OV: The Original Vampire (Book #1) (21 page)

She was in a sort of karmic vacuum. “This is wonderful!” She worded her words carefully. “But, I need to get to New York.” She ducked when the words came, “But, but, but, but!”

“Shit, I knew that!” She yelled into the sky.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!”

She remained silent. She smiled. She thought positively. Then, her world changed. Her hair went back to brown. The sky became blue, then faded to black, as she felt like she was in a tunnel. Then, the sound entered her ears. It was loud, metallic, jostling.

She smelled electricity in the air and the dankness of stagnant water and old garbage. There were small circles of light at both ends. Then the light at one end went dark. A large object with a light in the middle moved towards her at an unpredictable speed. She realized before she was two feet in front of it that it was a train in a subway and it was going to hit her.

The metal front of the train smacked her down, as she instinctively grabbed the bumper and it drug her. Her shoes flew off as the track grinded away the balls of her feet.

The train exited the other side, as Josie let go and lied as flat as possible until the train had left her. She looked over and saw Vinnie rolling down a grassy hill. He rolled to a stop at the foot of it. He looked over and saw her lying in the middle of the track and limped over to see if she was okay.

“A Subway means we made it.” He said. She looked up at him. They looked at her feet. The heels of her feet slowly healed themselves with new flesh. “What on earth?” She gasped at the sight. It was the first profound metamorphosis she had ever seen.

“It worked Josie, we’re here!” Vinnie outstretched his arms, as they heard the rumbling metropolis of New York City. She looked around dazed. She had never lived in a city before. There was a certain beauty to all those tall polished slabs of concrete. The sounds were even bigger.

“I don’t even know where to begin.” She said.

“It’s New York City. T
he city will fill us with opportunity.” Vinnie said.

“Where are we?”

“Well, the sign near the subway says, ‘72nd street.”

“That’s Central Park.”

“How do you know that?” He asked.

“I’ve read a lot about New York. I always wanted to live here.”

“That’s great, because we’re here.”

“Let’s walk through the park.” She grabbed his hand, “Can we act like a normal couple?”

“Well, I’m not a monster.”

They walk
ed the stone path that looked hundreds of years old around the fountain and lake. They watched the pigeons eating the crumbs and watched them fly up when a bicycle or jogger went by.

This is beautiful, but where are we going to go?” Josie asked.

“We will need to find shelter. I don’t know anything about this place.” Vinnie said, as he looked around.

“Look at the couple feeding the geese.”

“Very nice, let’s go deeper into the park. I have an idea.”

They walked several trails until Vinnie felt they were directly in the center of the park. The sun was going down behind the trees.

“Okay, this is nice.” Vinnie looked up into the trees.

“What exactly are we doing, Vinnie?”

“We can climb up into the canopy of this tree, to sleep.”

“But, won’t we fall out?”

“We need rope, or vines, make a harness. We will tie ourselves into place.”

“That’s crazy.”

“Yeah, well what else is there?”

“No, it’s beautiful darling.” Josie said it like an old millionaire. “It will be exciting to camp this way. Isn’t true that people never look up?”

“New Yorkers are different.”

“How so?”
She grabbed his hand back.

“Never mind, let’s grab some vines.”

They walked the park looking for rope and vines, when suddenly Josie became transfixed by the sunlight shining on a window on a tall building. It was as bright as the sun, if not brighter.

“Come on, we have to hurry.” Vinnie said.

Josie stood there, silent. Her eyes became empty, like her spirit flew off.

“Josie? Stop playing around.” He went to pull her hand, but it was like touching ice.

“Josie?! I’m going to lie you down here and get help.”

“No, don’t leave.” She mumbled.

“I’ll get help.”

“No, I’m fine. Let me play with it.” She said.

“Play what?”

“The model I built.”

“Josie!”

“I’m warm. I’m cozy.”

Vinnie ran to get water from the lake. He looked up to see Angel of the Waters statue staring at him. He filled a plastic cup and went back and patted water on her face.

“Come on. Let’s get you onto the canopy.” Vinnie picked her up.

“I got it.” She got up.

“Here, let me go up and lower the rope down. I will pull you up.”

Josie tied the rope around her waist. He pulled her up. Luckily, no one walked by, because she looked like someone was hanging her. Vinnie made a hammock with fish net he had found near a fisherman’s wharf.

She climbed into the net until she was safely secure. A slight breeze made the hammock sway back and forth, as she lackadaisically watched the sun go down. She awoke to a dog fight a few yards away, as the two dog owners barked their own insults at each other. Vinnie was gone. She climbed down the tree and wandered through the park. When she walked past certain areas, she either felt elation or complete terror. It was an emotional roller-coaster for her, just to walk a quarter of a mile.

A gun shot fired in the distance, but was instantly swallowed by the massive roar of the city. She took off her ratty shoes and undid her hair. Her hair was dreadlocked, “Awe. I can feel the earth now.” She said.

She walked by the lake and saw little lights coming from the hobbyist’s sailboats that
cruised the water, a hobby for the rich. She looked up to see the statue, “Lady of the Waters, it’s nice to meet you. May I put my tired feet into your waters?” She smiled and ran her fingertips of the water, like she was courting it.

She walked past a few trees that shined silver now from the moonlight, “My friends, you’ve always understood me.” She spoke to the branches, which seemed to wave at her in the slight breeze. “I know. I love you too. Thank you.” She said, as she reached out and shook the top of the limb with two fingers, “If only humanity would be as quiet as you.” She looked to the city and listened to all the noises. She walked away from the lake. A jet flew overhead, as she stopped to watch, “Everything is busy
busy.”

She then walked over a patch of grass. There was a sharp blow to the back of her head. She looked around quickly and screamed. There were suddenly five guys surrounding her. “Leave me alone!” She screamed. Another man punched her square in the jaw.
“Oh my god!” She gasped. She felt hands pinch her skin as they pulled down her pants. “No, No, No!” Her voice was raspy, her vocal cords already torn from the first intense scream.

She began to swing wildly, but someone tackled her. Her nose filled with dirt when she did a face plant into the ground. She felt sharp nails on her inner-thighs, as she wrestled someone on the ground. She bit an ear and clawed someone’s eyes, but it was useless, there were miles of dumb flesh in the world, raping & pillaging without remorse. She screamed with absolute fight or flight. It seemed someone else screamed along with her, or it was an echo in her ears.

She felt her hands being pushed into the earth. She heard deep voices, “Fuck yeah, get her!” She twisted and turned, but there were hands all over her, controlling her.

Then, a warmer hand covered her mouth. She kicked until her heels made two holes into the ground.

“Stop it Josie, it’s me!” Vinnie looked down at her. His deep, brown eyes rained soothing love down onto her, a love she knew all too well. She still kicked a little, but they were like aftershocks of terror.

“I was getting raped!” She bellowed, as Vinnie cradled her. Her tears drenched his arm sleeves.

“There’s no one around Josie.”

“There were at least five of them. They mauled me with their fucking hands, animals!”

“It’s okay. Let’s get out of here.” Vinnie said.

They walked like an old tormented couple, disabled from a traumatic event. Her head was bent down, like a deflated debutante.

“What were you seeing?” He asked.

“There were five young guys. One kicked me in the head and I swear my left eye dislodged.”

“That sounds faintly familiar.” Vinnie said, as they walked.

“Oh Vinnie, look!” She pointed over to an empty field. “They’re getting married. Look at all those horses and people wearing top-hats, must be a wedding in retro.”

Vinnie realized she wasn’t kidding. The field was empty. He knew to walk on eggshells when someone was delusional.

“Yes, it’s magnificent.” He said, and held her hand, half expecting for her to run off.

The sky spiraled, like a Van Gogh painting, as Josie became speechless with her world. Jets flew over and left tracers and joggers flew by her at blinding speed, as she touched her face and felt her open mouth.

“I need water.” Josie said, as she broke free from Vinnie’s hand and walked towards the lake. She turned around, “Let’s skinny dip. It will be romantic.”

“Josie, it’s Winter, it’s freezing.”

“Always problems with you.”
She twirled around like a little girl playing ballerina.

“No, it’s just cold, that’s all.”

“What happened to Vinnie the world traveler, through Shapeshift nonetheless?” She walked back towards him and slapped him. It was loud enough to echo off the statue in the lake.

“Josie, quit it!” Vinnie grabbed her hand.

“I’m shining!” She looked down at herself. The moon made her clothes silver. “Look Vinnie!” She pulled away from him again. “I’m a magical princess!”

“Josie, you’re acting different, come on.”

“I know dear. This New York skyline makes me rich, and sad, I know. I know. You think I’m plain and ordinary.” She sat down in the grass and played with a blade of grass.

This is where it begins. The city is wound tight by invisible wire. It’s so thin that if anything ran into it, it would be sliced and beheaded. Josie knew about this network of wire and she wanted to climb the wire to Heaven, but she would be dismembered. On top of this, she needed to get Bud back to safety, and
Daira and Mezrolly were out there living life, uninhibited by the lifestyles of the wealthy, the uber urbanite, the demented underground sex slave.

Vinnie found her naked in a tree. She was hunched over like an animate gargoyle
who protected Central Park from invaders of irrational thought. She had hollow eyes, eyes eaten away by too many doubts, unrealistic ambitions, and being a by-product of a crazy, consumerist society. She wanted naked purity. She wanted the eyes and ears of everybody washed with solitude, introspection and gratitude.

It was Josie against the city. Her inner-demons were preschool compared to the inhabitants of New York City. Thousands upon thousands of deaths had occurred on those streets, and every death left an imprint. This imprint was imbedded as a vibration which Josie could feel with acute sensitivity, which jeopardized her success in being a member in society.

“So fuck it.” Josie jumped down from the tree and ran into the woods. It was a maze of trails that resembled the mazes of bushes in the backyards of castles.

“Josie, no!”
Vinnie ran after her. They ran so fast that on-lookers thought they were seeing things.

She ran until she was invisible. Vinnie looked everywhere. He closed his eyes and tried to summon the Gateway, but his racing thoughts were too distracting. “Josie!” He yelled, but the city roar swallowed it. She was gone.

He went back to the tree and watched the satellites in the sky and listened to the faintest sounds miles away. It seemed he could decipher the noise into a million voices of people interacting, loving and fighting, fucking and making love.

He went into his mind, then the lights danced on his eyelids and he floated away. Predawn lit the grass dark blue, as Vinnie floated back into his body. The air was fresh, ready to be filled with pollution. The only people awake were health nuts fitting in their adrenalin before a stressful day.

Vinnie looked over and saw the first gold beam of sunrise streak across the grass. He then saw a body standing in the beam, another figure appeared behind the first one. Vinnie placed his hand on his eyebrows to block the sun. He could see the silhouette of a female. Her hair spiked out, like the solar flares of the sun. She stood frozen, staring at Vinnie.

“Vinnie, it’s me.” She walked out of the beam and behind her was Bud. He looked like he did in Purgatory, ratty torn clothes, long beard, eyebrows,
nose hair.

“Josie?” Vinnie climbed down the tree. “How did you get him out?”

“Well, you know, I ran and ran until I felt faint. I knelt down with my hands on my knees, and when I stood up I saw stars. I guess the stars and the spirals are friends, because I got into the Gateway pretty fast. Bud was right there.”