Malaprops

[tinhuvielartanis]

I was given advice many years ago to write what I know, but I always balked against it until I committed myself to NaNoWriMo 2005 and finally wrote The Chalice. While Asheville was initially a cameo location in the original story in my mind, I decided to make it the primary location when I began writing. Even though I left when I was 13, I still know Asheville. Visiting the city and acquainting myself with the abundant alternative community there gave me a familiarity with the area that became a benefit when I began to write. One of the businesses I mention in the book is Malaprops. It's a bookstore and coffee house that caters to the artsy and alternative tribes. The only thing different about the store when I visited on Tuesday was that the chairs and tables they had outside were gone. This could be because of the season.

He liked to walk his dog. As soon as the sun hid herself behind the horizon, Thaddeus Brannon as he was known now, would take leash in hand and lead his mongrel around the block a couple of times, then return to his small apartment that overlooked the canopied quietude of East Chestnut Street. Today was a little different, though. Today Thaddeus planned on taking Dare further than just a block or two.

He had been called here, to Asheville, forty years ago before the insanity of tourism had taken over the secret places that graced the small city. The spirit of the town reached out to him, promising prophecy fulfilled and a reunion that would inspire songs for years to come. Thaddeus sensed the presence of the King Vampyr here in Asheville. Thiyennen hadn’t lived here as long as Thaddeus, but his presence made the city a beacon for others within the Great Hive, particularly those in the Hive of Redemption. So now, Thaddeus had to put up with the occasional keening of a Banshie, but he walked on by, ignoring the pleas for forgiveness.

Anyway, Thaddeus had flitted from apartment to apartment for forty years, moving on only when it became evident that something wasn’t quite right with the fact that he just didn’t seem to age. He was in love with the city, this splendid mountain metropolis. She was one of many symbols of this human generation, Asheville. To Thaddeus, Asheville was but a small garden in the happy hunting ground of the Twentieth Century.

Twentieth Centurians were not superstitious. They did not believe in creatures such as Thaddeus anymore, at least not in the way that humanity used to. When he was transformed, fear of vampires was nothing to be scoffed at. He learned that firsthand, now didn’t he? His victims’ disbelief was the strongest emotion Thaddeus sensed even as he took their lives. They were aware that they were being drained of blood by a vampire, but that was impossible, wasn’t it? Wasn’t it? WASN’T ---- and then they’d be dead. No, there’s no such thing as a vampire. UFOs? Maybe. But vampires? Please.

Thaddeus smiled. Sometime tonight he would hear that questioning anguish in his mind. The bloodlust enveloped him like a shroud. At least once a week he had to quench the thirst, scratch that little itch. Even though he could walk under the sun, he preferred to feed at night because it was just easier that way. Not too many people around, lowered visibility, more desirable victims readily available. It was just more convenient.

Soon, Thaddeus found himself downtown at Malaprops. He liked going to Malaprops to browse their extensive history section and he also enjoyed their coffee. Often he would sit outside at one of the tables the book store provided, sip his coffee, and talk with Dare. Today this is what he planned on doing.

Giving Dare a knowing look that compelled her to sit and wait for him to return, Thaddeus stepped into the shop and got himself a double Espresso. When Thaddeus came back out, he discovered that Dare had made a new friend. A young dreadlocked man was scritching the off-white dog behind her ears and hugging her around the neck.

“Hey bro, pretty dog you have here. What’s her name?”

“Dare,” Thaddeus said, sitting at one of the tables and smiling at the Hippie.

“Dude, that’s a cool name. Where’d you get it?”