VII.

He was miles away, but he could still hear them as they screamed. How could he ever not hear them? They were his children.

Jason Soulis stared out at the waters and looked at the dull gray clouds that hid the sun away. In the distance, he could hear the crows cawing and chatting to each other. Maggie could have her human and he wished her the best.

He preferred the crows. He knew where he stood with them and never once worried about their duplicity.

He really hadn't expected the detectives to find the caves and supposed that was his fault for not realizing just how perceptive they were.

"I'm glad I let you live." He smiled and stretched, stifling a yawn. "I suspect you will prove interesting to have around."

Deep beneath the house he'd left behind, the vampires were trying to find a way out of their newly sealed prison. Far too much rock had fallen to allow them to simply swim out as they had before.

He wondered if they would die a second time, starved of blood and unable to feed. Or if they would change and evolve, become something better than what they were meant to be.

A few days in the cave had made several of them stronger than they had ever been before. Most often they were too weak and stupid to live for more than a single night. But the ones he'd created in Black Stone Bay? There were at least four he knew of that had survived their first night of freedom, and they were coming along nicely.

None of them stayed in the area. They were too smart for that. If that wasn't proof of improvement, what was?

"We shall see, my children. We shall see what you can become."

He listened to their frustrated screams and allowed himself a small smile.

Time would tell if the second phase was successful.

And Jason Soulis had all the time in the world.

AFTERWORD.

BY JAMES A. MOORE.

If you'd asked me even eighteen months ago if I had any desire to write a vampire novel, the answer would have been a resounding "HELL NO!" It's not that I have anything against vampires, per se, it's just that damn, people, they've been done a few times. They've also been done a few times by me. My first published novel was a collaborative work-for-hire vampire novel written for White Wolf Publishing. I wrote it a long, long time ago. Long enough ago, in fact, that sometimes I forget the details. That's probably for the best.

So, no. No desire whatsoever to pick up a pen and write about vampires. Better writers than me have already done it and been imitated a thousand times over. Bram Stoker's Dracula remains a powerful piece, strong enough to almost guarantee a hundred imitators alone. Anne Rice's writing style and more "humanized" approach to vampires hasn't just been imitated, it's generated a full-blown subgenre. She did to vampiric erotica what McDonald's did to hamburgers. And I could go on for a page or two about the number of vampire detectives/vampire monster hunters out there in the literary markets.

So, again, no desire whatsoever to touch on the subject of vampires.

But then I thought about the other writers, the ones who always manage to make the subject interesting for me all over again. Brian Lumley did it with his excellent Necroscope series of books. Simon Clark-yes, the very one who was gracious enough to give this book a read and throw some nice words in my direction-did it with Vampyrrhic. Christopher Golden did it with his unique twists on the concept of vampires and where they come from in The Shadow Saga, and there have been others as well. Richard Matheson's excellent I Am Legend, Stephen King's timeless 'Salem's Lot. Dan Simmons did it, Ray Garton managed very well indeed, F. Paul Wilson has done it. Robert R. McCammon not only did it, but took it to all new extremes. Fred Saberhagen's The Dracula Tapes and several sequels are all fascinating reads and well thought out. He makes changes in the legends of Dracula and he also adds depth to the villainous Count. Dick Laymon's The Traveling Vampire Show was a fabulous tale with a nice twist or twelve. The same for The Stake; what a glorious excursion into familiar territory! Nancy Collins with her Sonja Blue novels took a few nice spins into the extreme and handled them beautifully. For every one of the books I've run across that seems to be nothing but a derivative, there's a gem out there, a little nugget of a book that makes it worth the time to delve back into the vampire myths and have a little fun. Of course, all of the authors who wrote these gems have talent in spades, and I'm never quite sure if I'm up to that sort of challenge.

It didn't take much time for my mind to start playing What If with me. Every writer knows the game. What If I DID write a vampire novel? What would I do to make it different?

Sometimes that little game can get you into trouble. The What If Game was helped along by Paul Miller, who introduced himself to me last year and asked if I'd be interested in working with him. Well, duh, yes. Of course!

And he said he might like to see a "big, fat, juicy vampire novel" out of me. That took some serious thinking on my part. A nanosecond later, we agreed to talk about it.

And my mind kept playing that What If Game with me.

Did I want to write a vampire novel? No. Not really. The idea was a little intimidating. How in the name of God would I possibly hope to do one original enough to make anyone at all give a damn about it? Not bragging here, but I've had a lot of comparisons to Stephen King come along. I thought about that a lot.

Because, if I was going to do a vampire story, I had to make it stand out against some very fine examples of the genre. So many in fact, that the task quickly became daunting.

I pulled out my extensive collection of vampire movies and watched a lot of them before I wrote the very first word of Blood Red. I also pulled out roughly twenty novels and did the same thing. Not because I wanted new ideas. I'm happy to say that ideas are the easy part for me. I normally have a plethora of stories bouncing around in the cesspool of my mind and practically screaming to get out. No, I did it because I wanted to make sure that the ideas were mine as much as possible. There are certain inevitabilities in the vampire genre. Blood sucking or life draining is going to happen, otherwise it's hardly a vampire tale. I didn't try to get away from that. I didn't want to reinvent the vampire from the ground up. I am perfectly happy with putting a few spins on the old fanged menace and leaving most of what shows up intact, but there are certain aspects of the myth that change from writer to writer and certain parts that have been done, pardon the pun, to death. I didn't want to consciously or unconsciously imitate the writers I found the most outstanding. It's always a risk, especially when you're not only a writer but also a fan of the genre.

So, yes, I immersed myself in Hollywood renditions of vampires and then rolled around in the blood and viscera of a number of books, many of which are mentioned above.

And then I spent a few months thinking about vampires and what it is that makes them fascinating. First, there's the sex appeal. Then there's the danger. Somewhere along the line, there's the mystique and the notion of living forever.

I decided to go with a more monstrous vampire. I wanted a bad guy who is actually, truly a nasty thing to wake up to in the middle of the night. I wanted a different reason for a vampire to come to town and set up shop. To be fair, I wanted to write something that was uniquely mine in a field that has been paved over and reseeded a million times in the last century.

When it was finally time, I sat down and I wrote. I broke my own personal record for writing speed on Blood Red. Happily, I had an excellent editor to push me along and help me over the rough spots. I also had a second excellent editor come along afterward and give me a fresh perspective on what I had written because, I have to tell you in all honesty, as a writer I tend to stay too close to the subject I've been writing about for at least a year. I see forests, not trees, and I see the devil, not the details. It's hard to be impartial about something that consumes you for a month or so and won't let you bother with little things like sleep. Kelly Perry and Paul Miller are amazing people, and they did so much to make this book come out the way I wanted. I could thank them every day for a decade and still not feel like I've made it clear how indebted I am to them for their hard work.

The end result of that work is in your hands and, unless you've cheated and read this first, you've finished the tale. I truly, truly hope you enjoyed the ride. I know I did. I've heard praise from a few sources that has left me grinning for a few hours and I've heard a few comments (some not meant to be seen by me) that have left me scratching my head and wondering where I went wrong. Either way, this is my vampire story. Either way, it is done. For now.

Did I answer every question I posed in the book? No. I almost never do. I like leaving possibilities and loose ends out there. As a writer, I like the idea that maybe people will think about the unfinished business of the book and try to find their own answers. As a reader, I've seldom been satisfied by a story that leaves all of the questions answered and wrapped up in a nice, neat little package. Life does not leave things settled and done, once and for all. If I am to imitate life as much as possible, I can't overlook that sort of thing and be comfortable.

So yes, there are a few unanswered questions. If they grate too much on your nerves, I do apologize. If they left you wondering about what happens next, then I'm very pleased indeed.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed the ride.

James A. Moore.

Marietta, Georgia.

August 18, 2005.

www.jimshorror.com.

redredrage.livejournal.com.