PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

1

Professor Willakers always believed
that therapy, when rightly offered and
practiced, proceeded from a point of full
acceptance of the patient's delusion.
If you believed you were dying of thirst,
he offered you a glass of cold water.
"And so, " he asked the patient, present with
him, "how long have you been a vampire now?"
The patient, sitting in shadow as he had
requested earlier, replied, "Some months;
"not very long at all, but long enough."
Professor Willakers, seeking to know
the full extent of the derangement, asked
"How did you come here tonight---as a bat?"
The patient laughed.  "I think each of us has
"his or her favored means of travel.  Mine
"is mist, I can become a mist at night."
"Were you someone's victim, and then were turned?"
Professor Willakers asked, as his pen
moved quickly over his new legal pad.
The patient laughed again, and sounded far
more comfortable than just moments before.
"Bram Stoker's novel has too long been read
"as an expert textbook about us.  What
"did he know, really?---business management
"of a theater, and the company
"of young, voluptuous prostitutes?  He was
"no scholar---of the folklore or the facts.
"Let me explain it to you---most victims
"are killed fairly quickly by the blood loss;
"some are prolonged more slowly.  Those that die
"do not become vampires; for, otherwise,
"our population would soon overtake
"our sources of available supply.
"Only a suicide can be---must be---
"transformed into a vampire.  Only that."
Professor Willakers thought that he now
had some insight into his patient's need.
"So you came to me seeking to discuss
"the possibility of your suicide?"
His voice had changed now that he grasped the facts.
The shadows seemed more numerous.  How could
that be?  The patient looked at him with some
contempt.  "Oh, no, Professor Willakers,
"my suicide, and what drove me to it,
"need not enter discussion, nor waste time.
"You are the finest therapist in town,
"but your blood pressure has caused great concern
"to your physician, and continues to
"be seriously elevated."  This
apparent breach of confidence angered
Professor Willakers:  "How do you know
"that?  Did that loudmouth braggart tell you that?"
The patient held his hand up if in oath.
"Sir, I did not mean to raise any doubt
"regarding your physician, whom I do
"not know, nor with whom I have ever spoke.
"But we vampires know hypertension well
"in our victims---the way big game hunters
"observe obscure details in their choice prey.
"High blood pressure adds a certain panache
"of flavor to the blood.  A man like you
"provides a great bonus of taste, unlike---
"say---some crackhead in some alley downtown.
At that, Professor Willaker's patient
sprung from the parting shadows, fiendishly,
and undeterred by the Professor's scream.

2

Next day, they found Professor Willakers
dead, drained of almost every ounce of blood.
His scribbled notes did not make any sense.
His calendar did not show any names
of patients; and no file left on the desk.
Upon their entrance into his office,
they noticed a moist dampness in the room,

as if a mist had lingered briefly there;
but it went quickly to its dissipation
as they began routine investigation.

Starward