The Haunting of Vampire Valley

By Carl Reader

After the final, monumental battle with the vampires and the resurrections of her husband and brother, Maggie awakens one morning with her back propped up against a tree on the side of the mountain with Mabin and Tommy nowhere to be found. She searches for them, and they seem to appear magically, but they soon find they'll have to cope with a terrifying world very different from the one they left before the resurrections. Even though dead, the vampires have come back to haunt the valley and regain their powers, and they have nothing but ill-will for those who caused their deaths. While trying to rebuild their lives, Maggie and Mabin and Tommy fight against the vampire spirits that will do everything they can to destroy those who destroyed them. They build a small cabin in which to begin their lives, but at night out of the mud and slime below there are clawed hands reaching up to capture their souls. Mabin and Tommy have a strange way of disappearing into the sky at night, and poor Maggie is left all alone to deal with the tens of thousands of vampire souls intent on a horrid revenge.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carl Reader
• Release date: Sep 25, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310351099

Carl Reader

Carl Reader trained as a journalist at Temple University and has worked as a reporter, photographer and editor in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Montana. He's published short stories in literary magazines and on the Internet and has self-published a children's Christmas story called THE TWELFTH ELF OF KINDNESS.That book was partially published in Russia under the Sister Cities program. He's also self-published a novella called THE PERSECUTION OF WILLIAM PENN, which has been well-received in several college libraries. He works as a professional photographer and freelance writer.

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The Haunting Of Vampire Valley

By

Carl Reader

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2014 Carl Reader

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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All characters in this novel are purely fictional.

Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is strictly coincidental.

The Haunting Of Vampire Valley

By

Carl Reader

1

Maggie awoke sitting with her back against a pine tree, the warm sun on her face. She had never slept sitting up, but felt as calm and rested as any morning of her life after a long night’s rest. What was strange was that she was alone in the forest, after just getting married. She expected her husband to be by her side, but Mabin was not, and her brother Tommy was no where to be found. The woods were quiet and empty, with sunlight falling in wide white beams between the tall trees. If a pine cone had fallen to the ground at the top of the mountain, she would have heard it here near the bottom. She had no idea where anyone she loved was and called out with faint trepidation.

Mabin? Hello? Tommy? Are you asleep, too?

Not even a bird answered. The sun beams continued to stream down around her and flies buzzed in senseless pirouettes in the uninterrupted columns of light.

Hello?

Buzzing loudly with joy, a fly landed on her nose, and she laughed and swiped at it playfully to drive it away.

Mabin? Hello? Tommy? I guess you’re not here. Is anyone here?

Mabin couldn’t be far away, as she knew he loved her and she loved him and it is not usual for two people with such feelings for each other to be separated for long. He would be by her side again soon, as surely as sunlight would always find the earth, and the earth would always open its arms to the sunlight’s warmth.

She got up and brushed herself off, which was quite a chore. The pine needles stuck to her back and legs as though she had been lying on top of them. Most of them came off easily, but the rest of the forest seemed intent on remaining somewhere on her person. Her shoeless and sockless feet had picked up the soil from the forest floor, while the recent fires that destroyed the town the Victor had smudged her face and arms. She was perhaps the least pristine bride ever. Even her long auburn hair was tangled and knotted, with twigs and debris clinging to it as though she was a mop that had been used to clean the forest. She and Mabin and Tommy had cleaned up this part of the forest, driving out those who would destroy them, but now that their enemies were gone, it was a little too quiet, even for her.

She knew Mabin would find her, but she got up, thinking she should find him first, and surprise him. She was anxious to see him, and pining for him, but happy and fulfilled now that they had finally been married and could begin their life together. She had lost her parents, but she had reclaimed her husband and brother from death.

You must be at home, Maggie said out loud to herself. I guess we don’t have a real home anymore, but you must be where it once was. I remember you saying that’s where I would find you if we were separated. I’ll meet you there.

It was a short walk down the mountain to the burned-out house where she had lived with Elsa and Stephanovich and Tommy, and where she had met Mabin. Almost nothing remained of it. Sudden small gusts of wind lifted the ash into the air and twisted it into whippoorwills and quickly settled down and spread across the earth again. The view across the valley was open, as it must have been hundreds of years ago, for the town had burned to the ground, all of it, and the valley was returning to its pristine state, as nature had made it so long ago. She took in the view for a long time and then spun around slowly to search the valley along its entire length and then take in the view of the mountain above. Everything was as it had been long ago, with nature taking over what had been built over it.

Did you just wake up?

Maggie stopped and stood stock-still, closing her eyes after hearing the voice she longed to hear. Mabin was behind her, and she had no idea of how he had snuck up on her while she was scanning the area for him.

I didn’t see you there, she said, before turning around.

I was watching you sleep, he said. You were so quiet when you slept I thought you might have been sleeping for a hundred years.

Now she let herself turn around and embrace him, without another word.

I couldn’t sleep that long without wanting to wake up and see you, she said, finally. I wouldn’t want to sleep that long.

He said nothing but held her close to him, his breathing in her ear, her head on his shoulder.

Is Tommy here? she asked.

He’s right beside us, Mabin said, sounding surprised. We both were watching you sleep.

When she opened her eyes, she saw they were as marked by the forest and their recent fights as she was. She hadn’t seen either one of them when she spun in a circle looking for them.

Hey, Maggie, you sleep too much, Tommy said to her, with his crooked grin. We’ve got things to do, so I hope you’re awake.

Caked blood smeared their faces. Their clothes were in tatters and their shoes and socks had been torn off their feet during the battle. Still, Mabin could not stop staring at his new wife lovingly, since she had never looked so beautiful, with her innocent gray eyes as wide as a cat’s and her long waving auburn hair lifted by the breeze, despite all the debris it carried. She was the one who had brought him back from the dead, and risked everything to do it, but it had cost her dearly. It had cost all of them dearly, and left these marks on them. Now they found their town wasted and destroyed, every last building burned and everyone killed. Tommy had performed the ceremony marrying Maggie and Mabin at Elsa and Stephanovich’s grave after all that, and then as a honeymoon they sat near the base of St. Mary’s mountain in the bright summer sunshine weeping. They were homeless and alone, blinking in the sunlight. That must have been when Maggie fell asleep.

Mabin reached out and took Maggie’s hand. He kissed it but was still silent.

So what do we do now? Maggie asked, staring into his eyes.

Mabin could not answer as she stared into his eyes, and he seemed too confused to speak. He always had answers for her, and she wished he would come up with them now, and not be so quiet.

Look at it this way, Tommy quickly said, nervously drawing together mounds of pine needles with his bare feet. We’ve got all the time in the world now. It’s only three-hundred-and-sixty-five days until we resurrect mom and dad, and by then we should have everything back to the way it was. I’m going to count every day to make sure I don’t mess up again and bring them back to life too soon.

Maggie? Mabin asked, finally able to talk.

She was staring at the pine needles by Tommy’s feet, mute and unresponsive.

Yes?

Are you all right? You were sleeping for a long time and now you’re staring at the ground. Did you hear what Tommy said? Only –

I heard, I heard.

We have a lot to do.

I just miss mom and dad, Maggie burst out. All of a sudden, I can’t stop thinking about them, and how we were trapped with –

Oh, leave her alone! Tommy yelled at Mabin, flaring up and pushing his shoulder. She’s been crying and sleeping for too long and that’s why her eyes have that look in them. Just leave her alone. She’s not happy about all the bad things that happened to us, and she knows what I said anyway. I promised I’m going to be there to resurrect mom and dad in a year, and I’m going to keep that promise, no matter what.

While still staring at the ground, a small strange smile came to Maggie’s face. She still seemed to be elsewhere, and she could barely remember what she had been thinking a minute ago.

It’s all right, Tommy. I guess all of us have to learn how to live again.

Tommy and Mabin had been brought back to life with Maggie’s help after dying at the vampires’ hands, but in the real world every house and business in Victor had been burned to the ground by Elsa and Stephanovich in retribution for killing their children. There was very little for them to come back to, not even memories, and they clung together, never getting out of sight of one another, back to for safety’s sake. Stunned, the three remaining vampire killers could do little but unconsciously sift silently through the ash and rubble, looking for something that could sustain life without knowing that’s what they were doing. The light summer wind did nothing to lift their leaden spirits. Only the love Maggie and Mabin felt for each other allowed them to feel anything at all.

Mabin raised his eyes to the mountain above.

The trees are left, he said, weakly, avoiding any discussion of what had just transpired, while holding Maggie’s hand. They haven’t burned. As long as there are trees, the Native Americans said life would go on. It will go on for us. I promise you that, and I love you.

It sounded strange for him to say that, and there was a silence until Tommy laughed and spoke up.

Cool. The trees are still her. Cool. We’ll live in tree houses for a year, he said. I never really liked my room in that house of ours anyway. A tree house will be better.

Mabin turned to him with a smile.

That’s not what I had in mind, he responded. As long as there are trees, there is life.

He raised his eyes to the top level of the forest as though staring at the sky and he was strangely silent again.

Mabin?

There are lots of lodge pole pines, he said suddenly, and lodge pole pines have always been used to build log cabins. I was thinking the first thing we need to do is build a cabin.

Maggie stared off into the sky as Mabin did, hoping to see what he did, but for much longer than he did.

So that’s still cool, Tommy said to break the silence. We’ll cut down trees and build a log cabin and live in that. That’s real cool. I always wanted to live in a log cabin. Now I know why we resurrected you, Mabin. You always know what to do.

Maggie still stared into the sky, feeling disconnected from it all, and they waited until she broke off the gaze and looked into Mabin’s eyes and smiled.

So … Mabin said.

Maggie cocked her head to the side and stared into his eyes.

Let’s get to work, Tommy said, and turned away.

The ash of the burned vampires was everywhere. It lay scattered across the ground in a black coating and it coalesced in piles behind rocks away from the wind. Tommy kicked at it as he walked, dragging his feet through it as though playing with it. As soon as a strong breeze kicked up, what remained underneath the ash was exposed. Any whiff of it would gag them, and send them into fits of coughing.

They’re all dead now, Tommy said. Good. I hope they rot, the bastards. We’ve got stuff to do.

Without another word to each other, they lowered their eyes to ground and searched for something, anything, that could help them to rebuild their world. They found nothing useful in the first hours of sifting through the burned debris in silence, nothing that could help them survive. They kicked much of the debris and ash aside, only to find twisted spoons or unburned fragments of fabric or the insides of fried computers. The wind always swirled up again and buried those items once more in the vampire ash but exposed others. Even the asphalt of the streets was transformed by fire, changed to black waves between the undisturbed concrete curbs. Elsa and Stephanovich had been thorough in their killing.

It wasn’t until Tommy playfully jumped onto a large pile of ash that they discovered anything useful.

Hey, Maggie! Mabin! Hey! Look at this! Remember when we used to jump into piles of leaves back east? I’m going to get up and jump into this pile of ashes again. Come of with me! It’ll be fun!

Tommy, I don’t know if you –

It was too late. Tommy, still covered by soot from his first leap into the ashes, flew through the air, hovered over the four-foot pile of smoking debris and then dove down head-first into it.

He immediately screamed out in pain.

Hey! Crap! What the hell was that? he asked, flying up out of it with a bump on his head.

I told you not to –

Wait a minute. I see something, Mabin broke in, flying quickly toward the disturbed pile of burned debris. I saw something glinting in there.

Mabin bent down and dug desperately and soon picked out a blackened chunk of metal and held it aloft for Maggie to see.

What is it?

It still has its edge. It’s an axe head.

Choking on the stench of the ruins, he brushed off the implement and stared at it for a few seconds.

Hey, what about my head? Is that what I hit it on? Tommy asked.

He broke into a coughing fit after his foolish leaps into what remained of their enemies.

That or some other piece of metal. I see more things. These vampires must have burned inside a tool shed.

Mabin tossed the axe head aside and dug with care into the black pile with bare hands. Tommy, thinking better of diving in head-first again, returned to the pile of remains and buried his hands into it, searching for useful things.

Ow!

He quickly withdrew his hands and shook one of them as it bled.

What happened?

Something bit me.

Something bit you?

Yeah, look at that. A thing bit me. Tommy held up his hand, which had a cut at the base of the thumb and was leaking blood that mixed with the black ash to form a thick paste.

It doesn’t look like a bite to me but a cut, Maggie said. Let me see it.

No! I’m telling you, something in there bit me, and I’m not going to let it get away with it. One of those stinking things is still alive in there.

Before Mabin or Maggie could respond, Tommy picked up a thick black branch from a downed tree and clubbed the pile of ash with it. The ash flew up and twisted in the wind, forming whippoorwills that escaped into the forest. Angry, Tommy swung out again at the ash pile that bit him and this time hit something. The branch came to abrupt halt, jarring Tommy throughout his entire body.

Ha! Got you!

The boy pulled out the blackened branch from the pile and with it came something that did have teeth, a five-foot metal two-man saw blade with its handles burned off at both ends. The teeth of the saw were stuck into the branch Tommy wielded in the attempt to kill whatever had bitten him. Suddenly, from deep in the forest a hideous cackling of some strange bird broke out and echoed among the trees. Mabin and Maggie and Tommy froze, remembering all-too-well what had happened in that