“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
Dorek and Valeska led Bohdan and Cara back to their building and let them inside. Neither Bohdan nor Cara knew if this was a setup to get them killed, but they knew eventually they’d be found by someone in the confined area of the pit. They had to have faith they’d survive another day.“This place is a disaster,” Cara said. “How can you live here? Don’t they fix this place up once and awhile?”“No, they don’t care about us, there have been no repairs since the building was built.” “They don’t treat animals in a zoo this badly.”“They think we should take care of the building ourselves, but they don’t give us any materials or tools.”“If this place falls apart, will the tourists still come?” Cara asked.“They come every day, look down on us, yell at us, throw things into the pit,” Dorek replied.“What kinds of things?”“Rocks mostly, they try to hit us when we’re out.” “And the guards put up with this?”“The guards bring rocks to sell to the tourists, they pick them up later and resell
“There he is,” Valeska said pointing to the crowd. “I see Preacher Jack coming this way.”Bohdan strained to pick out this Preacher Jack from all the other vampires. “I thought you said the Mormons and the miners didn’t get along. Do they feed them separate?”“No, they’re all mixed up now, but they will soon separate. There are no factions when it comes to feeding time, a starving vampire is a starving vampire,” Valeska replied.Bohdan could now see a single figure walking back to the miners building surrounded by two other vampires. Preacher Jack was a large vampire, with a big grey burly beard and miner’s hat. He wore suspenders and denim jeans that went well with his button down shirt. He was exactly what Bohdan thought a miner would look like.As Preacher Jack approached, Dorek stepped up and greeted him. “Jack, I want you to meet someone,” Dorek said.Preacher Jack stopped and looked at Bohdan and Cara. He was taken aback for a moment, as if he recognized Bohdan from somewhere. “
Word of the vampire ripper spread like wildfire throughout the pit and to the prison administration outside. Bohdan was awaken from a deep sleep by two prison guards who bravely traversed their way into the miners building to find him. Leaving Cara behind in protest, Bohdan was led out of the building and up the tower to the administration office on the outside. Groggy, but awake, Bohdan was brought into the warden’s office and presented like a prize catch from a fishing pond. The warden, a tough asshole with no compassion for anyone looked upon Bohdan and scratched his face. “Who the fuck are you?” the warden asked, his name was Gary Oden.“My name is Bohdan Malko,” Bohdan replied. He was tired of explaining who he was to people.“Are you this vampire ripper I keep getting told about?” “I’m just a vampire,” Bohdan replied.“Then why do I keep hearing you’re something special? There must be a reason for all this nonsense.”“I don’t know, I can’t help you.”The warden shuffled some pap
“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
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
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
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.
“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