Book Spotlight: Ally Thomas & “The Vampire from Hell (Part 1) – The Beginning”
As a compliment to yesterday’s Ten Questions, Ally Thomas is back with an excerpt from her book, The Vampire from Hell (Part 1) — The Beginning! Enjoy!
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Prologue
It’s almost sunset and I have decided to stop at a coffee shop and try to get an internet connection on my laptop. No, I don’t drink coffee. I just like the smell of it. I’m more concerned with getting my thoughts written down before I go hunting tonight. I think it’s time the world knows.
To start with, I should tell you that I’m a daughter of Satan, and I’m a vampire. But I’m not your average, run-of-the-mill vampire. It’s kind of complicated. Please don’t let any of that alarm you. I’m on your side.
Currently, Father and I aren’t speaking. Why? He’d soon kill me as to look at me. No, I’m not his favorite child. I’m the one who likes humans, the rebel, the loner, the deserter. And I suspect after I start publishing my story on this blog – what I’m about to tell you now – he’s going to be pissed. And that’s okay. I’m not going to run anymore. I’m tired of being afraid of Lucifer, my father who thinks torture is an acceptable form of motivation. Those days are over. So sit back, relax, and let me tell you about how I became the first, and to my knowledge, the only vampire from Hell.
Chapter 1
The Beginning
As I unlocked my office door, I felt a presence behind me. I turned around slowly. A tall figure emerged from the shadows and I flinched. I cursed myself for the frightened reaction I made.
Gazing down at me with shining gold eyes, my seven-foot hellhound touched my shoulder with his long paw.
Because I couldn’t understand Blick’s low canine mutter, I had grown accustomed to his speaking telepathically to me. On occasion, it allowed us to communicate without others overhearing us. His thoughts leaping into my mind were an extension of my own, and I rarely objected to having them flow through my head.
“Did I scare you?”
“No,” I lied. “I couldn’t sleep, so I wanted to get an early start on those reports.” I entered the office, waiting for him to duck his head in through the opening. To a passerby, it looked as though I was talking to myself in front of my animal companion, but I didn’t care. Blick knew I typically answered him by speaking aloud.
“Thanks again for your help at the processing center last night. Can you get the reports done today?”
“I think so.” I deposited my satchel on the desk and rubbed my shoulder.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No, I reinjured it the other day. It’ll be okay.”
Irritated with my response, Blick grabbed my arm and pulled up the sleeve of my black leather jacket, pointing at fresh bruises.
I winced in pain and stared at the floor.
Gently, he gathered me up in his arms and held me.
I wept, recalling the earlier session with my father. His way of discipline often involved torture. In the organization, Father enjoyed a “hands-on” approach. When anyone did something he disapproved of or he felt he could improve their skills, he’d perform the customary routine. For his daughters, he called it “loving his children.” As demons, he wanted us to be strong and fearless. I was very familiar with the process because, unlike my sister, Stephanie, I rarely did anything right, and to make matters worse, I wasn’t a strong demon.
Blick reminded me with his embrace how he wished to protect me. I knew the beatings were becoming more frequent, but I felt powerless to stop them.
I regained my composure while Blick wiped away my tears and patted me on the head like I was his little pet, instead of his being mine. Having a seven-foot hellhound fussing over me – literally – was wonderful. I was lucky to have him on my side.
When Blick had been a young pup, he had followed me home from the river one day. I kept him hidden from everyone until he started walking upright and grew too big for me to hide. When Father found out I had him, reluctantly he had agreed that I could keep the “mutt” as long as I kept him out of his way.
“Will you be careful, Rayea?” Blick touched his cold, wet nose to mine.
I nodded, giving him a little return bump.
“Promise me if anything happens, you’ll text me, okay? I may not be a demon, but I’m pretty scrappy for a hellhound. I’ll take on your father any day of the week!” Looking down at me, he growled. His shiny white canine teeth sparkled. He retrieved the iPhone from my satchel and shoved it in my jeans pocket.
***
Fan of Mankind
“What are you wearing?”
Startled for the second time today, I whirled around in my ergonomic chair to see Stephanie, standing in the door frame of my office glaring at me. “What do you mean?” I replied.
“Father will kill you if he sees that,” she said.
“Oh?” I asked, opening several more bogus reports on my computer. I continued typing at a feverish pace. The paperwork for the new arrivals had to be all there, even if the new arrivals were not. With Blick’s help, I had been secretly returning humans, suitable for a second chance, to the upper levels of Earth.
“Does your T-shirt say what I think it says?”
I grinned at the computer screen in response to my sister’s comment. I read the slogan aloud, “I’m a fan of mankind.” The shirt did not compliment my black hair or pale skin, nor was it very appropriate for work, but I had chosen it to celebrate my upcoming vacation and the recent rescue mission.
Stephanie was more right than she realized. I was taking a risk, wearing a pro-human shirt and secretly setting humans free from a horrific eternity. I looked away from my work, focusing my attention on Stephanie and returned her glare. “Even in Hell, we need to keep our sense of humor, sis.” I added a hissing ‘S’ sound to the word to mock her speech patterns.
Even though it was relatively warm in our climate, I had brought my black leather jacket to wear over the new T-shirt if I had to leave my office. I wore long sleeves as often as I could to hide the scars and bruises. I hated being reminded of them. I owned many items that irritated my sister, and this one just made her list. It didn’t surprise me that she commented on my shirt, just as it didn’t surprise me that she never asked me about my injuries. Being a passive aggressive sort, I enjoyed offending her.
“I still don’t know why he’s letting you go on vacation. To the upper levels of Earth of all places? I deserve time away from here, not you. I wouldn’t go up there though. I’d pick somewhere more fun like Mars or Neptune. I hear Saturn is beautiful this time of year. Hey, did you get those reports done? They have to be processed today, you know.”
“Yes, I’m almost finished actually.” I hit the Enter key on my computer to submit the last fake report. “There, I’m done,” I said and held up my hands in a victory symbol.
“You’re such an idiot.” She said as she wandered around my office, grimacing at the movie posters lining the walls. “You know, maybe I should tell Father where you got your new shirt, shopping on the internet all the time? These movie posters are ridiculous.”
I kept my cool. I knew Stephanie was looking for a fight. But she wasn’t going to push my buttons today. I was feeling elated with setting another group of humans free and visions of my upcoming vacation. “If you want anything from there, you know I can get it. Everything to do with shipping and distribution comes through me.”
“What would I want from Earth? Come on!” She stormed around my office, waving her hands, her voice shrilled. “Yes, I think I’ll bring Father in here while you’re on vacation and show him your laptop, and iPhone, and your posters, and your books, all of this stupid ‘fan of mankind’ crap. What do you think about that?” She hit each item with emphasis as she pranced around. Then she picked up a vase I had recently bought on eBay. It had the symbol of the sun on it, representing the Egyptian god Ra with a blue background that I imagined was the same color as the oceans on Earth.
“Stephanie,” I warned.
The vase shattered in her hands.
I thought of a four letter word starting with “C.” It stayed lodged in my brain, radiating like a red neon sign in front of my eyes. I bit my lip, so I wouldn’t say it as I watched her continue her rant. I swallowed down the insult. “You’re reaching supersonic levels with that shrieking, sis. You promised you wouldn’t say anything to Father.”
Pointing an accusing finger at me, she said, “As long as you keep processing my paperwork, I won’t. But face it, ‘sis,’” she hissed the word sarcastically. “You’re a daughter of Lucifer, same as me. Learning everything you can about humans, buying their trinkets, it won’t change the fact that you aren’t human. I bet you even pretend to be human on the internet. What is it you play on again? MindLook? Twizzler? It’s pathetic. Father’s not going to put you in charge of his next project if you can’t get on board and play the game. No wonder you have all those cuts and bruises from your training sessions. He wants you to be strong, like me.” Annoyed with the dust clinging to her hands from the broken pottery, she slapped at her pants leg.
“It’s Facebook and Twitter, thank you very much. They’re social networking sites. And no, I don’t pretend to be the Queen of England on any of them. You can’t do that. But you wouldn’t know that, would you?” Realizing I was yelling as well, I paused to steady my anger and continued the debate more calmly. “Father’s ‘projects’ as he calls them, his plans for world domination, are his own. Not mine. You can be in charge of the next one, when and if, he ever comes up with anything, okay? Why he has this fixation on making me ‘stronger,’ I have no idea. I’m not interested in fighting any battles for him!” I raked three thousand dollars worth of smashed pottery into a trash can. Suddenly, my hip vibrated. I retrieved my iPhone from the pocket of my jeans and read the incoming text message, Meet me at the winery R. ~dad.
“Oh no.”
“What, what is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Stephanie replied.
“Father wants me to meet him,” I mumbled.
“Oh really?!”
My office filled with Stephanie’s laughter. I grabbed my black leather jacket.
“I love your range of emotions, sis. From satanic screaming to laughing hyena. Very nice.”
“Don’t get pissy with me just because you have another training session. And don’t call me, ‘sis’ either. Father says we’re sisters, but I don’t think it’s true. Think about it, you big baby. How can we be sisters if we look nothing alike?”
I watched as she stormed off down the hall. Maybe Stephanie was right. We didn’t look anything alike. And we hated each other, pure and simple. Real sisters showed genuine love for one another, compassion, trust, respect. Right? Stephanie didn’t love me. She loved only Father. And sisters didn’t argue, did they? We argued all the time about him, about my purchases, about how well I treated my “mutt” as she too called Blick. We argued about everything.
I decided to not let it bother me. We both were getting what we wanted. Stephanie had grown tired of being in charge of the processing center. The tedious routine of placing the new arrivals and submitting the paperwork was exhausting for her. She wanted a challenge and wished Father would give her one. And I didn’t mind helping her with her job. I had found a way to save some humans, even if it was only a few lost souls who had thought suicide was a better fate than living on Earth. Once they arrived in Hell, they realized they had made a grave miscalculation.
One of these days, I knew Father would approach me when he figured out the perfect scheme for corrupting mankind. That’s why I stayed in my office, giving the impression I was very busy with my job of shipping and distribution, instead of shopping on the internet, chatting with my friends on Facebook, and releasing humans. Because Father and Stephanie didn’t understand technology, they didn’t realize that shipping and distribution wasn’t a full-time job. Once I programmed the paths for what went where, the job pretty much took care of itself.
I had learned a lot about mankind while surfing. I couldn’t help myself. I was drawn to Earth – the people, the landscape, the mystery of it all. I felt a connection. Perhaps I did have human blood in me. I had never known my mother and Father always ignored my questions when I asked about her. So far, my attempts to research online for any information on her had failed.
Before I made my way down the hall, I composed myself for my next “training session” with Father. Stephanie had a great sense of humor, even if she didn’t know it. I listened to my heartbeat and breathed deeply. I thought of my breathing exercises Blick had taught me in an effort to stay calm during the torture. I looked at my blurry reflection in one of the filing cabinets. We had no mirrors anywhere in Hell. Silently I thanked Blick for the martial art techniques he had taught me. I could tell my arms and shoulders were more muscular. For that matter, my whole body was more defined. I hadn’t tested my strength yet, but I knew I was getting stronger. When I sparred with Blick, I imagined I was Sarah Connor in the movie The Terminator, looking toned and ready for action. I sighed. Even though Blick was trying to condition my body more, I knew mentally I still struggled. Standing up to my father wasn’t something I could face yet.
I considered texting Blick. Maybe he was right. Would Father beat me unconscious this time? Would I be worth saving if Blick got to me in time? Was there a way we could escape and leave this place forever? I let out another sigh and placed my iPhone on the desk. It was too late. I’d just have to explain that to Blick later.
As I made my way through the winding maze of halls towards the exit, I thought about how Father acts during these sessions. He’s very positive and optimistic. He talks on and on about his schemes for revenge. He must think the motivational speeches keep me focused. But the pain is what keeps me focused, as long as I can stay in front of it and not let it overwhelm me.
Father hasn’t thought of anything big in the last few thousand years. Usually his schemes are obvious things like accelerating global warming or releasing our colony of fire-breathing dragons onto Earth. Something G would not allow to happen. I don’t know how, but the House of G always knows what’s going on down here. That doesn’t deter Father however. He keeps scheming and plotting his next move. It’s just sad.
I have told Blick many times that the chip Father carries around on his shoulder is really unhealthy. “I realize it sucks to be a fallen angel and not welcomed anymore in the House of G, but get over it. Life goes on.” He’s the only one with whom I can share my opinions about my family. I can’t tell my online friends the whole story. Anyways, we spend most of the time chatting about an actor who plays a vampire in a TV show. It’s a fun distraction to reality. I quickly deflect any personal questions if they come up. My online friends on Earth don’t want to know about my problems.
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About The Vampire from Hell (Part 1) – The Beginning: According to Rayea, the oldest daughter of Satan, the origin of vampires started in Hell, and it started with her. Rayea isn’t daddy’s little girl, even if he is the most powerful fallen angel around. He wants her to take an active role in the family business. But she’s not interested in his schemes for world domination. Instead she wants to spend her time shopping on the Internet, rescuing humans from a horrific eternity, and practicing martial arts with her seven foot hellhound. Then one day everything changes.
You can get your own free copy of this book at Amazon!
