New York City is a city that never sleeps. That’s not necessarily a good thing.
We finally found a board that we could dislodge and we entered. A few feet away was a doorway. We walked through the doorway and started walking down a long hallway. It was dark at first but we kept walking. We started seeing ghoulish lanterns hung on the wall… lighting up the way. There were skeletons pointing the way with their skeletal fingers.
There were also ghost and skull ornaments dangling from the ceiling. And evil looking pumpkins hung on the walls.
We were passing by a mummy and I gave it the middle finger. It spit on me, and started laughing.
My sister noticed what happened and she started laughing too.
There was obviously a stupid dummy… inside the mummy.
The Frankenstein monster pinched my sister on her butt.
There were bloodcurdling yells and spooky laughter.
Me and Cynthia were laughing. It was hysterical.
The Count started hissing.
We kept walking and walking. It felt like we were walking around a maze.
We went right and then left. And left and then right. And right and then left. We were following the skeletons and where their fingers pointed.
We were at an intersection. And there were two skeletons. One was pointing left and the other right.
Me and Cynthia started laughing.
The Count started hissing.
Finally… a door. We opened it and entered a room with bright lights and blasting rock music. They were playing Roadway to Hell. And there were people dancing that were wearing little red devil horns.
The musicians all looked like demons. What outfits! They had feet with very pointed toenails and tails. And the people dancing to their music had similar outfits on. Some had more grotesque mask features than others. The female demons had short skirts on.
The music was pulsating with a beat that excited the senses. And Cynthia and I were moving in rhythm with the music. The place was rocking.
Cynthia and I started dancing with each other. And while we were dancing, I was looking around for the hostess. The girl with no name.
There was a beautiful aroma in the air. The fragrance was intoxicating. The couple dancing next to me… were smoking a joint. She stopped dancing, and walked near me, and put the joint in my mouth.
That was so thoughtful.
I love it when people are friendly like that. I noticed that she had a big rock on her finger. It almost slapped me in the face.
Maybe their swingers. I’ll sleep with her, and her husband can sleep with my sister.
The Count didn’t look happy. He tapped me on the shoulder.
I asked, while still dancing, “What’s wrong?”
The Count asked “Have you noticed the design on the floor?”
“What?”
“Take a look at the design on the floor.”
I said confidently, “It’s a star.”
I was always good with geometric figures.
“And how many points does it have?”
“Five.”
“Are there any breaks in the drawing or is it one continuous line?”
“There are no breaks. It’s one continuous line.”
My sister Cynthia was listening in and she whispered, looking shocked, “It’s a pentagram. A symbol for Satan. You moron! This is a Satanic cult. Let’s get out of here.”
She didn’t say it like that. She used a few more F bombs. And called me a moron more times than I would like to admit.
I said, “I’m not going anywhere. This party is awesome.”
My sister pinched me real hard on my arm.
I asked, in a very annoyed tone, “What is wrong with you? Why did you do that? You know I have very sensitive skin.”
“Did you ever think… maybe you were invited to this party so that they could sacrifice you to some demon deity that they worship?”
That was a frightening thought. But she might be right.
We went back out the way we came in. And when we were outside, I saw the girl. The one with no name. She was smiling. She stood on the other side of the street.
I waved to her. She didn’t wave back.
There were eight girls and at least sixteen guys with her. They all looked very pale. They looked like the Count. And there were a couple of others that were hovering above the ground.
I had to look twice. What was holding them up? And they had long fingers and long nails.
The girl with no name shouted, “Count Vampiro… it is so nice to finally meet you. The great Vampire slayer. But after tonight… you will drink no more.”
The Count pulled me and my sister back inside.
He said, “Those are vampires and demons. I’m trapped.”
“Is he out of his mind?” asked my frightened sister. “Are they all out of their minds? What was that girl talking about?”
Cynthia, like me, couldn’t speak. We were both terrified. The Count’s eyes were blazing red, and they both looked like fires were burning inside them.
And more than that. We could see inside the flames… people and buildings being consumed in a raging inferno.
We could feel the scorching heat coming from his eyes. We both moved back.
“He really is a Vampire,” said my shocked sister.
She didn’t say it like that. She used a few more F bombs.
The Count and I stuck our heads outside the door. There were others on top of the building across the street. I saw horribly disfigured faces, with horns, not only on the top of their heads… but also sticking out the sides of their faces and necks. They had claws, and skin that looked like burnt rubber. Most of them had an appearance of charcoal or black; but a few of them were red.
None of them were walking. They were floating a few feet above the ground.
There was one that was yellow. It was golden. It was in charge.
“Demons,” said the Count. “Real demons.”
We went back to the Satanic Halloween party.
The Count led us toward the back of the room… into a bathroom.
I said, “Why don’t we exchange costumes with some of these people. We can sneak out of here with them… when they leave.”
The Count said, “They’ll smell you from a block away. Your AB Negative blood. We could never sneak you past the vampires.”
I asked, “Can they smell you too?”
“No!” replied the Count disdainfully. “Unlike you… I don’t smell. And your sister just has regular common blood. You’re the problem.”
I didn’t know what was happening. The Count dragged me and my sister into one of the bathroom stalls and closed the door. Was he some kind of pervert too?
He bit into my neck and drained me of my blood. It burned! It felt like it was on fire. And then he bit into his arm. And he sucked blood from one of his veins and bit my neck again and transferred the blood to me.
It was a blood transfusion.
I no longer had the AB Negative blood coursing through my veins. I had his blood. And the vampires wouldn’t be able to smell me.
He bit Cynthia. We were now… both Vampires.
But Cynthia was mad. She didn’t want to be a vampire. But the Count explained to her that she was a natural. She had two big front teeth. Like a beaver. It would be easy for her to tear open someone’s throat and feed.
But she still didn’t like it. And she even felt insulted. She’s always been very self-conscious and sensitive about her teeth.
People were leaving the party. It was very late at night. We exchanged costumes with two of the guests. That was easy. The Count just threw them up against the wall and knocked them out.
I was now a demon pirate. And I had a snake sword too. Cynthia was Casper the unfriendly demon ghost.
I asked, “Why aren’t you getting a costume for yourself.”
“I would never,” said the Count, his eyes staring straight ahead, “be able to sneak past the demons. But you two can. Now that you don’t smell, you can also sneak by the vampires. You’ll just be another common blood type to them. Just one of the guests.”
I said, “I would never leave you Count. Our destinies and fate are intertwined.”
I liked that line. I heard it in a movie.
“Mine isn’t,” said Cynthia. “Bye!”
The Count pushed me outside the stall. He pointed his finger at me. “If you don’t go with your sister… I’ll engulf you in flames and end your life here.”
I said, frightened, “But I’m just a baby. A baby vampire. My life just began.”
The story will be continued in Count Vampiro 7
Photo by David Knieradl on Unsplash
Fictional stories by John Saccone 
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