Down On The Bayou Detective Agency - Case Files

Chapter 5

Case File #16 "Un vampir de energie." Part 4

Summary:

Disclaimer:

Definitions: Kir·li·an pho·tog·ra·phy

ˌkirlēən fəˈtäɡrəfē/

noun

a technique for recording photographic images of corona discharges and hence, supposedly, the auras of living creatures.

Author's Note 1: In this chapter, I've made up more than a few facts about Vlad Tepes, a.k.a Dracula, but some of the information I've written here is part of the very colorful history of Romania. I wish to thank Dana Cris for her help with those phrases and names in Romanian.

Author's Note 2: All books referenced in this chapter and others that follow are real books. If any of the items mentioned as coming from these books interest you, I suggest you obtain a copy as it is my experience they are true and correct in the information contained.

~o0o~

Chapter 5

Previously:

"I think I have someplace for us to start. I think we're dealing with some kind of vampire."

~o0o~

"A what?" Emmett boomed.

"A vampire that doesn't drink blood, one that sucks the very life force, or life energy, from the victim," Edward said quietly, "Un vampir de energie."

"Aww, Cher, you're really scaring me," Lauren said as she stepped closer to Emmett.

"Well, shit, Edward," Sam drawled. "I should have thought of that! I've never tracked one of those before, but I've read about them, and I had a friend from Romania who was a ghost buster. She hated that title by the way. She preferred to be referred to as vanator de fantome, which means ghost hunter. She told me about a suspected case but never pursued it because she just didn't have the time to take on another mystery."

"I've never dealt with one either, Sam. I think we need to find out if it is in truth un vampir de energie or something else," Edward remarked as he headed for the coffee pot.

"Angela, do you think the Tarot would be able to confirm what we are working with?" Sam asked.

"Probably. But trust me, I don't want to dig too deeply with them. They don't need the taint, if you know what I mean," Angela replied. "However, I think Sam would be better suited to see if he could get a confirmation through his various sources."

"Sure, I don't mind doing that, but I'll need to get into my reference books and see what I'll need to perform that particular action."

"Before you start that, Sam, will you tell us what you remember about your friend? What was her name? Did I meet her too?" Edward asked.

"I don't know, but her name was Alexandra, Lexi Vladescu. Lexi and I met in London when I was going to University. She was already done with University and was out on her own, earning a pretty good living debunking ghost stories. England is filled with spirits. She had all the electronic equipment. She even had a Kirlian camera, and some spectacular photographs of the human aura and those of plants and animals also." Sam paused and took a sip of coffee before he continued. "I went with her on a couple of her investigations. Trust me when I tell you they are 99% boring, so we had lots of time to talk. She told me this story about Vlad Tepes III who Bram Stoker fictionalized as Dracula."

"...Vlad Tepes developed a reputation as a defender of Christianity against the Ottoman Empire, in particularly vicious ways in dealing with his such as impaling them. It's not sure where the reputation for drinking blood came from however. There's no historical proof for it. Most historians believe it was the Muslims themselves who started this to scare their own troops into fighting harder - as if the impaling wasn't enough. There was some information that surfaced that it wasn't Vlad who drank blood, but one of his wives. She not only drank it but bathed in it as well. Something about it causing the skin to have more vitality and life. He had three or four wives and there was never a name given for that particular act. He also had, by the way, seven or eight children. I'm sure they're named somewhere, but I don't think it's important information at the moment.

"There was some documented "proof" given by several priest who said they had seen first-hand what some of the bodies of young virgins looked like after Tepes was done with them. It was said that 'the life had been sucked from their young healthy bodies. They had the appearance of "mummies.' It was such a vile act that he was given the name of un vampir de energie. There had been many attempts to kill this Tepes with the would-be assassins being killed themselves and drained of all life - except for one. This one managed to escape just barely from the fiend's clutches. When he was found he looked as if he'd been starved to almost death. The flesh hung on his body and there was barely any light in his eyes. He'd disappeared two days before. He died not too long after he reached the Comana Monastery where this victim had been taken.

"The Church called off further attempts on Tepes life after this and put out the word to stay away from him and his wife. Legend says, additionally, that it was believed that Vlad Tepes was buried at this same monastery. It was also reputed that Tepes had supplied the money to build Comana Monastery."

"There is no known written report on how Tepes became an energy vampire or even how that name came about," Sam finished the story.

After Sam's story, the friends took a break. Lauren and Angela went into the kitchen to start dinner while Sam and Emmett broke out the beer and wine.

Edward and Bella called his mother to check on the twins only to be told by Esme that they were all doing fine, that the twins were behaving themselves with very little acting out which translated meant: they were keeping their feet on the ground; not floating furniture or heaving things at others. Esme even asked if they could keep the children longer. Bella was really missing her babies but knew it was better to have the children where she knew they were safe and taken care of properly than to have to worry about what they were up to every minute when she needed be able to focus on the fact there was an energy vampire on the loose.

~o0o~

After a wonderful supper of grilled bacon wrapped shrimp on a bed of spiced white rice and a salad of fresh chopped spinach with a dressing of red wine vinegar and herbs, the men folk went for a short run while the women folk put away any leftovers, cleaned the table and kitchen workspace then washed the dishes. Bella grumbled about this separation of activities because she loved to run with Edward in the evenings.

Angela, Bella and Lauren had just sat down with fresh glasses of iced sweet tea with mint when the men returned and they needed to shower. When they all were once again sweet smelling they were allowed back into the same room with their wives.

Sam began pulling books from his huge collection of metaphysical, esoteric and occult books. Not every one of the books he pulled had anything on the subject of energy vampires. Lauren did have one written by C. W. Leadbeater called The Chakras in which she found a particular drawing in a chapter called "The Forces" that she showed to Sam asking him what exactly it meant.

Sam smacked his forehead. "Of course! Edward come look at this."

Edward got up from his pile of books and stood behind Sam, looking at the picture. There was a simple drawing of a human outline from the head to just below the ass. Marked on the outline were the human brain, chest area, and the spinal column. Added to this black and white image red lines were highlighting specific areas that indicated the energy centers of humans.

"I see what you mean, Sam. I think that we might actually be able to trace back through this to exactly what happened to those young people!" Edward exclaimed.

"What are you you two going on about?" Bella asked.

"The human body is like a generator for energy, well maybe a better way to describe it would be a storage battery for energy. The energy can enter into the human physical body through several individual points or all points at the same time," Edward started to explain but was interrupted by Emmett.

"I don't understand, Edward. Tell it like no one understands what you're saying."

Edward laughed. "Ok Emmett, here look at this picture."

"Ok, what am I looking at?"

"You see those red lines on this drawing? How one starts at the very top, or crown of the head?"

Emmett nodded.

"Ok if you follow those lines, you can see how they lead to specific areas within the drawing, to where pineal gland, or third eye, is located, to where the thyroid is, to the heart, solar plexus and finally to the base of the spine?" Edward stopped and looked to see if he was being followed and understood before he continued. "They are all very powerful energy centers of the body. This is where energy is drawn into the human body from the energy of the Earth and Universe. It only makes sense that it would be from these spots that the energy could be pulled from."

There was a collective gasp in the room.

"Oh!" Lauren said. "Now I understand better the images I was picking up."

Angela was nodding too as were both Sam and Edward.

"I sure as hell don't understand!" Emmett fumed. "Please explain what you mean."

"Ok Emmett," Sam started, "Energy can be withdrawn from the human body from the same places that it's taken in."

Emmett nodded in understanding, though Edward wasn't sure he truly did.

"Well, now we have a better idea where to start on how to explain to Riley how we think those young people were turned into mummies," the ever practical Bella stated. "We need to either bring Riley here and show him what we've found or take it to him."

Edward nodded and smiled at his wife. Bella'd come a long way from that first interview they'd had together.

"Yes, Cher. In the meantime, those of us who can search on the inner planes do so and see what else we can come up with, and maybe we'll find this fucker quicker." Sam looked at Bella but was actually talking to the room.

Emmett grumbled, "I hate that I can't do any of those things that y'all can."

Bella laughed. "Come on, Emmett, I'll play a videogame with you while our spouses do their thang."

Sam, Angela, and Lauren laughed. Bella had managed to break the tension in the room by pronouncing thing as she'd heard them say it many times.

Edward smiled indulgently at his wife. God how he loved her. She was perfect for him.

~o0o~