On the third Sunday of every month.
My local rotary club holds markets to help the community.
So come on down and have a look around.
Something will surely catch your eye.
There is a new stall holder this year.
He has set up his wares right out the back.
And he knows that for some he will soon become the main attraction.
Like moths to a flame they will be attracted to his aura.
He sells clothes that are trendy funky and current.
A real killer.
The owner of the stall is a man who goes by the name of Albion Lestrange.
He is really old and could easily pass as an Egyptian mummy.
His skin is mottled with age spots and he smells like death warmed up.
But when he smiles people don’t seem to notice.
All they see is a lonely old man trying to make some money on the side.
But Albion Lestrange is a completely different kettle of fish.
He will look you right in the eye as he steals your last breath.
He has set up his stall on the edge of Lake Macquarie.
And has surrounded himself with with racks of his killer apparel.
Than Albion sits back and relaxes while he waits for his next victim to approach.
Like a human spider with an invisible web.
Kim Watkins is feeling a little bit down.
Her school dance is being held on Saturday night and she has got nothing to wear.
Maybe a walk around the lake will help to cheer her up ?
She is also hoping to find something at the markets.
A pair of ear rings would be nice.
But what she really wants is a little black dress.
Albion estrange has been sitting on his easy chair all day.
And he isn’t in a very good mood.
He has sold most of his stock but he is still waiting for that special someone to
approach.
He is thinking about packing up and hitting the road.
When from the corner of his eye he notices a teenage girl getting close.
She is still 500 metres away but Albion knows that she is the one.
And he knows exactly what she wants to buy.
So he goes to the back of his van and grabs a little black dress that he has made especially for this occasion.
He puts a reptilian smile on his face and waits.
Kim Watkins has wandered from stall to stall and nothing has really caught her eye.
Than she notices a van parked way out the back.
Oh well, there is nothing to lose so walks over to have a look.
And when she gets a bit closer she cant believe her eyes.
Because right there front and centre is just what she needs a little black dress.
This must be her lucky day.
Albion Lestrange stands up when the girl reaches his stall.
And asks her what is she looking for?
Even though he already knows.
Kim has that little black hands in her hand and she asks Albion where she can try it on?
Albion tells her that he hasn’t a change room.
But Kim isn’t really listening she has what she wants.
She hands over the money and gets out of there.
As she walks away she has one last look over her shoulder.
That old guy was really creepy and he smelt like the living dead.
She walks away with a feeling of disgust,but she is happy.
Now she can go to the school dance.
Albion Lestrange has no need to follow the girl.
He knows exactly where she lives.
All he has to do is wait for that girl to try that dress on and he will steal that smile right off her face.
He will steal her very existence.
Albion has been stealing smiles and lives for a very long time.
He was born in Bulgaria in the year 1796 to a loving mother but a very abusive father.
And when he was three years old his father sensing that there was something wrong with his son.
Put him into a burlap sack and threw him in the river.
But lucky for Albion a band of gypsies were camping on the edge of the river.
They saw the sack floating by and pulled it into shore.
And when they untied the sack were surprised to see a small child inside.
They all thought they he was the second coming of Christ.
So they wrapped him in a sacred gown and bowed in his presence.
When Albion was twenty one he was taken to the leader of the gypsies who was laying
on her death bed.
She beckoned Albion forward and blessed him with Holy water.
The elder pointed towards the corner of the room where a crystal ball sat on a velvet cloth.
She told Albion that the crystal ball was now his.
He is to take that ball and be a visionary for the people.
So Albion took that crystal ball and he travelled the world gazing into its aura.
But when Albion gazed into the ball he didn’t see visions of good he saw visions of hell.
As he travels he takes the money from the foolhardy and tells exactly what they want to hear.
But as always Albion is beginning to show his age.
His skin is as thin as parchment paper and he smells like the living dead.
But not bad for a human over 220 years of age.
And Albion has no plans to die just yet so once again he gazes into that crystal ball.
He sees visions of multi coloured threads.
Those threads dance around in Albion’s mind and a memory forms.
He remembers when he was growing up the gypsy elder telling him about magical
threads that could be woven together to kill.
He could kill without leaving a thread of evidence behind.
Albion is almost spent.
He has gazed so deep into that crystal ball that he has used up all of his reserve energy.
He is now nothing more than skin and bone.
But at that moment his crystal ball begins to glow.
Albion drags himself over to it and smiles with glee.
A young women is approaching his front door,she is the one.
He casually arranges the apparel around the room and waits for his life blood to knock.
And she does.
He shows the girl inside and she looks a little apprehensive.
At 221 years of age Albion knows that he isn;t exactly looking his best.
But he smiles at her and guides her toward the viewing room.
Albion gazes into the crystal ball and whispers the words that the women is craving.
And he notices that her eyes keep drifting towards a sweater draped over a chair.
Made with a combination of green and black magical threads the sweater is irresistable.
So after the reading Albion tells the lady to take the sweater with his blessings.
An hour later the lady gets home and runs into her bedroom.
She cant wait to try the sweater on.
Soon she is standing in front of the mirror she is so happy the sweater is a perfect fit.
It is like it was made for her.
Albion is gazing into his crystal ball watching as the lady dances around in delight.
And when she looks into the mirror once more.
Their eyes meet.
Albion can see the lady screaming and he gazes even deeper.
Soon the scream turns to horror as the sweater starts to constrict.
The lady panics as she tries to get the sweater off.
But it squeezes and squeezes until she takes her final breath.
Albion places his mouth onto his crystal ball.
And as the last breath leaves the Ladies body it enters Albion’s .
And it gives him a new lease on life.
Albion could now pass as your average 45 year old man.
It has been over a month since the girl visited his stall to buy that little black dress.
And still she hasn’t tried it on.
Albion is getting frustrated he knows that he want stay young much longer.
He needs fresh blood and he needs it now.
Once again he gazes into his crystal ball.
Kim Watkins the girl who bought the little black dress is upset.
She didn’t go to the school dance because her date stood her up so she threw the little
black dress into her closet without trying it on.
Now she is laying in bed having a very strange dream.
She is dreaming about that creepy foul smelling old man who sold her the dress.
He is telling her to visit him tomorrow morning and she is to wear that black dress.
The following morning Kim is feeling groggy like she is hungover.
And she finds herself pulling on her once favourite dress.
Then boarding a bus to the other side of town.
She gets off outside a run down house and walks towards it.
And before she can knock on the door the creepy old man opens it.
And beckons her inside.
Kim is surprised to find herself in a room with a crystal ball sitting on a table.
Albion sits her down opposite him and gazes into that ball.
Than he reaches across and starts to caress her hair and guides her mouth towards the ball.
When Kim’s mouth touches the crystal ball her body goes into a series of jerks and spasms
Albion puts his mouth on the other side of the ball and starts to suck the life from the girl.
Albion is in a state of bliss as the girls life blood enters his system.
He is once again a younger version of himself so he goes into the lounge and pours himself a large brandy to celebrate.
And he soon falls asleep with a smile of gratitude on his face.
When he awakes a few hours later he goes to check on the girls body.
And is surprised to see that she is still breathing.
So he starts to choke the girl to kill her once and for all.
But when he does he inadvertedly touches the threads on the little black dress.
And they weave and intermingle with his own clothing and they pull tight.
Albion reaches back towards his crystal ball to try and summon some help.
But he loses balance and knocks the ball to the floor.
Where it shatters into a thousand pieces.
And when it does his connection to the gypsies and the girl are broken.
He falls to the ground and lands beside Kim on the carpet.
Where they lay mouth to mouth.
Albion’s body starts to break down and decompose.
His skin splits and his internal organs start to rot.
And as his last breath leaves his body it enters Kim’s mouth and kick starts her heart.
She push’es the corpse of the creepy old fuck aside and gets to her feet.
As she stands the little black dress falls from her body and covers Albion Lestrange
like a burial shroud.
Kim runs into the bathroom hoping to find a bath robe to wear.
And she is in luck.
She slips into a pair of womens shoes and gets the fuck out of there.
She doesn’t know what in the fuck just happened.
And she cant get out of the house fast enough.
But when steps onto the door mat a shard from the crystal ball gets embedded
into her shoe.
It sparkles like a diamond and is taken home by its new owner.
THE END
