What would a vampire say to a Christian? In the tradition of Screwtape, I explore this question through the letter below.
To be honest, this idea came at the perfect time for me. Life has thrown me a few curveballs recently. I confess that I tend to dwell on my fears and regrets, which only ends in despair. As I wrote this letter, I found myself confronting my own dark thoughts with the light of my Savior's love.
My hope is that you will be encouraged, like I was. If you are in a critiquing mood, I accept feedback.
Post Tenebras Lux!
-ST
Children of the Light,
I am abhorred by your existence. You drip with a holy blood, shed by sacrifice. This blood covers your stains, a desecration of all that is earthly and natural. Any human would choose to devour a real apple rather than a wax apple; as you would reject wax fruit, I reject the holy blood you so cherish. Above all, I reject the source of this blood.
If I am unnatural, He is even more. He prefers giving over stealing, as if taking from another to feed yourself is not the highest pleasure! He would expel darkness rather than be shrouded by it. Worst of all, He rose from the grave in the most disgusting way imaginable. I shiver to think of how alive He was on that third day.
And you are just the same as He. You and I are exact opposites. Just as the day and night will forever dance around the globe, so we shall be eternally separate. You are a warm sun driving away every shadow. I am the gnawing wind in the bitter watches. You will never understand me and I will never be able to fathom you.
Even so, I cannot ignore our similarities. We both live forever after death -- though you have a distinct advantage over me because you need not fear Van Helsing's stake. We offer a path to immortality to others, that they may join us in eternity. Blood is life for both of us -- and here I have the advantage because His blood is inferior, as I have already stated. Additionally, we both have connections to the supernatural realm.
I have powers you could never hope to possess, however, I would gladly trade them for a taste of the power you have access to. Do not misunderstand; I have no wish to commune with Him, but He does tip the balance in your favor. Should you ever discover the strength that is within your grasp, well... . That is what fear is for, of course.
You bend so nicely to fear. You allow it to paralyze you, letting it eclipse your faith. Just ask that vermin Peter how fear can draw your eyes away from faith, even as you stand on the surface of the water. Yes, fear may be my only spiritual advantage, but it is an effective one.
Fear cripples. It weakens from the inside out, leaching away every noble intention. Little by little, over a lifetime, it blinds you to this one truth: possibility. Because your heart still beats, there is hope. Anything is possible.
I have no possibilities before me, no change to look forward to. My future is as dark as my present. So wonderfully dark! I am content with the monotony of sleeping and eating. I have no reason to fear because I have no hope. My only dread is that I may be discovered and ended, but that is a morbid expectation rather than fear. I will put off my doom as long as possible.
You will never know the peace that comes from being undead. I serve no one, except the lusts that drive me and give me purpose. You are enslaved by a more cruel master. He leaves you to wade through life alone. Well, He never really abandons you, but don't you often feel alone? I, on the other hand, embrace loneliness. I am unaffected by it and all other human emotions.
If your Savior really cared for you, wouldn't He rescue you from all your hardships? Wouldn't He make you more like me -- an uncaring and contented creature? Yet you continue to follow Him. You continue to believe that the journey of your life has some meaning and value, that your struggles will lead to something better. You trust Him.
This, Children of the Light, is what is wrong with all of you. Your faith has made you unfit for this earth. As a whole, you are deplorable. I wish you all the most horrendous death. I would see to it myself, but I cannot bear anything that has to do with His cross.
Vehemently,
A Child of the Night
