The Legacy

Copyright by madengineer3, September 2006

What follows is purely fiction. All rights are reserved by madengineer3.

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It was a lonely walk from the little railroad station to my house. With the price of gasoline and with my need to exercise to keep my heart in shape the six kilometer round trip walk into town in the morning and out of town in the evening was just what the doctor had ordered. It was mid-fall at this point of time and there had been rain earlier in the day. The mist was coming up and the visibility was becoming difficult. I suddenly wished that I had brought a flashlight with me. If a car came along it wouldn't see me in time if I had no reflective object or light on me. I knew this walk as well as the back of my hand, so I normally needed no light to know where I was going. Tonight felt different in some inexplicable way. My house is an old farm house about three kilometers out of the village. It has many nice features, the main one being that I have refused to put in a telephone line. Since the house is 100 meters off the road the telephone company has informed me that I would have to pay for the access poles and wire if I wanted the phone. I can do without the phone. I carry a cell phone but make sure that I turn it off when I leave town. I like my solitude. Don't get me wrong I like people, but I like them in small numbers and small doses, i.e. when it is most convenient for me to be around them. My work, as a consultant, allows me to set my own hours and schedule. I make sure that I have at least one week a month that I can treat as just my time. There is an exception, once in a blue moon I will take two weeks for myself.

Tonight is the beginning of one of my week long vacations. I was looking forward to some special fellowship. I was to be meeting with several very old special friends and I hoped that my surprise packages had arrived in time.

I'd just turned off the road and was on the gravel path to my home. I enjoy the crunching sound that comes from beneath my feet when I walk that path. As I approached the house I was suddenly very alert. There was a dim light showing from between two curtains in the end room. I looked around behind the house and saw the car. I believe that my packages had arrived. I slowed my pace, approached to within a couple of meters of the house and stopped to listen. I could hear them. There were two people inside the house. I could tell from the noises that they were making that they were trying to be quiet. But they weren't quiet enough.

I proceeded to the house and opened the front door. Once inside I took off my coat and hat and went to the kitchen, which is on the side of the house furthest from the room containing my visitors. I turned on the light and grabbed a cold mutton chop from the refrigerator. I turned on the stove to boil water for tea and sit down for a brief meal while my guests were figuring out what they thought they wanted to do.. I knew what they should do, and what they will wish that they had done, but at this point they are, so to speak, "fat, dumb, and happy".

The shrill sound of the kettle's whistle told me that the water was boiling. I put some loose tea in the tea ball, put the tea ball in the pre-warmed pot and added the boiling water. As my grandmother used to say "bring the tea to the water not the water to the tea". The slight cooling supposedly doesn't allow the rich flavor of the tea to come forth. I put the tea pot on the table and covered it with a "tea cozy". Then, I finish off my mutton chop. As I was finishing two men suddenly stepped into the kitchen. They were both holding semi-automatic pistols. They had the sallow, pasty faces that one would expect from long term prisoners. Neither one of them appeared to be over thirty years old. The larger of the two stepped forward and said:

"Keep sitting right there if you value your life." Speaking to the smaller man he said: "Frank, check him for weapons and don't get between my gun and him. If he makes a move I'll shoot him."

Frank came over and checked for weapons and found nothing but my keys. I didn't even have a table knife or fork. I like to eat my meat by hand, biting it off the bone. There is a sort of visceral pleasure in eating that way.

"He's clean Ralph, he doesn't even have silverware here."

Ralph looked satisfied. He lowered the muzzle of his gun and started talking: "What's your name Mac."

I responded, "Gregory".

"O.k. Gregory, on your way here tonight did you see any police?"

"No, should I have? Of course I could have missed them in the fog if they were parked a few meters off the road." Then to see what they would say I asked "Why do you ask?" . I already knew exactly why they asked.

"We would just as soon not meet any police at the moment, of course they would love to find us. How often do you have people drop by?"

"Oh, not often at all. I am not expecting to have any people to the house tonight Ralph." I was telling the truth, but not really answering his question. At first he looked startled that I had used his name, but then seemed to remember that Frank had called him by his real name.

"We're going to spend the nigh here. We don't want to have to hurt you but we will if you try to give us any trouble. You understand that, right?"

"I understand what you are saying. What are you planning? After all, there aren't too many places that are near this area. Even by train I have to go almost an hour's ride to get to any large urban area. There are no major places to rob, or hide in for miles from here, unless you count the old ruin in the woods."

"Listen Gregory, I'm not going to tell you my plans. If I did I'd need to kill you for sure. I'm not going back to prison, and neither is Frank. Tell me about this ruin that you mentioned."

"It's a very, very old building. It probably dates from the time of the Druids that lived here over fifteen hundred years ago. It's off the beaten track, and is little shelter unless you use the cave they kept their livestock in. It isn't big, and it isn't important enough to have the archeologists pawing around it. Since it is on land owned by some close friends of mine few people are let in to see it."

I could see that they were nibbling at my bait.

"How far is it from here? and while you are at it will we run into any people there?"

"There will be no people there except yourselves and it is about a quarter of a mile from here. The land around here must be on the backbone of this country because there is little earth between the surface and the rocks. It's useless as farm land and the rocks are granite meaning that building houses or buildings on it would cost a small fortune. It really is a desolate place. Some even have suggested it is haunted, but what old building isn't haunted in this area? Every town person has ridiculous stories of haunted buildings, but I'm sure that you two aren't afraid of silly old wife's tails are you?"

"Say, Ralph, what if we decided to move into the old cave and took Gregory along with us? He couldn't tell people where we were. We can use him to help carry food and bedding with us." I liked Frank's overly simple thought pattern. I just hoped that Ralph is as stupid, or as ignorant, as Frank.

Ralph then asked me "Tell me about this cave. How big is it, can it be seen from the road, and if a fire were built would people be attracted by the sight of smoke?"

"Well, Ralph, its about as big as this kitchen. For extreme weather there is a small place near the opening of the cave where a fire has been burned in the past. If the fire is kept small, and allowed to get enough air the smoke will be almost impossible to see from a hundred meters away. There are no roads near there, it is as private as can be found in these parts." I didn't add that it was because of this privacy that I, and my friends, had purchased this land in the first place.

I sat back and watched them slowly hatch the plan that would take them to the cave. I had to quietly chuckle at a humorous joke that would be explained to them later. I broke into their conversation to ask a simple question who's answer I already knew "What are you two running from?"

Frank responded, "We escaped from prison. We were both in for life for murder and rape. You see we like to enjoy the company of younger kids and the law frowns on it so we need to keep them quiet when we're done. They are as quiet as the tomb when we're done, aint that right Ralph?"

"Shut up Frank, we don't need to give this guy any ideas. But there's one thing that Gregory here has to keep in mind. This country doesn't have capital punishment. If we're caught they can't do anything more to us than we're already in for even if we have to kill him too.

Little did they know what a joy it was that they had arrived in time. These two would not be missed if they were never seen again.

Within the next half hour Ralph had supervised the boxing up of food, cooking and eating utensils and bedding. We then left the house, with the lights all out, and started our trek back into the woods. Ralph and Frank had seemed surprised that I didn't keep a flashlight around. They apparently thought that nobody would be so comfortable in the dark that they wouldn't want a light. That should have told them something, but luckily it didn't.

I led them on the narrow, winding, path. They didn't like it a bit because they couldn't see much of anything, including where to step and where not to step. They both took numerous falls while on our way. I could have slipped away at any time, but I didn't. I wanted to make sure that they would reach the cave safely.

When we arrived Frank and Ralph both agreed that I should build a small fire and set up the camp to be relatively comfortable. The cave was just large enough to allow us all to be able to lay down for sleep. Because the ground outside the cave was at a lower elevation than the cave itself we would be kept dry even if it rained. But tonight I was sure that it wasn't going to rain. We'd have dense fog, but no rain. My friends don't mind fog. Fog is good, it protects you from potential enemies.

Ralph and Frank decided that one of them would sleep while the other kept the fire going and watch me. Both Frank and Ralph kept the fire going much more brightly than was reasonable. They enjoyed watching the fire and embers not realizing that their night vision was being ruined. When the fire went out, they wouldn't be able to see well for several minutes.

Ralph told Frank to get some sleep and told me to lay down on the bedding that was in the back of the cave. To get out I would have to move over Frank and the assorted materials and fire wood were between me and Frank. Ralph assumed that this would keep me safe. They didn't have any rope with which to tie me. I don't keep rope or cord around the house. I seldom have a need for it.

We settled down and I purposely went to sleep. I knew what was going to happen and they didn't. Being rested, before the party, would make it more enjoyable later. I dozed off. The next thing I remember was waking up to something that had the sound of a pack of wolves. Ralph was at the fire and looking very nervous. I checked my watch, yup! it was about five minutes before midnight. As I looked up, over the ground fog that enveloped us, I could see the beautiful full moon.

"Hey, Gregory, what's making that howling noise?"

"They are a rare breed Ralph. This clearing is the place that they congregate on certain evenings, like tonight. Isn't their singing beautiful?"

"Are you mad Gregory. Are they dangerous?"

"Dangerous is an interesting word Ralph. They are not dangerous to most people, they are very friendly to their own and this is a hunting night."

"Their howling gives me the creeps! How can you be so comfortable with that sound around us? How come you know so much about these things?"

"Do you really want me to tell you, Ralph? Are you sure that you want to hear of things that you have never heard of or seen in the past?"

"Spill it Gregory, you're stalling. I thought you said that there wouldn't be people around this are tonight. Are you lying to us?"

"Oh, no Ralph I wouldn't lie to you. What I said was 'There will be no people there except yourselves' and I told you the absolute truth."

"Bullshit, you told us that we would be the only humans, but you are here so you can't be telling the truth."

"Ralph, you seem to have forgotten common sense and logic. I would be lying to you if I was human, but you see I helped you to pick the wrong house tonight. Those beautiful singing voices are part of my group. We meet here every time there is a full moon. This is an old, old tradition."

"You're out of your mind Gregory. You sure look human to me. Tell me about your friends. If they get here won't there be several more people here?"

"No, Ralph, do you want me to tell you a little about our background? Do you want to know where we came from and what we do?"

"Tell it Gregory! and if I think you are lying you may get shot."

"The story starts about millennium ago in the Caucasus mountains in a location that is now part of Romania. There were two very feared groups that didn't always get along. One of the groups was headed by a man named Vlad Tepes, of the Order of the Dragon. His name, in English, means Vlad the impaler. He had had a falling out with another group who were friendly to the unnatural wolves of the Borgo pass. In the end it was decided to pick a male, named Gregory, from Vlad's group and a female, named Sofia, from the other group and have them marry. The blended union would produce a new blood line with many of the strengths of both of the original blood lines. So it was done. The unusual thing that happened was that whereas both of the groups had to make severe changes at the time of the full moon, this new blood line was capable of willing the change at any time that they wanted but weren't forced to change during the full moon. This allowed us to live in closer proximity to our major food supply without the risk of being recognized by our absence during the days around the full moon. Gregory and Sofia are my grandparents."

"You're nuts Gregory, you just told me that the marriage of the first couple was a thousand years ago and now you are trying to tell me that these two are you grandparents? What do you take me for, I'm not stupid enough to fall for that story?"

"Oh, but Ralph our greatest protection is this century's strong disbelief in the supernatural. All of our kind belong to a group called Nosferatu." We are neither true vampires nor true werewolves, we are just called 'the blended ones'. Tonight we are going to have a friendly get together, enjoy a good meal, and enjoy the meeting of our clan. It was my turn to bring the food, and you were so helpful arranging this for us."

Ralph was beginning to look a bit jumpy. He woke up Frank and as he told Frank what I had just told him the howling became much louder. Every now and then a pair of yellow green eyes could be seen looking at the cave and fire. Frank said the obvious first: "Damn Ralph, those eyes look like they are about six feet off the ground. You don't suppose that he's telling the truth, do you?"

While they were talking I had laid back down again behind the supplies and had started my transformation. I was still wearing my nice baggy shirt and slacks, but now they were stretched almost to the breaking point. I had taken off my shoes and socks because I didn't want to ruin them with the claws that were now forming on my toes. My fingers were almost totally changed as well. My jaws now protruded, very obviously, and my body was now coated with beautiful black fur. They couldn't see what was happening. At that moment an especially loud growl was heard right outside the cave. Frank wildly fired a shot in the direction of the growl, as he did so, I carefully and quietly snapped Frank's neck. His head lolled over at an obscene angle. I had used a bit more force than I should have and managed to break all the connecting fibers that held the neck together.

Ralph spoke, "Frank, get me a couple of spare clips for my pistol. We may need some firepower." When he heard no reply he turned to face Frank and turned even whiter than he had previously been. He could just see me standing in the shadows.

I spoke to Ralph: "I have some bad news for you Ralph. Unless the bullets in your gun are made of silver, they can only sting us. You are the main course tonight. If you had been lucky, you would have died of a broken neck like Frank did. He didn't have to face the prospect of being eaten alive. You however are a different matter. Tonight some of our children are going to go through their initiation into the group and as a part of that initiation it is necessary for them to kill a suitable victim. You, Ralph, are the main course for them."

At that, Ralph fired all the rounds in his pistol into me. He seemed quite surprised as I walked forward and he saw the bullet holes closing and the blood stop flowing. He was more surprised as I took his pistol and crumpled it in my hand.

"Oh, Ralph I forgot to tell you a few details. Do you remember the young girl from the west midlands that you raped but who got away? I hope you do because she is one of the ones that is being initiated tonight and has requested that she be allowed to 'play with her food' before killing it. Since she is my niece I have agreed. You see, I'm the one who arranged your escape. I'm the one who provided you with the car and map that got you to town. And it has all worked out so nicely."

I picked Ralph up by the scruff of his neck and carried him outside. The children took him, and he was amazed that they were stronger than he was. Once he had been stripped of clothes four of them held him spread eagled about four feet off the ground. My niece walked up between his legs, smiled sweetly at him and started the feast. Ralph screamed in agony at the her first bite.