This blog is a compilation of short works of fiction by Allan and Helen Krummenacker, authors of the Para-Earth Book Series. The stories contained here take place before our novel "The Vampyre Blogs - Coming Home", with the idea of introducing you to some of the characters who appear in that book and the upcoming anthology "The Vampyre Blogs - One Day At a Time" coming this November. So please, sit back and enjoy more glimpses into Nathan's (our vampyre) and his friends' lives.
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Friday, December 24, 2021
Merry Christmas...
Sunday, December 5, 2021
A Little Side-note About Inspiration...
Sorry, still working on the next post which will be told from Marisa's point of view.
In the meantime, I wanted to share a little something about where I sometimes find inspiration for a story. A few of you may have noticed I've done more than one story involving wolves, even foxes, and how they can wind up interacting with people. Well, I found this video on YouTube about 9-10 years ago, and it had a huge impact on me. I was so enthralled with the story it tells, plus I've met people who have worked and studied wolves over the years that I found this tale quite believable. It has also inspired another story, which I later learned can actually happen in real life, about survival in the harshest times between predators and prey. But that will be a tale for next Christmas, or the next Vampyre Blogs Anthology "Two for the Road", which hopefully will be released next year.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy today's offering, and I'll do my best to get Marisa's ready in time for next weekend.
Until then, stay safe and enjoy the holiday season my friends.
- Allan
Music and Video Credits:
Song: The Mountains Will Remember UsArtist: Medwyn Goodall
Album: Visions
Licensed to YouTube by:
The Orchard Music (on behalf of New World Music Ltd.); BMI - Broadcast Music Inc., UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA - UBEM, ASCAP, LatinAutorPerf, and 1 Music Rights Societies
Arkuss: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSsrwq5gIrcvPHBxB1jNWYg
Saturday, November 20, 2021
Apologies...
Sorry for the lack of new posts, very busy. It's property tax time at my job which means I'm swamped there and still recovering from my hip treatments. Still waiting to start Physical Therapy next month. Also, holidays are on the way. And finally there are deadlines to meet like:
1 - Film opening and closing of my unabridged reading of "A Christmas Carol" which will be going up on YouTube in a couple of weeks.
2 - Record and edit the remaining chapters of Helen's 4th book "Forever Festive" so it can be released next month.
3 - Finally, get some rest and enjoy the holidays...
Tuesday, November 9, 2021
E-Journal of Nathaniel Eoghan Steward - October 24th, 2019 "Red Fang" - Part V
I recognized the tone in Marisa’s voice and knew she was being completely serious. So, I immediately looked in the direction she was pointing. Sure enough, standing there amidst the trees across the road, was our quarry. It was still in its wolf/human form. As we watched, the creature kept switching its gaze from Marisa, then to me and back.
“It must’ve sensed your presence,” Marisa murmured.
I nodded. “The Sangui-Sapio we share is calling out to itself. I felt he was near while I was still on the plane.”
Marisa shot me a puzzled look and I quickly explained what had happened. “I see,” she nodded when I finished and glanced back at the creature across the road. “But why is it choosing a humanoid shape? I would think it would hunt better in its own form.”
“That’s got me puzzled too,” I confessed and told her about the dreams I’d been having. “So, when I saw the article, I knew I had to come. I think the poor creature is stuck and can’t shift back to normal.”
“Do you think the Sangui-Sapio is responsible?” she asked, then frowned. “No that doesn’t make sense. You’ve always told us that the only times the Sangui-Sapio has ever altered your form shape without permission was to keep you safe. Otherwise, it never tries to interfere or takeover.”
“I know, that’s what got me confused,” I told her.
“Not as confused as this poor thing,” Marisa replied and proceeded to cross the street.
Naturally I immediately followed, all the while saying, “Marisa what are you…” Then I stopped myself. The wolf-creature was coming out from among the trees. Its body language was neither hostile or threatening. If anything, it seemed drawn to her somehow…
And of course, that’s when everything went to hell!
A passing car’s headlights illuminated the wolf who was completely clear of the trees just then. The sound of tires screeching to a halt, told me that the driver had spotted the poor misshapen animal. Before I could even think, Marisa began shouting at the wolf to take off which it promptly did with amazing speed.
I think I was the only one not surprised, but that was because my keen eyes saw the animal’s mismatched limbs suddenly shortened or stretched until they were the same length, allowing it to move with a speed only I could match. Not that I did of course, not with the Ranger right there.
Unfortunately, the wolf had not bolted back into the woods as I’d hoped. Instead, it shot across the road and disappeared between the shadowy buildings of the airport before any of us knew what was happening.
At that point there was only one thing I could think of doing. I straightened up and did my best impression of Bull Shannon from the show “Night Court” and said, “Ooooo-kay,” in his voice.
I knew he was one of Marisa’s favorite characters from the show, but if you had seen the look she gave me you’d have thought I’d done an impression of Dan Fielding, the sleezy lawyer, instead.
“Seriously? Is that all you’ve got to say at a moment like this?” she demanded, while pointing behind me.
I quickly got what she meant, because I could hear the Ranger reaching for his radio. I immediately pointed at him and shot my mist in his direction. I wasn’t able to stop him from getting a few words out saying he’d located the creature, but I did manage to get him to tell them to search in the opposite direction from where the animal had fled. I also got him to completely ignore us and take off in the wrong direction.
“Better?” I asked Marisa, only to find she was already crossing the road again to get back to the airport.
Catching up with her, we’d just reached the edge of the buildings where we’d last seen our quarry in time to hear shouts and running feet. This time I was the one to spot the animal, darting between a couple of hangars. Without pausing, I picked up Marisa and raced towards the buildings. To anyone watching they’d have just seen a blur shoot past, since I wasn’t holding back on the speed. And as for the snow on the ground, I can run on top of it, which meant no trace of our passing would be found.
As soon as we were in the shadows of the building, I put Marisa down and we both started scanning the area for our friend. But because this was real life and not a Disney or Hallmark Channel story, all we could see and hear were people screaming and scrambling away from the tarmac. Although I had gotten the ranger and his friends heading in the wrong direction, the animal had clearly been spotted by people who were now surging towards terminal to escape and raise the alarm.
As we stood there, we could see security armed with rifles were already pouring out of the terminal and nearby buildings.
“This is not good,'' Marisa muttered, looking around for our friend. “And I don’t see him anywhere?”
Neither could I, but I knew he was still near. But with security already spreading out to search I didn’t have time to try and zero in on him. But I did know where he definitely wasn’t. “I’m going to lead them off, keep an eye on my stuff, please,” I told Marisa.
Before she could ask what I meant, I began misting out of my clothes and let them hit the ground. A moment later I solidified a few feet away not as myself but as the ‘werewolf’.
Marisa smiled.
Gesturing with my snout at the security guards I gave her a wink.
Glancing over my shoulder I saw a number of security officers giving chase, as well as a couple who were ‘tending’ to Marisa who was putting on quite the damsel in distress act. They were leading her into the terminal where she would be safe. Or so I thought. Like I said before, this wasn’t a Disney or Hallmark movie…
TO BE CONTINUED...
Sunday, October 31, 2021
A Special Message From the Authors...
The "Red Fang" story will continue next weekend as things start to get a little "hairy" for Nathan and Marisa. So stay safe and have fun everybody!
Sunday, October 24, 2021
E-Journal of Nathaniel Eoghan Steward - October 24th, 2019 "Red Fang" - Part IV
After a five-hour drive to Columbus Ohio, and now coming to the end of a 12+ hour flight, I’ll be touching down in Fairbanks very shortly. Isabella tried getting Otto to come with me, but I pointed out that this was more of a solo trip. As knowledgeable and talented as Otto is, I’m the one who has more of a direct connection to the wolf. The recent dreams have proven this to me, and even this high up, I think I can feel the gap between me and the errant Sangui-Sapio shrinking. Or maybe it’s just wishful thinking. I’ll know for sure once we touch down.
The flight crew are
asking us to shut down our electronics. I’ll take this up once I’m back on the
ground.
Three hours later…
Okay, so much for my
‘solo’ mission. Apparently, Isabella has been acting as the eyes and ears for
Lisa and Marisa without my knowledge. How did I find out? Well, coming off the
plane and finding Marisa at the gate holding up a sign that says,
“Congratulations on your sex change, Sis… er Bro!”, which included a photo of
me in my ‘Nadine’ persona, was a huge hint. You see, I’ve only ever let
Isabella take photos of me in that form, so I knew it had to have been her
doing.
I was tempted to walk in
the opposite direction, only I had this horrible image of Marisa running after
me yelling, “So? How’s the new plumbing working out?” I know how tenacious she
can be. So instead, I simply walked right up to her and said quietly, “Thanks
for going the sibling route, instead of something like, ‘Congratulations on the
sex change, Honey. When do I get to try out your new equipment?’.”
She laughed and said, “Ooo…
I’m saving that for next time.”
“Me and my big mouth,” I
murmured as we headed for the baggage area. “So, how did you land all the way
up here. I thought you were riding the rails with our Karneval Schatten friends?”
Karneval Schatten, as the
name implies, is a traveling carnival made up of people and beings from various
Para-Earths who at one point or another found themselves stranded in this world.
By traveling and presenting themselves as performers, they’re able to hide
their ‘strangeness’ from the folks of this world. And like Otto and me, they seek
out incursions from other Para-Earths and try to return any creatures/beings land
up here. If they cannot return the ‘visitor’ to their reality, they will add
them to their ranks if possible. However, in cases where the intruder is
hostile or more dangerous, they will contact me or Otto to help contain the being.
They travel by an unusual
train which can actually travel through various Para-Earths and reappear in this
world at a variety of select locations that act as beacons for them. Just don’t
ask me for the mechanics of how the train does it because I have no idea. Nor do
my carnival friends to be honest. They ‘borrowed’ it from another Para-Earth
traveler, who had been gathering and imprisoning them (and eventually me) for
purposes I’d rather not go into right now.
Damn, just thinking about
that day still makes me shudder. I swear if it hadn’t been for Brandon Elliott,
and his grandson Peter, God only knows what might have happened to us and this
world.
The rest of my reverie
was interrupted by Marisa.
“Once I heard you were
coming here, I asked them to drop me off,” she explained, brushing a stray
blonde hair out of her face and back into the hood of her parka. “I was ready
to head home anyway and figured I could catch a lift back with you after we
find your… friend.”
I halted in mid-step and
frowned at her. “My sister sent you the article too?”
“No, I found it,” she laughed,
“Who do you think sent it to her the others in the first place?”
Eying her curiously I asked,
“So, you’ve been keeping an eye out for possible ‘incursions’?”
She nodded. “Incursions,
strange phenomenon, sightings… after all I need material for my children and
Young Adult ‘fantasy’ books don’t I?” Then she bumped me with her hip saying, “Unlike
some people, I don’t have over a century and a half of life experience to draw
upon.”
“Touche’,” I conceded. “When
are you going to finally try releasing one of them?”
“I want to have a good number of them completed in case I hit a dry spell so I can keep releasing stories in a timely manner. That way the audience doesn’t wind up getting frustrated that it’s taking so long between books,” she replied as we started walking towards the baggage area again.
“Five, but I want eight
at least before I start publishing.”
“Eight?” I frowned as we
reached the baggage carousel. “Why so many?”
“That way I can safely put
out two per year with plenty of room for travel or…” she paused to snatch my
bag which had just appeared on the conveyor belt, “Life getting in the way for
a good four years.”
I had to admit she had a
point. I often wished I still had a few books set and ready to go some days.
But ever since I moved back to the family mansion, I’ve had a number of
distractions (which included her and Lisa) to deal with. And this ‘werewolf’ business
was only the latest.
As we made our way out
the doors of the terminal I could see how much snow had fallen recently. Marisa
must’ve noticed it too and promptly huddled closer to me as we walked through
the parking lot. Since she is almost as tall as me meant she could rest her head
on my shoulder, and promptly did so.
“You didn’t by chance
rent a car, did you?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I caught
a taxi and came right here. Besides, I wasn’t sure if we’d need a car, skis, or
a snowmobile.” Here she paused and looked at me, “Then again, we could just
rent a dogsled and tie you to the front. You’re so strong we wouldn’t need a full
dog team.”
“You just want an excuse
to get a leash on me,” I blurted and instantly regretted it.
“Well now that you’ve
brought it up…” she began.
“Uh-oh,” I muttered,
looking up. “It’s starting to snow again.”
Marisa frowned, “So? I
thought you loved the snow?”
“I do, but with it falling
that means no moon or Northern Lights to help us find my ‘friend’ as you call
him,” I explained and looked around. I blew out a breath. “I’ll have to reach out
mentally to try and get an idea…”
“FOUND HIM!” Marisa cut
in and pointed.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Sunday, October 17, 2021
E-Journal of Nathaniel Eoghan Steward - October 23rd, 2019 "Red Fang" - Part III
Otto raised one bushy eyebrow and asked, “Nathan, what did you do? Come clean, now.”
“I got hurt during a
hunt,” I replied distractedly, as I pulled up a new tab on the computer and
began searching for the nearest flight to Alaska. There was one leaving that
evening from Columbus, Ohio. I could easily make it if I started getting ready
right away. Booking a seat on the plane, I got up and began making for the door
only to find both Otto and Isabella blocking me.
“You do know I can easily
mist past the two of you,” I pointed out.
“Are you so sure?” asked
Otto, pulling out an oversized fireplace bellow. It took me a moment to realize
the bellow he was holding was the one I kept next to the fireplace. As usual, I
never heard or saw him grab it. He’s a sly one, let me tell you.
Knowing the clock was ticking for me to get to Ohio I told them, “Fine, follow me upstairs and I’ll explain while I pack.”
That got them to let me
pass, and the three of us headed upstairs. I told them all about my visit with
my friends in Fairbanks and how I’d headed for the Boreal Forest after leaving
them.
As we reached my bedroom
Isabella headed straight for my closet and pulled out a couple of suitcases,
one of which was almost as big as her. Not that she had any trouble handling
it. Since I accidentally infected her my Sangui-Sapio (a story for another
day), she has the same strength, speed, and weaknesses I possess. And although
she has the body of a child, unlike me she has been growing at the normal rate
of any 12-year-old girl. Though I suspect, that like me, this will slow down
considerably once she reaches adulthood.
In the meantime, Otto
urged me to continue my tale and I complied.
Since they already know
about my tendency to ‘go native’ when I’m up in Alaska, I was able to gloss
over that part quickly. Finally, I got to the part about meeting up with the pack
of wolves, and how I’d won their confidence with my mist trick.
“Since the hours of night
are so long at that time of the year, I wound up staying with them almost a
week,” I explained. “Since we were making kills pretty regularly, there was
plenty of blood to keep me sated. Plus, it was pretty cloudy at the time, and we
were keeping under the tree canopy a lot, which made things even easier for me
to stay in wolf form.”
“Sounds like you were
having a lovely time,” Otto nodded pleasantly, as he sat on my smiling. “So,
when are we going to get to the ‘Oops’ part of your story?”
I stood there holding a
stack of underwear in my hands, and just stared at him. “What makes you think
there’s an ‘Oops’ part coming?”
“Because it’s clear from your
reaction to the article that you suspect you accidentally infected one of those
wolves with your Sangui-Sapio companion,” he answered calmly.
“Psychology?” I asked.
Otto shook his head. “No, I simply recognized that look you get whenever you’ve goofed something up,” he
teased, then his expression became serious. “So how did it happen? You’re
usually very careful about not ‘sharing’ your gifts.” His eyes darted to
Isabella ever-so-briefly before looking at me again.
As I mentioned before, infecting
my sister had been an accident. It had happened back in 1863, shortly after the
Sangui-Sapio and I had formed our bond. I hadn’t learned about the mistake
until decades later, mistaking her for a ghost at first.
“And how did he take it?”
Otto inquired.
“He wasn’t exactly
thrilled about me, but he knew I was effective in helping bring down prey so he
tolerated my presence. But during that last hunt, errors were made. He wanted us
to go after one of the younger bison. Unfortunately, I could tell already that the
herd was keeping a very good defensive ring around their young. No matter how
much the pack harried them, they wouldn’t break rank. That is, except for one
older bull who at that point was wide open.”
As usual Otto was already
ahead of me, saying, “Let me guess, our young alpha saw this as an opportunity
to firmly establish himself as leader. Am I correct?”
I nodded. “Oh yeah. Mind
you he was a good hunter, but I could see he was going to be seriously
outmatched.”
“So, you jumped in to try
and help him?” my sister asked.
“You called your blood
back?” Isabella repeated with a frown.
“Whenever I bleed, either
me or Sangui-Sapio can call the blood I spilled back into me through the skin.
Unless something prevents it from reaching me, like being ingested for
instance,” I explained.
“Like the Cannibal Killer
you fought three years ago?” Isabella continued.
I nodded. That guy had lived
up to his name and had taken a bite out of me, along with a chunk of the
Sangui-Sapio. He’d been injured in our fight before he bit me. And since the
Sangui-Sapio’s first instinct is to preserve life, it went to work pretty
quickly on him, making the guy nearly as strong and hard to stop as me.
As if reading my thoughts
Otto spoke again. “If this is indeed the case with the wolf, why is the
creature taking a humanoid shape? From what you’ve told me in the past, the
Sangui-Sapio normally just adapts to its new host’s form. It only tries to shapeshift
the body briefly, in or to protect or help the new host. Otherwise, the host appears
to be normal. Yet, according to the article, the creature seems to have taken on
a humanoid shape and was having rough time of it. Now, why would a wolf do
that?”
Once more I thought back
to the dream. In it, I was having trouble keeping my wolf form. “I don’t know,”
I replied, finishing up my packing. “Which is why I have to get up there as
quickly as possible, before that poor creature accidentally winds up infecting
another animal or even a person.”
TO BE CONTINUED...