The Traveling Vampire Show

Chapter Fifty-one

Though the loud speakers hissed and crackled, I knew the voice. It belonged to Julian Stryker.

For the first time since entering the stadium, I turned my eyes to the arena. There stood Stryker on top of a canvas object that looked like some sort of large, rectangular tent. About ten feet high, maybe twenty feet long and wide, it took up most of the arena. The wind shook the canvas walls with a sound that reminded me of sailboats on the river.

It blew Stryker’s long black hair and fluttered his shirt. His loose black shirt, half unbuttoned, gleamed in the stadium lights. His black leather pants looked as if they’d been oiled. He held a microphone in one hand, and turned slowly like the ringmaster of a circus. As he turned, the microphone in his right hand picked up the jangle of his spurs.

“WELCOME TO THE TRAVELING VAMPIRE SHOW!”

Some polite applause came from the audience.

“MY NAME IS JULIAN STRYKER. I AM THE OWNER OF THE SHOW AND YOUR MASTER OF CEREMONIES FOR TONIGHT’S EXTRAVAGANZA.”

Lee nudged me, grinned, and said, “Extravaganza!”

“TONIGHT, YOU’LL FEAST YOUR EYES ON THE WORLD’S ONE AND ONLY KNOWN VAMPIRE IN CAPTIVITY… A DIRECT DESCENDENT OF THE GREAT COUNT DRACULA HIMSELF… THE GORGEOUS AND DEADLY VALERIA!”

More applause, along with some whispers and titters.

Stryker raised his arms for silence.

When the audience quieted down, he continued, “NOT LONG AGO, VALERIA ROAMED THE WILD REACHES OF THE TRANSYLVANIAN ALPS, FALLING UPON PEASANTS AT NIGHT, SINKING HER TEETH INTO THEIR THROATS AND DRAINING THE BLOOD FROM THEIR BODIES. AT MY RANCH IN ARIZONA, I KNEW NOTHING OF THESE STRANGE, UNGODLY MURDERS. NOT UNTIL THE NEWS ARRIVED THAT MY OWN UNCLE AND HIS FAMILY HAD BEEN VICIOUSLY SLAIN IN THEIR HOME NEAR BUDAPEST. LEARNING OF THIS, I UNDERTOOK AN EXPEDITION TO BRING THEIR SLAYER TO JUSTICE.

“FOR THREE LONG YEARS, MY TEAM AND I SEARCHED FOR THE VAMPIRE KNOWN AS VALERIA. GUIDED BY REPORTS OF EACH NEW ATROCITY, WE SLOWLY CLOSED IN ON HER. AT LAST, WE TRACKED VALERIA TO HER MOUNTAIN LAIR. WE ENTERED AFTER DAYLIGHT AND FOUND HER SLEEPING—AS IF DEAD—INSIDE HER COFFIN.

“THOUGH I HAD EVERY INTENTION OF PUTTING VALERIA TO DEATH, I FOUND MYSELF OVERWHELMED BY HER BEAUTY AND WAS UNABLE TO PERFORM THE DREADFUL TASK. STILL, SHE HAD TO BE STOPPED. I COULD NOT ALLOW HER TO CONTINUE HER RUTHLESS CAMPAIGN OF MURDER. AT LAST, WITH THE AID OF A WISE MAN WELL VERSED IN THE ARTS OF MESMERISM, I GAINED CONTROL OVER VALERIA’S MIND AND THUS ENSLAVED HER TO MY WILL.

“AND SO I REMOVED HER FROM HER NATIVE TRANSYLVANIA AND BROUGHT HER TO MY OWN COUNTRY… OUR COUNTRY, YOURS AND MINE, AMERICA.”

Good patriots, most of the people in the bleachers cheered and applauded.

When the noise subsided, Stryker continued his speech. “UNFORTUNATELY, DUE TO HER BLOOD-THIRSTY NATURE, VALERIA IS NOT A WELCOME GUEST IN OUR LAND. LIKE THE WANDERING JEW, SHE MUST FOREVER CONTINUE HER TRAVELS, NEVER STOPPING LONG ENOUGH TO REST, NEVER FINDING A HOME. AND SO WE ARE HERE TONIGHT, PAUSING BRIEFLY ON OUR JOURNEY TO PROVIDE YOU GOOD FOLKS WITH A CHANCE TO VIEW AN ACTUAL VAMPIRE… VIEW HER AND MORE!”

While he paused, I heard whispers hissing through the audience.

Then he said, “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I’LL MAKE YOU WAIT NO LONGER. HERE SHE IS! THE WORLD’S ONLY LIVING VAMPIRE IN CAPTIVITY! THE LOVELY! THE LETHAL! THE MOUTH-WATERING TEMPTRESS OF TRANSYLVANIA! VALERIA!”

He flung his arms high and the audience erupted. As we clapped and cheered, several members of his black-shirted crew hurried into the arena. For the first time, I noticed that ropes were hanging down the canvas walls… three on my side of the enclosure and three (I assumed) on the opposite side.

Each of the ropes was picked up by a member of Stryker’s crew. I spotted Vivian in the arena with the center rope from our side. She and the others walked backward, pulling. The ropes came off the ground, lifted away from the canvas, and stretched taut to the place where they were secured on top of the enclosure.

Stryker swung his arms down. It was a signal.

Vivian and the others tugged their ropes.

“VALERIA!” Stryker cried out.

All around him, crackling and whapping, the sheets of canvas fell to the ground.

Stryker was standing atop a steel cage. Its roof and every side were made of thick bars like a jail. It was raised a couple of feet off the ground on cinder blocks. It seemed to have a floor of some kind—maybe wood over more bars. Whatever the floor was, it seemed to be covered by a foot-thick layer of dirt.

Near the center of the floor lay a simple, wooden casket. Its lid was shut.

I took my eyes away from the coffin for a moment and looked around. Every spectator seemed to be staring at it.

For a while, the only sound came from the wind blowing through the trees around Janks Field.

Hands on hips, Stryker gazed down through the bars.

“VALERIA!” he shouted. “ARISE!”

The coffin lid flew off as if kicked. I flinched. So did people all around me. Most of the audience seemed to gasp. A few people let out startled squeals. The coffin lid flipped over a couple of times and hit the dirt floor. Dust drifted up and blew away.

Valeria sat up very slowly as if in a trance.

At first, I could only see her in profile. Then, very slowly, she turned her head away. She seemed to be studying the audience in the bleachers across from ours. While she did that, I studied the thick, black hair flowing down her back.

Slowly, her head turned to the front, then to our side.

All around me, people moaned and whispered.

Rusty was one of those who moaned.

To say that Valeria was gorgeous would be like calling Mount Rushmore a nice piece of sculpture. Rusty won our wager by a landslide. I would get my head shaved by Slim.

Valeria’s head turned toward the front again.

She sat motionless. The audience was dead silent.

“Valeria, arise,” Stryker commanded in a low, firm voice from the top of the cage.

She glided upward, rising to her feet with the elegance of a ballerina. Standing upright inside her casket, she must’ve been well over six feet tall. She spread her cape wide open like the wings of a bat and slowly began to turn.

When she turned toward us, I saw the outfit she was wearing beneath her cape: a top that looked like a bright red leather bra, a very short skirt of matching red leather, and red leather boots. The coffin blocked my view of the boots except for their very tops, which came up nearly to her knees.

All around me, people were murmuring. I heard Rusty say, “Holy shit.”

I might’ve said it, myself. I don’t know what I said, if anything. I only know that I gazed at Valeria, stunned.

Gazed at her amazing, beautiful face.

Gazed at her deep cleavage.

Gazed at the magnificent globes of her leather-encased breasts.

Gazed at her flat belly and the swell of her hips and her smooth, solid-looking thighs.

Then I saw her in profile. Then I saw only her back: the wide-spread cape and her thick, raven hair.

Completing her full turn, she lowered the cape and wrapped it around herself. As she walked toward the foot of her casket, I heard the jangle of spurs and glanced up at Stryker. He stood motionless on top of the cage, staring down at her.

She stepped out of the casket. The spurs were on her scarlet boots. She halted and stood motionless, staring straight ahead.

Stryker raised the microphone to his mouth. “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, VALERIA HAS BEEN ENCLOSED IN HER COFFIN SINCE OUR LAST PERFORMANCE SEVERAL NIGHTS AGO.” He paused for a few moments, then said, “AND SHE IS HUNGRY.”

Murmurs swept through the audience.

Lee glanced at me and grinned.

“SHE IS HUNGRY FOR BLOOD.”

Laughter, cheers and applause.

Stryker raised his arms, signalling for silence.

When the audience settled down, he announced, “THE TRAVELING VAMPIRE SHOW IS MORE THAN A PERFORMANCE BROUGHT HERE FOR YOUR EDIFICATION AND ENTERTAINMENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. IT IS ALSO OUR METHOD OF SUSTAINING VALERIA’S EXISTENCE.

“BEFORE BEING TAKEN INTO CAPTIVITY, SHE ROAMED THE NIGHT AND SUPPED AT RANDOM, DRAINING HER PREY OF THEIR BLOOD—TAKING THEIR LIVES. SHE NO LONGER KILLS. NOW, IN THE COURSE OF EACH PERFORMANCE, SHE GAINS HER NOURISHMENT NOT FROM ONE SOURCE BUT FROM SEVERAL… MEMBERS OF THE AUDIENCE!”

The people in the stands went wild with cheers, applause, whoops and whistles.

When the noise subsided, Stryker continued. “WE MAKE A CONTEST OUT OF IT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. A CONTEST OF STRENGTH, COURAGE AND ENDURANCE. AUDIENCE MEMBERS MAY VOLUNTEER TO ENTER THE CAGE OF VALERIA. ONE AT A TIME, OF COURSE. AND ONE AT A TIME, SHE WILL DRINK THEIR BLOOD… OR PERHAPS NOT. THOUGH SHE POSSESSES UNCOMMON STRENGTH AND AGILITY, HER CHALLENGERS FROM THE AUDIENCE ARE SOMETIMES ABLE TO RESIST HER.

“RESIST HER FOR A PERIOD OF FIVE MINUTES… PREVENT HER FROM DRINKING SO MUCH AS A SINGLE DROP OF YOUR BLOOD DURING A BOUT OF FIVE BRIEF MINUTES… AND YOU WILL WIN THE SUM OF FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS. THAT’S FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS CASH MONEY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN-HALF A THOUSAND DOLLARS.”

Someone in the grandstands on the other side of the arena called out, “You mean we gotta fight her?”

“ONLY IF YOU VOLUNTEER, SIR. BUT THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN. VALERIA IS VERY HUNGRY. SHE’LL WANT THE BLOOD OF ANYONE WHO STEPS INTO THE CAGE WITH HER—SHE’LL WANT IT BADLY. WHOEVER TAKES HER ON WILL HAVE A DESPERATE FIGHT ON HIS HANDS. OR ON HER HANDS. WOMEN ARE WELCOME… EVEN ENCOURAGED… TO CHALLENGE VALERIA.” He chuckled in a way that sounded very phony, then said into his microphone, “FIVE HUNDRED BUCKS WILL BUY A LOT OF GROCERIES, WON’T IT, LADIES?”

Another audience member, a woman this time, yelled, “Ain’t enough groceries to die for!”

“VALERIA’S CHALLENGERS RARELY DIE, MA’AM. SHE KNOWS WHEN TO STOP. HAVING YOUR BLOOD SUCKED BY VALERIA IS NO MORE DANGEROUS THAN DONATING A PINT TO THE RED CROSS… BUT MUCH MORE PLEASURABLE.”

Laughter and murmurs came from the crowd. A man shouted, “All right!” Another man yelled, “Sounds good to me!” Someone else, “I’m in!”

“BEFORE I ASK FOR VOLUNTEERS,” Julian continued, “I MUST WARN YOU THAT THOSE WHO CHALLENGE VALERIA DO RUN A RISK OF INJURY. OVER THE YEARS, A FEW HAVE EVEN SUCCOMBED TO THEIR INJURIES.”

Lee leaned toward me and I felt her upper arm against mine as she said in a quiet voice, “They died.”

I nodded.

“SHE IS VERY POWERFUL. THOUGH I’VE TAMED HER TO SOME EXTENT, SHE IS A VAMPIRE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. I MUST ASK EVERY CHALLENGER TO SIGN A WAVER BEFORE STEPPING INTO THE CAGE… RELEASING US OF LIABILITY FOR WHATEVER MISFORTUNES MAY OCCUR IN THE COURSE OF THE STRUGGLE.”

He looked down through the bars at Valeria. She still stood motionless just past the end of her coffin, staring straight forward.

“VALERIA, ARE YOU HUNGRY?”

She flung off her cape, threw her arms wide open as if to embrace the night, and roared.

“AUDIENCE, DO WE HAVE A VOLUNTEER?”