The Vampires of Ethiopia

"Papa, I can't, for I love her," I said, and my father Adam Tilahun got up from his chair, and did something he hadn't done in a long time. Papa hugged me, and I actually hugged him back. The tears that I'd been holding for Lord knows how long came forth like a torrent, and I cried for the first time in ages. All I wanted was to find the right woman, be with her, and be happy. It's what most men want. How did it go so wrong?

"Ammanuel, my wayward son, we'll get through this," Papa said to me, and then, together, as father and son, we began plotting against Esther, my vampire bride, the only woman I've ever loved. A fortnight later, I experienced one of the worst nights of my life. I came to the apartment that Esther and I shared, to find my wife bound hand and foot, and my father standing over with a wooden stake in his hand...

"Papa, no, please don't kill her!" I said, and I grabbed Papa's upraised arm as a panicked Esther looked on. Esther shrieked in panic and begged me to save her, and I struggled against my father. Papa is much older than I and a much more powerful vampire. Hell, he's the one who made me. What powers he possesses, I've never truly been sure.

"Ammanuel, my Ammanuel, save me from this madman!" Esther pleaded with me even as she struggled against her bonds. Every time Esther moved, she hissed in pain, and it dawned on me that the metallic bonds which held her were not steel or iron but silver. The only thing in the universe, besides sunlight and fire, which can permanently damage a vampire. For our regenerative powers are legend, you see.

"Father, you don't have to kill her, it's my fault that she's like this, we can put her away, please don't kill her!" I shouted into Papa's face, and my father's eyes blazed red with fury, then, he sighed and with visible effort, willed himself to calm down. I took the stake from him and tossed it aside, and Papa looked at me, then at Esther, whose eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Ammanuel, what are you doing?" Esther cried out, and I'll never forget the look of betrayal on her lovely face as I took her struggling body into my arms, then took her away. I put a bound and gagged Esther in the trunk of my car, and then drove to the Notre Dame Des Neiges cemetery. Once there, I put her in a coffin and buried her, with silver binding the coffin, into the ground. On February 5, 1987, two years after Esther Polydor died and was reborn as a vampire, she finally got a decent burial.

"I'm sorry my love," I said, and tears streamed down my face as I heard Esther's fading screams. I buried her deep. There was simply no chance that she could break out of that coffin, and even if she did, there was still the silver for her to contend with. You can shoot, stab or even crush a vampire and he or she will regenerate, good as new. Use silver against them and it negates their regenerative powers. Silver bindings will hold even the strongest of vampires. Silver bullets will kill even the most powerful of our kind. It's our kind's Kryptonite, I'm afraid.

For years I hated myself for doing this to Esther, and avoided my father like the plague for the part he played. I never told him where I buried Esther, for fear that he might dig her up and kill her. Even after all the terrible things Esther had done, I didn't want her to die. I drifted from place to place, having adventures here and there, running from the memory of my vampire bride and our twisted, doomed yet at times wonderful love story. One day, Esther returned. Somehow, twenty nine years after she was buried in that cemetery, she got out. Now she's out for revenge. I ran into her last night.

"Esther? It can't be you, you're buried!" I said, gasping in shock as Esther seemingly materialized a couple meters from me. I was at the Eaton Center in the City of Toronto, having just purchased a new suit. Harry Rosen has some truly awesome suits, and I've been going there for years. I like to dress sharp. I am a modern vampire, after all, and I believe in integrating myself in human society. I've even started taking business classes at the University of Toronto in the evenings. My way of keeping up with this ever-changing world of ours.

"Oh, that's what you thought, lover, aren't you going to give me a kiss?" Esther said, smiling coldly and looking me up and down. Clad in a black leather jacket over a red tank top, black leather pants and black Timberland boots, she looked even lovelier than I remember. I stood there, frozen. Esther stepped closer to me, and I realized that she wasn't alone.

"Who are they?" I asked as two tall, large men in suits, one African with a smooth shaved head, and one Hispanic, long-haired, slender and fit, positioned themselves on either side of her. They appeared to be in their late twenties, and athletic, but truly were no more human than Esther or myself. Fledgling vampires, still awash with the glow of human-turned-Immortal, like Esther was, almost thirty years ago. Like I was, more than seven centuries ago, in distant Ethiopia, land of my fathers.

"Ibrahim and Hector are my bodyguards, my protectors, my lovers, the way you should have been," Esther said, smiling wickedly and clucking her tongue for effect, and in spite of myself, a spark of jealousy flared through me, though I quickly put it out. Esther flashed me her fangs, and a sliver of fear ran through me. I gritted my teeth and looked at her.

"You're here for revenge, then, let's do this," I said, and braced myself for a fight. Esther's vampire henchmen, Hector and Ibrahim tensed on either side of her. I hadn't been in a fight in ages. Could I take on these brawny young brutes? Esther looked at me, and then laid her hands on her henchmen's bulging forearms, and at once they stopped.

"It's not going to be that simple, Ammanuel, you're going to suffer and lose everything like I did, then you will die by my hand," Esther said with a wicked smile, and then, just like that, she walked away. I stood there, in the middle of Canada's largest, most crowded shopping center, surrounded by men and women of all hues and walks of life, and I felt more alone than ever. A dark force from my past is now loose.

"The Tilahun men go to war," I said to myself, and that night, I went to my father and explained everything to him. Papa took these news rather well, all things considered. I expected him to say "I told you so" but Papa didn't. Rather, he sat me down and we discussed things, with him dictating and me listening until I got bored. That's how we do things in the House of Tilahun. A perfect formula honed over seven centuries...

"Ammanuel, this former bride of yours is bringing war to us, I will alert my allies and friends, in the meantime, son, I am asking you to stay with me," Papa said, and I looked at him, smiled and nodded. I've been alive for more than seven centuries. I've seen countries come and go, empires rise and fall. Yet to my Papa, I'll always be his son. His one and only son.

"Sure, Papa, I'll stay close to you," I said, and then I gave my father a simple hug. Tonight, my father hunts with his friends. I don't particularly enjoy the ribbing and the bossing around I get from him, but I do like having him around. Esther and her henchmen are out there in Toronto, waiting for the perfect time to strike. I look among my things in Papa's basement, and I find the ancient sword he made for me, long ago and far away, in our camp in Gondar, Ethiopia.

"What a wonder you are," I whisper as I hold my father Adam Tilahun's sword in my hand. With this sword he went out to fight vampires, and although he and the men from our clan slaughtered many of the Undead, my father became one of them. Rather than abandon me, Papa blessed me with eternal life. I've kept this sword all these years. Ethiopian swords are among the finest in the world. We've fought off invasions from Arabs, Europeans and others. Ethiopia still stands as a nation today, while many other nations around the world are no more.

With my father Adam Tilahun's sword, I will face Esther Polydor, my Haitian goddess, my vampire bride, and the only woman I've ever loved my seven centuries upon the planet Earth. I have no desire to hurt her but she's the enemy now, and she's coming for my father and myself. War is coming to our gates, but I shall not face it alone. Once more, the men of House Tilahun go to war against a horde of vampires. Like before, we shall prevail. Let Esther and her vampire minions come. I'm ready.