Vampiris

By James Donaldson

The Corsair races against the clock to stop an army of the undead!

Nash unwittingly becomes the catalyst in a supernatural, bioterrorism plot to destroy all human life on the planet. What started as a few misguided, infected souls feeding on human blood, soon turns into a national security emergency. With no other options, the 'Corsair' finds himself in a race against time to stop the unholy plague, with nothing less than the future of mankind hanging in the balance!

VAMPIRIS is a fantastical, action adventure . It's “...an awesome vampire thriller with bite!”.

• Language: English
• Publisher: James Donaldson
• Release date: Sep 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463618646

James Donaldson

James Donaldson, independent author and disabled veteran, is realizing his lifelong dream of writing speculative fiction. James’ writing philosophy revolves around “...eldritch styled adventure stories I’d enjoy reading.”James Donaldson is a former police officer and decorated combat veteran. He currently lives in Utah with his family and works in the national security field.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

I can’t believe this is finally happening! Julie exclaimed from the plush, leather passenger seat. This’s everything I’ve ever wanted. It’s a dream come true!

Believe it. The handsome driver replied, the slight smile on his face visible in the glow of the dashboard as he downshifted the high-performance vehicle to accelerate and pass a slower moving truck. All your childhood dreams are about to become true, Julie.

Smiling ear to ear, the slightly overweight, eighteen-year-old High School dropout ran her fingers through her jet black hair. In an almost symbiotic relationship, the man in the driver’s seat next to Julie ran his fingers through his own black hair.

What kind of car is this? Julie asked. It’s nice.

Porsche.

Is it expensive?

The driver laughed and effortlessly took a turn at twice the posted speed limit.

Yes, but it doesn’t matter. Whatever you want after tonight is yours. Price is no object. You’ll never want for anything ever again, Julie.

I feel naked without my cellphone.

Like I told you, you won’t need that ever again. Besides, no phones are allowed in the house. Master’s orders.

We almost there?

The driver slowed and turned up a minor access road leading into the woods. Yes, Julie. We’ve finally arrived at your new home. Prepare to meet your family. My family. Our family. Your new, loving home forever and ever. I can’t wait until you meet them because they’re all dying to meet you. What a glorious night! I’m more excited than you are, I think.

Impossible. Julie pinched her arm in disbelief of her good fortune as the vehicle’s headlights illuminated the dark, narrow road ahead, the pavement completely obscured by dead leaves. Turning one last corner, Julie spied the large, two story mansion.

We’ve arrived.

It’s a dump. Julie inadvertently blurted, observing the boarded-up windows and unkempt appearance of the home in disbelief.

The man turned the sports car off laughing. Don’t be fooled by the exterior of our home, Julie. Looks can be deceiving.

What’s going to happen in there? Julie asked nervously as the man affectionately brushed the back of his hand gently across the younger woman’s cheek.

You’ll meet our father. The head of our family. The Master. The one I told you about. Then, in front of the entire family, he’ll turn you. Make you one of us… with your permission of course. One of the undead. That’s what you want, isn’t it? What you’ve always wanted? To become one of us? To live together in a loving family forever?

Tears ran down Julie’s face, leaving black marks from her heavy mascara. More than anything. I want to be just like you.

You will, my lovely. You will.

Julie bowed her head in shame. Don’t tease me. She whispered after a few moments. I know I’m not pretty.

The unnaturally attractive man lifted Julie’s chin so he could gaze into her green eyes. You will be, Julie. Once you join us, your beauty will be undeniable. The whole world, every other woman, will envy you.

How?

Julie, girls used to run from me, wouldn’t give me the time of day, but look at me now. Look what the Master has done for me.

For reals?

Yes. Once you become one of us, everything changes. Everything. You’ll become more beautiful than you can possibly imagine. You’ll become stronger than you ever have before. More than any other woman. Just wait. In a couple of hours, you’ll become more than human. You’ll be superhuman. A beautiful, superhuman part of a loving family. One of us.

Yeah? Julie perked up. I’ll be pretty?

Forever and ever.

Julie blushed as the man leaned over and kissed her full on her painted black lips. Keeping her eyes closed for several heartbeats after the man pulled his lips away, Julie couldn’t ever remember being kissed so affectionately before. Exiting the car, the man walked over and opened Julie’s door, taking her hand and guiding the young woman toward the front of the home.

No one knows you’re here? The older man inquired for the third time of the night.

No. I ran away months ago. No one even knows I’m in Texas. Julie lied, purposely forgetting the phone call she made last month to her parents telling them she settled somewhere in El Vista and not to worry.

Julie’s gentleman escort smiled as he opened the front door, bowed and allowed the teenage girl to enter first.

As she entered the large two story home, Julie gazed around in amazement. Hundreds of black candles, oddly burning with red flames, illuminated the massive and eloquently furnished main room. The great hall, although extremely dusty, reminded Julie of the ending of a cheesy romantic movie she’d seen somewhere years before. Dozens of people, each more attractive than the last, lined the walls of the main room waiting for her. Everyone on the first floor of the house wore a red ceremonial robe which added a sense of elegance to the bizarre scene. At the top of a grand staircase, lining one of the walls, standing on a balcony overlooking the main foyer, Julie observed an attractive, older man. Standing stoically with his hands resting on the wooden railing, Julie immediately deduced this man must be the Master as he overlooked everything happening below him.

The lesser vampire who’d driven Julie from the Goth bar near the homeless shelter closed the front door behind her, the sound making Julie jump in shock. As the loud noise faded, all the occupants of the house, except the Master, began clapping their hands in congratulations and smiled warmly at Julie.

This’s too good to be true. Julie whispered to herself.

As if on cue, the clapping abruptly stopped, replaced by an eerie silence.

Is this one suitable, my family? The Master intoned from the balcony. His commanding voice vibrated throughout the house and made Julie’s knees weak.

Instead of answering with words, the mass of people gathered on the first floor smiled at Julie, displaying razor-sharp teeth in their wide grins.

Despite being surrounded by dozens of red-robed vampires revealing their fangs, Julie felt at ease. This is why Julie came here and what she’d been searching for her entire life, to become a creature of the night.

The choice has been made! The Master continued upon seeing the elongated fangs of his children. Human! If you desire immortality… If you desire beauty… If you desire to become one of us… If you desire to join our family… If you desire true love… come to me now or forever leave this place never to return! The choice is yours. Make it now.

The Master held out his hand in an invitation for Julie to join him on the second floor balcony at the top of the stairs.

Hesitating for a moment, Julie slowly made her way to the heavily carpeted stairway. As Julie passed the numerous vampires lining the walls, they reached out and lovingly brushed Julie’s shoulders and hair. The Goth obsessed runaway never remembered feeling so included or loved before in her entire life.

Making her way up the creaky staircase toward the Master, Julie savored every step she took. Before reaching the balcony, Julie pinched herself again.

As Julie approached the well-dressed leader of the small vampire community, the Master took Julie’s hand and guided her to stand next to his side, facing the crowd gathered directly below them.

My children. The Master addressed the smiling faces, looking up longingly at him and Julie on the balcony. I promised you another willing girl, only recently having become a woman, and again, I have provided what I’ve promised. I am your Master and you are my children.

After speaking, the Master turned toward Julie, his gaze so powerful Julie had to avert her eyes and focus on the Master’s exotic clothing instead of the face of the unnaturally charismatic man holding her hand.

Are you ready, my dear?

Yes, Master. Julie answered, at last building the courage to meet the Master’s mesmerizing gaze.

I promised you beauty, love and immortality if you joined me. Do you remember, my child?

Julie closed her eyes, tilted her head back and smiled the widest smile of her young life, waiting for the Master to bestow his supernatural gift upon her. Yes. I remember.

The mysterious man Julie knew only as the Master leaned forward and whispered directly in Julie’s ear. I lied.

Julie’s smile vanished and an expression of confusion assumed its place as the vampire leader savagely ripped out the girl’s throat. Blood gushed high into the air from Julie’s mortal wound and flowed down onto the railing, over the balcony and poured onto the upturned faces of the hungry crowd of undead creatures waiting below.

As the life drained out of the young woman, the Master held Julie’s torn throat up and, as one would with a sponge, squeezed the blood out of Julie’s ripped flesh into his open mouth. Below him, the dozens of fanged creatures fervently lapped up the freshly spilled blood cascading on them from above.

Casually, the Master pushed Julie Patterson’s dead carcass over the railing of the balcony where it fell to the first floor with a thump.

Reminiscent of a shark feeding frenzy, the unholy denizens of the house used their razor-sharp teeth and nails to rip Julie’s dead body to shreds. Savagely, the creatures ate and licked every drop of the girl’s spilled blood from her body, and from the floor, before it grew cold and coagulated.

Wiping the warm, red blood from his chin and smiling for the first time of the night, the Master satisfyingly observed the ghastly orgy of his children feeding for a few moments. With Julie’s bloody throat still in his hands, the Master turned and strolled down the hallway, into his bedroom, where he knew his two, hand-picked, undead concubines willingly waited for him.

Slamming the bedroom door closed as the vampires ravenously devoured the last remnants of the night’s naive victim’s flesh on the floor below him, the Master smiled wickedly at the pair of female vampires lounging seductively on his bed.

I

COVEN

ONE

Damn vampires!

I hated this place. Designed almost precisely the same as every other Goth bar in El Vista, the overly dark dance club played the crappiest music, served the weirdest drinks, most combined with a ridiculous amount of tomato juice, and of course, to cater to their pretend vampire clientele, didn’t hang any mirrors or other reflective surfaces anywhere.

I regretted the lack of mirrors. Not because I wanted to look at myself all night the way the overly vain patrons of this gothic themed establishment would, but because mirrors made it easier for me to scan the bar discretely as I sat and waited.

Staring at the floor of the bar, as the bass heavy music thumped rhythmically out of hidden speakers, my mind drifted to about a month earlier when I reluctantly began the vampire hunting business. Although I didn’t consider the job a long-term career change, I fell backward into it nevertheless.

As usual, I didn’t have a choice.

It began innocently enough with a promise to Julie Patterson’s family, a friend of a friend, to find out what happened to their runaway daughter. I never imagined where the investigation would lead me and certainly never imagined I’d end up hunting down and destroying actual vampires. Especially because I didn’t believe in the paranormal monsters made famous by the movie industry. However, I quickly became a believer the first time I came face to face with one of the creatures as it tried to feed off me.

In the first couple of attempts at killing vampires, I hunted individual bloodsuckers one by one before changing my tactics. After I realized the undead monsters secretly feeding off the underbelly of the city of El Vista didn’t stalk their human victims individually as I’d assumed, but instead as part of a larger collective, or hive, I altered my strategy. Now, instead of tracking and killing individual vampires, I’m hunting for their nest, or whatever one calls a group of vampires. Essentially, I changed my tactics from hunting and stopping the individual vampire soldiers to trying to locate the main vampire base of operations.

Even if it’s the last thing I ever do, I had to destroy these things once and for all. I discovered them, they’re now my problem and I needed to stop them.

Unfortunately, this new, self-imposed mission set consisted of me hanging out in rundown bars and clubs full of Goth fanatical patrons and other young adults still rebelling against their parents, night after night. Inside the dark taverns catering to a unique and very selective client base, I waited and scanned the crowd for an actual vampire the only way I knew how.

By watching the shadows on the floor.

During my first vampire encounters and subsequent slayings, I discovered something I never learned from the movies. I realized those ordinary people turned into the undead creatures of the night, cursed to feed off the blood of the living, don’t cast a shadow of any sort. Why they didn’t cast a shadow, I don’t know, and to be honest, don’t care, but my newfound knowledge of the limitations and capabilities of vampires allowed me to discern the real undead vermin from those pretending to be.

As my mind wandered, watching the shadows move over the dance floor, searching for a body which didn’t cast a shadow, I failed to notice the pair of men approaching my table until they had me at a tactical disadvantage.

You don’t belong here.

It’s time for you to depart this unholy den.

Great. Here we go again.

You need to leave.

Finish your drink and vacate the premises, mortal.

Mortal? Unholy den? Are you two serious?

Slowly glancing up from the floor of the bar to the two twenty-somethings intruding on my personal space, dressed as if they were attending a funeral in Transylvania instead of drinking Bloody Mary’s in a crappy bar in Texas, I immediately assessed the possible threat they posed.

Before I raised my eyes, I first verified both of the men cast shadows on the ground. With this knowledge, I immediately deduced I faced a human foe instead of an undead one. Each of the men threatening me stood six inches taller than me, with a slightly longer reach, but I outweighed each of the malnourished adults by at least thirty pounds. Finally, although it didn’t aid my tactical assessment, I noticed each of the males wore thick mascara around their eyes.

This is going to be too easy.

Too scared to speak? The first wannabe vampire taunted.

Maybe he likes you. The other one teased.

Quickly landing on a course of action, one consisting of avoiding a confrontation so I could return to vampire hunting, I answered the dark-dressed duo. I’m not looking for any trouble, guys.

Well, you came to the wrong place, sunlight lover.

Yeah, big mistake.

What the hell are you doing here?

I’m on a stakeout. I joked silently, amusing myself with the vampire killing, wooden stake pun.

Who the hell’re you? You’re not one of us. So who are you? The first man asked after a few moments of silence.

I’m a reporter. I lied, silently chastising myself for not developing a cover story in advance.

Huh?

So?

Doing a little investigating, getting a feel of the mood of the city. You know? Human interest type stuff. I explained. I’m not looking for trouble.

What paper? The smarter of the two unnaturally pale men asked.

Damn it! Good question.

Freelance. I quickly answered. I’m a freelance reporter.

That changes nothing. The second man replied. You still don’t belong here. This bar is for our kind, not yours.

Believe me, I don’t want to be here any longer than you want me here, freak.

I’d love to interview you two. I blurted out, immediately regretting my words as I spoke them. I needed these guys to leave, not talk with me even longer.

What kind of story are you writing? Something about the Goth subculture and its impact on the productivity of today’s youth? The first man asked, his intelligence and education slipping out.

What?

Pondering the question, I answered the pair. My story is about all the weird, unsolved murders and unexplained disappearances in El Vista over the last two years. I answered. You know, how regular people are pointing their fingers at those different from them out of fear. Like I said, a human interest piece.

We’re not human. The first man explained, actually believing the words as he spoke them.

This clown can’t be serious?

Well, let me tell you something, Mister Fancy Reporter… The second man, wearing a long, black cape began as he leaned forward on my table. Me and my kind don’t appreciate…

There!

As the second of the two antisocial, pretend vampires explained his disdain for the general population, I located a real vampire at last! Across the bar, I spied a particularly