared for anything.”

	“I will try to stay on my toes, brother.”

	“You had better! Remember you are a vampire, and the 
world is not the same to you, nor will it ever be again!” He spat out 
the words as if a fire had momentarily consumed him.

	“Okay, okay! I will stay on my toes.”

	“Good. I just don’t want you to get careless. Friends are 
hard to find when you are immortal, and even harder to keep.”

	“Now that we’ve settled that, I need to have a cigarette and 
a soda before we leave.”

	“Fine, I’ll join you.”

	I went to the kitchen and pulled out a cream soda and a 
ginger ale. A thought occurred to me then. I had forgotten all about 
the Thai stick Carl had brought for me earlier in the day. I returned 
to the living room to give Carl his ginger ale, then walked to my 
room to get my pipe and the Thai stick. I returned to the living 
room a moment later and took my chair. It was 8:20 P.M., so we 
still had a bit of time before we left.

	“You gonna smoke some of that?”, Carl asked with a smile.

	“I thought I might enjoy a bit before we head outside. 
Perhaps it will take the edge off.”

	“Not a bad idea. Mind if I join you?”

	“Of course not. You bought the stuff.”

	“I bought it for you, bro. I remember you saying how much 
you enjoyed the stuff.”

	“Thank you very much!”

	“Anytime. A friend of ours is a local dealer to the rich and 
famous. He pinches a few sticks every now and then, and I did a 
favor for him and he gave me a few.”

	“A few...”

	“I sold the others. We’ll use the money from the sale tonight 
to pay our way if we don’t come upon some hapless tourists or 
something. But I am confident we will.”

	I smiled and nodded my head as I proceeded to open the foil 
package containing the potent herb. The smell exuded from the 
package as I opened the foil. Thai stick. There was really nothing 
else like it. I had smoked other herbs that were as potent, but Thai 
stick has a transparent high that supersedes all others. It is just so 
smooth. Easy on the lungs and mind boggling to the psyche, while 
never making you obvious. A heightened state without any side 
effects. I filled the small bowl with a few pieces of bud, then 
repackaged the rest. I set the pipe on the coffee table, then went 
into the kitchen to put the herb in the refrigerator to keep it fresh. I 
returned to my chair in the living room, pulling my lighter from my 
shirt pocket as I seated myself. I lit the bowl and took a gentle hit 
before passing the pipe to Carl. It doesn’t take much of this stuff to 
put on a nice buzz, and I figured the small pipe full would be just 
the right amount to get us both high.

	Carl lit the bowl again with his lighter, but took too large a 
toke and ended up coughing it all out. We both started laughing 
hysterically. I hadn’t smoked in awhile, and that one toke had really 
given me a nice head.

	“I don’t usually smoke this stuff”, Carl coughed out his 
sentence as he gasped for air.

	“I could tell. Next time take a smaller hit.”

	“No shit Sherlock!”, he exclaimed as he coughed and 
laughed at the same time.

	“Sorry, bro. I Didn’t mean to get you all choked up!”

	My dismal attempt at humor brought a grave expression to 
his face, just before he started laughing again. He passed the pipe 
back to me.

	“No more for me, Bill.”

	“Okee Dokey.”

	“You ain’t goin’ hick on me now, are ya’?”

	He curled his lip, pushed his tongue out of his mouth and to 
the side, then rolled his eyes as he put on this weird face, and we 
both started cracking up again. I took another hit then set the pipe 
on the table. After I had released the smoke, I removed a cigarette 
from my pack and lit it.

	“We can go as soon as I finish my grit.”

	“Right. I think I’ll have a smoke too before we head into the 
night.”

	He reached into his pocket and pulled a cigarette from the 
pack, flipped it into his mouth. He did this all in one smooth 
motion, and it seemed to take only a fraction of a second. I looked 
at him in amazed curiosity.

	“How did you...”

	“Pay close attention tonight, Bill. You still have so much to 
learn, and I need you to be more of a partner. What I just did was a 
very simple trick that you will find very useful.”

	“A trick?”

	“Indeed, Billy boy. What I just did was a brief projection. 
My projection pulled out the cigarette and lit it by the time my hand 
reached my lips. This is a prime way of fooling humans into 
thinking we can move swiftly.”

	“But it appeared as though you actually performed those 
movements with your hand.”

	“I did not. It is an illusion. Everything happened so fast that 
you simply did not see it. You can train yourself to identify such 
trickery, but you must first learn how to perform it.”

	“I assume you will teach me.”

	“Of course, my brother. For tonight, just be an observer, 
and learn”

	“I understand.”

	“You will. Remember, the more you watch me, the easier 
you will find it to study these techniques. You will learn them in 
time on your own, but we need to start working together if we are 
ever going to get out of this place.”

	“Get out?”

	“You don’t really think I want to stay in this dump, do 
you?”

	“I wasn’t aware of any plans you had for leaving until just 
now.”

	“Well now you know. If you come up with any ideas along 
the way, I’ll be glad to listen.”

	“I had been thinking about an emergency fund.”

	“Guess what? I’ve already saved quite a bit of money. I also 
have some jewelry and some coins we can sell.”

	“Where are you thinking of going?”

	“New York, my brother, New York.”

	Carl stood up with a huge smile on his face and said, “Let’s 
go, mate.”

	New York. It was a place I knew well. Might as well do 
some traveling, I thought. Perhaps I could look up some friends. I 
rose and grabbed my pipe, and put it in the outside front pocket of 
my jacket. We gave each other a manly hug, then headed for the 
door, both of us smiling. Tonight I would learn more about my own 
survival as a vampire, and soon we would be on our way to New 
York.


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