Five persons on the ghost tour tonight, three local people. Local Japanese guy and his middle-eastern looking girlfriend or wife. Their friend is a hapa-haole guy whose features are intrinsically Japanese, but he's got freckles on his cheeks and a full head of red curly hair. The other couple is European, but I can't really place the origin of the accent.
The tour starts from the grounds of the Royal Hawaiian hotel and progresses to three other haunted locations around the city block. In between each area, there is walking time, which is a little less than five or six minutes. Within those passing moments, the European couple makes it a point to quietly tell me that they intend to kill me after the tour is completed. The three other people on the tour talk among each other and are none the wiser as to what has transpired. I ignore the numerous threats from the European couple. Still, I've already determined that once the tour is officially complete that I will be the one to initiate the aggression and assault the man first, perhaps with an unexpected kick to the groin. The woman will be difficult because, at my core, I am a gentleman, but we will see what the situation requires once it presents itself. On the way to the Princess Ka'iulani hotel, there is a little side alley that allows you access to the rear entrance of the property. I'd forgotten about it, and now it occurs to me that if the intent of the European couple was real, then this would have to be the place where they would stake their claim. I had to act fast and explain everything to the other three people on tour afterward, but there wouldn't be a need for it. I walked ahead of the group when I suddenly heard a scuffle behind me, it was a woman's scream that turned me around to witness a scene that I still cannot forget. The three local people had swords drawn and pressed up against the throats of the European couple, they had them on their knees and backed up against a concrete wall. The couple's eyes were bloodshot red, and their lips were drawn back to reveal large fangs on the top and bottom of their teeth.
"Vampires," I said to myself. "Vampires on my ghost tour."
"You can go, we'll call you later and explain," the local Japanese guy said. His girlfriend held a jeweled sword to the throat of the European woman, which slowly burned itself into the female vampire's flesh while little peals of smoke rose from her pores. The two local Japanese guys pressed the tips of their samurai swords into the man's throat in the same way.
"You're safe," the one with the curly red hair assured me. "We'll give you a call later, you should go now."
I didn't need to be told twice, I was gone before they could say it a third time.
............
Three days later, I found myself sitting with Alan and Yulianna Higashi and their friend Piker Teruya.
" Alan and I have been friends for a long time, and then he met Yulianna," Piker offered the short version of their collective story.
"So, you're vampire hunters?" I asked, even though I was still in a state of disbelief and shit my pants in fear.
"Not hunters," Alan Higashi answered with his face scrunched up. "More like vampire preventers? We kinda fell into it when I met Yulianna."
"We keep the balance," Yulianna confirmed. "We make sure that vampires who show up in Hawaii don't end up making other vampires. My father's brother, my uncle, was the first, and when his time to leave this earth was close, he passed his responsibility down to Teddy and us."
"Who's Teddy?" I asked while looking at one of the three of them for answers.
"Um, you're probably not ready for Teddy yet," Alan replied and the other two nodded in agreement. "That will have to come later."
"What I want to know is why the Hemswords or whoever they were.......why did they want to kill me? Why was I so special? Or was I just a random last-minute drive-thru snack on the way home?" I had to know because, in my mind, it felt personal like I'd done something wrong.
"As we understood it," Yulianna began, "they studied up on you extensively, and they liked what they found out. They decided to turn you so that you could provide them and yourself eventually.......with a consistent meal."
"Who better to be a vampire than a man who leads ghost tours?" Piker speculated and then smiled.
"The Hemswords had a reputation for being openly cavalier," Alan inserted.
"Their arrogance gave them away, and your tour led us to them," Yulianna said while sipping on her Jamba Juice.
"Yeah, so, we need you to keep our secret, or we're gonna kill you," Piker chimed in with no facial expression. Alan reached over and slapped him on the arm after that.
"Shut up stupid, don't say shit like that," Alan hissed at his lifelong friend.
"What? Everybody is just so serious!" Piker rubbed his arm and stuck his tongue out at Alan.
"If you're willing to let us, we can teach you how to protect yourself and how to pick them out of a crowd," Alan was very sincere, and I could see that he meant what he said. "I mean, you probably already know how to protect yourself from the ghost stuff, but this is different because lives are at stake."
............
BOY NAPUALAWA'S OFFICE 3:45 PM
"You've known that vampires have been circulating through Hawai'i, and you never told me?" It's dangerous to be furious with Boy unless you're family, but this was something I thought that he would at the very least bring to my attention.
"I've known since my parents have known and their parents before them," Boy acknowledged my question with a calm demeanor. I'm getting the impression that he's probably had this conversation with other people before. "The matter has never come into my circle, there are others who have been taking care of it, and they've always made it a point to keep us updated. I'm sorry that you found out the hard way."
"Oh, no worries... I was almost killed last night by two vampires in the middle of my ghost tour that's all....no big deal," Maybe it's safer to offer Boy sarcasm instead of anger.
"But you weren't killed, and you're still alive....I'm glad you met the Higashi's and Piker," Boy regarded me now like we were about to make a business transaction. "They're really good people."
"They offered to teach me what they know," this statement was more like a question. Sort of my way of waiting to see what Boy's response would be.
"You should let them," he replied with complete encouragement. "Learn everything you can."
I was already done and walking out of his office door when Boy offered one last volley before I left.
"When you're done......come see me....there's more you'll need to learn afterward."
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