Chapter 14: Until the Day I Die
DISCLAIMER: The following chapter is told from the 3rd person perspective around Cole's friend, Kenny "Colonel" Sanders. Neither Cole, nor any of the girls, will be featured in this chapter.
What does it mean to be lost? How do we lose our way? So many times in our life, we find ourselves asking "what went wrong?" whenever things don't go our way. All of us, at one point, have some sort of grand master plan for how things are going to work out in the future. On this day, I am going to do these things. After I do those things, then I will go here, and by this date, I will have achieved this. Sure, that all sounds good on paper, but life does not take place on a piece of paper. Life takes place in the real world, and the real world is constantly moving. The real world has no regard for whatever stupid plan you created. In fact, you can argue that the real world will do everything it possibly can to ruin your plan. Before you know it, you are left with nothing to show for any of your efforts. When that happens, all you can do is pause and ask yourself:
What went wrong?
Kenny does that every time his room is too quiet and the high wears off. His life was perfectly set up. He enlisted in the marine corps after high school. He graduated from boot camp, and made a few good friends. He did his time and fought in Afghanistan. He made it back to the USA and was honorably discharged. He had all of his military benefits locked in for life. His family was proud of him. His community was proud of him. He even gets free pancakes on veteran's day each year.
So why was he such a failure?
Every day, he wakes up in his dingy apartment, throws on some clean clothes, and smokes enough weed to make him forget about his life for the next few hours. The only thing he owns besides his boxes of marine corps memorabilia are his guitar, and his TV. Kenny has not had a job in over a year. Why bother? He gets plenty of money each month from his VA disability benefits.
Now for those of you who are reading this, you may be thinking to yourself "how the hell did he get full benefits? The VA are the most crooked bastards in the world." While having served tours in combat helped Kenny's case, it didn't help that he had all of his original body parts still attached. No, he was a different kind of broken. Not the kind you can see, but the kind that you feel every single moment of your life.
"Fuck, I can't believe im still alive". Kenny mumbled to himself as he loaded another bowl into his bong. One of the benefits of living in a state where Marijuana is legal, is that you can just walk down the street to the dispensary and buy as much as you want. It's all legitimate. No need to deal with sketchy drug dealers and negotiating prices, no need to wonder if the people you are meeting up with are undercover cops, no need to worry if your bag is full of seeds and stems. All you get is a perfectly grown bud, every single time.
After another bowl was successfully smoked, Kenny grabbed his guitar and started to play a few chords.
Since he doesn't have a job, Kenny spends his free time writing songs. Every now and then, he goes to his local bar and plays them on open mic night. Needless to say, the crowd reaction is not good. However, his therapist told him that this was a good creative outlet for him to express his inner feelings.
BZZZZZZZZT BZZZZZZZT BZZZZZZZT
"Oh shit, who is calling me?" Kenny looked at his phone, and got really sad. "Great…. It's her."
"Hello?"
"Hello Mr. Sanders. This is Doctor Lipschitz. How are you today?"
"Same old shit, doc. What's up? Why are you calling me?"
"I just wanted to check in on you and see how you were doing. You missed our last appointment yesterday. Are you still taking your medicine?"
Great, thats the last thing he needed today was a fucking lecture from his therapist.
"Sorry doc, I guess I forgot. Can we reschedule to next week? I'm a little busy."
"Busy with what? You don't have a job and you live alone. There is no way someone like you is busy with anything….. You stopped taking your meds again didn't you? Mr. Sanders, you know you're supposed to take them every day! You remember why you're supposed to be taking them in the first place, right?"
Oh god… not this again….
"Yeah doc I know. Like I said, I forgot. It's no big deal."
"Yes it is a big deal, Mr. Sanders! We cannot have a repeat of what happened last time! You owe it to your family." Doctor Lipschitz got real quiet all of a sudden. "You don't have any firearms in your house anymore, right?"
"For the last time doc, i'm sorry! Just reschedule me for next week. I gotta go." Kenny hung up the phone and walked into the bathroom. He found a full pill bottle with lots of giant pills inside of them. The name was something incredibly long that he couldn't pronounce. He opened the bottle and started to take a pill, but then he suddenly stopped. He saw a man standing behind him in the mirror.
"Why did you leave me behind?" The man said.
"Shut up! You're not real. Doc said you're not real." Kenny mumbled to himself.
"You left me to die, Kenny". The man said again, this time, his shadow was moving closer to Kenny from behind him in the mirror.
"No I didn't! You missed the last helicopter out of Kabul and that was not my fault!" Kenny started shouting at the mirror.
The shadow was now right behind Kenny in the mirror. "You left me to die, Colonel Sandersssss"
"NOOOO!" Kenny turned around and punched the man, but he was not there. There was nothing there. Just an empty bathroom.
After collecting himself for a few moments, Kenny broke down and started crying on his bathroom floor.
X
Later that night, at a shitty dive bar near Kenny's house
This place was a total shit hole. The floor was covered in layers of dried up beer stains. The outside had paint peeling off the walls and a busted up sign. The air smelled like cigarettes and piss. The crowd was the roughest group of gutter trash you could imagine.
She thought it was perfect.
Nobody would notice if she seduced one of the losers in this place to go out back and let her feed. All she had to do was pick the most pathetic and lonely guy in here. While she scanned the room, a man came on stage.
"Welcome to open mic night! Our first performer is here to sing a song for you guys. Put your hands together for Kenny Sanders!"
Nobody clapped.
A skinny man walked on stage wearing a black leather jacket, ripped up jeans, and a sad look on his face.
"Hey guys, i'm Kenny, and this is a song I wanted to play for you tonight." He sat on a stool and nestled his guitar in his lap. As he started playing the chords, she knew Kenny was her guy.
I never thought I'd die alone
I laughed the loudest, who'd have known?
I traced the cord back to the wall
No wonder it was never plugged in at all
I took my time
I hurried up
The choice was mine, I didn't think enough
I'm too depressed to go on
You'll be sorry when i'm gone
I never conquered when you came
16 just held such better days
Days when I still felt alive
We couldn't wait to get outside
The world is wide, too late to try
The dream was over, we'd survived
I couldn't wait until I got home, to pass the time in my room alone
During his song, something unexpected happened. She started to fell something for this pathetic skinny man on stage. Something she had not felt in a very long time. Maybe it was the song he was singing. Maybe it was his melodic voice. Maybe it was the sound of the guitar, or maybe it was the way the lyrics told a story she knew far too well.
I never thought I'd die alone
Another six months and i'll be unknown
Give all my things to all of my friends
You'll never step foot in my room again
You'll close it off
Board it up
Remember the time that I spilled the cup?
Of apple juice in the hall
Please tell mom this is not her fault
I never conquered when you came
16 just held such better days
Days when I still felt alive
We couldn't wait to get outside
The world was wide, too late to try
The dream was over, we'd survived
I couldn't wait until I got home, to pass the time in my room alone.
Once his song was over, nobody clapped. Kenny simply walked off the stage.
X
Later, Kenny was sitting at the bar drinking a cheap beer when a sexy woman sat next to him.
"I loved your song." She smiled at him. Kenny looked at her. It was the first time a woman had spoken to him in an unprofessional way in months. She was gorgeous. Fiery red hair, piercing blue eyes, and teeth as white as the Mormon church.
"Oh you did? Umm… thanks I guess." Kenny looked away and blushed a little. The woman smiled wider.
"Did you write it?"
"No actually that was a Blink 182 song. I do write my own songs though! But I'm too embarrassed to sing them on stage."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why are you embarrassed to sing your original songs on stage?"
Kenny started staring at his half empty beer glass in shame. "What if people don't like them? What if they boo me off the stage?"
The woman grabbed Kenny's beer glass and drank the rest of it in front of him. "Fuck other people! Why should you give a fuck what they think? They're opinions are all bullshit anyway. You should sing those songs because YOU want to! Not to make other people happy, but to make you happy."
Kenny had no words. He simply stared at the woman like she just revealed the secrets of the universe. She ignored him and yelled at the bartender for more beer.
"Who are you?" Kenny asked, still staring in awe.
"I'm you're number one fan! Ohhh wait, you mean my name? Hahaha well you can call me Valory."
As Valory and Kenny got drunk together in the bar, they both found each other's company to be exhilarating. Kenny had not had this much fun with a woman since his high school senior prom. Valory felt the same way. She had originally planned on feeding off this guy, but now she was beginning to have doubts. This guy was the first genuine person she had met in many years. He was different than all the other guys she met. He didn't want to try and get in her pants. He seemed to genuinely enjoy her company and her stories. He laughed at her jokes, and made her feel special. It had been a very long time since she felt this way about someone.
"So Kenny, what do you do for a living?" Valory asked him with a curious look in her eyes. This was the part of the conversation that Kenny dreaded. The moment when the illusion came crashing down. When he had to show his true self to the cute girl flirting with him at the bar.
"Well hahaha you see i'm actually in between jobs right now~"
"~me too! But hey, it's not the end of the world. In fact, I have a lot more respect for unemployed people than I do for all those wage slaves. Ugh. imagine being proud of the fact that you have to wake up super early each morning and go sit in traffic to some soulless office building and be around people you hate, doing bullshit that doesn't matter, just so you can have enough pieces of paper to afford to live in a shithole overpriced cardboard box and eat food thats made in a factory and is full of high fructose corn syrup, and soybean oil. What a cucked existence, am I right?"
Kenny just stood there speechless. He had expected Valory to say something normal like "oh thats rough man" or "sorry to hear that". This girl was something else.
"But still, you have to make money somehow. I know you don't make enough playing guitar at open mic night."
"Oh yeah see I get disability checks each month from the government because I fought overseas and~"
"~Ah ha, so you're a killer!"
Kenny got a little irritated. "No, i'm a Marine. There is a difference."
"What difference? You kill people. How does that make you any different than a crazy psychopath serial killer?"
"We don't just kill people. We kill the enemies of the United States of America. The enemies of the American people. Serial killers just kill anyone they feel like."
Valory leaned in very close to his face. Her nose almost touching his. "And how do you know who the enemies of the United States are? Someone tells you. Well, what's stopping them from telling you that the american people are the enemy of the United States? What would you do then? Would you kill your own countrymen, if given the order? You would. That's what good soldiers do. Good soldiers follow orders. But I take orders from no one. I kill who I want, when I want, for whatever reason I see fit."
Kenny's face froze in white horror. Valory leaned back and slowly started laughing out loud.
"HAHAHAHA! Oh my god dude, you should see your face right now. Holy shit, i'm just fucking with you man. Lighten up a little!"
Kenny and Valory drank a few more drinks for a while until Kenny got really drunk. Valory never seemed to get tipsy despite matching him drink for drink.
"Alright kid I think you've had enough. Let me give you a ride home." She motioned for him to leave the bar.
"Kid?! Who you calling a kid? I'm older than you!" Kenny drunkenly slurred.
"Hahaha, oh you poor sweet man. No, you're not. Trust me kid, im A LOT older than you. Now let's get out of this shit hole and find someplace dark and quiet."
Once the two of them go outside, Valory shows Kenny her awesome motorcycle. "Woah, is that an Indian Scout?!"
Valory raised her eyebrow at him. "You know bikes?" Kenny drunkenly nodded. "Of course I do! I used to have one myself, until I got that fucking DWI and had my license suspended."
Valory smiled and started up the engine. She got on and motioned for Kenny to sit on the girl seat behind her. "Aww come on, I can't sit there! You know thats for…well…you know"
"Listen here little man, you can either put your little dick away and accept a free ride home, or you can walk. Now which is it going to be?" Kenny swallowed his pride and sat down behind her on the girl seat. Valory smiled and whispered "good boy. Now hold on tight!" She revved the engine and took off down the road. Kenny wrapped his arms around her waist and drunkenly leaned into her back. Valory smiled a warm smile while she drove away.
X
When Valory got back to Kenny's house, she was a little disturbed how filthy the place looked. The grass was overgrown and the paint on the outside was chipping away. Once she stopped her motorcycle, she tried to get Kenny to wake up, but he was fast asleep.
"Oh brother. Guess I better take him inside." she carried Kenny from her bike to his front door. Surprisingly, it was unlocked. "He doesn't lock his door? How strange. Most humans lock their doors these days. Especially ones who live in a neighborhood this bad."
When Valory walked inside his house, she immediately covered her nose. The place reeked of trash and stale beer and weed. All over the floor were empty fast food bags, empty beer cans, and empty bags of weed from the local dispensery.
"What the fuck?! Damn bro you live like this?" She looked at Kenny who was still sleeping in her arms. She got mad and threw him on his couch. Valory was getting really hungry and wanted to take her meal now, but the state of this place made her curious. How could someone wind up in this state? She did a little bit of investigating around his house and found some interesting things. There were some boxes hidden away in his closet that had all of his old marine corps memorabilia. His old uniform hung up in his closet. Still as clean as the last time he wore it.
"At least he has 1 set of clean clothes" Valory mumbled to herself. She searched through the box and found a framed photo. It was Kenny when he was younger, and a few other guys. They were marines. The picture frame had their names on the back.
"The fast food squad. Kenny 'Colonel' Sanders, Dave Wendy, Ronald McDonald, and Cole Casey. Camp Pendleton, San Diego California. March 30th, 2019."
Valory kept looking through the box and found another interesting item. It was a funeral program.
"In Memoriam, USMC Corporal William Coleman Casey Jr. Services held October 22, 2021. Longhorn, Texas." The back of the funeral program also had a handwritten note, most likely from Kenny. It said "Marines never die. They go missing in action."
The last item in the box was a folded american flag, that was wrapped in a glass frame. For some strange reason, there was a paper coupon for CiCi's pizza on the front. It looks like it was glued on there. How strange.
Valory went into the bathroom and found a lot of pill bottles. There were all sorts of strong prescription medication. Some of these were for depression, others were for schizophrenia. There were even some strong pain killers and psycho-inhibitors.
"Geez, looks like I'm going to be doing this guy a favor. What a sad pathetic bastard."
Valory went back into the living room and watched Kenny sleep all through the night. The more she watched him, and thought about his life, the more she started to feel sorry for him. He seemed like a decent guy who just had been dealt a bad hand in life. It didn't seem like he was a bad person. She decided to give him one final test to prove himself before she fed.
X
When Kenny woke up, he was alone on his couch. The sun had risen long ago, and he had no memory of what had happened last night. All he remembers is playing on stage at the bar, meeting a sexy redhead girl, and then he woke up.
She didn't leave anything behind either. No trace of that mysterious girl. Kenny wish he could see her again. She was the most amazing woman he had ever met.
The rest of the day happened like all the others. Kenny smoked some weed, and watched some TV. Hours passed by and the TV show turned into the local news.
"Tonight, Killer on the loose! Breaking news as another body was found in a dumpster early this morning. The victim had two puncture wounds on his neck, and all of the blood had been sucked out of him. Police are still looking for any leads as to who this killer might be, as this is the fourth body to be found in this state since last week. Police believe these killings are connected, but they are unsure of the motive. If you have any information about these killings, please call the police immediately."
Kenny laughed as he loaded another bowl of weed into his bong. "Fucking crazy man. It's almost like there is a vampire on the loose." He smoked another bowl and then heard the doorbell ring.
When Kenny answered the door, there was a tall black man with a bald head wearing a catholic priest outfit holding fliers.
"Good evening sir. My name is Father Dante. I am here to spread the word of the lord. Do you have a minute to talk about our lord and savior, Jesus Christ?"
Kenny rolled his eyes. "Fuck off dude. I don't give a shit about your stupid church or any of that bullshit." Before Kenny closed the door, Father Dante stopped him. "No matter how much you reject him, Christ the lord will always love you. He is waiting for you with open arms. Will you accept him into your heart?"
"No! Now go away!"
"Wait! Please just at least take one of these fliers." Father Dante handed him a flier. Kenny took it, then shut the door.
Father Dante carefully examined his house, and looked around at the surroundings, almost as if he was looking for something. Then slowly walked away down the street to the next house. Meanwhile, he reached into his pocket and took out his cell phone. "This is Dante…. Yes sir, I have made contact with Mr. Sanders…. Yes sir, she was here. I have reason to believe he will be her next victim….Understood sir."
Before Kenny loaded another bowl of weed into his bong, he opened the church flier and found a mysterious hand written note.
"She is watching you. Don't fight her, she is not human. Tonight you are going to die. Get out now, if you want to live."
Kenny started getting really scared, and immediately ran to his bedroom to grab the secret gun he kept loaded under his bed. Once it was safely tucked into his pants, he walked around his house checking to make sure all of the doors were locked. While he was doing this, he started asking himself. "What am I doing? I don't even know who that crazy priest was talking about. It's probably all just bullshit anyway."
Suddenly the doorbell rang. Kenny looked outside and saw that sexy redhead girl from last night. "Hey there! Remember me from last night?"
Kenny blushed as he started to remember her. "Yeah, you're that hot girl from the bar. What are you doing here? How do you know where I live?"
"Who do you think brought you home last night? Anyway, I came to check on you. You feeling okay? You like you have seen a ghost." Valory smiled at him. Kenny looked around and noticed it was already night time. How had the day gone by so quickly?
"Oh yeah I was just watching some scary movies hahaha" He tried to laugh it off. Valory smiled at his excuse. "Can I come in? I thought you might be hungry so I brought some pizza."
Kenny invited her in with a smile. Valory grinned and walked in to his dirty house. Once the door was closed, she set the pizza down and watched as Kenny started to chow down.
"Wow this is delicious! Hey, are you going to eat some? I bet you're hungry too." Kenny asked. Valory grinned wide enough for her fangs to start showing.
"Oh yes, I certainly am hungry, but not for pizza." She slowly walked towards the couch where Kenny was sitting. Her wide hips swaying with each step. "No, I'm hungry for something else." Kenny was really fucking high, but he swore he saw her eyes turning blood red, and her mouth showing four large sharp fangs.
'Woah, what the fuck!" Kenny yelled as she jumped from the couch. Valory quickly grabbed him and threw him against the wall. "That's right little man, fight for your life!" Kenny's marine corps training kicked in and he punched her in the face. She barely even registered the punch. Valory cocked her shoulder back and threw a punch that was strong enough to knock a hole in his wall. Just barely missing him.
"Muahahahaha! That's right little man, let me see that fear in your eyes! I love it when my food gets the adrenaline pumping. It gives such a delicious flavor." She licked her lips as Kenny reached for his gun. He shot her a few times in the chest, but the bullets did nothing. Valory simply swatted his gun away. Before Kenny could run to the next room, Valory pushed him down to the floor and straddled on top of him.
"There is no escape. I've got you pinned down. Now, go on and beg for your life. I'm listening." She whispered into his ear.
Instead of doing what she wanted, Kenny simply started crying. "Go ahead and do it. Just kill me. I don't want to live anymore."
Valory froze in shock and stared at him. "Huh? What the fuck are you saying? You actually….want…to die?"
Kenny sobbed pathetically at her. "Yes! I hate waking up each day. I hate having to pretend i'm ok just for my parents sake. All these doctors keep giving me more pills to try and make me feel better, but I just can't do it anymore. I can't keep going on like this. My life is worthless. I am just a leech, a NEET, a worthless waste of space. All this time on earth and I never accomplished anything. All I do is sit in my house, wasting away, waiting for my turn to die. I have no friends, no kids, no wife, I don't even have a girlfriend. Nobody will miss me when i'm gone."
Valory was actually starting to feel sorry for this guy.
"I did everything they told me to do, so why do I feel so empty inside? Only now, at the very end, have I realized that despite all my years of life on this earth, I never once felt alive."
Rather than sink her fangs into his neck, Valory did something she did not plan on doing. She planted her lips on his.
"Shhhhh it's ok. You passed the test."
Kenny stopped crying when he heard her words. "What? Test?"
"That's right. I was testing you. By now you have probably figured out that I am a vampire. When I met you at the bar last night, I was feeling really hungry, and I had you pegged as my next meal. When I took you home, I was going to drink your blood while you were passed out on the couch, but then I went through your stuff, and I learned all about you."
Now Kenny started to feel really bad.
"So I decided to give you a test. I wanted to see if you really were different than all the other shit heads I killed. You see, when people are faced with the threat to their lives, they always beg. They let their fear consume them and they do everything possible to weasel their way out of their own death. It really is quite pathetic. Had you begged for me to spare you, I would have killed you on the spot. But you didn't. You were not afraid to die. Instead, you accepted your fate, and let me do what I wanted to you."
Valory kissed him again. This time, much harder. "You have no idea how much that turns me on, little boy."
The two of them continued kissing. Eventually, they both got naked, and poor Kenny had the wildest sex of his life.
Right before he came, Valory gave him a flash of her fangs. "Oh god Kenny, you're such a good little boy. You're actually going to make me cum! Just for that, I'm going to give you the greatest gift you will ever receive!" Right as Kenny exploded inside her, Valory sank her fangs deep into his neck. Kenny's mind melted into brain pudding, and he passed out.
X
When he woke up, Kenny felt his head ringing like the Jerry Lewis Telethon.
"Owww my head. What happened?" He looked around and saw a Valory with her clothes back on. She was standing over him with a please smile on her lips.
"Hey there little boy. You sure know how to show a girl a good time. How are you feeling?"
"Like I got hit by a truck." Kenny touched his neck and felt two small holes. "Did you drink my blood?"
Valory smiled. "Even better. I turned you. Happy birthday little boy! You're officially one of us now." She handed him a bottle of what looked like red gatorade. "Here, drink this. Your body is still really weak."
Kenny drank it and immediately recognized the metallic taste. "Is this blood?"
"Pigs blood but yes, it is. Not as good as the human stuff, but it's cheap and easy to get from most butchers."
Once Kenny finished his drink, he started getting dressed. "Why did you turn me into a vampire?"
Valory walked up to him and wrapped her sharp fingernails around his neck. "Because you're different from anyone else i've met. I want you, and I had to make sure you and I would be together forever. You see, when a pureborn vampire turns a human, that human becomes forever linked to you."
Kenny started blushing. "So…does that mean that~"
"~yes it does, little boy. You are mine forever!"
Once Kenny finished getting dressed, she led him outside to her motorcycle in the dark street. It was night time again. Something Kenny would have to get used to from now on.
"Where are we going?" Kenny asked as Valory started her motorcycle. She turned back around and smiled at him.
"Wherever the fuck we want! You're immortal now little boy. There is nothing holding you back anymore."
Kenny smiled and got on the girl seat behind Valory. "Thank you Valory. For the first time in my life, I finally feel alive!"
Valory smiled and revved her bike engine. "Hell yeah! Now let's go be alive!" The two of them took off down the road into the dark of the night.
X
The next day, Father Dante stopped by Kenny's house again to check on him. When he got there, he found the door unlocked. The place looked like it had been ransacked. There were blood stains on the walls and on the floor. There was also a gun with an empty magazine and several empty shell casings on the floor.
"Dammit, i'm too late." He started looking around for clues as to who her next victim might be. He had to be quick, because the police would arrive soon and turn the whole place into a crime scene. They can't know of his involvement.
As Father Dante searched through Kenny's house, he found a box in the closet full of marine corps memorabilia. There was one thing inside the box that made his skin crawl.
It was a photograph of 4 marines. One of them was Kenny. The other two he didn't know, but the last one was someone he knew very well.
Father Dante immediately reached into his pocked and started calling someone on his phone.
"Hello, Mr. Casey? This is Father Dante. I'm sorry to bother you, but something has happened, and I fear your life may be in danger. Meet me at the old church. We need to talk."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Bonjour my dear readers! Your favorite monster girl story is back from hiatus. Now that all of the girls of the Casey house have been properly introduced and established as main characters, it's time to meet the new villains of this arc. Get ready for your new yandere serial killer vampire waifu, Valory. She has red hair, razor sharp fangs, a badass motorcycle, and a dangerous personality. She already has her fangs sunk in Cole's old friend Kenny. Will she come after Cole next? How do you feel about Kenny? Do you feel sorry for him? Do you think Valory is helping him? Do you think Valory has some sort of ulterior motive for turning Kenny into a vampire? How does Father Dante fit into all of this? Let me know in the comments!
Next time on Everyday Life with Apex Predators: Valory is public enemy number one. Father Dante contacts Cole about the situation, and so does FIRE. Both people have different motives for capturing Valory, but the girls living in the Casey house have their own opinions on the situation. Sida takes the initiative and tries to take out Valory first before she can come after her man. What will happen when the two of them face off? Tune in next time, and GO BE ALIVE!