Tales of the Parodyverse

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ag
Fri Sep 03, 2004 at 07:09:57 pm EDT
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Roland and Annabelle, part 3
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The year is 1812. My country is at war. This fact is of no concern to me however because I am a vampire and for me it’s a very different world.
It had been thirty years since I turned by beloved children into the un-dead. Now I know I was not the father of their bodies. I did not help in bringing them life. But I am the father of their death-lives. We’ve bonded and drawn closer then anything I’ve ever experienced since my mortal wife’s death from disease eighty-two years ago.
As my inheritance was long since depleted the children offered to create artwork or play little evening concerts for the mortals to earn money. Needless to say they were a smashing success.
Although the opportunity presented itself many times to feast upon the mortals we did not.
I noticed the children have become restless. I knew this was going to happen eventually, so I revealed something to the children they never knew they could do. See, in the thirty years they’ve been with me I’ve tried to get them used to their new lives as vampires. They’ve become well accustomed to their enhanced night senses, their speed, stamina and their strength, and after a little while I taught them to communicate with the bats, wolves and other animals of the night. My beloved little Annabelle loved talking and playing with the animals. My beloved little Roland loved running and hunting with them.
Then I decided it was time to show them what else they could do.
“REALLY? I can become an animal?” Roland enthused.
“What fun father!” Annabelle beamed.
I taught them that night how to become a bat.
It was very humorous to watch as the children would become half mortal shape and half bat.
“TEE-HEE-HEE! Brother! You look so silly! Your ears are big!”
“Don’t laugh at me my sister! I’m trying as hard as I can!”
Then after they got their transformations down I taught them to fly.
WACK!
Roland’s little bat form slid down the side of the house. When he returned to his normal form is bleeding broken nose was already healing.
“TEE-HEE-HEE! Will you EVER learn to fly like me dear brother?” Annabelle giggled while flying in circles.
“I’ll get it sister! Just you wait! In fact I’ll get so good I’ll catch every rat we chase!”
That was when I felt him. He was there, in the shadow of the woods, watching us. I knew he’d eventually come. I had moved us twenty years ago from Boston to the outskirts of GothemMetropolis York. I knew the Ghouls there very well. Our friendship went back as long as I’ve been a vampire. I knew my beloved ones would be safe there. But still he came. And now I was to confront him.
“Children, transformation practice time is over for the night.”
“Awwwwww.”
“It’s time to return to the house and practice your music.”
“But father…” Roland complained, “…we’re masters of all the instruments! There isn’t anything we cannot play by ear. Why do we need to still practice?”
Annabelle responded after changing back to normal in a cloud of smoke, “Brother we always have to practice! How can we keep our skills unless we practice them?”
“Easy for YOU to say Annabelle. You’re excellent at everything!”
“No brother, not everything.”
As she gazes towards the woods I knew she meant her fear. She has all this power yet she’s still a frightened girl.
After they went inside I moved with the incredible speed that is second nature to any of us to the edge of the woods. He just stood there waiting.
“Leave. Now. I WILL NOT have you hurting them.”
He chuckled to himself. “Ah Anthony, I wonder how you came upon two amazing children?”
“Go.”
“And be rude to my old hunting partner? Have I ever been thus? You’re like a brother to me dear Anthony. Even since I turned you we’ve shared a close relationship. We’re brothers.”
“You are NOT my brother. I was an only child. You attacked me all those years ago and turned me into this against my will! THAT’S why I followed you to your native country. THAT’S why I tried to kill you and your followers. And THAT’S why I’ll keep my beloved children from your wicked ways!”
“HAHAHA! Oh Anthony, such the dramatic one! I missed your spirit! You TRIED to kill us but you failed. You returned to your precious America with your tail between your legs and hid here ever since. And while I was engaged in other more productive things you were... haha… you were doing the ONE thing you swore you’d never do!”
“Leave my home. I’m warning you!”
“You killed them Anthony! You killed those children! You fed on another mortal, just like I said you would. And it’s not enough that you fed on any mortal, you picked helpless children. Knowing you and your love for mortals you must’ve decided to turn them. And then after you turned them you actually had the audacity to become their father! Oh ho! What fun! I’ve seen you kill before Anthony. I’ve killed right beside you. But you swore you were going to turn your back on it! ‘I’ll STARVE before I kill another mortal!’ you said. And what do you do? What did you do my soft hearted friend?”
“Be silent!”
“You kill a couple of mortal urchins and make them your own. HAHAH..”
I was so fast and fierce he wasn’t prepared. I attacked him, knocked him to the ground and slashed at him with my now enlarged claws. Of course I was extremely out of practice and he was the lord of the vampires so he easily threw me off.
He then just lied there on the ground and smirked at me.
He said, “So. You DO love them. And you’ll break every rule and do anything to protect them I’ll wager. Fine then, my ‘brother’. We’ll see just WHAT you’ll do. After all, they’ll stay young forever, wont they? I’ll just bet they wont like THAT revelation.”
With that he disappeared.
And for the first time in years I was very afraid, not for myself, but my young ones.

The next night we were finished feeding on the livestock I keep and I had decided to have us stay at home and read. I was making preparations for us to leave.
The children were thirty and twenty-six inside while still physically ten and six. They seemed far older then either age however and no longer needed teachers. So I purchased books of every subject, fiction and non-fiction.
We never discussed their age but just to look into their eyes you could tell they were no longer children.
“Father,” Annabelle began, putting her book down, “Will I ever grow up?”
I was shocked at the suddenness of the question. Roland immediately stopped painting and listened intently.
“Why do you ask Annabelle?”
“In all these books I’ve read the children grow to adults. Out there, in the city, they grow. I’ve seen countless women pass by; they’re all beautiful as adults. I want to be grown too. When will childhood end?”
I knew this day would come but I had hoped it never would. “I should have told you this before but I’m sorry to say I held off. You are eternal children. You will never grow physically.”
“Never?” she asked, tears in her adult yet little eyes.
“NO!” Roland jumped up, furious. Annabelle just sat there, filled with thought.
The boy continued, “IT’S NOT FAIR FATHER! I’m tired of being a little boy! I never asked for this life! We don’t deserve THIS!” he gestures to his little body. As he shouts he grabs his painting. That’s when I saw what it was. It was a portrait of a man and a woman embraced in a passionate kiss. It was beautifully done. Clearly created by the hand of an expert. He punched a hole in it and ripped the canvas apart with his bare hands, “IT’S WRONG! We should be aloud to grow up! You’re immortal! Why couldn’t you have waited eight or ten years to turn us into this?”
“You would’ve died that night. I did what I was asked.”
“BY HER?” He pointed at Annabelle and she jumped. “She was SIX! She didn’t know better!”
“I knew you were dieing. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“So you chose for us? FOR ME? I Don’t WANT to be a vampire anymore! I want to be human! The mortals can age, they can grow up! Why cant I have that? Why cant she have that?” he turned to his sister who at this time was in my arms, frightened. I knew she had felt the same thing but she’d always been more accepting of her fate.
“Annabelle you cant be alright with this! You’ll never grow older! Never marry, never have children of your own!”
She looked at her tiny feet and whispered, “I want it too Roland but this is the way we are.”
He storms out of the room, “Maybe YOU can accept this but I cant!”
He storms back into the room with a large knife. I stumbled forward to stop him but he stabbed the metal knife into his heart. He then pulled it out but even as he did the deep cut healed right up. “NOOOO!” he screamed in rage before dropping the knife to the floor.
Annabelle bolted over to him and held him close as he knelt there, sobbing. She was sobbing too. “It’s alright Roland. It’s alright. We’re still a family. We’ll forever belong to him, be his children, and he’ll forever belong to us, our father. He’s a good man. He’s always helped us, taken care of us. We may always be children on the outside but we’ll also always be a family! There are advantages to eternal youth. Our family will live forever together! We’ll find a way to look past this, you’ll see. We’ll make this work.”
“But it’s not what I want. I don’t WANT eternal youth anymore! I’m sick of toys and games. I want to be an adult! It’s his fault Annabelle! He did this to us! I don’t want to live here anymore… with HIM!”
His words stung me. I knew he loved me deeply like a father, but his anger was so great.
“Hush my beloved brother. He’s our father and we love him.”
“I… I cant do this anymore Annabelle. I need to find my own way.” he pulled away from her pleading arms and headed for the window. He crouched upon the desk in front of it and looked back. We moved closer.
“Where will you go brother? What will you do?”
“I don’t know but I MUST go.” And with that he kicked the window open and flew off into the night.
We both screamed his name as we followed outside but he was gone.
So we did just what any family would do, we went out into the night to search for him.



A couple is lost in each other in their moon lit stroll. So in love were they that they were not aware of the red eyes watching them from on top a nine foot brick wall.
The little ten year old form of Roland watched the couple while deep in thought, “Why? Why can’t I have that? He should’ve just let me die.”
“You don’t really want that little boy.” A dark thought responded in his mind.
Roland’s young looking head snapped around, “Who said that?”
A man dressed in black with a cloak that blended into the night descended onto the wall. He sat down beside Roland. He clearly had the fangs and lack of face color of a vampire.
“You’re one of us! You’re just like my father, Anthony Forsight!”
The man had a demeanor of someone used to getting his way. He was like a predator. “No child, I am nothing like your ‘father’. He is weak and spineless. He could never teach you children about how to be a true vampire.”
Roland looks back at the couple locked in their embrace and replies, “My father is a good man. He loves us and doesn’t want us to be hurt.”
“True, yet he must’ve turned you when you were very young. You look ten years of mortal age yet you’re demeanor, the callous on your hands that show the marking of a seasoned artist and most of all your adult eyes that show your adult soul all profess you to be older. Not as old as me, but older then your appearance nonetheless.”
Roland closed his eyes in frustration.
“You’ll grow inside with experience but never in looks. Others will look upon you as a freak of nature. And Anthony did this to you. Heh. Once again his love of mortals does him wrong. When we hunted together almost a hundred years ago I tried to get him to see things differently but you know dear Anthony, always caring too much for his food.”
Roland didn’t defend his father’s name this time. He was too mad about his curse to live forever as a child. So instead he replied on the other point touched on by the stranger, “You know my father? You’re his friend?”
“We go way back little one. That is why I’m here. I’ve been watching you and I can see you’re in pain. Come with me. Let me teach you, show you the way of things. It’s true you have a little body but it’s still the powerful body of an immortal creature of the night. You have the full strength, speed and talents of a full grown vampire. You should use those skills and abilities to their utmost! Let me train you! Who better to guide you then the man who was like a brother to your ‘father’? That makes me your uncle. We are then, after all, family. Follow me.”
Roland thought for a moment then decided it was the best offer open to him. “Alright. I’ll follow you. But what’s you’re name?”
“My name little one, is Dracu.”



By the time we returned to the house it was a half hour before sun rise. We were not successful and our hearts were frantic. We knew we couldn’t search any longer and had hoped he would be in the darkened basement waiting for us.
He was not.
There was however a note on his empty little coffin.

Dear Brother,
I have your ‘son’.
He has agreed to come live
with me in the old country.

Best Wishes
Dracu, your brother in blood.

“Father, who’s Dracu? You have a brother?
“No my beloved Annabelle I do not. Prince Dracu turned me into what I am now 92 years ago. He did not offer me the choice I offered you. I tried to live my new death-life but never truly accepted the horrific aspects of it. He has been my bitter enemy for a very long time.”
I went on to explain to my sweet daughter all the details of my past life before they came into it. Within the darkness of the basement we were up all the day talking of Dracu and what he is.
“I’m sorry I never told you or your brother about him sooner. I didn’t want to scare you. I didn’t want you to know the evil that’s out there.”
She came to me and held me tight as an adult offspring might hold an aging parent, “My father. My beloved father. You are all I have in this world. I could never be upset with you. Roland loves you just as much. We’ll find him if we have to travel the world.”

We made preparation right away. We were off to explore first Dracu’s castle in Europe and if unsuccessful the world. We would search for my beloved Roland no matter how long it would take or where it took us.
As my precious Annabelle said, “After all my father, we are immortal. We can search forever!”

To be continued.



Blood notes:

Where did this all come from? Let me tell you a little story.
Saturday night I was passing through the satellite guide on my TV screen and found that one of the channels was showing Interview With A Vampire.
Now back in ’94 I passed on this movie at the minor disappointment of my friend Willard (Wiblk here) because I had no interest in gay vampires goofing around. I STILL don’t like gay vampires goofing around but I turned it on anyway.
I came in at the scene where Luis and Claudia were discussing these birds and Lestat came in trying to kill her. I watched Luis get them safely away and realized this looked like a pretty good movie.
So I said to my wife, “This looks really good.” And she replies “Well it’s an hour till midnight and Hollywood Video is still open. Go get it.”
So I did. She didn’t want to watch it and went to bed. I stayed up from 12 to 2am watching the movie, then an hour for the making of it. I didn’t like the Lestat’s treatment of people or the screaming naked women, but when Claudia came onto the scene I must confess I was entranced. The reason? Well as a father of a silly little monster loving girl, I felt for Luis. And her character, played by Kristin Dunst, was just wonderful (well, if you ignore the whole thing about her love feelings for her dad… ugh!). And even though Claudia was quite evil I really think she was just a product of her environment. That’s why she reacted so badly later.
So then she finally gets the mother she wants and those stupid Paris vampires go and kill them both. Is THAT fair? As a father I had a hard time getting it out of my head. I mean my little ones crawl in my bed too, and make me laugh and feel proud and all that. So if anyone of them were captured and killed I’d go insane.
Now don’t get me wrong, I realize that Anne Rice wrote the book as a sort of therapy for the loss of her daughter, so it had it’s purpose, but still, it was hard to see them die and he couldn’t do squat. And this Armand guy whom everyone I talk to liked, he just lets it happen. Stupid. I mean if Claudia, as a character, had to die why the heck did Lestat, who was far more evil and got away with horrible atrocities, get to live?
So it inspirered me to do this story. I hope I dont seem crazy to you guys.
I figured this is the Parodyverse, where anything gets touched and shifted to fit our warped brains. I could bring Claudia into the Parodyverse, but not the one who gladly killed and wanted to lover her ‘dad’ in more ways then normal, but write one that took a different angle at the whole vampire-children concept. A Claudia who was changed so much she no longer WAS Claudia, but was someone redeemable and worthy of surviving long into my stories here and maybe beyond (if I ever write those novels I’ve wanted to do). I hope I haven’t copied too many concepts from Anne Rice. I was really trying for an original tale.
So, there you have it. After all, if we can have a good vamp in Grace, why not these two too?
As for what’s up next, this is where it gets very different from Interview. There will be no nasty un-cute Paris vamps killing Annabelle like they ruthlessly, stupidly killed Claudia. Dumb jerks.
Things will be very different as the story goes a different way. But that doesn’t mean it’s all hearts and flowers.

So bear with my insanity guys.


a.g.
Amazing Guy






Scott?s Site! Featuring Caption the Pic (where action figures talk!), Amazing Tales on the Web (stories and micros of the Parodyverse!), and JLA Micros (The entire JLA, as micro heroes!)



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