A Vampire Attack: Short Horror

Story
There was a heavy wrought iron fence that ran along the eastern edge of Fenton
Cemetery. Outside the fence were planted sporadically evergreen shrubs, and a concrete
sidewalk ran its length. Further beyond the walkway was Adams Road, a busy avenue that
traveled in a straight line through several cities and townships.

Jeff Harrison walked along the sidewalk, traveling west beside the road. He was on his way
home from a friend's party, and he'd had his share to drink. He wasn't reeling as he went,
but he was dragging his feet and walking unsteadily. To a passerby he might appear
intoxicated.

As he walked in the cool, spring night air, he thought of his wife, and hoped she wouldn't be
mad at him for drinking so much. Suddenly, a sprinkler to his right came on, and then
several others rattled to life, spraying the grass and Jeff with misty water, and making him
jump in surprise. When he recovered, he quickly moved toward the road to avoid getting
any wetter.

On the other side of the iron fence, two dimly glowing and reddish eyes watched from the
shadows of a tall marble tombstone. When the creature that owned those eyes heard the
man on the other side of the fence approaching, it silently skittered across the lush grass to
take up a post nearer the fence. There was a big, hedge-like shrub growing up against the
bars of the fence, and the creature, clad from head to foot in torn and moldy rags, rushed
over to the bush and peered at the man beyond.

It watched as the sprinklers came on and experienced a pang of despair as the man moved
further away from the fence and into the brighter patches of light provided by the street
lamps overhead. It crouched behind the bush and made no sound. Every bit of its being
was focused on the hunt, and it watched in amazement as the man on the other side of the
metal bars stumbled and nearly fell into the street and passing traffic.

The creature glanced to its left, further to the west down the fence line. There was a place
near a locked gate where there were no sprinklers. But the spraying water continued further
down. So, the creature decided he would have to attack when the man reached the area
near the gate, or he would be out too near the street and too visible in the bright lights.

Jeff Harrison chuckled aloud when he stumbled and caught himself from falling on the
ground. He sobered considerably when he realized he'd almost took a spill onto the road's
pavement. To emphasize the seriousness of the situation, a black sedan whizzed by in the
lane nearest Jeff, traveling many miles above the speed limit. It blared its horn at him. He
stayed on the damp grass and continued his trek home, out of range of the sprinklers.
He saw a broad driveway ahead that was used to access the cemetery during daylight
hours. Now, it was blocked by a tall iron gate, bordered on either side by a large marble
statue of a lion. Sentries, he mused.

As he passed the last sprinkler, he moved back onto the concrete sidewalk. He gazed up at
one of the lions as he passed the gate and shuddered as it seemed to return his stare, and
then he turned his head forward as he saw more sprinklers ahead. Beyond an overhead
light that shed its illumination primarily on the gate, it was quite dark. There was another
street lamp ahead, but it was fifty yards distant.

The creature inside the cemetery was now crouching next to the trunk of a massive pine
tree growing beside the paved entryway inside the gate. It was close enough to the fence
for it to peer out beyond its black iron bars and see the man approaching. Excitement
began to course through its body and it readied itself in intense anticipation.

Jeff Harrison never saw the flash of gray atop the fence as the creature incredibly balanced
on one ornamental spear head. It had leaped to its perch in one single, powerful jump. It
waited for only a few moments atop the fence and then soundlessly fell to the ground on
Jeff's side of the fence, directly behind him.

Whether the man heard the creature or not should be left to speculation. All Jeff knew was
he sensed something behind him the moment the thing descended to the sidewalk. He
whirled around in confusion and alarm. He was scared, and his mind craved to know what
danger had seemingly fallen from the sky.

Almost immediately upon the creature's soft landing, it saw the man tense and start to turn
around to see what was behind him. Mentally cursing itself, the gray clad figure reached up
with a black-nailed hand toward the considerably larger man's neck and waited for him to
turn. It wasn't ready for the man's actions, and Jeff was able to charge forward the moment
he turned, planning to use his bulk to knock whoever was behind him away, so that he
could see what was happening and react accordingly with less confusion.

For Jeff Harrison might have had too much to drink, but he was a large man who still
worked out, and one who'd played four years of college football as a younger man. He'd
been in his share of fights over the years, too, and the drink in his system only emboldened
him more.

His blind charge would have been effective if the monster had only been bigger and not
crouching low on the sidewalk. He slammed into it with his legs, and the creature did fall
back a pace, but almost instantly it had its gray hand latched around Jeff Harrison's throat,
squeezing his windpipe in an iron grip.

Jeff struggled to get away for a moment before he finally did what the vampire had wanted
him to do all along - he looked into its eyes.

The skin that was visible on the creature's hands and face was gray. The rags in which it
covered itself were filthy and ancient. The smell coming off the thing was utterly repulsive,
but when he looked up into its face, none of that mattered. A gaunt visage that gave way to
full lips and dagger-like yellow fangs was enough to cause Jeff's bladder to loosen, and he
didn't even feel the warm trickle down his pant leg.

The light burning within the creatures eyes must come from some secret and awesome
place, Jeff thought. It danced and swirled around pinpoint, black pupils. It turned a deeper
red, and then purple, before blazing with an intense orange. There seemed to be some
pattern to the changes inside those eyes, and Jeff was determined to solve it. He was
utterly transfixed by the spectacle and his body went limp.

The vampire looked each way along the roadway and sidewalk and, though there were a
few cars passing by, he doubted anyone could see what had transpired within the shadows
of the cemetery's iron fence. It grabbed the man in one powerful claw by the back of his
checkered coat. With a display of raw strength and agility, it ran back toward the gate and
leaped upon one of the concrete pedestals, upon which the lion statue was mounted. Jeff
Harrison's motionless body trailed behind and when his head hit the steel pole, there was
an audible metallic clang.

The vampire jumped down on the other side of the fence and again peered out onto the
sidewalk to make sure no alarm had been raised. There was no sound but the hum of the
occasional passing car and the leaves rattling above in the trees as the night wind gusted.

It jerked around and dragged the man behind him. Jeff's sneakered heels bounced across
the thick cemetery lawn. Displaying much less concern now, the vampire made its way
easily to a large stone mausoleum, only a hundred yards or so from the gate where it had
snared its victim.

It reached into its rag-like shirt and produced a silver key. With it the vampire unlocked the
steel gate that barred access to the white building. The portal creaked on rusted hinges as
the monster pulled it open, and it dragged Jeff Harrison from the world and locked the gate.