#4 - Black

Ella the Vampire

Barton Paul Levenson

Lyrical Press

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  "What the hell would you know about being sweet, Derek?" asked Ella.

      "Don't you mouth off to me, bitch. You've made me plenty of trouble the past couple of days." He advanced to the bed and backhanded Ella hard, making Cindy cry out. Ella laughed.

      "You think this is funny? I'll show you what's funny, you goddam bitch." He swung again, but this time Ella caught his wrist. She got up off the bed, still holding tight.

      "You let go of my arm, bitch, or I'm really gonna hurt you."

      Ella shook her head. "No. You're not ever going to hurt me, or Cindy, or Roz, or Stephanie again." Roz and Stephanie were the other two prostitutes Derek ran.

     Derek slugged her in the stomach. Ella didn't fold over, but just said oof quietly. Then she slugged Derek in the stomach, and he flew back to crash against the wall.

     "Don't fuck with me, Derek," Ella said calmly.

     The pimp was wheezing, trying to get his breath back. He got up on all fours, struggling to breathe. When he could manage it again, he slowly stood up. "Whoa. Quite a punch you got there. You realize I'm gonna have to fuck up your face now."

     "Give it your best shot, stud."

     Derek whipped out his straight razor and ran at her. Ella took him by the wrists and effortlessly flipped him over her head. He crashed upside down against the opposite wall. She turned to see him lying on the floor, stunned.

     "If that was your best shot, you're pretty fucking pathetic, Derek, my man."

     Derek was slower to get up this time. He sat up, making no move to stand, and leaned back against the wall. "What are you on? Angel dust? PCP?"

     "No."

     "What, then?"

     "Natural hormones."

     "Natural hormones," he echoed. Then he reached into his coat and brought out his nine millimeter Ruger.

     "Derek, no," shouted Cindy.

     Derek fired five times. Each shot hit Ella. "Ouch," she said slowly. Sarcastically.

     Derek fired three more times.

     "Ouch, ouch, ouch."

     "What are you?" he asked in wonder. "What the ---- are you?"

     "She a vampire, Baby," Cindy said.

     "No shit?"

     "I'm a vampire," Ella said.

     Derek slowly stood up, supporting himself with one hand against the wall. "A real vampire, no shit?"

     "No," Ella said.

     For a minute he just stared. Then his eyes took on a look Ella knew well by now—a look that said you have something I want. "Would you, uh... Would you like to make me one?"

    "You'd like that, wouldn't you, Derek?"

    He flashed his million-dollar smile. "Yeah."

    "Well, take off that coat, and I'll see what I can do."

    Derek took off the coat. Ella went to him and bit into his neck. She knew just where to do it. The blood tasted like warm, rich soup, the best-tasting soup she had ever eaten. She was hungry and the blood tasted wonderful. It gave her strength. It gave her power. She went on sucking. She sucked until Derek trembled on his feet, weak and unsteady.

    She raised her head. "You know how it works?"

    "Huh? What?"

    "How it works. How you become a vampire."

    "No..."

    "I drain you. You die. Then you come back as a vampire." Ella didn't know how she knew this, but she knew. She knew a lot of things she hadn't known before.

   "Uh?"

   "You'd like that, wouldn't you, Derek? You'd like to be a vampire?"

   "Uh?" He smiled, then nodded feebly.

   "I know you would. Then you'd be stronger than me again, and bullets wouldn't hurt you. I don't think I'd like that, Derek. In fact, I don't think I like the idea of you living at all. You see, here's the thing, Derek. If you die some other way—other than me draining you—you don't become a vampire. You're just dead."

   "Uh?" Derek's body sagged against her.

   "I'll show you." And with that Ella took his head in her hands and wrenched it to the side, snapping his neck. He voided as he died.

   Cindy screamed.

   Ella took a moment to wipe her mouth before she turned to Cindy, knowing the sight of blood on her lips and chin would freak her friend. "Calm down, Cindy."

   "You killed him!"

   "I know."

   "You killed him!"

   "Cindy." She waited until the other woman calmed down a bit. "Are you okay?"

  Cindy nodded quickly.

  "First he hit me, then he said he was gonna carve up my face, then he shot me a bunch of times. You saw him shoot me."

  Another nod.

  "As a vampire he'd have controlled us till the end of time. I didn't want that. I want to be free. You know, free? Do you remember what being free was like?"

  Cindy nodded, closing her eyes on tears.

  Ella sat next to her and put her arm around her. "If somebody called the cops about the shots and you screaming, then they're gonna be here soon. We have to be out of here by then. Are you with me?"

 Cindy hesitated, then nodded again.

 "Do you love me?"

 "I guess I do, but Ella, you so damn cold about stuff. Derek..." Then she sat up straight. "Okay, Derek wasn't much, he beat on us a lot, but he was nice too, sometimes. Don't you remember? That night he took us all to Gullifty's?"

              "He was nice when he was in a good mood and mean when he was in a bad mood. He took teenage kids and turned them into whores. He was a complete scumbag, and you know it, Cindy. You know it."

  "Yeah, I guess, but—"

  "Get dressed and come with me. Take your purse and anything you really need. Don't bother with extra clothes. We don't want to look like we're packed to go somewhere."

  "Okay," Cindy said meekly.