Emmerson & The Guardian

Did I Mention I'm a Vampire

    Gazing out of the window of the office building I nervously fidget with my wedding band.  I recall the inscription “in this life into death and the next”.  I can still hear him whispering it into my ear on our wedding day.  I decide to call my husband again.  I lift the receiver and punch the redial button.  Just like the 30 times before it goes straight to voice mail.

“This is Freddie.  Owner of Freddie Fisher Photography.  I am unable to answer currently.  Leave me a short message, and I’ll get back to you….beep”

Click.  

    I hang the phone up because no one is listening to my voicemails at this point.  If he were…he would at least have the decency to send me a text saying he is not dead in a ditch somewhere.  I came to Freddie’s office to see if by some miracle I’d find some hints to his whereabouts.  I have checked his calendar a dozen times, and there are still no appointments in it just like there weren’t the first time I checked.  He’s a photographer, so I assumed he would have some shoots booked on his desk calendar or his outlook calendar.  But there aren’t….

I     know nothing about photography, except for the small bits Freddie revealed to me over the years.  I am sure I could zoom in and press a button, but Freddie is somewhat of a master of his art so I know I would just embarrass myself if I even tried.  But I do know to have shoots you have to book gigs, and he has none booked that I can see so what in God’s name has he been doing.  “Where the hell are you, Freddie?” I think to myself.

     I lean back in the executive chair and stare up at the ceiling watching the fan rotate around.  My hand reaches up and glides through my long blonde hair and twirls the end as it reaches the bottom.  The fan spinning almost puts me in a trance that makes my mind wander.  Freddie has put me in such a small box all these years that I don’t have a support group to even help me through his disappearance.  I have my mother, but hell, she’d be happy to hear Freddie was out of my life.  After high school I went to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for Athletic Training, and met Freddie who was giving a speech at a photography convention.  He was 5 years older than me, already graduated, while I was just starting my undergraduate program.  We were both sitting on a bench waiting for a bus when we started talking.  He paid my bus fare, and as we rode towards my house with not so much as a second of awkward silence- I fell in love.  Freddie is very smart.  I found it captivating.  He knows all the ins and outs of his trade.  I sat entranced by his passion for photography the entire bus ride.  He leaned back making a square frame out of his pointer fingers and thumbs around my face.  He squinted his eyes and wrinkled his nose before saying “Yep…extremely photogenic, just as I thought…”  And I thought my heart was going to explode from my chest.

     When we pulled up to my stop his whole-body slumped in defeat as I began to walk away.  I couldn’t help but find adorable and invited him.  He was the first guy I ever brought home that didn’t try to get in my pants which was refreshing.  And as the saying goes ‘the rest was history’.  We got married three months later at the Elvis chapel and have been married for seven years now.  And yes…it was as cheesy as you are envisioning.  Just a hunka hunka burnin love you may kiss the bride kind of thing.

    Things changed after we were married.  I could go out only for school.  Then when I was home, he insisted I do my homework, cook dinner, and tend to the household duties.  I figured once I graduated, he would allow me to start working.  But I was wrong.  So now my days are all the same.  A never ending time warp that is just like the movie Groundhogs Day…

7:00 am wake up and start a pot of coffee.

7:15 am head to the gym.

7:30 am call Freddie to let him know I am at the gym.

9:00 am call Freddie to let him know I am back home.

9:15 am shower and dress for the day.

10:00 am start a load of laundry.

10:15 am check in with Freddie.

10:30 am read my book.

12:00 pm eat lunch.

12:25 pm check in with Freddie.

12:30 pm vacuum, dust, and mop.

2:00 pm call Freddie to see what he would like for dinner.

3:00 pm head to the gym.

3:15 pm call Freddie to let him know I am at the gym.

4:45 pm call Freddie to let him know I am back home.

5:00 pm shower.

5:15 pm call my mother.

5:30 pm start dinner. 

7:00 pm eat dinner.

9:00 pm go to sleep.

            Every day.  It is always the same.  Even on the days when Freddie is out on a shoot the routine remains the same, because I never know when he might pop up to check in on me.  My mother, Sybil, cannot stand it.  But Freddie always told me it was for my own good and to protect me.  As I pull myself from my thoughts about what my normal routine is, I feel a sense of calm wash over me.  For the first time in seven years, I feel relaxed.  You might think I would be nervous not following my routine, but it is refreshing not having to answer to someone 24/7.  I will have to have a discussion with Freddie once he’s back home.  I need to be able to live a less structured life.  It is a sad existence to think I’m “breaking the rules” by just sitting in an office building.  I find myself making air quotes in the air as I think “breaking the rules”.  

          It is a sweltering afternoon in Las Vegas.   It is always hot here obviously being a desert climate, but today in the middle of March the thermostat reads 110 degrees.  And the A/C has been acting up at the office so the only source or circulating air I have is the ceiling fan.  All I can think of is jumping into a swimming pool to cool off…  But then I again I know Freddie would not appreciate me wearing my “underwear” in public…he thinks women’s swimsuits are vulgar.  Just then the telephone rings and startles me.  I stare at it for a moment.  It’s the first time the phone has rang in two weeks.  I take a deep breath and pick up on the fourth ring.

“Thank you for calling Freddie Fisher Photography.  How can I help you?”  

There is a long pause when finally a man’s voice lyrically sounds…”Hello, Emmerson.”  

How would he know who I am?  “Who is this?”  I rasp.  

After I hear him take in a sharp breath “Click”.  He hung up.

    I listen to the dial tone for a minute too long, but finally hang up the phone with a thousand thoughts dancing around my head. What was that about?  For some unknown reason I have a feeling deep in my gut that it has to do with Freddie’s disappearance.  But that’s ridiculous… “isn’t it?”  Local news stations have been broadcasting it for the last two and a half weeks, and if it weren’t for that, he is known well enough in the community for “Freddie Fisher Photography” that hearsay would have spread.  My husband has made his photography business in Las Vegas photographing landscapes and show girls…a curious combination.  But with his ventures in the photography industry, it wasn’t unlike him to be gone for several days at a time.  He would preach to me about being in the right place at the right time to get the perfect lighting.  There would be days he would stay in that hideous red flannel button up shirt examining the light, clicking test shots for a future venue.  Never moving.  Never leaving.  Just snapping shots every few minutes.  Recording the time each shot was taken. 

            Leaning onto the desk propping my head up with one of my fists while my other hand glides effortlessly through my hair again.  I catch a glimpse of myself in the reflection of the wall of windows.  I look weak.  It’s been too long since I’ve slept and the bluish-purple rings under my eyes almost match the irises.  Freddie and I haven’t been in love for a long time.  I think we were always meant to be just friends- at least that is what I keep telling myself, because I cannot think of another reason a man wouldn’t want to have s*x with his wife.  Freddie hasn’t touched me in at least 5 years.  And I’m a f*****g bombshell by any view.  I’m not conceited in the slightest, but I know I look good enough for most men to not kick me out of bed… so my very own husband should be trying to get lucky several times a week…shouldn’t he? 

    There have been a lot of happenings in the news lately though, and Freddie is very vested in his news and politics, so I tell myself he is just too worked up to want me.  “yeah…that’s it Em.”   My subconscious and I have a difference of opinion on this though it seems.  But there really has been a lot happening in the country lately that, and it has driven a stake further between us- because I do not want to open my legs for someone that is as closed minded as him.  For the first time in history vampires have been proven real, and Freddie has become quite outspoken with his distaste for their race….Oh, and ummmmm…. Did I mention I’m a vampire?

            I am Emmerson Faye Fisher, a vampire unbeknownst to my husband…

            I know how this might look, but NO, I didn’t kill my husband.  True, we have lived in this husk of a marriage for a while now, and he has been gone a lot on ‘shoots’- though I’d never know- he never shows me his work. But I do not believe in killing humans.  In fact, I admire and adore the fragility of human life.  Never knowing when your next moment could be your last…it’s a blissful existence.  So much to live for never knowing if it’ll all be gone tomorrow.  

            There has been gossip for centuries of my kind lurking in the night preying upon helpless humans, and this may be true, but until a few months ago my kind has covered their tracks… pretty well.  Even still, I would venture to say the majority of our race are just trying to make it day by day amongst the humans.  Though they know we are sharing their planet, the simple fact that they know very little about us remains.

 1. Vampires aren’t bitten into existence, but rather born.  Born of a vampire mother and a human father to be exact.  All male vampires are sterile.  There are several large covens of vampires across the world that live in our more stereotypical habit, drinking blood until they are drunk, and s*x crazed.  But as this is the 21st century most of our kind have evolved and desire to live hidden in plain sight.  In fact, there are even dating sites for people that are into “trying new things”.  So there have been plenty of vampire human relationships out there…though most of the humans just think their partners are really into role playing.

  2. There are perks to this life, for instance; I require no food… but I can eat and drink anything I like, and usually do just to keep up appearances.  The desire to drink blood is the only constant reminder to most vampires that we are indeed vampires.  We do not require it to live, though it takes many years practice to be able to train yourself to live without it.  You can think of us as recovering drug addicts…once blood is reintroduced into our systems we are addicted once more.  Which is why I choose to completely abstain.  Though, to live without blood does weaken our senses.  

3.Our bite is not toxic, but it hurts like a b***h.  We can bite humans after hypnotizing them, and unless you drain them completely, they will be fine the next morning.  Without a scratch, or fang mark.  But there are a few rather brazen vampires who have taken the need for blood to the extreme, which is how we have recently been put into the spotlight of the media.  We are not integrated into society as vampires, but honestly, I am surprised that our secret has been kept out of the tabloids as long as it has though.  When Mary Morrinson told a boy, she was in love with, her secret in a hopes of making him love her more- he instead told The Las Vegas Sun.  She was crushed and in a fit of rage drained him of every drop- of course the mortals didn’t take a liking to such antics and drove a stake through her heart.

4. We do possess super strengths that include speed, agility, hypnosis, and have long lifespans. The aging piece of our puzzle makes it difficult to stay in one place for too long, so many of my kind are drifters, and partly contribute to America’s high divorce rate.  I was always aware in the back of my mind that my marriage would have to come to an end due to the aging fact, so perhaps his disappearance was a favor after all.  Anyway, some of us also possess special gifts…I have the ability to feel emotion.  I cannot read thoughts but have a keen sense of what one is thinking due to my heightened ability.  My eccentric mother spoke of vampire abilities when I was a young child, and she said there were some of our kind that possess unique gifts like flight, mind reading, super strength, or telepathy…though in my 25 years have not encountered another with such unique abilities.  Sybil, my mother, was always evading my questions about our kind.  Much of what I have gathered from her had to be coaxed out of her when she was under the influence or half asleep.

  5.  We can be killed by two ways, by stake through the heart or fire.  The rest of the torturous deaths by holy water, garlic, and sunlight invented by Hollywood are all luckily ineffective…Thank heavens because I love the sun.  But anyways...now humans are attempting to eradicate my kind, and quite publicly. From what my mother used to tell me, there have been many factions of vampire hunters across the continental US, and some parts of Europe with many more amateurs popping up over the last few months due to Mary's little stunt.  The real deals though, refer to themselves as “The Guardians”- sent here from God himself to protect humanity.  Until recently, these individuals were kept to a secret society of elitist who kept us as hush hush as we do.    

            All this being said…no one can really tell a vampire apart from a human being.  This is how I’m hiding in plain sight.  I married my husband, Freddie, when I was 18 years old.  And he never knew my secret.  I never wanted to involve him, and quite frankly I’m glad I never told him after seeing his reaction to finding out that Vampires are actually real.  I can recall his exact words when he found out.

“I hope all the soulless wretches’ burn in the vast depths of hell…” and I noticed a sly smile out of the corner of my eye.

“You don’t really mean that do you Freddie?” I ask astonished by the vulgar thoughts expressed by my husband.  When he looked at me, I could see his blue eyes glimmer with an emotion I never expected…excitement.

“I mean it with every fiber of my being, Em.  I bet at this very moment there is a group of people hunting them in hopes of eradicating their existence from our world.” As he said this, I could feel the deepest darkest depths of his soul exuding hatred for my kind.  He ran his hand through his curly brown hair and stared off into space.  His expression was dark.  And I felt a chill run down my spine.  Because I know he’s right…The Guardians are out there.