DaNcEs WiTh DaRkNeSsHe was sitting hunched over in a ball with his arms pulled closely to his chest hugging onto his legs like a vice ..the cold never ending stream of water emptied out onto his skin ..the chilling river rushed onto his neck and paralyzed his back ..the water was freezing and it began to sting and itch as it plummeted down onto his shoulders ..his skin grew rubbery and thick with numbness …he reached his icy hand back into the darkness and tried to scratch off the numb but his skin barley moved ..it was almost frozen in place ..he couldn’t feel the blood in his face and his cheeks hurt ..he moved his hands back down to his knees and wrapped his arms tightly around his calfs clenching onto them and slightly rocking on the tilled showers floor ..he had one side of his back pinned against the blue stone wall and his head rested in the corner catching the waves of cold water draining out of the shiny nozzle above …although he could see none of this through the curtains of pitch black blinding the room ..
he had turned out every lamp and put towels down to block out the light that escaped from the hallway into the bathroom from under the door …he liked the solitude ..the cold and the darkness comforted him ,..he liked the tingling of his skin freezing and going numb ..it was like killing yourself but it made you feel more alive in the process..he loved that feeling ..and when he got up to turn off the chilling water he just felt weird ..like he was leaving something .. stepping back into the sun and the heat was odd ..different …he felt strange …he wondered if he was the only one living in the shadows of midnight and taking frosty showers in the complete darkness …darkness so thick that it was like looking straight into a pool of tar …he felt lonely in the young hours of the day when the sun shinned bright ..like he couldn’t relate to anyone in its hot gaze …it was like this for as long as he could remember …every since he was a young boy …it all seemed to happen around that time when his dad came home late one night long long ago…his family was completely happy before that night ..that vile evil twisted hideous eve ..before that night he, his mother and his father would go on picnics and take week long vacations to the beach ..he would collect sand dollars and sea shells and just before the twilight settled in on the ocean his father and mother would go on walks across the shore swinging him between them as they strode forward.. his dad holding one of his arms and his mother holding the other swaying him back and forth ..sending him high into the night sky that was filled with cries of glee and little boy laughter ..it was so happy at his house before that long dark scary night …he lived the perfect life …he had a golden retriever named D.O.G ..( his mother lacking a creative mind of any sort named him this ) … he had a power ranger book bag with matching lunchbox …he had everything ..all up until that sinister night when his father came home around 1:00 in the morning ..his mother had been up before then worried sick pacing around her bedroom (that was down the hall form her sons room) in her white satin night gown walking in small circles breathing heavily with a look of anxiousness in her eyes holding the sweaty phone in her hand dialing everyone she knew looking desperately for her husband who up until that evening came home at a prompt 5:30 in the afternoon..she called his boss ..he hadnt seen her husband since he left work and he was quite aggravated by the early morning phone call …she called his best friend and also came out of that conversation empty handed …she grew very worried and her breathing was getting faster and faster as the prespiration pilled up in the corners of her forehead and flattening down her hair making it stick to her flaky scalp …her hands rubbed over her arms with a nervousness that was nearly indescribable ..her son that was then 7 years old sat up in his bed droopy and tired eyed hearing the sounds of his mother in her bedroom talking and walking about ..he was curious and didn’t understand why she was out of bed this late ..at first he thought it was the wee minutes before she normally woke him up in the morning ,,then when he looked over to his alarm clock he noticed that that wasn’t the case at all ,,.he sat attentively and attuned to the sounds of his mothers voice with his covers in a pile at his waist ….the thought never crossed his mind that his father wasn’t home yet …because it was HIS father…the model father of america .. he was always loving and caring and came home when he was supposed to …. so he kicked off his spiderman sheets that were nestled around his stomach and lumbered out of his bed ..his bare feet creaked on the hard wood floor…he lost his balance and caught himself before landing with a soundly thud on the floor…he didn’t want to fall because he didn’t care to make anymore noise than he had to …he didn’t know why he tiptoed towards the door…he didn’t know why he was trying to be so quiet ..he thought maybe it was partially due to the fact that he didn’t need his mother to yell at him and tell him to go back to sleep ..but he really knew why he was being so spy like …so quiet …he wanted to eavesdrop on his mother and find out why she was still awake at this ungodly hour in the morning ..the clock now struck 1:00 in the morning ..he thought still that his father was tucked soundly in bed …..he walked slowly over to his door way and put one of his clammy palms on the threshold supporting his body and releasing some of the strain on the creaking floor …his pj’s were rolled up around his knees from the tossing and turning he did in his sleep ..his legs were covered in gooseflesh and the tiny hairs that grew there stood as straight as english soldiers ..he poked his head out of the doorway and looked down the dimly lit hallway only to see the pacing shadow of his mother being thrown on the wall at the end ..it looked to him like she was holding a phone ..he perked up his ears and tried to make out her voice ..he picked out syllables and small common phrases that were engulfed in the hallway like dying whispers in a valley ..he heard his fathers name mentioned…his attention hit a high …he griped tightly onto the doorway at which he stood …the thought struck him then that his father wasn’t home …just then he heard his mother kick her slippered foot hard against the floor with a wild huff of anger and he heard the electronic beep of the phone as it was hung up …he saw the shadow drop its arm and back away from the light …he assumed she was going to bed now …he was dreadfully worried about his father …he still watched the light penetrate into the hall way from her bedroom with a ghastly look in his eyes and his mouth gaped open in awe ..he heard a click and then the light vanished and faded back into a puddle of bleak shadows clustered in the narrow hall ..he heard the faint groan of his mothers mattress as she laid down by herself in her big bed …he was sssooooo very worried ..about that time he heard a car ,,no ,,not a car …a truck ,,the sound of his fathers truck pull up into the drive way ..his head darted from the hallway and he looked to his bedroom window and saw his dads trucks headlights flow in through the blinds making stripes of yellow cover his wall and ceiling ..then they suddenly shut off and that was followed by the loud slamming of a car door…he saw the figure of a man get clumsily out of his seat and almost trip when his feet hit the ground .the figure took long stumbling stupid steps in zig-zag patterns toward the front door …but that figure surely wasn’t his proud father …what ever it was it was now walking up the front porch,,it bobbed its head like it was dodging bullets …the figure now began to slowly swing open the screen door and it hit the side of the house in a screeching bang ..he heard the figure mumble loudly …drunkenly …the figure moved around his hands in his pockets and retrieved what looked like keys …the lil boy moved closer to his window now keeping low and out of sight ,,,..his attention was thrown from this figure to the hallway once again ..he heard the snap of his mothers lamp turn on and its illumination swamped the hall…he heard her get out of bed and surge to the front door ..he had never heard his mother move that fast before ..not even the time he fell off off his bike and his head was bleeding badly from around the corner of his temple…he turned his head again and looked at the figure ..from his bedroom window standing at a slant he could see every action taking place on the front door steps ..he leaned in close and held his eyes in between the shades and glanced into the nightfall with a bewildered expression ,,his lips torn of emotion …he looked at the figure and the figure looked forward at the opening front door with hatred.. the lil boy could see the figures back curl and it appeared that the image was about to pounce on his mother stumbling to unlock the door…he wanted to scream and tell his mother to get out of the way and not to open the door but all he could get out of his mouth was a faint pant of steamy air ..he was scared stiff and could only look straight forward with amazement his eyelids glued to their brows ..suddenly he saw the door swing open and his mother was standing eye to eye with this monstrous evil image.. she had her placid hands cuffed over her mouth as if she was trying to hold in a shreak of fright …the image hunched its back over even more and held its paw like hands out in front of him resembling a wolf about to take its prey…his mother stumbled out of the door way with backward strides of pure fear…her eyes were wired open much like the ways the boys were as he sat still at the side of his widow looking out at the crisis unfolding….neither the boy or his stalked mother could scream …the image took two small steps forward drawing in on his mother …she was backed up against the wall inside of the house and covered in the dark shade surrounding her ,,she was at the point where the boys eyes (though still young and new) couldn’t see what was happening,,,the image followed her into the shade with his white teeth gleaming and glittering in the warm street lamps light originating from the dusty sidewalk …they both disappeared together into the labyrinths of the house ..the boy was plastered to his place by the window next to his bed..it was then that he heard his mothers cry of terror …no,, maybe terror is the wrong word to describe her cry ..i think the appropriate word would be pain.. total complete pain mixed with the fear of utter and intense mortality…surely a cry to wake the dead …the boys eyes blinked and his body budged …he got up from his position and ran out into the hallway as fast as his sleep legs could take him ..the scenery of the hallway seemed to pass by slowly and sharply as he ran towards his attacked mother..the vase he ran by looked fuller and rounder ..even the orange base of the vase seemed a brighter more splendid shade of orange as he ran…he could feel ever strand of carpet hit his toes at different places as he laid down one foot and picked up the other racing to save his dear mother ..it was like the world was passing by in super slow motion …even though he was running at full speed he could pick out ever smell no matter how faint ..he could smell the bacon of that mornings breakfast and he could smell the sweet nectar of the fresh daises that his mother had cut and placed on the mantle above the fire place…it was like he ran in a dream ..his senses were fully open and raging…although everything he saw seemed slower and more detailed he reached the doorway in a matter of seconds …when his feet struck the hard wood corner before the hall turned inward to lead into the front doorway he wished he had his older senses back…the place where the boy had seen his mother retreat to had been a terrible scene indeed…but the place itself wasn’t what the little boy focused on …his senses were focused straight forward on the floor that was sprayed and covered in bright crimson blood that steamed in the frosty night air…and in that lagoon of blood was a heap of meat wiggling around like a dying animal that was strung with ripped and shredded clothing…that pile of bloody meat was being eaten by a man..but once again man is the wrong word used in describing this beast …because any person could tell that what ever that thing was it was defiantly no man of any caliber…its eyes were glowing red like the embers of a fire filled with some unholy light…they were luminous but they cast no light…they cast only unsaturated darkness where ever they gawked…they were the eyes of the prince of hell …they were satans very essence..and they looked down at its meal …they peered right into the tangling pile of squirming meat that the monstrous beast sat on top of….this creature had long unnatural razor fingernails that were more claws than anything else…the beast had them dug into the leathery skin of his victim…the little boy then saw sharp white bone fangs poking out behind the creatures long slender pink lips…he noticed the beasts face during his gaze at its teeth…it looked much like a human face but was infinitely more beautiful…it was straight and lovely,, symmetric and unblemished…it wasn’t a plump face but more thin and angular…its face was pointed and came down to triangle..it was pale and chalky…so white it could be visible in pitch blackness…although his face was lovely and perfect with blushed cheeks it held a resonation of vileness…his unholy glowing eyes were stuck in pits of a coal coloring…and the tips of its shinning teeth were dripping dark wet blood….the little boy couldn’t move ,,his feet were rooted to their spot ,,his whole body shook with cataclysmic convulsions..his thoughts were blank but drowning in emotions…everything seemed fake ..he couldn’t fathom the danger he was in ..his first thought was of his mother ..”where is my mommy” his mind repeatedly played that question over and over again followed by the obvious thought …”mommy is being eaten by this perfectly evil beast”…the little boy wanted to scream and cry and kill this beast but most of all he wanted his daddy …that’s when his last thought struck in on him…”that beast is daddy” he finally realized the truth…although his fathers eyes were sky blue and not swirling and burning with the pyres and fires of hell like this creatures eyes were…although his father had normal teeth,, fingernails and his father had a normal tan the shape of this monsters face was undeniably his fathers..that was when his devilish father arose off of his dead mother and walked towards his son with his glare of satan lighting his path…his father now had long threads of black hair down to his shoulders in place of his balding brown curly hair he once had…”daddy…..” said the boy choking on a throat full of salty tears…”daddy no please…please ..please no….” ..his father just opened his mouth wide at his sons plea for life and pounced on his offspring like a mountain lion on a deer…his son was fighting and struggling but his fathers beastly grip was fierce and he pinned down the boys young tender arms like steel…he felt his fathers fangs rip into the flesh of his neck ….”my daddy killed my mommy now he is killing me“ the little boy thought as his father feasted on his life force…he thought many other things as his father drained his head of its vital blood in gulps…the boys eyes blinked shut then reopened to see his blood lining the floor with his fathers teeth and claws still buried inside of his body ….his newly spilt blood mixed with his mothers on that hard brown floor ,,, as his head floated off to dreamland and his soul began to totter into nothingness he deeply wished he could have said goodbye to his mother…he closed his eyes and accepted his fate and let his young human body die there in front of the opened door on that seeping wood floor with his father sucking blood by the quartfull from his neck..he felt the crisp night air hit his dying body and he heard the dead leaves blow past rattling on the porch..his father killed him that night…………………………when he awoke the next morning in his bed his head hurt terribly…his eyes were in tremendous pain and everything that wasn’t completely black was burning brightly as the sun itself…even the shadows hurt his eyes….his skin boiled in the early morning dawn that broke in through his blinds….the tinniest of sounds seemed amplified in his ear like the tolling of a gigantic bell ringing constantly …his eyes strained and he pinched his face together trying to block out this smoldering head ache…he could hear his heart beat but he couldn’t feel his blood ..his whole body felt asleep and tingled…his insides were shrill and cold but his limbs roasted in the sun…he lumbered out of bed and wondered why he felt so odd…he just thought the previous night a bad dream …just a simple symptom of a sickness that he was feeling right now as the daylight made him ill…he didn’t notice his paler than usual skin and when he looked in the mirror he thought that it was yet another symptom of some virus he had come down with..he looked perplexingly into the mirrors shine …he studied his face and when he opened his mouth to yawn and stretch away the pains of a long sleep he saw a white glimmer in the reflection…he looked closer and what he saw took his breath away ..he had fangs …his hands hit his neck in a clasp for oxygen..the whole previous night flashed in his mind like a movie stuck in fast forward…he knew what he was now …he knew why the light of the sun burned his eyes ..he knew why his senses were now acute and sensitive …he knew that he was a vampire…and he felt so alone ..never to go back outside without the pain and burning of his skin…never to play on his swing unless it would be in the dead of night ..never to be a child ..but to be trapped in ones body for the rest of eternity…he would lose all of his friends ..and he knew he was completely alone….it was that dark sad night when his father infected him with the plague of immortality that forced him now to take showers in complete darkness…to hide in the dripping of shadows away from the vibrant sun…it was all that evil nights fault..that terrible night that stole his mother and his perfect life away from him..that doomed him to kill and drink life from those he loved…he thought about all of this as he sat on that tilled showers floor and let the icy water splatter against his dead face…he was punished to live like this and feed on the innocent until the sun kills him or the world ends….but that day hasn’t come in over 500 years ..maybe it never will ..but until it does he will live in his secret hidden dreary world away from everyone….and dance in the darkness…