One can never know really what fate might require of him in the next moment. No matter what measures he takes in order to ensure smooth transitioning from one task to the next, from one event to the next, he often discovers much too late that his preparations have been in vain. He finds himself in the midst of an event or series of events for which he has neither prior experience nor intellectual basis from which to formulate a reasoned response or establish a tenable course of action. Simply put he becomes lost for a time, however brief, floundering about grasping for whatever strands of reality he might.

I certainly would never have believed that I might be writing this particular piece were someone to have suggested the possibility as recent as yesterday. To be sure, I have been studying the subject matter for several years, from a purely academic perspective of course. In truth it wasn’t the subject matter that has been the object of my studies as much as the prevalence of the said topic in recent popular literature.

There can be no doubt that there has been an abundance of literary attention given to vampires over the last few decades. We all understand that vampires are the stuff of legend and lore, that they do not in reality exist. Anyone who would claim otherwise is looked upon with a certain tolerance granted those among us who might tend toward the eccentric. This, of course is as I have always believed. That is until I met Gregor. His full name is Erin James McGregor but he is known, by those who know him at all, by the derivative of his surname. Gregor is a vampire. I know this because he has told me a bit of his life story. I believe him not because he is a convincing teller of tales, but because of what I have seen, what I have experienced.

I know what you might think. I have fallen prey to an over active imagination. Certainly I myself have fought a fair number of dragons, wandered unwittingly into the lairs of orcs and goblins in their deep caverns even encountered a troll or two during my life of adventuring throughout the various fantasy worlds known to us all. I have even encountered from time to time a blood sucking vampire or some other denizen of the undead world. Anyone who has sat around a table with a pile of die and a stack of papers sipping strong coffee by the gallon can claim as much. You can be forgiven therefore, should you conclude that I might have simply lost my grasp on reality, fallen into the dark recesses of my own imaginings. Such is not the case however. I write truth today, a truth as real as any machine flying above the stratosphere or sailing the depths of the oceans.

It is not my intention to attempt to convince you of this truth, instead allow me to simply tell what I have heard, seen and experienced. Should you choose to believe then perhaps I might say that the proof is in the telling. Should you not believe I can only say that a truth need not be believed to be in fact truth.

As I have already mentioned the focus of my recent studies has been the increasing popularity in literature of stories dealing with vampires in recent decades. As a part of my research of course I have made a point of reading many such stories. It was as a result of this pursuit that I found myself at a local bookstore one afternoon not too long ago. I was searching for something new, something that might give greater insight into the popularity of the genre. I had selected two books and was looking at a third, an obscure piece not particularly well known but which approached the subject from an academic perspective. As I picked the book up I ‘heard’ as clearly as though spoken into my ear, “You will find that one most unfulfilling, the other two you might find quite interesting however.” Looking about and finding no one near, at least not so near as to have spoken into my ear, I thought I might be imagining things. No sooner had I resumed perusal of my potential purchases the voice came again. “Read it if you must, but you will most assuredly consider it a waste of time.”

Now, the store was quite busy, it being the noon hour, but again there was no one close enough to have spoken in my ear as it were. Annoyed, I began leafing through the text and discovered that the work was indeed a fumbling attempt at a scholarly treatment of the subject. You can imagine how dry and uninspiring such piece might prove to be. There is a reason that most treatments of the matter have taken the form of fictional accounts. Who would trouble themselves to read an account of such a topic as vampirism which purports to a be factualaccount of real vampires. We all know of a certainty that vampires do not exist, they are the stuff of legend and lore as I have already said.

Remember that I was not interested in discovering any truth about vampires, even supposing there might be some truth yet undiscovered in my previous readings. I assure you that my interest was purely limited to the treatment of the concept in modern fiction.

I must mention at this point that there was an impression that I had been touched upon the shoulder. There being none close enough to have spoken in my ear, there was certainly none so close as to have inadvertently made physical contact. I dismissed the notion quite out of hand therefore, despite the sudden sensation of fatigue accompanied by an equally inexplicable feeling of exhilaration. Such things can be easily explained away of course, I had after all been working late hours both in my studies and at my actual employment as night stock clerk at a local market.

I returned the text to the shelf and moved down the isle picking up a book I had previously dismissed. It was a poorly written tale I could scarcely believe the publisher, a reputable firm, would have considered worthy of its label. Again I heard the voice in my ear. “Ah! This one is of a truth most enjoyable. Do read it.” I turned about quickly, certain that someone had spoken, to find that there was a man watching me from several isles away. Eye contact was made and he turned, having made his own selection, and made his way to the check out.

The man in question appeared fifty or thereabouts, of average build with long black hair and deep brown eyes. It was his eyes actually that caught and held my attention for the brief moments we fixed gazes upon each other. One might have thought him a business man or perhaps an attorney or politico. I never would have suspected anything more sinister than that. His eyes though gave me the strangest feeling, so penetrating they were.

I did end up with the last mentioned selection along with the others I had already chosen. Upon completing my transaction I wandered onto the main concourse of the mall without much purpose. I was to meet a friend for lunch and it was still early as our plans called for a late lunch and a long afternoon discussing my project. Not far from the bookstore I once again encountered the strange man whose eyes seemed to cut through my soul like a warm knife through soft butter.

He was sitting on a bench reading the book he had just purchased.  It appeared that he was simply rapidly leafing through the pages barely taking a second per page. He was reading though I was certain. As I started to pass by he looked up, closed his text and motioned for me to join him. It didn’t have the feeling of an invitation but rather a command.

As I took a seat beside him he offered the book he had just purchased to me, “Here, read this too, you will find it quite helpful.”

I stared at him for what might have been a fraction of a second but seemed minutes before I replied. “But you haven’t had time to read it yourself.”

“Most certainly, I am a very rapid reader. Besides I chose it with you in mind. Take it, but do read the others first.” he said without a moments thought.

We sat and chatted for a few brief moments and I was about to take my leave when he informed me that my friend would not be joining me for lunch after all and that he would like very much for me to join him.. At that moment my cell began to ring and I knew that it was my friend Jess. “Can’t make lunch dude!” he said, “The old man has me preparing for a meeting with a new client. Take me all the rest of the day I’m afraid.”