Moth-Eaten Furs and Tarnished Jewels
~ A Short Story by Allen Kopp ~

(This short story has been published in The Literary Hatchet.)

Blanche arrived on the ten-fifteen train. Stella was there to meet her. They greeted effusively. Blanche wept, held Stella tightly and covered her face with kisses.

“It’s just so wonderful seeing you!” Blanche said. “I can scarcely believe I’m finally here.”

“Was it a difficult trip?” Stella asked.

“Well, you know, the train always rattles my nerves and then there’s all this heat.

“Yes, New Orleans is hot,” Stella said.

“Right now there’s nothing I’d like better than to get into a tub of cool water and soak for hours!”

They stopped off for a drink, just a little nightcap as Blanche said, and seated themselves in a back booth at a little bar where they might talk.

“You’re looking wonderfully well,” Blanche said. “Married life seems to agree with you.”

“I wish I could say the same for you,” Stella said. “You look awfully pale and tired.”

“Oh, don’t look at me!” Blanche said, holding her hands up between her face and the light. “Daylight never exposed so total a ruin!”

“Is anything the matter? You’re not ill, are you?”

“No, not ill, exactly. No more than you might expect.”

“I heard all the talk about the vampires around the home place. I hoped you were all right.”

“Yes, I was fine. As well as might be expected, as the doctors say. But I’m afraid I have some very bad news.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about the home place.”

“Well, tell me. What is it?”

Blanche’s face clouded; she took Stella’s hand across the table in her own. “We’ve lost the home place.”

“What? Lost it how?”

“Everything had to be sold to pay off the debts. I’m afraid there’s nothing left.”

“Why didn’t you tell me things were so bad?”

“I didn’t to worry you, dear, and, besides, I knew there was absolutely nothing you could do, living here in the metropolis with your husband.”

“I could have come down for a few days and helped you sort everything out.”

“I managed all on my own.”

“Imagine that! The home place gone!”

“Yes, it took exactly a hundred and fifty years for our once-prosperous family to squander a considerable fortune and come to nothing. My greatest regret is there’s nothing left to pass on to you.”

“Oh, Blanche! I feel so bad about all this!”

“So do I, dear, but what’s done is done! The only thing to do now is to move forward. Life goes on, you know!”

“You’ve lost your home and everything! What on earth are you going to down now?”

“You needn’t worry, darling sister! I’m not planning on casting a pall on your happy home forever.”

“I know. That isn’t what I meant.”

“Just let me rest up for a few days in your comforting presence and I shall be right again in no time.”

“Of course, darling! For just as long as you need! Stanley travels a lot in his work and it’ll just be the two of us again, the way it was when we were young.”

“Sounds like heaven!”

In Stella and Stanley’s modest rooms on the ground floor of an old stucco apartment building, Stella installed Blanche in a tiny back room where there was a small bed, a bureau, a ramshackle chair and a closet that wouldn’t even begin to hold all her clothes. There was no door to the room so Stella hung a thick curtain that Blanche could pull closed whenever she felt the need of privacy.

For two days she stayed mostly in the little darkened room (“where the light doesn’t hurt my eyes”), lounging on the bed and listening to her tinny old phonograph records. Stella offered to fix her special dishes that would tempt her appetite, but she refused them. She was just getting over an illness, she said, and had no appetite.

On the third evening, Blanche came out of her room and, after spending a couple of hours in the bathroom soaking in the tub—hydrotherapy, she called it—she dressed to go out.

“Why, where are you going, dear?” Stella asked.

“I thought I would like to see what the world looks like outside these four walls,” Blanche said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t mind! Would you like me to come with you?”

“Oh, no, my dear! I’ll be fine!”

“But you don’t know the city. You might get lost.”

“I have an uncanny ability to find my way around in the strangest of places. Don’t worry about me.”

Stella waited up until two in the morning for Blanche to return and finally went to bed.

The next day Blanche slept all day. When she awoke in the early evening, Stella offered her coffee and various things to eat, but she would take nothing. She flitted about the apartment in her Japanese silk kimono, endlessly smoking cigarettes and looking nervously out the window, as though waiting for something or someone.

“Are you feeling rested now, dear?” Stella asked.

“Yes, I feel ever so much refreshed now. Thank you for asking.”

“Did you enjoy your evening out?”

“Oh, yes! I had a marvelous time!”

“What would you like to do this evening? We could go to a movie or play some gin rummy. If you’re still feeling tired, I could read to you while you rest.”

“I’m sorry, sweet. I’m meeting someone in just about an hour or so. That doesn’t give me much time.”

“Meeting who?”

“You don’t know them, dear.”

“Them?”

“Yes, I met up with some friends last night in my rambles about town.”

“I thought you didn’t know anybody in the city.”

“Well, it’s just the funniest thing! I didn’t know they were in the city, but they somehow knew I was here.”

“What did you do last night?”

“Oh, we talked and danced and laughed a lot. How we laughed! Just the way we did when we were young!”

“What did you find that was so funny?”

“We were just talking over old times. You know how it is when you meet people you knew from a long time ago.”

“Were they people from the home place?”

“Oh, no. I knew them after that.”

“What time are you planning on coming back? Should I wait up for you?”

“Oh, no! You go to bed and get your beauty sleep and, above all, don’t worry about me!”

The next day Stella was going to suggest a shopping trip, but Blanche slept all day again.

After five days of what Stella considered uncharacteristic behavior, she took Blanche by her cold hands and made her sit down at the kitchen table.

“I think it’s time we had a talk,” she said.

“Is something the matter, dear?” Blanche asked.

“Something’s the matter with you and I want to know what it is.”

“Why, there’s nothing the matter with me, dearest!”

“I don’t know you anymore. The Blanche I knew would never stay out all night and sleep all day.”

Blanche lit a cigarette. Her hands shook and her eyes looked glassy. “It’s true I’m not the person I once was,” she said.

“You’ve been through a difficult time, I know.”

“Yes, and it’s changed me greatly.”

“You’re not telling me everything, are you?”

“I planned on telling you when the time was right.”

“Now is that time.”

“Besides losing the home place, I also lost my job at the high school. They called me into a meeting of the school board and they fired me.”

“Oh, no, Blanche! Why did they fire you?”

“I became involved with one of my students. Romantically involved.”

“A high school boy?”

“More of a man, really.”

“Oh, Blanche! How could you!”

“I was desperately lonely.”

“How humiliating it must have been for you!”

“Words don’t begin to describe it! They said I was lewd and lascivious and a lot of other words that are too embarrassing to relate.”

“Oh, how awful!”

“They threatened to have me arrested. The only reason they didn’t was because I promised to leave town, never to return.”

“So that’s why you came here?”

“Not at first. I didn’t want to prevail upon you until things became really desperate for me. I was staying in an old railroad hotel about twenty miles from the home place, trying to figure out what my next move would be. I was as low as I had ever been in my life. I had about eighteen dollars to my name and some moth-eaten old furs and tarnished jewels. And then I met a man.”

“Oh, Blanche! Not another man!”

“I was drinking in the bar one night, alone, when he came in. He was not like any man I had ever seen before. He was young but not young, if you know what I mean. It’s impossible to describe.” She puffed on her cigarette and blew out a stream of smoke.

“Go on,” Stella said.

“I had heard stories about the vampires, of course, same as everybody else, but I didn’t know what they could be like.”

“So, you’re saying this man was a vampire?”

“His name was Alessandro.”

“Foreign?”

“Aren’t we all? I spent the next few days with him, doing the wildest and most unimaginable things. It’s all a blur now, thankfully, which I can barely recall. But the fact is that he lifted me out of my despair and made me want to live again.”

“Don’t tell me you let this fellow turn you into a vampire!”

“It was the only way I could survive all the blows that life had dealt me!”

“Oh, Blanche! You’re a vampire now?”

“Yes, dear, I’m afraid that’s the truth of it.”

“So that explains the odd behavior.”

“Yes, that explains it.”

“I don’t think you should be here, Blanche! There are people in New Orleans who kill vampires just became they are vampires!”

“I’m aware of that fact, and the last thing in the world I want to do is to endanger you or your husband or your home. I came here out of necessity, as you are my only living relative in the world.”

“When you go out at night, have you been killing people and drinking their blood?”

“Oh, no! Somebody else does the killing.”

“The friends you mentioned.”

“Yes.”

“And what happened to Alessandro, the man who made you a vampire?”

“He had to go away and leave me. He told me from the very beginning that it had to be so.”

“Where did he go?”

“He wouldn’t tell me.”

“Is he dead?”

“We’re all dead, dear. Even you. Even Stanley.”

“Since you speak Stanley’s name, I have to tell you that he’ll be back from his business trip tomorrow. He won’t be happy to hear there’s a vampire living in his house. He’s very traditional.”

“He doesn’t have to know I’m a vampire, does he?”

“How can he not know, with you gone all night and sleeping all day and never coming to the table and eating?”

“If there’s anything in the world I know, darling, it’s men. I can keep your precious Stanley from knowing about me.”

“I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, Blanche, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to leave before Stanley comes back! I have about seventy dollars in the house and you’re welcome to every cent of it.”

“That’s kind of you, precious, but I don’t think seventy dollars would get me very far. If you’ll just leave Stanley to me, I’m sure I’ll have him eating out of my hand in no time.”

“I’m afraid you don’t know Stanley.”

“Only trust me, dearest! That’s all I ask.”

Stella prepared a special dinner for Stanley’s homecoming. Blanche took a long bath and put on one of her most alluring dresses. She spent a lot of time at the dressing table fixing her hair and getting her makeup just right. She didn’t want to scare Stanley out his wits the very first time she met him.

Blanche had a picture in her mind of what Stanley would look like and she wasn’t far off. He was rather on the short side, muscular, attractive in a crude way. Earthy was the word she might use to describe him. She had known his type before. One wouldn’t be able to discuss books and music with him, but the important thing was to strike the right tone. Let him know you’re on his side and he’ll be on yours.

After the initial pleasantries were dispensed with, they sat down at the  table for dinner.

“How do you like our little home?” Stanley asked Blanche.

“It’s very cozy,” she said, “but different from what I’m used to.”

“That’s right. You’re used to luxury and a big fancy house with lots of rooms and lots of servants to do all the things you don’t want to do yourself.”

“That wasn’t quite what I meant.”

“Well, we don’t have any servants. I work my ass into the ground to make a living for my wife and myself and my wife does all the work around the house, all the cooking and cleaning and anything else that needs to be done.”

“My goodness, Stanley!” Blanche said. “You don’t need to sound so defensive! I admire you, believe me I do! We all have our own struggles, no matter what station we’re born to in life. I would never look down on you!”

“And while we’re on the subject,” Stanley said. “I’d like to ask you a few questions about that big fancy house of yours with its many rooms and its many servants. How much of that whole layout is my wife entitled to as her share?”

“Stanley,” Stella said, “we don’t have to talk about that now. Blanche is here for a visit and we want to make everything as pleasant for her as we can.”

“Oh, so that’s the way it is, is it? I’m not supposed to mention anything to poor Blanche about what should rightfully belong to me and mine?”

“Of course, you can mention it, if you want to,” Blanche said weakly.

“In the state of Louisiana, we have what is known as the Napoleonic Code. It states that anything belonging to the wife also belongs to the husband, and vice versa.”

“I believe I’ve heard of that,” Blanche said.

“You’re being boorish, Stanley,” Stella said.

“I’m being what? What did you just say to me?”

“It’s just that Blanche has been terribly upset with things that have been going on in her life recently.”

“What things?”

“You might as well tell him, Stella,” Blanche said. “He has to know some time.”

“Tell me what?”

“The home place is lost,” Stella said. “There’s nothing left.”

“Lost? How?”

“Everything was sold to satisfy old debts,” Blanche said. “Every stick of furniture. All the family heirlooms. All of mother’s silver and antique china. Everything. There’s nothing left of the house, the grounds, or the family fortune.”

He slammed his fist down on the table. “Is this the crap you’ve been feeding my wife?”

“It’s all true. I have papers in my trunk of the various transactions. I can show them to you after dinner if you’d like to see them. If it would prove anything.”

“You may fool her, but you will not fool me! I know what you people are like. You think we’re stupid because we work for a living.”

“Oh, Stanley!” Stella said. “That’s carrying things too far! Blanche has always made her own living ever since college.”

“How is it that she went to college and you didn’t?”

“That’s getting off the subject. Could we please talk about something a little more pleasant? How was your trip?”

“It was bad, that’s how it was! When a man comes home, he wants to be able to relax in his own home and not have a couple of magpies saying things in his face that don’t make any sense.”

“I’d be happy to explain anything that isn’t clear,” Blanche said.

He noticed then that Blanche wasn’t eating but was only holding a half-filled glass of wine in her hand.

“What’s the matter with her?” he asked Stella. “Isn’t our food good enough for her?”

“She has an unsettled stomach, that’s all. She thought it best if she doesn’t eat anything just yet.”

“Our food isn’t fancy enough for her,” he said.

“Now, Stanley, dear,” Blanche said flirtatiously. “There is a reason why I’m not eating, but it isn’t what you think.”

“What is the reason, then?”

“Shall I tell him, Stella?”

“I don’t think now is a good time.”

“Tell me what?”

“Well, the truth is, Stanley, I have become a vampire.”

“You have become a what?”

“I don’t eat what you eat because I’m a vampire.”

“I don’t think it’s right to just blurt it out that way,” Stella said helplessly.

“Oh, so you’re a vampire?” he said. “Why didn’t you say so?”

“Please, let’s not have a row,” Stella said.

“I thought it only fair to tell you since I’m living in your home.”

“Well, not for long, you’re not!”

“Stanley, we can’t just put her out on the street!” Stella said.

“There are people in this town who consider vampires the lowest form of animal life,” he said, “and I tend to agree.”

“You have to remember she’s family!” Stella said.

“Well, she’s not my family. I can grab her by the throat and throw her out the same as if she was a bag of garbage!”

“Well, that isn’t very nice!” Blanche said. “I was trying to be honest with you and put all my cards on the table.”

“Here are the cards that are on the table, Blanche!” he said. “You have about five minutes to get out of my house!”

“Stanley, you’re not throwing her out!” Stella said.

He clenched his jaw and pointed his finger. “Are you a vampire, too?” he asked.

“Of course not!”

“It’s all right, Stella,” Blanche said calmly. “I’ll go. But I could use that seventy dollars, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course, darling. You can have anything that’s mine.”

Stella pushed herself back from the table and went into the bedroom to get the money. When she returned, Blanche and Stanley were standing beside the table, grappling. Stanley had his hand around Blanche’s diamond necklace and was trying to pull it off. Blanche was holding him off the best she could but was no match for his muscular strength. When she tried to claw his face, he stayed just out of her reach.

Finally the necklace came free and Stanley let go of her. When she fell against the table, her hand found its way to a large serrated knife used for cutting meat. As he was holding the diamond necklace up to the light to get a better look, she sliced across his throat, severing the jugular.

He put his hands up to his neck and the blood poured from between his fingers. He teetered, trying to maintain his balance, and fell heavily to the floor.

“Stanley!” Stella screamed.

“I’m so sorry,” Blanche said, “but I was only defending myself.”

Stella knelt beside Stanley on the blood-soaked rug. “We’ve got to get him some help! Get an ambulance!”

“I’m afraid it’s no use,” Blanche said. “He’s already lost enough blood that he’ll never recover. Just a few more breaths and it’ll all be over.”

“You killed Stanley!” Stella said. “You deliberately killed Stanley!”

“What’s done is done,” Blanche said. “The important thing now is to keep our heads and decide on the best course of action.”

“I’m going to call the police!”

“No, you can’t do that! I’m all you have now. We must stick together on this. We’ve got to make this look like a vampire attack, or you’ll be implicated in poor Stanley’s death.”

“No, I’m going tell the truth! I’m not going to lie about a thing like this.”

“Now listen to me! You go pack a bag and I’ll do what needs to be done here.”

“What are you saying?”

“We can’t help Stanley now. We must think of ourselves.”

Stella went into the bedroom mechanically and began talking things out of the closet and out of drawers and putting them into a suitcase on the bed, making little moaning sounds.

On her knees beside Stanley’s body, Blanche moved his hands away from his throat and she began lapping up his blood, finding it the best and most delicious-tasting she had yet encountered. It was life-giving. It was the sun, the moon and the stars.

She bit into his neck, not to release more blood, but to make it look as if he had been killed by a vampire. When she had drunk her fill, she felt fortified, better than she had ever felt before in her life.

Taking one last look at his face, she pulled the tablecloth off the table and the coverlet off the couch and covered him up so that Stella wouldn’t have to see him in his depleted state.

Stella came out of the bedroom carrying her suitcase. When she saw Blanche covered with Stanley’s blood, she shrank and covered her face with her hands. “How could such an awful thing happen?” she asked.

“Just give me a few minutes to clean myself up,” Blanche said, “and we’ll leave this house or horror.”

“We can’t just leave him here like this!”

“We’ll leave the front door unlocked. The neighbors will suspect something wrong and will find him soon enough.”

“And what will they think when they find I’m gone?”

“They’ll look for you for a while and when they don’t find you, they’ll think the vampires have carried you off.”

“Vampires! Ugh! I wish I had never heard that word!”

Blanche went into her room and cleaned herself up and changed her clothes while Stella sat on the couch and sobbed and shuddered. In fifteen minutes they were ready to go.

They took a cab to the train station. When they were seated on the crowded train headed north, Stella sat and stared at the seat back in front of her. All the tears seemed to have been wrenched out of her.

Blanche took her hand and said, “I will never stop regretting what happened, and I will spend the rest of your life making it up to you.”

“In a couple of weeks we would have celebrated our first wedding anniversary.”

“I know you’ve had a terrible shock, dear, but soon you will begin to see that what happened is for the best. Stanley would never have made you happy because he just wasn’t the right kind of man for you. After a couple of years, he would have made you miserable and you would have had no other choice but to get away from him.”

Stella pulled her hand away. “How can you say such terrible things about Stanley with him lying on the floor of our dining room with all of his blood drained away.”

“I know, dear. Try not to think about it.”

“And on top of everything else I’m going to have a baby. Stanley’s baby. I just found it out. I hadn’t even told him yet.”

“Oh, darling! Is it true?”

“Yes, it’s true, and I hate it for Stanley’s sake. He wanted a baby, but we weren’t sure if we were ready yet or not.”

“Oh, Stella. That is wonderful news! I’m so happy for you!”

“Well, I’m just not feeling very happy right now.”

“Oh, I hope it’s a boy! We’ll raise him together, just the two of us and we’ll spoil him within an inch of his little life.”

“And what do I say when people ask me where my husband is?”

“You just tell them he died before his time and you’re a young widow.”

“I don’t know, Blanche. I think I’ll just rather jump in front of this train and let it smash me flat.”

“Oh, Stella, don’t talk that way! Everything is going to work out fine. We have such good times ahead of us. You’ll see.”

“I won’t be expected to become a vampire, will I?” Stella asked.

“Of course not, dear, but we don’t have to talk about it now.”

“And the baby?”

“Nobody will ever harm a hair on his head. I promise.”

“There’s a lot about vampires I just don’t know.” Stella said. “I never expected to have one in my family”

“I know, dear. Just don’t think about it now.”

Blanche cradled Stella’s head against her shoulder and with the gentle rocking of the train, Stella soon went to sleep, utterly exhausted from all that had occurred.

Blanche smiled her secret smile and felt benevolent toward all the other passengers on the train. Things had worked out so well. Stella would get over Stanley soon enough. She was still young and pretty, or she would be with a little fashion advice and the right kind of makeup and hairstyle. Men would be drawn to her. Young, handsome, virile men with intellect and refinement. Men with hot, rich blood, even more delicious than Stanley’s. What a time they were going to have!

Copyright © 2023 by Allen Kopp