The Day the Sun Turned Red

"Erin, time to get up!"

"Come on dad, it´s still dark outside."

"No it's not, it´s almost 7:30; you don't want to be late for your last day of school."

The blinds are closed and normally at this time of day the sun hitting directly on them filters a tenuous light into my room. Not this morning, this morning all that comes through is a reddish glow.

"Fuck, what? Fuck..."

I stand and check my phone. I hate it when this happens; you set your alarm and the phone dies on you during the night.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck..."

"Language young lady."

My dad is the kitchen, probably having breakfast. I can hear the TV mumbling something... It's odd Dad usually doesn't want us to watch TV in the morning. Anyway I have bigger problems right now. If I want to be at school on time I have to hurry.

"Sorry dad, I'll be five minutes"

I extract my heavy carcass from the sedimentary layers of my bed. I take a quick shower casting away the web of sleepiness remaining from the night. The very hot water on my skin makes me forget for a second the pile of shit I'll be in if I get in late. I shiver. Bribes of last night dream hit me. It was quite a pleasant one. I accidentally pass a finger over my slit. It's still wet. I hardly hold back a faint moan. If I had time I would definitely pursue this line of enquiry, but, alas, school awaits and I'll have to hold it back. Maybe during lunchtime I can spend some time with Mark in the girl's locker-room. We'll see.

I enter the kitchen to have a breakfast. I stop at the door. The light bathing the room is strange. It's kind of... red. Dad is watching TV sipping on his coffee. Instead of the usual lighthearted show "Rise and Shine", there's a man in a suit standing in front of the famous seal of the white house.

"... and we have our best experts looking into the problem at the moment. Let me emphasize once again on the fact that there are no reasons to panic, we are still looking into the situation and will get back to you as soon as we know more. Now I will take a few questions. Please Sam."

"Good morning mister spokesman, we have had reports from all over the place about erratic behavior and violent attacks. In some cases although this is yet to be confirmed rapes. Can you tell us if this has anything to do with the current situation?"

"Thank you for the question. At this moment the rumors of a widespread wave of attacks are just that: rumors. Furthermore there are no proofs whatsoever of any links between the alleged attacks and the fact that the sun has raised red this morning."

Red? I run to the window. The sun is high in the sky and instead of its usual blinding white tint it is casting a reddish light all over the city. It's kind of surreal. As a matter of fact it's totally amazing, properly fascinating.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"What The fuck?"

"Yes..."

"Dad, fuck, dad."

"Language."

"Sorry, dad."

He has left his chair and he's standing by my side, a hand on my shoulder.

"Are we gonna die?"

"Don't know."

"Thanks dad, that helps..."

"Yeah sorry... No we're not going to die."

"What is happening?"

"Don't know; they said it's all over the world. It started last night as the sun started to rise over Europe. Nobody knows what is happening. Apparently, the guys in space said that the sun looked the same to them, so it's not the sun itself, it's in the atmosphere."

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"I'm scared."

"Yeah me too."

"Can I skip school?"

"The hell you are."

"Come on,"

"Last day of school, too important, freaky weather is not going to take that from you."

"Okay."

"Dad, what about the attacks?

"Bullshit!"

"Dad, language."

"Yeah sorry."

We finish breakfast in relative silence watching the news, or to be more precise, the total absence of news. Again and again we get the same info: the suns has raised red this morning, nobody knows what happened. There are reported attacks in some places but nothing confirmed.

I get my bag. I kiss dad on the forehead, say G'day and exit the flat. The sensation in the street is even weirder. There are people looking up all over the place, I look up too. The sun hasn't changed, still red. I stand at the corner of our street waiting for my bus, when I spot a weird looking man crossing the street and coming directly in my direction. He is tall, very pale and his eyes are kind of reddish. He is pretty good looking too. His eyes are locked into mine. It's strange; it's as if I could feel him inside me, touching me, raping me. As if he was telling me something like:

"Erin, you are mine. Abandon yourself to me."

My bus arrives. The door opening makes me jump. I get in and pay. Today's a pretty weird day, I find an empty seat. If I'm not mistaken it's the first time I find an empty seat on this line. The good looking guy is standing on the sidewalk looking at the bus leave. Before the bus turns around the corner, I think I see him grabbing a woman and kissing her. I feel a bit sorry and a bit horny too. I should really have taken the time to relieve myself in the shower.

Sorry, about all this, with the fuss with the sun and all I didn't get a chance to properly introduce myself. My name is Erin Banks and for the next eight hours I'll be going to high school. I go out with this guy, Mark, and I haven't got a clue about what I'll do with my life after this weekend parties. Well, I do have a job with my uncle for the summer, but I'm not too excited about it, it's on the west coast. I have a dirty mouth, too much HBO if you ask me. I'm sort of a Goth, not really but I do dress in black. What else? I'm a redhead with freckles sparkled over every inch of my body. Medium height, a bit overweight, that's pretty much it. No sorry, almost it. You see, I have this huge fetish for vampires. It's complicated to explain and since I'm arriving at school I'm not going to try to do it. If it becomes relevant I'll come back to it.

The traffic is so light this morning that instead of the usual forty-five minutes it usually takes to get to school I make it there in fifteen. The schoolyard is almost empty. I spot Mark, Kathy and Cheryl looking up at the sun by the fountains.

"Hey, guys."

"Hey, Erin."

We start chatting about the sun but no one has much more information than the others. The little game of speculations about the nature of the phenomenon is a bit too scary so we skip it in an unspoken agreement. After a long awkward silence, we finally agree to go to class. No one's there when we get in. The school is awfully quiet. By ten past nine, three other seniors have joined us. The teacher is not in yet. I look through the window at the street below. It's really weird this red light covering the world. Is it both my last day of school and the last day of the world? Who knows?

"I don't think Ms Garn will be coming today," says Mark around nine thirty. "Somebody should go to the principal's and check what the plan is."

Tired of waiting and of the stupid ramblings Cheryl and Kate have engaged in I offer myself to go. I walk down the halls of my school. Usually it's so full of life, today it seems abandoned. A couple of classes are taking place but with clearly diminished headcounts. Some students are wandering the hallways. I get to the principal's office. The old secretary tells me that most of our teachers won't be showing today. Next class should take place at two, we're pretty much free to do anything we want as long as we don't leave the school premises. As I exit I spot a large silhouette at the door of the school. It looks familiar. It enters the teacher's lounge. I go back to class. Kathy's texting, Cheryl is reading, Mark is looking out the window.

I take Mark away. I need him to scratch the hitch that's been bugging me since I took my shower. The girl's locker room is going to be empty until eleven so we have more than time to get to the point. Mark is a bit clumsy but he's learning and I must confess that today he surpasses himself. With his hand in my pants, I peak three times before finishing him with a blowjob. He looks at me with gratitude as I lick his sperm from my lips. I pull down my top and button my jeans. I walk to the door and take a quick glance outside. The coast is clear.

We go back to class. The hallways seem even emptier than before. Kathy, Cheryl and the other three are all sitting in a circle listening to the radio on Kathy's phone.

"... vampires, we confirm the previously broadcasted information, the unknown assailants are actually vampires. The covering of the sun seems to have been the result of a ritual performed by the vampires to be able to come out in daylight. The president has suspended the Habeas corpus and declared the martial law. We advise you to stay home and close all doors. The president has said that we are at war, a war for our very survival as a race."

"Come on guys," Mark says, "this can't be true bullshit!"

"No it's not it's all over the news." Cheryl says.

"Youtube is crawling with videos of reported attacks. They rape their victims before bleeding them. It's so fucking hot."

Everybody turns to Kathy. There's something off in her look, something slutty, lustful.

"Come guys, don't you realize how hot this is, to live forever, to fuck all the time," she turns to me,

"Erin, tell them I know you must be as thrilled as I am."

Okay, now maybe is the time to talk to you about my fantasies. I dig vampires, I find them powerful and mighty and fucking hot... But this was before, before they forced Obama to implement the fucking Martial Law. It was a fantasy about a fictional creature, a romantic figure, a fucking allegory. Not a fucking monster. Concerning Kathy, I've always suspected her of sharing with me this small inclination but I never thought she'd be so stupid.

"Hot? Kathy? Are you nuts? This isn't hot! Dracula behind the TV screen may be hot but this... This is the fucking end of the world." I shout.

"Hello children. I'm sorry to interrupt but I must agree with your friend Kathy here, it's actually so very fucking hot."

We all freeze. The voice is coming from the entrance. We all turn around. Standing in the doorway, the man from this morning, the man from the bus stop, the one who talked to me, the one who made me his bitch, the one who owns me, the one who will make me more than I am now and who will take me as his sexual slave for all eternity, my master is here for me!

Everything around me slows down. One of the kids, Emile, I think he's called, runs towards the door. My master grabs him by the neck; he thrust his fist through his rib cage. My master enters the room; he extends a hand in my direction. I have to go to my Master, I don't have a choice but even if I had the choice I would willingly give myself to him. I start walking in his direction when Mark coming from behind my Master rams a computer screen through his head. Is my Master hurt? I wonder and I'm sad and I want to cry. And...

Cheryl has slapped me. I think I've never been slapped this hard. I look at her. I look at the scene. The monster is starting to stand. We have to get the fuck out of here. I grab Kathy's arms and all six of us rush for the door. We all get through except for one girl, Sarah. She screams, but we know that she's lost.

"Erin, sweet slave of mine, I haven't forgotten about you, I'll have this one on us and then I'll catch up. I promise." He hisses through his fangs as we run off in the hallways.

We rush out of the school. In the schoolyard we stop to catch our breath. I look up. One of the windows of our classroom is open. Sarah is bending over the edge, naked. The monster is pulling her long blonde hair back. Her neck is covered in blood, the red liquid is pouring down the white façade. Judging by her screams of pleasure, Kathy was right; they do rape their victims before bleeding them. He looks at me smiling. I can sense him trying to take over me again but this time I'm ready.

"Fuck off," I shout.

He seems to be pulled backwards by the violence of my will.

"Let's get the hell out of here," I tell the others.

Cheryl, Mark, Kathy and ... Wait where is the last girl?

She's going back into school.

"I have to get my little brother," she says when I try to stop her.

She enters the school and disappears. I sincerely hope she finds her brother and that they manage to find a safe place. We turn around and run. The streets are empty; we can see silhouettes at the windows in the buildings around us, terrified men and women hoping for the best hiding from the monsters. The Red Sun is over us, threatening.

"Where to now?" I ask, "Kathy, your place is just a few blocks away right?"

An hour later we're at Kathy's place. She lives in a penthouse near central park. Her father is loaded but I guess that doesn't mean anything anymore. Kathy, Mark and Cheryl have managed to talk to their parents, stranded at their respective work. My dad is unreachable. I fear the worst.

On TV, we have a pre recorded message ordering the population to stay at home. We have seen a couple of military choppers flying over the city. At some point we heard an explosion. But nothing more out of the ordinary, nothing more except maybe for the silence and the Red Sun. I'm sitting in a large chair, rocking my body to the tune of a song only I can hear.

The night falls and with it the reddish tint covering all things disappears. The sun out of the sky brings back a feeling of normality to the world. Around ten, the looping message goes off the air and for thirteen minutes we get only static. Finally an image comes back. It's the vice president. She's in the oval office. There are bullet holes in the walls and part of the window on her left side has been blown away.

"My fellow Americans, first of all I want to extend my most sincere condolences to all of you who have lost a loved one in the course of this tragic day. This day will be marked with sorrow for the rest of our history as we have lost many in our battle against those terrible creatures. We have faced today the most terrible threat our young country has ever faced, I dare to say that we have faced the worst threat any empire in the world has ever faced, but we, as a nation have prevailed."

I can't stop myself from looking at the screen, I'm not really listening to the speech, what has me captivated are the twin bite marks on the side of the woman's neck, the terrible paleness of her skin and the exuberant fangs we all get to see when she speaks.

"Tonight, as newly instated president I lift the martial law and order all troops back to their bases. Tonight I lift the curfew for all the country. And to all of you who haven't yet been granted the privilege I have been bestowed upon today, be assured that we will find you, we will rape you and we will make you one of us."

She laughs as the static comes back. If we were catatonic before, now we are plain comatose. We have lost. The clamor that rises through the city is not human.

The door to the flat opens. Kathy is going out.

"Wait," I say, "we have to stick together, we have to fight, we have to..."

As the words go through my lips. I realize that everything is lost. She doesn't even look back. I know where she's going and part of me wants to join her. Join them.

But then I see Mark and Cheryl. My two friends, the best friends a girl can ever have, two humans, two survivors and I know we have lost a battle but we haven't lost the war.

***

Six months later, the western front.

The war is still raging but we have our first victory since the nuking of Washington. Last night a small commando got to the Emperor and staked him, they died but in the process they have freed thousands who will join the ranks of the liberation army. The sun might rise red tomorrow but we will continue fighting the scourge of the earth.

I retire to my tent. Mark was killed in the first days of the war, but Cheryl is still by my side. We have become lovers. The bishop doesn't approve of our relationship but even he knows that the best way to fight the mental control of the vampires is to have sex, as much sex as we can. I have requisitioned a bottle of Napa Valley's best merlot from the officers' mess.

The UV projectors cast a delicious light over the body of the brunette waiting for me in my bed. I undress and slip by her side. She seems asleep; the Merlot will have to wait. She came back from a long journey today and she must be exhausted. I'm about to turn off the lights when I spot a red sparkle coming from her neck.

The vamps have managed to create small jewels to protect them from our UV lights. Sort of a portable receptacle of the grand ritual that turned the sun red. We lost quite a few outposts before we understood how it worked. I reach for my weapon but it's too late. She catches my arm smiling.

"My sweet little Erin," she says through her fangs "an old friend of yours wants to see you tonight. I'll take you to him."

"I'll come with you my love."

Those aren't my words, they come from my throat but clearly they aren't mine.

We leave camp. The young soldier we take to drive the Humvee I have requisitioned is selected by Cheryl. She has chosen him for his reputation as a stud among the women of the troop. I guess she has special plans for him. As we pass the guard's hut, I can see the trail of sweat running down his neck. He is only controlled, completely conscious of his actions without any power over them as opposed to me being subjugated, willing slave of the vampire sitting by my side. Nobody tries to stop us, I am the commander of this base after all and if I want to take a stroll with my lover into a warm autumn night, no one will dare to second guess me.

We drive for two hours. As soon as we have left the camp, Cheryl has me undress. As we sit in the back of the military vehicle, she massages my thighs, kneads my tits, rubs my clit and explores my cunt. She explains to me that it is to ready my body for my master. She tells me of her turning two days ago. She tells me how her patrol fell in an ambush, how the vampires that captured them kept her for last, letting her keep her free will and all, just because of me, because of our relationship. She tells me of her rape by the men and women under her command. She tells me of Kathy and her master, of their fingers ripping her soul. She tells me of the release she found under their fangs. She tells me of the bliss of resurrection.

We finally arrive in a small clearing in the woods. The Humvee is soon surrounded by the very creatures that I have been fighting for the last six months. We exit the car; the vampires make way for their master, my master. The very first monster I met on the morning of the Red Sun.

"My child," he says to Cheryl "in one day you have succeeded where dozens have failed, for that you shall be rewarded. Now release her."

Cheryl bows her head purring in contempt. I can feel my free will coming back. The love I have for those creatures is soon replaced by rightful hate. The lust that Cheryl has casted upon me over the trip turns to disgust. I can feel the filthy fingers of the monster insinuating into my mind.

"Ah my little Erin, I had you in my sight long before the rise of the Red Sun. So many years ago I discovered the strong willed little slut that dug vampires. I waited in the shadows for you to become of age and when the Red Sun rose I came for you to make you my slave. But you slipped through my fingers, twice. And now we are reunited; it is time for you to embrace your destiny. It's time for you to become my queen..."

He continues smiling but his look has lost the confidence it had just a few moments ago. His grip over my will is tenuous as I fight back. Every inch of terrain he gains he has to deploy monuments of ingenuity to overcome the countless traps and ambushes I set on his path. Finally I open a highway into my consciousness for him to dive into.