Immortality: Tales of the Undead- Blood Paradise

THE CHARACTERS AND SETTINGS ARE THE WORKS OF AN ORIGINAL FICTION.

Immortality: Tales of the Undead- Blood Paradise

The Osman couple never had a day off, since they were too busy in their careers. But the time had come for them to relax and enjoy the sunshine. Rumors had it that they were going to Paris for a vacation. But it wasn't entirely true. They wanted to go somewhere else, that was deemed inappropriate for people with moral values and whatnot. They didn't care what others might think, not even their own parents.

So here they were... arriving at the nudist resort, Eden with full of freedom and excitement. Kevin Osman who worked as the CEO of Osman Enterprises, had never joined a nudist resort before. In fact, he never did. Whereas his wife, Susan was a fashion designer who had been hailed from New England, married Kevin at the age of 29. She was a successful woman alright. And others had often envied her. But what others didn't know that she had secretly been a nudist for a couple of years now, and when Kevin joined the game, he became quite excited. There was nothing wrong with the concept of nudism as long it was completely legal, and others wouldn't mind its true nature. But others with moral values have something against it, which was why the Osman couple hadn't told anyone else about it.

Even though this was the first time, Kevin had to acknowledge the fact that he would have to remove his clothes eventually for the benefit of the nudist community. The Eden resort was completely located at the seaside of California, where tourist attractions have boomed over the years or so. Other people have joined the fun, and looking back at the scenery of beautiful mountains, and the waves of the oceans have gradually made them happy.

But now that they have arrived, driving along the hills, Susan had noticed something different about the place. They weren't a lot of people to stay at the Eden resort. Probably, they were either too busy to join the game, or they had their own busy careers to deal with. Maybe, they weren't in the mood for it. Or maybe...

"Oh my, Kevin," Susan said, sounding surprised when she noticed that they weren't lot of cars around at the parking lot. She could even see it from uphill as Kevin drove his fancy car towards the place, and finally stopped in front of the gate. "Look at the place. It's almost... completely abandoned."

"I say, Susan. This is my first time. Maybe, there won't be a lot of people around here. But that doesn't mean we could go back. Right?"

Susan didn't know what else to think. She hoped that she could come back here as often as her previous years, whenever she got the chance. But ever since Kevin wanted to join the club, she also hoped that one day would come for him, despite he had been too busy in his daily work.

"I guess that would be alright," Susan said, hoping for the best. "It's almost as if we could have the entire place to ourselves." Kevin honked his car twice. A few seconds later, a naked man arrived at the front entrance. He opened the gate, and recognized Susan immediately.

"Why Susan? It's been a long time. How have you been?"

"I'm fine, Stan. This is my husband, Kevin. You know him..."

"Ah yes, I do know you," Stanley Frederick replied excitingly. He shook hands with Kevin. "Susan had told me wild stories about you. Pretty wild if you ask me. Eh?" He laughed at the thought of it. Kevin sort of smiled at that thought, but he was kind of nervous, coming to a place such as this one. When the old man stopped laughing, he noticed it.

"Oh come on, don't be nervous. It's completely natural. You don't have to worry about anything. Just enjoy and relax. That's all you need."

"It's not that I'm nervous," Kevin tried to correct him. "I'm just a bit excited. That's all."

"Well then... That sounds good. Isn't it?"

"Say, Stan..." Susan said, sounding almost worried. "How come they aren't any cars around here?"

The old man looked at her. "Oh... that. I think it's that time of year. They probably have been too busy not to come here, anyways. I wouldn't blame them for that. But I'm glad you came back, Susan."

Susan smiled at that. Old Frederick opened the gate wide open for the Osman couple. Kevin drove to the parking lot and stopped. Then they followed the old man towards his office.

"Okay, Kevin," Stanley sat on his seat. "So, this is your first time coming here. I'm sure Susan have explained to you everything what is there to know about nudism."

"Yes..." Kevin stared at the calendar of several naked women, hanging on the wall, and then looked around. "I must say, Stan. You have a nice office here. Maybe, not quite as big as mine."

"Yeah, I've always been told by certain people who often comes here. People have big or small offices... It doesn't matter. What matters is how we handle the job. So... now we come to the usual stuff." He handed a form towards Kevin. "You can read that and sign here. That way, you'll be the newest member of the nudist community."

Kevin read the form and signed it. Then he handed it back to the old man.

"How's Gloria doing these days?" Susan almost forgotten to ask about Stanley's wife.

"Oh, it's the usual. All that arthritis stuff... But she's doing fine. Unfortunately, she couldn't come here. So, she had to stay back at the hospital. Yeah... I'm the only one, who manage things around here."

"If you need any help, I'm right here."

"Thank you, Susan. I'd really appreciate that." He got up from the chair, and grabbed a set of keys from his desk. "Follow me." The old man stopped and looked at them. "Oh yeah... I forgot to mention something."

"Oh..." Susan said. "What is it?"

"You see... Oh, never mind. I'm sure you wouldn't understand."

"Oh come on, Stan. You know me better than anyone else around here. What's the matter?"

"Well... You see... There's a woman who also stays at this resort. But she only comes out at night. Very strange. Don't you think?"

"Hmm..." Susan wondered about it. "I don't know, Stan. Sounds like you have a very strange visitor."

"I don't mean to pry on someone else's affairs. But let me tell you something about her. She comes at night and talks with us often, as if she were already one of us. But we don't see her in days. She told me that she had some sort of... skin condition."

"Skin condition?" Kevin said, sounding confused.

"Yes. In fact, she says that the sun harms her skin. And here I thought she was only joking. But she ain't. Strange, isn't it? Anyways, let's go to your new place."

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The Osman couple settled at their small cabin. At first, Kevin thought it was a bad idea to come to a nudist resort. Because he figured that his employees may find out about his... "unusual activities." But he thought of giving it a chance, and therefore joined with his dear wife. After all, Susan had encouraged him to do so.

And there he was, standing entirely naked in front of the mirror. He even looked down below him, and then back at his wife. She stood behind him, getting everything ready for the day. Kevin have already seen her naked at home, whenever she took a hot shower. But the difference was that she gets to walk around naked at the nudist resort. How cool was that?

I hope no one finds out about this, Kevin thought. Imagine if his employees found out about it, how would they react? Just because he was the CEO of Osman Enterprises, it didn't mean he could do something rather odd, as much to his wife's tastes. Does it?

I'm sure they won't mind, Kevin thought again. It's completely natural.That's what the old man said. He relaxed and breathed... Here goes nothing.

"Is everything alright?" Susan said. She grabbed a towel, which she then wrapped around her right arm. Kevin said, "Yes, honey. I'm fine."

"Okay then. What are you waiting for? Let's go." The Osman couple left their cabin, and met a few nudists around the area. There was a teenage couple who greeted them first, and they came all the way from Los Angeles. They talked, smiled and laughed. However, there was one person who hadn't appeared in this delightful scenery of friendship.

"I say, Susan," Kevin said almost in a whisper. "Do you know this... strange woman that old Stan talked about?"

"Not really. Ever since I came here, I haven't seen her. Not one bit. I was too busy doing things to help Stan and his wife around."

"Ah yes. I remember you telling me that. Well, if we do see her in the night, we'll have to greet her. Won't we?"

Susan wasn't sure about that. But she sort of shrugged at that point.

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Night came, and the nudist men and women have gathered around the fire, telling stories of old and new. And they sang along as the night went by. They just had dinner at the restaurant, which was owned by a famous Mexican chef. Stan was also there, joining the fun. And then she came...

Everyone stopped and stared at her, including the Osman couple. At this time, no one had spoken. Some of the nudists have began to wonder why she didn't come to join the fun in daytime. But old Stan already knew what the answer was.

"Hello, Lilith..." Stan said. "Uh... Come and join us." The woman smiled, and walked slowly towards them. She sat on the seat on the opposite side of the log. Kevin was mesmerized by her dark beauty. It was as if he hadn't known the true nature of her wildest appearance. She was naked as the rest of the nudists. But her skin...

She's pale... Susan thought. It's as if she hadn't eaten anything else for the past few days.

"Hi," Susan said, speaking in front of the strange woman. "My name is Susan Osman, and this is my husband, Kevin."

"How do you do?" Lilith smiled. She even looked at the handsome CEO of Osman Enterprises.

"Um... Hi there," Kevin sort of waved, and then stopped. Susan noticed the wild stare, coming from her own husband. She said, "So... You're Lilith. That's a wonderful name."

"It is. I've been here for quite a long time."

"Oh... really?" Susan began to doubt that.

"Yes," Lilith said as she still stared at Kevin. Stan came over to interrupt their conversation. "Let's continue our stories. Lilith, do you have one to tell?"

"Not tonight," Lilith replied. "I just want to hear."

"Alright then..." The old man said awkwardly, and tried not to look at her pale skin. "Um... Let's get on with it." The teenage nudist continued telling his story. But this time, Kevin didn't listen to him. He just stared at Lilith.

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Back at the cabin, Kevin kept thinking about Lilith. For some odd reason, he couldn't even sleep. Even Susan had noticed his strangest behavior.

"Can't sleep?" Susan said as she still looked at him. Kevin stared at the ceiling, and replied, "Nope. Not at all."

"It must be that woman you keep thinking about. I can tell."

Kevin stared at her. "Oh, come on, Susan. You don't think..."

"I don't know what to think. Maybe, it was a mistake bringing you here. If I had known about..." She stopped. How else could she have known? Did Stanley knew about it? And even if he did, would he have told her? It probably didn't matter because Susan haven't met her before. So, she couldn't blame herself for bringing Kevin out here in the open.

"Don't push yourself, Susan. Even I didn't know about this woman. But she... What can I say? She's..." He tried to find the right words, but knew that Susan wouldn't like them.

"Be honest, Kevin. I know what you're thinking. I won't be mad."

Kevin sighed. "She's beautiful."

"That's it? Beautiful?"

"Yes."

"Hmm..."

"You're not mad?"

"No. But if you keep thinking about her, then I will be." She closed her eyes and then slept. For the rest of the night, Kevin finally managed to sleep.

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Kevin woke up in the middle of nowhere. He figured that he was dreaming... But he felt it was real, and he stood out there in some kind of beach. He couldn't recall the times that he had enjoyed as a kid. Those were the days... Even the birds flew above him. The people were singing... And others just stood there, waiting... He noticed something strange about them. There were bite marks on their throats. And Kevin didn't know what to make of them. He even noticed Susan's.

"Susan?" But she didn't reply back to him. She just opened her mouth and snarled...

"AHHH!" Kevin woke up, and noticed that Susan was still sleeping... Dear God, what a nightmare! He got up and went towards the kitchen to grab a glass of water. When he was about to pour it, he noticed someone was standing there, beside the trees, and smiled.

Oh... It's her. Lilith stood there as any woman would have posed for a natural photo shoot. But in this case, she was entirely different from the other nudists. Kevin thought, I must still be dreaming here. But he knew it wasn't a dream. Lilith told him to come and follow her. Kevin gulped.

Oh no... He looked at the bedroom where Susan was still sleeping... He thought of going back to bed. But he couldn't resist the temptation of Lilith's sensual beauty. He left the kitchen, and walked outside the cabin, slowly.

But Lilith kept going towards her place. She was luring the new nudist away from his dear wife, Susan Osman. Kevin found himself hypnotized by Lilith's beauty. And sometimes, he couldn't help himself.

My God... Kevin thought. What the hell am I doing? He tried to look back at the cabin where he came from. But Lilith...

Come to me, Kevin, Lilith said. He could hear her own dark voice. That voice had reached out towards his head. Was she telepathic? Is it possible? Kevin still didn't know what to make of her. And now when they reached Lilith's cabin, Kevin finally stopped. The woman turned around, facing the handsome, businessman. He stood there as if he were completely frozen, and couldn't move. Lilith came closer towards him, and bit his throat.

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Susan too found herself in the middle of nowhere. Of course, she was completely naked as Kevin in his own dream. But the dream was quite different when she noticed a group of people, staring at her. And this time, this woman showed up.

"Lilith?" Susan was entirely confused. The pale woman just stood there, ready to make a blood sacrifice. She longed for human blood.

Susan noticed someone else, lying on some kind of altar. She screamed...

"Kevin!" She woke up from the bed, and found out that her husband was gone. "Kevin?" She looked everywhere and then went out!

"KEVIN! WHERE ARE YOU!" She came running through the steps, then the grass, and that the lights were turned on. The other nudists have woken up. They came out and asked what the matter was.

"Kevin! He's gone! I can't find him!" They searched everywhere, and then a few minutes later, they found someone lying on the pool, head down. The teenage, female nudist screamed!

"Oh, dear God!" Susan shouted, almost covering her mouth. "OH, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! NO!" The others brought him to the surface, and then realized that Kevin Osman was long dead. Susan cried...

"Oh, dear Susan," one nudist said. The others tried to comfort her, but Stanley said, "Susan..." She didn't look at him.

"Susan..." He touched her shoulder, but Susan flinched. She stared at him angrily. "It's Lilith. I know it's her. She did this!" The other nudists didn't know what she was talking about.

"Listen, Susan... Stan said slowly. "I can explain..."

"How do you explain this?!" She pointed towards her dear husband, whose bite marks were clearly shown in front of the others. One of them gasped!

"Susan, I'm sorry. I've tried to control her. But the hunger... It grew stronger than I've expected."

"What?" Susan was shocked to hear this terrible news, especially coming from her dear friend. "I don't understand."

"Susan..." Stan paused, knowing that others would think he was crazy. But he gave it a shot. "She's a vampire."

The others gasped at that unholy word, and one of then fainted.

"A vampire?" The teenage nudist said. "That's a joke. Isn't it?"

"It's true," Stan said, confirming it. "I'll tell you everything." So, he told them.

Everyone seemed to be shocked, and nobody spoke except for Susan Osman.

"How could you..." Susan said slowly, trying to figure out what really happened. "After all these years..."

"I'm sorry, Susan. I should've told you before you came here." And then he looked at Kevin's body.

"Oh, screw this," the teenage nudist said. "Come on, Chloe. We're outta here."

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Matt," Stan said. "She won't let us out."

"What?" Matt looked at him surprisingly. "Are you kidding me? This is insane!"

Stan sighed. "As insane as it sounds, I'm afraid we'll have to kill her."

"With what?" Chloe said. "Wooden stakes?" Stan looked at her, and then nodded.

"Oh, my God," Matt said. "I swear... you must be really crazy, Stan. I don't think she's a vampire. She's a cold-blooded murderess. That's what!"

The other older nudist said, "How do you explain the bite marks? Eh? She couldn't possibly insert some needles into his throat, or whatever else she did."

"I'm with him," a black nudist said. But his wife shook her head. "You'd believe anything what anyone says."

"Come on, baby. You've seen what she did to him."

"Listen, folks," a British nudist said. "I'd say we search for her own cabin. But I figured she would be out by now. So, we best be careful." Then he looked at Stan. "Where do you keep the stakes?"

"Follow me..." Stan said, and then stopped. He looked at Susan.

"Don't worry about her," Chloe said. "I'll take care of her."

"No!" Susan said angrily. "I'm coming with you."

"Susan..." Stan said and then thought the better of it. "Alright. But be careful." They went out together and grabbed a couple of stakes from Stan's workshop.

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As luck have it, the nudists had found the place where Lilith currently lived. Unfortunately, she wasn't present since the time of their arrival, because of the recent events that transpired a couple of hours ago. Lilith thought, That woman... She must be angry by now. Of course, Susan was very angry. In fact, her whole life was entirely shattered by a single creature that only exists to feed on human blood, and that was Lilith herself.

A long time ago, Stanley Frederick had found a strange cocoon back at his main home of the Eden resort. He was scared to see the sight of it. He had never seen the likewise of a giant cocoon before, let alone thought it was some kind of monstrous butterfly, waiting to come out. But it turned out to be a woman, a vampire-like being who had been waiting for centuries to drink human blood. But Stan figured that animal blood was the only consumption for letting humans survive, for the time being.

As for Lilith, she had thought about her past, and figured that this place was truly her home. Or was it? She didn't know, but she only could guess of where she might have come from. She stood out there in the open of the resort, biding her time and moving out as quickly as possible. She couldn't take the risk of taking all of them down, since they bought their wooden stakes. She ran away from them, when someone stopped her.

"Lilith!" She turned towards the man, who had found her in the first place.

"Stan... You promised that I would be safe!"

"Not any longer. You killed him. You weren't supposed to drink his blood!"

"I had enough of your orders, Stan. I'm the creature of the night. What else do you expect?" She snarled at him, and then pounced... There was a struggle between the two. And when Susan appeared, she raised her stake and stabbed through her chest. Lilith wailed...

Stan moved away from the pale creature, while the other nudists arrived. Lilith was disintegrating slowly.

"Dear Jesus!" Matt said as he looked at Stan. "You were right. She was a vampire."

Stan didn't say anything else. He just looked at her remains. There was nothing, but boiling blood and goo on the ground.

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A few weeks later, Susan Osman still couldn't sleep. She recently had terrible nightmares of Lilith. But she knew that the creature was dead.

Oh, Kevin. If only I hadn't brought you there... She even tried not to blame herself.

Then someone knocked on the door, twice. Susan noticed the time on her clock. It was now 11:00 pm.

Who could it be at this hour? Susan got up from the bed, and went towards the door. She opened it.

Susan Osman screamed.

Next story- The Black Cathedral.

Edited