Mark Tufo - Alive in a Dead World

“You have it wrong, Eliza, it is not him I am concerned about. It is us, he has shown over and over that he is unwilling to yield to death.”

Eliza struck so fast, Tomas did not have time to defend himself against his sister’s slap, and it rocked him on his heels. “He is a pathetic human,” Eliza spat. “I will never fear him or any of his kind again! Do you understand me?”

Tomas nodded, dumbfounded.

“You, Tomas, are now the reason that we have something to fear from him; without our help, he will never die. Once his family dies and is ground into dust, we,” Eliza said, pointing to him and to herself, “will become his sole mission in life. He will blame us for every one of their deaths. No, we must kill him while he still has weaknesses walking on this planet. You, Tomas, have prevented Michael Talbot from eking out the rest of his existence in relative peace.”

Tomas knew his sister’s words for the lie that they were, but still they stung. “Eliza, break the stone,” Tomas said pointing to the blood locket. “We can leave this world like we were supposed to lifetimes ago.”

Eliza looked at Tomas long and hard before she began to laugh, much like a wolf laughs at the rabbit before devouring it. Cold, cruel and with no mirth. “That’s rich, Tomas, for a second, I almost believed you. Not that I would have done it, mind you, but I almost believed in your sincerity. How cunningly perfect of you! I break the locket, you rule the world unimpeded.”

“I do not want the world, Eliza, I want my sister,” Tomas begged.

Eliza’s laughter encompassed his soul as he spun on his heel and walked away.

Tomas was about a city block away before the echoes of her laughter faded.

“ Tomas,” came so clearly in his head, he stopped and looked around for the source.

“ Mr. T?” Tomas asked.

“ Tommy?” came the question.

“ He’s in here somewhere, Mr. T, he…I…we’re so tired.”

Michael’s heart sank, hearing the pain in his adopted son’s voice. “Is there anything I can do?”

“ Kill my sister so that I can be released.” Tomas could “hear” the gasp from the other end of the connection.

“ I never thought I’d hear those words from you, Tommy. Does it work like that? Will all those bitten by her revert back to their former selves, like in the movies?”

“ No,” Tomas said, shaking his head silently and conveying that gesture to Mike. “But it will release me to join her.”

Michael got the message. If Eliza were to die, Tomas would join her in the afterlife. “Where do us soulless ones go, Tomas?” Michael asked, his fear shining through the words brightly.

“ Nowhere near the garden, Mr. T. It is a lonely, dark place we are destined for, but even that is preferable to the hell I walk in now.”

“How charming,” Eliza said as she approached Tomas. “We will have to talk, Tomas, about your choice of friends. I do not think Mother would approve.”

“ Eliza, the pleasure I receive when I finally sever your head from your body will only be trumped by the look of shock on your fa…”

And, like an old AT&T operator, Eliza thought she severed the connection.

“I will kill him, Tomas, and you will help if I have to drag you kicking and screaming through the blood and guts of the mortals.”

“I’ll be there, Eliza, but it will only be to witness your demise,” Tomas said heatedly.

“We are family, Tomas, you and I. Is this how you would treat one of your own?”

“Mr. T and his family are my true family!” Tomas shot back defiantly.

“Blood!” Eliza said fairly quaking. “Blood is the thickest bond, Tomas. It is something which you share nothing of with that mongrel!”

“I do now, sister. Remember? I bit him.”

“You are a fool, Tomas. You jeopardize everything we have and everything we can attain, for what?”

“Love, Eliza, for love, the most basic and strongest of all human emotions.”

“Hate, Tomas, hate is a much stronger emotion because it can burn longer, it can span generations. I’ve watched it spread across borders for no other reason than there were people on the other side of an imaginary line in the dirt. Love lasts for a few years between individuals, hate spans millennia among the populace.”

“If that is the case, then let him have his few years of love. There will still be time for hate afterwards.”

“You still don’t understand. There is no fun in defeating an opponent once everything he has is lost. Much like a fine wine, it can be savored as we pull him apart, piece by piece.”

“ Hey! I’m still here. I can hear everything you’re saying about me and I’ve got to be honest, I’m not all that pleased,” Mike said, trying to inflect some levity in his words.

Tomas could not help but smile, shielding it somewhat from the raging form of his sister.

“How?” Eliza demanded.

“ Not sure. I guess it’s some sort of party line, looks like we’ll be able to stay in touch a lot,” Michael said. “Maybe I’ll be able to sing you some lullabies or read you a bedtime story; you seem to get real cranky without enough sleep.”

Tomas had to turn so that his sister could not witness his delight, although the rising and falling of his shoulders was a dead giveaway.

Chapter Two – Mike Journal Entry 1

“You alright, Mike?” BT asked with concern.

“I’m fine. Why? Do I look bad?” I asked him with the same concern. I didn’t want to start turning into that pasty-looking version of Tom Cruise in “Interview with a Vampire.” He always looked anemic, although how that was possible after drinking all that iron-rich blood, I’ll never know.

“Well, to be honest, you’ve looked better, but that’s not why I’m asking. You were just standing there and then this shit-eating grin spread across your face. You looked like you had maybe just taken a shit in your pants and you didn’t want anyone to know. That sort of thing.”

“That’s pretty graphic, my friend. I’ve got an idea.”

“Oh no, why do I ask? Why God?” BT asked as he turned his head up to the heavens.

“What’s going on?” Tracy asked. The activity of the last few days was weighing heavily on her shoulders, fearing for her children and now for her husband. Tracy could not gauge if BT were wailing to the heavens or merely jesting for Mike.

“Your husband has an idea,” BT said seriously, never pulling his gaze from the clouds that flew by overhead, oblivious to the prayers that drifted through them, seeking a higher purpose.

“Mike, we’ve gone over this time and time again,” Tracy said, placing her hand on BT’s shoulder in commiseration.

“I know, I know,” I told them. “But this time, it’s going to work.”

“Heard that before,” Gary said from twenty feet across the parking lot of the Big 5 Sporting Goods store they were in the midst of ransacking. Most everything of any value was long gone, but there were a few small caliber rifles and bricks of .22 bullets, some camping gear, a few packs of dehydrated food and, for some abnormal reason, pallets of knee-high socks. It looked like the World Cup was coming to North Carolina soon.

“No, I’ve got insider information now,” I told them.

Tracy’s head bowed as she realized I was talking about Eliza. It was one thing to know about her, completely another to be linked to her.

“She’s coming for us,” I told them.