The Thing in the Dark to Fear

Chapter 10

In a time-zone seven hours away, Alfons opened his eyes to darkness. Anthony is no more, he thought. Alfons knew that another of his favorites had fallen victim to Jimmy. Although another Vampire had just met destruction, Anthony was his direct liaison to both Anna and the art exchange program. The frustration of his loss was compounded by several images competing for attention; He could picture the head rolling off Anthony’s shoulders, Anna operating with complete anonymity, and his waning grip of events overseas.
He felt a slight wave of power wash over his body, and wandered what new or enhanced gift would temper his intolerance of the current situation. He must be strong to maintain control, but power was the ultimate temptation. Power was the seductress he had no intent of denying.
So, he thought, it is not just my siblings that pass their power to me. The sensation was wonderful, and that made his cruel existence sweeter. He must have more. Suddenly this Jimmy Crusader was not the enemy Alfons had originally envisioned. Alfons closed his eyes and smiled. He rested peacefully in his coffin, until he dreamed of his sister.
Anna was frequently on his mind. Forbidden to him, when he had a soul, she was now the hand that steadied his recklessness. She was very important, for now.
Times change, he mused. At first, the change was slow to take hold. Sick for days and under Anna’s care he finally succumbed to the need for blood. Just the little he drew from her instantly gave him strength. He prowled at night, but always came home to Anna.
The first year as a Vampire, he wallowed in self-pity. He felt abandoned by God. He hated God. He blamed all that was holy for his painful existence. He studied the cruelty of Dracula and others in his lineage. He explored every dark art. His selfishness, reinforced by the loss of his soul, drove him to corrupt anything and anyone he could manipulate. His sister represented the dichotomy of his being. She was his pure and innocent twin; he was an abomination to life. She was everything he could not be, and he resented it.
Forcing himself upon Anna had turned her. She was his first child of darkness, and would be for many years. His selfish sin destroyed forever her fate. He reviled himself for taking her very life, yet he sinned against her repeatedly. Moreover, like the innocent fool he thought Anna to be, she forgave his weakness, again and again.
They hunted together, and played the games of young lovers. A brief respite to his hatred. The games wore on them and as they met other Vampires, their grasp of the curse began to unfold.
At first they reveled in the assumption that they were like gods, but the tedium of time wore on them both. Where was the pleasure in that once in a lifetime experience? What now was precious? What separated them from even the most noble animals? They were more than human, and less than humane. Where was felicity except in their ability to spread cruelty?
Anna’s forgiveness was a mockery of the hatred Alfons harbored. He had murdered thousands over the years; many for food, many for pleasure. None had the special appeal of his twin.
Alfons dreamt torrid acts of hostility, betrayal, and rape against the only creature that could truly love him.