The Tower: Creative Journal Entry 2

Creative Journal Entry #2
Tarot Deck- Gothic Tarot of Vampires
Tarot Card- The Tower

Alex took a deep drag on his cigarette and looked down into the grave his men had just dig up. His two brothers were down there, tying ropes around the old coffin so it could be hauled up for the Employer.
He snorted and flicked the cigarette towards the grass where Alex watched it smoldered under the dew wet leaves for a few moments before he turned away and looked down the steep, slick walls of the grave.
“Watch out for vampires, alright?” Alex called down to his brothers and laughed at his own joke.
“I wouldn’t be laughing at something like that, if I was you,” his older brother, Henry said dryly, climbing up one slick wall by a rope and the n helping the youngest sibling.
“I’ll laugh at anything I damn well please,” Alex said, lighting another cigarette. “Keep in mind, big brother, dad put me in charge of this little escapade, not you.”
Henry just looked at him the ,lifted a shoulder in a slight shrug, but his pale blue eyes seemed to mock Alex gently, and there was sympathy in the older mans face, which went unnoticed by Alex.
“Let’s get this thing done then,” the youngest brother, Bill, said, wiping his hands nervously on his jeans, “I’m getting the jitters just by being out here.”
“Hey, don’t worry about nothing, Billy,” Alex said with a cruel grin, Bill scowled at his older brother. “Keep in mind that everyone in a graveyard is dead… except for us that is.”
And how long with that last, do you think? Something asked. Alex blinked and rubbed his temple, suddenly not so cocky as before.
“Let’s get this over with,” Alex said absently and waved at the man in the crane who gave him the thumbs up and started lifting the long toe-pincher out of the ground. Alex watched as the great wooden box was lifted out of its grave, sand and earth running down its face.
“What’s that?” Bill demanded, pointing at the coffin.
In the middle of the coffin there was a small plate of what looked like ivory, inset with gold in the shape of a tower. A cold fist suddenly pressed against the base of Alex’s spine as he stared at the tower, glittering in the moonlight. He swallowed and something clicked dryly in the back of his throat.
“Looks like a coat of arms,” Henry said, sounding calm and undisturbed, unlike the rest of the team, who were holding their shovels as if they intended to use them as weapons.
“Come on,” Alex muttered, mainly to himself, “we’re almost done with this.”
“Grab the ropes and pull it on to land,” Henry shouted, a few men didn’t move but most of them, their trance broken, surged forward and grabbed the ropes that held the coffin and dragged it onto to terra firma.
“Load it into the truck,” Alex said, not to be outdone by his brother. He went to help, hefting the wood onto his shoulders and leading the way towards the old, dusty ford that was backed up next to the crane.
Then he stopped, the blood draining out of his head so fast Alex was afraid he was about to faint. He tried to convince himself that he had heard it in his head but then it came again, and it was obvious the men who were helping carry the coffin heard it as well.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
They came slowly three or four seconds between each little tap, which sounded like a long fingernail against wood. Alex began to shake uncontrollably.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
A little quicker this time, as if whoever… whatever was in the coffin was getting impatient.
Let me out of here, Alexander, I tire of this musky darkness and I am hungry.
Alex whimpered softly but found himself unable to move, it was as if his legs had turned to lead and grown roots at the same time, effectively keeping him right where he was while the thing inside the coffin spoke to him
Tap-tap-tap.
Very quickly this time, and louder, as if knuckles were pounding on the wood right beside Alex’s head.
“Put. The. Box. Down,” Henry said. Alex was only too happy to follow the orders of his older, obviously wiser brother and slowly he lowered the coffin, along with the eight other men holding the toe pincher.
“There was something knocking in there, Henry,” Alex muttered. Henry, who was staring fixedly at the box nodded and swallowed.
“Yes, I know,” Henry said stiffly. “He wasn’t supposed to be awake.”
“He? Awake? It’s supposed to be dead!” Alex screamed, his eyes bulging.
“No, no,” Henry said absently, “Vampires hibernate sometimes, it helps pass the time. But father said he would be asleep.”
“Dad knew about this?” Alex shrieked.
“This doesn’t make any sense…” Henry said, rubbing a rough hand over his lips and frowning. “Vampires can’t wake up with out fresh blood.”
There was a dull thud behind them as Bill passed out and fell onto the earth.
Alex simply gaped at his older brother who had apparently lost his mind. There were no such things as vampires and they didn’t drink blood because they were not real. They were fairy tails as fictional as dragons and unicorns and—
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
And something was drumming on the inside of that coffin, bored of the musky darkness, ready to feed, ready to fly and be alive again…
“Alive is a figurative thing!” Alex shrieked and then laughed, shrill and loon like.
“Hush, Alex,” Henry commanded, walking up to the coffin. Alex was struck with a sharp pain in his stomach and he shrieked again.
“Don’t go near it, Henry! Don’t touch it!” Alex screamed. Henry turned and scowled at his younger brother as the coffin shattered and a black shadow flew out of it, like some terrible butterfly from a cocoon spun from nightmares and fears.
The shadow spun in the sky, reveling in the cold night air, laughing, similar to how Alex had laughed just a moment before, shrill and loon like and not sane at all. Then the moonlight touched it and Alex, who was on the verge of unconsciousness collapsed to his knees, staring up at the thing that was hovering in the sky.
Shredded black cloth snapped around the being, each strand looked slick and wet, as if it had been painted with fresh blood before the dread butterfly had emerged from its cocoon.
Then there was the thing itself. His face was long and narrow with paper white skin stretched taut over fine facial bones, a long, thin nose and high cheek bones made the creature seem beautiful… in a way a spider was beautiful.
Long white hair billowed around it in the wind. As thick and shiny as the moonlight and glimmering with healthy luster it was longer than the butterfly was tall, flying around him in locks that had no curl to them.
But what was really fascinating about this awful butterfly which reeked of death and decomposition was his eyes, which were a bright, vivid purple, surrounded by black, it reminded Alex of an eclipse.
“It feels magnificent to be out of that box, I have to thank you all,” the butterfly said, alighting on the top of a cross and looking at the team of men, staring up at him with utter terror on their faces, Alex gazed at the man with a silent screaming stretching his mouth into a wide ‘O’
“What do you think you’re doing vampire?” Henry asked coolly, Alex looked at him, wondering if his bog brother had taken leave of his senses. This gothic butterfly could rip him to shreds with no qualms!
“Well I thought that would be obvious,” the vampire replied, looking at Henry and smiling delightedly. “The employer that sent you here to fetch me was somewhat of an idiot, for he thought he could control me with a cross and bit of holy water.”
The vampire laughed and placed one hand on the top of the cross, caressing the rough stone absently.
“As you can see, crosses don’t work on me,” the gothic butterfly that calmly. “And you were kind enough to free me of the earth and wood that held me, I thank you for that but now I must feed.”
“Run, Alex, run!” Henry screamed. Alex grabbed Bill and tossed one flaccid arm over his shoulder and began dragging his little brother through the empty graveyard, behind him, he heard a slaughter taking place… and Henry was praying of all things. PRAYING!
Then his voice got cut off and was replaced by a long, terrible scream which was silenced by what sounded like a snarl and teeth ripping through flesh.
There was an empty grave. Hoping Bill would forgive him, Alex rolled his little brother into the ditch and kept running. Behind him there was a terrible silence that made him turn and stare at the carnage.
Bodies, some ripped in half others that looked like they were sleeping, were strewn within a ten foot radius of the gothic butterfly who was drinking greedily from on of their throats, his eyes fixed on Alex.
“Oh, God,” Alex breathed and then turned and ran, his feet thudding dully on the hard packed earth as he fled from the creature. Behind him he heard a scream of wind and new that the little butterfly had taken off and was flying after him, he whimpered and hurried his steps and was rewarded by nearly running into a well fed looking gothic butterfly.
“Hello, Alex,” the butterfly said softly. Alex stopped so fast that he ended up falling hard on the packed earth and staring up at the vampire’s vivid purple eyes and smiling face.
“Please don’t kill me,” he whimpered. The vampires tossed his head back and laughed richly.
“Kill you? My dear brainless boy! Killing you is the last thing on my mind,” the butterfly said warmly. “I was hoping you would be willing to be my pet until I get bored of you.”
“Anything!” Alex said, relief making him giddy. “As long as you don’t kill me.”
“I was hoping you would say something like that,” the vampire said with a grin. “Now, I assume you can drive. But do you have a vehicle?”
“Yeah, I have an old Subaru,” Alex said. He saw his vampires nose wrinkle slightly.
“First, you will address me as Master Wong and second you will speak properly from now on. So no more ‘yeah’s, clear?” the Butterfly asked.
“Yeah… er.. Yes, Master Wong,” Alex said, feeling dazed. He was getting grammar lessons from a vampire.
“See what a quick learner you are!” Wong praised, then he frowned. “Your car will do for now but once I get settled I’ll have you go fetch another.”
“Yes, Master Wong,” Alex said, standing and dusting himself off. Wong nodded and turned, walking through the graveyard with Alex walking a few steps behind, Bill was completely forgotten.