The Rise of the New Bloods, From Dark Beginnings (4 page)

CHAPTER FIVE

‘Alright mate, got any spare change have yer?’ 

  I w
as not in the mood for this. Two weeks spent in a cramped cargo ship and I was as pissed off as anything.       

 
‘Do I look like I have any?’ I spat.           

I must have jerked my head around so sharply I saw the homeless guy almost fall off the ker
b.

 
‘Jesus boy, you are one scary piece of shit,’ he shouted as I watched him run down the road to his mate.

 
‘Do I really look so bad? Must’ve been the glare,’ I chuckled to myself as I turned to walk away.

Worriedly, I stopped and glanced at my reflec
tion in a shop window. No wonder the guy had run off. I could see my somewhat 35-year-old appearance had taken quite a beating, being cooped up for the past fortnight. If that was not all, my fangs were still in place from when I had the last drop of blood back in Helsinki.

‘Damn,’ I cussed, as I cast my eye over my slender statuesque frame.

My leather jacket looked as if it was about to disintegrate off me.

Draven had found the jacket on one of his nights out, he gave it to me, as it did not fit him. He was forever dodging the safe zone without father knowing. It looked like I was in need of a clean-up so I would not not scare away any more New Yorkers.           

  As I walked into one of the biggest cities in the world, my nerves began to take a toll
on me. I began to wonder what in the hell possessed me to come here in the first place. I hoped I would be harder to track in such a vast area, but I felt slightly uneasy.

As if hidden eyes watched me from the shadows.

My eyes looked around in wonderment, at the stone cold gargoyle appearance of the many tall buildings.. As I marvelled at the bustling of crowds that surrounded me, it dawned on me that these people weren't really living in this suppressed place.

The flashing of the neon lights set against
the grey backdrop that came at me from all angles, proved to me how uncultured and plastic the 21st century had become. This was very different from the serene, untouched beauty of my homeland, deep within the Finnish forests.

  I placed my hands in my jac
ket pockets, and just stood there gazing up at the skyscrapers for a while, their blank glassy eyes stared back, hiding who knew what secrets.

I was in awe.    

  Standing on the edge of the sidewalk just off Broadway, I inhaled the smell of blood that infringed on me from all directions. To my ancestors this would have been a playground in their lust for blood, but for me now, I was quite content with my regular top ups at the butchers.

  It was a warm day, I was aware I was receiving odd glances from p
eople, as I walked passed them. People sensed there was something different about me, but I was cool with that, I had no desire to drain them.

  I walked idly along the sidewalk, looking up now and then at the people passing by. I was aware they were snatc
hing a quick glimpse of me. In fact, I was getting a kick out of their curiosity. Although by now, the sun was making me feel quite tetchy and irritable, and it was not such a good idea to be hanging around a major city like this. That is when I noticed some sunglasses on display outside a shop. I bit my lip and did a quick scan around me. No one was remotely interested, so I sidled up to the stand and snatched a pair of silver aviator glasses from the display.

I felt the theft was justified.

My eyes ached, and I did not want to get cranky with so many humans around.

 
‘Mom?’

I heard the voice call.

Startled, I turned around and saw a small boy, no older than five standing next to his mother by the hot dog cart.

 
‘Is that man a vampire?’  

 
‘What man?’ she asked, her voice coloured with a Brooklyn twang.

 
‘That man,’ the child pointed towards me.

‘
What the hell,’ I panicked.

I looked away quickly to avoid any more unwanted attention. Grabbing a newspaper from the display next to the sunglasses, I be
gan to flick through, trying my hardest to look invisible.

The mother knelt down beside the child and whispered,
‘That's not a nice thing to say,’ while glaring up at me.

 
‘But Mom, he is.’

 
‘Just stop it, ok, it's so rude of you,’ she huffed

I peered ov
er the newspaper, and flashed the child a snide grin.

‘Shush,’ I said, as I placed my finger over my lips.

The child's eyes widened, and he stood open mouthed. Tugging on his mother's coat, he began to cry.

  ‘Y'know, you’ve got to quit reading them comic books,’ the mother said infuriatingly, as she grabbed the child’s arm, and stormed across the road.

  It was truly fascinating to watch a child so boldly admit who I was. I folded the newspaper and put it back. Pushed my glasses up to the bridge of nose
and walked across the crossing.

 
‘I'm the walking myth the ordinary people fear, and they don't even know it,’ I remarked to myself, as I watched mother and child mingle in amongst the crowd.

  My mood lifted a bit after that.

I spent the rest of the day walking around with a childlike fascination at the world. Yet the loneliness was something I do not think I could ever get used to.

I was walking past a Cinema when a poster on the wall next to the entrance caught my eye. 

  ‘Dracula?’

I ripped the post
er from the wall, and stood looking at the slightly exaggerated impression these humans had of vampires. I grinned to myself and shook my head in disbelief. If only he were still alive, I would have had a friend to talk to down through these years. Just as I was about to throw the crumpled poster, I heard the revving of a motorcycle again. I looked around, and saw it flash through the intersection behind me.

 
‘How odd, that's the same bike I saw in Finland?’

  I pushed my glasses back up onto the bridge of
my nose again, and carried on walking. Every now and then, I would glance behind me for the bike.

 
‘Something isn't right'’ I slipped my hand between the buttons on my shirt, checking if the Ankh was still there, until I realised if it wasn't I wouldn't be here now.

‘Paranoia,’ I thought that was something only humans’ experienced.

The whole city felt like it was closing in on me. Desperate to get out of the busiest part of the city I walked and walked until I found myself in the backstreets. Although i
t did not take too long for somebody to notice me again.

 
‘Yo mister!’

 
‘Oh crap, what now?’ I was feeling a little tetchy and hungry. I glared over to the street opposite. There was a bunch of youngsters sitting on the steps of a derelict building, looking over at me curiously.

 
‘What's up?’ My accent was deeply strange and foreign, which probably only enticed their curiosity even more.

I stood waiting on the opposite side for a response. I clenched my fists tightly thinking they were going to start a
fight, when suddenly the dude with the green Mohican got up and walked over.

Tension mounted.

My body felt like I was shifting.

I growled lightly under my breath. Just when I thought things were going to get ugly, the guy handed me a leaflet.

  ‘You look like the kind of fella that might be interested in this,’ he said.

I took the leaflet from his hands. He stood there perplexed, as if he has not seen a foreigner before.

  ‘Yeah, um...’ Was all he could say.

I sensed there must've been a billion
things in his head right now, but unlike a child, he wouldn't admit to calling me a vampire.

I decided to put him out of his misery.

  ‘I'm Finnish.’

 
‘Oh that's it then...well, come to the Zone tonight dude. It's a new club, plus we have The Ramones playing a one off gig...’ he said backing away from me.

 
‘The Ramones?’

 
‘It's a band...y'know, music?’ he laughed nervously.

He looked at me as if I had fallen from mars, but I knew what music was. I heard it on my jaunts out in Helsinki.

  ‘Sure, I'll be there.’

Finally, now I have some connection with this crazy world.

  ‘So where's the best place to hang around here?’

 
‘In the Bronx? You gotta be kidding right,’ he shouted over, as I watched him walk back to his mates.

I stuffed the leaflet in my pock
et, and continued to walk idly around the corner.

 
‘That bloody motorcycle again.’ This time the mysterious driver lifted up his visor and looked at me before speeding off.

  I had a sinking feeling this had something to do with the prophecy.

Chapter Six

‘
Get a job, you bum!’              

  I glanced up at the young man in the pinstripe suit and briefcase, who had the audacity to make those assumptions about me. I pulled my sunglasses down, and shot him a glare with my eyes. They had a tendency to shift from ice bl
ue to a hint of yellow when I was angry. It always seemed to freak people out. Moreover, I was right; he flinched and could not walk past quick enough. I sniggered to myself as I watched the office workers rush past on their way home. At least they had the sense to stay away from me.

  It was almost dusk, and the city was beginning to show its true colours. The darkness always brought out the worst in places, which I knew very well. For a while, I sat on the steps of the cathedral wondering what my next mov
e should be. The motorcyclist had not shown up for hours. Therefore, I had time to conceive a plan of action if things went awry.     

  Yet, as always I found my mind wandering and my thoughts quickly turned to the prophecy. Father had relied on me to re
turn the Ankh to Egypt. I never fully understood why, I guess there were some things he just could not talk about. All I knew was it had to be returned one day to save our souls, as he used to tell me, but with The Others lurking, God knows where, I knew I had to keep the Ankh out of sight before they end up on my trail again. Besides, what would happen to me if I returned it? That was not something I wanted to think about right now.

  For now, at least, I wanted a taste of living; even though I knew, I was
half-dead. Suddenly a few specks of rain tapped me on my shoulder as if demanding me to get a move on.

  I put my hands in my jacket pocket and pulled out the flyer I got earlier. I un-crumpled the paper and read the advert. Why not, I thought, at least
I would be dry, and it is not as if I have anywhere to go tonight.

  The humans were almost becoming second nature to me anyway, when it dawned on me, I have not eaten a single thing all day.
‘Damn I'd better get something to eat. Just to be on the safe side,’ I mumbled to myself. I stuffed the flyer back in my pocket and got up in search of the food I was promised by the butcher. He said he would leave it outside the back entrance of the shop after closing.

  It was pitch black apart from the flickering
of the lamp in the lane, and unnervingly quiet. I could smell the blood from the scraps of meat a few yards away. Thankfully, my sense of smell leaned more towards the animal rather than human these days. Of course, I did not want to analyse it, as part of me was glad this has happened. Yet the other half of me, the non-demonic part, did not want to crave blood at all.

  It was not fun to be a vampire these days, especially with my recent discovery that the media had gone into frenzy over us. I had such a s
hock when I arrived in New York and saw all the commercial crap for the vampire films and books that were out. If only we could descend back into the shadows again and become the princes of darkness that we truly are, I thought as I sat laughing to myself. Ah well, I had better make the most of it here, maybe Hollywood would come knocking on my door one day.