“Nice try,” Clayton called to them.
The biggest of the three vampires, who wore a hunter green tee shirt and jeans, spoke first. “What do you mean?” he demanded.
Clayton sniffed the air. He let a few seconds go by before responding. “I could smell the three of you.” He pointed to one of them. “You, the big guy, are O positive blood type. The other two are O negative. You know what that means?” he said with a smile.
They remained silent. The human woman was frantically trying to escape the clutches of the men.
Clayton looked at the taller of the three vampires and exhaled deeply. Why must he have to explain to the younger vampires the rules of their existence? They should know. “Then let me refresh your young memory. O positive vampires can only take blood from O positive or O negative humans.” He turned his head to the other two and pointed. “And both of you are O negatives, which means you can only obtain blood from O negative humans. So stop pretending you’re going to suck her blood because she is AB positive. (1) Unless, of course, you want to so I can witness your slow and agonizing deaths.”
The shortest of the three took hold of the crying human woman. He sniffed the air as his eyes turned dark. “And I know you’re an AB positive, which means you want her blood, don’t you mister?” He took a finger and sliced a deep thin line across her throat. The human started to gurgle. Fear and incomprehension fell upon her face. “You want some of her? Come here and get some while she’s still warm.”
Clayton felt the familiar stirring from the crimson fluid even though he knew it was a trap. The three of them had to be relatively new vampires to think he was stupid enough to cross the boundary line. “Doesn’t matter,” Clayton stated casually even as his hunger intensified as he saw the sweet red nectar gently oozing downward from her creamy throat.
“Oh, it doesn’t matter?” The shortest vampire challenged. “Then, this won’t matter…” He took the woman’s head and snapped it as if it were a twig. The woman fell to the ground, unmoving. Her brown eyes looked vacantly up to the sky. The flowers and herbs, now free, were dancing with the wind in a circular motion.
Clayton refused to show emotion at the useless waste of a good meal.
The vampires smirked as they slowly walked to the borderline.
Clayton walked to his side of the boundary until they were a couple of feet away from each other. The wind picked up and caused Clayton’s long hair to sway at the wind’s discretion.
“Looks like you won’t be having a meal anytime soon.”
“Look like it,” Clayton stated casually. He smiled and turned around. He walked a few feet before one of the vampires commented.
“Your time is coming!” one of them yelled.
Clayton gave a slight pause before walking further away.
“Did you hear me?”
With sudden ferociousness, Clayton zipped back to his borderline. “Do tell.”
The sudden appearance of Clayton startled them for a second.
“You don’t scare us!” The bigger one boasted.
“I shouldn’t scare you; after all, there are three of you and only one of me,” Clayton said with slight amusement. He brushed his hair back in place with his long fingers.
The taller vampire sniffed the air in contempt. “Maybe you’ll have more luck on your side of the border.”
“Maybe,” Clayton said, taking a few steps backward, facing them in the event they tried to cross his borderline. He continued taking steps back, thinking the conversation was over.
“That’s right, go ahead and retreat!” the shortest vampire taunted.
Clayton held his laughter in check as he stopped in his tracks. “How old are the three of you?”
The tallest one said, “I am the oldest of these parts. I turned twelve years ago. The middle guy, Steven, turned eight years ago, and Jerry, the smallest one of us, had only recently turned five years ago.”
Jerry’s bald head grew red, and his teeth clenched. “Davey, you just told the Stranger our names!”
“Really? Ah, to be young again! Do you have any idea how old I am, and who I am?” Clayton asked in a whispered tone.
Jerry, the shortest vampire, looked at him with contempt. “No, and we don’t care, you’re an AB type. It doesn’t matter if it’s negative or positive. The AB’s have had their time!”
“Quiet!” admonished Davey, the big one.
“Really, and why is that?” Clayton asked with curiosity.
“Remember the Great Yeomen Purge of 1751?” Jerry boasted.
Clayton hid his anguish and suppressed a shudder. “You know of the Purge? Did they teach you that in school?
“Just answer my question, mister!” Jerry said with rising anger. “Do you remember the Great Yeomen Purge of 1751?”
Clayton sighed. “Yes, of course, because I was there. And?”
“You, you were there?” Jerry asked in awe.
“Yes,” Clayton stated.
“Shut up!” the other vampires said in unison.
Jerry regained his composure. “No, I will not shut up! For far too long, the AB tribe have thought themselves the top of the vampire food chain. Remember, history tends to repeat itself!”
Clayton walked in anger until his feet were at the cusp of the boundary. His body stiffened to the point of being rigid. “A great deal of my family perished in the great yeomen purge of 1751,” Clayton said between clenched teeth. “So, before I break the treaty and break all of your necks, let me tell you something about myself. My name is Clayton Cole of the Cole tribe, and spare me your useless scare tactics. It will not work on me. In a few days, I will be celebrating my thousandth birthday. And the three of you combined are only twenty-five years old, just two and a half percent of my age!”
Clayton knew his scare tactic worked because their stance shifted to a fighting posture. Clayton waited for them to try something foolish despite knowing they wouldn’t dare. They knew who he was now; he saw not only fear in their
