Avenging Autumn: Seasons Change Book 1 of 4 (19 page)

Back swinging his blade, Benny was amazed at
his opponent’s agility, as he dodged the attack completely. Odin
gave another thrust and again Benny blocked it, but again felt the
vampire’s sword enter his left shoulder. He felt warm blood flow
from the large wound.

Wiping his hand on his pants, Benny looked
back at Odin. The vampire’s white suit was covered in dirt and
grass stains, his normally neat hair was loose and hanging over his
face.

Still, there was no emotion there.

Again, Benny ran toward Odin with his sword
held low, this time he swung the blade up diagonally, but again,
Odin stepped out of the way.

The vampire thrust his sword at Benny’s chest
once more and again Benny blocked it, but as the creature’s blade
came toward his right shoulder, Benny spun, using his right hand to
slip the wooden stake out of his jacket and drive the tip into
Odin’s heart.

With a gasp, Odin fell forward into Benny’s
arms, and Benny gently laid the vampire down on his
back.

As he knelt over Odin, Benny could see tears
flowing from the vampire’s eyes and a great sorrow in his once
emo-tionless face.

“
I’m so sorry, Ben,” Odin sobbed.
His left hand was laying limp at his side with his sword still
slightly gripped. His right hand was gripping Benny’s shoulder. “I
didn’t want to hurt her.”

“
I know, Odin,” Benny said, and now
he began to cry, partly because he knew now that Odin was innocent
in all of this, but mostly because he knew that when Odin fell, a
few yards behind him, his wife fell as well.

“
Can…can you forgive me before I
die?” the vampire pleaded.

“
Only if you do me one favor
first,” Benny replied.

“
Anything.”

Benny swallowed hard and forced himself to say
the words. “Kill me.”

“
What!” Odin exclaimed.

“
I have avenged my wife, Odin, when
you die, so will she, for good this time. And when I die, who knows
how many years from now, we’ll be together again. I don’t want to
wait,” Benny began to weep harder, “I don’t w-want to w-wait. Kill
me…and all will be forgiven.”

Without another word, Odin positioned his
sword over Benny’s chest and pushed the blade into his
heart.

Frank stood silently next to Autumn as they
watched Benny pull the stake from his jacket and plunge it into
Odin’s chest. As Benny slowly lowered the vampire to the ground,
Autumn collapsed at Frank’s feet.

“
Autumn!” he exclaimed with concern
as he knelt down beside her. “So, this is it, huh?”

“
Yes,” Autumn replied weakly, “when
Odin Sway dies, so will I. Benny has avenged me, isn’t that
romantic?”

Frank stroked her hair, “Yeah, it sure is,
pumpkin. At least I get to tell you goodbye this time.”

Autumn smiled, “Goodbye, Frank.”

“
Goodbye, Autumn,” at that moment,
Frank heard Benny’s voice rise slightly, the only words he could
make out were; “kill me”, but that’s really all he needed to hear.
He gently lay Autumn down and began to walk toward his
son.

Suddenly, Benny lurched and rolled over, Frank
could see Odin’s blade protruding from his son’s chest.

“
Benny!” Frank shouted, now running
to the limp figure lying on the ground. He stopped and knelt down
beside his son, at first only staring at him in disbelief. Why had
he asked Odin to kill him?

“
Why, Benny?” he whispered through
his tears, knowing he would get no answer. Benny Writeman was
dead.

“
Mr. Writeman,” Vlad said from over
his shoulder, “would you please come with me?”

Frank didn’t move.

“
Please,” Vlad pleaded, “we haven’t
much time.”

Frank stood and stared at the ancient creature
that now spoke to him.

“
We must leave the dead alone for
the moment, if you would come with me you will see why.”

The Old Man finally gave in (out of curiosity)
and followed the vampire to the castle doors.

Inside the castle, Vlad led Frank to a
staircase that stood a short distance to the immediate right of the
entrance. They climbed only five steps, when Vlad turned quickly
around, black robes flapping with the vampires momentum, and
directed Frank to sit on a step near a tall window that looked out
onto the courtyard. Vlad sat down quietly on the step above him and
placed his hand on Frank‘s shoulder.

“
Watch closely,” the vampire said,
pointing out the window.

Through the window, Frank could see the bodies
of his son and Odin Sway lying in the middle of the courtyard.
About ten yards from them lay the body of his
daughter-in-law.

After a few moments he noticed some movement
and realized that Benny was slowly standing up. Frank’s face lit up
with a smile, but it faded quickly when he noticed how strange his
son looked. It wasn’t Benny standing up; it was a shimmering blue,
translucent image of him. A second later he saw a similar image
standing up from Autumn’s body.

“
It is their spirit’s that you
see,” Vlad said quietly, as if speaking to loud might scare them
away.

The two ghostly figures only stared at each
other for a moment, and then Benny ran to his wife and took her in
his arms. Frank stared in awe. The embrace seemed to last an
eternity, and the old man didn’t want to see it end. The spirits
finally came apart and as Benny ran his hand through Au-tumn’s
hair, Frank could see, even from this distance, how deeply they
cared for one another.

“
Their love must have been great,”
Vlad said.

“
Yeah,” the old man replied, “yeah
it was.”

The two spirits ran across the bridge, hand in
hand, and disappeared into the woods.

Frank began to sob uncontrollably. Vlad’s hand
re-mained on the Old Man’s shoulder for a moment longer, then he
stood and walked back down the stairs, leaving Frank to his
sorrow.

After a long while, Frank came into the
library where Vlad sat in silent thought, staring into the fire
place.

“
I’m sorry about that,” Frank
started, “I don’t usually break down that way.”

“
It’s alright; we have both lost
children this week. For men like us tears are our only
therapy.”

“
Yeah, I’m sorry about that as
well, I had no idea they weren’t in control of
themselves.”

“
It’s alright, you were only
defending yourselves, and it is all in the past as far as I’m
concerned. Let us start anew.”

“
I’d like that.”

“
Please, take a seat; I am having a
dinner prepared for you now.”

As Frank sat down a loud howling arose on the
wind outside.

“
Werewolves?” the Old Man
inquired.

Vlad grinned, “Yes, they cry for Odin Sway,”
Seeing the puzzled look on Frank’s face, Vlad elaborated, “Odin was
the only vampire alive that could communicate with them
telepathically. Over the course of his life he built a very strong
bond with them.”

“
That certainly explains a lot
about what happened in the graveyard and the cornfield.”

Vlad smiled broadly, “Yes, I’ve heard that
story, a most impressive victory for the Writeman clan. Mr.
Writeman, I consider you a friend now.”

“
Then please, call me
Frank.”

“
Very well, Frank, as a result of
our friendship you will no longer have to worry about attacks from
the vampires of my clan. The other clans will not get involved in
our busi-ness either. However, the werewolves now see you as an
ene-my. I don’t think they will attack you out of respect for me,
but you should tread lightly. One more act against them could
result in the entire werewolf community coming down on
you.”

“
Understood,” Frank
said.

“
If you have questions about
anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Frank thought on this a moment and then said;
“The weeping willow tree in the woods. I am curious as to how you
managed to create such a creature.”

“
Witchcraft, of course,” Vlad said
plainly.

“
You know witches?”

“
One or two.”

As Frank processed this new information, the
door to the library opened then and a human servant entered
declaring that dinner was served.

Over the next week, Frank stayed at the castle
as Vlad’s guest and learned everything he could about vampires,
werewolves and the vampire god, Deppleo.

At night, Frank walked the halls of the
castle, meet-ing many vampires who called the impressive structure
their home. Much to the old man’s surprise none of them seemed to
hold a grudge against him and was actually quite polite. During the
day those same halls were completely deserted, with the exception
of a few servants and Vlad of course.

“
Do you ever sleep?” Frank asked
Vlad one morning.

“
I have lived for centuries, my
friend,” Vlad replied, “the blood of millions weighs too heavy on
my shoulders for sleep.”

“
How long has it been since
vampires began to live in a civilized society?”

“
Not long,” Vlad paused to stroke
his moustache in thought. “Close to one hundred and fifty years
now. All of the lords got together and decided that our way of
living needed to be restructured. In order to keep a low profile,
we realized we had to stop leaving blood drained bodies lying
around.”

“
So, before that you
were…”

“
I was insane with blood lust,”
Vlad finished. “People change, though, even vampires.”

After the week was up, Frank decided it was
time to say his goodbyes, Vlad walked with him to the
courtyard.

“
I’d like to thank you for letting
Benny and Autumn rest here,” Frank said, “this is a beautiful
area.”

“
With the exception of the impaled
bodies, right?” Vlad laughed.

“
Hey, if it makes you feel any
better, I never unders-tood Jackson Pollok’s artwork
either.”

“
Well, you’re not alone there. It
is an honor to have Benny and Autumn here. Before you go I want you
to take this.” Vlad reached into his black robes and pulled Odin’s
cane out. “Part of your child remains with me, I would like a part
of mine to go with you.”

Frank stared down at the silver dragon that
formed the handle, the morning sun gleamed in its eye. “Thank you,”
he said, taking the cane in his hand, “I’ll take good care of
it.”

“
I know you will.”

“
And thank you for all of your
hospitality.”

“
Of course. Tell me, Frank, where
will you go from here.”

Frank thought on this a moment and said; “I’m
going to find my other son, Jack.”

“
Ah, yes, he has been turned. I
will give you this warning; beware of the Wintermen.”

“
The Wintermen?”

“
They only surface in the winter
months, when their powers are strongest. They prey on other
vampires, especially those who aren’t tied to a clan, like your
son. In a little more than three weeks time he will be completely
turned, it would be wise to find him before winter. My information
points back toward Indiana.”

“
I’ll keep all that in
mind.”

“
What will you do once you find
him?”

“
I’m going to cure him.”

Vlad laughed, “There is no cure for
vampirism.”

“
There is one,” Frank said
seriously, “I’m going to kill your vampire god,
Deppleo.”

Surprise is an emotion Vlad had not felt in a
very long time, this statement set him overflowing with it.
“Killing him may be impossible, finding him may be just as
hard.”

“
I have to try. I suppose that
makes us enemies.”

“
On the contrary, I would welcome a
mortal death, you have my full support. Just remember, though you
will always be a friend to me, if Deppleo commands it, we may face
each other eventually.”

“
Hopefully, it won’t come to that.
Goodbye, Vlad, and thanks again.”

Vlad watched as Frank walked back toward the
woods and into his next adventure.

He then said with a whisper; “Good
luck.”

12. Home

Frank had little trouble finding his way back
down the mountain side, although he did find himself walking in
circles once. He’d always been a nature lover and found the fresh
air to be a great healing tool for his grief.

He found the hearse on the old dirt road where
they had left it, with no apparent signs of being tampered with
be-sides a couple of hundred leaves blanketing the roof and hood.
Frank climbed behind the steering wheel and keyed the ignition. The
old 8 cylinder engine roared to life and he threw the gear stick
into drive.

Before he pulled away, he gave one last look
up the tree covered side of the mountain, hoping he’d catch one
last glimpse of Benny and Autumn.