MV1 COMICS PRESENTS		#52
	by Paul Roof

(Note: The following story contains graphic language and some violence. Reader discretion is advised)

July 16. 2001

It�s been over a couple of years and then some since I wrote in this journal. Shanna came back to me a couple of weeks later, and I took her back into the fold. She has since learned the way of the vampire. Together we made a few more like us, but in all that time I found out the victims who had diseases made me stronger, so the more I fed, the more of my victims had either cancer or AIDS, and the stronger I became. So, that is when I decided that only the dying will die by my hands, but I did not tell any of my family what I have discovered in fear that they will try to become stronger then I and that won�t happen in this life time.

It�s been great hunting with the pack. We were doing great until Shanna and the pack started to get greedy and brought the hunters around, so I told them to move on. Some went north, and Shanna, my beloved, took a few and went south. It broke my heart watching her go, once again, out of my life.

Which left Jerome and myself.

He still didn�t really know what I was, and I still go out at night drinking my meals. A couple of those savage bastards from the hunters almost got me; they were good fighters. Oh well, let me tell you what happened.

It was around March 20, 2001, and I was out tracking my supper. I was missing Shanna and the rest of my family, and not really paying much attention to what I was doing or where I was going. As I was sniffing the nice strong odor of a cancer victim, I have to say that their blood stinks to high heaven, but the power surge I end up with was worth the raunchy crap. Then I spotted where the smell was coming from. On top of a rooftop was a hunter; he was the victim that I was tracking, and here he thought he was the hunter instead of the prey. I went around the building just like everyone else, then I stopped and looked up. The building was eight stories high. I didn�t know if I could make it, but I bent my knees and up I went. I got halfway up then grabbed hold of the wall and ran the rest of the way up.

I sat there watching him on the corner of the building, and, as my mind was on him so, I didn�t see or hear the other two that were watching me. So as I sat watching him and smelling his decaying flesh as the cancer took more of his living cells, the odor became sweet to me. I could hear the pain in every breath he took, so I knew he was dying with the cancer of the lungs. I approached him just verily off of the roof by an inch or so, going towards him slowly. The closer I got, the better the stench got. I would say he had no more than a year, maybe less, before the cancer took his life.

But tonight, I would drink from him.

I got right behind him and stood there, just for a minute, and then I heard his receiver come on.

�Turn around, Bob, the son-of �a- bitch is right behind you.�

That�s when I knew I was being watched. I grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him to me. I knew I couldn�t enjoy my supper, so this was a death kill with little pleasure to it. I did drink a little when my fangs first entered the poor sap.

Behind me, I heard a string being notched. They were using crossbows and aiming at my heart. I hear two heartbeats, one is close, and he is on the same rooftop as I am; the other is on the rooftop on the other side of the street.

This is the only time that I will kill humans who aren�t sick.

Moving with a blurry speed, I got to the one closest to me. His blood flows so evenly; there is nothing wrong with him. I prepare to sink my teeth in his throat when I hear a trigger being pulled back, and, as the arrow flies towards me, I merely step out of the way and listen to the exploding sound of his heart as the stake enters him. As fast as I ever moved, I cross the street by gliding over it and reaching the roof on the other side. As I looked at this middle-aged man trying to notch another arrow in his crossbow and took in his salt and pepper hair and one eye, I was surprised that he was in such good shape, particularly for someone with clogged arteries. He would have a heart attack in the next year and die, so I figured I would help him along as I knocked him down then grabbed him.

�I�m going to do you a favor and kill you quickly instead of letting you die slowly with a heart attack,� I said.

He looked at me with bewilderment, wondering how I knew about his health condition. I could see in his eyes that he was ready to die by my hand. I took him in my arms, and, as I lowered my mouth down to his neck, I let my fangs grow, then I sank my teeth into him. I could tell he liked greasy food his blood tasted like it stored every bit of it but all in all it was a good supper.

August 25, 2001

It�s been awhile since I wrote. That is because I was in mourning. I heard my all family, including my beloved Shanna, was dead. That hurt me deeply. Now Jerome and I are on a train going to New Orleans so I can have my revenge. I found out something on this train ride. There are a lot of dying people who ride trains. I know I won�t go hungry.

By now, Jerome knows exactly what kind of monster I am, and, if he is scared of me, he doesn�t act like it. I gave him the opportunity to leave, but he decided to stay. I am glad he did. We have been through a lot together over the years. There were times that I couldn�t leave my home in fear of the hunters. And that�s when I would let him have parties, and I would feast on one of his friends. I dare not let him know that, for that might make him turn on me.

There is a solo hunter who is half human and half vampire. That is one I hope I never have to face. He has killed a lot of us so I hear, but I can�t linger on him. I must go down and find out if what I heard is true or not.

The conductor knocked on the door, and, when Jerome answered it, he asked for our tickets. He overwhelmed me with his decaying body. I was starving, so I told Jerome to let him in and then I gave him the look as he stepped outside. I got out the tickets and intentionally dropped them on the floor. �Sir,� I asked, �can you pick them up, for I am weak and sick?�

As he bent down to pick up the tickets, I grabbed him and pulled him close to me. He stiffened right up but didn�t say a word. Since I already had his mind in my control, he just stared at me with a blank expression in his eyes. I bent his neck so I could get my dinner, then I sank my teeth deep into his flesh. I felt him squirm, and that made it a little better eating. After I was done, I opened the little window and forced his body out, hearing every bone break and every organ burst. At least there wasn�t any blood splatter since I drank him dry.

Within three days and three more victims, we pulled in to the station in New Orleans. As we stepped out onto the dark walkway, I felt strange, like someone was watching us. I looked around and saw nothing or nobody, so we walked on. I knew where we were going, for Shanna told me of her address here.

NEXT� BETRAYED! The conclusion of The Vampire Journal