The Vampire Archer

Chapter 1

     The sun hung low through the swaying willow tree. The clouds faded into sheets of white on the darkening sky. I sat on the tattered, brown bench as the sun sank beyond the horizon and the shadows of the tombstones began to fade into the night. It was then that the creatures of the night began to stir.

     The moon began to peek over with a small smile and I watched as the coffin that sat next to me began to creak open. I sat my sketch pad on top of my messenger bag and stood up over the coffin lid. Inside was a very pale young man. He wore a pair of blue jeans, a black shirt with a football on the side, tattered black tennis shoes that looked like they’ve been worn for years, and a silver dog tag that hung from his neck. I’ve no doubt that those shoes have seen more ground than they probably should have. His black ear-length hair was tousled from what seemed like a lack of sleep.

     “Hey. What are you doing here?” the young man said. His voice was sweet, but the hint of anger always hung, no matter what.

     I smiled. I looked at the young man. He was eighteen, and looked like he could rip a tree from its roots and throw it. “What does it look like I’m doing?” I asked. I stood back from the coffin and allowed him room to get up. He plopped onto the ground with a soft thud. The tennis shoes he was wearing didn’t move an inch. I’ll never understand how he can go on shoes like that. He dusted off his pant leg with his left hand and looked up at me.

     “I know why, I just didn’t think it’d be this early.” He said.

     I looked at him funny, but only for a moment. He was a creature of the night, so right before sundown would be pretty early for him. For me, however, it was getting late. I shrugged it off like it was nothing. I walked over to a monument overlooking the cemetery hill. All those graves, all of which hid people ready to be awakened here soon, were just resting before the storm.

     I live in town called Crystolum, and it’s a town purely filled with vampires. Guess what I’m not. Yea, that’s right, a vampire. I’m not a vampire, but I know I’m not in any danger. Everyone in this town knows me like family. Once I helped stop a rampaging, rouge vampire threating to destroy the entire town, but that is a story I really don’t like talking about. It was a long time ago and it was a bad time for all of us in Crystolum.

     He walked up to me and stood there staring at whatever it was I might have been looking at. The sounds of creaking coffin lids and steel mausoleum door began to ring over the cemetery.  Laughter and voices began to fill the air. I looked as the dead cemetery began to fill with life and movement.

     “You want that, don’t you?” he said, and when I didn’t answer, he tried again. “Jess, you there?”

     “What?” I asked. “Oh, um, sure. Let’s just get started. It’s early enough to start without too much commotion.” I said. I walked down the hill, past the laughing young vampires playing with dolls stitched by hand and the young adults watching over them. Some said hi as we past and I simply smiled back. I was trying to get into town as soon as possible. The town was having its yearly Moonlight Festival and I was supposed to be in the courthouse before things started up.

     The Moonlight Festival is one of the biggest festivals in Crystolum. It houses Freak Houses, which are like Fun Houses only spookifyed, magicians with crazy illusions, and neighboring towns come by with their own booths and abilities. Every year the town of Skymoth has their werewolves howl at the moon simultaneously and it’s actually sounds amazing if done correctly.

     “Hey Jess, Hey Nathaniel. Heading to work?” Mr. Matthews, the cemetery gate keeper, said. “The townsfolk are looking forward to the festival and I’m hoping I won’t be the only one keeping watch.” His voice was harsh. I could tell he doesn’t like working with two teenagers. Mr. Matthews was in his late vampire fifties, with greying hair and a round shape. He thinks he’s top notch because of his gatekeeping years, although no one really cares.