"And the [vampire] may be summoned which sucketh the blood from a Man, as it desires to become a Man . . . but the [vampire] will never become Man."
-excerpt from the "Necronomicon"
Johnny expected squatters to have infested his house; however, it was something far more dangerous and imprisoned within the house that the maniac was confronted with. Blame it on shock or belief that he had relapsed, but Johnny was transfixed. It had all the clothing of a newborn, yet this thing looked dead. Johnny met his—for there was no doubting the creature's gender—gaze and found chilled steel glimmering with intelligence and danger.
For a long while (or perhaps just seconds just dragged out) the two stood apart, sizing each other up. Johnny only stared, unsure, while the creature ran a pale pink tongue over ivory knives. Then the creature circled Johnny, toying with the madman. Nny did his best to back away until he found himself with his back to the wall.
In a deceptively sweet whisper, the creature begged while scarcely moving his lips, "Nny, I must feed."
At the nick name, the spell was broken. The madman went from a creeping spider to a cornered cat, hissing, "I saw enough demons in Hell!"
"I'm not a demon," came the whispered reply. "You know what you see, but you deny it."
"Leave me alone!" Nny shrieked, half begging and half threatening.
"Nny, I have to feed," the creature whispered.
"Then do it already!" Johnny screamed at him in reply.
The creature lunged before the maniac had a chance to move. It held Johnny in a way a lover might, but the grip was firm, almost bruising. Johnny noticed the creature's hands were cold and, as he pressed Johnny closer to himself, the rest of the creature's body was just as frigid, which made Johnny shudder.
With a hiss, the creature sank his fangs into Johnny's neck. Johnny cried out wordlessly, surprised at the only slight pain. As he was being drained, Johnny relaxed. He thought, for one exciting moment, that he would be freed from his mortality. Then the creature stopped feeding and licked Nny's wounds.
Johnny blinked a few times to let his eyes (When had he closed them?) adjust. He ran his bone-thin fingers over the creature's skin and found a long, thin, and angular face. Through his haze, the maniac found grey eyes and a name clicked in his mind.
"Edgar," Nny murmured.
"That's right, Nny," the creature praised.
Despite all his fighting, the maniac fell asleep peacefully in the creatures arms.
Johnny woke up, sat upright, and stared around. The room appeared empty and, from the small streams of sunlight from the boarded up windows, it was late in the morning. Nny groaned at the slight pain in his neck that throbbed slightly with his pulse.
"You're awake."
Johnny curled up into a defensive position, slipping his hand into his boot to grab the knife he hid there.
"Don't bother. I took it out so you could rest."
Johnny curled up tighter and growled, "Who do you think you are?"
The creature, now clothed, settled on the opposite end of the ratty couch and asked, "You really don't remember me?"
Johnny's only response was to glare at the creature. Sighing, he moved closer to the maniac and Johnny growled at the invasion of space.
"Nny, it's me," the creature told him. "I'm Edgar Vargas."
"Edgar's dead," Johnny replied. "I killed him. He's been dead for a while."
"No, Nny," the creature told him. Gingerly, he extended a hand to the maniac. Johnny flinched and growled as a frigid hand cupped his cheek.
"Let go of me, monster," Johnny spat. "You're dead. A ghost."
"Edgar" sighed and stood up. He asked, "What will convince you?" The creature stood and moved to the window, peering through the boards, his body blocking some of the sunlight. He turned his head and Nny saw there were no burns on his face.
"Monster!" Nny yelled, getting up and backing away. "Get out of my house!"
"Johnny—"
"Go to hell!" Johnny screamed. He grabbed the heaviest object near him—the Happy Noodle Boy figuring—and threw it.
"Edgar" didn't flinch from the little statue, even though it shattered against him. The creature only looked wounded and disappointed.
"Get out of my house!" Johnny screamed again before he darted down the stairs and the dark bowels of the house swallowed him up.
Johnny wandered for a long while in the labyrinth below his house. He passed no other living creature, not even a roach. What he did pass were dead husks of humanity. Decay made it impossible to tell whether hunger or "Edgar" had taken them, but Johnny sincerely hoped in was the former.
There was silence except for the long-quieted screams begging to be released that rattled in Nny's mind. As he continued to walk, Nny slowly became aware that he was being followed. He growled occasionally and felt the creature back off.
Johnny stumbled into a room full of hook and rotted bodies hung from said hooks. Vaguely, Johnny wondered what their crimes were. He tapped an empty, rusted hook with a skeletal finger and watched it sway, the chain rattling in the dark. A cacophony of other rattling chains drew Nny's attention and he glared into the darkness.
"Nny," the creature called.
"Go away," Johnny replied.
The creature parted a few chains, pushing the corpses on them aside. He stepped through his self-made path, still looking wounded. Slowly, the creature raised his arms and stood in the form of a cross, hands disappearing in the dark.
"What are you—?"
"A heaven for me and a hell for you," the creature recited. "Fuck fear."
"You're dead," Johnny whispered. "I killed you."
"I'm not," the creature replied, shaking his head.
"Go away!" Johnny screamed, shutting his eyes and digging his nails into his palms. "Go to hell, you monster!"
Johnny heard the rattle of chains and opened his eyes. Edgar was gone and left only swinging chains in his wake. Johnny turned around and continued to wander through the maze of a basement.
When Johnny came back upstairs, he found a plate of cold breakfast items, a glass of lukewarm fruit juice, and an intact Happy Noodle Boy figurine. Edgar was nowhere to be seen. Slowly, reluctantly, Johnny curled up on the couch and ate the meal, only pausing to sip the glass of juice.
Once Johnny was full, Edgar reappeared and sat on the floor next to the television. Johnny let out a low growl, even when Edgar raised his hands to symbolize peace.
"You're a ghost," Johnny told him. "Now get out."
"Johnny, please," Edgar begged, "I want to talk about it."
"I don't."
"Can we? Please?"
Johnny sighed and relaxed slightly. He knew Edgar was being persuasive, but he couldn't help lowering his defenses. Johnny thought the courageous Edgar Vargas and the predatory creature he met last night (Was it last night?) couldn't be one in the same. Johnny felt himself nod and Edgar smiled, flashing his fangs.
"I thought you could end me and I could be free," Edgar told him. "Good Catholics don't kill."
"Good Catholics aren't creatures like you."
Edgar chuckled softly and agreed, "I don't know a single Catholic like me."
"You don't burn in the sun," Nny commented abruptly.
"I don't," Edgar agreed while he nodded. "None of us do. Night gives us strength and day drains it. Sleeping only passes otherwise boring time."
"How did you survive?"
"On insects at first," Edgar explained. "I saved up my strength and began feeding on the people you left alive and mostly well."
"Do you have scars?"
Edgar chuckled slightly, "They're faint now and only look like acupuncture gone wrong."
Johnny hummed thoughtfully and muttered, "I should apologize."
"No need," Edgar replied, standing up and peering through the boards on the window. "It's night."
Johnny turned his head to stare back at the darkness between the boards. A soft rush of air caused by movement turned his attention back on Edgar, who stood before him and offered Nny his knife.
"We should go out," Edgar told him.
Johnny took the knife, which felt oddly heavier than he remembered, and nodded slowly. Edgar offered a hand to the madman and Johnny took it. Edgar helped Nny off the couch, into a strange trench coat he found nearby, and out the door.
"Where to?" Johnny asked, clutching the knife as if it were a teddy bear.
"The park," Edgar told him, taking the lead as well as one of Johnny's hands.
"The park," Nny agreed.