breasts.
Remedios did not even need to ask herself the question she had been avoiding, for she knew in her heart the answer. The vampire tooth had come from her own mouth. A tooth unlike the others. The tooth of the strongest. The one who could live and survive in a place not like her homeland. The one who could look after an entire family, and make certain they were provided for. The one who had the strength to prey on the weak in order to survive, for survival was crucial. Her grandmother had said this; this is why they fed her the blood of the weak dog. Why her mother had named her God's remedy; her mother was wise. She knew Remedios was born to remedy the wrongs that had been her legacy.
And now, images came to Remedios of the vampire, and of el Chupa-cabra , and she no longer felt threatened.
As the sky grew lighter, the knowledge that Remedios had unearthed with the rosary did not fade, but solidified within her, melding worries and insecurities, leaving behind a certainty from which to act.
The house lay shrouded in quiet, still as the dead. Remedios passed the rooms where Jess and Robert slept without pausing. She continued along the second-floor hallway, watching her shadow creep over the walls. Finally, she reached the master bedroom and opened the door quietly.
Inside the room the air smelled of sweat mixed with the fragrance of Mrs Richview's perfumes. Remedios stared at the couple for a moment, making her decision. Her employers lay sleeping soundly, Mrs Richview with plugs in her ears, and a mask over her eyes. Mr Richview sprawled close to the edge, on his back, snoring loudly. Remedios made her way to his side of the bed. She crouched beside him and reached out to touch gingerly the bulging blue in his neck. His breath caught for a moment. He opened his eyes and stared fearfully at her. She placed her finger to her lips and quietly whispered, ' Someter .' His eyelids lowered as if he longed to return to his dreams. He turned his head, the vein an offering.
Remedios pierced it easily, quickly, naturally, like any strong animal that had learned somewhere in its life to love the taste of blood.
Remedios sat at the kitchen table, feeling refreshed. She signed her name at the bottom of the letter to her Uncle Antonio, telling him that he must use a portion of the money he took from the family as his 'fee' to provide medical care to little Dolores, whose name, she reminded him, meant 'pain'. The pain of his failing to comply, she assured him, would not be only for Dolores, but it would become his pain as well. She would cease sending home money until he did this. And if he refused? Yes, her family would suffer. Dolores would suffer more. But he would suffer most — she would personally see to it.
She folded the letter and placed it into an envelope, sealing all their fates.
Just then, Mr Richview walked into the kitchen. 'Good morning, Remedios. How are you today?' He looked tired. Bewildered.
'I am very well, Mr Richview. May I speak with you?'
'Yes, of course. About what?'
'I ask of you three things. First, I would like to visit my family for two weeks. I will need a plane ticket.'
He rubbed his neck for a moment, an absent look on his face. 'That can be arranged.'
'Next, I must have an increase. I would like to be paid an additional hundred dollars each month.'
Rather than scowling, or being even more annoyed then he had been the evening before, now Mr Richview nodded, a dreamy expression filling his face. He spoke to her respectfully, as to an equal, to Remedios, a strong person, who knew what she wanted, what was fair. 'All right. I think we can find an extra hundred dollars for you each month.'
'And for the last,' she said, 'I would like for you to deposit this new money into a bank account, like the one you told me of, that will make me a millionaire in twenty years.'
She was only mildly astonished to see him nod approval. 'Well, I can't promise you'll be a millionaire, but if you don't touch it, I can promise you'll have quite a bit of money. That's a wise decision, Remedios. I'll stop at the bank today and pick up the forms for you to sign so you can open an account; my accountant will make the deposits automatically, and you can go in any time and update your passbook. Once the principal increases, we can invest it in a high-yield fund. You need to be brave, take a few risks. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. It's a tough world, dog eat dog. Only the strongest survive.'
'The strongest and the smartest,' she said, thinking how much more sense it makes to live off the strong rather than the weak.
Miss Massingberd and the Vampire
Tina Rath
Tina Rath sold her first dark fantasy story to Catholic Fireside in 1974. Since then her short fiction has appeared in both the small and mainstream press, including Ghosts & Scholars, All Hallows, Woman's Realm, Bella and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. She has been anthologized in The Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories, The Fontana Book of Horror Stories, Midnight Never Comes, Seriously Comic Fantasy and Karl Edward Wagner's The Year's Best Horror Stories: XV. With her husband Tony she has co-written stories for Mike Ashley's Royal Whodunnits and Shakespearean Detectives, and together they run Parlour Voices, a live reading performance group .
' While I was finishing my thesis on The Vampire in Popular Fiction,' explains Dr Rath, who recently received her degree from the London University, 'I came to the conclusion that the vampire's cloak is an extraordinarily versatile costume: it can be worn by men or women; it can conceal and disguise, but paradoxically it can also be used for display; it can suggest the cowled monk, or the sophisticated opera-goer; it can itself be concealed, rolled up and carried unobtrusively, but as soon as it is put on it transforms the wearer .
'The vampire, which is both male and female, terrifying and alluring, similarly offers the ultimate disguise, fancy dress, fantasy — a persona that we can slip on either to hide or parade; a unisex, one-size fits all masquerade. The cloak is an ink-blot test, in which we can see our obsessions, not only our fears but also our desires for sexual potency, freedom from the restraints of gender, morality and the entire material world.
'And of course, it's not real, so when we have enjoyed our fantasy we can discard the cloak and be human again. It is hardly surprising that the vampire has an immortal appeal.'
About 'Miss Massingberd and the Vampire', Rath reveals: 'I wrote this particular story because I live near a very beautiful, ivy-covered churchyard, which actually does have a path running through it. It was crying out for a
