How To Become A Vampire
The idea for this post was given to me by CatDragon over at Glass Candles.
The prompt was as follows: "Vampires are people who turn into something monstrous by wearing the enchanted skins of giant bats."
Making A Monster
"The fundamental characteristic of monsters is category violation." Noel Carroll, The Philosophy of Horror or Paradoxes of the Heart
"Monsters are mixed up - simultaneously one creature and another, one state of being and another, familiar and unfamiliar, self and other." Ryan S. Higgins, The Good, the God, and the Ugly: The Role of the Beloved Monster in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible
All deities have their followers, for without a following they would have to labor for their own food and drink. The same is true for those malevolent spirits birth by deity who are deity in their own right, though to a lesser degree. Such is Naktu-Ummu, the One Who Lets Blood Flow Freely.
It is said those who witnessed their mothers fall prey to Naktu-Ummu become ensorcelled by her. A dark fascination, a fatal curiosity overtakes them; they hear her call - the call of a younger sibling who is not there. They answer.
When time comes, she will call them to become Naktu-Dabi - blood-shedders. The ritual is long and rife with malevolence, involving the slaying of a lioness, a donkey, a falcon, and a healthy person (of any age). Their skins become a crude copy of Naktu-Ummu's appearance to be worn; their blood becomes a libation offering poured upon the Naktu-Dabi.
If Naktu-Ummu finds their ritual acceptable, they become like her, gaining the following features to their true form:
- the head of the lioness
- the ears and teeth of the donkey
- the talons of the bird
- the arms and hands of the person
They are able to parade around as their old self. Only when one gets blood in their eye are they able to see the true form of the Naktu-Dabi. Their entire existence revolves around providing for Naktu-Ummu by means of human victims. They are kidnappers, murderers, monsters; deserving of the worst forms of execution for their betrayal of their humanity.
Those whose ritual is unacceptable find themselves victims of Naktu-Ummu herself. She pounces upon her prey and drinks deeply of their blood, rejoicing in the carnage. One may hear a strange call on such occasions - the roar of a lion and the bray of a donkey mixed together.
Unmaking A Monster
Starve them. When signs of Naktu-Ummu appear - mothers smell blood, donkeys kick at nothing, children go missing - do not go alone with anyone for any reason. She has called hers to herself. Bring your donkeys to stall and keep them there; slay any and all lions near your territory. Force the monsters to reveal themselves for what they are and strike with ferocity.
A Naktu-Dabi can be killed by starvation, though their hunger will usually drive them to violence first. Trap it with bait - a freshly dead corpse, but one who has died from disease. Allow it to feed and satiate its hunger, and allow the disease to rot away its insides.
Then strike! The priests are to encircle it and begin their chants, amulets raised high, facing the monster. Keep them alive at all costs - all other persons are to keep the Naktu-Dabi back with weapons and fire. While these alone cannot kill one, it still feels pain. If the priests finish their ritual, the Naktu-Dabi will decay into skin and blood. Burn the skins, pour the ash on the blood, and grind salt into the ground with your heel.
May all such damnable creatures find such an end.