Unlife in the Suburbs: Part 3 (765 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 2 on 22 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Impassive-Digressive (View user info) at 2004-11-28 20:11:11 EST
Part 1: http://www.ubersite.com/m/52429
Part 2: http://www.ubersite.com/m/52527
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I step out of the car - our second-hand 1987 Ford Taurus - as Laszlo removes a pair of large duffle bags from the trunk. I close my eyes and concentrate. Like a mental sonar pulse, my mind expands, billowing over the landscape. The mind of a vampire is far more powerful than that of a mortal, and our psychic arsenal is quite impressive. I am aware that several of the Ancient Ones, vampires over a millennia in age, have honed their minds to the point where they can enter and control the mind of a human, or even a weak young vampire over vast distances. I am nowhere near that advanced, I am more than capable however, of detecting, and roughly locating nearby humans and vampires.
These abilities, like many things, increase with practice and age. I would like to think that within a century or two I will be able to control local pizza-delivery staff remotely, so that I can get a pizza on time - and anchovy-free - without needing to touch the telephone.
I open my eyes as Laszlo closes the trunk.
"Anything?" He queries.
"Nobody for a few miles, we should be fine."
"Good." He hands me a pair of shovels. "Take these, I'll carry the bags."
After about half an hour spent jogging through the darkened forest, we stop in a small clearing. Wordlessly I hand him a shovel and we get to work. It doesn't take a pair of vampires very long to dig a large hole, and the soft loam yields very easily. Needless to say, we are not hampered by the darkness. The scattering of stars provides more than enough illumination for us to see clearly.
Laszlo deposits the bags at the bottom of the makeshift grave and we cover it over. I pick some small flowers from a nearby shrub and lay them on the turned earth. I have stood beside innumerable graves. It is rarely an enjoyable experience - even for vampire. Graves conjure up a sense of finality, and serve to remind us that ultimately, all who are born shall eventually die. I have known some people - human and vampire alike - who openly welcome death, and submit to it. I have always feared it, even after the centuries I have borrowed; I shall not willingly descend into the abyss.
No doubt aware of what is going on in my head, Laszlo's eyes meet mine.
"You should not worry about such things. It is not yet our time." He steps away from the grave and into the centre of the clearing and raises his arms. "Besides, this is a nice place to lie, at the foot of the mountains, in the shade of these aged trees, stars shining down. I would be happy to take my final rest here." He gives a half-smile. "It almost feels like the old forests of home."
I return the smile, half-heartedly.
"I guess so."
Determined to life the mood, his eyes light up.
"Race you back to the car?"
"Here, take my shovel."
"Why must I carry the shovels?"
I roll my eyes.
"It's the chivalrous thing to do. Besides, you're easily stronger than me." I toss my shovel to him, which he catches, reluctantly.
"But you are a faster runner."
I grin mischievously as I sprint into the darkened undergrowth.
"I know!" I call back. I hear him give chase.
Around ten minutes later Laszlo emerges from the trees to find me perched daintily on the bonnet of the car.
"You took your time," I tease "Did you get lost?"
He pouts; it is both comical and adorable. "It is much harder to run with a pair of shovels than without."
"Excuses, excuses." He wanders to the back of the Taurus and returns the shovels to the trunk before unlocking the door and climbing in. I hop into the passenger seat and rummage through the cassettes in the glove compartment, in the end pulling out a mix tape at random. With a satisfying click it slides into the car's tape player and we are treated to Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' - perhaps one of the best pieces of music to be composed in recent decades. I refrain from singing along too loudly.
As Freddie Mercury and the boys finish their song, I turned the stereo down and address Laszlo.
"The other day when I mentioned that you seemed to have a plan for getting the abbey back, you deftly sidestepped the subject." I can see a smile forming on his face. He would never have been much of a poker player. "Come on then, out with it."
"It is not really a plan," he begins "but more of an idea."
"Go on."
"Well, no doubt you remember how we ended up out here..."
User Reviews
Submitted by bush_for_god (user info) at 2005-01-21 00:19:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by wookie (user info) at 2004-12-07 10:06:40 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2004-12-02 16:30:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Vampires eat pizza?
Submitted by AshK (user info) at 2004-12-01 11:46:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Ohhh I get two installments at once!
Go me!
Submitted by Davros (user info) at 2004-12-01 06:01:43 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
More.
-Davros
Submitted by Impassive-Digressive (user info) at 2004-11-30 19:50:30 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by JMG114 (user info) at 2004-11-30 09:35:31 (#)
Ranking: 2
Tonight I'm going to suck...
...your blood.
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My second ever review offering to suck my bodily fluids!
Who would've thought writing about vampires would get you so much action!
Bram Stoker must've got laid all the time!!
Submitted by JMG114 (user info) at 2004-11-30 09:35:31 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Tonight I'm going to suck...
...your blood.
Submitted by Impassive-Digressive (user info) at 2004-11-30 08:36:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by FuckTheArmy (user info) at 2004-11-28 22:27:32 (#)
Ranking: 2
Wow, she has a name.
C'mon, out with it!
More! More! More! More!
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I got about half of the next installment written at work today - so expect part 4 sometime before 5.00pm Japan time on Wednesday (tomorrow). If you want to know when that is in your local time, you will have to work it out for yourself!
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2004-11-29 20:19:47 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Alas... I am vanquished.
Well fought.
Submitted by Impassive-Digressive (user info) at 2004-11-29 19:51:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
+1! Victory is mine!
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2004-11-29 19:23:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Must... click... +1...
Damn You!
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2004-11-29 19:22:07 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
+1!!!
dammit
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2004-11-29 19:10:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
AHA!
I +1 this!!!!
fuck.
Submitted by Impassive-Digressive (user info) at 2004-11-29 18:38:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2004-11-29 10:37:24 (#)
Ranking: 2
Will you ever write anything worth just +1?
My +1 trigger is itchy...
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Hey! I've written plenty of stuff that's only worth a +1, it's not my fault you people come in here with your 2s! (Not that I'm complaining of course...)
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2004-11-29 10:37:24 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Will you ever write anything worth just +1?
My +1 trigger is itchy...
Submitted by Impassive-Digressive (user info) at 2004-11-29 08:35:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Arrrrrrrrrr (user info) at 2004-11-28 20:27:42 (#)
Ranking: 2
arrrrr
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Hahaha! Best review EVAR!!
Submitted by Benny (user info) at 2004-11-28 22:59:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I really liked the bit about sending telepathic signals to pizza guys so you don't have to call them.
One strange thing that I experience when ordering pizzas is that they tell me they will take over an hour to get to my house because they are busy etc and yet then they turn up about 20 minutes after I call.
Submitted by FuckTheArmy (user info) at 2004-11-28 22:27:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Wow, she has a name.
C'mon, out with it!
More! More! More! More!
Submitted by Shaun_Rocks (user info) at 2004-11-28 20:31:43 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
So far this has been a great series. Keep it up
Submitted by Arrrrrrrrrr (user info) at 2004-11-28 20:27:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
arrrrr
Submitted by Tigre (user info) at 2004-11-28 20:20:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
ugh.
More damnit!
Submitted by Impassive-Digressive (user info) at 2004-11-28 20:13:50 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
All that for a bastard cliff-hanger ending! Sorry guys, but to keep the length of each installment down, I have saved the next bit of plot for the next installment. Expect a bit of a flashback and some history on Laszlo and Danika in Part 4.