The year was 1755 in England. It was a time of uncertainty and dread for the common person. Our story takes place in a small and peaceful village called Evergreen. It was blessed with a comfortable population of three hundred. Its people were oblivious to the carnage that would befall them in the days to come.
One night two men entered the village’s graveyard after everyone else had turned in for the day. Their objective was to steal the jewelry of the mayor’s late deceased mother in the hopes of selling it to turn a profit. Armed with a couple of shovels and a lantern, the two men made their way through the graveyard shining the lantern at every tombstone they passed. Finally they discovered the tombstone labeled Mary Smith.
A shade of enthusiasm washed over the two men as they eagerly began to dig up the coffin. However, their excitement would soon be replaced with confusion when they witnessed that the coffin had been sealed inside a metal cage. Nonetheless they were determined to obtain the jewelry. With numerous heavy blows from their shovel the lock broke and with a grin they opened the coffin of Mary Smith.
The smell of decayed flesh filled their nostrils and it almost brought them to their knees. Mary Smith was strangely dressed in nothing but a black dress and her face looked as if it had melted. The robbers examined her body and saw a beautiful golden necklace with a diamond in the middle shaped into a heart. The two men could hardly contain their excitement over the discovery of this treasure and one of the men carefully removed the necklace from the corpse. While he was examining the necklace to determine the potential value, his partner bashed his skull in with his shovel so that he wouldn’t have to share the spoils of the treasure. With a satisfied look the second robber took the necklace from his dead partner and began making his way back to Evergreen. The blood from the dead robber began to trickle on the corpse of Mary Smith and it started to reform into its former beauty. Soon it would be made whole and arise from the coffin.
The second robber had almost left the graveyard when he saw a beautiful and reborn Mary Smith dressed in black. Her hair was blood red and her eyes were as blue as the sky and her skin was pale but fair. He blinked and she appeared behind him. Before he could react she buried her teeth into his skin and sucked his blood before he could even scream. Mary reclaimed her necklace and put it back. She took a second to admire her work and then dragged her victim back to his partner. During this action she examined the other tombstones.
She arrived back at her grave and put the two dead men together. Her eyes then glowed bloodshot red and she turned the two robbers into her undead servants. Mary’s orders were for them to dig up as many as they could before the dawn of sunlight arrived. Eager to please, the pair managed to dig up thirty corpses. This pleased Mary and she turned the corpses into zombies as well. Knowing that morning was soon approaching, she ordered her horde to take shelter in the nearby forest. Mary and her minions were able to take refuge in the woods before morning.
Evergreen’s priest, Father Jacob, would notice the desecration on his way to pray for the deceased. He was horrified that so many kinfolk were disturbed from their eternal rest and that their bodies had disappeared. With his emotions in pieces, the priest made his way through Evergreen to inform the village of the disaster. The news would eventually make its way to the mayor John Smith while he was attending to his elderly father. John knew that this would cause an uproar in the village so, he made his way to the graveyard to keep the peace and to see the damage for himself. Upon his arrival John was swarmed with a mob of grieving villagers that witnessed the desecration of their deceased relatives for themselves. John assured them that they will have answers and that he would see to it that this problem was resolved.
With that the mob disbanded and returned to their homes. John now being alone surveyed the damage and would soon become heartbroken that this late mother Mary was as well gone. Not knowing what to do, John sought after the person that could give him guidance, his father Jack. When he arrived back home, John immediately went to his father and informed him of the situation. While John was explaining, he noticed the color draining from his father’s face as if it was dirt being washed by water. John took notice and asked his father what was wrong. Jack was hesitant to speak at first, but with John’s persistent asking he began to weep the story of his mother.
Twenty-five years ago, Mary had just given birth to John a week before and was ascending to her role as a mother. One day, while doing his mayorly duties, Jack saw a beautiful golden necklace with a diamond in the shape of a heart in the center. Without a second thought, Jack bought the necklace and surprised Mary with it that very night. Mary was ecstatic to receive such a beautiful gift and eagerly put it
on. However, once she did, she could not bring herself to remove it. Jack, thinking nothing of it, just shrugged it off and the couple retired for the night. He was woken up by blood-curdling screams from the neighbor’s house and Mary nowhere to be found.
Jack sprang out of bed and made his way outside and came face to face with a blood-soaked Mary carrying the dead neighbor. He was terrified as he saw Mary’s eyes glow red and her teeth razor sharp. She threw the corpse to the ground and told it to rise. Not wanting to see anymore, Jack raced back inside the house to retrieve a vial of holy water he received from church, and while Mary was occupied he threw it at her face. Mary began to scream as her face started to melt from the holy water and then she just collapsed lifeless onto the ground. Jack began to cry during this time of the story and was unable to continue. John embraced his father and said that he knew what needed to be done.
John quickly exited his home and began spreading the word that there was a vampire coming tonight and that she had the power to raise the dead. Sheer pain consumed the village and there was talk about abandoning Evergreen and fleeing. John explained that such a time had already passed and that the night was arriving shortly. John explained that they needed to fight if they wanted to live to see another
sunrise. He had a plan but he couldn’t do it himself. He enlisted fifty able-bodied men and began explaining his plan. The night had come once again and with it Mary Smith and her undead minions. However, they were met with the party of fifty men armed and ready for battle. Mary laughed at the pitiful defense and instructed her minions to tear the men apart.
The undead horde charged the small party and a battle soon followed with both sides not willing to relent. Mary, however, was so focused on the battle that she failed to see her son John hiding in one of the empty graves. With a surge of power, John jumped from the grave and with a powerful thrust, he buried a wooden stake into Mary’s heart, putting an end to her life and the undead horde. John held his dead
mother in his arms and said, “I’m sorry mother,” while removing the necklace from her neck.
The next day, he saw to it that every corpse was put back to rest.
