Wednesday, August 31, 2016

The Nosferatu Adventures s11 p7

The Nosferatu Adventures 
page 281, chapter 281

Out of Time

Edric was just finishing the one wall when our heroine and Quentin returned. They had been gone for just over two hours, which was more than enough time that the sire bond was starting to get to him. He knew that if they'd been gone any longer, it would have forced him to find her.  He hated the fact he was at the mercy of the magickal link.  Our heroine entered the warehouse, dropping the large package onto the dinning room table, before slinking her way over to the male. He shot her a glance from the corner of his eye, as she stood beside him. Edric had to fight the urge to both cringe and to hug her. The sire bond was giving new meaning to the phrase love/hate relationship.

"Eggshell looks good on you." she commented wiping at the half dried smudge of paint that had fallen onto his shoulder. Without thinking about what she was doing, the female planted a quick kiss on his cheek then his temple before she managed to get control of herself. Edric said nothing as he struck the rolling brush against the far corner of the wall. Secretly, he was calculating how much longer till the full moon ritual would force his hand, and he managed to secure the pack alpha position. He could feel it creeping up his brain. A strange alarm that was about to go off in all directions. One way or the other, Edric was going to fight Dagan for it, and the young hybrid was more than capable of taking the older wolf. Maybe he'd go ahead and claim her as his mate just to pour salt on the wound.

"I take it you got the book?" he asked gesturing towards the large wrapped object sitting now like a prized trophy, along with a few bags from the occult shop. He put the paint roller down, turning then to face her. "So you really going to go through with it?" she nodded tilting her head to the side, her eyes searching his for something. "And you really don't think there is another option?" he ducked his chin hands out at his sides, palms up. She shook her head breathing shallow her eyes turning to his right hand. There was paint on his wrist too. Our heroine placed her own hand in his with the lightest feather touch. The male straightened up to his full height, as if he was about to pull away from her. Instead, Edric locked his fingers with hers, holding her hand.  "Well I don't like this. I think it's a bad idea all around." he bit his bottom lip suddenly as a wave of dizziness seemed to clamp onto his chest.

"I can't fight him like this. It won't work. I need to be able to detach the same way The Seer is." she replied, the fingertips of her other hand dancing across the curve of his ear. Edric gritted his teeth fighting against the electric heat that burned his flesh when she touched him. Letting out a jagged breath he swallowed, as he guided her wrist away from his ear reluctantly.

"But wouldn't having a pack alpha neutralize him? I mean, he's still half lycanthrope right? The rules still apply even if they are all shacked up."

She cast her eyes down towards the male's lower body, her eyebrows knitted together in frustration. "You're still thinking in one dimension. This is not a werewolf thing. He's shut that part of himself down somehow. The part of him that Pan tinkered with, the power hungry part, that's all sidhe. All witch. I know him. I've been through this type of thing with him before. I need to be as strong as he is. And I can't if I'm still...if I've still got my soul."

"I can't let you do this." his voice took on an angry tone as he shook his head, his free hand now in his hair. "No! I won't allow it! Look, you might not want me as your mate. Fine. You clearly don't want me as the alpha. But it's still the better choice." he closed his eyes breathing in the scents of van-van oil and lavender incense still clinging to her from the occult shop. Sighing, she tried to move from him, but he held on to her; his fingers still locked with hers. "What happens if your plan backfires? What if removing your soul makes things worse?"  She shrugged.

"What could be worse than The Seer out there destroying people? Leaving them nothing more than husks?"

"You joining him." What Edric was really thinking was what if her removing her soul left him even crazier than the sire bond ever did with Dagan? What if he found himself a permanent drooling mess like The Seer was when he was still possessed by Pan?  Edric liked his life too much to allow the gamble. Pack alpha or not, he needed to make sure our heroine did not go through with her plan.

"The soul thing, nothing to do with the sire bond. I'm not removing our link. Unless...you want me to?" Edric blinked jerking his shoulders and neck back as if he'd been slapped. She was giving him an out. It had never occurred to him that he could break the sire bond. "I remove my soul I stop being a shapeshifter. No more need for a pack alpha cause there won't be enough lycanthropes here in this reality for a pack."

The male licked his lips, his blue eyes glazed over as he processed what she was telling him. He'd be one of a kind, the only hybrid. Gawking at the curve of her shoulder, the sound of her blood ringing in his ears, the sandy-blonde male allowed his mind to drift. Allowed his eyes to fall to her boobs, watching the edge of the v-necked shirt rise and fall with each breath as she continued to talk. He had long since stopped listening to the words, focusing only on the sound of the blood. Focused on the one tiny blue vein that ran from her collar bone across her chest, disappearing under the edge of her shirt. That pencil thin vein seemed to glow like a neon river, blurring his vision to the rest of his surroundings. Digging the heel of his left palm into his eyes he swore to himself. His self induced trance caused him to hallucinate. To see the small tentacle like beams that bound them to each other. One from the heart chakra at the center of their chests, one from the solar plexus, one from the brow, the crown, the throat, the sacral and base chakras of their lower bodies.  "I need to think." he moved away from her reluctantly, still holding her hand till his elbow strained forcing him to unlock his fingers from hers so he could leave the building.

"She does not get to make that decision." Edric said a while later as he paced back and forth in the nearby empty baseball field. His hands everywhere. Letting out a huff, he turned sharply on his heels starting the next round of steps.

"Now are we talking about her offering to end the sire bond for you, or we talking about the fact if she does remove her soul, you'll never get to be the pack alpha. Unless you go off biting people and start your own pack." Quentin said from the edge of a weather stripped bleacher. He'd been sitting there for a few minutes, silently observing.

"Why are you still following me?" he snapped growling, even though he knew it wouldn't scare the human in the slightest. He turned again pacing to his right.

"I'm your friend." the redhead stated flatly.

"Are you? When did that happen exactly? Huh? Cause I'd sure as hell never seen you before that night. I don't even know how you knew about me?"

Quentin gave a laugh under his breath. "I'd seen you before. On my way home from work. I'd pass by your building every day. And every day, I saw people coming and going from it, busy with their lives, ignoring anyone who wasn't them. No one pays attention anymore to others. I saw you one night, you had the remains of a black eye. There was another time I was just getting off the night shift, saw you heading towards your building but for some reason you didn't go in. You turned, headed to the fast food place down a few buildings, stayed there I'm guessing for a few hours, cause when I went back out, couple hours later and passed your building again, you were sitting outside on a bus stop bench, a takeaway drink in hand. Waiting. Watching the front doors of your building. And the next time I saw you, you came through my wing of the hospital. Broken shoulder, cracked ribs."  Edric froze turning his head to glare at Quentin over his shoulder, his hands flexing and unflexing in pure anger. "You said you fell. That you were drunk and missed a step, tumbled down a small flight of stairs. Only you didn't remotely smell like a man who spent his time in the bottom of a keg. Didn't act like one either. I saw the x-rays. Old breaks. That was at lest four months before Nosferatu turned you."  The redhead shuffled his feet on the bleacher leaning closer to the hybrid. "The night I saw you dead, my first thought was not werewolf, not vampire. It was boyfriend, husband had taken it one step too far. So I got your medical records and imagine my surprise when I saw the in case of emergency, a woman's name listed. Huh." he jerked his neck as if to punctuate his point. The hybrid was on him, his hands now glass like claws as he picked up the human tossing him to the ground with a force, Quentin couldn't breathe.

"That doesn't explain how you knew about the werewolf part?" Edric spun around kicking up dirt. "You'll live. Barely tapped you." he walked in a wide circle tuning his overly sensitive ears to the other male's breathing patterns. He couldn't hurt him. Something in the hybrid had pulled back, screaming in him to not hurt the 'Quentin'.  He continued to pace in wide strides till he heard the human's breathing return to normal.

"No. You don't think?" the redhead teased. Getting up he checked his shoulders, his ankles to make sure the landing hadn't hurt him. "What does it matter now? I figured it out, I'm a smart cookie." he shrugged. Closing his eyes he let out a deep sigh. "Okay fine, I overheard some of the hospital staff saying you had similar slices and marks some of the victims from that serial killer had on them."  Edric was pacing around still, biting his nails, his hands having returned to their human form. "I went by the apartment. That night, before getting you out of the morgue. I wanted to see for myself if it was the same person who'd done it. I was curious. Nothing more. And this tiny little blonde thing opened the door..."

"Shut up!" he spat the words, actual saliva hitting the air. 
 
"Well it all makes sense now doesn't it?" Quentin asked raising his hands out to his sides letting them slam into his thighs. "Why you..." he gestured towards the hybrid. "all muscle bound and smart enough to know how to defend yourself, why you didn't even bother to try to fight Nosferatu off. Sure, you were just a human like me, and here's this all powerful vampire ripping your throat out. Enough to make anyone piss themselves. But there wasn't any tissue under your nails, no defense wounds. Nothing to indicate that you even thought to try to fight back!" he tapped his temple. "It wasn't simply because the female hybrid was stronger, faster than you. It was because she was a female." he tilted his head to the side. "You refused to fight back because it was a female. As she tore your throat open with her teeth, drained your blood like it was pop. You didn't fight back not because you couldn't, but because you just wouldn't."  Quentin started to slowly walk backwards towards the warehouse again. "And that my friend, is why it matters so damned much to you that you get to be pack alpha."


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Everyone has their sore spots)

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Round Up Food n Flix Aug

Hey my lovely Spudguns! It's the time of the month when the Food n Flix host tells you who made what. Which means, that it was my pick this month. Being the vampire queen that I am, I picked Hotel Transylvania 2.   Yep, I made everyone sit through a vampire movie; totally batty of me right.  So let's see what creepy oozing treats everyone dug up.
 
First up was Amy from Amy's Cooking Adventures, with Monster Ball soup,  and this particular recipe, was not even her idea, but her kids! It was inspired by what is one of the most endearing scenes in the film, Mavis being pregnant and Dracula making her mother's recipe.

and second submission was also from Amy with a Strawberry Lemonade slurpee,  which was inspired by one of my favourite scenes, the trip to the corner store. Mavis has never been to one, and goes wild for the many choices she's given in the sweet treats.

next was Camilla, over at Culinary Adventures with Camilla with her version of a Gluten free Monster Ball soup As I said, Mavis's and Dracula's sentimental moments were so endearing, everyone loved them. 

next up was Terri from Our Good Life  with a Blender split pea soup. By the sounds of it, she was inspired by Mavis's pregnancy soup and the scene where Frank is licking an empty soup bowl.

next we have Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm, with an I Scream Cake. She was inspired by the many many cake scenes throughout the movie.

next we have Diana  with a  Ghouled Cheese and Avocado sandwich
She was inspired by the conversation and multiple avocado scenes between Dracula, Mavis and Dennis. I think this is a great way to get your little monsters to eat "a good fat".

next we have Sarah  over at Well Dinned, with Oozing Eyeball Pasta She was inspired by all the monster versions of the "normal" foods. This makes me just want to grab a shovel and dig in

next we have our fearless leader and vampire hunter, Heather at All Roads Lead to the Kitchen, with a Bucket of Garlic Fries she was inspired by an early scene in the film, where Dracula and Mavis go flying together, and he mentions "I'd eat a bucket of garlic to".   These are the damned coolest wooden stakes fries I've ever seen.
 
 
next we have Evelyne on CulturEatz, with her Anchovy Ice Cream on Grilled Cesar. She was inspired by the scene where Johnny offers Mavis a snack of ice cream with anchovies. I have to say, and I did on her blog, that this is the coolest idea - no puns intended- I've heard of so far. I wish I had thought of it myself.

next up Catherine  at the Gluttonous Geek, with Honey-Sriracha Roasted Sarmale Avocado. Okay, I have to admit, I'm envious that she's half Transylvanian herself, and that she pulled not just from the movie, but from her own background.

next up was Debbie from The Friday Friends,  with Avocado-Pablano Pico de Gallo. She was also inspired by the "it's a good fat" avocado conversation/remark. I got to admit, this makes me want to just curl up with my copy of the film and have some.

then Deb at Kahakai Kitchen, gave us her Garlicly Grilled Guacamole. Not only does this sound like a fun recipe, she made it look like the character Blobby.

And Debra  at Eliots Eats, served up a Vampire Blood Cocktail
She was inspired by the "I invited Vlad" scene, where upon hearing the news that his father is coming to visit, Dracula spits out his blood onto the white shirt of his in-laws.

I gave you Wayne's Conveniently Oozing Poptart Pie (here link)

Holy Rabies! All in all, a howling good feast. Don't forget to join us next month, (September) when we'll be watching Frida hosted by Eliot's Eats.

Sunday, August 28, 2016

year 5 Day 174 Night Bleeds Aug

This month's all vampire book and movie club combo was Let the Right One In. The original 2004 book and the 2008/09 movie version and/or the remake Let Me In.  I did both movie versions, cause I like to get in over my head. (I must become the vampire queen of all bloggingness. Yeah I'm having one of those days. Laugh and carry on)
Yep, I know, I'm super late in the day with mine.  But that's okay, cause you know vampires are late day people. hahaha.   So, before I get into it, my regular readers know I do my best to keep spoilers to a minimum, but there's no way around it today.  So onward...*SPOILER ALERT*

movie: Let the Right One In
starring: Kare Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson
genre: Thriller
year: 2008
format: DVD

plot: As young Oskar is bullied at school, he begins to connect with the strange new neighbour Eli, who has just moved in next door. She helps him to learn to fight back and gives him hope that things will improve. All set to a back drop where the neighbourhood is no longer safe, as a serial killer is on the loose. What Oskar is yet to learn, is that his new girlfriend is a vampire. 

This is based on the 2004 book of the same name. 

So the movie drops a ton of elements that are in the book. Half the book's plot and characters are missing. Which I'll get to in a moment. 

This version of the story focuses on the bullying that is going on, and the innocent sexual awakening between the "young couple".   The bullying has left Oskar self aware, but with little self esteem. We see him pouring over clippings about serial killers, and murders in the area. Partly as a foreshadow of his future, partly because we're suppose to get the idea that he's not completely "normal".  He's filled with revenge fantasies, that he's not sure he'd ever be able to uphold. 
While Oskar is playing out one of these revenge ideals, Eli sneaks up and silently watches. She sees in him a potential that he is unsure he has himself.  This is all inter cut with scenes of an unknown man trying and failing at killing someone not far from the neighbourhood.  Which we quickly find out is the "guardian" of Eli.
Eli is left alone after her guardian is caught and tries to cover it up by attempting to kill himself. This also goes wrong, and Eli is forced to feed off him. This in turn is the point, where the vampire theme really kicks in. As Eli then begins hunting nightly, no longer able to drink "bottled blood" that her guardian had been getting for her.
One of her victims survives, and while in hospital, is exposed. Literally. As she allows the daylight to kill her, setting her husband off on a rampage to "kill the thing that did this."  He then tracks Eli to the apartment building and attempts to kill her, but Oskar stops him long enough for Eli to feed.
Oskar has one more run in with the bullies at the school swim lesson, and is nearly drowned, causing Eli to save him. Killing the bullies.

Alright now, in this version, we never learn how Eli became a vampire. What we do learn is Eli is not a girl. Technically speaking. She's a transgendered person.  This is one of those subplots from the novel that got wiped under the sofa in this version of the story.  This is hinted at through out, as she keeps saying to Oskar "What if I'm not a girl? Would you still like me?"  the audience to this point, just thinks she's going on about not being human. 
The relationship that the two enter into, is that of a "first crush" type of situation. As it's a friendship with little to no physical contact, but you can tell from Oskar's behaviour; that he's sexually attracted to her. There is one scene later on where they kiss, and we see Eli as a middle aged woman for a brief few seconds. 
This relationship on the surface, appears to be that of equals. Eli is relating to Oskar as a child would. But, before long, it spirals down into a more Dracula/Renfield situation. As Oskar replaces Hakan; Eli's previous guardian. 

This version of the story, is about self esteem, being true to you and not being afraid to love. It's also, as I stated earlier, about that innocence of first love.

what did I learn?  Strength and love are not always separate entities.   


The Book:  In a small suburb, a neighbourhood is in chaos. Oskar, who is left alone too much, bullied constantly, has begun acting out. He's obsessed with murders, steals, sneaks out, disrespects his mother, and hangs out with the older kids. A few doors down, Tommy, one of the older kids he sometimes hangs out with, is a thief and stoner, who's mom is about to marry an extremely religious police officer; Staffan. Staffan is currently on a manhunt for a ritual killer, who has been draining people of their blood only blocks away from the neighbourhood. The same time the killings started, Eli and her dad Hakan, moved in next door to Oskar.  
Eli and Oskar, develop a relationship; over a few weeks time frame. During which, Hakan becomes jealous, acting out on his own by hiring teenaged male prostitutes.  After Hakan attempts but fails to kill a young male, and is captured, he disfigures himself. This leaves Eli alone and vulnerable. She's forced to hunt, for the first time in years, exposing herself as a vampire. Visiting him in the hospital, she feeds off of him, before allowing Hakan to throw himself from the hospital window. But doesn't die. The killings continue to worsen, leading the police to question everything. 
Meanwhile, Oskar is dealing with everyday situations, which include the school bullies, who are making his life a holy terror daily. Eli, in an effort to help him, tells him about her past. We learn that in fact, that when she was human, she was not a girl but a boy. Eli had been sexually mutilated before becoming a vampire. 
The two find they have no choice, but to runaway together, but first, they have to tie up loose ends.

Okay, so there are - and I never actually counted- about 20 characters in the cast of this novel. The original movie version only deals with about 6.  We're brought into the lives of the entire neighbourhood. The kids, the police, the victims and their friends.  One of the big subplots that is left out of the original movie, is that the character of Hakan, is a pedophile. This is why Eli picks him to begin with. She's able to control him, by manipulating him with the "promise of being together" that she never follows through on. This leads to an attempted rape scene much later in the novel, where Tommy the stoner character, ends up becoming a bit of a hero. 

Though in the novel, we are given some of Eli's history, we're never told just how she becomes a vampire. We learn she was a boy while human who was mutilated by someone. But we're never told if the one who did so was a vampire as well, or just a psychopath? You are left to draw your own conclusions on this. But, as I've talked about before in other months, folklore states that a violent death be it by murder or suicide; one becomes a vampire. So, we could be led to believe that Eli became a vampire because of the way she died. She's also got the ability to shapeshift. Being able to change her form to resemble a bat-human hybrid. Eli is also a bit careless. I got the impression this was suppose to help bring the idea that she was a kid when turned. 

The "good guys" in this are really up to interpretation. The outer appearance of some of the characters, such as the police officer who it turns out is extremely prejudiced, is almost too saccharine. And the theme of things not being what they appear is a main one in the novel.  Another element that is left out of the original movie version, is Oskar's acting out. He steals, he has no regard for his broken family, and lies. He's more human, more understandable in the novel than in the movie version. The movie I felt, made him too much of a victim in an attempt to make him overly likable as the hero. The novel all around is grittier. 

I didn't care for the characters of the older group. Most of who are middle aged alcoholics and become the vampires victims. The cowardly Gosta who is the witness to the crimes, and the obsessed crazy cat guy, just felt flat. But at the same time, he's the perfect vehicle to express the loneliness and isolation everyone is feeling. Which, given this is set 30 plus years ago, adds to the heaviness of the situation.  There is a lot of talk about not having the right environment to grow up in playing on the fear of not being like everyone else. Being the "other".  Most of the families are single parents, even the middle aged characters are either single parents themselves, or dealing with the death of their only parent. The idea of being orphaned runs heavy through this. Given this is set in 1981, it really plays well with the idea of things not "getting out there"; the way it would now a days. Everything is contained within the small neighbourhood.  One of the best metaphors running in this, is the paranoia of the outsider theme. As it uses a subplot of the people's fear of the fact the Russians were seen just off their coastline. It's referred to whenever the characters find themselves too worked up over the killings, and need to talk about "in other news".

There is so much going on in this novel, from the characters being afraid to admit they just want relationships, to the idea of running away to better their situations, to being afraid of themselves. While reading this, I actually kept thinking of the 1983 slasher film Sleepaway Camp
Two things about the book I really have to mention, one - the bathtub. In the book, Eli is sleeping in a tub filled with blood. This gets changed in both films, to her just covered up in a sleeping bag in the tub. Removing all connections it had to Elizabeth Bathroy.  and two- the cats. The whole subplot of animals, specially cats, being able to tell when a supernatural creature was around, was brilliant. It does make it to the original movie, but not to the remake.

Remake : Let Me In
starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Kodi Smit-Mcphee
genre:Thriller, Horror
year:2010
format: DVD

Plot:After arresting a serial killer, who's disfigured himself, a detective finds himself on the trail of the man's identity, which leads him to uncover the real killer who is a vampire.

Right off, this is set in 1983, a two year difference from the original story.  There is this great subtly shown with our lead character of Owen, standing first in his room looking from one set of windows to the other; as if at a crossroads. One direction points out to the normal life, as a couple are about to have sex, the other direction leads to the supernatural, as he sees Abby for the first time.  This is quickly followed by the lead character standing outside at a literal crossroads in the street, looking first up at Abby's darkened apartment window, then at the couple as they walk up the parking lot on the opposite side.  I honestly thought this was a brilliant way to show him exploring; as all 12 years olds seem to do, the balance between life and death. The fascination with the power we have over life and death.

This then, becomes pretty much scene for scene to the original film. But, I found it to be a darker texture, with more emphasis on the crime angle, as well as just the human nature of it. The little differences of removing some of the characters/combined a few, gave it more depth. I also thought the acting was better. Where the original version focused more on the innocence of the two leads, this lends to them being more rounded.
We also don't get let in - no pun intended- on the fact she's transgender/non-gender. There is a scene where Owen asks Abby to be his girl, and she tells him she's not a girl, she's nothing. That is the only hint we have towards the big plotline in the original novel. 

It's rare for me to say this, but I liked the remake a lot more. I think having two powerhouse actors of Richard Jenkins and Elias Koteas, added a lot to the weight of the characters. This version also reminded a lot of the remake of Fright Night from 2011. 
I found they made the Jenkins character - Hakan in the original story- smarter in the remake. He still gets caught, but he's able to get out of the situations somewhat better than the other version. 

Okay folks, I'm know there is a ton more in the metaphors and details that I'm failing to express, but I have to cut this here.  Don't forget to check out Heather's take on this month's combo.  Next month, there is half a combo. Don't laugh, the vampire movie will be Dark Crystal, and the book will be your choice.  But I'll be back later in the week with the official announcement on that and the round up. I know I know, I haven't done a proper round up for these in a long while. 
 

Thursday, August 25, 2016

The Nosferatu Adventures s11 p6

The Nosferatu Adventures 
page 280, chapter 280

Out of Time

Edric stood in the little bathroom that was in the far right corner of the building.  A questioning look on his face. Letting out a deep breath, he ground his teeth together without realizing it, surveying the room. If you could even call it a room? It wasn't much more than a large closet; space wise, with a stand up shower, toilet and sink. If you moved the wrong way you smashed your butt on the door handle, or stepped accidentally into the shower while trying to use the sink. There was no way he could live like this. Specially not sharing it with the others. It was ridiculous in his mind. Shaking his head, the hybrid ran his hand over the back of his neck letting his chin rest on his chest. He couldn't believe our heroine had given up living in Loki's penthouse to move in here?
Walking back into the main area, the sandy-blonde male caught the whiff of something faint clinging to the air. His ears zeroed in on something about a half  a mile up the road. Cracking his neck, he let a smirk drip dangerously from his lips as he ran his thumb over them. Slowly, methodically Edric began touching everything in the warehouse. He spat in the corner of the building by the front door and the two nearest windows to it, before fondling the stack of books, the nearest chair, and the contents of one storage bin. Marking his territory as much as possible in the couple of minutes he knew he had before Dagan would appear at the door. The hybrid werewolf was tempted to piss on the door handle, but thought better of it. Another smirk crossed his lips, as he let the magick mist roll off him in tendrils, removing most of his clothes. Edric opened the door before Dagan had a chance to knock. Not that the auburn haired shapeshifter would have knocked anyways.

"Hey." a low satisfied grunt followed the salutation. "What no house warming gift?" he said leaning against the edge of the doorway, his arms crossed. He felt no need to let the older lycanthrope know he was alone as he blocked the view to the interior.

Dagan made a clicking sound as he ran his tongue over his teeth. Smiling, the older werewolf leaned his right hand on the wall. "Anything happen while I taking care of the family, the shop?"

Edric gave a laugh, scratching the edge of his temple his head down. "That's funny. Funny you think you're still important enough to be informed what's going on. In case you didn't notice." he tapped the back of his hand against Dagan's chest. "I'm the one she chose to move in with."

"You're not the alpha. We both know that." Dagan stared down at the other male's hand, tempted to bite it off. "It takes more balls than just dragging a few suitcases behind her, to qualify as pack alpha." he leaned in sniffing the younger werewolf. "And you just haven't."

The grunt that escaped him this time was laced with more bitterness, as Edric wiped his hand over the corners of his mouth, his eyes having turned to the amber-grey of the wolf. "Well, you've got me there." he shrugged turning his lips into a duckbill. "Securing the position of pack alpha by shacking my way there just isn't my style. Not when it can be so much more fun to fight for it."  Dagan shrugged sighing, his hands now in the back pockets of his jeans.

"Well, what can I say. Sometimes you just gotta do who you gotta do. But if you want a brawl I'm right here." the older wolf took two large steps backwards his hands up in the air. "But first you've got to come get me."

"Oh I've been waiting for this." Edric snarled as he went to move into the fresh air of the morning, only to find he was stuck. "What the..."

"Yeah um I was here about a half hour ago but when I peeked in through the window..." Dagan pointed to the right of them at the one opened window. "and saw you were still sleeping after everyone else had gone. I happened to notice the garden hose was attached. And wouldn't you know it, with a little bit of a twist, the handle worked. I guess I forgot to turn it off after I decided to double back up the road, give you some time to wake up wash your make-up off curl your hair or whatever it is that took you so long in the bathroom?" he made a masturbatory gesture before pointing his foot towards the small stream of cold water, that was running just at the base of the door. "You're half vampiric, banshee flavoured. And running water, that's like an instant no fly zone for you buddy." Dagan scratched at his shoulder taking another step towards the main road. "Don't worry though. I'm sure your little buddy Quentin will be along in a few hours and can turn it off for you. In the meantime, I'm going to go sniff out that pain in the ass bat-bitch sire of yours. Maybe grab a movie or something." he waved as he moved in a blur. Edric swore slamming his fist into the wall.


Meanwhile...

"Duder, you've got to be more careful. I mean, last night was cool. Damn, I'd love to be able to just project my feelings out there and turn people into my puppets. Awesome." Seward said as he began trying again to open the coffin. The crowbar bending under his weight. "But a little more warning next time. Cause that got really uncomfortable really fast." Seward turned then as if the whole thing just occurred to him. "why didn't you just go? I mean, why did you stick around to begin with?"

"I have no idea? I didn't feel threatened." Landin shrugged his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. "They were more interested in how I got my bruises, the attack by the other vampire than anything else."

"So weird. The other vampire. Like it's just the weather or something." the crowbar snapped sending the dark haired male stumbling backwards. "Damn it! This is just not going to open." He looked over at his cousin again, noting the glazed eyes and hint of depression. "Here." Seward said crossing to his own bedroom grabbing something off the dresser. "I thought you might need an excuse to go see him again." he said handing the bleached blonde a syringe. "Use the excuse that I want to compare his blood with hers. Specially since it's the truth. Not too mention, her sample was useless given she poured it into my hand."


Landin arrived back at the warehouse just before noon. The sound of his shoes on the pavement causing Edric to be at the door before he knew what was going on. "Hey." the hybrid screamed. "Can you do me a favour and turn that hose off. Wasting a ton of water."  Nodding, the bleached blonde did as he was asked, before crossing into the warehouse. "Thanks. What brings you back here?" he asked peeking down at the large puddle that had started to collect just in front of the door.

"I'm..." he cleared his throat his voice suddenly lost as he held up the medical kit. "Need another round of samples. The one Nosferatu gave was contaminated."

"Oh yeah." the male hybrid nodded as he sat down on the edge of the dinning table his arm out. "Poke away." tapping two fingers on the soft crease of his elbow. He started to sing under his breath as he watched Landin look unsure of himself. The hybrid straightened up to his full height, chin up eyes sparkling with humour, as he silently noted how shaky the human's hands were. "You never done this sort of thing before huh?"  Landin said nothing as he slid the needle into his arm with ease. The hybrid raised an eyebrow enjoying himself as he began swinging his legs. He could smell the sweat starting to form in invisible beads on the human's skin. Sensed the temperature of Landin's body heat begin to rise a few notches, before the rosy tint ever crossed his neck and face. Edric watched the little tube fill with the deep crimson liquid, watched as a small roll of steam curled itself up near the rounded glass before fading out. "I guess I should maybe thank you."

"For what?" Landin asked tilting his head to the side, his eyebrows melted in confusion.

Edric patted him on the shoulder as he got down from the dinning room table, his shoes not making a sound, almost as if the hybrid were just hovering softly above the floor. "Your self projecting desires managed to break down a few walls between Nosferatu and myself." he ran his hand through his hair letting his gaze drop across Landin's form. He sniffed running his thumb then across his nose and lips, licking them. The hybrid watched as the human swallowed hard turning back to his medical kit. The air between them suddenly filling with a heated tension as the male toyed with his prey. Edric had been denied any chance to hunt since being turned, and this was wetting his appetite; stirring his brain with thoughts of carnage. Landin's pulse quickened, the blood speeding up in his veins, adding more tint to his skin. Positioning himself so that he was standing just behind Landin slightly to the left,  Edric blocked the human from being able to reach the door if he decided to bolt. His blue eyes shifted to the pure white of the banshee before shifting again to the amber-grey of the wolf. "God you do smell good." his fangs had started to break through his gums, the back of his mouth pooling with extra saliva. "like candy floss and toffee apples." The hybrid wiped the inside of his wrist over his mouth, his breath now hitting Landin's neck. Spinning around the bleached blonde raised his right hand about to crash it down hard into the other male's chest.
Without blinking, Edric had taken the offensive chunk of wood throwing it across the entire length of the building. "Really?" he cracked his neck shuffling all his weight back and forth from one leg to the other. "I invite you into my home and you pull a broom handle on me? What you want to play fetch?" he shook his head, squeezing his eyes tight. "Run." the word was practically a hiss as Edric watched Landin swear, moving out of the warehouse as fast as he could.  The bleached blonde was half way down the road before he realized he'd left his bag. Stopping, he doubled over hands on his knees gasping for air.

Edric stood laughing to himself, little laugh lines spreading across his face as he began to put everything back into the medical kit closing it up. Carrying the little bag outside, the hybrid placed it gently on the ground about ten feet from the front door, before raising his nose to the sky. His eyes closed, he allowed his mind to empty, allowed his natural instincts to take over.
It was less than a three count before Edric had Landin's scent. The bleached blonde had run off into the small patch of bushes that lined the far left side of the road. Breaking out into a run, Edric thought that was an odd choice given the road went into a dead end. There was nothing but an uncared for baseball field that hadn't been used in years. The hybrid stopped. "Oh you're good." he whispered to himself as he turned on his heels heading back towards the warehouse.
The pavement seemed to smoke as he came to a sudden dead stop. Laughing, Edric threw his head back clasping his hands in pure joy. The medical kit was gone. Landin had somehow managed to double back for it, heading the opposite direction in the few minutes Edric had been running. "I know you haven't gotten far. Next time, wear better shoes and try not to sweat so much. Harder for me to catch your scent then." he screamed into the empty air knowing Landin would hear him.  Turning the male tucked his shoulders up to his ears wincing suddenly embarrassed. He hadn't been certain just how loud his voice had been or how far it had carried, but he'd shocked himself with the booming echo of it. 


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Get the heart pumping bit of an aphrodisiac)

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

The Nosferatu Adventures s11 p5

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 279, chapter 279

Out of Time

"So, what's the deal with those two anyways?" Ruthven asked as he blew smoke into the air. They were standing around the back of the hospital, the night air teasing at the promise of stale movie popcorn and lilacs.  Quentin shrugged as he kept his eyes on the back door, waiting for the emergency driver to go back in for supplies.

"I don't think they've figured it out yet to be honest." he gestured for the other male to finish his cigar. "From what I've witnessed, they're practically made for each other. But, don't let that stop you from trying."

"Oh yeah?" the dark haired male mumbled under his breath as he crushed out the end of the cigar clearing his throat. "And just how do you fit into all this? I mean, how does a decent guy like yourself get mixed up with a couple of...goths?"

"Goths? You can't seriously tell me you think they're nothing more than a couple of role players? After what you witnessed back there..."

Ruthven held up his hands, closing his eyes. "Come on you don't actually believe all that crap do you? They got you all mind warped too? Huh?" he ducked his chin opening his eyes to stare at Quentin. "Few cheap parlor tricks is all..." The redhead shook his head not understanding how Ruthven could say that. "Okay what? Occultists? That make you feel better? Anyways, what are you doing hanging around them like some lap dog?"

"If you have to ask then you won't understand anyways." he made a ssshhing noise as he spotted the emergency driver leave the truck. "Now." he scrambled across the edge of the parking lot, grabbing the door to the back entrance gesturing for Ruthven to follow. Once they were in, he ushered the dark haired male into a stairwell.

"And why couldn't we just have gone through the front doors like normal people? I mean this is a hospital."

"The blood storage is blocked off from the main hallways. You need a staff pass card to get to it from the emergency side of things. This way, it's one flight down and we're in the first door on the left."

"How do you even know this?" Ruthven asked scratching at the edge of his beard.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"What, you were a janitor." it was a statement not a question. Quentin made a noise indicating that Ruthven was wrong as he opened the door to the blood storage. "Porter? Nurse?"

"Keep guessing. Only five hundred different staff positions to go." he replied grabbing a handful of the iv bags.

"Well there is no way in hell you're going to have me believing you were a doctor."

"Apparently; you're set to not believe anything I tell you anyways so what does it matter what I did?" he shoved the bags into Ruthven's open palms. "I worked in diagnostics...happy?"

"You were an x-ray technician?" he couldn't hide the surprise or smile from his face.


Meanwhile...

"They've been huddled in that corner for the last twenty minutes. What do you think Mr. and Mrs Transylvania Twist are talking about anyways?"  Landin asked as he sat with his arm out for his cousin to take his blood pressure.

"Uh, I'd say from the way they've been leaning on each other they're still watching their hands move in slow motion. Dude, I still can't believe that you affected them just by being in the same room as them? That's crazy nuts!" the younger male shook his head as he typed some numbers into his cell phone. "Man, I'd love to be able to do something like that. You're like a superhero or something."

"Or something." the bleached blonde cleared his throat, unable to take his eyes off of the two hybrids.

"Maybe you should go get some fresh air." Seward said as he began packing up his emergency kit. He made a face as he tossed another look over his shoulder at them. "It's no good to torture yourself like this. I mean clearly..." he raised his right hand palm up just as Landin glared at him shaking his head in a threatening way. "Alright, don't say I didn't warn you." he cleared his throat moving then towards the two, his hands behind his back. "Hi. I'm sorry to interrupt. But, can I like get a sample of your blood?"  Our heroine said nothing as she brought her arm up in a movement so quick Seward missed it. The female already had his hand in her's, as she held her left one a few centimeters above his own, the blood pouring from her palm in a quick stream, the wound already healing before the dark haired male registered what she'd done.  Edric was practically salivating as the scent of blood hit the open air, his eyelids fluttering.

"He gets a sample and you won't let me? How rude." Edric's voice was flat as he pressed his nose then to her ear. A small groan escaping him, his left arm planted firmly on the wall behind her, his other on his hip.

"He's a scientist. Just going to study it, and play with it, and try not to get it mixed up with the jello. Totally safe for him to have a piece of me. But you on the other hand, will use it with bad intentions." she cooed as she wrinkled her nose at him, her eyes flashing the amber-grey of the wolf. Edric smiled at her, his own blue eyes crinkling with mischief before turning to the amber-grey as well.  Seward moved  as quickly as possible, gesturing with his elbow for Landin to get a test tube.

"Hey." an animalistic sound seemed to reverberate off the walls, echoing through the warehouse. "Hey...hi, look at me now. Hi. How you doing? You want to maybe come with me over there..." he pointed towards the corner they had already marked off with curtains, to be designated for each sleeping area. "...and I'll show you my Klingon dictionary?"

"I don't know about that. I mean, Klingon is such a hard one to wrap your tongue around..."she said too causally, tracing a nail down Edric's ear. 

His eyes wide, Seward blushed as he began to push his cousin closer to the door. "I think that we'll just go." he craned his neck his curly hair flopping everywhere.  The two Van Helsing boys were half way out the warehouse door when they found themselves being shoved back through by Quentin.

"Where you going? Hey no!" he dropped the armful of iv bags into Landin's arms as he raced across the length of the building grabbing Edric by the back of the hair. "No! Keep it in your pants! You are still under the influence of a drunken empath. Any sexual decisions you make right now will be for all eternity. All E-TERN-ITY!"  he just managed to miss the hybrid's teeth as he snarled at him; not bothering to move away. "Did...did she bite you?" Quentin asked examining his buddy's neck and arms. Letting out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, the exhausted human relaxed letting go of Edric's hair. "My god. This sire bond is kicking my arse. Who knew babysitting two drunken stoned hybrids would be a full time job?" He was still holding one of the iv bags, which he slammed into Edric's chest. "We brought takeaway. O Negative with a side of B Positive."

"What do you mean?" Ruthven asked as he placed the second pile of iv bags on the dinning room table. Quentin tossed another of the blood bags towards our heroine, as he filled the three cousins in on the whole situation, ever mindful to keep one eye on the sire and fledgling. "So you're saying this has reduced them to a couple of horny teenagers?" Ruthven gestured towards the couple as they sat together on the edge of the table, each contently slurping on an iv bag; their knees touching. To him they seemed more like harmless drunks on a bad trip, than the demonic demi-gods Quentin would have him believing. Ruthven watched then as Edric flopped back stretching out on the table top, his one arm snaking over to grab a second round of the blood bags.The male held up a second iv bag for our heroine, not paying attention to her anymore. The two were starting to come down from their rancid high. Their bagged lunch clearing the cobwebs for them.

"Yeah pretty much." Quentin replied getting himself a beer."But it seems to be a hundred times worse tonight."  Landin blushed as he moved a few feet closer to the door, having caught his younger cousin's notice. The bleached blonde shook his head again towards Seward; as the younger males' eyes went wide causing him to raise his hand slightly, while wiping some of the blood off. Looking at the bottle Quentin shook his head changing his mind putting it back into the cooler unopened. "On second thought, better to be on the safe side. I'll plug in the coffee maker."


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. I've got an interesting subplot in mind for Quentin...)

Monday, August 22, 2016

The Nosferatu Adventures s11 p4

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 278, chapter 278

Out of Time

Ruthven stormed through the house, screaming for Seward. Slamming his hand into the doorframe of their grandfather's bedroom, the dark haired male stopped. "Hey, you seen your cousin?"   The younger male turned to face him, the secret area of the closet blocked from Ruthven's view.

"Not since he bailed on us at the strip club. Why he not come home yet?" he tried to hide the crowbar.

"What are you doing?" Ruthven asked blinking.

"Nothing." the younger Seward shrugged as he held the crowbar behind his leg. Sighing, Ruthven crossed into the bedroom, peeking around his younger cousin.

"Give me that!" he stole the crowbar holding it up to him. "You're trying to open the vault aren't you?" he nodded towards the closet. The crowbar dangerously close to Seward's skull.

Seward's face fell slack. "How'd you know about it?" he turned his shoulders to look at the secret panel in the back of the closet. "Don't wave that at my nose." he gently lowered his cousin's hand.

"I helped him install it. Fifteen years ago." he tossed the offensive slab of metal down on the bed. "What's he put in there that you need to use that to open? A safe or something?"

"Coffin." Seward said bluntly.  Ruthven screwed up his nose, shaking his head as if he hadn't heard. "It's a beautiful one too. Really old." Seward continued his hands gesturing as if he could express the design just by holding his hands up. "It's got swirls and ridges..." his voice started to trail off.

The older male sat down hard on the bed. "Great, now he's a grave robber too." he held his face between his hands letting out yet another deep sigh. Seward's phone started to ring, causing the dark haired male to jump.

"It's him." he replied answering it. "Hey where...yeah I remember...what? You what? Don't...don't move! We're on our way." he hit mute already across the room grabbing his older cousin by the arm leading him out of the house.


Meanwhile...

"I'm going on record saying this is a shacked up idea." Quentin said crouched on his heels, a large welding torch in hand. Our heroine snorted as she brushed past him, singing an old Alice Cooper song, the magick mist wrapping around her replacing the jeans and t-shirt she'd been wearing with an off white coloured dress with wispy bell sleeves that put the human in mind of a ghost costume.  She started dancing as if she were mimicking some bad rock video from the 80's. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked turning the torch off standing.  She flung her head around wildly, her arms everywhere as she laughed.

"It's been so long since I've just...danced. I don't know why, but I've got this overpowering urge to just...party." she spoke between the ripples of laughter. The redhead moved from her grabbing himself a bottled water from the little cooler, when he noticed Edric on the far side of the warehouse, singing as well. Edric seemed to be oblivious to the fact he was being watched as he spun in a tight circle, his arms out, the limp mohawk in his eyes, his voice raising as he continued to belt out his own version of the theme from an 80's movie about a high school dance. The two managed to dance their way towards each other, Edric taking her hand spinning her in a circle before they broke into an over the top version of a waltz. "One two three turn, one two three turn." they were now saying in unison.

"Um...what the shack is going on?" Quentin screamed to be heard over the two hybrids as they laughed like morons, continuing to dance around the building. "Are you two on drugs, like right now?"

"Nope. Not me." our heroine said as she continued to sing a boy band song out of tune.

"Haven't had anything since the night you found me." Edric replied as they spun around their human friend. "No idea what's going on? Wait then in the video they do that arm thing where they sort of zombie walk..." he let go of her long enough to do two of the dance moves from the boy band video.

"It's the blood." a soft voice said from the corner of the room. Landin stood up, his cell phone still in hand. "When the donor gave the blood, they were most likely in a really great mood. High maybe on something subtle. Untraceable. Otherwise it wouldn't have gotten past the screening process."

"What the hell do you know about it?" Quentin asked scratching his stomach.

"Nothing. Everything maybe." the bleached blonde shrugged as he brazenly opened the small beer cooler taking one for himself. "And just so you know, it didn't take a genius to figure out what your friend was doing was draining me earlier today. Only, he didn't want my blood. He wanted something else."

"What might that have been?" Quentin continued, the two humans ignoring the still dancing hybrids as they continued to spin around them singing the theme song from a vampire movie.

"My ability." he replied gulping down half the beer in one swallow. "I can see ghosts."

"A human ouija board. I like it!" our heroine said as she broke from Edric, beginning a clumsy version of a go-go dance she'd seen once on a tv show from the 1960's. "So it was you I was smelling all over The Seer earlier? Odd, I never picked up the scent when Edric dragged you here." she reached out wrapping one hand around Landin's waist, the other up under the tender part of his elbow. Suddenly doing her impression of Gomez Addams as she kissed his sleeve. "Ah speak to me, in French...no wait I can't understand French...speak to me in Klingon." She giggled as she buried her nose first in his shoulder, then up to his neck, following it by licking the male from the hollow of his collar bone to the tip of his chin. "The scent is so very very faint now." she said, her fangs having broken through her gums, her eyes the pure white of the banshee. "You need to eat. That will build it up again. Then you'll smell yummy like lemons and chocolate, oranges and chocolate. Chocolate." she shoved him away from herself having turned back to face the others. "Get this boy a sandwich or something." she growled. "I'm going to watch tv." her eyes returned to their human hazel.

"We don't have a tv." Edric replied. He'd stopped dancing finally, standing there one knee bent while he manically fiddled with his hair. "Do I look like a mad dog? Does this hairdo make my fangs look fat?"

"Oh my god do you know what that means?" our heroine said slapping her hands on her fledgling's shoulders.

"We get to quote Lost Boys?" Edric answered as the two laughed loudly, the male snorting as they collided into each other, each trying to hold the other up. "Death by stereo" Edric whispered.

"Wow! They're stoned." Landin's eyes went wide as he let out a sound of disbelief. He watched as the female began measuring the male's double row of top fangs then comparing them to her own.

"You think?" Quentin said shaking his head. "Well, at lest for once they're not trying to kill each other. So...that's a plus."  There was a loud banging on the door of the warehouse.

"Pizza! Wait, did we order anything?" our heroine asked suddenly feeling dizzy. Edric shook his head laughing.

"As long as it doesn't have double anchovy we're good." Edric replied snorting another laugh. "or you know garlic."

"They are getting worse by the second." Quentin said blinking as he moved backwards towards the doors. He barely had a chance to open it when a male's voice screamed at them to open up.

"Sssshhhh! You hear...ear..." our heroine burped. "omthan? Or is it..." followed by a hicup. She closed one eye, tilting her head to the side gazing at Edric. "You're so beautiful. I feel like that dude in that movie with the chick and he steals her from his brother." she began patting the male's hair and face.

"Wha? Wha movieeeeee?" Edric was trying to focus, his tongue seemingly interesting as he kept licking the corner of his mouth. He accidentally licked her palm causing her to pull her hand away wiping it on his thigh. "Nooooo!" the male whimpered. "Keep doing that. Makes me feel loved."

"That one that was done in that castle with the dude with the funny name and every sequel he had bigger cheek bones. Paper mached right over him." Nosferatu replied her fingers digging into her face causing little streaks of blood to flow. "Lost in the paper mache." she looked at him as he grabbed her hand trying to force her to pet his hair again.

"Right. That one." the sandy-blonde male answered pointing at her. "Yeah, I don't know what one you're talking about but I'm sure it totally rocks, oh people." he gestured towards Ruthven and Seward as they now stood in the doorway, a look of pure confusion on their faces. "We've got friends now. We've...shhh they're staring. I'm scared." the hybrid turned back to face his sire. "He looks like he wants to eat me."

"Who?" the female whispered as she peeked over his shoulder.

"The thin one with the hair. I think...yep he's got that look." Edric's eyes widened as he did a double take gesturing again towards Seward. "Hide me." he wrapped both arms around the female grabbing the edges of her sleeves, trying to cover his skull with them.

"Um what is wrong with them? You called us saying you were in trouble, and we find you partying?" Ruthven commented as he pulled a cigar out of his pocket lighting it.

"Bad idea. The smoke is not good for their noses. Or my health." Quentin snatched the cigar from him crushing it under foot. As if on cue, Edric started to cough, Ruthven raising his hands in a motion bowing his head.

"What is going on here?" the older cousin asked taking the half bottle of beer from Landin drinking a sip. Landin shook his head running his hand over the back of his neck, retrieving another beer from the little cooler just to be defiant. Opening it, he drank deeply. Edric burped laughing.

"Um...I think he's gotten them drunk." Seward said walking closer to the two hybrids. "Dude! You're not picking up anymore, you're projecting." he said pointing at Landin.

"Yeah, but this was going on before I grabbed a beer. Besides, I'm not drunk." he screwed up his nose before raising an eyebrow shrugging.

"But you weren't freaking out. You were pretty calm considering." Quentin added as he moved a few steps towards him. Looking Landin dead in the eye, the redhead rubbed his hand over his mouth. "Too calm."  he pointed then towards the other male's pockets. "Empty them."  Quentin's voice took a sharp tone as he watched the bleached blonde sigh, digging through his pockets. Grumbling, Quentin's hand scraped the other male's palm as he snatched a small pill bottle holding it up. "Muscle relaxers. Really? You caused all this just by having a few muscle relaxers?"

"Okay I still don't know what's going on here?" Ruthven said letting his hands slap his thighs.

"He's managed to tune his ability so that instead of knowing when a supernatural thing is in the room, he's controlling their behavouir." Seward said suddenly very animated. "This is amazing!" he turned towards the door again. "I'm going to run to the car and get the kit. I wanna run some tests."

"Behavouir." both our heroine and Edric said at the same time before falling to the floor in a mad fit of laughter. "Qapla' " Edric said nodded to a light fixture.

"Congratulations. You've single handedly broke two of the most powerful creatures in this known universe. You're buying." Quentin said slapping Landin's shoulder. "Damn." he let out a long breath. "Okay who wants to hit the blood bank with me? These two are going to be nasty when this wears off."


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Pay attention to the Renfield. It's important)

August FoodnFlix 2016

Okay, it's that time of things again, and Heather was sweet enough to Heather was sick of me whining like one of her kids and to shut me up, let me have a second hosting this year over on Food n'Flix, and I picked Hotel Transylvania 2. (here announcement)  You might remember, last year I did my Brunch with a Vampire, and gave you omelettes and garlic croissants inspired by the first movie in the series. (yes series, very interested to see what is in plan for 2018's HT3)

I talked about this movie back in September of 2015 when it first came out, but here's a reminder of it:
Plot: Mavis and Johnny have just had their first son, Dennis who is yet to show any signs of being a vampire. Afraid her son is completely human, Mavis begins making plans to move to the human world to live with Johnny's family. While visiting her in-laws to see if it's a good idea, her father Dracula is back in Transylvania babysitting little Dennis. Drac is sure that Dennis is indeed a vampire, just a bit of a late fanger. With the help of his long time buddies Frank, Murray, Blobby, Wayne and Griffin, they go to their old haunts. Only things don't go as smooth as they hoped. There is one option left to help Dennis become a vampire, and that's letting Dracula's dad Vlad in on the secret.
 
Notes: Hors d'oeuvres, "jello mold" (character of Blobby) cake, poisonberry {Bittersweet}(mentioned) garlic (mentioned) ice cream, anchovies, matzo ball soup, coffee, wine, apples, burger, fish, porridge, tropical drinks, chicken (mentioned) plum (mentioned) strawberry (mentioned) candy, stuff crusted pizza (mentioned) avocado, rolled oats, apricots, poptarts (mentioned) deer, chips, hot dogs, slushies/slurpee, Count Chocula cereal (mentioned) carrot, raisins, licorice strips, grapes, bananas, cupcakes, marshmallows, duck, mini tomatoes, roast, eggs, canned spaghettios/ravioli, soup, pigeon, (there is even a scene with dog food)

So my mind was everywhere, from making a "Blobby" to "Werewolf Bone" (spare ribs or rack of lamb) to "Kibbles and Bits" to "Deep fried Batwings and Acid Sauce" (spicy bbq wings with roasted garlic dip) to another stake through the heart cake. (one of these days I will redeem myself on that old post) but being vegetarian, most of those were no gos.
I knew I wanted to make it a bit more character based then scene based, but really had a hard time nailing down one character. In the end, I made a dessert that is both character based and scene based.

A few of my favourite scenes, happen to be the convenience store where Mavis and Johnny are talking to the night worker while she's hyped on junk food. The scene where Dracula is wandering around his bedroom complaining while Frank is trying on his clothes; which I call the Dudeman scene, and when the group are in the park trying to teach young Dennis to be scary, and it's Wayne's turn to kill a deer, and mentions poptarts.


What I came up with was something that I can 100% say is the most out of the box thing I've ever let slip through my zombie eaten brain. It's also the laziest recipe I've ever allowed myself to do. I mean lazzzzzzyyyyyyy!  I should be ashamed, but I'm actually proud of the idea. (it took me longer to do the post than it did the recipe) You can barely call it a recipe...



Wayne's Conveniently Oozing Poptart Pie

Ingredients

1 box of poptarts crushed
1 can of cherry pie filling
1 can of blueberry pie filling

 
Crush the poptarts, spread over pie plate, leaving one for the top
open pie filling, spreading one layer at a time,
crumble leftover poptart on top
Bake at 275 degrees for 15 minutes, let cool enough to place into fridge for 2 hours to set.

That's it. Embarrassing as it is to say how lazy this is, it was so worth it.  It is the most junk food you can cram into a single slice of anything, and not feel like you've just inhaled a ton of junk food. Even though you know you just basically ate a plate of sugar.

I wanted to do something that represented the convenience food, the idea of blood and of course the poptarts.  And of course there was no real thinking involved, so nod to the zombie food blogger Porridge Head in the film.

Deadline is next week, and I'll be back with the Round Up for it the day after that. So don't forget to come back and find out what everyone came up with.  And next month, the group will be covering the movie Frida hosted by Eliot's Eats.

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Coffee Talk Aug 21st 2016

Spudguns!   It's a Sunday afternoon where I am, and I thought I'd come in and just say hey... Hey!
I know, I know, there hasn't been many movies in the last couple of weeks on here; that's because I haven't been watching many. I was suppose to hit the cinema a few times in the last two weeks, but plans got totally shacked, and I ended up not going. So there is a bucket load of movies that when rental time comes, I'll get to catch up on.

I've also been typing my fingers to the bone with the latest episodes of The Nosferatu Adventures.  We have a new cast of characters; which if you're a regular reader have figured out. Yes I've been inspired and I'm going to ride that wave as far as it takes me. Which, I hope is a few years worth still.

There are a few "what that movie inspired" posts on the way over the next couple of weeks. And for me, this is the beginning of the busiest season; October Season. With Hallowe'en on my bumper, I've got to get my ghoulies in a row. So expect September to be just as slow if not slower than this past month has been on here.

Okay this little blood droplet needs to get back to the coffee pot.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

The Nosferatu Adventures s11 p3

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 277, chapter 277

Out of Time

Edric let out a deep breath, his hands in the pockets of the hoodie he'd just magick misted. Taking the steps of the building two at a time, he swore under his breath raising the hood, hiding his face in the crease induced shadows. Opening the glass door, he closed his eyes his nose in the air. He'd managed to get the scent back at the occult shop, following it to the police station. It wasn't that difficult to track Arthur, as the hybrid had known the closer he got, the more he'd be able to catch the traces of Nosferatu's scent on him. The male moved without thinking as he stepped into the station, the sire bond causing him to already react in a territorial way; as he spat first on the floor then licked his fingers trailing them across the walls. Edric just hoped he was able to keep control enough to not hurt him. He was still getting used to the fact the sire bond did indeed have a will of it's own. The hybrid wanted to scare Arthur, to force the human out of his sire's life. It would be better all around, for Arthur and for their relationship. He stood there for a too long a second, listening to the sounds of the crowded room, taking in the sweat drenched emotions as they collided in the stale air.

Spotting the sandy-blonde male, Detective Holmwood smiled as he crossed the room towards him. "You were at the shop the other night, a friend of Nos..."

"You need to stop seeing her." the words were harsher than Edric had planned. Clearing his throat, he sniffed deeply. The cotton shirt the detective was wearing holding the mix of laundry soap, body wash and the slight greasiness of eggs. He watched as the Detective's blue eyes were clouded with confusion, his gentle relaxed demeanour becoming a little more guarded. The hybrid got a small jolt at the base of his spine as he did. His legs becoming taunt as he felt the desire to pounce on the other male, his instincts screaming at him to fight. The little grey streaks at Arthur's temples like a cruel slap to the face. He wondered to himself if he'd be able to secure the pack alpha position just by fighting his sire's human lover?

"I beg your pardon?" Arthur crossed his arms beginning to take a protective stance.

"Look buddy, take this one to heart. She's done with you." the words were practically guttural as he shook his head, doing his best to keep his eyes focused, to keep them from flashing to the amber-grey of the wolf. He just needed to get the guy to back off a little, and it was all the hybrid could do not to turn right there in the middle of the busy station. He hadn't been prepared for the fact catching her scent still lingering with Arthur's, or how the sight of the few grey strains, would trigger something primal within him. His emotions were like a pinball; hitting every bell and whistle in his senses. The hybrid flexed his hand before bringing his fist up to ball in the palm of his other.

"I'll believe it when she tells me." seemed to be the Detective's only argument. Edric huffed cracking his neck the edges of the hood casting heavier shadows over his eyes. He was about to say something, to threaten Arthur, when something even more familiar caused his nose to twitch. Edric's nostrils flared as he involuntarily sniffed. Turning to his left he watched as a bleached blonde man was escorted out of a back room. Edric's eyes became slits of amber-grey as he zeroed in on the cause of his senses overloading with what he naturally perceived as a new threat. The bleached blonde reeked of werewolf. By the look of the bruises on his neck and jaw, it didn't take much for Edric to put together this was the guy The Seer had fed on. Snarling, the hybrid took one large step to his left, his hand suddenly on the victim's shoulder.

"I need you to answer something for me."

"You can't be harassing people..." Detective Holmwood started to say as he reached his own arm out to stop Edric. That was his first mistake, as the hybrid was no longer thinking. Turning, Edric growled his left hand batting across Arthur's face sending him flying across the room into a row of filing cabinets. Swearing again, he turned grabbing Landin by the upper arms, and racing out of the building at near breakneck speed. 


Meanwhile...

Our heroine was unpacking a box of kitchen supplies on the newly acquired dinning room table that was now sitting in the middle of the old warehouse. Quentin had managed to get furniture the old fashioned way, by maxing out his credit card, supplying the group with what they needed for the moment. He'd even assured them he knew how to build a few walls to separate the space. But still, our heroine disliked the idea of being so far across town from the occult shop. It left a uneasiness in her stomach.  The door to the warehouse suddenly opened, the sun back lighting Edric and Landin. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw them move into the building, their faces stirring up the edges of the dream.

"Edric, what is he doing here?" she asked crossing quickly to them.

"This is the guy The Seer fed off of." he snarled dropping Landin, blocking the door.

"Um hon, he's...I've dreamed about you." she breathed her hand first at her own throat then just inches from the bleach blonde's. Tracing the outline of his jaw, she winced at seeing the damage The Seer had caused.

"This guy?" Edric said screwing up his face. "You dreamed about this guy?" he ran his hand through his hair craning his neck, squeezing his eyes shut as he brought his hand up in a claw like motion. "My day just gets worse every second."  Our heroine moved a few centimeters closer to her fledgling, her hands at his shoulders.

"Trust me, you were definitely the lead obsession of my dreams." she ran her hands down his upper arms sighing. "And naked mostly." she turned then to face Landin. "And you were a waiter, serving us drinks in my dream." she grunted her eyes caressing the bleach blonde.

"Whoa hey." Edric snapped his fingers a few times. "Back to me and the naked dreaming part." he commented, his tone calmed once again, his eyes cast down to look at her. "Not that I'm complaining about you dreaming about me, but why..." the hybrid made a face like he'd tasted something bad, pursing his lips together. "Why..." he moved his neck in a half circle. "Was I naked?" his voice raised a few notches on the last word, the male moving up on his toes for emphasis. "Were you naked?" he pointed then to her.

"No you were the only one missing clothes...can we talk about this later?" our heroine remarked her hands still resting on the male's upper arms.

"Huh." he nodded to himself, running his tongue over his teeth. The magick mist rolling over his chest, removing the hoodie and t-shirt he'd been wearing. "Was I this naked? Cause that's not bad, that's fairly typical many reasons to be this level of naked."   Landin gasped as he still on the floor, crawled a few feet away from them,  his eyes wide. "I forgot you were there." Edric responded  scratching at the back of his neck, magick misting his hoodie again, minus the shirt this time.

"And that's why I said we'd talk about it later. But since you want to be all..." our heroine turned once again to face Landin, gesturing towards him. "Okay the short of it, hi I'm Nosferatu, this is my fledgling Edric, and you sir were fed off of by another friend of ours. We're half vampiric; banshee to be exact, half shapeshifter, werewolf to be exact. And our friend who is half werewolf part witch and half sidhe, has gone batty nutballs. You were lunch, nothing more nothing less. The question is why are you still alive?"

"You forgot the whole being part god." Quentin said from across the room. "Possibly a love goddess."

"That's not important to the guy on the floor having a spazz out, but thanks for that."

"Actually, he seems fairly fine given the situation." Quentin remarked as he continued to unpack. "A little too fine. He hasn't even peed himself. I mean, a hybrid werewolf just magickally removed his shirt and the dude there barely blinked."

"Is that why I was naked in your dream?" Edric continued. Shuffling his weight from one foot to the other, his chin down."Cause of the love goddess part?"

"No, you were just naked deal with it." she patted his chest without thinking. Turning she let out a deep sigh resting her face on his shoulder. "You are too damned tempting."

"I know." he giggled wrapping his arms around her. The sire bond easing it's grasp on his spine as he did, his mind clearing just a little. The smallest bit of physical contact seemed to help shake off the cobwebs. Clearing his throat he forced himself to break the hug. "Do we have any of the AB Positive left from earlier?" he moved from her cracking his neck, digging suddenly through the little beer cooler as if his life depended on it.  Landin crawled even farther into the corner of the room his eyes glued to the hybrid as he watched him tear into a blood bag.
Edric was beginning to lose the battle with the sire bond. He was finding it more and more difficult to keep control of himself when he was around the female. Rufus had assured him, once a pack alpha was declared, the sire bond would loosen, but it was clear to Edric, they were nowhere close to agreeing on one.


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Instincts can be a difficult thing to trust over logic)

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

year 5 day 173

movie: The Lady in the Van
starring: Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings
genre:Comedy, Drama
year:2015
format:Netflix Canada

plot: After a hit and run accident, a nun finds herself on the run from the cops and because of it, homeless.

Based on a biography

This is made to seem like a comedy, but it's not really. The main character is a writer who besides talking to himself, talks himself out of having a life of his own; and ends up arguing with a physical representation of his alter ego a lot. He's sort of cornered between his elder mother and what ends up being the "neighbour" this lady who drives around the block randomly staying in front of everyone's house for a few nights at a time. That is, until the streets are rezoned and she finds her van too large to just park on the street for more than an hour. This leads to her parking in Bennett's driveway.

We watch as she slowly begins to take over not just his space but his mind as well, becoming the central character in his work over the course of the next 15 years.  This sort of leads you to wonder, is she suppose to be a surrogate mom for him or a surrogate wife? (or in this case surrogate husband as the lead male is gay)  The dynamics between the two leads is interesting; in this push pull attitude. Neither wanting to admit they really need the other in their life.
There are a few scenes where the Lady, gets a new vehicle, each smaller than the one before, leading the audience to believe she'll eventually end up in the house with him. But, oddly it never plays out this way. It's just suppose to show their comfort level with each other and how their trust has grown.

I thought it was interesting the way the two leads manage to show more compassion for each other than for members of their own family, each hiding elements of themselves from their families, afraid of how they will react.

what did I learn? It's always easier to tell a stranger your secrets, until they are no longer a stranger.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

The Nosferatu Adventures s11 p2

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 276, chapter 276

Coffee Tea Sugar Me

Edric continued biting his bottom lip, as he stood outside the club waiting for our heroine to pay the cab. She'd talked him into wearing a pair of very snug dark jeans, and a navy blue t-shirt that was too small. It was one he had been given from the wardrobe department of My Gothic Kitchen after one of the lead actors tossed it aside refusing to wear it. Up till that night, it had just sat in the back of a drawer. "So what's on the agenda?" he asked leaning closer to her, once she'd finally returned.

"What do you mean?" her voice got lost in her purse as she began hunting for something.

"You said you had an experiment in mind then you brought me here." he pointed to the club, loud music blasting from behind the closed doors. "What are we going to do? Drunken bull riding, country karaoke, line dancing?" he shrugged his hands now in his back pockets. "Or is this some kind of kinky sex club...cause I don't think that's...yeah no on that one."

"You can do whatever you want. Just give me a half hour in there okay." she checked her eyeliner in a small hand mirror. Grabbing his hand she dragged him through the main doors, having to adjust to the lack of lighting before proceeding through the small entrance. "Okay so...damn you are beautiful.You are going to go over there, grab a drink, play pool or what have you." she gestured with her left hand, still holding his with her right. "And when you do, all the other women in the bar will be on you like...you are straight right?" Edric had begun swinging their still clasped hands, leaning closer to hear her. "Doesn't matter if you're not, you just need to pretend to be for like a half hour. And while all the women in the club are trying to get in your pants, that leaves all the guys open. And one is bound to get bored waiting for whatever's left and seeing me over there by myself..."

"Wait!" Edric brought his free hand up just level with her nose. "You brought me here to be your wingman?" the sandy-blonde haired male felt all the air suddenly leave his lungs. He unlocked his fingers from hers, dropping her hand before hugging his elbows.

"Yeah why else? And while you're standing there being all Chris Hemsworth-like; this gives me the change to catch the eye by default of the hottest guy in the bar so I can go home with him."

Edric's eyebrows knitted together in puzzlement as he tilted his head to the side. Gesturing then between them, he licked his lips. "Um...your plan just had me as the hottest guy in the bar. So...if you want the hottest guy here...we could have just stayed at my apartment." he shook his head "I...I...just don't get you." he shrugged as she patted him on the chest before moving off to the end of the bar. "This is pointless. I'm sure I'll regret this before the end of the night." he let his hand slap his thigh in frustration. "I look like I should be on the cover of a bad romance novel. Not even the good kind, but like the ones you find in the dollar bin clearance bad. I can't believe I let her dress me?"

"Well honey, how about you let me undress you?" a voice said from his right shoulder. Turning Edric pushed his glasses up on his nose as he surveyed the situation. The woman was dressed in a hot pink mini dress that left nothing to the imagination. Letting out a deep breath, he threw his head back before turning and walking away from her.

He'd barely been standing at the bar when a beer was slapped down in front of him. "I didn't order this." he said pointing to the bottle. The bartender shrugged pointing to a chick a few seats away. "Free beer. That's not suspicious"  Two shot glasses were placed just as quick beside his left wrist, the bartender once again pointing to another woman a few feet away. "I don't like this. This feels dirty." he pushed the drinks aside and moved away from the bar heading towards where our heroine was. "Hey!" he reached to cover his butt as someone pinched it. Edric was unable to tell which of the women at the nearest table had been the culprit; but he was betting on the one who was devouring a penis shaped lolli, as he continued to make his way across the room. Nosferatu was standing completely alone on the far side of the building by the jukebox when he finally managed to escape the crowd. Sighing, he rolled his blue eyes. "I need to be dusted for prints. You knew this was ladies' night didn't you?" he remarked as he ran his hand through his hair, leaning against the wall beside her. "Is it working? Have you venus fly trapped your man snack for the night, cause I'm leaving." 

"We just got here." she leaned in closer to him, in order to be heard over the music. "I told you the plan."  The male had had enough as he brought both palms up in a surrender motion before leaving the building out the nearest exit. Once he was outside standing alone on the street, he let out a strangled groan of frustration, his face pointing to the sky. Turning around in a full circle twice arguing with himself, the male swore before heading back in. Something forced him again to cross the sea of people, noticing more than a few pairs of eyes on him as he did, ignoring the grabbing hands and comments, as what seemed an invisible string refusing to let him abandon her. She was still standing in the same spot, still alone. He picked her up throwing her over his shoulder, ducking out the nearest exit. He didn't drop her to her feet until they were a half block away.

"There plan half way worked. You left with the hottest guy in there." he pushed his glasses up on his nose again. "Happy?"  The female made a huff as she turned and headed back in the direction of the bar. "Oh no you don't!" Edric said grabbing her by the elbow swinging her back to face him as he pointed to himself. "I look like a fool in this." he grabbed a handful of the shirt. "You humiliated me, do you know that?" he gestured wildly towards the empty street. "I thought when you invited me out tonight that you actually wanted to be with me. But instead, you left me standing there like a piece of dog food. Using me to get what you wanted, without even considering how it would effect me."

She reached her left hand up caressing his face, before removing his glasses tucking them into a loop on the side of his jeans. Edric leaned into the kiss, not having been prepared for just how intense it would be. He had never been the type to loose his mind over a woman, but he found himself fighting off butterflies his knees weak. Breaking the kiss, our heroine reached for his glasses, handing them to him again. "Welcome to my world." she said coldly licking the corner of her lips moving back a half step.

"So this...this was a joke to you?" his voice raised a few notches as he pointed then at the ground, once again closing the gap between them, his breath hitting her hair. The male's blue eyes began to shine with emotions. "This was a joke?" his voice became lost in a whisper then. "This whole evening was nothing more than a revenge fantasy?" he took a step back from her, his hands locked behind his neck. "Nothing more than a power play huh?" he nodded bringing his thumb and finger up to squeeze the bridge of his nose, his glasses still in his other hand. "What, you thought that oh Edric's pretty therefore he must not have any feelings? That it wouldn't matter if you jerked me around?" He moved from her again. "What are you some sort of emotional vampire?"  He sniffed as a long rope of saliva dripped from his lip."You're absolutely soulless."  He had turned from her, his back to the street, the sound of her shoes informing him she'd turned her back on him.


Meanwhile...
Out of Time

Our heroine coughed up the blood as she rolled over onto her side. A sharp pain still reverberating through her chest and lungs. Slamming her hand onto the floor as she forced the remaining blood out of her lungs, as she shook off the dream. Gasping for air she heard the voices of both Edric and Dagan asking what happened? She waved them off making it to a kneeling position, her eyes having gone the pure white of the banshee. A growl that escaped her turned into a full on scream, causing everyone; to cover their ears, running out of the building.
It was a full twenty minutes, before the two males returned to the little occult shop both feeling an uneasiness in their stomachs. Our heroine now sitting on the edge of the sofa a cup of steaming tea in hand. "I know what The Seer is after. I know what he's doing, and I think I know how we're going to stop him." she replied as Dagan sat down beside her.

"Great, just tell me how I get to finally hurt him..." the auburn haired male growled, his blue eyes filled with anger.

"Not you. Us." she answered pointing to Edric. She got up from him, stood on the sofa and climbed over the arm; moving to where the fledgling was standing, her right hand on his elbow. "This isn't a shapeshifter thing, this is a vampire thing. This one isn't your fight." she proceeded to wrap her other arm around the fledgling's waist pushing him out of the building.

"You mind cluing me in here?" the hybrid said as they made their way down the street at what felt like warp speed.  Our heroine stopped, shaking her head before placing both palms on either side of his face. She seemed unable to tear herself away from his eyes, the dream still haunting her. She fully expected to see the dream glasses there.

"I promise it will make sense okay. But Edric..." she swayed closer to him, her stomach grazing his. "You're not going to like the plan. I'm going to ask you to do something you're not going to be happy with." she closed her eyes, searching her mind for the words to express herself.

"You're actually starting to scare me now." his voice croaked under the strain.


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Did you all catch the foreshadowing in the bar scene?)