Vampire Wares pt 9

After Andrei closed up shop for good that day, he retired to his workroom where he had to commence the long work of processing the vampire that Vasile had brought him early that morning.

After dressing again in his cloak, gloves, mask and hat he entered the workroom and began the butchering.  He smothered the fire and then fished out the body with two hooks, dragging it out and dropping it onto a large worktable. The wooden worktable was a large, rectangular surface, pocked with knife marks and stained dark with blood.  Around the edges were grooves that captured the flow of any liquids and channeled them to a reservoir at one end of table.

Andrei put on his red-stained apron, pulled out his great knives and began to dig the knives into the vampire’s flesh, pulling apart the separate parts, pulling out the panoply of organs, peeling off the skin, pulling out the bones and cartilage, and on and on.

Each of these parts would have to be separately treated, some ground, some dried, some dissolved, and so on.  From these parts came the various medicines he carried: for the kidney medicine, he would take the vampire’s kidney and ground it, wrap it in a sheath of skin and dry it; for the vampire’s bone, he would dry the vampire’s bones and grind them into powder; for the skin, he would chop it up and dissolve it in alcohol; and so on.  Over time he had refined a number of techniques for making the vampire’s parts both preservable and consumable so that he could store them on his shelves until his ready customers came and so they could ingest the beneficial materials within these vampire parts and improve their health.

While Andrei worked, Vasile entered – rested and ready to begin the evening’s hunt.  Andrei had Vasile’s cloak, gloves and hat, sanitized and cleaned, and ready to be worn.

Vasile sat down on a chair and pulled his boots onto his feet, strapping a backup knife to the outside of one boot, placing another knife on his belt, loading his two crossbows and slinging them around his back, adding yet more crossbow bolts to a pouch in his belt, filling his quiver with what arrows he could carry and stringing his bow

As he armed himself and dressed for the chilly evening, Vasile said, “You know I am the only vampire hunter and I’m getting old.”

“I know too well.  What I wouldn’t give to have more hunters who could bring me more vampires.  But they just don’t survive,” Andrei added.

“I say it because you mentioned earlier that I should get an apprentice,” Vasile said, with his deep and quiet voice.

“I would never think a solitary lion like you would take an apprentice,” Andrei said.

“I think I should.  I want you to spread the word that I’m interested in an apprentice,” Vasile said, “Preferable someone who can shoot an arrow and that won’t get killed.”

“I can do that,” Andrei said nodding, “Are you sure?’

“Yes,” Vasile said, as he lifted his bag on his shoulders with his quiver and bow.  He then waved goodbye and stepped out into the night.

<-- Go to Part 8         Go to Part 10 -->

You can see what's been written so far collected here.

After Andrei closed up shop for good that day, he retired to his workroom where he had to commence the long work of processing the vampire that Vasile had brought him early that morning.

After dressing again in his cloak, gloves, mask and hat he entered the workroom and began the butchering.  He smothered the fire and then fished out the body with two hooks, dragging it out and dropping it onto a large worktable. The wooden worktable was a large, rectangular surface, pocked with knife marks and stained dark with blood.  Around the edges were grooves that captured the flow of any liquids and channeled them to a reservoir at one end of table.

Andrei put on his red-stained apron, pulled out his great knives and began to dig the knives into the vampire’s flesh, pulling apart the separate parts, pulling out the panoply of organs, peeling off the skin, pulling out the bones and cartilage, and on and on.

Each of these parts would have to be separately treated, some ground, some dried, some dissolved, and so on.  From these parts came the various medicines he carried: for the kidney medicine, he would take the vampire’s kidney and ground it, wrap it in a sheath of skin and dry it; for the vampire’s bone, he would dry the vampire’s bones and grind them into powder; for the skin, he would chop it up and dissolve it in alcohol; and so on.  Over time he had refined a number of techniques for making the vampire’s parts both preservable and consumable so that he could store them on his shelves until his ready customers came and so they could ingest the beneficial materials within these vampire parts and improve their health.

While Andrei worked, Vasile entered – rested and ready to begin the evening’s hunt.  Andrei had Vasile’s cloak, gloves and hat, sanitized and cleaned, and ready to be worn.

Vasile sat down on a chair and pulled his boots onto his feet, strapping a backup knife to the outside of one boot, placing another knife on his belt, loading his two crossbows and slinging them around his back, adding yet more crossbow bolts to a pouch in his belt, filling his quiver with what arrows he could carry and stringing his bow

As he armed himself and dressed for the chilly evening, Vasile said, “You know I am the only vampire hunter and I’m getting old.”

“I know too well.  What I wouldn’t give to have more hunters who could bring me more vampires.  But they just don’t survive,” Andrei added.

“I say it because you mentioned earlier that I should get an apprentice,” Vasile said, with his deep and quiet voice.

“I would never think a solitary lion like you would take an apprentice,” Andrei said.

“I think I should.  I want you to spread the word that I’m interested in an apprentice,” Vasile said, “Preferable someone who can shoot an arrow and that won’t get killed.”

“I can do that,” Andrei said nodding, “Are you sure?’

“Yes,” Vasile said, as he lifted his bag on his shoulders with his quiver and bow.  He then waved goodbye and stepped out into the night.

<-- Go to Part 8         Go to Part 10 -->

You can see what's been written so far collected here.

Vampire Wares pt 9