Not all Vampires are the Same
Author Note:
This story is set after the end of Fright Night 2 (1988), so is a future based fic that follows on from the two original movies.
Summary:
With Regine destroyed, Charley and Peter are sure that their lives will not be overshadowed by vampires again – until Peter receives a letter from a Miss Elissa Lake, who wishes to meet with him to discuss the subject of 'hidden vampires' within the local community.
Peter Vincent throws the letter away, wanting no more battles with the undead – but then he is approached by Elissa, and on meeting her, he is surprised to find she is both likeable and beautiful, and she has even brought her eight year old daughter Opal along too. But as she tells him about a cult of vampires known as The Banished, he becomes intrigued to learn of a hidden breed who drink blood and live by night but also live by a vow to harm no human life.
He invites Elissa and her daughter back to his apartment, and when they recoil in terror from the sight of his anti-vampire collection of weaponry, he realises they are both vampires. Peter drives the woman and child from his apartment using the power of a crucifix, but he finds he can not forget Elissa - because he was very struck by her beauty. Later he tells Charley, who urges him not to trust Elissa and her tales of 'peaceful' vampires.
But after Elissa's daughter flies to Peter's apartment in the guise of a tiny bat and leaves him a letter from her mother, Peter knows he can not resist the urge to see Elissa again – and soon finds, to his great surprise, that Elissa is also attracted to him – and soon they begin a love affair, and Peter finds he has no choice but to lie to Charley to cover up the truth about his vampire lover, who drinks blood but harms no human.
Then Elissa tells Peter she is pregnant – at first, the ageing vampire killer is overjoyed, until he considers the fact that while he is growing old, his lover and child of vampire blood will never die. Then Elissa makes him an offer that threatens to tear apart his friendship with Charley forever, when she offers him a solution to their problem...Will Peter Vincent choose to stay with his new family forever, by making the choice to become a vampire?
Rated M
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my love of fan fiction.
Warnings: Rated M for scenes of lovemaking and also blood drinking/horror.
Chapter 1
Peter Vincent had waited until he had finished filming his Fright Night show, he waited until he was out of the TV studio and sat in his car in the parking lot before he opened up the letter that had been sent to the studio, addressed to him and only him, which had not been opened until now. He had waited to open it because it was addressed to Peter Vincent, Vampire Killer.
As he took out the folded paper and began to read, he gave a sigh.
'Dear Mr Vincent, I am a huge fan of your work and would like to meet you. My name is Elissa Lake -"' he paused reading and shook his head.
"Oh, Miss Lake, what do you see in an old man like me?" he wondered aloud, "And I thought my days of fan mail from women with crushes were long gone!"
And he smiled as he read on:
'It is important that I meet with you, I have some information that may be of interest to you.'
But as he read the next part, his expression turned to one of dismay.
"I have information regarding a vampire culture known as The Banished, blood drinkers who are a hidden part of our society?" he exclaimed, and then he paused for a moment, feeling a chill as he recalled the battles with Jerry Dandrige and later on, his sister Regine.
"No, no, not again!" he said, but as much as he wanted to break off from reading, he felt compelled to read until the end:
'Please do not feel afraid to meet with me, I only want to raise awareness that not all vampires are evil, I understand you are known as a vampire killer, and it is to people of your esteem that the message must be spread. The Banished are cast out from vampiric society, and for a good reason. They are a breed who have made the choice to live by night and drink blood but also to harm no living soul. If you can believe this is true, would you please arrange to meet with me so we can discuss this matter further? I assure you, meeting with me is entirely safe. Please agree to this because I am keen to establish some trust between us. Yours most sincerely, Miss Elissa Lake.'
Peter reached the end of the letter and then ran through it again.
By now his mind was made up – he had already had enough of battles with vampires.
"No," he said firmly, "I do not want to pursue this!"
And he screwed up the letter, tossed it out of his open car window, turned the key in the ignition and drove out of the parking lot, driving a little faster than usual as he thought only of reaching home, where he would entertain no more thoughts of vampires stalking the night.
It was early morning, long before the alarm was due to go off, when Charley Brewster's phone rang. He turned over in bed, then he put his head under the pillow, wanting to drown it out and sleep, but it kept on ringing, so he reluctantly got up and left the bedroom and went out to the hallway and answered it.
"Hello," he said wearily, and then as he heard Peter Vincent on the other end of the line, all trace of sleep left him as he listened.
"Charley – I know its early and I'm sorry but this can't wait! I tried to ignore it, I tried to pretend it wasn't important but I can't forget it!"
"Slow down," Charley told him, "Tell me what this is about."
And then he listened, and then he soon spoke up again.
"This is about a woman? You've met someone -"
"No, no Charley – she wants to meet with me and talk about vampires!"
"Well if she's a fan you never know, she might be nice -"
"No, she wrote to me about real vampires!"
Charley paused.
"Are you still there?" Peter said anxiously, "Because I really need to think about this – I mean, I thought it was over when we got rid of Regine, but this woman is trying to convince me there are vampires out there who don't harm the living! Have you ever heard of such a thing? Maybe its some kind of trap, maybe -"
"Maybe she's just a big vampire fan. Or a big Peter Vincent fan."
"Oh Charley, I'm an old man! As if she would be interested in me!"
"Why not?" Charley smiled as he added, "You never know! And I really don't think its likely there would be any more vampires out there – we got rid of the bad guys, remember? Jerry Dandrige and his sister are gone."
Peter gave a heavy sigh.
"I want to believe that, I want to think there are no more threats but how can we be certain? I've thought of nothing else all night and all I could think to do was call you because I don't know if there's any truth in what she said!"
"Meet me before class," Charley said, and then he cancelled all thoughts of going back to bed, along with the notion that perhaps it wasn't over with the threat of vampires, because he couldn't be certain there really was nothing to worry about...
They met early in a coffee shop, Peter was there before Charley, and when he walked in and sat down at the table next to a window where the morning sunrise looked mellow through the glass, Charley said nothing for a moment as he just sat there in his sunglasses, wondering how long it would take Peter to notice he was wearing them again – and wondered if he would ask why, because last time it had been due to Regine trying to turn him into a vampire, but this time, the reason was very different...
"I don't know what to do about Elissa Lake!" Peter said, "She wants to meet me, Charley! What if -" he lowered his voice, "What if she's linked to Regine or Jerry Dandrige? What if this is a trap to take revenge for their deaths?"
His coffee had rising steam coming off the top and the aroma was waking him up sharply now.
"Peter," Charley said, "Forget the vampires! We can't assume anything. I think you should meet with her – meet her in a public place, then you can be sure you're safe. Not that I think you're not, but just to be sure."
"So you're not sure?"
"I don't know," Charley replied honestly, "I think she sounds harmless, maybe she's a fan with a crush who just wants an excuse to meet you. So meet her."
Peter looked at him in surprise.
"Why would I want to do that?"
"You might be glad you did. Maybe she's beautiful."
He laughed softly as he shook his head.
"At my age? You really think a woman would throw herself at me?"
"Maybe. I think you should take a chance. At the worst she could be a weirdo obsessed with vampires – if she is, just make an excuse and leave."
A thought had suddenly dawned on Peter.
"I've just realised I've probably worried for nothing and wasted your time as well."
"Why?" Charley asked him.
"Because I threw her letter away, I have no way of contacting her now!"
"You did what?"
"I threw it away. It's just occurred to me that I've probably worried over nothing, for nothing."
"And if I don't get moving I'll be late for class," Charley replied as he checked his watch, "Peter, if she gets in touch again, just see her – or don't see her, it's up to you. I doubt if there's any truth in her vampire story."
Then as he rose from the table Peter looked at him in surprise. It had finally registered that in all the time he had been at the table, Charley had not taken his shades off.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"No," Charley replied, "Me and Alex broke up. We had a quarrel, it was over nothing important, but we were at a party and I left and she stayed - and the next thing I know she's seeing some other guy. So I went over to his house and there was a bit of a scene."
Charley briefly took off his sunglasses to show his black eye and then put them back on.
"I was stupid, I know. But I really did love her."
Peter looked at him with sympathy in his eyes.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Charley. But you never know, maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Maybe there's someone else out there for you."
Charley was heavy with sadness at the break up, but managed to smile.
"And maybe you should take your own advice," he replied, "If you hear from Elissa again, maybe you should meet her - you never know what could be around the corner."
And then he said he would see him soon, and he left the coffee shop, while Peter Vincent sat there in thoughtful silence as steam rose from his coffee and he wondered if Charley could be right.
Peter was in for a long wait to find out – a week passed, and he received no more letters from Elissa Lake. And then one night after filming his show, he went out to the car and just sat there with the engine off as he reflected on some news he had received that had nothing to do with vampires:
The makers of the show had decided that Fright Night was to come to an end. He had until the end of the month, and then he was out of work...
Peter had considered calling Charley to talk about it, because he needed to talk to someone and it made sense to talk to the one person who he had been through so much with, but Charley had been through enough with handling the break up of his relationship, so he had decided not to burden him with more bad news.
He was still thinking about the show coming to a close when a tap on his half open window made him jump. He looked around and was surprised to see a woman standing next to the car. She looked to be no older than twenty-five, her dark hair fell to her shoulders and her pale eyes sparkled as she smiled. And her blue silk dress clung to her curves in ways that made him wish he was a few years younger, and he tried not to think about that as he smiled back at her...
"Mr Vincent," she said, "I'm Elissa Lake – I wrote to you a week ago."
And he felt stuck for words as he looked at her, because she was nothing like he was expecting. He wasn't entirely sure what he had expected, but this woman who stood before him was certainly not it – she was beautiful and he had instantly warmed to her smile and the shine in her eyes, and as he thought about the contents of her letter, he felt torn between stopping to talk with her, or simply turning the key in the ignition and driving away.
He reached for the car keys.
"Would it be okay if I had just a few moments of your time?" she asked him, "And I brought my daughter Opal with me – I'd hate to think we came over here for nothing. Please, can I talk to you?"
And as she stepped aside and he saw a child standing beside her, his hand shifted away from the keys as he smiled kindly at the little girl with long dark hair like her mother, who looked at him with interest.
"Are you a vampire killer?" she asked, and he laughed.
"No of course not," he replied, "I'm an actor. You mustn't believe everything you see on TV -"
"But sometimes vampires are real," the girl's mother added quietly, "We both know that."
And Peter checked his watch.
It was getting late, and Elissa and her young daughter were standing there in the parking lot quite alone in the moonlight with no sign of a car nearby. He wondered if they had taken the bus, and the thought of a woman and child travelling home in the dark without the safety of a car late at night bothered him greatly.
"Let's continue this conversation in my car," he offered, "I'd be happy to drive you home, Miss Lake."
Elissa smiled and as he looked into her eyes as she thanked him warmly, he tried again to ignore how attractive he found her, because he guessed he was far too old to be of interest to this beautiful young woman...
Moments later they were still in the parking lot, with Elissa in the passenger seat beside him and her daughter in the back of the car.
As Elissa spoke to him, in his mind, Peter was already thinking about the next time he would call Charley - this time he would have good news, he would tell him, 'I met Elissa, she's a lovely woman...she's a single mother with a young daughter, perfectly normal and nothing to do with vampires at all, I might even see her again -'
No.
He cancelled that last part... As if Elissa would be attracted to him, that had to be wishful thinking...
"And I'm so glad you agreed to meet with me," she was saying, and as much as he found he was liking to be around her, he knew they needed to get to the point to get the subject of vampires out of the way, because he was starting to think about maybe taking a detour to his place and inviting her in for a coffee to get to know her a little better, and maybe even – if he was very sure that she liked him too – maybe, he would ask if she would like to come over again, this time without her daughter...
"I'm very keen to clear up this subject of vampires," he said, and as he spoke his face flushed as he wondered why he felt twenty years younger as he looked at her – and the thoughts that were running through his mind as he tried not to think about the way her low cut cress curved and hugged her cleavage made him feel certain if he did find himself in her arms, he would not regret a moment of it – even if his back ached in the morning, and it would, and with good reason because he wanted to take her hard and hear her gasp as she felt him inside her for the first time – now he knew he was blushing even more to have such thoughts about a complete stranger...
"I just wanted to tell you there are vampires out there who do not harm the living," she told him, "They are known as The Banished – outcasts forced to live hidden away because those who prey on the living are disgusted by their refusal to harm mortals."
He was still bushing, but the subject of vampires had rapidly cooled his arousal.
"And how would you know these Banished are real?" he asked her.
She hesitated.
"Perhaps we could talk more privately - "
"Of course," he said as he started up the car, "I was wondering if you would like to come back to my apartment for a short while before I take you home? I'd be more than happy to talk with you there."
She smiled, and the look in her eyes had the power to fuel fantasies of the kind he thought had long slipped out of his reach.
"I'd like that very much, Peter," she replied.
As he drove, they talked some more.
Elissa told him she was separated from Opal's father, but added that they had split on good terms and he saw her often and financially supported both of them.
"But we're only good friends now," she added quickly, "There's no one in my life in a romantic way. I expect you probably have a wife at home, or a girlfriend -"
"No."
Peter realised he had said that a little too keenly, and he glanced at her and smiled.
"My career always came first when I was younger," he told her, "And I never met the right one, and suddenly I'm an old man, with no wife or family to call my own, but I do have some wonderful memories of a very successful career, of course." And he turned his attention back to the road once more.
"I know what you mean about time," she replied, "It can go so fast, in the blink of an eye... And I do hope you will take me seriously, about The Banished – they are a peaceful clan of vampires, certainly not to be feared. It is said they live among us quietly. Not one of them deserves to be killed. That is why vampire hunters need to understand they pose no threat."
They had reached Peter's apartment block.
He parked his car and as he shut off the engine, she spoke again.
"It's not a war."
He looked at her sharply, recalling how he had once said he felt the battle between mortals and blood sucking vampires was a war.
"What?" he said in a hushed voice.
She smiled sweetly.
"It really isn't. While there are bad vampires out there, they only represent half of the vampire community. The other half are peaceful."
"But you wouldn't know that for sure. It sounds as if this is some kind of new urban legend, perhaps?"
As he looked into her eyes he felt stirrings of desire once more, but then Elissa's daughter spoke up from the back seat and once again his thoughts towards her mother were pushed aside.
"So you don't really hurt vampires, Mr Vincent?" she asked him.
"Of course not!" he assured her, and then he got out of the car.
Once they were in the apartment, his first thought was to fix Opal with a drink so he could sit her down somewhere quiet and then go into another room to talk to her mother, but as he took off his coat and offered the child some juice she shook her head.
"Maybe some milk?" he offered, and he walked off towards the kitchen as Opal looked up at he mother and frowned, and Elissa took her daughter's hand and they went off to join him.
"But I don't drink milk -" Opal whispered.
"Just take the glass and sit down and let me talk to Mr Vincent," Elissa said quietly, and as they walked into the kitchen Peter handed the child a glass of milk. She took it from him and looked at it, and then shrugged and walked out of the room again.
Now they were alone, Peter looked intently at Elissa as they stood together in the kitchen.
"Would you like some coffee?" he asked her.
She shook her head
"I would only like to discuss The Banished. Their leader is said to be a vampire king -"
He held up his hand to silence her as he smiled warmly.
"Please, let's not talk any more about these rumours. If they do exist I'm sure they are harmless, as you say they live peacefully and harm no one." He paused, thinking about what Charley had said about not knowing what could be around the corner, and then he decided to take a chance, just this once, and see if he was right about his instincts, because those instincts seemed to be telling him that although she was much younger than him, Miss Lake certainly liked him...
"It's been really nice, meeting you tonight," he told her, "And I know its getting late and you probably need to get your daughter home soon, but I was wondering if you would like to come over another time...tomorrow evening, perhaps?"
And his heart missed a beat as she smiled and he saw a sparkle in her eyes.
"I would love to!" she said warmly, "Let me see...I will have to ask April to baby sit for me -"
"April?"
"My close friend, she shares the house with us. She always helps out with Opal."
"Perhaps we can have dinner?" Peter suggested, "And maybe a few drinks?"
She smiled again.
"I'll definitely be here, what time?"
"Eight o'clock?" he suggested.
She thought about it.
"Nine would be better."
"Nine it is then!"
As their eyes met, he felt a warmth pass between them, and as the thought hit him that he wanted to kiss her, she stepped closer, kissed his cheek and then stepped back again, and as she briefly avoided his gaze her shyness only made him feel even warmer towards her as he reached up in surprise and touched his cheek, where he swore he could still feel the brush of her lips.
"I just wanted to... you know, be affectionate – briefly. I hope you don't mind," she said quickly.
Peter felt twenty years younger as his eyes darkened with desire.
"I don't mind at all," he told her softly, "I like you too, Elissa."
And then the spell was sharply broken as a scream came from the front room.
As Elissa turned and ran, Peter ran after her wondering why Elissa's daughter had screamed so sharply. She was still screaming as he reached the open door to the front room, and then as he saw why she was screaming, his expression changed to one of shock:
The child's eyes were glowing as tiny pointed fangs drew down white, she was trembling and shivering and started to cry for her mother and as Elissa gave a gasp at the sight of the old movie props on his wall – also his vampire killing tools – she cringed at the sight of the crucifix on the wall as she turned away from a mirror that cast no reflection of her or her child as she wrapped protective arms about Opal, and the child buried her face in her mother's dress and sobbed.
Elissa looked at Peter with eyes that had changed to the familiar glow of the vampire as her own teeth grew sharp.
"Please Mr Vincent," she begged, "Do not harm us...we are Banished. We harm no one!Let us go, at least let my child go!"
Her words had shocked him:
She thought he was going to kill them both?
He knew he didn't want to do that, he also knew all she had told him about the clan – her clan – was probably true, but a vampire was still a vampire no matter what, and he could only take one course of action...
Peter was shaking and pale with fear as he edged around the room and grabbed the crucifix from the wall and held it out before them.
"Be gone!" he said sharply, "Leave this place and take your devil spawn with you!"
And as Elissa gave a sob he saw tears run down her face.
"I'm sorry!" she said in a voice broken by pain, and as she folded up into a dark swirl and so did the child, the mist twisted and shrank and then two bats swooped low and fast, and Peter ducked quickly as the larger bat flew out of the open window, and the smaller one swiftly followed.
He was still shaking as the crucifix slipped from his hands and he stood in shock at the window, watching as the bats flew off into the night, silhouetted by the glow of a bright full moon.
