Chronicles of Vampyre

There once was a man. A great man. He was strong, fierce. he feared nothing and no one. He was agile, and quick witted. There was never a circumstance he couldn’t over come. When he was your enemy he was ruthless. He killed without remorse and without a second thought. He was a great hero as far as European saviors went back then. Even if he was just as blunt and crude to his allies. Some said he didn’t care if innocents died as long as he got his mark. I choose not to believe this part at all. The man was a legend. This man lived over a century ago. So as the years went by of course some of the facts had probably been muddled over and over again. Most likely to suit someone’s needs and liking. To me facts cant be muddled by time. Even if I cant prove the facts are the facts. I still believe. He was not world famous. I don’t even think the entirety of Europe knows of him anymore. He had done what he’d done as quietly as he could. In secret if possible. He didn’t want to be remembered as a hero. He didn’t want to be remembered at all. I remember him though. His name was Alexander Clark. His occupation, Europe’s greatest vampire hunter.

Hello everybody. I’m Emillia Whittle, Im twenty seven and I’m a bit of a history buff. More specifically the less studied and not as well known parts of history. Also, I study the paranormal history, such as vampires and vampire hunters. I know, I know someone will see this and say there isn’t a such thing as vampires. Maybe, the reason you think that is because of Alexander Clark or somebody like him. Because they’re out there keeping them at bay for the sake of humanity. At least that’s the way I like to think. Because the way the world is today, it needs some kind of savior. The reason I am bringing up this long dead vampire hunter is because I think I saw him. Today. I know. Its freaking me out too. Maybe I’m just an overly obsessed fan and my imagination is getting the best of me. That’s a great possibility. Considering most people idolize Mariah Carey or Brad Pit. Me? I idolize a dead Vampire assassin and you thought you had issues.

So I didn’t actually see this guy who looks like Alexander Clark in person. It was on tv. I had it on CNN for noise while I worked on a story for work. I just happened to glance up at the right time. Some foreign prime minister was giving a speech of sorts. I literally had it on for noise I didn’t pay attention to any of it. In the background there was a random man standing near the prime minister. He looked just like Alexander Clark! I have no idea who he was. If I did I wouldn’t be in my current predicament. I don’t recall what he was wearing. Only that his face looked really similar to that of Alexander Clarks. Not only that. He had long dark hair, pulled back in a low pony tail just like Alexander Clark. If I recall correctly he even had particularly grumpy expression too. It was uncanny how closely this man resembled this long dead guy. Yet, it couldn’t actually be the same man. He’d been dead for over a thousand years. Could it? It had to be a man that just looked creepily close to the likes of the old Vampire hunter.

So the rest of my day was spent researching todays news and sifting thru all the small insignificant stories to get to the juicy ones. After that I had to decipher which prime minister I was watching. Because believe it or not there had been three different Prime ministers giving a speech at the same time. On top of that on the same day. So to say it was difficult to find was an understatement. ” Damn it! Why couldn’t I just pay attention!” I groaned under my breath as i sifted thru another few articles. None of them were of any help. Because none of them had pictures. Instead of searching in the all section I decided to search under images. That seemed to help a bit. You found several nice pictures of the prime minister and his wife. She was very pretty. Though none of the man that looks like Alexander Clarks twin. Go figure. With an overdramatic sigh, i closed the browser window and pushed my laptop off my lap onto the couch next to me. ” Won’t you take me to funky town! oh wont you take me to funky town!” My cell phone rang. I picked it up, swiping the screen. ” Hello?”

" Em, you get your story done? Because I sure didn’t!” Mina Williams replied in a sing song voice.

I answered with a chuckle, ” Nope, though I suspect that I did put more effort into it than you did”.

She acted offended, ” Ok miss perfect worker. How much time did you put into it?”

" About....Twenty minutes until I noticed a man on CNN that looked remarkably like Alexander Clark. How much time did you put into it?”

She sighed, ” Not even that”

" See, I told you”

She made sounds of agreement, ” So, you saw another Alexander Clark clone?”

" No Seriously! this time the guy looked just like him. It was crazy. So I’ve been scouring the internet all afternoon, trying to find out who he was. Naturally I couldn’t find a thing on him. Plenty on the Prime Minister and his wife. Who is very pretty by the way”

Mina gave an amused chuckle and sighed. ” Well I can see what the guys at work know if you want?”

" How would they know who he is?” I asked

" How else would they know? Faster and better internet of course”

" Your the best you know it” I said sitting back against the couch cushions.

" I know, but one has to wonder how we even still have our jobs ” She laughed.

" No joke” I agreed. ” Speaking of my worthlessness, I have to feed Lucious before he decides to eat me for dinner”

Mina sighed again, ” Ok, but that’s what you get for owning a mane Coon. That thing could whup my dogs butt any day”.

" See you tomorrow Mina”

" Yeah, see you in the morning Emy” she said and hung up.

I dropped my phone on the couch beside me just as Lucious hopped up onto my. He stared at me with murderous intent as he purred like a v6. ” Yeah, yeah, I’m a terrible mama for forgetting to feed you. So lets go ok big boy?” I said in my best mushy cat lover voice. He meowed loudly and purred as he leapt off of me, into the floor, turning to look at me expectantly. ” I’m coming buddy” I promised pushing off the couch to follow him into the laundry room where I keep his food. I dug out a scoop of his favorite cat chow and dumped it in his food bowl. I also grabbed the water bowl while I was there, filling it as well. It wouldn’t due to have him forgive me for the food. Just to smother me in my sleep tonight because I forgot to fill his water dish. ” There ya go big man” I said straightening up after I set the water dish down. He replied by not replying and stuffing his face, as expected. That said and done, I decided that my own hunger was getting pretty bad. I made my way into the kitchen to look thru the ice box. After a brief search it appeared that a box of left over pizza and leftover spaghetti and meatballs is all my choices were. Unless I wanted to cook. Which I most definitely did not.

Grabbing a slice of pizza and a bottle of water I head upstairs to take a shower and get ready for bed. Tomorrow was Monday and if I was going to be yelled at for not completing my weekend work. I wanted to be fully rested.

Monday Morning was a mess as always. Just as soon as I think I have my life organized. This little or rather big furry tornado in the form of Lucious comes thru and disrupts everything. Ah well, life of a cat mom I suppose. I climbed out of bed, slapped the alarm clock and tripped on Lucious. He licked my face fondly as I lay groaning on the carpeted floor in my bedroom. I shot daggers at him as he licked me. ” Your lucky your loved furrball” I grumbled, entangling my sore limbs from him and other obstacles on the floor around the bed. He replied with a meow and more fond licking. After my grand start the morning I walked down stairs avoiding my CATastrophe of a pet. I stopped in the laundry room to top of his food and water for the day before snagging a snack from the fridge before I started my morning routine.

Almost an hour later I was headed out the door, Laptop bag slung over my shoulder. ” Be good luscious!” I shouted over my shoulder. He ignored me as per usual. He had food and water so he had no other use for me. What a lovable creature.

The commute to work was nothing less than chaotic. There was a wreck on the freeway and six different other delays. I finally walked in the doors at Baker City News a grand total of thirty minutes late, frazzled and disgruntled. Several heads turned as I walked in. ” Traffic bad this morning?” Jacob Jones asked, a fellow journalist in the cube next to mine.

I nodded and made a grunting sound as I sat down my laptop. Then I sat down in my office chair and sighed in relief. I happen to think I have the most comfortable chair in the office, besides the bosses chair. ” The crazies were out in flocks this morning”

Jacob chuckled, ” Yeah it is Monday after all” He leaned around the wall of his cube to look at me. ” You get your story done?” I

gave him a look that said, ” do I look like an employee that gets my work done on time?” He grinned, ” Take that as a no. No worries, I got your back. Check your email”.

I nodded, unloading my laptop and switching it on. I opened the browser and signed into my email. There at the top of the list was an email from one Jacob Jones. [email protected] Under the email address it said a short message. ” Here you go, because I know you didn’t do your homework like a good little pupil, your buddy JJ”. Under the message was what my story should have looked like if I had completed it like a good little pupil. ” Jacob I could kiss you” I said grinned over at him.

His pale skin tinted pink as he grinned back. ” Don’t make promises baby, unless you plan on fulfilling them” He said in his best Austin Powers imitation, giving me a wink. I winked back and blew him a kiss.

This was how I kept my job. By flirting outrageously with my male coworker that had a thing for me. Not doing anything with him. Just flirting enough that he wants to help me. Besides if I got fired who else would he flirt with? Maybe Mina.

Melissa Smith, the Company’s district Manager and my boss made her rounds around the office checking on everyone’s progress. Quite a lot of my coworkers are just as bad as me about getting their work done. Only, not all of them have a Jacob to do their work for them. So naturally, the sound of Melissa’s shouts could probably be heard clear on the other side of the building. I could see people all around the room cringing as they waited for their turn. While me and Jacob sat comfortably and waited our turns. Melissa smiled broadly as she approached our cubicle. She sighed happily as she paused by Jacobs desk. ” At least I know you two have your work done.” Jacob beamed a smile as she leaned to check first his work then mine. ” Even if I know he did yours, at least we have something to turn in eh?” she said under her breath winking as she walked away.

I cringed as I glanced over at Jacob. ” I guess she did notice huh”

He shrugged, ” Ah well, at least she didn’t write us up”

" I think the reason she didn’t was because we are the only ones who actually finished on time” I said surveying the room full of my harassed-looking coworkers hurriedly trying to finish their projects. Mina caught my eye and stuck out her tongue at me. I didn’t stick my tongue out back. Instead I smiled. She was only jealous after all.

Having finished checking everyone’s work and scolding the ones who needed, Melissa stood at the front of the office where everyone could see her. She didn’t have to clap or whistle to get everyone’s attention. Everyone just turned automatically, accustomed to her doing this every Monday morning. She clasped her hands in front of her as she waited for everyone’s eyes to be on her. When she had everyone’s full attention she smiled, ” Well, it appears that only two of you are finished with your projects.” Almost every eye in the room glanced over at mine and Jacobs cubicle briefly like they knew exactly who she meant. ” So, instead of assigning new projects to you all the only two getting new projects will be Jacob and Ally. The rest of you will be working on your late projects and will have them done no later than tomorrow”.

There was a collective groan around the room as people began to get to work. Melissa waved for the two of us to follow her into her office. Jacob and I shared long suffering looks before standing to follow her. She ushered us in, closing the door behind us. She chuckled at the looks of dismay on our faces, ” Oh, I know guys but, hey you get to pick before everyone else. So you get to pick the best ones for your self”. She chuckled more and grinned as she dropped a stack of manila file folders on her desk. ” Have at it” she said sitting in her chair with a content sigh.

I let out a puff of breath as I grabbed about ten off the stack, stepping to the side so Jacob could get some as well. We both sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk as we began to sift thru the options. ′ This is what you get for being a good pupil, more work’ I thought. I thumbed thru several without giving them a second thought. They were all stories about the local college, Baker University. If there was one thing I didn’t want to deal with it was college kids, or little kids. Though I hadn’t seen any stories on the schools yet. Not to say there wouldn’t be, but let someone else have fun with those I thought. Five or six down I finally found a few I liked the sounds of. One was a story about a horse ranch whose horses were coming up missing. Stolen or dead, no one knew. There wasn’t much information, but I like horses so I snatched that one up quickly. The next one was right under it. It was about the local wildlife coming into peoples backyards and making messes of their things. Mostly dear and racoons it said. I didn’t think it sounded too terribly bad, so I grabbed it too. I thumbed thru a couple more before I opened one that made me drop the two I had in my hands. I gasped, and scrambled to pick the papers up.

Jacob peered down at me, grinning broadly. ” Smooth move” he chuckled. I shook my head, muttering to myself as I shuffled all the papers back into one of the folders. I’d organize it later. Right now more pressing matters were at hand. Such as the story I just opened before dropping all my papers. Ignoring Jacobs comment I stood back up, set my other folders aside and picked up the important one. Jacob snickered, ” It must be a good one. She didn’t even glare at me”

I ignored this comment as well, instead I pressed my finger to the man in the picture. ” Who is he?” I asked Melissa.

She leaned over to look at the picture in my folder and shrugged. ” I don’t know his name, but I think he’s the prime ministers personal assistant”

Jacob took the picture, looking it over. ” Who cares, it says this story requires you to travel to Europe” He handed it back to me.

I took it grinning, placing it back in the file. I closed it and placed the folder with the other two I had already. ” I’ll take it”

Both Jacob and Melissa gaped at me. ” You uh, sure about that?” Jacob asked.

I nodded, Getting to my feet. ” I’ve always wanted to go to Europe anyways”

Melissa shook her head, ” I gotta admit, I’m impressed. I expected some like Xavier to take this one. Since he has family in Europe. Though, if your sure I’ll allow you to take those three.” She turned to Jacob, ” Do you have your three Jake?” He nodded, holding up three manila folders. ” Alright, great job you two now go make me proud.” She said and ushered us both from her office, closing the door as she had when leading us in.

Jacob and I walked back to our cubes. The office was quiet, everyone busy doing their work. So we tried to be as quiet as possible. ” So what’s the deal with that guy?” he whispered when we got to my desk. I sat down while He paused next to his desk for a second, waiting for an answer.

" I just have always wanted to go to Europe” I replied calmly organizing the papers back into their original folders.

He wasn’t buying it, ” Bullshit, You acted like you recognized the guy. Then asked who he was?”

I shrugged again, ” Don’t know, Just thought I recognized him. Guess I don’t know him after all”

He shrugged, deciding to let it go. ” Ok, whatever. Just seems like a long way to go for work. Especially since work doesn’t cover your expenses”.

I frowned, shaking my head ” No, they pay for your plane ticket there and home”

He nodded in agreement. ” Yeah, but when Xavier goes, he stays with family. Who you staying with?”

I hadn’t thought of that. ‘Well, there goes most of my savings’ I thought glumly. I wouldn’t ever save up enough money to visit Italy. Maybe I’d just use this as a chance to see Italy while I’m there. I think the story was somewhere nearby. France? Spain? Germany? Somewhere like that.

" Aaand she’s zoned out again” Jacob muttered, finally sitting down at his desk.

" Yeah, yeah, what ones did you choose?” I asked glancing over the cardboard divider at Jacob.

He flopped the folders down on his desk, ” Bunch of school related ones, mostly elementary school. They’re easy and the kids are sweet”

I scoffed, ” You kidding me? Kids are judgmental as hell. Especially the really small ones and they aren’t afraid to say exactly what’s on their mind.” I frowned, ” They’re kinda like tiny drunks. Too blunt and Too honest”.

" Nah, it’ll be fine” he insisted.

I shrugged, ” Ok when they hurt your feelers don’t come crying to me”

He grinned, ” Well, I’ll hardly be able to come crying to you. Since you’ll be in Europe”

" Right” already forgot. Go me.

Hours later Mina came wondering over holding three manila folders similar to mine. ” What ones did you pick? Melissa seemed pretty impressed with your choices.”

I held them up for her to look thru. She handed me hers to flip thru. She had the Bakers University stories. I knew someone would take them. They were pretty easy if you could deal with the college kids. She immediately noticed your Europe story. ” What?! your going to Europe?” She paused for a minute. Long enough to notice the picture. ” Wait, isn’t that your man?”

Jacobs head snapped up, ” What man? Thought you didn’t know him?”

I sighed, trading folders with her again. ” I don’t Jacob and Yes Mina, that is the guy I was talking about. Don’t you think he looks just like him?”

" Just Like who?” Jacob asked whose voice was starting to raise attention from around the room.

Mina and I both made shushing sounds. ” Yeah, I can see it and I can also see why you took this story, you nerd”

" Wait, why is she a nerd? and who does this guy look like?” Jacob asked in a much calmer and quieter voice.

" Alexander Clark”

He stared at me for a minute looking even more lost, ” um, Who?”

I shared a look with Mina ” that’s why I’m the nerd here”

“She apparently knows who he is” he pointed out nodding at Mina.

" That’s because I’m the best friend and she hounds me with it all the time.” Mina explained. I grinned.

Jacob sighed and shrugged ” I just don’t understand why all the fuss over some assistant guy” he muttered, turning back to his desk.

" Yeah, your just jealous” I muttered. He grumbled something unintelligible. I grinned.

That evening the commute home was much more bearable than that morning. All but one of the roads had been opened back up and all of the wrecks were cleared away. Lucious greeted me at the door with a loud and happy meow complete with purring and the whole nine yards. I scooped him up, which is no easy fear for a cat as big as he is and walked to the kitchen. ” I know big guy, it’s dinner time huh”. I said placing my large cat on one of the bar stools. I stepped into the laundry room to check that he still had food and water. Of course he did. He just thinks he’s part human and needs to eat what I eat when I eat. I do feed him a few scraps, but Of course im careful about what I feed him. He didn’t like to be as old as he is by accident.

My phone rang as I was prepping my one person TV dinner to go in the microwave. It was Mina. ” Hello gorgeous, how was your drive home?” I asked as way of answering.

" It wasn’t too bad. How was yours? ”

" Better now that most of the construction is cleared up”

She hummed in agreement, ” so quick question. How do you plan to afford this trip to Europe? I know you have money in savings , but is it going to be enough?”

I shrugged even though I knew she couldn’t see. ” I’ll think of something when I get there. I still don’t know where in Europe I’m going so, that will determine how cheap I can get off”.

She made further sounds of agreement Before going on. ” So what if you meet this assistant and...I don’t know..you like him or something”

.” Mina” I said exasperated. ” Just because he looks like a dead guy I have a crush on doesn’t mean I’m going to fall for him”.

There was a pause, before Mina said ” If that sentence was said by anyone else I’d say they need serious help. As it is, it’s you so I know there’s no helping how you are”.

I huffed, ” gee thanks I feel so much better”. The microwave dinged and I grabbed my food out of it. ” Ow ow ow ow, hot hot hot” I muttered taking it to the table to sit down.

" TV dinner tonight ?” Mina guessed.

" How’d you know?”

" I know you, or more accurately I know your eating habits”

" True” I agreed, peeling back the plastic film to dig in. ” What are you having?”

" Chinese take out”

" Ugh jealous” I groaned, stabbing a meatball dejectedly. Chinese food sounded much better than microwave spaghetti and meatballs .

" I bet it has the same nutritional values. So when are your stories due?”

I stood up, shuffling to where I put my folders when I came in, flipping them open one at a time. ” The horse one is due first. I have five weeks on it. The other animal one is due next at six weeks. Europe isn’t due for eight weeks.”

“Woman, thats two months.” She stated in disbelief.

“Yeah” I replied.

" You have two months to do your work” she reconfirmed.

“Yeah” I repeated.

She huffed, ” girl! I have a week for one, and wo for the other two!x

" Sorry, at least you don’t to travel very far for yours I have to travel halfway around the world.”

" Tsk, don’t sound so upset. Weren’t you saving for a trip to Italy anyways? ” She didn’t pause for a reply before continuing her rant. ” Well you can just visit while your there now”.

It ended up not really being a rant by the end of it. I knew she was just as envious as she was happy for me. ” Maybe, if I’m close enough, but not likely with my money situation”. I stated.

" How much do you have saved up so far?” She asked.

“Five thousand four hundred”

There was a long silence, during which I thought I might have lost connection. ” Um, hello?”

" Five grand? That’s all you have? How do you expect to survive on that?! She exclaimed.

" It’s not that hard to do” I tried to convince her. ” You just can’t spend alot of it on random touristy stuff”.

She scoffed, ” well then, what’s the point of going if your not going to buy a bunch of crap to bring home with you? ”

I sat back, with my now empty TV dinner tray, sitting it on the floor for Lucious. He licked it clean happily. ” For the joy of going and I can take pictures. I do have an awesome camera someone awesome bought me.” I pointed out.

She chuckled, “well I guess I am pretty awesome”

" Not to mention it’s for work anyways. So if I’m close enough I’ll go but, if not I’ll just have to save up again and go later”.

“Yeah I guess you have a point. There is one thing you could bring home if you decide to visit Italy. Actually a couple things”. She said.

" What is that?” I asked

" A bottle of wine and a man”

I laughed. ” Can’t you get those here?”

" Yeah, but there not nearly as good as getting them straight from the mother lands.”

We both laughed for a minute. ” Alright alright, I’ll see what I can do. No promises though” I said and yawned. ” I think I’ll turn in early tonight. Maybe lay in bed and watch TV while I plot which story I want to tackle first”.

" I figured you would tackle Alex first” she teased.

I groaned, ” we don’t even know him or his name. Gah Mina your terrible.”

" But..?”

" But I love you” I sighed.

" Love you too, good night girl”

" Good night” I said and hung up. ” She’s a mess” I told my cat as he hopped up on my lap. Lucious looked at me curiously then turned his butt to me. ” Thats nice” I muttered. “Now get up so we can go to bed” I told him and ended up having to push his big butt off of me.

After a shower I curled up in bed with my three folders and Lucious. I read over each of them carefully. Well more like I read quickly over the other two and read over the Europe one more carefully. I still wasn’t sure where in Europe I was going. Also if work was paying for my ticket, they’d likely have pre purchased it. Sure enough, tucked in the back was a passport for a round trip. Where was it to? I searched the entire ticket for a clue before finding it on the bottom of the front. ” Croatia?!” I groaned. ” Couldn’t it be France at least?” I complained at My cat. Who totally ignored me in favor of licking his butt. Nice. What a lovely feline companion I have. Below the place was a date of departure. It said April sixth. Today was April fifth. I sat up abruptly, causing Lucious to meow and irritation and flee. ” Shit” I groaned.

Well this put a damper on things. I had planned on doing the smaller two stories first. Then focusing all my attention on the bigger Europe story. ” Well shark whiskers” I muttered digging my phone back out of my purse. I dialed Mina’s number and waited.

" Hello?” She answered sleepily. Asleep already? Shit what time was it. I glanced over at the alarm clock and jumped in surprise. Ten pm. On the dot.

" Sorry! I didn’t realize what time it was”

" S’ ok it’s important right?” I made an affirmative sound. ” Then it’s ok”.

Y’all, I have the best bestfriend. I don’t mean to brag but, she is literally the bomb. ” We have a problem”. I quickly explained my dilemma.

" Shit, ok well I can baby sit Lucious, as well as house sit your house and pick up your mail. So all you should worry about is packing, money and sleep. Not necessarily in that order”.

I nodded in agreement even though I knew she couldn’t see. ” Right, guess that shortens things a bit.”

“Why’s that?”

“I have to be back here in time to do my story on the horses” I explained.

" that stinks. that means Italy is out then huh”

I frowned, ” No, i’ll still be there at least a month. If that’s not enough time to complete this story or at least get some interviews and juicy tidbits then i’ll never get it.”

“What’s the story suppose to be about?” She asked.

I picked up one of the papers from the Europe folder. ” oooh its a bit scandalous. Im suppose to interview the prime ministers personal aid to get juicy tidbits on an affair the prime minister was involved in”. i put the paper back in the folder.

Mina sucked in a breath thru her teeth. ” Essh have fun with you scandal. I get to ogle frat boys”.

I shrugged ” Eh, they aren’t my type anyways. So, ill pack tonight. Sleep and Draw money out in the morning before I get on the plane which leaves at...daaamn ten o clock am.”

" Sounds like you need to go pack so you can get some sleep then”

I sighed, ” Alright Alright, you’ve convinced me. You know where my spare key is. Night Mina”

“Night Em, Have fun and safe trip and take tons of pictures”.

" Will do, ” I hung up with a sigh. ” Damn I have a lot to do and not enough time to do it in”.