Archivist note: This post is from an older recovered archive.
==Initial Post==
The Chronicles of Scottie Melnik – A Glass of Absinthe – June 16
((Posted by Scottie Melnik on June 17, 2010))
Tonight I finally got the centrifuge properly calibrated. No more pink goo and the solution separates much better than I thought possible with this rig. I held up a tube with an inky crimson sludge at the bottom, a thin strip of white near the center, and a nearly clear liquid on top with hint of a yellow tint. I inserted a syringe into the mix aiming for the thin white layer. I remember that was the place where Dr. Moebius’ work had led him last. He had thought he was onto something there, but I’m not quite sure what it was.
Placing a drop on the glass slide I slipped it under the microscope and turned the knobs until spiky white spheres came into focus. They floated throughout the mixture and I made note of the number, size, and their activity. I had to use a steady hand to get to the even thinner white line in the second sample. The little white spheres were there but in far fewer numbers. Again, I wrote this down in the notebook, tapping the pen against my chin. Just what did this mean?
I poured out a glass of absinthe and once again found myself thinking of my time with the good doctor. For the most part he was a good man and his aims were admirable but it was a member of his ‘family’ I found more intriguing.
“Is that… blood!?” I exclaimed. The icebox had contained three smaller boxes with test tubes filled with a thick red liquid. Each was full of the tubes except the top box which only had a few left. I shut the door and turned to him wide-eyed. A smile crossed his lips. “Of course it’s blood. Not only is it what sustains us but it also is the subject of my studies. I believe that blood is the key to our… condition.”
I looked around the room again and certain details I had missed staring at the centrifuge started jumping up and down and waving at me. Syringes were lined up next to a batch of cleaned tubes, a large pot of water sat over a stove tucked away in a corner with white towels hanging near it, and a of course a stand holding three separate blood-filled tubes.
My mouth opened to start asking questions but he raised his hand, “All in due time, Mr. Melnik. Would you like a drink?” I recoiled at the offer and he laughed again, “Now now, we do have more to offer than just blood. How about some absinthe? It’s a favorite of the house.”
“Um, yeah, that would be fine, thank you.” I didn’t really care for absinthe but I felt it was better than the alternative. The doctor opened the door to the front area of the building, motioning me through. I stepped from the bright lab into a dimly-lit front room converted into a rather stylish parlour. The windows had been bricked over and there were various pieces of matching furniture facing a large fireplace in the back corner to my left. The wall to the front was lined with bookshelves and the rest adorned with lamps and paintings. There was a stairway that led to the second floor next to the front door on my right. Next to the stairs was a small bar.
Dr. Moebius brushed past me and started a fire as he asked me to take a seat. I carefully sat upon the couch and once a roaring fire list up the room he went back to the bar. I turned to watch him as he produced two glasses and filled each to half with the green liquid. He walked back, presenting one of the glasses to me and then took a seat in an over-stuffed chair, settling in. We both took a sip at the same time and I nearly recoiled from the taste.
“I’m sorry,” he chuckled, “most people take it with water and sugar. I’ve been drinking it straight for so many years I’d nearly forgotten. If you’d like-“
“No, that’s okay. It’s not that bad, really. Just a little… sudden. Thank you.” I forced another sip down my throat without so much as a grimace even though suppressing the urge took a great deal of effort. He studied me closely and could probably tell I was lying, but he folded on leg over the other and began to speak.
“No doubt you wish to know of the ‘condition’ I spoke of and how it relates to the nature of my experiments. But first, let me ask you. What do you know of vampires?”
I drew a breath as I scanned my brain for information. “Well, vampires are creatures who were once dead but now walk amongst us, ‘living’ for forever in the darkness. They feed on human blood and can only come out at night for the sunlight would kill them. They must sleep within a casket and in the dirt from their native land. They are incredibly powerful and cannot be killed unless a wooden stake is driven through their hearts or, again, they are exposed to sunlight. Oh, and they can’t enter churches or stand the sight or touch of certain holy artifacts, such as crosses, holy water, etc.”
The doctor chuckled politely yet again. “Yes, that is what we like you all to think. Some of it is true, most of it isn’t. It might surprise you to know that there are those of us within the vampire community who help spread those rumors and nudge certain writers into including them in their books. We prefer the details of our true natures to be a tad ambiguous. We don’t want anyone knowing too much about our weaknesses. But for reasons I cannot explain I trust you. That sense of a lost soul I spoke of earlier was only part of it. So, here it is.” He took another sip of his absinthe and I followed suit, finding myself yet again containing my revulsion. He smiled knowingly but continued.
“Yes, we were drained of our life to the point of death and then fed the blood of a vampire, rising back to life. Some call us ‘undead’, but I assure you we’re quite alive. I’m not sure if we live forever but I know of a few as old as 500 years. I’m relatively spry for an old man of 127 myself, come to think of it. We do not need to sleep in a casket or dirt. In fact, I have a lovely four-post bed upstairs that is quite comfortable.” He then reached into his pocket, producing a small crucifix. “The symbols of religion do no harm to us. I rather find them to be a comfort, truth be told. I don’t know if we’re ‘incredible powerful’, but some of us tend to be quite a bit faster and stronger than humans and our senses are heightened. Think about how much tastier this absinthe would be if you were like me.”
A perceptible shudder ran through me as I thought about how this stuff would taste were my sense of taste suddenly amplified. He stifled a laugh and I took a rather large swallow of the green liquid out of some misplaced act of defiance. He simply shook his head with a smile.
“Something that may also surprise you is that there are many different kinds of vampires. Not all of us are bound to the darkness and not all of us must feed from human blood. The strengths of our race vary wildly; some possess great strength and/or agility while some only marginally so. I once knew a woman who could hear a pin drop from 100 meters away. She didn’t last long as a vampire, I’m afraid. She couldn’t shut out the noise…”
He shook his head sorrowfully and I took another rather large swallow of absinthe, hardly tasting it at all this time as I leaned forward. I could feel my cheeks warm in the glow of the fire from the alcohol by I was stone sober, taking in everything he said. I had never considered that there were vampires walking in the daylight or that they didn’t have to feast upon humans. He took a drink and I continued to listen intently.
“While there are many other types, the ones you’re most familiar with is my kind. Yes, I must feed upon human blood and yes, I must stay indoors during the daylight hours. In fact, as you’ll see in about two hours if you decide to stay, there are eleven of us who live here. And while eight of them are like myself, two are slightly different. They are anomalies. For whatever reason, during their turning, they got caught between human and vampire. They can-“
He stopped suddenly and cocked an ear to the door. I tensed up, wondering what could cause one such as he to just freeze. He smiled broadly and took another sip of his absinthe. I followed suit but remained quite alarmed.
“That will be Cara. I can hear her approaching now. She’s one of these hybrids I’m talking about.” And with that the front door opened and in walked one of the most beautiful creatures I had ever seen. Her skin was pale, but not overly so. She was clad in a dark blue dress that nearly touched the ground and her raven black hair cascaded down her back and over her shoulders, curling lightly at the ends. My heart and breath halted just as she did, her eyes landing on me first, then darting to the doctor, then back to me. Then, in the voice of an angel, she said, “Oh! I am sorry doctor. I did not realize you were having company tonight.”
The doctor didn’t bother to rise and merely waved his hand, “No need for apologies, my dear. Your ears must have been burning for I was just talking about you and Cedric. Please, join us. This is Mr. Melnik and I’m hoping he’ll be assisting me in my studies.” I found I couldn’t stand either, my legs no longer heeding my commands. She collected a glass from the bar while looking me over, not needing to pay attention at all to the bar itself. It was like she knew right where everything was at. She poured herself a glass of absinthe and then approached us with the bottle, first topping off the doctor and then turning to me, “Would you like a refill Mr. Melnik?”
I gazed up into what I could see bright green eyes dancing with the reflection of the fire. My mind shouted to stand for this lady and finally, but not so gracefully, I arose, holding out the glass in a shaky hand, “Y-yes please…” She smiled a beautiful smile that melted my heart further and took hold of it, her hand touching mine as she steadied the glass and filled it to three-quarters.
“Absinthe is my absolute favorite and I see you drink it straight like we do! How delightful!” She turned and took her own glass as I plopped back down into my seat. My eyes never left her as she glided around the couch and took a seat next to me. The doctor cleared his throat, momentarily breaking the spell as I turned my attention back to him.
“As I was saying, Cara here is a hybrid. She didn’t quite make the full transformation from human to vampire. She can walk in the daylight and she can subsist on normal human food. It doesn’t happen often and when it does most are killed as abominations. I rescued her from my former clan about fifty years ago.” I suddenly looked back to this girl, this woman. Fifty years ago? She hardly looked older than myself! I shook my head in wonder.
She smiled sweetly at me, “I know, it does not seem real, does it? It did not to me at one time either. The world is full of wonder, both great and terrible. The terrible has given me seventy years of discover the great.” She took a drink of her absinthe and then settled back against the couch, “But I would trade it all to be completely human again. And with your help perhaps the doctor can achieve that for us.”
I knew right then I would help them in almost any way I could. What the doctor needed from me wasn’t much and it gave me the opportunity to be close to Cara. If only I had known that there would come a time that I would need to carry on the experiments by myself I might have paid closer attention to the doctor’s work instead of this enchanting young lady.
Oh, who am I kidding?
==Comments==
*Comment by Scottie Melnik on June 17, 2010 at 6:54pm
((I purposely alluded to there being different kinds of vampires so as not to step on anyone’s RP. Doctor Moebius and his ‘family’ are but one type of vampire and I will probably not get into other types unless it fits the story later. This is by no means an attempt at telling everyone what what a vampire is or isn’t.))
*Comment by Gabriell Anatra on June 18, 2010 at 9:02pm
((Interesting. I had intended to do something similar with Gaby if she actually turns out to be a demon. I’m torn on that though. I lean in that direction, but it could be more interesting to make her something like a member of one of the near-baseline clades from Orion’s Arm for instance.))
