Parallel World

Chapter 22

"Happy Valentine's Day," I said.

"What's with that sour face?" Jack chuckled.

"I don't like this so-called celebration of love. If others hadn't asked I wouldn't have bothered with decorations and everything."

"Oh, come on, at least you have a reason to wear your new blazer."

I pretended to elbow him in the ribs. Jack had a penchant for military style coats whereas I loved Burberry trench coats, posh wellies and all things vintage. Tonight I was wearing a purple smoking jacket from the 1930's and a pair of old Levi's 501. Jack, as usual, was wearing one of his white coats.

Balloons, lighting, projections on the walls... Wherever I looked I saw something pink. Even Slood was pink tonight. We had also changed the playlist to something more 'appropriate' for Valentine's Day. Personally, I was really tempted to put on Pink's Just Like A Pill. Vivienne had been in her element again. I didn't recognise my own club.

I met Vivienne like I had met most vampires: by chance. I was looking for an interior designer and someone recommended her. Vivienne said she had always had a great taste but, since nowadays no-one pays attention to you without a piece of paper, she had gone to uni and actually studied the subject. She used to work for a few interior design companies before going freelance. The reason behind that was quite banal: pretending to be a human was too much hassle for Vivienne. Of course, she didn't work for money, that was a no-no for vampires. She worked because she enjoyed it.

Jack and I were on the second floor balcony, overlooking the dance floor. The club was packed and I could only see couples here tonight. Given that about 90 % of our regulars were single I couldn't understand this sudden change of behaviour. How did they manage to find a date so quickly, anyway?! Meanwhile, Vivienne was whizzing around backstage - she had prepared a proper programme for tonight with films, competitions and various surprises. The best part of it all? Vivienne, who loved Valentine's Day so much, was single.

Suddenly I spotted someone in the crowd.

"Mia's here. Who would have thought... I can't say I'm pleased to see her."

"It's better that she's here than out on the streets," Jack said.

He was right about that. Mia was a hot topic in our circuit. We had even called a meeting to discuss her once. Mia fed on human blood (that bit only worried Slood users), however, she had managed to piss off a lot of traditionalists with her antics.

Mia targeted couples and did it more for entertainment than food. Her favourite thing was to find a very happy couple - ideally, someone with a set wedding date and then kill one of them. She seemed particularly keen on young couples as she believed they would mourn the loss more. As if that wouldn't be enough, Mia used to spy on the surviving fiance/fiancee/partner and experienced great delight observing their suffering.

Us vampires weren't sweethearts, most of us were narcissists and egoists, however, Mia's actions caused an outrage in our community. The ones who prided themselves in being particularly cold hearted and uncaring criticised Mia by saying that "one shouldn't be playing with food" and "vampires don't behave like that" (find delight in anything but themselves). Others were more to the point and said that what Mia did was sick.

Mia responded by telling us to keep out of her life and that she didn't care what we think. That was the end of it. What could we do? Fine her? We did have a few rules in our world but they were all aimed at protecting our existence from humans not the other way around.

After the meeting I gathered some information about Mia and what I found out was very sad. It didn't justify her behaviour but it did help to understand where it all had started.

Mia was born in Denmark in 1815. She came from a wealthy family but lost her parents early and was raised by relatives. She was a curious and witty girl. For instance, she learnt how to read at the age of four. She grew up and became a beautiful, well educated and very kind woman. As all her peers, Mia dreamt about Prince Charming. Mia met one - or so she thought - when she was 18. A tall handsome stranger full of love and affection. He swept Mia off her feet and a wedding soon followed. Mia was the happiest she'd ever been and the first few months were fantastic. She didn't notice when things took a dark turn.

One night Mia's doting husband showed his true nature - he turned out to be a con artist who had only married her for her money and it was time for him to become a widower. Mia was still in shock from what she had just heard when he grabbed and strangled her. His cruel laughter was forever embedded in Mia's mind.

He presented her death as an accident. The grieving widower went to collect his inheritance. Meanwhile, flowers were wilting on Mia's grave. The story would have ended there had Mia not turned into a vampire after death.

Risen from her grave, Mia wanted just one thing: revenge. Her heart was full of hate and anger, and she wanted to suck out every last drop of blood from her husband. Mia went back to her house but found it empty. She waited a few days and only left the property to hunt. A few weeks passed. Nothing. Mia got tired of waiting.

Although she only appeared on the streets late in the evening or at night she could still hear the echoes of human life. She saw people having fun as she passed by bars. She saw happy couples in restaurants and through the windows of their homes. Every laughter, every caress made her feel as if something had cut her with a sharp piece of glass. That's how it started. Mia never saw her husband again so she took it out on innocent people.

I thought of Frankenstein. His monster caused a lot of damage but who was the real culprit? It was Frankenstein himself! He gave life to someone he later abandoned. The monster had a loving heart but his looks made people despise him. The way people had treated him eventually filled the monster's heart with hate. He killed Frankenstein's younger brother, best friend and wife but it was Frankenstein's fault that they died.

That, in turn, reminded me of a film. The film itself was so-so but I liked the ending. It was about a man-eating crocodile in Burundi*. The situation had become so bad that foreign assistance was required. The end credits revealed that it was inspired by a true story: the crocodile, named Gustave, had developed a taste for human flesh during the Burundian Civil War when many dead bodies were thrown in the river. Gustave got so used to this type of food that he started to attack people. The credits stated that Gustave is a monster we created. He is still alive.

Same was applicable to Mia. She was a monster and she, too, had her maker. She did not appear out of nowhere. For almost two hundred years she had brought suffering to countless people but who was equally responsible for the pain she caused? Her husband. He himself was long gone but his monster was still roaming the Earth, and no-one could ever undo the damage. And why? Because once upon a time a greedy man took a young woman's life and got away with it.

"Are you keeping an eye on how close to the exit Mia is?" Jack asked. Of course I was and he was doing to the same thing.

I nodded. Monsters like Mia couldn't change. They either destroy their creator and then destroy themselves like Frankenstein's monster did or get destroyed by a third party. But until then...

*Primeval (2007)