CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE

FIFTY FIVE
Atlantic City rises out of absolute darkness
when approached at night. It is an effulgence of
brilliant colored light to rival anything Times Square
can offer. To the East is the dark expanse of the ocean.
To the West are the even darker Pine Barrens and
cranberry bogs of southern New Jersey.
In an era of more wonder and no electronic media, this metropolis
would take on mythical proportions for any human
who saw it. Such is not the contemporary era. Awe is
an emotion in a state of atrophy and decline among
humans.

Flying side by side with Norman, I experienced
a surprising sense of what can only be described as
camaraderie. We felt like a team, this London vampire
and I. While we cannot read each others’ minds, there
was a connection on some basic, perhaps cellular level.
At least it felt that way to me. Without any conscious
communication we flew as one, every turn, ascent,
and the final approach flawless mirroring of each
other.
We landed atop Trump’s Marina Hotel Casino
with a whoosh and found ourselves overlooking the
gleaming strip of casino after casino, with the famous
steel pier a lit appendage extending out into the city’s
namesake ocean. We sat for awhile in silence, taking it
all in.
Norman looked at me.
“Before we decide about my relocating to this wondrous place, there’s something I’ve got to know. Have you been having any problems with the revenants?”
“You mean the zombie vamps? That’s what I like to call them.”
“Sure. Zombie vamps, if you like. Have you had any problems with them?”
“No. Why? Say, have you been placing weird messages on my computer screen?”
“Why would you think that? What kind of messages?”
I told him about the computer intrusions. He thought for awhile before answering, once I finished.
“It could be revenants.”
“What’s with you? The zombie vamps are weak, when anyone is silly enough to make one. They never last long.”
“They’re getting stronger. There’s a vampire from Berlin who’s been traveling widely. She teaches them to feed off one another repeatedly.”
“So. What does that do?”
“It gives them vampire powers beyond what any previous revenants have enjoyed. They’re becoming very powerful. Most of them are young, teenagers and college kids, when she transforms them. They can even make other vampires now.”
“That’s impossible.”
“I wish it was, mate. The European synod met recently and talked about giving them status.”
“You mean true vampire status? That doesn’t make sense.”
“You’re right. It doesn’t. And it’s all just talk right now.”
“Well, I haven’t heard of anything like that over here.”
“These messages sound like something these revenants are capable of. They were all digital natives before becoming vampires.”
“You don’t make the idea of switching places very attractive with a story like that -- revenants.”
“You can handle it, mate.”
He hunched his shoulders for a moment, then stood.
“Shall we?”
I nodded and as one we leapt from the top of the building to the beach, landing right at the water’s edge, side by side, well beyond the pier and its lights.
“Now my touristic manner of dress fits right in and you look like a ninja,” said Norman. “Except for the sunglasses – they look Italian rather than Japanese.”
“They are Italian. And, as you obviously have not heard, black is the new everything.”
“If you say so, mate. You brought some ready cash, I presume.”
“You presume correctly.”