She looked so peaceful, lying in a bed of flowers, the red tulips framing her face. The contrast of her dark skin against the petals was striking. I thought she might be Korean, a young girl of eleven or twelve, though I couldn’t swear to her heritage. And I would never know – not if I had anything to say about it. But I had to act quickly. The sun was setting and I was running out of time.
I took out a large wooden stake and placed the point of it against her chest. She remained still, completely undisturbed until the smash of a large hammer projected the stake instantly through her heart. She rose up out of the coffin as if the stake had been an adrenaline shot and her a junkie overdosing.
She gasped, sucking in a lungful of air before letting out a toe-curdling scream. It had pitch and volume that would have been unobtainable for a human to achieve. I expected it and wore earplugs to protect my hearing. She wasn’t my first vamp. Killing them was the main reason I became a mortician in the first place.
After screaming, she fell back into the coffin, thrashing wildly, her limbs flailing in the throes of her second death. Christians are born again. Vamps die again. It seems fitting.
After nearly a minute, the girl stopped fighting and succumbed. I left the stake in. I don’t know if it would matter, if removing the stake would allow her to come back to her second life. I’ve never wanted to find out. I closed the coffin lid, sealed it and picked up the shovel. It would take me nearly an hour to fill this hole back in.
©2009 Doug McIntire
Doug McIntire is a central Texas horror author who has been published in several magazines and podcasts. You can find out more about him and his writing at www.DougMcIntire.com. You can also find him on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
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November 26th, 2009 at 7:49 am
A handy skill for a mortician to have…:) Nice story!
November 26th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Quick and creepy. Great stuff.
December 30th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Fantistic site design you have, i need to hire you to do mine! Haha!
December 30th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Hi i read your website frequently and wanted to say all the best for 2010!