Orphans of Vril

Ever heard of them? How about Vril?

Vril was a form of energy that was first wrote about in a story called "The Coming Race." I read it, it's OK.

So?

When it came out, a lot of people believed it to be true. Clubs were made, people wanted to find that energy. Some people claim to know how to get a hold of Vril. One of these groups in Deerbow was called the Orphans of Vril.

I haven't found out too much about what the group was about, but we do know some of the members. What we think they were is a group of business men that got together and held meetings. These were not the social meetings you would expect. Vincent was forced to one of their get-togethers and... He's what he is today, thanks to them.

They dabbled in what they thought was magic. They thought they were channeling the power of Vril. They were channeling something, but it was not a fictional energy source.

These were the top men in the society here in Deerbow. They were bankers, business owners, and possibly a priest. They killed people. Never anyone that would be missed. Immigrants, homeless, and in Vincent's case, they covered up the murder.

Do people know about this now? The historical society says that there were rumors, but no proof. But if you think about it, the proof would have disappeared. A well placed bribe, a payment or a threat to keep someone quiet, these were men that had the power and the money to do that.

Well that's the theory.

How crazy does this sound?

Buffy

I still love Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Surprised? You shouldn't be. I loved watching the shows and I still do. Steopa refuses to watch the shows with me. He watched one and when he saw Buffy stake a vampire, he scoffed. "If they think that small stake will kill a vampire they are mistaken."

Why do I still like the show? Spike. I liked him before I became a vampire. I like him even more now. Actually, I like all the vampires. You know how most shows and movies use cookie cutter vampires. Buffy was one of the first I enjoyed that didn't. Some were bad, some were good, all of them could kill. None of them were copies of Dracula, or Louis, or Lestat. Except that one episode with Dracula.

What does Steopa think of it?

I can't watch the shows anymore, if he knows I am. It's not that he asks me to stop watching. But I can't watch a show with him scoffing, yelling at the screen, and all that. Because he has faced real vampire hunters. Although he is impressed with her fighting style. He can't see her being the only one fighting the vampires. I have argued that she is not alone, but he refuses to watch.

Is there anything about Buffy that is real? The hunters I met, were very religious too. Buffy wasn't. I mean that The ones we have run into, will attack with prayers. They wear crucifixes, and other religious icons. They also don't use little stakes. They use ones that could be pikes.

How can I get him to enjoy it as fiction?

Baldman Rants 3

There was a show on TV about aliens. We were at Teodor's when it was on. I wasn't really watching it. I had come over to use Trucker's computer. Steopa and Teodor went outside to talk. A picture on the TV caught my eye and I told Baldman about it. I said the alien looked fake. He was quiet for awhile, then he said.

"That is what they look like."

As you know, I take Baldman's ideas with a large grain of salt. But he sounded sincere. I had to ask, "How do you know?"

"I've seen them."

I had to turn my face away. I hope he didn't see me laughing.

"Saber, I have seen them. But I can't talk about it," he said.

Okay I didn't push.

But Baldman is always like that. He will tease you with what he claims he knows, then tell you he can't talk about it. Yet, a few days later I get an email from him. It's a picture of that alien, Baldman is in the background. I think it's a photoshop job, but it looks real.

Maybe he is on to something?

Spring Heel Jack?

That shadow amoeba is back.

This time it looks more like a human, but it with wings.

Steopa and I were down near Jacob's Landing. Not many people out, thunderstorms were rolling though. We had to dodge hail at one point. Vampires can dry off very quickly, if they get wet. But hail still hurts. And I don't want to find out what being hit by lightening will do to me. So we took shelter under an awing in a strip mall.

The hail sounded like popcorn being popped as it hit the awning. Then I saw this man running with his coat over his head. He had a lunch pail in the other hand. He stopped at the covered bus stop that sat at the entrance of the parking lot. His shroud was a dark blue. Not black enough to make him a potential prey for us.

Steopa growled. I had to turn my head to see what had set him off. Shadows seem to gather in the middle of the parking lot. Then a human shaped shadow stood. I didn't see any eyes, but I could tell it was watching the man in the bus stop. The man in the bus stop, turned and looked behind him. He left the bus stop, leaving his coat and lunch pail behind. He walked to the shadow.

Before we could move, the shadow extended long wings and wrapped them around the man. Then it jumped. The leap went almost straight up.

Steopa and I followed. But by the time we reached the top of the building. The thing was gone.

It reminded me of the stories of Spring Heeled Jack.

What do you think it was?

Greenwood Tales 2

Greenwood the large expanse of woods on the eastern side of Deerbow, is not a full virgin forest. It has been harvested before. It was developed before. The seven bridges are a good examples of that. Upper Trestle, Upper Bridge, Visitor Center Bridge, and in the swamp, the Cooper Trestle, Oberst-Dettenger Bridge, the Old Trestle, and the Lower Bridge. All of them are strange to see for the first time. You will be walking along a trail, and then a bridge will appear next to the trail. The old roads or rail that used to lead to them, are gone. They are all closed to any traffic, except for the Visitor Center Bridge. But people still climb them. One of the high schools has a tradition, of all the senor boys cross the Cooper Trestle the night before graduation.

High Tower is a large, tall rock formation, that you can see for miles around Greenwoods. Near it is a small bog and Indian burial mounds. This is one of the few areas that was never developed. These are the oldest trees in Greenwoods. you can take the stairs to the top of High Tower and see most of Deerbow over the river. Another place that has stories about it. It was a sacrificial rock, it was used to observe the night sky, river pirates used it to look for law enforcement, and a UFO landing pad.

Indian Burial mounds there are unique in the state for the fact. Not once, never, in the history of the development of Deerbow has anyone wanted to touch those mounds. Even Strake and Thorson left them alone. We have been to the mounds after I changed. There is a very good reason why the mounds are not touched. But I can't talk about it.

By the way, the rumors of the man that seduces the young women. True.

Is Greenwoods the type of place you want to take a walk through?

Feelings about the Coiree

The coiree. I shouldn't talk about it, but I have to rant.

Its a cup. A large cup. I think coiree means valley. I am not sure. But we found that thing, and now we keep it safe.

I think humans would call it a grail. But instead of the blood of Christ, this thing fills with vampire blood. We are watching over one of the vampire relics and none of us know what it is.

I don't know what to make of it. When Vincent was injured it filled with blood so he could heal. Most of the time it just sits there. But there is something odd about it.

Other vampires want it. None of them have been forth coming about it. They say it will grant them power. But that seems so vague. What sort of power?

That is the biggest issue about it. It's powerful, you can feel it. It can physically repeal you. Some humans knew about it. They tried feeding it animal and human blood. But that was wrong. It wants vampire blood.

There is something attached to it. It's a creature of some sort. I have seen it. Well, not really seen it. More like I felt it looking at me. It scared me and at the same time, I felt as if something important had happened.

I wish we knew more. Maybe we shouldn't be protecting it. Maybe we should have left it for the humans that like to dabble in magic. We should have left it in the ground. But if we hadn't it might have been found by someone else.

And then what would have happened?

Urban Legends of Solemn Trees

Solemn Trees is the largest cemetery in Konakove. Konakove is the part of Deerbow were most of the immigrants start out in. It is the same today.

Recently, they put a Buddhist temple into one of the newer sections. One of the few classes I took in college we counted how many different languages were on the tomb stones. Fifteen back then. With the recent Asian and Arab populations, I am sure the number has gone higher. Solemn Trees is the cemetery you are buried at when you can't afford Forest Grove.

It's a beautiful place to be laid to rest in. The oldest part of the cemetery if full of trees. Often you will find old coffins pushed through the ground by the tree roots. The trees are so thick in the part of the cemetery it looks as if you are walking through a forest in some areas. Old stone benches dot the landscape. Many of the stones are unreadable now, and the ones that are, are usually not in English.

A place like that would be ripe with tales. It is. Most of regular ghost stories. Certain grave sites have ghosts that appear at certain times. There is the one that has a helpful spirit that will tell you who you will marry if you sleep on her grave. My favorite is the bagpiper.

In the Scottish section, there is an ornate, but small stone. The writing on it has been weathered away. So there is no proof on who is buried there, if anyone. What happens is, if you go there on or around January 25th, you will see the piper. He appears next to the stone and plays his bagpipes. If you see him, but don't hear him, that means death will come to your family. If you hear the pipes, you will die soon.

The reason I like this story, is that a friend of mine swore she saw him. She told me that she had went their with a couple of other people to see if the story was true. And he did appear to them, but they did not hear the pipes. When her grandmother died a few years later, she claimed the piper had warned her.

Spooky?