Black Vampire Archives

Man, sometimes I think politics and taxes are the only things one can't escape in this life or any other. Being Immortal, I've already escaped Death. However, the tax man and local politics are coming after me. My name is Jacques Henri Acier. A six-foot-three, broad-shouldered and muscular Black man of Haitian descent currently living in the City of Toronto, Province of Ontario. I am the owner of Chez Jacques, a successful restaurant chain. We've got locations in Ottawa, Hamilton and downtown Toronto. And I'm also a centuries-old Vampire.

I was born in the City of Cap-Haitien in North Haiti on the first day of February 1841. A proud son of the first independent Black Republic in the Americas. My father Thomas Acier was a schoolteacher. My mother Jolene Guillaume Acier was a seamstress. I joined the Haitian military at the age of twenty because I wanted to defend my homeland in case the dreaded French ever came back. In those days, fear of a French invasion and the restoration of slavery was a real threat to Haitians. I lived a basically normal life until one fateful day in 1871. I met a six-foot-tall, curvy and exquisitely beautiful young Black woman named Marie Saint Preux at a ball in Port-Au-Prince. It was love at first sight. She enticed me, and I pursued her. I didn't know that she was a Vampire. And she would turn me into one of the Undead.

Marie Saint Preux true name was actually Abosede, and she was no ordinary Black woman. Far from it. Abosede was a ' primordial African goddess once worshiped in the Kingdom of Dahomey, now known as the Republic of Benin. She was over two thousand years old. This lady introduced me to a whole new world. Here is something that the world will never know. The Haitians of the old days owe their freedom not just to their prowess against the French armies but to supernatural aid. Ancient immortals from Africa were awakened from slumber by a Haitian shaman who summoned them to help the fledgling nation's Black men and Black women war against the French colonial oppressors. It's largely thanks to these ancient African Vampires that Haitians were able to defeat the French. Yep. Marie told me as much herself. This immortal lady who is known by many names is actually one of the unnamed founders of my homeland.

Marie Saint Preux transformed me into a Vampire because she was tired of ruling the Holy Family, as the secret society of African Vampires summoned by magic to the Republic of Haiti was called. Before vanishing from the world, Marie Saint Preux made me her heir. In the two thousand years she'd been alive, she only created a few Vampires. Most of her creations were female. They were collectively called the Eduwa, a gathering of beautiful yet bloodthirsty primordial African goddesses. Marie named me Lord Agbonkhina, which means Welcome to Life in the language of Benin. Thus I found myself the new leader of the Black Vampire Nation. A role for which I was unprepared, to say the least.

Marie Saint Preux transformed me into something far greater than an ordinary Vampire. The average Vampire possesses the strength of three to five healthy men, and above average speed. What makes us unique as a breed is our ability to heal. The only way to kill a Vampire is to burn him to death and scatter the ashes or behead him. Our fabulous regenerative abilities enable us to recover from all other injuries. We can re-grow just about any lost or damaged body parts. And we don't age physically. We are immune to disease and aging. We can walk in sunlight without too much discomfort, though we are mainly nocturnal. That is simply how Mother Nature made my kind.

As an ancient Vampire, Marie Saint Preux possesses abilities far beyond those of ordinary Vampires. Her physical strength is phenomenal. I have seen her lift a large boulder that ten to twenty men couldn't budge. She is also inhumanly fast, able to outrun the fastest of horses. No other living being can match her speed. These abilities she passed onto me, making me the most powerful Vampire on the planet. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed by the other ancient Vampires who had been summoned to the fledgling nation of Haiti by the shaman. They weren't exactly eager to accept me as their new King. Especially since their Queen had mysteriously vanished. Marie Saint Preux had been the leader of the entire Vampire species for over two millennia. To say that the race wasn't ready to accept a change in leadership would be an understatement.

My main opponents were Michelle Salomon and Ton-Khader. Michelle Salomon, a tall, gorgeous Black female Vampire who had been Marie Saint Preux's second-in-command and most trusted advisor. Legend has it that Michelle Salomon, whose true name is Ehibe, was born in ancient Dahomey ( Republic of Benin) roughly around the same time as our bloodthirsty Queen Marie. She was almost two thousand years old. Her lover Ton-Khader was a tall, massively muscular and breathtakingly handsome Black man in his late forties. He was a 1200-year-old Vampire hailing from the regions of Sudan. These two considered themselves the rightful King and Queen of the Vampire Nation now that Marie was gone. Well, I didn't want the throne but I wasn't about to let them dethrone me. This meant war.

The many Black Vampires who had come to the Republic of Haiti from deepest Africa found themselves drawn into conflict. Most of them supported Ton-Khader and Ehibe, whom they had known and trusted forever. As for me, I had the loyalty of the New Bloods, as the ordinary Black men and Black women who had been turned into Vampires by the Ancients during the Haitian Revolutionary War were called. The war between the Ancients and the New Bloods seemed inevitable. And I had no choice but to dive into it. Why? Simply because my survival was kind of at stake. You see, among Vampires, the only way to become King or Queen is to get rid of the previous King or Queen. And I don't mean through an election, if you ladies and gentlemen actually catch my not so subtle drift. How do you like the world of Vampire politics?

I waged war against the Ancients. And since I was inexperienced in terms of supernatural warfare ( as were my New Bloods) you might think we were pushovers. We weren't. The Ancients were stronger, older and more experienced. My New Bloods were far better at using modern-day technology like guns and cannons, unlike the Ancients who mainly relied on their natural strength and speed. A Vampire armed with modern technology usually prevails against a Vampire relying exclusively on his or her natural strength and speed. I fought against Ton-Khader and Ehibe's troops. And surprisingly, my New Bloods and I actually won. After a decade of bloody war, we drove the Ancients from the Republic of Haiti. In shame and defeat they left our shores. Thus I became the role ruler of both Human and Vampire in the Republic of Haiti.

It's a position I held until the 1910s, when Haiti was invaded by American Troops. The Americans owed their victory not just to their technology but to a traitor in our midst. One of my fellow Vampires betrayed me. He actually supported the U.S. invasion of the Republic of Haiti, as did some of the treacherous Humans within the Haitian Government. Thus I was dethroned and driven off my homeland after decades of peaceful rule. After leaving the Republic of Haiti in the 1910s, I wandered the world. I visited Africa, the Motherland I heard so much about. I lived in Guyana and Cuba for a while. In the 1960s I moved to Boston, Massachusetts. I was a very fascinated spectator as well as dedicated supporter to the spectacle that was the Civil Rights Movement. In the 1980s I moved to the City of Toronto, where I live to this day.

I only thought about my old kingdom, the Republic of Haiti, every day. I won't lie and tell you that I didn't miss my kingdom and my people. My heart ached as I saw what the Haitians endured since I was banished from my homeland. However, even for an Immortal, life must go on. I eventually moved on. I am doing fairly well in Toronto. I've earned my MBA from the University of Toronto in the 1990s. I also married a gorgeous young woman named Natalie Lemieux. She is half Haitian and half White, born and raised in the City of Montreal, Province of Quebec. I met her while visiting an old friend at Concordia University, which she attended at the time. I think she is the love of my life, folks. Natalie knows that I am a Vampire and she's okay with it. We're actually quite happy together.

Yeah, I settled into a mostly normal life. No more adventures around the world. Unless taking my sweetheart Natalie on trips to places like Brazil, South Africa, Great Britain and Jamaica count as adventures. I stayed away from the Vampire Community, though there were many Vampires living in cities like Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa. They were mainly New Bloods and had no idea who or what I was. I lived with Natalie in a big mansion in Ajax, a suburb of Toronto. We are the proud owners of two cats and three dogs. We are also raising Richard, Natalie's son from a previous relationship. I have come to love Richard as my own son. I loved my life. Sadly, my tranquility didn't last.

After the 2010 Haiti Earthquake, I simply couldn't stay away from my homeland. The Republic of Haiti was on my mind. It was on lots of minds actually. I hadn't been there in nearly a century. I supported relief and reconstruction efforts after the disaster. And somehow, I caught the attention of an old enemy. One of the Vampires who betrayed me nearly a century ago during the U.S. invasion of the Republic of Haiti. That old enemy is coming after my loved ones and me. Toronto isn't a safe place for us anymore. I won't allow myself to be forcefully removed from a place I love. Not anymore. I am the most powerful Vampire on the planet Earth. I am Immortal, and perfectly willing to die to protect my new wife and adopted son. This isn't a threat. You can consider it a promise. The Last King of the Black Vampires stands ready. I say bring it on.