Blood (Part 7)
Graham took the shortcut through the graveyard as he usually did on his way home. Emilie offered to give him a ride home, but he declined. He liked to walk and besides it was only a few blocks. He paused to feel the cool morning air on his face and admire the orange sun still low in the misty sky and breathed a sigh of pure bliss. He didn’t think he could be any happier than he was in that moment, than the way he felt when he thought of Emilie. He wanted to care for her and her son, to be a part of their life. He was aware his feelings about the relationship were stronger than hers but someone had hurt her and because of that, she kept her guard up. He wanted to be the one to help break down that wall.
A sound above him took him out of his thoughts. A sound of flapping wings. Several large bats swooped low on Graham nearly brushing his hair. Graham ducked and threw his arms up as a shield. One by one the bats swooped down on Graham then back up into the sky where they disappeared. Shaken, Graham picked up his stride and continued his journey home.
He stopped short when, through the low-hanging branches of an old willow tree, he saw a face. Graham looked around, the face was pale and gaunt as a skeleton and looking right at him. But where had the man come from? Graham hadn’t noticed him before.
The man parted the willow branches like a curtain and walked towards Graham. The man looked albino. His hair was nearly as white as his skin and his eyes shone red.
Graham turned to walk the other way but another pair of red eyes were coming out of the mist towards him. Soon, Graham found himself surrounded by five more pairs of red eyes. This is a trick thought Graham They’re all wearing those novelty contacts trying to scare me.
Graham saw an opening to his left and made a bolt for it. The white-haired man said, “Victor, grab him.”
Graham felt someone grab hard on his shoulder and looked up to see a pair of red eyes staring directly into his. Victor was at least 6’2 and wore a pinstripe suit which made him appear even taller. He looked like he had just stumbled off the set of a mafia movie. Graham wondered why he was taking orders from the white-haired man who looked like a child by comparison.
The others closed in around him grabbing at his upper body, holding him still. Their strength was incredible. and Graham felt like his body was being crushed underneath a boulder.
“Look, my wallet is in my back left pocket.” Graham said, “I don’t have much but you can have it all.”
“We don’t want to steal from you, Graham Anderson,” said the white-haired man.
“How do you know my name? What do you want?” Graham asked both questions in the same breath.
The white-haired man held Graham by the shoulders. His legs collapsed under the weight.
“We want to be your friend,” The white-haired man sunk his teeth deep into Graham’s neck. Graham howled in agony as he insatiably sucked the life force out of him until he turned pale like the rest.
Someone put a hand his back. “Too much,” they said.
The white-haired man pulled his head back up with some difficulty, an invisible force was pulling him to drink more. Blood dripped down his chin and he wiped his mouth off with his hand.
“Thank you, Mikel,” he said, “I almost lost myself to the hunger. We want to keep this one.”
To be continued:
Here’s the links to all the previous parts (in order 1-6):
https://theprose.com/post/208946/blood-tentative-title-part-i
https://theprose.com/post/210414/blood-tentative-title-part-2
https://theprose.com/post/222873/blood-part-3
https://theprose.com/post/223891/like-chocolate-blood-4