Dazzle: A Vampire Tale

My bride Nelly died in my arms on our wedding night. Her fragile heart had stopped beating without clinical cause. I wanted to die; I wanted to be with her forever. This pain was paralyzing to the core; worse than a stinging thrusting dagger plucking out the eyes. Within my grief the life we built together was falling apart. I had lost my job, the house was on the verge of foreclosure and funeral costs were mounting. I sought solitude in the tear soaked tides of sheets and the lumpiness of my feather pillow. I barely ate, downed whisky shots, lost twenty pounds . The bedroom blinds were sealed shut, sunlight just hurt too much, it reminded me of her. I didn't want to face the world again.

About six weeks after Nelly’s death I decided to crawl out from the shell I was under. The sun nearly blinded me, yet the warmth comforted my cool sheltered skin. My former employer hired me back on a probationary basis, I was able stall the foreclosure and I started to face an empty life step by baby step. Even though I played the strong guy in public, I was a cracking egg once one foot entered the house . I sobbed every night when I had to face the bed alone, the pain was still just too real. My friends urged me to date again, but I told them that Nelly was the only one for me…I will never get over her…she is in my blood, heart and mind forever. They started to understand she was not like the rest that I had dated before…she was the only one that got beneath my skin…she was the only one that I could see a lifetime with.

************

About a year later………..

“I’m telling you… she is perfect for you!”, my best friend Shaun tempted.

“Like I told you a thousand times I’m never dating again…Nelly still has my heart”, I hopelessly said while sipping my bitter beer.

“But Sandra is smart, successful and has a killer body”, Shaun tempted once more.

“Not interested! No one can replace Nelly… no one, so get it through that thick skull of yours!!”, I yelled.

“Look…man I’m sorry, just trying to help”, Shaun said while lowering his head looking at his dozen hot wings like he had lost his appetite.

“I’m sorry too Shaun…I know you are trying to help, but if you knew how deeply I loved Nelly you would understand”, I softly spoke while trying to stomach the bitter beer that was on special.

*************

Another year later……

“Alright…this is the last time I will bug you…scouts honor”, Shaun said while walking on thin ice with me.

“The answer is still no! Nelly was the only one for me and time has not changed that…my heart will never grow stale for her”, I shouted, but trying to be understanding…after all Shaun lived to be the matchmaker.

“Just hear me out, then I will shut up”, Shaun smiled.

“Alright.. go for it”, I surrendered while drinking that bitter beer on special again.

“Do you remember Rhonda?”, Shaun asked while displaying her name like it was on a neon sign.

“Nope”, I honestly replied while taking gulp of my beer.

“What ! You used to talk about her all the time after you met her at that club… you know the one that closed down after they were busted for serving minors”, Shaun filled in.

“There were a lot of girls I met at that club. Quite frankly I don’t recall asking any of their names, I just wanted to get in and get out”, I said while still puzzled over a girl that didn’t leave a enough impression to remember her name.

“Anyway, she heard you were available and she wants to have a drink with you”, Shaun said, thinking he was making progress with me.

“Sorry, not interested and not available”, I quickly responded trying to remind him in a polite way to stop hounding me on dating other women.

“Look she is in town only for a few days, if anything maybe you could at least get you some”, Shaun begged.

“Your single, why don’t you take her out and bang her”, I said.

“There is just no hope with you is there?”, Shaun sighed.

“I’m not over my wife and I never will be”, I said.

*************

Nine months later……

It was almost our three year wedding anniversary so I went to have a drink where Nelly and I first laid eyes on each other, I never was the same after that. I always made fun of love, but secretly was it's biggest fan. So here I am in a room with a couple of dozen people, yet I feel as if I’m in a lonely bubble with a dark cloud over my head waiting for someone to save me…..but the only one who can is gone.

Then time stops as this woman enters the bar. She has a strange magnetism about her and owns the floor she walks on. Everyone in the room reacts. Pretty soon everyone in the room wants her..., it is a sight to see….most entertaining. I watch as the women who were with their husbands or boyfriends bite their lips, twirl their hair and sob in hot desire. I watch as the guys straight or not undress her with their eyes, slowly stand up from their seats and drool over her. This woman does not have an iron grip on me like all the others, I’m still deeply tangled in my loss. I ignore the infatuation and ask the bartender for another drink. Suddenly I feel a chilled draft tickle my neck and tingle down my back like dead hands giving me a shiatsu massage.

“Well aren’t you going to buy me a drink ?”, an oddly high pitch voice asks me.

“No”, I speak.

“Are you sure?”, she asks me like I will miss out if I don't.

“Yes…I’m sure, please leave me alone”, I speak.

“Alright I’ll buy YOU a drink…bartender I would like a Bloody Mary and a Southern Thunder draft for my friend here”, the woman orders.

I sit still, almost wanting to close my eyes. I am not looking at her, I don’t want her influence to pull me in, not today…not ever!

“Nothing you can do will make me want you”, I say while knowing I must look into her eyes and stand up for myself.

“Do you know who I am?” the woman asks.

“I don’t know and I don’t care”, I bluntly speak while refusing the beer the woman bought me.

“I’m a messenger, my name is Acadia”, the woman squeaks with the most pestering voice.

“Good for you”, I smartly say.

She walks in with the frozen breeze bowing to her feet and expecting everyone to kiss her heels. Her hair flows black liquid cashmere which collides into her pale skin. She wears expensive relic jewelry that tries to distract you from her skimpy, white sundress colored with rainbow polka dots. I must say I do not experience the same frenzied attraction as everyone else in the room. I guess she is sort of cute in an annoying, creepy crawly way, but definitely not worth my fuss.

“I don’t think you get it do you?”, Acadia asks like she is trying to get me on board to play in her crazy riddles.

“I think I’m going to leave now”, I speak. I had enough of her twisted flirtation.

I try to leave, but I’m unable to move. My legs are frozen jelly.

“You can’t leave until I give you a message. Now if you play nice you will be able to speak, but if your mean you will have no tongue”, Acadia speaks while snapping her finger.

“You can’t make me want you”, I reinforce.

“Relax, I don’t want you…this message is not about you it is about Nelly”, Acadia hisses.

“You knew Nelly?”, I ask while resting my long arms across the bar counter.

“Correction sweetie, I know Nelly”, Acadia speaks while picking at her bubble gum pink colored finger nails.

“There must be some mistake, Nelly died almost three years ago”, I quiver.

“Yeah…on your wedding night”, Acadia sasses without remorse and almost as if she is blaming her.

“How do you know that?”, I ask fearing the answer.

“Joey…she speaks of you often, it’s nauseating”, Acadia speaks while trying to slurp her Bloody Mary.

“That’s not possible…I just told you she is dead”, I speak while getting a little agitated.

“She’s always been dead Joey…until she met you”, Acadia speaks.

“What!”, I gasp without the strength to make out another word.

“You know Joey…you are special…now I know why Nelly chose you ”, Acadia speaks while gargling up some of the Bloody Mary and spitting it back into the glass.

“Now would be a good time to tell me what the h*ll is going on”, I speak. I am crazed to know more about the impossible.

“Okay…I savor agony, but I promised Nelly that I would take it easy on you. What I’m about to tell you is privileged. Others have been killed knowing this information so I would appreciate a little respect”, Acadia demands in a low voice.

“Just get to Nelly!”, I demand.

“Okay…don’t get your red boxers in a bunch!”, Acadia snaps back.

“How you do know what I’m wearing?”, I ask feeling violated by a sick broad

“Never mind that…back to Nelly”, Acadia speaks.

“Okay…tell me everything”, I mumble.

“When I said she has always been dead until she met you… I should of just said…Nelly is a vampire”, Acadia speaks like she had explained it a thousand times before.

“A vampire ? That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard, not to mention you are dishonoring the memory of my wife”, I rage.

“Let me remind you that I’m the messenger here and if you interrupt me again you will rip out your wicked tongue”, Acadia sharply notes.

“Alright…continue this madness”, I speak in desperation.

“Nelly has been a powerful vampire for over three hundred years. She was a born leader and always put our kind first. That was until she met you. For the first time she fell in love with a human and an old legend came true. The legend states that if a vampire finds true love with a human eventually their heart will beat and bing,bang boom no longer a precious bloodsucker. Nelly wanted forever with you and turning you into one of us was not an option…she was content with the way things were. Which leads me to your wedding night. Shortly after you arrived at the hotel she was summoned and told to make a choice between being human or becoming a vampire again. Nelly chose you, she didn’t want to go back to being a vampire. That is when Orthus, her king…vowed to kill you and your family. Out of love for you and she was bitten by Orthus, thus turning her back into a vampire. It was then explained to her that her human heart would stop beating before sunrise. When her heart stopped, she faked her death as a human and was buried. We then dug her up one night later and she was back to her old self. You see Joey she made an oath to stay away, that is why you have not seen her in almost three years”, Acadia explains.

“So why now ? Why has she sent you?”, I ask feeling like its all a waste of my time.

“Orthus was assassinated by Nelly’s guard, a murder that took almost three years to successfully carry out, so now it is safe for her to come to you”, Acadia justifies.

“If what you say is true, why don’t she just show herself” I speak with an aching heart.

“She will soon once she knows she is not followed”, Acadia states with honest eyes.

“So I’m going to be reunited with my dead wife?”, I ask doubtfully .

“I know you still don’t believe me, but seeing is believing. My job is done…see ya around maybe”, Acadia speaks.

Acadia gingerly walks out of the bar without a peek back at me, she completed her mission and is not needed anymore.

*******

It is four hours later and the bar is nearly closed. Nelly has failed to make her appearance in spite of a promise made by a “vampire messenger”. I feel lowly…a part of me wants to believe, but it’s reality I live by.

“Why would a strange woman make up a lie like that ?” What would she gain ?”, I ask myself.

I’m a battered soul that needs to face the music; Nelly is dead and never coming back. Moving on terrifies me, yet seems logical now…something real…something I need to do even if it kills me. So I head home…ready to put the house up for sale within a month and give the insane permission of my friend Shaun to set me up on a few night caps.

The moonlight is beautiful for the first time and my heart feels a bit more inviting as I approach my car in the empty parking lot.

Suddenly I feel a cool sweet breeze brush against my hair…I turn around and then drop my car keys in shock.

“Hello Joey”, a familiar voice speaks.

“Nel…Nel…”, I stuttered…unable to fully speak her beautiful name.

“It’s okay my love”, Nelly whispers while her cool peppermint hands cup my face.

“Is it really you?”, I ask breathless.

“Yes…it’s only me”, Nelly speaks

I embrace her close to my chest…the same grieving chest that held her dead body against mine in the bed on our honeymoon. I stroke her wavy blonde satin hair and look into her jade fire eyes blended with sapphire blue ice. I taste her frozen fruit lips and realize it is my resurrected bride.

“Are you really a vampire?”, I ask playfully.

“Yes…does that disturb you?”, Nelly asked.

“It's a lot to take in but still I love you”, I confess collapsing to my wobbly knees.

“When I’m with you…is the only time I can be human…it’s what your love does to me”, Nelly tenderly kisses my head.

“It’s true…everything Acadia said is true!”, I laugh in overwhelming joy.

“Acadia visited you?”, Nelly asks with dread.

“Yeah…I got your message…she told me you would come…she told me you were alive!!…”, I cry.

“We have to leave now!!!”, Nelly orders in urgency.

“Why... what’s going on?”, I ask while making my way to my feet.

“Get in the car…I will meet you later”, Nelly orders in urgency once again.

Suddenly a violent hail storm strikes the parking lot and Acadia appears right before us.

“Awe…look at the happy couple…reunited…but not for long”, Acadia roars.

“What’s going on?”, I ask.

“I never sent you a message through Acadia…she is a hit woman and we are her target”, Nelly cries while standing in front of me to shield me from her power.

“Orthus was primal and a bit old school, but he was the only father I had and you conspired against him…his murder is on your hands”, Acadia rages.

“You have to understand I did what was necessary to see my love again…he is what I live for…he is what I died for”, Nelly pleads.

“I will have the pleasure of your agony as I rip Joey into smithereens…I will make it slow so you can taste his dying blood in the air ”, Acadia threatens with black empty eyes.

“Joey…you have to leave…I am weak around you…I will not be able to protect you as long as you stay”, Nelly glooms.

“I will not leave you! This is our fight”, I passionately state.

“Then you have condemned us to death”, Nelly whispers.

“So be it…I won’t let you fall for this”, I stand my ground.

“This is going to be so much fun seeing Joey, a weak human trying to battle against a vampire…it is so cute that you think you have a chance against me”, Acadia chuckles.

Acadia lunges at me with incredible speed but Nelly is there to block her. However strong Nelly is…the truth is I am making her weak, Acadia tosses her aside like rag doll.

Nelly tries to confront Acadia again, but she is in pain. Her right leg is snapped back.

Acadia reaches for my throbbing neck and clutches her hand around my throat and lifts me off the ground effortlessly. I can feel my windpipe succumb to her strength and all Nelly can do is watch hopelessly as Acadia has her way with me.

I stare deep into Acadia’s dark amber eyes filled with vengeance and feel a sharp shock of some sort coming from my throat…I’m thinking she is about to sever my head from my neck, but without warning she releases me.

Acadia takes a few steps backwards and lowers her deadly arms. Nelly is trying to crawl towards me.

“I…I…I love you”, Acadia confesses to me.

I rub my sore throat and say nothing. I do not know what to do. I’m thinking it is a sick joke so I run to Nelly to care for her.

“Didn’t you hear me you fool…I love you!”, Acadia confesses again.

“Get away from me you bit*h!” I snap while looking over Nelly.

“I can’t leave you…I will never leave you…I have never felt this way about anyone…you will love me!”, Acadia demands while standing in place allowing hail to frost her face.

“If you really love me…you will stop trying to kill me and help Nelly”, I say in frustration. I don’t believe her for a second.

As Acadia walks over to us Nelly speaks to me.

“Joey…it is very rare…but I have seen this before. Some humans have the ability to dazzle vampires”, Nelly grunts in pain.

“Dazzle ?” I ask while holding her crippled body against me.

“Mind control…and if you do have it, the most dangerous ability of them all, you can make a vampire fall head over fangs for you instead of making you fall for them”, Nelly explains.

“What should I do?”, I ask aimlessly.

“Be careful…she really believes she is in love with you…try to make her forget about us”, Nelly quickly speaks.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to just tell her to walk in the sunlight so she can burn”, I speak.

“It would be a benefit to us all if she remains alive, just trust me my love”, Nelly sums up just in time.

“Obviously you two have nothing more to talk about, Joey is coming home with me tonight”, Acadia demands while violently tugging on my shirt.

“Easy…I would be most pleased and indebted to you if you can help Nelly in any way”, I carefully say while stroking Acadia’s hand.

“Alright…since I love you so much and will do anything for you…I’ll help her…but afterwards no whining you need to come home with me…I’ve got a hot nibble waiting for you”, Acadia seduces.

Acadia looks over Nelly’s leg and takes a generous bite out of her thigh.

“What are you doing!”, I yell.

Nelly holds her hand up at me signaling everything is as it should be. Suddenly Nelly could move her leg again without much pain.

“I feel much better…I think I can walk now”, Nelly relieves.

“Okay my little human morsel it’s time to say your final goodbyes…after all…tomorrow we will marry and I’ll turn you!”, Acadia perks.

That is all the motivation I need to try to see if I can erase Acadia’s memory, the problem is I don’t know how.

I turned to Acadia and plant a sloppy kiss on her…it made me feel awfully sick to my stomach, but I have to see if it works.

“Okay then lets get this party started now”, Acadia smiles.

“Okay that didn’t work”, I thought to myself.

I am running out of time…I only had seconds until I am kidnapped by a deranged vampire with a love bug for me. Suddenly I feel this strange sharp shock again coming from my head this time, I knew I was warming up.

I gently pulled back Acadia’s messy hair and gazed deeply into her murky love sick eyes and said “Forget all about Nelly and me…we never existed…we never existed I kept repeating to her.

“Sorry honey…but if you are trying to dazzle me it will never……….”, Acadia stalls.

“You were saying…” I stare into her more until I see the recognition fade away.

“Who are you?”, Acadia asks with a blank, fearful look.

“I’m a passer by who saw you just get attacked by some punk…are you okay?”, I ask.

“Yeah… I think so…I just have a monster of a headache…is that woman over there okay?”, Acadia asks while rubbing her temples.

“Yes, she is fine…well be careful walking around alone at night, there are a lot of crazies out there”, I say.

The hail storm left with her and I gathered up my shivering healing bride into the car.

Once we are home I tuck Nelly into bed and make her some hot tea, she is tired… very tired.

“So my love…how do you know you love me…I mean for all you know I could be dazzling you right now”, I tease.

“You have an honest face…but how do you know that I am not the one dazzling you to be in love with me?, Nelly challenges back.

“Either way I don’t care”, I honestly reply.

“One last thing my love before we start over again…”, Nelly remarks.

“What?”, I ask while handing her the tea cup on the saucer.

“How are you going to explain to your family that I’m alive”, Nelly smiles.

“I’ll think of something”, I reply while rubbing my forehead. This is going to be tricky.

THE END…