The Last Vampire in Ireland - Part II

If you missed the first part of this story about the last vampire in Ireland you can find it at: http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Last-Vampire-in-Ireland.

A brief synopsis of the story so far. The last vampire in Ireland has awoken from his long sleep of 200 hundred years, deep within a cave in northern County Cork.. He's about to launch his first attack on his unsuspecting human victim, a young teenager, Brannagh (pr.Branna) Mc Donagh, from the village near the hills where the vampire resides, is out and about engaging in a training routine for her local atheltlics club. She is unaware of the vampire's existence...

Warning: This story may induce fear and sleepless nights from the images used therein...you have been warned. Do not read any further if there is a danger that it may affect your sound sleeping habits!!

Strong sunlight filled the landscape and a fresh breeze caught her black hair as she ran lightly in rhythmic pacing over the wet grassland. She loved this part of the morning before the sunlight made it too warm for running. Her feet, in light running shoes, barely touched the uneven ground. The challenge of keeping the even pace brought a smile to her face. This was going to be a good run, the conditions were right.

She felt strong and in control of her training. Her coach was very pleased with her success so far in the junior section of the county athletics. Soon she would run in the women’s adult section. She just had to win this next feat and she was in.

‘Things are so exciting,’ she thought and frowned as she remembered her appointment with the counsellor. ‘Whatever,’ she contemplated and ran a little faster.

Cormac was satisfied with things. He sat on a little outcrop of rocks near the smaller entrance to the cave and surveyed the landscape. Suddenly he cocked his head to one side and concentrated as he listened to a faint rhythm on the ground. He put his ear to he ground and nodded.

“A young female approaches,’ he smiled to himself. ‘Behold, it won’t long now before I’m wooing the ladies again. I’m sure they can’t wait either.’ He laughed softly.

He surveyed the landscape carefully, scouring the horizon for the first signs of his new victim. He was excited. His heart thumped loudly and his breathing increased in anticipation of the blood kill. This was always the best part – the anticipation.

“Be patient, Cormac, my man,” he said aloud and smiled sweetly as a tiny bobbing figure appeared over the brow of the hill. Long black flowing hair trailed behind the slender figure of Brannagh as she drew closer and closer to his spot.

Brannagh was totally unaware of anyone watching her, though she had a faint tingling sensation on her neck like a mild sting. She bent her arm backwards to brush the back of her neck and continued with her run.

A tall figure of a very handsome dark-haired man, somewhere in his thirties, she reckoned, loomed into sight as she moved upland, closer to the cave site. She veered automatically away from his gaze and turned herself to run in a different direction. She knew the landscape of these hills very well, since she was a child and had roamed feely and without incident since then

‘Something weird about him,’ she thought and felt a cold shiver run down her spine.

She ran a little faster out of his sight and she looked back to check and breathed a sigh of relief.

Cormac was disappointed. “The young lady doesn’t seem interested in me,” he thought angrily. “I will have to fix that. Don’t these ladies know...once within my sight, they’re mine?” He smiled again. “It won’t be long, my dear, until you succumb, just like all the others. No one escapes my pleasure.” He gazed after her now small disappearing figure and chuckled. “Won’t be long, my dear till you’re in my arms.” He threw back his head and laughed loudly, echoes of which reverberated throughout the hills.

In one part of the village, some of the older people had gathered in the school hall, which also served as the village community hall, to express their concern over the rumours now circulating the village at an alarming rate.

“Who’d have thought this day would come again and in our lifetime?” said an elderly man, looking frail and afraid.

“It was to be expected. It was unlikely we could escape any more than those before us. What to do? Do we gather everyone and tell them to leave immediately. We have to tell people and warn them of the danger of...of...your man,” said a quietly spoken woman in her seventies, gesturing at the hills behind the village.

“Yea, we’re at his mercy. Our choices are few. It’s unlikely he will want anything with us. We’re...eh...too...eh...old.”

The others laughed in spite of their fears.

“It’s true though. If we can convince everyone under fifty to leave we can at least deal with his rage as he curses and threatens us. I believe from what my grandfather told me, he’s not likely to attack anyone over fifty. Sorry to say this, but the vampire is a good gauge of old age. Our bodies will have degenerated too much to feed his needs for vital blood flow. Seeing as he is confined to this area, according to legend, those who agree to move outside the perimeter of his bloody patrol will be okay, will live to a ripe old age. He may very well have a go at us, if we stay here, however.”

The woman stopped speaking and looked around at the others. There was fear on all their faces.

“There’s no time to lose, we must act quickly now and alert everyone in the village.” Her voice had an insisting note.

Some of the elderly men shook their heads and looked nervous, while others tried to laugh at the whole thing as if a practical joke.

“We’re in the middle of summer and they’re playing practical jokes on us with all this talk of vampires.” They laughed nervously and unconvincingly.

Those in the know through their ancestors’ knowledge of the vampire became upset and shouted at the ‘ignoramuses”. Others turned to the sceptics and quietly gave as much detail about the vampire’s activities in previous time.

“If you don’t believe us, visit the old cemetery and you will see inscriptions describing the deaths of those victims who were found and inscriptions for those who weren’t,” they insisted.

The laughing stopped. A hush fell over the village hall and everyone left to begin coaxing those who were in danger to leave. The plan was to at least convince all females under fifty to leave immediately and have their fathers, brothers and husbands join them thereafter with all their belongings. Very young boys were also in danger as the vampire, if desperate, could also attack these vulnerable youngsters.

Villagers moved quickly convincing as many as possible, before the vampire, with his keen sense of hearing, caught up with them and stopped everyone from leaving.

Brannagh returned from her morning run, flushed and sweating. She noticed the busyness of older adults moving swiftly around the village. Her mother came up the last few feet of the hilly track and greeted her.

“Brannagh my sweet girl, there is danger in this village and we must leave immediately.” Brannagh stepped back in surprise and shock. Her mother did her best to convince her daughter of the ‘danger to all’ and the knowledge handed down to her by her grandfather.

“Sweetheart, you weren’t born yet when my grandfather explained the stories of the vampire, which we learnt about from an early age, but didn’t really believe. Grandfather was so convincing and so adamant, that I promised him if I ever had a daughter, I would do my best to get her out before the vampire struck. We have so little time, Brannagh. We have to leave now, without anything. Dad will bring our things later.” Her mother’s voice had sharp edge to it, which surprised Brannagh.

“I don’t know what to say, Mum. But let’s go if you think there’s danger. To be honest, I haven’t had a good night’s sleep for such a long time. I’ve lain awake most nights worrying about...eh…I don’t know what it is.” She shook her head anxiously.

“Sounds like you have some kind of knowing, child,” said her mother softly as they both headed for the car and out of the village.

The scope of territory which Cormac ruled was unknown. Villagers, who were convinced by the sincerity and anxiety of the older people, left immediately and drove quickly out of the village for many miles. Others stayed believing the whole thing was probably nonsense and were reluctant to leave their homes in any case.

Brannagh and her mother drove their car quickly past the village boundaries and headed for the open road. At a junction where the village road met the main highway, Cormac jumped in front of the car and Brannagh’s mother swerved to avoid him. The car hit a tree. Both were stunned, but were swiftly pulled out of the car with a force they have never experienced before.

Cormac threw their bruised bodies on the ground.

“Ha! My dear ladies forgive my roughness but I needed to...eh...rescue you from this vessel. What do you call it? A fine vessel indeed, it moves almost as swiftly as I do. Now my dear ladies, you thought you could escape that easily from my...eh...territory. I’m afraid I need you both to stay within these confines. My life depends on you. Isn’t that an extraordinary thing? Hmm?”

He gently moved his hand over Brannagh’s smooth hair, caressed her soft facial skin and stopped at her mouth. He smiled calmly into her startled eyes.

“Very beautiful young lady, very alluring.” He continued moving his hand down her arm and took her hand and placed his lips on it.

She tried to pull away, but he held her hand tightly and she cried out in pain.

“For God’s sake Mr. McCreagh, let her go. What would you want with a young girl like her? She’s no fun for a gentleman like you. I’m the sort of woman who will give you a thrill.” Her mother’s voice was smooth, low toned. Brannagh had never heard her mother speak thus before and stared open-mouthed.

Kate McDonagh’s heart was beating wildly in fear, but she remained calm and looked directly at Cormac with as flirtatious an expression as she could muster.

Cormac immediately spun in her direction with a wide smile and dropped Brannagh’s hand.

“Indeed you minx, you dare to challenge me,” His evil laugh rang through the countryside.

“Indeed sir I do. How could a young girl like that excite you when you have woman of great experience and knowledge standing in front of you. A woman who has been courted by many, before she took a husband.”

She tossed her head and her normal tied up hair fell tumbling down her back. She looked younger than her years and she stared him in the eye.

He was entranced by her allure.

“There’s no denying it madam, you have a certain allure, which I think the young lady over there could learn from. You interest me now.”

As he turned his back on Brannagh, her mother gestured to her to run quickly.

Brannagh hesitated for few seconds and then took to her heels.

“As I suspected, a frightened fawn but look what I have captured… the doe, the stag’s mate, a prize.”

“Indeed sir you haven’t captured me, I have fallen for your charms. How could I not be attracted to as handsome a fellow as you? Any woman would be glad to have you. I have been so bored until you came along today. You’re the most exciting man I’ve ever encountered.”

These words were music to his ears. This was what he always heard from the ladies and Brannagh’s mother repeated what she had heard from her grandfather’s stories.

Cormac was flattered and excited and scooped up Kate Donagh in his strong arms and ran up into the hills to reach the place, where he would make his kill.

This was the last scene Brannagh had of her mother and thought of her mother’s bravery in saving her life.

She ran like the wind. It was about two miles to the village and she wanted to warn everyone of the vampire’s existence and get help to save her mother. The road was dusty and time seemed to slow down as she thought she would never reach the village.

Villagers crowded around her and a group of men followed her to the spot where her mother had been taken by the vampire. They followed a trail until they saw her mother’s crumpled body with blood trailing from her neck where he had made his usual strike.

The vampire was no where to be seen, Try as they might to find him, even entering the cave and spotting the rock stained and worn from his long hibernation, proved fruitless.

They bore Mrs. McDonagh’s body back to the village and there her weeping daughter and husband drove with the body in another car many miles to a place out of reach of the vampire, where they buried her and laid her to rest.

Brannagh was heartbroken and for a long time after wanted to leave the world and go to her mother in the next. She did visit with a counsellor and spent the time trying to heal her shock, hurt and grief. After many sessions she came to a realisation that her mother had done the bravest thing possible any parent could do for their child.

She felt the time had come to honour her mother’s bravery by living her life wisely from now on. She gave up athletics and decided to go to university the following year to study psychology with a hope of helping others who were hurt and in pain from life’s woes, though she was aware that many wouldn’t believe her true plight. Her counsellor had a lot of difficulty in believing her at first until news of the vampire spread.

The awful tragedy of Brannagh's mother happened in the summer of 2010, this year.Tthe vampire is still at large, as I write this piece and roams the hills of north CountyCork in a certain parish, which shall remain nameless to protect the innocent who wish to stay there, especially if they is a female under fifty or a young boy. His bloodthirsty laugh can be heard on the wind by those who listen and in dreams by those who are haunted by his evil.

His reign of terror continues, though I hear that he confines his kills now wtih young animals who cross his path and to some older people who insist on living in the area.

So if you ever visit north County Cork, be careful of the hills you may wander in and pay special attention to any village where only the old live and which is devoid of females under fifty and young boys. If you happen to wander into a certain grave yard be sure to check out the graves with certain inscriptions describing untimely and horrible deaths of those buried there and those who are not!

The last vampire in Ireland still lives on and is not a tourist attraction!

You have been warned!

Coming soon... a follow-up to this story....an interview with Brannagh McDonagh.

There will be an interview with Brannagh McDonagh, published, where she reveals her feelings about thenloss of her mother and the horrific images hse still holds in her memories of the vampire's evila acts.

We may even be privileged to get an ID image of the creature. Many have tried over the centuries to capture his image, but Brannagh believes by getting away in the manner in which she did, that her image of him will be the truest one. It will, of course, be an artist’s impression, as have all the others. Circumstances prevented Brannagh from taking a photo.

This interview will be with you on these pages, very soon.

chspublish © copyright 2010.