As quickly as Rancid had found fresh air to breathe, the door to the jail opened and the sheriff stepped inside holding a shotgun head high. Without hesitation the lawman stepped up to Rancid, pointed the barrel at his face and shot his head off splashing Isaac with brains, bone and blood. Rancid’s dead body fell to the floor in a heap l ying next to the fuming deputy. “Back in the cell,” the sheriff said to Isaac, and Isaac complied.The sheriff fished out his keys and locked the cell door trapping Isaac back inside. “What a fucking mess,” the sheriff said. He set his shotgun on his desk and shook his head in disgust. “What’s that smell?” the sheriff asked.“Acid,” Bohdan replied. “Your deputy was going to use it on us.” “Bastard, I knew that fucker was no good.”“He’s dead now,” Bohdan said.“No, no he’s not,” the sheriff said. “He’s moving around.”“You might want to finish him off, he’ll turn into a vampire soon if you don’t” “I can’t legally kill him, it’s not a crime to be a vam
“What’s going on?” Ashley asked. She couldn’t see what was going on in the cell next to her.“Jim’s trying to stand up,” the sheriff replied. “And he’s not doing a very good job.”Bohdan could see what was going on from his cell and watched the mutilated half vampire try to stand. The deputy grabbed the bars and pulled himself up to a standing position. He was obviously in pain from the acid burns and his face was disfigured. One eye melted shut and his jaw hanged showing off his newly forming fangs. In an attempt to speak, the new vampire said, “Help me!”The sheriff stood back as the deputy spit blood as it spoke. The sound it made wasn’t clear, as if it had been chewing on its tongue. “What do you want me to do Jim?” the sheriff asked.“Get the doctor!” Jim said. Blood and spit drooled from his mouth onto the floor. “I don’t think the doctor is going to help much Jim, you’re too far gone.”“I hurt! Stop the pain!”“I can’t, I don’t know how.”Jim stumbled back and let go of the bar
Bohdan stood in the bright afternoon sun as the sheriff attached the chain to the train depot roof support. The other end of the chain was attached to an iron brace that was locked around Bohdan’s neck keeping him from running off. The judge had arrived and his train now sat on the tracks refueling and taking on more water for the steam engine. The whole trial would take place outside in the shade of the depot in three hours before the judge had to leave for his next case three hundred miles away in Garden City.The judge brought along security, a bailiff, a court reporter, a prosecutor and nothing else. Everything else for the trial had to be provided by the local jurisdiction, including a defense attorney, which Seneca didn’t have.The sheriff set up a makeshift courtroom with a raised platform and bench for the judge and two tables for the prosecution and defense. The rest of the area was patchy grass covered dirt and a group of spectators who came out for the show. With the depot
Three hours later the trial was wrapping up. The judge had to move on to his next case and needed to rule before he and the train left. The witnesses were heard, and the prosecution rested its case. By now, the sun had fallen in the west and it no longer burned Bohdan as he awaited his fate. The judge was now in the train depot going over his notes and making his call based on the evidence presented.Cara and Ashley sat on the depot steps anxiously biding their time awaiting the verdict. Cara would be lost without Bohdan and didn’t know what she’d do if he were taken away. Ashley could fend for herself, but had no ties to this place or time. “What are you going to do if they convict him?” Ashley asked.“I don’t know, I’ll see what happens first.” “Do you think the judge will find him guilty?”“Based on what was said, yes, I think he’s going to lose.”“I think you’re right, we might be stuck out here all by ourselves. I wonder if there’s a way to get back.”“I’m not going back, if I ca
“I don’t have time for your theatrics madam,” the judge said. “I’ve ruled on the case.” “I’m a vampire too! You have to put me in the zoo with Bohdan!”“You’re a vampire?” the judge asked. “Is this some sort of joke? Prove to me you’re a vampire and I might listen to you.”Cara turned and looked into Bohdan’s eyes. She whispered, “Turn me now.” Bohdan looked back at her with a confused look. “What?” he asked.“Turn me now so I can go with you. I can’t be without you.”Bohdan shook his head and grabbed Cara’s wrist. He brought it up to his mouth and bit into the skin taking a sip of blood. Just enough to start the process. He had nothing to lose, he was going back to prison for the rest of his unnatural life.Cara turned back to the judge and held up her hand. “Look, there’s your proof! I am a vampire!”“Maybe so, but you weren’t when and if you killed the mother. If you were human at that point, you would be subject to a different set of laws. You’d be either hanged, or sent to Leaven
A hundred miles down the track, Cara watched the landscape fly by through the train window waiting for her chance to convince the judge she was guilty of murder. Bohdan sat across from her on the other bench seat with his eyes closed. “What do you think will happen to Isaac and Ashley?” Cara asked.Bohdan replied, “Isaac will be fine, I’m not sure about the woman. The old west isn’t a very kind place.”“What do you mean?”“It’s not like the world you knew, you can’t call 911 when you need help. You’re on your own, and she is out of her element.”“She’s a security officer for a vampire hunting company, she’s not some child.”“Right now she’s alone in a world she doesn’t know. Who can she turn to? She’s basically a homeless person lost in time. Isaac is the only person she knows, and she’s only known him less than two weeks. He might turn on her the second he gets a chance.”Cara adjusted her dress and looked around the train car. She was surprised how quiet it was yet felt every bump a
The judge didn’t get the information he was looking for and had no way to corroborate the two stories. His decision would have to be based on his gut feelings on who was telling the truth and who was lying to him. He didn’t have much to go on, but felt he was being lied to by both parties with different motives. “I’ve made my decision, I don’t believe either one of you. I find you not guilty of murdering Sara Rockwell and will have to dispatch from the train in St. Louis when we arrive.”“No! You can’t!” Cara cried out. “You have to find me guilty!”“I’m sorry, there is no evidence supporting your claim. Not even your boyfriend here would back you up. I have no choice.”Cara had to scramble for another plan. St. Louis was a few hours away and the thought of being separated from Bohdan was overwhelming. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down as an idea came to her. Taking a moment to regain her composure, she slipped off the right shoulder of her dress and pulled it down
“Why do they call this place a zoo?” Bohdan asked.“They call it the Vampire Zoo because people come from all over the country to look at us. We are like animals on display, and they charge a fee to see us. If you want to get up close to the fence, it’s twenty five cents. If you want to get on the bridge, it’s fifty. Only the richest people pay for the bridge.”“Do any of the tourists ever come down here into the pit?” Bohdan asked.“Not very often, but sometimes a rich industrialist will come and pay to have an armed escort down here. It’s usually a huge deal when they do and they have lots of armed guards. Now that you’re here, I’m sure we’ll have a lot more of them showing up. I bet they give you a room of your own.”“What do you mean a room of my own?” Bohdan asked.“There are three building here, one is filled with the Mormons, the other with miners. The third is torn to pieces and is filled with rats and shit. Most of the vampires use it as a toilet.”“Mormons and miners? That’s
“I have the feeling that he’d kill you in a second if it benefited him.” “And I would gladly die for him if that’s what he wanted.”Preacher Jack shook his head in disgust. He heard what Cara was saying, but he knew she was too screwed up in the head to realize she had a sick unhealthy obsession with Bohdan. There was no way he was going to help her, she was too far gone by now. “What if they send him somewhere else and he doesn’t come back?”“Don’t say that, I don’t want to hear…” Cara couldn’t finish her sentence.“You can live here as long as you want. We don’t have many women around here, we could use a new one,” Preacher Jack said.“If he doesn’t come back, I’ll escape, I’ll find him.”“No vampire that I know of has ever escaped this prison. You’d be the first.”“I’m not like the rest of you, I’m special, this zoo can’t hold me,” Cara said. She looked up into the stars above and took a deep breath. “I will pray that he returns by morning, if my prayers are not answered, I will fi
“Did you hear that?” Isaac asked.“Hear what?” the warden asked. “I didn’t hear anything.” “Sounded like dogs.”“I heard it too,” Bohdan said. He raised a finger to silence everyone in the room. “There it is again.”“They have the bloodhounds out looking for me,” the warden said. “I knew you couldn’t keep me for long.”“Fuck, now what are you going to do?” Isaac asked. “Is there a basement?”Brother Adam replied, “No, the ground is almost solid clay.”“There has to be a way out, when it rains, how do they drain the pit?” Bohdan asked. The warden was silent, but everyone knew he was keeping something from them. “What are you talking about?” Isaac asked. “Why do you give a shit about rain?”“It’s not the rain I’m concerned about, if the ground is solid clay, the rain that comes down would fill the pit and drown everyone in it. There must have been a drainage system put in place to remove the excess water. Where is it?” Bohdan looked at the warden, the one person in the room who should k
“Bohdan, is that you?” a voice called out. Bohdan instantly recognized the voice as Isaac. Bohdan looked around in the dark and saw Isaac standing alone in a wooded area near the Mormon house.“Yes, it’s me,” Bohdan replied.Isaac rushed over and met Bohdan, noticing right away he had the warden in his grasp. “What are you doing with the warden?” Isaac asked. He still had his familiar British accent.“I took him when they weren’t looking,” Bohdan replied. “When who wasn’t looking?”“The guards,” Bohdan replied. “Where have you been all this time?” “I’ve been living with the Mormons.”“The Mormons? I heard they’re a bunch of killers.”“No, not at all, you should meet them, Brother Adam is a very nice man.” “Brother Adam?”“That’s what they call themselves,” Isaac explained. “Come with me, I’ll show you.”Bohdan didn’t have much choice, his options were very limited in the pit and it would be a short time before the guards came looking for the warden.“Let him go,” Isaac said.Bohdan le
“How do you explain me raping them first? If I were gay, I’d have a very hard time getting hard, if you know what I mean,” Bohdan said with a grin.“Another rumor squashed,” Lucy Jo said. “How did you pick your victims?” “By chance mostly.”“You didn’t seek out certain types of women?”“I was lucky to find the ones I did. I didn’t have the luxury of picking and choosing. When you live out in the country, you take what you can.”“I see, but with such a limited number of women, didn’t that play to your disadvantage? I would think they would have figured you out quickly.”“And they did quite often. I lived on the run for most of my life, up until they captured me. I’m actually glad in a way they did. I’m so sick of running.”“So you like the Vampire Zoo,” Lucy Jo stated.Bohdan paused for a long time before answering. “Actually no, this place is a shit hole. They toss the vampires in a pit and let them fend for themselves. Then they charge admission to watch them. It’s very vile.”“From
The sound of a rock hitting Bohdan’s cage woke him up and let him know the tourists that came today weren’t happy. He had fallen asleep in the midday sun and ignored the very people who had paid to see him spin in the wind. He raised his hand and gave the crowd the finger in defiance. He knew it was a hollow gesture and that the crowd would take any interaction they could get from him. Then he felt the cage start to lower. Usually he stayed elevated until sunset, but for some reason, was being let down.When the cage came to rest on the ground below, two guards unlocked the door and let Bohdan out. A rumbling came from the crowd as they didn’t know what was going on and didn’t want the star attraction leaving. The tickets were expensive enough.“You’re going to the warden’s office,” a guard said. “Now what?” Bohdan asked.“You’ll see when you get there,” the guard replied and the two escorted Bohdan up the tower, across the bridge and to the administration building. As he passed by th
Bohdan returned to the pit after his meeting with the warden. It was late afternoon and he was covered in Ashley’s dried blood. The other vampires kept a distance as they were warned by the warden to keep away from his prize. Bohdan had a love/hate relationship with his fame. He got what he wanted, but he wasn’t always happy about it. He liked his isolation, to a point. Like any social animal, he needed someone to interact with and Cara was the only person she could stand.“How did your show go?” Cara asked. She met him at the front door of the miners building.“The warden was happy, the governor was too from what I heard.” “What did they make you do?”“I had to rape and murder Ashley,” Bohdan replied. “Who?”“Ashley, remember her?”“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, you killed her? Last I knew she was still back in Seneca with Isaac.”“They charged her with accessory to murder, along with Isaac.” “Where’s he?”“Ashley said they were transferring him here today. I haven’t seen him.
Bohdan noticed several tools on the ground lying on the sand just outside Ashley’s reach. He bent over and picked up a butcher’s knife and a long steak knife with serrated edges. It was obvious they were put there for Bohdan to use. He looked at the stainless steel shine and admired how they reflected the sunlight and blue sky from above. “This is out of my control,” Bohdan said. He paused for a moment and smiled. “This will hurt, very badly.” Again he paused and gauged Ashley’s reaction. “First I will rape you, then I will cut you to pieces and take out your heart. I don’t know what I’ll do with it once I have it, but that’s my plan.”Ashley pulled away as far as the chain would allow. “But you know me, we worked together. We were part of a team!”“We escaped from the prison before it blew up. That was out of my control. Otherwise we did spend time together, but that wasn’t because I had any fondness for you. I probably would have eventually killed you anyway. You were lucky I was se
For two weeks straight the warden had Bohdan suspended twenty feet above the ground trapped in a cage. The cage hung from the bridge that connected the tower to the guard post on edge of the pit. Spectators came from far and wide to see Bohdan as word got out he was now a prisoner at the Vampire Zoo. His reputation caused overcrowding that choked the prison grounds and made life more difficult for the guards and other inmates. The guards were pissed their workload had increased and the other inmates were jealous of the attention Bohdan received.From his cage, Bohdan could see the three buildings and watch the other vampires as they carried on with their lives. They often stopped in groups to look up at him and jeer. Many times they threw rocks and stones and tried to hit him, often hitting the sides of the steel cage with a clank. Bohdan was hit a few times, but was never injuredThen the day came when the warden called him back into his office with some news. It was an idea he had h
“Do you have a daughter?” Bohdan asked.The warden paused for a moment. “Why do you give a shit?” “How old is she?”“Old enough that I can let her watch you rot in that cage. Do you know what it will be like to sit out in the hot sun all day? And in the rain? Fuck, it gets pretty cold in the winter too, you’ll be an ice cube vampire. But they will come from all over to pay to see you,” the warden said.“You know why I like to fuck and kill little girls?” Bohdan asked. He was trying his best to get to the warden. “They’re easy, and they turn me on.”“I bet, sick fucks like you are a dime a dozen, I’m surprised they’re not more of you in prison. How you got a reputation is beyond me.”“I’m not who you think I am, but I do share in this rippers desire for girls. Maybe he is a copycat, maybe I inspired him,” Bohdan said.“It shouldn’t take too long to identify you. I’ll wire the marshal’s office today and get someone down here to check you out. In the meantime, I’m ordering the cage be bu