The Vampire's Plot

There was no turning back or running ahead; both were blocked by the Vampire tag team she nicknamed Harold and Maud after that kind of creepy movie of the same name.

Harold was bringing up the rear, putting pressure on her like a herding sheep dog, only not as cute.

Maude was a handsome woman, though a tad long in the tooth as they say sometimes to describe elderly folk. Of course, in her case it was factual as well. Her two inch incisors were already distorting her red-smeared mouth. The sucking sound she was making as she cleaned her teeth, making ready for another meal, was really getting on her last nerve.

"Hey" she shouted as she jagged and darted off to her left hoping to gain some ground and widen the gap between the two hunters.

"Hey! Why don't you just get yourself a good tooth brush Maude; you sound like a goddamn sow with a plugged snout!"

The sun glinted off Maud's toothy grin as she matched Kelly's moves, step for step.

Kelly realized Harold had fallen somewhat behind in their unique dance moves. She took a quick glance over her shoulder and saw him slumped against a stout oak tree. He wasn't exactly falling over, because there was a long metal shank running through his heart and deep into the thick trunk.

"Wow! I wonder how that happened." Kelly asked herself and hoping she'd have an answer soon.

Maud had let out a long, keening screech; a cross between a howler monkey and a thousand sharp finger nails on a chalk board.

Kelly muffled her ears with a quick ward. She continued to run, not actually aware of her surroundings. She had been hurling spells and constructing wards around herself, but Maud was relentless.

Luckily for her, her own speed exceeded the Vampire's. That was only because they shared some common traits; some unique gene markers you might say.

In short; they were sisters!

Maud, then known at Louise, had left the Drew Id Ranch where her parents, both dabbled in sorcery and cult behavior which she found repugnant. She had no intention of following any of their personal dictates and left them and her younger sister Kelly to stew in their own cauldron.

Life was waiting for her out there, she told herself, but it was death...that would claim her future, past and present. That took the form of Harold.

He found her wandering the hills, toward twilight; his favorite time of day to roam himself. After calming her fears that he'd not return her to her parent's hearth and kettle, he used his eye glamor to seduce her.

In the end, she was both smitten and bitten!

Now Kelly had come out of the fastness of the Wizard's ranch in pursuit of her older sister. In her place she found the Vampire she called Maud. There was no trace left of the headstrong sibling, who shouted her disdain for all things Magic and refused to take her place as a Witch among her family of Witches.

That sister was sucked dry of her life's blood and was walking as an undead in search of her next fix.

Kelly still couldn't figure out how Harold had met his demise.

I wonder if one of my trap wards was sprung by him? she was thinking as she made another zigzag move to throw Maude off for a second.

The race between them was getting closer and Kelly knew she couldn't rely on her stamina for much longer.

Just as she began to shorten her stride she heard a sharp whistle from above her. She turned her sweaty face upwards and slowed her panting. High above her and the closing Vampire, a Golden Eagle seemed to fill the sky with its enormous wing span. It rose higher and then swooped and rose again.

As Kelly ran and tried to keep watching the majestic creature, it tucked its dark wigs close around its body and hurdled toward the earth.

Kelly lost her rhythm and began to stumble. Before she could recover, Maud was flying like a thrown discus directly at her intended victim.

Just as her clawed fingers reached for Kelly's throat,with the intent of a quick tearing open and then gutting her, the eagle went into another fast stoop. This time it latched its sharp talons and massive beak onto the distracted Maud.

Harold wanted to get Maud when she was most vulnerable; when she fed like a ravenous beast. He'd been wanting to rid himself of the cloying Vamp and her pathetic attempts to join him in his coffin every day.

Oh, it was flattering at first, but after a century it became utterly boring. Above all, Harold needed fun in his endless death.

He knew Maude still harbored the sibling petty jealousies of her days in the sun with Kelly and used Kelly as a perfect lure to get rid of the annoying Maude while enjoying the sweet juices of the young Kelly.

Humming a bit to himself as he tore limb from limb and devoured the sweetest meats first, he chuckled as he formed a witty comment on the incident.

"There is nothing more satisfying than having your bait and eating it too"