Excerpt: The Last Vampire

“This is all very difficult to believe. Everything you’ve told me makes no sense from a medical standpoint. Despite the claims in many quarters there’s no way to actually reduce or slow down the aging process. And this treatment you’ve mentioned. There’s nothing even remotely like it anywhere in medical science.

“As I said I’ve never published anything about the treatment. In fact, outside of the people in this household no one knows about it. So it’s not surprising that no one has ever heard about it.”

“But why keep it a secret? Something that can do the things this treatment can do would be a great boon to the medical community and the world at large. Your philanthropic endeavors are widely known. Why keep a benefit like this a secret?”

“Because it wouldn’t be possible to mass produce it. The ingredients are extremely rare. We would never be able to produce enough of it to satisfy the need. You see the treatment is a serum. The ingredients are mixed together in precise proportions. The process is somewhat complicated.”

“But surely there’s some way to produce the components synthetically. Most compounds we use today can be reproduced synthetically. It should be a simple matter to figure out how produce it in a lab.”

“All but one. Most of the rest of the ingredients can be produced in a lab. In fact I’ve found that many of the synthetic ones actually work much better than natural ones. But try as I might there’s one ingredient that I’ve never been able to reproduce synthetically. And unfortunately that ingredient is the most important one. It’s the catalyst for the entire serum.”

“Well, you have told me you’re not a trained medical specialist. There are many very qualified chemists in the world who might be able to produce it. All you have to do is provide a sample of the original compound and have it analyzed. I can do it myself in the lab with the equipment you’ve provided. And I know several good researchers who can figure out a way to reproduce it.”

“No, I’m afraid that’s not possible. You see the main ingredient is my own blood. Science has never even been able to synthesize normal human blood. There’s no way they’d be able to synthesize my . . . unique blood.”

“The enzyme/protein. It’s from your blood. That’s why no one has ever identified it before. So the blood sample I found it in. That was actually some blood that had your serum in it. That’s why I found it in there and nowhere else.”

“That’s right. That particular sample came from Jenny. You asked for a blood sample from someone with Alzheimer’s. I figures since Jenny h ad that disorder it would work nicely. But it appears that the serum is not working as well as before so the Alzheimer’s is beginning to creep through. That’s what happens. Once the serum begins to wear off whatever the patient is suffering from begins to become active again, usually the most advanced ailment becoming active first.”

“Once we’ve identified the enzyme/protein and learn how it works it’s only a matter of time before we are able to duplicate it. When that happens it should be a simple matter to synthesize it in a lab.”

“Which is never going to happen. I’ve tried for longer than you can imagine to synthesize it. I’ve never even come close. And before you say I have no professional medical training, you’d be right about that. But I do have training. Once upon a time I was a rather successful alchemist.”

“Don’t you mean chemist? Alchemy hasn’t been practiced for centuries. It was eventually replaced with modern day chemistry.”

“No, I mean alchemy. You are correct. Alchemy was replaced with the more scientific method of chemistry centuries ago. But I was trained in the art of alchemy. It wasn’t very difficult make the transition. I had plenty of time.”

“I don’t understand. Who practices alchemy anymore?”

“There are a few. But they are nothing like the alchemist who practiced when it was the accepted art. You see, Brin, you know me as Draagard Scott. That’s the name I’ve gone by for a very long time. But it’s not the name I was born with. I’ve had to reinvent myself over the years. To keep my secret from being discovered.”

“Your secret? What secret?”

“Carter did say we should tell you the truth. That means the entire truth. And what I’m about to tell you is going to be very hard for you to believe or accept. But to make you understand exactly what’s been going on here it’s something you have to know. As I said, Draagard Scott is not my given name, as they say. I haven’t gone by my given name for quite some time.”

“So what is your given name?”

“I was born Thabit Tumaini Nuru.”

“That sounds Eqyptian. I took a course during college that involved Eqyptian culture. But that would have been a name from ancient Eqypt.”

“And you would be correct. It means ‘strong hope born during the day’. It was my parents desire that I grow up to be very successful. We were very poor and they wanted to make sure I had every possible advantage. They could not possibly foreseen just how success I would eventually become.”

“Well that’s certainly true. You’re one of the richest men in the world. That’s certainly successful. But I don’t understand. Why would your parents name you an ancient Egyptian name?”

“Because at the time it was quite commonplace. When I was born a name was meant to convey more than simple identity. It was believed that a name could actually encapsulate an individual’s essence. Parents believed that the proper name could actual guide their child’s destiny. As I said, my parents wanted to make sure I became very successful.”

“I didn’t know there were even cultures that did that anymore.”

“Most don’t. But in my day it was extremely common. People were much more superstitious in those days. You see, Brin. I was born in what is now northern Egypt. My home was a very small farming village. And while I don’t know the exact day of my birth I can tell you that the year was 3247 B. C.”

“That’s not possible. That would make you over 5,000 years old.”

“You’ve seen what the enzyme/protein can do for Jenny and Clinton. It’s extended their lives well beyond what’s considered normal. And they have only a diluted version of it. The version you discovered. The one in my system is at full strength which greatly increases my lifespan considerably.”

“Assuming what you’ve told me about them is true,” said Brin. “Which I’m not conceding it is. And even if Jenny is 140 years old, while such extended life spans are uncommon they aren’t unheard of. But to expect me to believe that you’re over 5,000 years old? That’s pushing it to say the least.”

“Frankly I understand your skepticism. I’ve encountered it before. From others I’ve told my secret to. But it’s quite true, I assure you. And I’m not deluded. There’s a reason I’ve lived for so long. That’s the reason I mentioned that you would find difficult to accept. I’ve lived for so long, Brin, because I’m not human. I’m what you would call a vampire.”