Billie Joe – Vampire slayer, chapter 1
I'm Billie Joe Armstrong - Vampire slayer.
It's how I'll always remember her, a tiny little spec of a thing, standing there in the middle of a storm, her long black hair blowing wildly about her gaunt, white face and her large black eyes wide with fear and hate. I'll never forget her.
***
It started when we got called to Gloucestershire, in England. Someone had heard of our vampire-slaying abilities, and reckoned they had a vampire somewhere around.
We did some research, and it indeed looked like there was an untrained vampire there, the storms, several mysterious disappearances, all centred around one area. So we packed up our bags, and flew over to England.
Just so you know, we don't go after stereotypical vampires, they don't exist. We go after real ones, and, this may sound really harsh, but we usually go after teenage vampires. That's when the awakening happens, they'll learn to hide their power soon enough, but if they've only just been awakened, then this is a pretty typical list of what to look for if you think you've found one...
Do they have and aversion to light? I'm not kidding. They won't disappear into the dust, or bust into flames, but they won't like the sunlight, they'll try to avoid it.
Are they a bit of an outcast? Now, I'm not saying that all outcasts are vampires, but vampires generally don't know what to make of humans.
Are they nocturnal? This can be told by the way they always seem really tired during the day.
They won't eat much. This can sometimes be wrongly interpreted as anorexia, but vampires can't digest food properly, and it can make them feel sick, so they'll eat enough to keep themselves alive, but no more than that.
And, usually, they are attractive, if it's a girl, they are generally very pretty, if it's a boy, then generally they have looks to die for.
The weather. This may sound stupid, but newly awakened vampires may have some effect on the weather, generally, they are at the centre of the storm and it will occur when they feel a particularly strong emotion.
Yeah, so basically, we go after the newly awakened vampires, the ones that have little or no control over their blood lust and powers. I'm the spy, the one that makes friends with the suspected vampire and/or tails the vampire to see if they really are a vampire. Mike is chief researcher, he checks the reports, the number of disappearances, weather and finds the local school that has been worst hit by storms...nine times out of ten, this is where the newly awakened vampire will be. And Tre, Tre has the worst job of all, in my opinion, he's the slayer, he kills them.
Mike told us about an all girl's school, just outside a village, apparently there's been a storm there every other day... this told us enough for us to know that this vampire might be newly awakened but they had a certain amount of control over their power.
I went there, full of hope. My first stop was the music block. Huge storm raging outside it. The music teacher was a quivering wreck. A year nine class came in, and the teacher looked up with large fearful eyes at a 'large' red head who pushed her way to the back, sat down with a thump and glared at the teacher. I was transfixed, I thought I had found it, when I noticed her. A tiny little whisp of a girl, long black hair and huge black eyes. A bony little thing with only skin over bone, she might have been a walking skeleton.
She looked so upset I was certain she was going to burst into tears anytime.
***
After class, I hurried to catch up with her. "Hi," I said, and I felt a pang in my chest I hate getting to know someone then knowing I betrayed them.
She nodded to me, and carried on walking, all around, the storm was raging. "So, what's your name?" I asked, hoping I would get some hint as too who she was.
"Storm."
Storm...I know that name...
***
A while back, I had a thing with a woman, short blond hair, striking black eyes and a skinny little figure. Very unusual she was.
I left her after a few months, but five months later she phoned me and told me she'd had my child, a little girl, and she'd called her Storm.
To get a vampire, you only need a couple of genetic mutations, not much at all, they're pretty human if you ask me.
***
I went to the art rooms, to see if there were any paintings that our vampire could have painted, sure enough, there were (vampires are very creative) three different paintings of tortured souls, all monochromatic paintings painted with snowy white, raven black and dusty grey.
"Impressed?" the art teacher asked, coming up behind me. I nodded.
"Who painted these?" I asked.
"A girl I teach, she's called Storm Furey."
Storm, I know her...
***
"Hey Bill, what's up?" Mike asked.
"You remember Steph?" Mike nodded.
"Remember when I got that phone call, saying she'd had my daughter, and she'd called her Storm?" Mike nodded again.
"It's her, Mike. Storm's the vampire." I put my head in my hands. My own daughter, a vampire...
Mike put his arm around me. "Sshhhh...Billie, it's not that bad."
"But, Tre - Tre'll kill her..."
"Billie." Mikes tone was sharp. "Would you rather she ends all suffering now, vampires don't live easy lives, or would you let her grow up in pain and become a cold blooded killer?"
"I- I, I don't know... " I was weak, and Mike sized upon that.
"Billie, We're not the only slayers in the business, and if we don't kill her, some one else will. She's not exactly one of the weaker vampires."
I nodded, defeated.
Mike smiled, "Here's the plan... "
***
The next day, about lunchtime, I set off for the school. When I got there, Tre was hanging around the gates, he grinned at me and showed me the pointed end of a stake. I took a deep breath and walked in.
It was easy enough to spot her on the field. She was the one on her own, everyone else was inside. She was sheltering under a bush, her white skin looking more transparent than ever next to the general darkness of her surroundings, she looked so ethereal, almost undead (I would like to point out, vampires are not undead, it was made up to make them seem more sinister.)
"Storm?" She looked up and saw me.
She sprang to her feet. A tiny little spec of a thing, standing there in the middle of a storm, her long black hair blowing wildly about her gaunt, white face and her large black eyes wide with fear and hate.
Then they widened in recognition, "Dad?" I nodded, almost choked with tears.
She shook her head and took a step backwards. "Storm, please, I want to get to know you."
She shook her head. "You killed mum."
"What?"
"She killed herself when I was five 'cause she missed you."
I shook my head, "No, not Steph..."
She nodded. "My mum. I got no one."
I tried to force my mouth into a smile. "You've got me."
She shook her head. "I haven't."
I changed my mind about Mike's plan, I wasn't going to go through with it. But she ran, in the direction of the gates..."STORM!" I yelled, but the only reply I got was the wind howling in my ears.
Then the sound, which'll haunt me forever...an ear-splitting scream, followed by silence.
I fell to my knees in the mud and cried. I felt a hand on my shoulder. "It's ok, Billie, she wouldn't have suffered." That was Mike feeble attempt at cheering me up.
I know how Tre kills the vampires, I'm not stupid. He just grabs them, and shoves the stake into their heart, causing huge amounts of pain, as he so cheerfully described it to me the other day.
I still cried bitterly and hard, it was raining as hard as I was crying, and out of the sheets of rain, walked Tre, carrying Storms limp figure.
Although our normal policy is to burn the carcass, therefore incinerating 'evil'. I insisted upon giving Storm a proper burial, but no father should have to bury the daughter he betrayed, and her ghost haunted me in my dreams, until I left Tre and Mike, and here I am.
I'm still haunted, and I'll wander the planet until I die, wracked with guilt and pain...So many deaths, and I betrayed them all, 15 of them, all teenagers between 13 and 16. But it was Storm who did it for me...No father should bury his daughter he betrayed...
Billie Joe - ex vampire slayer.
1972 - 1994
It's how I'll always remember her, a tiny little spec of a thing, standing there in the middle of a storm, her long black hair blowing wildly about her gaunt, white face and her large black eyes wide with fear and hate. I'll never forget her.
***
It started when we got called to Gloucestershire, in England. Someone had heard of our vampire-slaying abilities, and reckoned they had a vampire somewhere around.
We did some research, and it indeed looked like there was an untrained vampire there, the storms, several mysterious disappearances, all centred around one area. So we packed up our bags, and flew over to England.
Just so you know, we don't go after stereotypical vampires, they don't exist. We go after real ones, and, this may sound really harsh, but we usually go after teenage vampires. That's when the awakening happens, they'll learn to hide their power soon enough, but if they've only just been awakened, then this is a pretty typical list of what to look for if you think you've found one...
Do they have and aversion to light? I'm not kidding. They won't disappear into the dust, or bust into flames, but they won't like the sunlight, they'll try to avoid it.
Are they a bit of an outcast? Now, I'm not saying that all outcasts are vampires, but vampires generally don't know what to make of humans.
Are they nocturnal? This can be told by the way they always seem really tired during the day.
They won't eat much. This can sometimes be wrongly interpreted as anorexia, but vampires can't digest food properly, and it can make them feel sick, so they'll eat enough to keep themselves alive, but no more than that.
And, usually, they are attractive, if it's a girl, they are generally very pretty, if it's a boy, then generally they have looks to die for.
The weather. This may sound stupid, but newly awakened vampires may have some effect on the weather, generally, they are at the centre of the storm and it will occur when they feel a particularly strong emotion.
Yeah, so basically, we go after the newly awakened vampires, the ones that have little or no control over their blood lust and powers. I'm the spy, the one that makes friends with the suspected vampire and/or tails the vampire to see if they really are a vampire. Mike is chief researcher, he checks the reports, the number of disappearances, weather and finds the local school that has been worst hit by storms...nine times out of ten, this is where the newly awakened vampire will be. And Tre, Tre has the worst job of all, in my opinion, he's the slayer, he kills them.
Mike told us about an all girl's school, just outside a village, apparently there's been a storm there every other day... this told us enough for us to know that this vampire might be newly awakened but they had a certain amount of control over their power.
I went there, full of hope. My first stop was the music block. Huge storm raging outside it. The music teacher was a quivering wreck. A year nine class came in, and the teacher looked up with large fearful eyes at a 'large' red head who pushed her way to the back, sat down with a thump and glared at the teacher. I was transfixed, I thought I had found it, when I noticed her. A tiny little whisp of a girl, long black hair and huge black eyes. A bony little thing with only skin over bone, she might have been a walking skeleton.
She looked so upset I was certain she was going to burst into tears anytime.
***
After class, I hurried to catch up with her. "Hi," I said, and I felt a pang in my chest I hate getting to know someone then knowing I betrayed them.
She nodded to me, and carried on walking, all around, the storm was raging. "So, what's your name?" I asked, hoping I would get some hint as too who she was.
"Storm."
Storm...I know that name...
***
A while back, I had a thing with a woman, short blond hair, striking black eyes and a skinny little figure. Very unusual she was.
I left her after a few months, but five months later she phoned me and told me she'd had my child, a little girl, and she'd called her Storm.
To get a vampire, you only need a couple of genetic mutations, not much at all, they're pretty human if you ask me.
***
I went to the art rooms, to see if there were any paintings that our vampire could have painted, sure enough, there were (vampires are very creative) three different paintings of tortured souls, all monochromatic paintings painted with snowy white, raven black and dusty grey.
"Impressed?" the art teacher asked, coming up behind me. I nodded.
"Who painted these?" I asked.
"A girl I teach, she's called Storm Furey."
Storm, I know her...
***
"Hey Bill, what's up?" Mike asked.
"You remember Steph?" Mike nodded.
"Remember when I got that phone call, saying she'd had my daughter, and she'd called her Storm?" Mike nodded again.
"It's her, Mike. Storm's the vampire." I put my head in my hands. My own daughter, a vampire...
Mike put his arm around me. "Sshhhh...Billie, it's not that bad."
"But, Tre - Tre'll kill her..."
"Billie." Mikes tone was sharp. "Would you rather she ends all suffering now, vampires don't live easy lives, or would you let her grow up in pain and become a cold blooded killer?"
"I- I, I don't know... " I was weak, and Mike sized upon that.
"Billie, We're not the only slayers in the business, and if we don't kill her, some one else will. She's not exactly one of the weaker vampires."
I nodded, defeated.
Mike smiled, "Here's the plan... "
***
The next day, about lunchtime, I set off for the school. When I got there, Tre was hanging around the gates, he grinned at me and showed me the pointed end of a stake. I took a deep breath and walked in.
It was easy enough to spot her on the field. She was the one on her own, everyone else was inside. She was sheltering under a bush, her white skin looking more transparent than ever next to the general darkness of her surroundings, she looked so ethereal, almost undead (I would like to point out, vampires are not undead, it was made up to make them seem more sinister.)
"Storm?" She looked up and saw me.
She sprang to her feet. A tiny little spec of a thing, standing there in the middle of a storm, her long black hair blowing wildly about her gaunt, white face and her large black eyes wide with fear and hate.
Then they widened in recognition, "Dad?" I nodded, almost choked with tears.
She shook her head and took a step backwards. "Storm, please, I want to get to know you."
She shook her head. "You killed mum."
"What?"
"She killed herself when I was five 'cause she missed you."
I shook my head, "No, not Steph..."
She nodded. "My mum. I got no one."
I tried to force my mouth into a smile. "You've got me."
She shook her head. "I haven't."
I changed my mind about Mike's plan, I wasn't going to go through with it. But she ran, in the direction of the gates..."STORM!" I yelled, but the only reply I got was the wind howling in my ears.
Then the sound, which'll haunt me forever...an ear-splitting scream, followed by silence.
I fell to my knees in the mud and cried. I felt a hand on my shoulder. "It's ok, Billie, she wouldn't have suffered." That was Mike feeble attempt at cheering me up.
I know how Tre kills the vampires, I'm not stupid. He just grabs them, and shoves the stake into their heart, causing huge amounts of pain, as he so cheerfully described it to me the other day.
I still cried bitterly and hard, it was raining as hard as I was crying, and out of the sheets of rain, walked Tre, carrying Storms limp figure.
Although our normal policy is to burn the carcass, therefore incinerating 'evil'. I insisted upon giving Storm a proper burial, but no father should have to bury the daughter he betrayed, and her ghost haunted me in my dreams, until I left Tre and Mike, and here I am.
I'm still haunted, and I'll wander the planet until I die, wracked with guilt and pain...So many deaths, and I betrayed them all, 15 of them, all teenagers between 13 and 16. But it was Storm who did it for me...No father should bury his daughter he betrayed...
Billie Joe - ex vampire slayer.
1972 - 1994
