Vampire Sunrise

Sunrise at the Royal

For once, Taylor wasn't staring into the display behind the bar. He was utterly overwhelmed by the sheer number of drink requests. The kitchen was loud, and everyone moved at a fever pitch except me. I was relaxed and had just finished my fourth zombie; I liked the tiny umbrellas.

Katie sat two bar stools down. She and Angel were both busily talking. In a million years, I wouldn't have guessed my life would have taken a turn like this.

I didn't know how many patrons the bar held, but there must be over a hundred and fifty people here. The pub had multiple large garage doors swung out, creating covered sidewalk space. Not a seat in the house was empty.

The police were involved and had sections of the street taped off. They, of course, were trying to free my vampire prisoners but weren't having any luck. It was almost 6:00 am, and the sun would rise soon.

The Channel 3 news crew had a boom microphone, and two cameras fixed on the grounded vampires, ready to record once the sun rose. I prepared in my own unique way.

"Taylor would you be so kind as to fix me another," I said and wiggled my glass in the air toward him.

"Why aren't you drunk yet? Two of those puts most people on their butt," he said. I shrugged and pushed my empty glass toward him. He took it and mixed me another.

I looked at the confined vampires and noticed a witch covering them with beautiful enchanted flowers. I knew the witches were all for the sunrise service, so I wasn't sure what the flowers were used for. I saw magic radiating off them, but nothing was happening to the vampires.

"Katie," I called.

"Yes, Alice," she answered as she giggled.

"Why is that witch putting flowers all over the vampires?" I asked.

"Those are Harmony Lilies. Lilies spelled to produce a sweet fragrance and give off colorful smoke when burned," Katie replied.

"Are the lilies part of some kind of ceremony?" I asked.

Katie shook her head and said, "Not this morning, but we wanted the entire city to see this as a good thing. We normally use those flowers during the coming of age ceremony for witches, but today we didn't want that horrible burnt vampire smell everywhere."

Katie and the witches fully supported my war with the vampires. They could only be terrorized so much before drawing a line in the sand.

Katie was about my height with sandy-blonde hair down to her mid-back and wore a skylight-blue top and form-fitting jeans. Over everything, she had on her special black coven leader cloak that came down to her ankles. She also had on an amulet in the shape of a crescent moon that radiated some type of magic.

"Alice, when you wake up with a killer hangover, don't say I didn't warn you," Taylor said with a grin as he sat my fifth zombie down.

"Sweetie, I don't sleep," I said, then winked at him. He paused for a second, making a face. "It's almost time, Angel," I said to her telepathically. She looked at me and smiled, then back to her observance of the room. Angel was very protective of me and never left my side unless it was past the last quarter moon.

"Look, it's starting," Katie said as she stood. I toasted glasses with Angel and watched everything unfold. The light slipped under the weakening darkness as dawn's first rays made a path for the sun to follow.

This morning's horizon was crystal clear; there wasn't a cloud in the sky, only a slight breeze rattled around the garage door hinges.

Everyone in the gastropub was anxious. All eyes were on the vampires. The broadcaster was tense with his fingers on an earpiece and his handheld microphone ready. Witches held hands, and the bar patrons positioned their cell phones, preparing to immortalize the first publicly broadcasted vampire executions in history.

The only sunlight these vampires had felt in hundreds of years started to flow carelessly over them. Their bodies could do little more than endure the raking of the light. My demonic bands entombed their bodies, preventing any movements or sounds.

Columns of differently colored smoke rose, thick and beautiful from the vampires. The smoke was vibrant, just like the flowers that held the magic.

After about two minutes, each vampire had a different color billowing up from their flame engulfed bodies. The whole city only had to look up, and they would see a bouquet of colors lacing through the sky.

The only smell was that of honeysuckle; it enveloped everything around us. After five minutes, the demonic bands turned into ashy powder, nothing left to hold but gray goo.

Without provocation, the witches clapped and embraced each other as if a presidential candidate had just finished a breathtaking motivational speech. Katie came over and hugged me as the broadcaster started commentating.

"You saw it here first folks, Channel 3 Live was first on the scene, with this now breaking story. Behind me, outside the Royal, we have just witnessed four vampires being burned to death in the morning sun.

"The vampires were held to the ground by some unknown force preventing them from escaping. Please be advised that what we are showing is not intended for younger viewers."

A camera panned back to the bubbling pile of vampires and thick smoke, stopping for about twenty seconds before the reporter spoke again.

"Even as the vampires burned, kindness was present during this horrific event. A heartfelt citizen displayed compassion as she placed flowers on their bodies and said a prayer in a show of respect.

"This day will long be remembered, and the questions raised will be answered. How did this happen? What's going on inside the vampire world? Are different vampire factions fighting each other?

"Answers to these questions and more tonight at 6:00 pm sharp. Remember, you heard it first here on Channel 3 Live; this is Eddie Baker signing off."

Eddie stood motionless, looking into the camera until given the thumbs up to move by the cameraman. He exchanged a microphone for a cigarette and notepad. He walked around the bar, ferreting for information, but of course, no one would say a word. Taylor even took down the black and white photo from behind the bar of me dragging John Maddox down the street.

Angel and Katie stood close, camouflaging me from the newshound. After about an hour, the news team, police, and sanitation teams had gone. The vampires were shoveled into hazmat containers, and their remains trucked off to wherever that type of material goes. The crowd inside the Royal thinned out. It had been a long night for the natural types.

"Alice, now that you've alerted the whole world that something is wrong with the vampires, what are you doing with the rest of your day?" Katie asked.

"I don't know, I got evicted from my apartment, so I guess I'll go look for another place."

"You got evicted? That's a joke, right?" she asked.

"No, Katie. I got evicted from the Decatur Blood Bank Apartments and need to find another place to call home. I need a shower and smell like honeysuckles and zombies."

Katie laughed and said, "Come with me, my funny-eyed demon girl; you and Angel can crash with me until you find a place. Witches have coven houses, and all of our coven sisters live together, so there's plenty of space."

"Thank you, Katie, that sounds wonderful." I waved at Taylor, and we three left the Royal.