Get Into James Shorts - 17. the Vampyre

The Vampyre

"So, are you a vampire?"

"In the Hollywood sense, no. In truth, I am from the bloodline that created the legend but almost everything you've ever heard about us has been wrong."

I was stunned, and a little furious. "Why? What did I do to you? Am I going to go around killing random people?"

Raymond shook his head sadly. "No. You will recover your strength in a day or so and feel no ill effects."

"How much blood did you take?"

Raymond smiled at this and said, "See? That's what I mean by Hollywood. The truth about us is really quite different."

I had to agree with that. While I had an impressive set of hickeys, I wasn't actually punctured. I did feel... different. Tired and maybe a little weak. The memory of the night with Raymond was fantastic. It was beyond sex. I could think of no other word to describe it other than majestic.

"Well, something happened. Would you mind explaining it to me?"

"There are secrets that I cannot tell. Some would put you in great danger just for the knowing. When you look at me, how old would you guess that I am?"

I looked at Raymond and willed myself not to fall into those emerald green eyes. It is said that eyes are the mirror of the soul but those eyes, while beautiful, had an infinite depth that drew you in like a whirlpool.

"You look no older than twenty-two. Maybe a little more or a less."

Raymond looked away for a moment and said, "It is hard to have to lie to people all the time. Especially the ones you like, and I do like you Chris. The truth, is deep, and a little difficult to believe. The reason I like you is that of all the humans that I've met lately, you are one of the very few that may be able to handle it."

I put my hand on his forearm and said, "Ray, maybe it would help if there was someone who knew, someone you could trust with the truth."

He looked at my hand and gave it a gentle caress. "Perhaps you are right. The first of it is that my names isn't Raymond, and I am a little older than twenty-two."

Something in my head said uh-oh. "What is your name?"

"I have had many names. In the times of the Pharaohs, they called me Rah. The Vikings called me Thor. The Greeks called me Apollo. I am six thousand of your years old and, I have watched your civilization grow, guided it and helped where I could."

His shape changed before my eyes. He was Rah, then Thor, then Apollo and then Raymond again.

I was stunned and could only say, "How could this be?"

Raymond said, "Every myth has its beginning in some truth. We came to this world forty-five thousand t-years ago, oh sorry that's Terran years, quite by accident. We were part of an expedition that was permanently marooned here on earth. We were faced with an impossible dilemma: die out or mix with the locals."

"We changed humanity and ourselves. Ever wonder why it seemed like the Neanderthals died out almost overnight and modern man suddenly appeared? It was as if the Neanderthal had a complete upgrade that made them much more intelligent and gave them language skills."

"Vampires like me are those with a rare triple recessive gene that makes us the most like the Ancients. We do not drink blood. That's a myth. They do require infusions of life energy which we take in small amounts from ordinary humans. Our most distinguishing characteristics is that we are sun-light sensitive, pale in appearance and have exceptionally long lifespans compared to humans. You see the sun of the Ancients was a dying red super-giant and this sun is quite bright for our tastes."

"There are two types of us: half-bloods and true bloods. True bloods have the triple recessive genes while the half-bloods only have the pair. Half bloods are completely indistinguishable from ordinary humans. They are weaker than true-bloods and don't have the long life-spans. Half-bloods also lack the photo-sensitivity of the true-bloods."

"We don't like the limelight. We stay in the shadows but guide and push humanity forward. We are often the power behind the throne-the wise statesman or scientists or scholar."

"We aren't all the same. Some, I would venture to say, most are good or at least neutral. But there are some of my kind that have been quite evil. They have been butchers and dictators and manipulators, and it has been our responsibility to stop them."

"You see the vampyre are just like you: good and evil, wise and foolish, benevolent and malicious. The fate of our two races are hopelessly and completely ensnared."

My head spun. This was, this was... astonishing. The magnitude and scope of it boggled my mind.

"The reason that I sought you out my dear Chris is that you are one of us... a half-blood. You are part of this now and there is much more that you need to know."