The Fairy Tale of Garry Munster and Collin Racks - 1. You Can't Live Forever

Garry Munster watched the flame dancing around the string of thirteen bulbs of garlic in the fireplace. Never moving his eyes from the burning plant, he poured himself a glass of bourbon and drank half of it. The liquid burned his throat, and he placed the glass on the little coffee table next to him. Using a simple clean steak knife, Garry opened his left palm. He squeezed the blood into a golden cup that already had blood in it, and then emptied it in the bourbon glass. He also grabbed a pinch of off-white powder in the grinder and mixed it with the bourbon and blood. Once the powder dissolved, he grabbed the glass and threw it in the fire hard enough to make sure the crystal broke. He blinked at the explosion, but didn’t try to protect himself against it. Falling on his knee near the brick base of the chimney, he grabbed the chain stitched in his neck, smearing blood over the simple golden band, and snatched it from his neck. He looked at it a moment, his eyes filled with water, and when he could barely see it anymore, he pitched it in the fire. He collapsed, but his tears and cries weren’t enough to bury the screams from the bedroom.

Twelve Hours Earlier

Garry and Colin were real fans of Halloween. Well, Colin was the real fan. Garry just went along, because, really, there was no way a Munster was ever going to let an unsuspecting loved one walk the street alone on the day of the Dead’s eve. When you’ve known all your life what lay in the darkness on Halloween night, you tend to become quite protective on that day. Sadly, Halloween was the only day of the year Garry worked.

All of Garry’s sisters kept their husbands, wives, and young children in the security of their own home while they went hunting the living dead, but in the two months Garry had known Colin he hadn’t yet approached the complicated and unbelievable topic of real-life vampires, zombies, and other nonliving creatures that crossed the portal between their world and ours to wreak havoc.
Colin put an arm around his waist, and Garry squeezed him closer. All his sense on alert, he watched for any danger. He was glad Colin was too excited to notice his paranoia. Everything was going short of great until a little girl around six years old approached them. She was wearing a princess costume and a pumpkin bowl . Her make-up was wet, and she had the bluest eyes they’d ever seen.

“I can’t find my mummie, can you help me find her?” she asked with tremolo in her voice.

Garry’s senses boiled, but before he could stop Colin, he knelt in front of the little girl and looked right into her eyes. The girl stopped crying, and her eyes glowed in the night. As if in slow motion, Colin leaned into her. She smiled creepily and then threw her little body at him and buried her fangs into his neck.
Garry jumped to her, pushed her away from Colin, and as Colin fell on the ground unconscious, he drove the stake into her heart. She disappeared in steam.

Back to the Now

Garry had no ideas how long he stayed on the ground, crying, Colin’s never ending screams in the background. He exited his trance when a feminine hand touched his shoulder. Embracing him from behind, his sister blocked the sound by placing her hands against his ears. She rocked him until midnight came and finally, as November 1st started, the silence came back into the house. Being careful not to spook Garry, she helped him stand on shaky legs.

“I brought you some Mama’s Post-Vampirisation bar. He’s gonna need it…”

“I almost lost him…”

“I know, “ she smiled, “but you didn’t. He’s fine, he’s human. You were there, and you had time to bring him back for the ceremony. Now go see him, make sure he’s not too traumatized by his five minute trip to the other side.”

Garry hadn’t needed to be told twice; he ran to his bedroom to untie Colin.

They had a lot to talk about.