Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

24

The night earlier, after Hesling returned to his motel room:

        He bashed through the door and started rambling. "I'm a werewolf, you lot remember? A vampire-hunting werewolf," he shouted to himself. He put his back to a wall and slowly slid down it into a crouch. He grabbed a nearby bottle of alcohol on the floor and took a sip from it. "I spared you, Lincoln. Even after I spotted those fangs, I could sense your benevolence. Despite your nature, you have a strong, personal vendetta. They got to your family, is that what you said? Then your family turned on you and made you the very thing you despise. God, what a sad fate. I take pity on you for that. Well, they got to my family, too. I know what it's like." He took another drink from his bottle and his mind fell deeper into compassion.

       "Do you know how many times I've been scared? I may not seem like the fearful type, but the reason my fear of death appears faint is because my fear of failure—letting my wife and son down—is greater. I don't have time to worry about myself. I've never been the one that mattered most. I do it all for my family. My family, which I couldn't save. Nine years ago, my wife gave birth to the most beautiful child and was unable to stick around long enough to hug him or even love him. She was already turning—nothing could be done. Quickly, I had to take our child away from her. It made her cry. A mother who is a danger to her own child... it's tragic."

"Even more tragic was the realization that after the baby was born, she surely could smell him. It would have been so easy for her to track him down after she'd turned. Vampires' sense of smell is similar to a dog's. They can track anything down once they've caught a sample of it. So I understood that I and my child could not just leave her. No, I had to kill her. I knew a stake would suffice. The baby had to sit in my curled left arm as I did it. He screamed horribly at me, begging me to stop murdering his mother—my wife. I was a murderer with an anguished mind. In a way, she largely escaped the misery of becoming a monster. That put my mind at ease... slightly."

       "I took care of that boy for years... and then he got bit as well. I couldn't protect him either. Who can I save? What am I worth?" He goes to take another swig but stops himself. The town comes to mind. He was going to leave out of shame for his cowardice. Now that he thought of his family, he knew he couldn't retreat. There were still people that needed him. He couldn't let anybody else down. He was not a failure.

Not yet.

He grabbed his rifle, loaded it, and left.