A Vampyre's Sunrise, Jeff Schanz [best summer books .txt] 📗

"A Vampyre's Sunrise" by Jeff Schanz **Sample Only**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sequel to

A Vampyre’s Daughter

 

 

 

 

A novel by Jeff Schanz

Copyright © 2020 Jeff Schanz

All rights reserved

 

**7 CHAPTER SAMPLE ONLY**

NOT FOR RETAIL

 

CHAPTER 1

 

 

 

 

Brandt’s fingertips hovered above the laptop keyboard, close enough and long enough for the plastic surface to be warm. The word “Vincent” was the sole occupant of the glaring white screen. He stared at the screen, then the keyboard, then the screen, then shook his head at his timidity. Or was it just plain fear? Taking a deep breath, he finally tapped at the keys.

 

 

 

Vincent,

Hey, lil bro. I know we just talked on the phone two weeks ago, but there’s something important I’ve been putting off telling you. When you read it, you might think I should be in an asylum, so that’s why I’ve been avoiding it.

Last time we talked I told you about Lia and how amazing she is, and how much I love her. We want to get married – I guess I told you that too. I know, I’m stalling. I also told you I was happy and everything was fine, and I meant it, but there are some complications. There’s stuff that nobody else on earth knows but myself and Lia, mainly because it’s extremely hard to believe, incredibly awkward to discuss, and dangerous to Lia if people knew, so we’ve kept it secret. Even from you. But my future wife will be a part of this family, tiny as it is, and family shouldn’t keep these kinds of secrets from each other. It’s a long story, and it’ll probably sound insane, so bear with me. I swear what I’m going to tell you is the absolute truth. So, here goes.

When I disappeared a couple months ago, I made a crazy plan to ram a boat full of explosives into the yacht of an opium kingpin called The Russian. I’ve told you about him. It was his men that murdered my whole Army squad, and it’s his operation I’ve been sabotaging ever since I got out of the service. He’s also the one who sent guys after you, and why you had to move to Canada for your safety. My plan was a suicide mission, a boat with explosives to blow a hole in his yacht, to end his life and mine at the same time. You know how messed up my head was about how The Russian tortured, killed, and mutilated everyone in my squad, and how God stuck me with being the sole survivor. I was pissed at God and didn’t think I deserved to live. Maybe I’m blowing your mind right now about being suicidal, but that’s not even the hard-to-believe part. Let’s just say I’m all better now and get back to the story. My plan backfired, I never got to the yacht, my boat blew up anyway, but I stayed alive. Again. Two people rescued me and brought me to a remote island on the far edge of the California waters. Things improve from there – sort of. But they also get weirder.

The two benefactors who saved me were an elderly Russian aristocrat, Viktor Zakharyin, and his daughter, Natalia, who were the sole residents (and owners) of the island. I called Natalia, “Lia,” and it stuck. She nursed me back to health and gave me a new reason for living. Vincent, she’s the most incredible woman I have ever met, and she actually, truly loves me. I stopped trying to figure out why and I just accept it now. That’s the good part of the story. The bad part is coming up.

It turns out the man I had been trying to sabotage and kill, The Russian, happened to be the same guy who murdered Lia’s entire family in Russia (only she and her father escaped) and was still hunting her, which was why they were hiding way out on that island. So, once I show up, The Russian finds out all his prime targets were on the same island, and he came after us. I had to kill a lot of men. A lot. The casualties were mostly on The Russian’s side, but Lia’s father sacrificed his life for us. Long story short, we managed to kill The Russian and turn over his yacht to the Coast Guard, and we were finally safe from him. You too. But Lia lost the only family she had left, and the only other soul she knew for… well, a really long time. She had no one else but me, and hadn’t left the island in... well, also a really long time.

I say a really long time, but that’s a dodge. I guess I need to stop stalling and tell you exactly how long. Lia had been on that island almost 100 years.

No, it’s not a typo, and I haven’t been drinking… today. Yet. Let me be clear: Lia is 121 years old. Technically, I guess that means she’s a cougar robbing the cradle with me. Sorry, you know bad jokes are my coping mechanism. I know what you’re thinking right now, and you’d be wrong. Lia isn’t a decrepit old hag. She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on, and I swear she looks like she’s 21 rather than 100 years older. Yeah, I know… bullshit. Well, here’s more bullshit. The reason Lia looks so young, despite her age, is because she’s a vampyre.

There, I said it. Yup. Not a typo, and not a joke. Lia is a vampyre.

I’ll wait for you to read that sentence a couple of times.

Ok, now that you’re shaking your head and questioning my sanity, let me explain. She has what she calls the “affliction” of vampyrism, which is all about how this viral-type stuff takes over your system and turns you into something beyond human limits. She’s written a book on the subject that would be helpful for you to read. It explains it way better than I can, but I’ll try. Being a vampyre isn’t like the movies, or old myths, although, there is some truth to some of those myths. Like, Lia can’t go out into the sun for long. The sun’s radiation burns her skin like bathing in Uranium, and she will die from it. She has ways to avoid it, like clothing that completely covers her, and UV protection on our windows, etc., but we always have to be very cautious. Another of those old truths is that she does need to drink blood. But not human blood. Lia feeds from our farm animals, and it doesn’t harm them. All vampyres need blood, but it’s entirely up to the individual what kind of blood. Basically, bad vampyres suck human blood and good ones don’t. Lia is a good one.

She is also a Living vampyre. Not undead, or even close to dead. She’s as alive and healthy as either one of us. Healthier actually. Vampyre systems are more efficient, constantly healing their bodies, so they live extra-long lives. Not immortal though. That’s a myth. Anyway, there’s two types of vampyre: the living ones and the undead ones. Lia’s father was an undead one. Basically, a reanimated corpse, but with superpowers. The corpse body is frail, but it can project this kind of material hologram that is more powerful than anything I’ve ever seen. Viktor liked to appear as a Man-Bat, freaking scary as shit, and could wipe out a squad of trained soldiers in seconds. But he’s gone forever now. The Russian, aka a guy named Mikhail, was also coincidentally an Undead vampyre, but we destroyed him and melted him into sludge. I think I’m losing focus here, but I wanted to explain that Undead vampyres are the ones that can project themselves to look like giant bats and other creatures, can fly, and can be invisible to mirrors, etc. Living vampyres can’t. Except for Lia. She can do some of that, but she’s different. This sounds confusing even to myself, so I’ll stop trying to explain that part. Anyway, Lia’s pretty much a normal, sweet girl who has a severe sun allergy and a unique diet. You still with me so far?

Her father left her a lot of money from his days of aristocracy so we were able to buy a nice ranch property in Ventura, and we’re happy there. She was scared to leave the island, and we still haven’t moved everything from there yet, but it’s in process. I don’t know when we’re going to be officially married (technically, I haven’t even asked her yet – it’s just sort of assumed) but I’d guess we’ll do it soon after everything gets moved here. But I want you to come down and meet her when you can get the time off. You can stay with us as long as you like, we’ve got plenty of space. If possible, bring your wife. I’d love for her to meet Lia too. Even though Lia is a vampyre, she’ll seem just as normal as anyone, and you’ll both love her too. She is my life. I would die for her, kill for her, and she for me. My life is the best it’s ever been.

You might be wondering if I've lost my marbles, or I was concussed too much from the boat explosion, but I swear I'm telling you the God's honest truth. Hopefully, it's obvious why I waited so long to tell you because it sounds so insane. Hey, if I didn't live it, I sure as hell wouldn't believe it. If you told me it happened to you, I’d be skeptical. So I get it if you are.

The best thing is to just meet Lia for yourself. Even then, you might not believe it.

This has got to be the lamest letter I’ve ever tried to write. And maybe pointless since I’ll probably chicken out and never send it.

 

 

 

Brandt lifted his hands from the computer keyboard and dropped his face into his palms, exasperated. His brother needed to be told the truth, but this probably wasn’t the way to do it. How the hell do you tell someone your girlfriend is really a vampyre? This email was pathetically inadequate. Texting would be far worse. Phone call, no better. Video message? Awkward. Even in person, how do you say, “See that sweet girl over there talking to your wife? Guess what? She’s really a blood-sucking vampyre. Seriously, no bullshit. Want another beer?”

Brandt spent another minute trying to invent the courage to hit “send,” but all he accomplished was kneading his face with his fingertips while the glowing screen continued to mock him. The words hadn’t magically rearranged themselves into a more suitable fashion despite his brain willing them to. There had to be a better way. He shut the laptop and sat back in his chair, sighing.

He was petrified to tell anyone about Lia, and she was just as petrified for anyone to know. She and her father had been hunted and persecuted all their lives for the misconceptions of what they were. And if the wrong people found out, Lia might become a victim of any number of things: hate crimes, imprisonment, government interference, or even medical experimentation. Or just maybe some relative of Mikhail, aka The Russian, aka an opium emperor with exorbitant amounts of money, power, and global connections, might seek Lia out for revenge, or want to make more of Mikhail’s super-power elixir that requires vampyre blood. It was best to keep a low profile. But if you couldn’t trust your own brother, who could you trust?

Vincent and Brandt Dekker were all each other had after their father died of cancer in their teens. Their mother, who had