vampire fiction - snippet

Last November, for National Novel Writing Month, I started writing a vampire story set in Mexico. I had a lot of ideas, many of which made it to paper, but I burnt out rather quickly. I still have my notes and now and again I'll add a little more.

Today I asked for a writing prompt from a friend, a random word or phrase for me to play with. He gave me the word "squamous." Scale-like led me to demons, which led me to thoughts of Isabel, my ancient Mexican vampire.

Here are some notes added today:

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(Isabel is attacked in the city. It is a demon, clawed and hissing. It reeks of the ash and herb scent she picked up while visiting the shrine of the Virgin a few days earlier. They fight in the alleyways of Oaxaca City. It initially has the upper hand but she is victorious [at what price though?])

The creature’s skin, leathery and squamous, was covered in tribal images. Some were tattooed, others branded deep; images over images. On his arm a winged snake morphed into a cat breathing fire, while across his chest were angular trees with fish-like roots. All the figures strange and not quite earthly. What was this thing and why had it come to her valley?

She couldn’t leave it here in the alley. For all she knew it wasn’t truly dead. She had to move the body and burn it under the eyes of the Virgin. The strength of the magic surrounding the demon frightened her, so much so that she knew only the Basilica de la Soledad would do for destroying such a thing. With the little strength that remained to her, Isabel hoisted the corpse over her narrow shoulders. Shuffling through shadows she made her way to the church.

***

I'm now looking up images and descriptions of the Basilica de la Soledad. Fun, fun!