Drayton, the Taker (A Drayton Short Story)

by Tony Bertauski

Overview

Drayton once believed he was a vampire. He doesn't know what he is. Or why he has lived for thousands of years. He takes not his victim's blood but the silky essence of their soul during their last breath. Often mistaken for the Angel of Death, his victims sometimes ask for forgiveness. Sometimes he delivers.

After all, he is not without sin. 

Drayton finds Andrew Drummond dying on the roadside. He absorbs the last of his life, but not before Andrew demands vengeance. In those last moments, Drayton understands what Andrew desires. He sees all of his hardships, the crosses he has been forced bear. Drayton will find the source of his suffering. He will show his transgressor Andrew's pain. He will show him the depth and taste of true suffering.

INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR

Did you ever think you'd write about vampires?Nope. Drayton came out of nowhere when I was at a community theatre production of Dracula. I figured that an immortal vampire would more likely become compassionate and wise as he grew older. Twilight put a different spin on the vampire genre, much different than Nosferatu. Drayton's nothing like Twilight. Or Nosferatu.

What's a downside to writing a character similar that's similar to you? Predictable. Boring. If every book I write is similar, it ceases to surprise the reader. That's what I loved about Drayton, he was just the opposite of me. This paranormal being was fearless not out of bravado but the wisdom brought about by countless years of immortality. I called him a vampire because it was the word that fit him the best in his early years, but he became something much for that. Whatever a vampire becomes after the gore and bloodsucking, sort of like the caterpillar and butterfly. 

Do your characters ever resemble you in your beliefs?Some do. But there are others that are just fun to go the other way, especially antagonists. I do find it interesting, even courageous, when authors can write very demented, sick and twisted antagonists. It's very revealing to show the world what's bouncing around in your head.

What do you think is the most important aspect of writing a character?Letting him or her grow in my head. It's when I'm driving to work, taking a shower, or lying in bed that they come to life. It's also one of the most gratifying elements of writing. I've enjoyed letting this vampire walk through my mind, leaving his short stories behind. 

Product Details

BN ID:	2940152162899
Publisher:	DeadPixel Publications
Publication date:	06/03/2015
Series:	Drayton Chronicles , #1
Sold by:	Draft2Digital
Format:	eBook
File size:	183 KB

About the Author

I grew up in the Midwest where the land is flat and the corn is tall. The winters are bleak and cold. I hated winters.

I always wanted to write. But writing was hard. And I wasn’t very disciplined. The cold had nothing to do with that, but it didn’t help. That changed in grad school.

After several attempts at a proposal,  my major advisor was losing money on red ink and advised me to figure it out. Somehow, I did.

After grad school, my wife and my two very little children moved to the South in Charleston, South Carolina where the winters are spring and the summers are a sauna (cliche but dead accurate). That’s when I started teaching and writing articles for trade magazines. I eventually published two textbooks on landscape design. I then transitioned to writing a column for the Post and Courier. They were all great gigs, but they weren’t fiction.

That was a few years later.

My daughter started reading before she could read, pretending she knew the words in books she propped on her lap. My son was a different story. In an attempt to change that, I began writing a story with him. We made up a character, gave him a name, and something to do. As with much of parenting, it did not go as planned. But the character got stuck in my head.

He wanted out.

A few years later, Socket Greeny was born. It was a science fiction trilogy that was gritty and thoughtful. That was 2005.

I have been practicing Zen since I was 23 years old. A daily meditator, I wanted to instill something meaningful in my stories that appeals to a young adult crowd as well as adult. I hadn’t planned to write fiction, didn’t even know if I had anymore stories in me after Socket Greeny.

Turns out I did.