Whatever It Takes

Curing a vampire 101

Photo by Spencer Tamichi on Unsplash

Doing things a little different this week; there’ll be a story every day from now until the 30th to celebrate the arrival of Spooky Month, because in this house we pay tribute to the Great Pumpkin.

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“Next, we’ll try powdered silver.”

Silver was supposed to be a holy metal, repellent to evil. The bane of vile things like werewolves, demons, and yes, vampires. Clara had read that it was even used for mundane purposes like purifying water. It seemed worth a shot to her. She mixed a spoonful of the stuff into a mug full of pork blood, having warmed it up on the stove in order to make it more enticing.

Her freezer was full of tubs of animal blood. Far better than letting Ethan roam about and feed on unsuspecting people.

Going over to the man tied to a chair with belts, chains, bungee cords, and whatever else she could find to bind him with, she held the mug out to him.

“Come on Ethan, drink it. All of it.”

He shook his head, trying to draw away, but it’s hard to go far when you’re bound to a chair. Putting one hand on the back of his head to hold it in place, Clara pressed the mug against his lips until his unnatural thirst took over and he greedily gulped the contents down.

Her lip curled in disgust, but hopefully this would cure him. Hopefully that would be the last time she had to endure such a revolting spectacle. She stepped away and waited for the metal to do its work.

Ethan gagged and choked, trying to claw at his face and throat. Finally he lurched forward, or as far forward as his restraints would allow, and retched, vomiting up all of the silver-infused blood and then some. The room was dim so she couldn’t be sure, but Clara thought there was a tiny bit of smoke coming from his mouth.

That wasn’t important. The only thing that mattered was if it worked.

While he was still reeling, Clara jerked his head back and examined his teeth, noting with disappointment that the fangs were still there. She was so sure that the silver infusion was going to do it. That it would drive the curse out of Ethan and he would be a living, breathing human once more. With a sigh, she let go and set about cleaning up the mess on the floor.

“…Clara, please. This isn’t going to work.”

She didn’t even look up from what she was doing, having heard it all before.

It had been almost two months since Ethan had been turned, and despite Clara’s best efforts his condition wasn’t improving. She wasn’t about to give up though; sooner or later she’d stumble upon what she needed to help him. Then they could both put this terrible time in their life behind them.

He’d nearly fed on her that first night. New vampires were ravenous, feral things and he’d damn near broken down the door to get to her. Words could barely describe the terror she felt. This thing, this monster, had been the man she loved only a few scant hours before.

Whether it was by sheer luck or the grace of God she didn’t know, but Clara managed to subdue Ethan, smashing him in the head with a lamp from the nightstand. She’d dragged him into the guest room and tying him up with whatever she could find. The door and window frames had been smeared in garlic to prevent escape. Crucifixes and images of angels lined the walls.

What had once been the guest bedroom was now a vampire containment cell.

“….Maybe in plain water next time. I’d thought the blood would make it more palatable to you, but that might interfere with the metal’s properties.”

She’d tried so many things. Last week the room had been filled with garlic bulbs and flowers. The smell of the stuff still lingered in the air, even if right now you couldn’t tell for the coppery scent of blood. She’d tried to feed him garlic in blood just the same as she did silver, but all it did was make him feel a bit ill.

Before that it had been roses. Much more pleasant-smelling than the garlic, and supposedly just as able to ward off evil as the silver. Rose oil on his skin and in the blood he fed him. Rose vines entangling him along with the restraints. A thorn had pricked her right through her gloves, and the smell of fresh human blood had driven Ethan into a frenzy. He’d damn well near broken free before she’d pressed a crucifix into his flesh and gotten him under control again.

Lesson learned. No more roses.

One time, in pure desperation Clara had even flung the drapes open and exposed Ethan to the sun. He’d thrashed and screamed, the stench of burning meat filling the room. She’d only stopped when she saw him starting to turn to ash. In a panic she’d drawn all the drapes, pleading with him to hold on, giving him extra blood to help him recover.

“Clara, please. You can’t fix me. Look, just untie me and we’ll find a way to make this work. I can live on the animal blood. It’ll be fine. We can just — -”

“I will not!” she exploded. “I will not live with this! I will not make up lie after lie after lie about what happened to you. I will not put up with the stares when I buy tubs of animal blood every week to quench your disgusting, unnatural thirst! I will not be afraid to invite anyone over for fear of them stumbling upon you in this dungeon I’ve been forced to convert our guest room into! And I will not worry that I’m going to be preyed on by a monster any longer!”

She took a deep breath, steadying herself before she did something she’d regret. There was a crucifix and an array of sharpened stakes in the room just in case of an emergency, and it wouldn’t do for her to use them just because she was angry. A placid smile came over her face and she stroked Ethan’s messy dark hair.

“I’m doing this because I love you, Ethan. Because I need you to get well. You want to get well, don’t you?”

Ethan shook his head, just about the only thing he could do with the restraints holding him and the holy objects lining the walls.

“I can’t ‘get well’, Clara! This…this isn’t something that can be undone!”

“You will. I’m not giving you a choice.”

With that, Clara left the room and shut the door, ignoring Ethan calling after her. Another night spent researching the undead. Another night looking for something, anything, that could restore his humanity. Tomorrow she’d try something else, and the night after that, and after that, and after that until she finally managed to drive the evil out of him.

She’d do whatever it took.

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