A collection of poetry and prose submitted to VO in 2002.

With the sun setting behind him, Vlad slowly crept up the walkway towards the Inn, something he hadn't done for quite some time. He paused at the doorway, for he thought he heard the sounds of laughter coming from within its walls; that was impossible, of course -- no souls had entered the Inn since he closed it a couple of years ago.

With little effort, he removed the planks that had been boarded up over the doorway, and pulled a rusty old key out from within his cloak. With a scream, the lock slowly turned and clicked, and he pushed open the door.

How can you protect your friends and family from vampirism? What steps can you take to ensure that when their corpse goes in the ground, it stays there? Here are a few ideas, gathered from folk mythology, that have helped in the past.

I wear mine to hide what's within me.
I found people prefer the painted smile,
And glittering gemstone eyes.
Some days it wore thin.
And people saw past that pretty face.
I found happiness once...
And when I removed the mask to show the world
Friends turned from me. Only happy when I'm not...truly.
There were days when it cracked.

I surrendered to you,

my heart,

my love,

my soul.

You took it all,

greedily,

without remorse,

without a thought.

I gave you everything,

my time,

my dreams,

eternity.

I wanted forever

in your arms.

You gave me naught

but pain.

I wanted love and

you gave me hate.