0211: The Vampire's Daughter

Having forcibly lifted Susan up, John Paul looked her in the eyes and
said, "I control your destiny, not some mythical god."

"That's just not true," a man's voice said from across the room.

Paul tossed the girl to the floor and spun to see an Arab sitting on
the bed in the far corner of the room. "Where did you come from?"

"I've been here the whole time."

"Who the hell are you?"

"An interesting way to phrase that question. My name is Judas. Judas
Iscariot."

"You aren't funny."

"I wasn't trying to be."

"Well, Judas, do you think you can stop me?"

"It doesn't have to be like this," Susan sobbed.

"Oh, but it does," Paul said, turning toward the girl. "I have to kill
you before Sol has a chance to infect everyone with John Paul's twisted
imaginings. You must die before the simple minded believe in you. I
must save what I've created, and nothing this one can do will stop me."

He started to walk toward Susan, his back to the door, when a shaft of
metal ran through the center of his chest. He screamed in pain, swung
around and threw his attacker into the wall.

Staggering back toward the girl Paul said, "This will not stop me from
killing you."

Judas' hand touched Paul's shoulder as he said, "Yes, it will." Paul
fell to his knees, eyes wide. "You belong to me now," Judas said.

Susan began to cry and then ran to Claudia's body, which was crumpled
by the wall. "I'm sorry Claudia. I didn't want this. I love you."

"I love you, too," Claudia said. "Let me go free."

Susan sat holding Claudia's head in her lap with her eyes shut. She
couldn't say the words.

"It must be done," a voice said. "She is mine." Claudia's body
relaxed in Susan's arms.

"And that's when you came home," Susan said to Mary, ending her story
of the prior night.

Mary was in a daze. Of course Susan left out the parts where Judas and
the one who took Claudia were involved, but the story was still unreal.
Mary wasn’t sure what to believe of it, but from what she had seen,
there was no reason to doubt the girl. "You have no idea what happened
to Sol?" Mary asked, deciding to just accept the story and move on to
what was really important.

"No," answered Susan. "He just left."

Sol was so frightened by seeing Judas playing with Susan that he simply
lost his senses. He couldn't believe what she said was possible, but,
at the same time, knew it was true. Sol felt he had to talk to John
Paul.

He ran to his car and raced into the city. Outside the Church, he
thought as hard as he could about JP. After a few moments, a voice in
his head said, "Go to the front door." He did.

As he arrived, John Paul pushed open the door and rushed Sol up to his
residence in the bell tower.

"Tell me what's brought you to me in this state?" he asked Sol, sensing
the confusion his friend was feeling.

"I walked in to see the girl, Susan, and she was playing with a man.
When I saw him he disappeared. She said his name was Judas. The
Judas."

"What girl?" JP asked.

"The girl Sabastian has taken as his own."

"Why did you not tell me of this sooner?" John Paul asked.

"I... I wasn't ready," Sol said.

"You saw this girl playing with Judas, the betrayer?"

"Yes."

"My God," John Paul said. "My God!" he exclaimed.

[The Vampire’s Daughter: An ongoing vampire story. Copyright Reuben
Gregg Brewer, 2005, 2006. All rights reserved.]