[ Sunday, May 02, 2004 ]
It was a little early for Halloween, and the man we spotted walking through Panama City Mall was a little long in the tooth for trick-or-treating.
He had long, wispy blond hair and wore layers of black clothing — frilly and flowing over black boots and pants. Hair-thin blue veins accentuated his pale face, and extended canine teeth could be seen when he talked to his companion, who seemed a human enough fellow.
The first things you noticed, though, were his eyes: white-on-white with black pupils.
I smiled and pointed him out to my daughter.
“There’s never a Slayer around when you need one,” I said.
I told her he was most likely part of a group of people that play-act at being vampires in a live-action role-playing game called
Vampire: The Masquerade.If we kept our eyes out, we might spot other players in the crowd, I said.
But even telling my daughter about the game, it struck me as odd that this fellow would be so fla-grantly otherworldly. Usually, vampire LARP players try not to draw inordinate attention when play-ing in public places; after all, the point of “The Masquerade” is that vampires don’t want humans to know they coexist.
Their greatest strength is that mortals don’t believe in them.
But this guy flaunted his preternatural appearance simply by acting as if he were a normal part of the crowd. He walked through the mall like he belonged there, like no one would even notice him — like he blended.
We noticed the vampire again as we left the mall. He and his friend were standing in front of the Wendy’s counter with cash in their hands, about to order a meal. We joked that he would request his burger very rare.
And that, I thought, was that — until about mid-week, when I described the man to a vampire wrangler of my acquaintance (actually a “storyteller” that works out the challenges and conflicts that his friends undertake during Masquerade games).
“I don’t know who that might be,” he said. “It’s not anybody in one of the local games. I’ll ask around, though.”
Meanwhile, you might want to keep a close watch while trick-or-treating Tuesday evening. And if a guy matching that description rings your doorbell, don’t invite him in!
(Just because you don’t believe in something doesn’t mean it won’t get you.)
Peace.
(The preceding originally appeared as part of my weekly column, "Undercurrents," which appears in the Sunday Lifestyle section of "The News Herald," Panama City, Florida. See the Web site archive at www.newsherald.com)
Unknown [7:54 PM]
