"the New Vampires" By Ken Mcconnell

THE NEW VAMPIRES by Ken McConnell

“My name is Miko and I’m a vampire.” The girl looked all of seventeen. Her powder-blue skin and shinning black hair were the very image of preternatural youth. “Welcome Miko, we’re glad to have you here,” the therapist said, with practiced sincerity. “We’ll begin by asking you when and where you were turned?” Miko blinked, a learned trait for the dead. She shifted her position on the thinly padded folding chair before beginning, “I was turned in the winter of ninety six, on the island of Honshu, Japan.” This drew some raised eyebrows among the other participants in the room, though not because of her advanced age. The average age of the vampires present was well over two hundred years. It was the location that intrigued them. So few immortals were known to be living in the Far East at the close of the Twentieth Century. Miko noticed the eyes of her peers focusing more intently on her. Despite the fact this was a closed meeting, she still felt vulnerable in telling even one human about her true nature. “Can you please tell us who turned you, Miko?” Miko’s small, rounded nose caught a whiff of the human’s musk scent, but she could not perceive the other two vampires present. She scanned them carefully with her pearl-black eyes before answering, “I am daughter of Nacer, the son of Valone, daughter of Egan.” The therapist looked up from his PDA and studied her closer. Then he cast a skeptical eye at the other two vampires. The enigmatic society of vampires was still largely uncharted by those who were aware of their existence. But even the most casual follower of their exploits, had heard of the legendary Egan clan. With blood lines stretching back to Roman times and even earlier by some accounts, the Egan clan was known as the grand old family of the living dead. Although he was presumed to still be walking the earth, no mortal had laid eyes on Egan, and lived to tell about it, for the past hundred years. Little was known of the Egan clan, after the creation of his daughter, Valone at the end of the 17th Century. She was known to have created only three kin and Nacer was the only one of those to survive. Both Valone and Nacer were considered powerful and elusive vampires. The Institute was very fortunate to have lured in a relatively recent sibling in this ancient clan. “Why have you chosen to come out for us, tonight?” the therapist asked. His cool-blue eyes peering through oval-shaped wire rim glasses.

“I heard that your scientists had created a blood substitute. I wanted to know if it really worked,” she glanced hesitantly at the other vampires. There were two of them seated in a circle with her and the human. Their pale faces were lit from the dim light bulb hanging above their heads. The low lighting was for her benefit and Miko occupied the seat farthest from it’s warm glow. Both of the other vampires were of the new breed of post-modern dead. They had come to the underground Institute in secrecy years ago and participated in the genetic testing that promised them an alternative to the blood they craved. Primarily the Institute funded the research and most of the money was used in designing their cure. The remaining funds were used to run the front for the operation, a genetic food bank. For the first time in their long and violent heritage, they were free of the blood curse. A synthetic plasma had curbed their desire to hunt and weaned them off the blood. Of course, this did not come without a price. Their vampiric abilities were diminished and in some cases totally rescinded. But to these new vampires, it was well worth doing, because it enabled them to rejoin the human society. No longer would they have to live in the shadows, preying on their unsuspecting cousins. Miko had known that they were no longer like her when she first encountered these new vampires. Their scents were stale, almost sterile, and they moved so methodically slow, like humans. It was as if they were pale shadows of their former selves. “Why do you want this treatment?” Said one of the new vampires. He was thin faced and wore light brown hair, cropped short. His name was Leni. “Do you have an ethical problem with hunting?” Miko bit her lower lip with tiny fangs, and thought about a vampire that Nacer had known who did have a problem with the killing. She was one of Valone’s children and that was about all Miko had known about her. Nacer never spoke much about her and Miko could hardly believe what he did say. It was too bad she had lived seventy years too soon for this treatment. “No. I accept the hunt. The victim gives his life so that I may live forever. He is to be respected and admired.” One of the new vampires sneered at Miko’s statement. She was a young blonde woman with a French accent, named Claire. “She can’t be treated, she’s a Traditionalist. This is a waste of time.” The human therapist motioned for Claire to be quiet. Then he nodded for Miko to continue. “I want to re-enter human society. I want to walk among them and no longer fear their persecution. I’m tired of having to change my natural appearance whenever I’m around humans. I want to fit in with secular society.” Miko saw the approval in some of their eyes. She implored her desires to them telepathically but was met with an unyielding wall of opposition. Not all of their vampiric abilities were softened... especially Claire. “How do we know she’s not deceiving us with her sincerity? The Egan clan has had more than its share of egoists,” Claire said, as she motioned to Miko with disdain. Leni nodded in agreement and looked to Miko for an answer. Miko bowed her head for a moment before she spoke. The human leaned forward in his seat, trying to see her better in the shadows, wondering if there was something wrong with her. “I was created to serve the longings of my master, Nacer. He wanted to learn my language and its culture. He could have had anyone, but he chose me. Because he said I reminded him of his creator Valone. There

was no love for me behind his affection for me. He stayed with me in the orient for only ten years, a mere blink of an eye for an immortal. I assisted him in his quest for knowledge and then he moved on. He left me, without notice, and I haven’t encountered him in over sixty years.” “I’ve done my best to abide by the veiled code of the underworld without his guidance. But I’ve grown weary of the vampire lifestyle. I’m tired of being a parasite on humanity. Tired of living in the shadows, watching life pass by in an endless succession of years. I want to rejoin the human community and participate in the new unity of life on this planet.” The room was silent. Finally, Claire stood and spoke, “Do you promise to help us find the old ones and convert them?” “Yes.” “Even if it means destroying those who are closest to you? Nacer and Valone?” “I have never met Valone or Egan, but I know I could never destroy Nacer,” Miko admitted. “I fell in love with him on the very night he turned me and I can’t betray that love.” “How touching,” Claire quipped. The human got up from his chair and put a hand on Claire’s shoulder. She took her seat again and regained her composure. The therapist knelt before Miko and looked into the slight canthic fold of her dark eyes. It was very brave of him. Knowing as he did that she could snap his neck before he even noticed that she had moved. It was like swimming with a shark. “The treatment is still in the experimental stages. There is still so much we don’t know about your kind. Before I was brought onto this project, I didn’t even believe in vampires. That is why it’s not very easy for these converts to assimilate themselves into our society. We’ve made up all kinds of technical and medical explanations to describe their condition to the general public. But it might not be enough.” He stopped for a moment to find the right words. “In short Miko, we can’t make you any promises.” “What are the effects of the treatment?” Miko asked, having already guessed at some of them. The therapist read the list from the soft glow of his PDA. “A substantial reduction in the desire to kill. It blocks the synaptic connections to the brain that gives you the ‘high’ associated with consumption of the blood. Where there is no desire, there is no intent.” “Wait a minute,” Miko said, stopping the human from continuing. “I’ve always associated that feeling with the primal desire of sexual orgasm.” “The nerve endings are the same, yes.” “Does this mean I can have sex again?” The other vampires laughed at her exuberance. Miko became embarrassed, she grinned shyly at herself. Vampires didn’t blush. The therapist shook his balding head and grinned himself. “The others have reported heightened feelings during intercourse. But your reproductive organs remain sterile.”

Miko turned away from the mortal to consider that. The one consultation that being sterile as a vampire had, was the knowledge that she could still create life through the blood transfer. If that were to be taken away from her, how could she still feel like a woman? What would be the purpose of life without having the ability to create it? The human could see the concern on Miko’s face. “What’s wrong?” Miko looked past him to Claire and directed the question to her. “How can you live without the power to create life?” “Adopt a human child,” she replied, matter-of-fact. Clearly she had no maternal desires of her own. Miko looked back at the therapist, his cold-blue eyes waiting patiently for a reaction from her. “What else will I loose?” “Your metabolism will decrease to that of a human. This may also affect your enhanced intelligence. Like I said, there’s so much we don’t know.” Miko started to ask another question when Claire interrupted her, “No. Telepathy is not lost, entirely. Providing you had it before you were turned.” Miko nodded. “What about night vision, skin tone, and the fangs?” The human pulled Claire closer to them and set her down beside him. “As you can see, the complexion fades to a pale white color in Caucasians. The deathly blue pallor still returns when you go off the prescribed formula.” “What about eating real food, is that possible after the treatment?” “Let me finish,” the human admonished. “Your night vision is slightly diminished and your fangs will remain. However,” he opened Claire’s mouth to show off her teeth. “We can reduce the canine’s with surgery. The regenerative powers of your vampire blood seem to be stunted by the treatments.” “So I can be killed then?” The human looked to Claire, taking his hand back from her mouth like an animal trainer. “We don’t know that for sure, yet.” “If you’d like to volunteer, we’d be happy to find that out,” Claire said, with a smirk. “No thanks. What about eating?” “I’m afraid that’s still an impossibility, for now.” Miko sat back in her chair and mulled over the offer. She would lose her most sacred vampiric abilities and gain access to human society in return. Was this an even trade? Could she live with the decision? A part of her screamed, “Yes! Go for it!” But she kept wondering what Nacer would have thought about all of this. Would he have approved of her abandoning the sacred old ways? Who cares what he would have thought? He left you for good a long time ago. If he cared about you he would have tried to stop you from doing this. She knew he was aware of her presence over long distances. So

if he cared, he would have came here to stop her. “Okay, let’s do this. What do you want from me?” The therapist and the two new vampires all looked at each other for an uncomfortably long moment, as if they were all silently discussing whether to take her in. Finally, the therapist looked directly at Miko. “The Institute requires the forfeiture of your entire net worth, to fund its continuing research and your treatments. In exchange, it will provide the necessary medical procedures and discreet relocation for your new identity.” Miko silently nodded and then the human continued. “Any future discoveries or cures will be made available to you as they are developed,” he finished and turned to Claire. “There are only a handful of us New Vampires in existence. We only make this offer to those whom we believe are capable of blending in with human society.” Claire’s tone was deadly serious. “The Traditionalists are too psychopathic to be converted. Those are the ones that must be hunted and destroyed, if we are to succeed.” Leni took over, his voice calm and reflective. “Our ultimate goal is the total extermination of all the old world vampires. So long as one of them lives, our new existence is threatened. We require that you either convert, or destroy as many vampires as our group can locate. All the resources and money of the Institute are at your disposal. After we have finished this task, we will allow you to live out your life in peaceful solitude.” They fell silent for a moment, letting their offer set in. Miko had not considered the possibility of being a slayer of her own kind. She wondered how hard it would be to convert the few vampires that she did know. Would they consider her a turncoat? Would they eventually form packs and hunt her down even as she sought to find them? She knew the answer would be yes. How would she fight her immortal cousins? They would sense her approach for kilometers and then make their move to destroy her before she knew what had happened. Something was missing in their explanation of the cure. She thought for a moment and then it came to her. “What about the effects of UV?” Miko asked, quite suddenly. The mortal took a deep breath. “The treatment does allow you to move freely during the daylight hours. However, just as the rising levels of ultraviolet rays have forced us humans to cover ourselves, so too must you.” That was an important detail. It would make things even again in the battle to destroy those she could not convert. “If I don’t agree to join you tonight, will you try to destroy me?” Claire tilted her head slightly and nodded. Join us or else, Miko thought. She wondered how they had planned to destroy her in this empty conference room, high above Singapore. She figured it was a specially designed room, considering how confident they were acting. The therapist showed little fear of her and no concern about the new vampires. He was either very stupid or overly confident of his methods.

“Yoroshi desu,” Miko said, reverting to her native tongue. “Iie, mada desu.” A deep voice thundered from the shadows behind Miko. Miko saw the look of astonishment on her host’s faces before she spun around to see the tall figure walking out of the dark. It was Nacer. He towered over everyone at well over two meters tall and he carried himself with confidence. His pale blue skin was radiant under the stone white main of hair. He wore a black, Australian drover coat over a white shirt and black pants and knee boots. As he came closer into the light, his icy blue eyes seemed capable of peering through one’s soul. He was the only known vampire who did not have black eyes. Lending him the look of an arctic wolf. “Tadaima,” he said, his voice full of authority. Miko pushed her folding chair aside and fell to her knees before her master. “Gomen nasai,” she feebly uttered, her voice rising in pitch. “You disappoint me kohai. I thought you understood what it meant to be a vampire,” Nacer said, gently pulling her to her feet. “Okora naide kudasai,” Miko said, still not looking him in the eyes. “It is not you that I am most angry at.” The therapist’s eyes were wide with terror. He looked to the two new vampires beside him as if he expected them to protect him. They ignored him and focused their attention on the tall, albino intruder. “He’s been here the whole time. I told you this was a bad idea! Never underestimate the Egan clan. Their too cunning,” Claire said, more to Leni than to the human. Hearing that, the therapist started to back up towards the door. It was not in his contract to convert the Traditionalists, especially one who’s heard their pitch and is none to pleased by it. No sir, death by massive and sudden blood loss was most definitely not in his contract. Not even in the fine print. “I’ve blocked the door with the bodies of your guards. Please, have a seat. I want you to witness what I’m about to say to these misguided cousins of mine.” The therapist tested the door anyway. It was indeed blocked. He tried to put the image of several blooddrained men stacked against the door out of his mind as he slowly came forward to reclaim his seat. As he sat down, he put the PDA on his nervous leg and feigned interest in order to mask his true fear. Nacer gave him a pleased, Cheshire smile as he motioned for the others to do the same. They both grudgingly took their seats. Nacer was younger than both of the new vampires, but his bloodline was more powerful than even they had once been, especially now that they were mere pale shadows of their former vampire selves. Discretion was in their best interest. Nacer picked up Miko’s chair and set it down beside the human. He motioned for her to sit and she did. It was hard not to take notice of Nacer as he moved slowly back and forth in front of his kept audience. Miko had still to gather the courage to even look her creator in the eyes. She watched his powerful legs move under the drover coat, like the toned legs of a big cat.

“We Traditionalists, as you call us, have known about your Institute for some time now. We’ve allowed you to continue developing this unnatural cure, mostly out of curiosity. The wonders of modern science never cease to amaze, even those of us born in more recent times. “There came a time when the science was used to change what has worked in nature for all eternity. The driving notion of Western philosophy that says, nature is corrupt and must be fixed for man’s benefit, can no longer be tolerated. For in the process of fixing nature, we destroy the very fabric of life itself.” The therapist sat up in his chair and took notice of this seemingly philosophical vampire. Nacer continued his speech, noting the interest he was generating in the new vampires as well. “The processes of nature can not be seen as detrimental and do not require us to change them. The concepts of good and evil are temporal aberrations of the minds that conceived them. “No being can fully understand the effects of time, better than the vampire, for we are outside the field of time. The past and future, the dead and the alive, these are dualities that we openly defy.” Nacer had them going now. He continued without missing a beat. “You can’t tell me, an immortal being, that how I feed is not morally correct, any more than I can tell you, a mortal being, that you should not consume animal or vegetable life. Is it immoral when a lion eats a zebra in the African plains? Is it immoral for that zebra to consume the grass it needs to live? No, because there is no morality in nature. “Each of us was created on this Earth by natural processes that can never fully be understood. We can classify life, we can divide the building blocks into ever-finer pieces, but we cannot take the nature out of the beasts that we are. Because when we do that, we lose sight of who we are and what we are.” The human tentatively raised a hand to ask a question. Nacer nodded to him as a teacher would to a student. “I’m not following you. Are you saying that we shouldn’t attempt to change these vampires because nature intended them to exist?” “Correct,” Nacer replied. “How can you explain their creation then? Did they evolve parallel to us or are they some kind of lost evolutionary branch? Don’t you think that’s a little difficult to believe?” Nacer smiled, “Of course it is. Maybe we’re from another planet, maybe we’re part of an unknown balancing act of nature. Nobody really knows for sure. I’ve been searching for clues to our origins for my entire extended life. Before me, others have searched since the beginning of recorded time. We may never learn the truth of our creation. By the same token, neither will you. I’ve come to realize that searching for who you are should begin and end within yourself.” The human sat back and grunted, “Great, a Zen vampire.” Miko gave the therapist a stern look of disapproval. She never understood the mentality of most Western religions. They seemed so disconnected with reality. “Yes, but it is only the Eastern philosophies that embrace the truths discovered by modern science,” Nacer countered.

The therapist had to agree with that. He was about to continue the debate when Claire interrupted him, “Enough of this talking, what are you going to do to us?” Nacer moved to stand before the pale blonde woman. He reached out for her with his massive hands. She took his hands in hers and he pulled her forcefully to his side. “What was it that you thought you’d gain from this plasma brew?” he whispered into her ear. She looked away from him, “I’ve grown weary of the hunt. I kill the very thing that I used to be. There is an inner desire to return to what I once was. Life was easier and I was a part of something.” “Life has never been easy. The entire world is filled with death and sorrow. What you must do is learn to accept it all. You can’t change it, so deal with it. Life is like an epic drama in which we ‘re all the star players. The only difference is that the pain is real!” As if to further emphasize the pain, Nacer clamped his jaws down on her jugular. Claire grimaced in agony. After a long draught from her tainted blood, he released her and spat her blood onto the floor before the human. The therapist was visible shaken by the sudden bloodletting. “Cast out the impurities and partake in the rapture of being alive. The blood is the élan vital, the vitality of life. Feel the force that it fuels within you.” Nacer then tore a slash in his own neck with his pointed fingernail and pushed Claire’s mouth over the bleeding wound. She drank of his dark blood and her vampire lust returned, like some long repressed fountain of emotion. The human was transfixed by the show before him. He sat open mouthed in disbelief. It was like watching a play from the front row seat. Only this was no play, it was real pain, and real desire. Leni could not endure the sight of his companion returning to the truculent brute that she once was. He tried to slip away to the door, but was intercepted by Miko. She motioned for him to return to the circle of chairs. Realizing that he was trapped, Leni turned to look back at Claire in the arms of Nacer. Bright red blood ran down her neck to her chest as Claire drank from Nacer’s neck. Her eyes were already returning to their natural, coal black color. She let go of him and opened her arms for Leni. Leni took a step backward and ran into the stiff form of Miko. She reached around his thin waist, and pulled herself up until her mouth found his jugular vein. Stunned, he stumbled around, Miko on his back like a fiendish monkey. She felt his hot blood spurting down her throat, awakening long forgotten heights of ecstasy. All the dark, vampiric desires returned. She never felt more alive. The human got up from his chair and stood by helplessly as the last of the new vampires returned to his former self. Nacer moved beside the human and slowly turned his head to look down at him. The wound in his neck had already healed itself. “Remember what you have seen here tonight. Never again, mess with the natural balance of life.” The man nodded, trembling again with fear. Nacer barred his bloodied white fangs in a devilish smile. The human fainted, collapsing into a pile at the vampire’s feet. Nacer side stepped the human and walked over to Miko. She was standing over the born-again Leni. Her

face and hands were stained red. She buried her head into his chest, arms around his waist. It was good to be alive again. The two newly rejuvenated vampires approached Nacer and Miko. Their eyes bore an untamed look that had been absent for too long. Claire managed a weak smile that grew into a toothy grin. Leni was still bitter for having been returned to a blood drinker, Nacer suspected they would meet again, under less ideal circumstances. “The night is young, my friends. Go forth and perform the work of nature. Let no mortal take away your animas.” They bowed curtly and left through a forced open window. Nacer and Miko watched them crawl down the skyscraper, like lizards on a wall. “Do you think they’ll find their peace?” Miko asked. The wind from below gently lifted her jet-black hair. Nacer rested his blue chin on top of her head, “Perhaps. Have you found yours?” She squeezed his waist with her arms.