Liam went up the stairs as fast as he could and burst through the door to the main part of the church. He couldn't see and so he yelled, “Kelly, are you all right?”
“Yes, are you?”
“Yes.”
Liam ran to her and she threw her arms around him. He hadn't expected it. Her perfume smelled like summertime mornings when dewy flowers bloomed in glory.
“Did you kill it?” Kelly asked.
Another voice strong and defiant answered her.
“No,” Sigman said as he made his presence known while he stood in the shadows of the back pews.
Kelly screamed and Liam stepped in front of her as if to shield her.
“I'm going to kill all of you vampires!” Liam said, his voice rising as he spoke loud and clear.
“Don't you dare hurtle slurs at me! I will end you soon enough!” Sigman said.
“Come and get me you SOB!” Liam said.
“Yet, is not your weakness beside you?” Sigman said.
“How many of your brides have I killed?”
“You flatter me, but your weakness is not mine. There are so many new girls I may or may not pluck out of obscurity... my sweet Kelly, I must say adieu for the present moment.” Sigman bowed. “Remember the sweet seduction we began will continue very soon. When I take you for myself you will understand the pleasures of my kind.”
“You'll never take me alive,” Kelly shouted.
“Technically you'll be dead, dear.”
The vampire moved so quickly it was as if he disappeared before their eyes. In a flash, the battle was over and a quiet strangeness of normalcy overtook the church.
Kelly sat down, her teeth chattering. “Look at me, I'm a nervous wreck.”
“As well you should be. It must be terrible to think of how he plans to hunt you down...and worse to think of how he wants you for his bride...”
“Stop! Just stop talking! And you're an Insurance Salesman? Don't you guys usually know how sell to somebody? Why don't you cut a deal?”
Liam sat down beside her. “I'm afraid there aren't any deals to be made with his kind. Not any they'd keep. I'm not really a Life Insurance Salesman.”
“No?” Kelly mocked him.
“I guess I deserve a little chastisement from you.”
Kelly cupped her head in her hands for a moment, and then turned to Liam.
“No, no. Thanks for saving me. I would have been a goner if it weren't for you.”
“No need to thank me for doing my job,” Liam said.
“Your job? Who are you?”
“Liam Abra --”
“Don't!” Kelly rubbed her face as if to think things over. “I mean what are you?”
“Who is much easier to answer,” Liam said.
“Why?”
Liam sat down next to Kelly. “What am I is a long story.”
“So, you're some sort of secret agent?”
“No.”
“An angel?”
“You'd think, after all Dracula was the son of the Devil.”
“Then what are you?”
“I'd like to tell you...”
“Liam, we've faced down vampires, what could be more unbelievable than that? Who'm I gonna tell?”
He laughed, then answered, “You're right. Nobody would believe the truth. Have you ever heard of Jasminua?”
“Is that a flower?”
“No, it's a planet.”
“You're an alien from another planet?”
“Yes I am.”
“What do you look like?”
“Like this!” Liam moved his hands from his face down to his feet with his palms out.
“Where are your ten tentacles and five legs?”
“Boy, where are you getting your information?”
“So, you look like a man?”
“I am a man...believe me...if I could show you...”
“Save it! I meant why do you look like an earthling?”
“I think the earth spun off from our planet.”
“I can't believe that is true,” Kelly said.
“People from my planet have traveled for thousands of years. It was for leisure at first, but there was an accident when our supreme leader was celebrating his birthday and mistakenly set off a stockpile of weapons. It should take about 10,000 more years to get everything mopped up completely. A lot of people stayed of course, but my parents went planet shopping. Earth seemed nice enough, although a bit backwards...sorry.” Liam smiled at her. “Soon they had my brother and me and found a nice school...”
“Okay, I got it, like Superman without the adoption side story.”
“No, not like that at all.”
“Then how do you manage to kill vampires?”
“Funny you should ask. I lost something important.”
“What? The only weapon that kills vampires?”
“Draculans.”
“Pardon?” Kelly said.
“Their preferred name. And yes, I lost the dagger that kills them. It's a special one made from a material we had back on Jasminua.”
“And let me guess, there's only one of them.” Kelly folded her arms.
“No, my parents have five, but I only have the one. And they live way out in Indiana.”
“So how does this dagger kill them? I thought it took a stake through the heart...”
“No, that's a myth. The dagger is made from material from Jasminua and it cuts through steel. It never rusts and as a side benefit, it kills vampires.”
“I'm not even going to ask you how you found out it could kill vampires.”
“That's simple. They're from my planet.”
“Really?”
“Yes, they're a nasty breed. Mercenaries all of them. They came here a long time ago when they were contracted to build the pyramids,” Liam said.
“But of course,” Kelly said.
“I think it's dawn now. It's probably safe. I mean safe to leave the church." Liam said, “I don't know why sunlight damages them. They are a different form of creature, violent and eternal. There aren't many of them left on Jasminua. I think that's why they like it here, no natural predators.”
Kelly said, “Until you came along?”
“My people are a lot like those on earth. That's why we moved here. We’re peaceful. I know it's hard to believe.”
“Yes, it is. You realize that if I haven't had my neck practically bitten off, I wouldn't believe anything you're telling me.”
“Listen, I need to find that dagger before tonight when that vampire will be back. If I know anything about Draculans, it's they're persistent.”
“Where do you think you lost it?”
“I believe it fell out when I went through the floor the vampire broke,” Liam said.
“The floor! What a disaster! How am I going to explain what happened?” Kelly said.
“Not with the truth I'm afraid. Maybe we can find my weapon and get out of here before anybody sees us.”
The pair walked to the back of the church and down the stairs. The brightness of the morning sunshine through the windows made the shiny dagger visible.
“Thank God it's here!” Liam hurried to pick it up from the spot under the hole.
“Why does the dagger work?”
“The mineral isn't just a mineral. It detects enzymes inside a person's tissue that indicated if they are a murderer. Every time a creature murders another, the killer's body changes. The blade's material releases counter enzymes and acts like poison, but enough of it must reach the brain quickly or it just weakens Draculans.”
“So how do you kill them?”
“I go for the neck. I've killed hundreds of them,” Liam said.
“I'm glad you found me, Liam.”
“I'm glad that cabbie made that call to 911 and my scanner caught it. Usually I get there after the victim is dead.”
“That's got to be awful.”
“Yeah...I've been trying to trace down this pair of vampires for months.”
“Pair?” Kelly asked.
“Twins.”