CHAPTER 35: TAROT READINGS

D-Day 4

There was tension at the Alma Mater Home for the Aged. The head nurse had fled back home to be with her child upon hearing that a neighbour had succumbed to the mist’s attack hours earlier, leaving no one to man the lobby. All the other nurses were walking on eggshells, fearing that the mist would come for them next. How were they to protect the elderly when they themselves had no idea how to protect themselves?

Bob the security guard had to barricade the entry and abandon his post to help out inside the nursing home.

At that moment, he sat alone at the front desk, holding tightly to his baton, his legs curled up on the swivel chair. All the other nurses were busy tending to the elderly tenants.

“It’s going to be okay, it’s going to be okay,” he whispered to himself repeatedly as perspiration formed across his forehead. The glass door up front had been locked from within, they were not accepting visitors right now but somehow, Bob could not take his eyes off the frosted glass door. He was afraid something would barge through the door if he dared look away. Something bad, something evil.

Outside, the wind howled like a wolf.

Lightning flashed across the darkened sky and the table lamp on the desk went off. For a brief moment, Bob thought he saw a dark figure standing at the door.

He gave a little yelp and fell off his chair with a loud thud, “Oh God save me!”

All the hail Mary’s were not going to save him now, he sobbed a little and felt warm liquid trickling down his pants.

*Please don’t let me die, I still have so many women to bed!*

Bob the security guard stayed in a hunched position for what seemed like a very long time, praying to every enlighted name he knew, from Jesus to Krishna to Buddha.

“Bob…” a voice called out.

Bobs eyes shot open and the hair at the back of his neck literally stood up.

*Shit…no..stay away….*

“Bob….” the voice called again.

*Leave me alone….*

A cold bony finger poked his back and Bob screamed, jumping up, “AHHHHHHHH!”

It was Grandmother Summers.

Bob’s feet turned to jelly-o and he fell fainting on the ground moaning feebly.

Grandmother looked down at Bob quizzically and nudged at the unconscious young man with her furry slippers.

“Bob? Bob…..I want my beer.”

***

Light was starting to fill the eastern sky, but not a sound came from the little village tucked in the outskirts of Korea. The villagers were all dead.

Vlad the vampire strode wordlessly among the houses, leaving boot prints behind in the thick blanket of snow. He had always loved winters and the feeling of serenity that the winter wonderland brought. But today, he could no longer enjoy its beauty, now that the end was near. Soon, all the beautifully trimmed bushes would be left to die and the houses would crumble into dust.

*Why does it have to be this way*, he wondered bitterly.

“Hello brother,” a female voice called out from behind him. The voice, though deep and sensual would send a chill down the spines of ordinary men, but it did nothing to ruffle Vlad’s feathers.

Without turning around, he greeted his sister back, “I see you came.”

“Are you not honoured by my presence brother?”

“Should I be?”

The female vampire chuckled and stepped forward to face her brother. She was beautiful, her face so breathtaking that the scholars of ancient Greece called her Aphrodite. Her silky black hair was dyed blonde and her eyes were sapphire green. Her stature was slightly smaller than Vlad’s but her arms and legs were well toned. They looked nothing like each other.

“Oh brother, lighten up.”

“These people are dead for goodness sake,” Vlad allowed emotion to seep into his voice, something he rarely did.

His sister held her hand to her mouth in mock surprise, “ The way you act, I would have thought you actually cared for these people.”

She walked past him and peered into one of the houses, wiping away the snow from the window. Inside, a mummified corpse of a woman could be seen huddled in the corner of the living room, with a dead infant tucked in her arms. Vlad’s sister tsked and stepped away.

Vlad continued, “This village was special. All of them had the gift of sight.”

His sister shrugged nonchalantly, “Well, apparently their gifts were useless against the mist.”

She bent down and picked up a twig from the snow, twirling it in her pale slender hand, “What use is a beautiful flower if it cannot protect itself?”

The siblings continued their walk, this time in silence until they reached the end of the village. The path ahead of them split into two.

“I would caution you against joining the clairvoyants. You would be fighting a losing battle,” his sister finally spoke.

Vlad remained silent.

“It matters not if they hold the key to the abyss,” his sister continued, “they may be gifted, but they are only humans. What chance do they have against the Dark Lord?”

Vlad had been talking to a few of their kind, persuading them to join him in the battle but none had agreed to join him. None of them dared to go against the devil himself.

“Father did,” Vlad said quietly.

“Father was a fool,“ his sister hissed.

“On the contrary, I’m glad he did what he did,” Vlad said.

His sister shook her head, “This is a suicide mission. The mist has left us alone, why would you want to provoke it?”

 *Because sitting back and not taking a stance is just the same as killing*….Suzanne Summer’s words echoed in his mind.

“You’re a fool, Vlad.”

Vlad smiled, “Perhaps, perhaps not.”