Down to the Ashes... Pt Two.

Chapel paid for the meal and together, he and Henry Peete exited the diner. They walked about another block when the young girl slowly approached them. The long black town car shadowing their every move. She eyed it nervously as she stood in front of Chapel.
“Uhh… I need to talk to you.” she told Chapel. “in private.”
Chapel and Henry both looked at each other.
“Henry is a good guy.. Very trust worthy.. whatever you need to say to me, you can say in front of Henry.”
“It ain’t him.” she cast a concerned look at the black town car.
“So its them then. Well maybe I should go have a chat with whoever is cowering in that car.”
He turned and began to walk across the street towards the town car, becoming more angry with each step. The lights came on.. The tires squealed and the car sped past him. He turned around and she was standing in the middle of the street in front of him.. He stopped as she leaned forward and whispered to him.
“I.. Know.. What you are..” she pulled back and smiled..” I want to hire you to do a job for me.. I know where there is a lot of money and I can pay.. I want you to get those pricks that burned Kimmy..”
Her voice trembled, her eyes swelled with tears and her lips drew tight as she stared down the empty street.
“Those fucking bastards.” she began to cry.
He brushed her stringy black hair out of her eyes. She was too young.. Too beautiful.. It was too soon for her to be lost to anger and hate. And as he looked at Emma and Henry Peete an idea began to form in his mind.


He walked them six blocks north to a busy intersection and there he flagged down a taxi. All three got in and Chapel instructed the driver to take them to Babylon Towers in Harkan Heights. Emma Looked him up and down nervously and then over at Henry Peete who was smiling from ear to ear. She turn back to Chapel.
“So what is this Babylon Towers?” She asked.
“I have a place there.. I go there sometimes when I want to be alone.” He told her.
The taxi cab slowly began to wind its way up into the hills of Harkan Heights. The buildings were considerably older than in the newer sections of Kings Harbor, and the streets would become narrower, the closer they came to Ashton street where Babylon Towers stood amongst various other buildings that were of equal heights as the two towers, each one, 25 floors reaching straight up into the sky. Chapel instructed the driver to pull up to the curb just one block from Ashton street in front of a small Bodega. He then turned to Emma and Henry.
“I have a place up at the very top of the left tower on the 25th floor, there are no other immediate neighbors on that floor other than the person that I hired to take care of it and pay the bills for me. so it is private. There is working electricity and running water but where you will be staying you will have to buy food.”
He produced a small roll of bills and handed them to Emma and told her and Henry to go into the Bodega to get enough supplies to last them a few days. He and the taxi would wait for them.


It wasn’t exactly the Ritz, it was quite old in fact, but was nice and clean and well kept. Chapel ushered them into the elevator that took them to the 25th floor, and when the doors opened they took six steps forward into a small enclosed space where another security door was, he motioned them forward and showed them the security code.
“I’ll write it down for you both when we get inside but don’t ever lose it.” he told them.
They both nodded and once inside he introduced them to a young lady named; “Peaches” who as it turned out was a longtime associate of Chapels whom he’d trusted implicitly.
“Peaches takes care of this place for me. If you need anything you go through her.” he told them.
Together they gave them a brief tour of the place, the rooms were large and spacious, the ceilings were quite tall, the furnishings almost had a colonial feel to them. The floors were covered in a material that Emma was not familiar with, but it looked almost like a grayish colored marble. “Definitely a stone of some type.” she thought. they showed them the kitchen and the bathroom and instructed them to go bathe and eat and then they would sit down and discuss what was happening to the street people of Kings Harbor. In particular to what had already happened to Chico, Karl and Kimmy. Although something seemed oddly out of place to Emma she did trust Chapel and she and Henry Peete both did as instructed, both bathed while Peaches and Chapel searched for some cleaner clothes for them to wear. When Henry Peete emerged from the bathroom he found some clothes lying over the back of a chair next to the vanity.


Chapel was sitting with one leg draped over the other in another chair in the corner reading a newspaper. His eyes slowly raised to see Henry Peete. He motioned for the clothes.
“They belonged to a former friend of mine who used to live here. He’s about your size, see if they fit Henry.”
He nodded and disappeared back into the bathroom, Chapel could hear him muttering to himself softly cursing. Moments later he appeared at the doorway fully cleaned and clothed.
“Been a long time since I’ve felt human Mr. Chapel.” Henry said.
Chapel smiled and slowly raised his eyes to meet his.
“Me too Henry.. Me too.”
After dinner they sat and told Chapel and Peaches everything that they knew about what had happened to their three friends. Emma spoke mostly about a vicious drug dealer named Theo Cousins who had sent a group of his enforcers down into the Bettenhurst District to retrieve a stolen duffel bag of drugs and a brief case full of money.



It had been rumored that the thieves hid it in Bettenhurst and some of the street people had found both and were intent on keeping them for themselves. Someone fingered Kimmy because he had found the drugs and money and re hid them, and when he’d thought things quieted down he would go back later and retrieved the money and dispose of the drugs which he’d had no use for. That was until someone ratted him out along with his two friends Karl and Chico Jimenez. That was when the three enforcers showed up and tracked down Kimmy and Karl and torched both of them. Followed quickly by Chico Jimenez. And now Henry and Emma seemed to be next on the hit list, because Emma had confided in whom she thought was a friend that she believed that she’d figured out where Kimmy had stashed the money and the drugs. Now Chapel leaned back in his seat. He looked over at Peaches and then Emma and Henry.
“Just who did you confide in Emma?” He asked.
Emma leaned forward.
“Only person I told is a kid named; ‘Pipes’ I didn’t say anything to anybody else except him.”


Now Henry slowly leaned forward, slightly cocking his head to one side. Curiously looking from Chapel back to Emma. He softly began to rub his chin, staring blankly forward.. Chapel rose to his feet and walked over and knelt down in front of Henry Peete.
“What is it Henry? What are you thinking?” He asked.
“Mr. Chapel.. I think that I know this pipes kid.” He looked over at Emma. “Tall.. Thin.. Greasy blond hair Emm?”
She slowly nodded.
“Yeah? And he’s always singing?”
Again she nodded. Henry turned back to Chapel.
“Mr. Chapel.. That kid was with them when they Torched Chico Jimenez.” he said.
Chapel rose to his feet and slowly walked to the two glass French doors and opened them and stepped out onto the balcony. He was shortly joined by Henry Peete and Emma.
“So if I can find this kid Pipes, then he can lead me to the enforcers, who will lead me to this Theo Cousins person.” He turned to face Emma and Henry.
“You two try to stay inside as much as possible, at least until I return. Go back inside now, get some rest.”
He ushered them both back inside, and left some last minute instructions with Peaches and she showed each Henry and Emma to their rooms closing the door behind each of them, she turned to face Chapel who was already back out on the balcony, he turned to Peaches.
“Lock the doors behind me.” He told her. “I’ll be back before dawn.”


After locking the bedroom door Emma slowly began to undress for bed. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind at once. At first glance she’d thought that perhaps Chapel had been some kind of hit man. But upon further consideration she’d concluded that there was simply more to it than that. She stripped down to nothing but her blouse and sat on the edge of the bed dangling her legs over the side. This place, was so odd, the furnishings seemed so old, but kept up. Her bed was a large brass four poster that looked like something out of another century. Old yet still new looking. The whole picture, even the woman named Peaches, the whole image had this dark, cold and damp feeling to it. She stood up and walked across the floor to the double windows and swung them open to take in the cold night air. Deciding to leave them open for the air, She returned to the bed and climbed under the covers, and slowly drifted off to sleep, to where the dark images that troubled and confused her, continued to dance through her head. She tossed and turned for two hours when something woke her, a brief flash of lightning lit up the room, and for a split second she’d thought that she’d caught sight of something perched on the brass frame at the foot of her bed. She sat up abruptly when she’d clearly seen him. He sat there perched on the brass railing at the base of the bed frame. His finger s curled up around the post. He sat squatted on his feet, and she thought that he looked like a cross between a bat and a vulture. He was short, thin and wiry. And he had long stringy brown hair, and Emma thought that he smelled most foul. And as the room flashed with lightning once more she could have sworn that his eyes were turning a brilliant hue of red. And he smiled through bared canines.
“Why helloooo.. Aren’t you.. Just.. Lovely.. My name is Sipe.. And who might you be?”

~Scratch.. A.B.T. Copyright © 2010~

Down to the Ashes... Pt One..

Berlin Germany, December 28th 1942.
Twilight.. It is the time of magic for your kind. It is cold here.. Dark.. The perfect setting for you, the sun is buried deep within the belly of slow rolling snow clouds, and is of little consequence. On this evening, It is a familiar burning that you feel deep inside of you that brings you out into the world of humans.. It is at a time when the worlds thoughts are mostly plagued by the ravages of war, there are soldiers everywhere, mistrust runs rampant in the Nazi party and they are suspicious of everyone.. Especially strangers.. And yet you have been here for three nights now and have gone largely unnoticed. And it is here amongst the bustling crowds that you see her.. See is crossing the street now.. Tall.. Blond.. Beautiful.. You.. Must have her.. So you follow behind but not too closely.. You stalk her.. Hunt her.. And just when the time is right you allow her to see you.. Your eyes meet as she enters the hotel and immediately heads for the stairs.. But you are a man of special talents and you are waiting for her in the dark hallway, and as she slides the key into the lock she turns to see you.. The door swings open as she turns..



Your hands begin to touch her as she slowly backs into the dark hotel room gently pulling you behind her.. The door swings closed just as you put your arms around her and pull her to you.. She draws in a deep breath as your lips softly brush against hers.. And you begin to undress your prize.. She slowly lies down on the bed and your hands begin to roam over every curve of her perfect young body.. She begins to moan softly as your tongue begins to lick her breasts.. Her legs open willingly, and as you lower yourself down between her thighs you can feel her passion building , her breathing becomes erratic.. You can feel her heart pounding.. The beautiful warm luscious blood coursing through her veins.. You bury you face down next to her neck and she begins to moans softly, arching her back, never once realizing that what she feels gently tugging at the skin around her jugular are fully bared Canines. But you then realize that something is wrong, you find yourself unwilling to relent and yet you pull away, it is only then that you fully realize.. That it isn’t the lure of fresh blood that you hunger for this night deadman.. It is the touch of human flesh..





Present Day.
It wasn’t the bitter cold, or the sound of rolling thunder raging against the stormy skies that caused him to stir, much as in the world of his distant memories and dreams, on this night it was the faint echoes of human screams that pulled his eyes apart. He stood and slowly moved to the edge of the bell tower.. The rain was pounding along the sides of the semi abandoned Delorian Street church. He could almost hear the voice in the back of his mind. “Do not concern yourself with the petty differences of humans Chapel. Their cause is lost.” and yet his curiosity pulled him yet again out into the cold and dark rainy night. He followed the sounds a full five blocks away until he’d reached the rooftop of a deserted waterfront warehouse overlooking Piedmont bay. The screams he’d heard had fallen silent, but now something new pulled at his senses. A peculiar smell that he could not outwardly place, his eyes came to rest on something lying out on the dock near the waters edge. He leapt to the ground and went closer to investigate, and the closer he got, he could see that it was a human body that had been set on fire. the rain had doused most of the flames, but the remains were so charred the body was barely recognizable as human. He drew in a deep breath.
“And I’m the monster.” he thought to himself.


The sound of clinking glass against the ground turned his attention sharply back in the direction of the warehouse. His eyes narrowed and scanned through the dark.. Someone.. Definitely running.. Cans being kicked, hurried footfalls beating hard against wet concrete.. A voice softly cursing aloud as the person lost their balance and fell to the ground. Within a millisecond Chapel was on them, pulling at their collar dragging them behind him as he effortlessly scaled the side of the warehouse wall until he’d reached the roof. He threw them hard against the surface. He could see that it was an older man.. Thin.. Frail.. Long dirty gray hail, ragged clothes.. His thin boney face dirty and unshaven… with shaking fingers he nervously push the wire rimmed spectacles onto the bridge of his nose.
He pointed nervously towards the edge of the rooftop.
“Hey man.. How’d ya do that??”
He didn‘t answer.
“P.P. Please mister… I didn’t see anything.. I swear.. If you let me live I won’t tell the cops.. I swear..”
Chapel knelt down and looked him in the eyes.
“I’m not going to hurt you. I just have a couple of questions.. Ok?” he said.


The old man nodded nervously.. Chapel helped him to his feet and led him to the edge of the rooftop. He pointed out towards the dock at the smoldering human remains.
“Did you see who did that?” He asked.
He wiped the glasses off on his sleeve and looked up at Chapel.
“uhhhh. Are you sure you ain’t one of them?”
Chapel almost choked on his laughter when he made a crossing gesture across his chest as if swearing to the frail old man that he wouldn’t harm him.
“I’m not one of them.. Okay?” He assured him.
He slowly sank down onto the roof top.
“His name was Chico Jimenez.. And yeah I saw who did that to him.” he looked sadly down at the dock.. “It was the same ones that torched Carl and Kimmy..” He told Chapel.
“So.. What is your name?”
“Ummmm. Henry.. Henry Peete.”
He slowly extended his hand to him.
“Well its nice to meet you Henry… My name is Chapel.”


They found themselves down on Caroll Street, where Chapel stopped at a payphone to call the police to tell them the location of the charred remains of Chico Jimenez. He took Henry Peete to a small rundown diner two blocks away called; The Bouncing Burger. They entered just before 10:00pm, run down didn’t begin to describe it, The walls and ceiling were a smoke stained white, and looked like they still had decorations from the 1950’s, the floors were a yellowish colored linoleum worn thin by years of foot traffic, the table tops and counters were chipped, worn and stained and the faux red leather stools, chairs and benches had definitely seen better days. Sure it was old but it looked like a million dollars to Henry Peete. The short, pudgy, gray haired waitress led them to a booth near the window. For the most part they were alone except for a couple of people sitting at the counter. Henry Peete cautiously sat down in the booth and Chapel slid in the spot directly across from him.
“Order anything that you want Henry.. Its on me.” he told him.
“Ummm. Well.. Do ya got Steaks?”
The waitress silently nodded..
“And baked taters?”
Again she nodded.
“Ok.” Henry said.. “I’ll have that and a tall glass of iced tea if you have it.”
She looked at Chapel who held his hand up..
“Nothing for me thank you.” he told her.


She gathered the menus and headed for the kitchen. Henry looked at Chapel, and then turned his head to look out the window to see what he was looking at. There was a young girl across the street who was nervously pacing back and forth. And finally when she’d seen them watching her she slowly moved down the street looking back over her shoulder at them.
“Oh.. You noticed her too did ya?” He asked.
Chapel smiled..
“ Yes.. She’s been following me every time that I step outside.. For the past three nights.. Tonight she’s been following us since we left Mott Street. Do you know who she is Henry?”
“Yeah I’ve seen her around a few times I think she was a friend of Kimmy’s. Her name is Emma or something like that. The waitress brought Henry his dinner and Chapel sat and watched him curiously as he devoured the whole meal in what seemed like seconds.
“So Henry.. Tell me something, if these men have burned three people alive why hasn’t anyone told the police yet?” he asked.
He shrugged his shoulders.
“Oh.. The police know all about what happened to Carl and Kimmy.. I just don’t think they give two cents of a rats ass what happens to street people. To them.. Its just less garbage for them to wade through.”
Chapel leaned back in his seat and stared out the window at the rain soaked city, and it was then he saw the long black town car with three men in it parked across the street. It appeared as though the girl wasn’t the only one that was following them.

~Scratch.. A.B.T. Copyright © 2010~

Chapel: Where Sleeping Beauties Lie. 3 of 3

He moved almost cautiously through the grass, searching for just the right spot, when he’d at last turned to the herd and motioned them to them edge of the water to drink.. Though his senses were heightened he never seen, nor heard what was about to take his life from him. The large male lion never let his presence be known until he was at just the perfect striking distance, and once he’d struck his prey down, there would be no escape. that’s what predators do.. that’s what they’re good at.. that’s they’re gift.. They hide.. They watch.. They wait.. And when the prey is at its most vulnerable.. They strike with extreme prejudice.. And they kill. But as is the irony of life.. Nature can be a funny thing.. And even the most ambitious predator, the most accomplished hunters, can themselves eventually become prey. He’d already proven himself the predator, but here he found himself, running for his own life now, six women, six successful kills, but the seventh, oh unlucky number seven, she was still in play.





And what was it that saved her? It looked like a man, human even, but no human he’d ever seen was that fast, or that strong. He’d been running for what seemed like hours, endless city blocks, he’d ran, the cold, damp early morning air seemed to tear through his tired heaving lungs as they gasped for every precious breath he took. He stumbled and eventually fell. In some park now, he wasn’t sure exactly where, only that it was a place that he didn’t want to be. He struggled to his feet, only to feel them taken out from under him almost immediately, landing him hard against the cement sidewalk, the air once again leaving his body, the fire returned to his lungs and all he could do was lie there. Game over.. From predator to prey. Now he began to hear it. That voice.. That cold, deep, menacing voice.
“What are the words officer?.. That vow that they make you all take?”
He couldn’t answer.. Gasping for air he tried to roll onto his side.
“Ahh.. Yes.. I believe it is something along the lines of.. To Protect.. And To Serve..”
He struggled to his knees and began crawling towards the bushes. Chapel sat perched on the back of the park bench.. His elbow planted firmly on his knee, his chin on his palm. his forefinger resting along the side of his cheek.




He thought that if he could just make it to the shrubbery he’d have a chance, if he could only catch his breath.. Perhaps the police training would kick in and he’d have even the slimmest of chances against this psycho. Chapel strangely calm.. Watched patiently from the park bench.
“Go ahead.. Crawl away.. Hide like an insect.. Burrow yourself little bug deep within the bowels of the Earth.. Dig.. Burrow.. Until you reach China for all I care.. It doesn’t matter where you go.. Or where you hide. I…. will.. Find you.”
Now Chapel was stalking circles around him, growing impatient with the game, smelling the fear.. The sweat.. Feeling the heart pounding in his chest, the blood coursing through his veins.. And when he’d crawled out the other side and pulled himself clear of the underbrush, he could no longer contain his rage.
“Still think drinking that synthetic shit is going save what’s left of your undead soul Chapel?”



His eyes slowly turned red as he bent down to look his prey in the eyes. His cold undead fingers slowly circling his neck.
“So.. Did you show them your badge? Is that why they thought that they could trust you? And then what? You just… Betrayed them?.. I.. made a promise.. So long ago.. To myself.. To what was left of my own dying humanity.. I would never feed on an innocent.. But you and I.. we both know you’re dirty little secret don’t we?… you’re no innocent.”
He tried in vain to struggle free from Chapel’s grasp, but his hands tightened even more around his jaw as he began to slowly pull him closer. His eyes became redder… his canines slowly began to grow as he leaned towards his prey.
“Oh.. To be reduced.. To prey… I….. Can… Smell…. You… Enjoy Hell.. You won‘t be coming back..”
His feet began to convulse uncontrollably, his fingers with each painful twitch dug into the cold frozen ground as Chapel's canine’s viciously tore into his flesh, the screams choking up in his throat made pathetic gurgling sounds… from predator to prey… Game over.



He sat there on her balcony until she’d fallen asleep, he’d crept into her room, sat by her bed while she slept. Even touched her hair a time or two. He wondered in silence to himself, if perhaps in another life, a life with some sense of normalcy, if perhaps he and Annie Carelli could have had some kind of friendship. He wondered as he moved back to her balcony why it was that he couldn’t simply let go of things.. Why he’d always felt the need to be the protector. Why couldn’t he simply be like the others of his kind.. Like Sipe.. Like Harken.. Just let it go.. This foolish need for humanity.. This peculiar sense of right & wrong.. Embrace the animal.. Accept your fate… you’re a fucking beast Chapel! He turned one last time to look back in the direction of Ann Carelli before leaping into the snowy night air.



He would make his way through the city eventually ending up right back in the bell Tower of the Delorian Street Cathedral. He sat and watching the snow falling eventually closing his eyes.. And as suddenly as the night fell he could almost feel the warmth of the mid day sun slowly embrace his face.. He was ten again.. Running through those same golden fields of Aberdale.. He turned his head and there was Ava once again running beside him.. The image so crisp.. So clear.. He could almost feel his lips purse into a smile.. Slowly as with everything, the image faded to black and the sun died down.. The voice of Sipe strangely echoed through his mind as Chapel slept.
“The age of innocence is over Chapel.. There are no more Innocent’s left in the world.. There’s only the haves, the have not’s, and then there’s us..”


~Scratch.. A.B.T. Copyright © 2010~

Chapel: Where Sleeping Beauties Lie. 2 of 3

The towering structure of the Delorian street cathedral had long since fallen into such disrepair that it had been all but abandoned and left to rot years ago. All that remained was a small, barely operational place of worship on the ground floor leaving the other ten floors deserted. Damp, cold and dark, it seemed a perfect place for him to seek shelter, how odd a vampire named Chapel seeking shelter, in of all places; a semi deserted church. He came in much the same way he’d left, through the bell tower. And almost immediately he could feel his presence, a much smaller male, a deviant, much younger too, he slowly raised his nose and sniffed, it was a rouge named Sipe. He was short, skinny, thin wiry build, long stringy brown hair and carried with him the obvious stench of death, he’d left behind him any semblance of humanity years ago. He was there in the shadows squatting over something.. What?… A… Body? He moved towards him, faint flickers of moonlight filtered through the holes in the rooftop and illuminated him enough for Chapel to see that he was feeding.



Sipe stopped, and slowly raised his head to look up at him, thin streams of crimson slowly drifted down along the sides of his mouth, his lips were drawn tight and were thin and black, his eyes a brilliant hue of red, his was smiling at Chapel. He began making shrill giggling noises, his voice resonated in his ears in a high pitch that sounded very much like a witches cackle, it annoyed him terribly.
“Why… helllooo Chapel.. Nice.. To see you again.” He held his smile, slowly wiping away the traces of blood along his chin with his sleeve.
“What have you done now Sipe?” Chapel began to circle him, the impatience growing more evident in his voice.
“What?… This?” he slowly curled his long black finger nails, his eyes drifting back down towards the human remains. “oh… this?.. oh.. This is just a snack Chapel.” he giggled.
With stunning speed he was on top of him, his strong hands clenched tightly around Sipe’s throat, he hurled him into the air sending him crashing into the brick wall some twenty five feet away. Sipe landed with a thud, stunned he tried to struggle to his knees as an angry Chapel drew closer.


He slowly backed up against the wall his eyes carefully studying Chapels demeanor, looking him up and down nervously, any traces of the wicked humor that he displayed moments earlier had now disappeared, now he became fearful. His thin black lips began to quiver.
“What?… Chapel?..” he looked back at the body and then back up at him. “He isn’t Gonna turnnnn.. I took too much of him.” he pointed towards the remains. “why… he’s just a shell now… Chapel..”
“You walking sack of Puss.. You would dare feed on an innocent in MY den? I should remove your filthy head!”
Sipe silently stared at the body, his thin boney finger carefully waving small circles in the air in its direction before slowly withdrawing, his fingernails curled up into a ball as his gaze slowly returned to meet Chapels angry stare.
“Innocent… who?… Him?.. Well.. If you say so.”



His hands once again found their way around Sipe’s throat. He slowly pulled him up into the air his eyes never leaving him.
“So tell me.. How long have you been in Kings Harbor Sipe?” He asked.
He slowly tucked his chin up against his chest, his red eyes began to wander aimlessly.
“Ummmm.. Days… Nights.. Weeks?” he shrugged. “Time? I don’t do time.. Chapel.. Been here awhile I suppose.” he said.
His free hand moved into his coat pocket and produced the picture of Cassandra Dawkins, he held it up in front of Sipe’s eyes.
“I want you to think really hard now Sipe. Have you ever seen this girl before?”
His eyes slowly squinted as he leaned closer to the picture of Cassandra Dawkins. He began to lick his lips but then stopped, his eyes quickly returning to Chapels angry stare. He looked back at the picture.
“Very nice Chapel.. Yours?..” He didn’t answer. “well she’s a little… too clean… for me anyways.. You know I likes them… A bit more…. Rancid.”


He released his grip on him and allowed him to fall to the floor, and slowly walked back to the opening of the bell tower and silently stared out into the falling snow. Behind him he could hear Sipe beginning to stir again. Cautiously he approached from behind him carefully studying his demeanor. Sipe turned to look out at the snow and then up at Chapel.
“Ahhhh.. Girls.. What?.. A friend of your is she?”
He didn’t answer.
“Ahhhh poor Chapel.. Still clinging to that last little drop of humanity that you think still lives inside of you somewhere.. Well sorry to be the one to break it to you Chapel.. But you ain’t been human in over four hundred years… you?… me? We’re nothing but fucking animals Chapel.. Predators to the prey.. Hunters.. Gatherers.. There’s no humanity left in the world Chapel.. It’s lost now.. even to them.” he slowly moved up beside of him.



His voice fell into a husky whisper as he stared down at the snow covered landscape. “why.. Just look at the way they live.. Look at the way they treat each other.. Half of them have to live inside of a bottle just to make life bearable..“ he looked up at him again. “So what about this girl?”
He looked down at Sipe.
“She was murdered last night.. Left to rot on top of a building.”
“Ahhhh… Murdered ay?.” his voice changed slightly. Now he gently took the picture from Chapels fingers and studied it more closely. “ohhhh yeah.. I’ve seen this one before.. She was passing out flyers for some homeless shelter over on Burke Street I think. Last time I saw she was talking to one of them Cops.” he looked up at Chapel who now had his back turned to him and was putting a flask of some sort in his pocket.


He cocked his head to one side and studied him.
“Still think drinking that synthetic shit is going to save what’s left of your undead soul Chapel?”
“Wait… what Cop?”
“Yeeeeaaah.. Tall blond guy.. He’s gotta scar travelin along his chin.. He almost caught me once.. I had to give up on this delicious little morsel that I was following… because he was poking around all nervous like. Came out of an alley down by Deweys bar.. Couple of hours after closing.” Sipe turned and stared out into the falling snow with Chapel. “Ohhh.. This is about the Bettenhurst Slasher.. He’s the one that got your girl.. Well, Bettenhurst district IS a slum…. Aawwww.. Poor Chapel… still denying what you are.. Still trying to care.. You’re a vampire Chapel.. A killer.. A fucking beast.. Yet still.. you try to save the world from itself.”




He climbed up onto the ledge of the Bell tower and crouched, staring out into the cold dark night.
“The age of innocence is over Chapel.. There are no more Innocent’s left in the world.. There’s only the Haves, the have not’s, and then there’s us.. So what are ya gonna do? What you might want to really ask yourself is once you’ve saved the world from devouring itself whole.. Who’s gonna save the world… from the true you?”
He turned to face Sipe but he’d already disappeared into the dark snowy night.
“I’ll be back for the rest of my dinner.. Night… Chapel.”


Dewey’s bar was just off of the beaten path of the Bettenhurst districts main boulevard on Mills street, he entered Cranston’s all night liquor store and bought a newspaper, sprawled across the headlines read the words; “Bettenhurst Slasher Claims 6th Victim.” he gently folded the paper and began to search for the best vantage point to observe Dewey’s Bar from. The roof of the liquor store seemed the most likely. If what Sipe said were true, what he would be watching for is a police car. He rounded the corner into the alley and scaled the side of the wall effortlessly. He sat under the flickering street light reading the paper. Reading about the Bettenhurst Slasher. It was almost 3:00 AM when he saw the police car slowly drift to a stop in the alley across from Cranston's.



Mill Street was empty, he watched carefully as the headlights of the police car went dimmer as it moved almost silently, farther back into the alley finally stopping at what they thought would be a safe distance. The lights went out and Chapel could see a large dark figure emerge from the drivers door, and walk around to the passengers side. They were pulling something from the passengers seat. Something that looked like a body.. He slowly rose to his feet, he could feel the rage building up inside of him, his canines slowly pushed free and emerged from his jaws. He pushed himself forward and leapt from the edge of the building and landed in the middle of the street and in one smooth motion stood and walked almost calmly into the alley approaching the back of the police car. He moved past it and followed the dark figure as it carried the body into the depths of the alleyway.


As he lay it down and began to undress it, he turned at the last second looking up and back at him, he could see the face clearly in the moonlight now. It was a cop. Chapel came up behind him and with brutal rage lashed out and sent him sprawling through the air. The intended victim began to stir and as he looked back at her it gave him great surprise to see the face of Annie Carelli. Chapels eyes widened.
“Dearest Annie..” he said.. “Run from this place.”
“Y..Y..You?”
He turned to face her. almost smiling now.
“Run child.. Run.. Leave him to me.. He will not kill another.”




~Scratch.. A.B.T. Copyright © 2010 ~

Chapel: Where Sleeping Beauties Lie. 1 of 3

It is a scene that seems all too familiar to him, and yet strangely distant, this place.. It.. Feels like home. A home somehow long lost to him.. And yet here he is.. The small cottage in the glen, the narrow creek bed out behind it. The large thicket of woods just to the east of there. There it all is, right there before his very eyes, as clear as a picture, he knows that this is impossible, it can’t be, he hasn’t been here in so many years and yet here he is. The clear, brilliant blue skies, softly rolling pillows of white clouds, the air here is so clean it almost seems to burn his lungs to breathe it in. and in all this time the most important of details has escaped him. Just a boy he is.. Enjoying the indulgences of childhood.. Perhaps he is ten.. Maybe eleven. Running through the grassy fields and across the rolling hills of Aberdale, his younger sister Ava in tow.. Laughing, smiling, running through the fields.. Chasing butterflies were you?..


His eyelids begin to tighten around the sockets. His eyes themselves rolling almost impatiently trying to recapture the image. Slowly he focuses, almost willing it to return. The sun sits high in the sky, it is mid morning, they are running down a hillside now, the sun at their backs. A soft slow rolling breeze gently whips through Ava’s long dark locks, tossing them into her face. There is no sound here, no heat, nor cold. He watches with childlike curiosity as she loses her balance, stumbles and falls, almost moving in slow motion as her body tumbles down the grassy hillside. Everything around him seems to move even slower now, He runs to the bottom of the hill to catch up with her. But he can just feel it, something is terribly wrong. She lies still in a small ravine, her head sits at an awkward angle resting against a large jagged rock.. She isn’t moving, he cocks his head to one side as he stares at her curiously, as the first drop of crimson blood slowly rolls from her mouth, “it was the first time that you saw human blood, wasn’t it? and most certainly, it wouldn’t be the last.”


Present Day.
It was the piercing sounds of police sirens that opened his eyes with a start, and forced him back to the here and now. The air was cold and thin outside, and it had started snowing, he rose to his feet and slowly moved to the edge of the bell tower, below the police cars hastily slid along the wet street as they headed east on Delorian , their sirens tearing through the still, cold early morning air like a knife. He climbed out onto the ledge of the abandoned church, and watched as another two cars whisked by with their lights flashing. The sirens now though had fallen strangely silent. As his darks eyes scanned the empty skyline he was filled with a sudden sense of dread, three blocks away on Columbus street the police had discovered another victim, the city claimed another. He moved quickly and quietly along the rooftops of dilapidated hotels and stores until the caravan of police cars in front of Faversham’s drug store on Columbus street came into full view.


On the rooftop of the Martin hotel next door there was movement, the police were putting up crime scene tape.
“Walk away from it deadman.. This isn’t your concern.”
He ignored the voice that seemed to follow him everywhere and moved towards ground level, his curiosity drawing him closer to the crime scene, but staying out of the line of sight of the police. he moved unnoticed past the barricade and quietly up the stairwell leading to the rooftop. There he saw her lying on the cold wet tar roof, her dark brown eyes staring lifelessly skyward, she was beautiful, young, too young he thought, to have suffered such a fate. He closed his eyes and moved back into the shadows. Listening to their every word as if sorting through the clues with them.
“we have a female victim, probably somewhere between 17 and 22 years of age, no ID yet, but we’re still looking. Her skirt was pushed up, she was raped, her throat cut, she probably bled out right here on the spot. Doesn‘t feel like she‘s been dead for more than a couple of hours.”


The two officers turned their backs to him their voices falling into low mumbles as a third person joined them and all three bent down to inspect the deceased young girl. Then another came, he look like a detective. He closed his eyes and he could clearly see her face, she smiled at him, talked to him, showed him kindness without even knowing who or what he was. Just ten short hours ago this beautiful young woman was brimming with life, with hope, a bright promising future, no doubt firmly within her grasp. But somehow, somewhere she took a wrong turn, took hold of the wrong hand, trusted the wrong person, and she‘d died for her kindness. He watched them unnoticed the entire time, he watched them load her body onto the gurney and carry her down the empty stairwell, at his feet he felt something peculiar, and knelt down to look more closely and found a small overturned purse, he quietly picked it up and withdrew deeper into the shadows.


The voices fell silent as the officers slowly one by one made their way back down to the street, until there was but one left on the rooftop. He could sense the anger, as the detective slowly began to pace, he lit a cigarette and paused to look out at the empty sleeping skyline of King’s Harbor. He lived in a world of monsters, monsters that preyed on beautiful young women, on the homeless, the despondent, on anyone or anything too weak to fight back. He almost made himself visible to him but thought better of it.
“Not yet Chapel,” he thought to himself. “Not… just…Yet.”
He waited until the detective left the rooftop before stepping back into the light, he stepped nearer the street lamp and looked through the contents of the purse, removing the girls drivers license. Her name was Cassandra Dawkins she was 19 years old and lived at 413, 32nd street apt 10 B. he turned towards the stairwell pausing to be certain that no one was returning to the rooftop.


It didn’t take him long to gain entrance into apartment 10 B at 413 32nd Street. The residence was empty for the most part, the furnishings were sparse, an old couch, a couple of end tables, a few pictures scattered across the wall on either side of the small television. “she didn’t have much.” he thought to himself. He moved along the wall stopping at a smaller picture of Cassandra Dawkins posing beside of another young woman. He removed the picture from the frame and put it in his pocket and almost cautiously walked over to the living room window that overlooked Parish Park, his thoughts quickly returned to the Detective on the rooftop where Cassandra Dawkins body had been discovered. There wasn’t but one police precinct in that district so he knew exactly where to take the purse. It was after all, evidence in a homicide. Now all he needed was a good story to tell them about where he had found it. He left the apartment and sought out the 15th precinct on Tasker Street.



It was an old fashion three story red brick building that seemed on the outside to be crumbling into decay, and when he’d entered through the front door the inside didn’t appear to be much better. They were cramped for space and people were working practically on top of each other. He approached the front desk, and the fat balding, round faced desk sergeant leaned forward and down at him. Chapel placed the purse on top of the counter in front of him.
“I’ll be turning this in then.” he told him.
The desk sergeant put on his glasses and inspected it. His eyes slowly looking Chapel’s large frame up and down.
“Just turning this in are ya?” he asked him sarcastically.
“Well yes.. It doesn’t belong to me officer, and I’m sure that someone will be wanting it back.” he replied.
“Uh huh.. Where’d ya find it?”
“In an alley behind Faversham’s drug store on Columbus.” He responded.
The desk sergeant turned to enquire about the homicide on Columbus but when he turned back to further question Chapel about where he’d found the purse he was no where to be seen.

~Scratch.. A.B.T. Copyright © 2010~

Chapel... First Sighting.

You shudder to think of what your life has become, you ’re cruising along, everything seems to be on track. And just when you think that you know with absolute certainty where life is taking you, one day it throws you the first curve, and you begin to move away, from your path. And then another curve, then another. And soon you begin to move in a direction that you are no longer in control of. You didn’t mean to end up here, and yet here you are, in a place that you aren’t in the least bit familiar with, spiraling out of control.
She can’t see him anymore but feeling his presence is an entirely different matter. He is after all still there somehow in some sense or another. She stares down the dark street for what seems like hours, her tired eyes searching through the cold empty darkness almost wanting to see him there. Almost wanting him to come for her. It has been a rough patch for Annie Carelli, a rough life in all reality that no matter how hard she tries she can never seem to escape from. She has always had all of the tools to become whatever she wanted, she’s still reasonably young, beautiful, intelligent, but all of the potential in world has never been enough to keep her from what seems to be her destiny. Someone else always caught all of the breaks. Someone else always got Mr. right. And she always had to settle for Mr. right now. So here she is on this dark cold rainy night all alone searching for God only knows what, this man that she’d seen, this stranger, that for all Annie Carelli knows could possibly be some whacked out serial killer or something of the like. She first noticed him four nights ago, he followed her six blocks from Market square all of the way to her apartment. He was tall, dark and strikingly handsome. Long black hair that fell down to his shoulders, he was well dressed, a long black leather coat, but the oddest thing, here it was in the evening, well past dark and this strange man wore these dark blue round shaded glasses. She saw him seven times all and all and never recalled seeing his eyes. She sits down on the bench in front of the stone wall just outside of the entrance to Hatfield park. She pulls her coat tightly around her to fend off the cold chill that is growing around her neck.



She can feel him, he is close now. Her body tightens up and she closes the coat tighter around her. Her eyes begin to nervously sift through the growing mist of the very early morning air. And as she watches her breath rise up in front of the dimly lit street light she hears his voice. Cold… Crisp.. Almost mechanical he is above , but somewhere behind her. She doesn’t turn to face him.
“Good morning Annie.”
She doesn’t answer.
“So here we are. Alone at last. Right where you’ve always wanted to be.”
She struggles to answer him.
“I don’t understand. I’m just out for.. A walk?”
“At 1:30 in the morning Annie? On a dark deserted street? You are here because you knew that I would be here. Isn’t that right?”
She doesn’t answer.
“You came here because you figured out what I am.”
She nervously glanced over her shoulder.
“I don’t know.. What are you?”
“I live in darkness.. Waiting for people like you Annie. But you already figured that out didn’t you? You figured it out when you saw me . The other night when I was on your balcony while you slept with.. Him.. But you woke up didn’t you? You woke up and saw me.. So you came looking. And here you are.. And yet. I sense a fear in you Annie. But its alright. They all fear me at first.”
“Y.. Y.. You’re a Vampire?”
“If that’s what you think I am.. My name is Chapel.. And yes I am a vampire.”
“Are you going to- kill me?”



She can hear him rise to his feet, he is moving back and forth across the top of the stone wall directly above and behind her. She feels her body stiffen, as though it were expecting him to attack right then and there.
“No Annie. I did not come here to bite you.. To kill you.. To feast on your blood. Or to dine on your flesh. None of those things. I have come here to talk to you sweet Annie, Because quite frankly, something puzzles me.”
“What then?”
“ Human beings.. Now there’s a puzzling lot… You while away your lives locking yourselves up in your ivory towers. Shutting yourselves in.. You lock your doors and windows.. And you swear your protecting yourselves from the dark and all of the monsters that live there.. You sleep with guns.. You worry about Vampires.. And were wolves.. Well Annie Carelli.. I’m here to testify. I’ve walked this earth for centuries.. And what I’ve learned from watching humans is .. You maim.. You torture each other.. You kill each other.. For greed.. For pride.. For vanity.. You slaughter for love.. For faith.. For glory. You hide from us.. But the biggest monsters of all are human beings themselves. You know I speak the truth Annie Carelli.. Because you live with such a monster don’t you?”
Now she turns to look at him fully. But it isn’t a look of fear, it is a look of puzzlement.
“W.. What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about your life Annie. And the real live monster that lives in it . The one that tells you that he loves you.. but blames you for every short coming that he has. For every failure that he has committed.. every time he escapes to and crawls inside of that bottle.. And brings those demons back out with him.. every time he lashes out at you Annie.. Every time he beats you, and swears that he’ll never do it again.. But always does.. How many broken bones Annie? How many days have you worn extra makeup to cover the bruises. You always tell your friends and family that you fell, or you had an accident of some kind. But that isn’t exactly the truth now is it? How many times did you lock yourself away from the outside world for days on end until the scars healed? I’m not talking about Vampires and were wolves here Annie. I’m talking about real monsters.”
“I thought that you would-” She is almost crying now.
“You thought that I would take you away from it? Hmmmmm.. No Annie.. I didn’t come here to be a monster. I’m most certainly not going to take your life. I have come here to tell you that I am going to give your life back to you.”
He lands in front of her, slowly kneeling. Looking her in the eyes.
“You will walk home.. You will get undressed and you will go to bed.. And you will not only sleep sweet Annie. You will finally for the first time in many years rest. You will do this, and you will leave the monster to me.”
She stares at the sidewalk for several minutes and when she looks up he is gone. She wonders about everything that he said.. Before rising to her feet and turning for home.


Mark Caruthers stands almost defiantly out on the balcony of the apartment that he shares with Ann Carelli. He seems almost immune to the bitter cold temperatures as he lifts first the cigarette to his lips and then the whiskey bottle. He smiles to himself as he feels the warm alcohol as it makes its way through his veins. Annie stepped out. She wasn’t here when he got home. The bitch is going to pay dearly for that. Or so he thinks. He doesn’t hear Chapel walk up behind him, and by the time that he knows that he isn’t alone its already too late.
“Expecting someone else Mr. Caruthers?”
“WHAT THE FUC-!!!”
The words choke up in his throat as he feels the icy cold hand slowly crushing the breath from it. He stares into the eyes of his assailant. His chilling cold words tearing through his brain like a cold steel blade.
“You’ve taken enough dreams from her Mr. Caruthers. And if you are wondering about me? Well.. Don’t mind me.. I’m just here to take them all back. Now then.. How about you and I go someplace quiet where we can talk in.. Private.”
She unlocks the door and slowly enters the room as an odd feeling rushes over her. She turns on the light and finds herself alone. She moves to the bedroom and begins to undress for bed. As her fingers reach for the table lamp when she notices a piece of paper that falls onto the floor. On it is written four words; Rest.. Sleep.. Dream.. Live.. She lays down on the bed and pulls the covers up over her, and listens as the distant sounds of an ambulance siren softly echoes through the early morning air. For the first time in a long time she will sleep peacefully tonight. It feels good to feel safe.




~Scratch. A B.T. Copyright © 2009~