Page 2 of The Diary of the Vam'pir Jacques

Kaltons were most certainly not like the ancient Egyptians, who thought themselves a superior people. The Egyptians were humans who mastered the art of enslavement. Kaltons had developed beyond that, fought a war or two, decided we were not fond of the practice, and grew into the race I’m about to acquaint you with.

Kaltos was roughly twice the size of today’s Great Britain, only we were squarer in shape. Around nine hundred thousand people lived in Kaltos. We didn’t have towns or cities; we had four provinces. Quite simply, they were called North, South, East, and West.I said we were enlightened, not imaginative!

Each family owned acres—from the peak of a high hill, the vast expanse of land visible in all directions belonged to you.

The land was used for different things, for example meat or fruit farming. Most individuals would specialise in a subject. Some had theatres on theirs, or others would have huge greatswimming pools, where the community would meet up late on a hot summer night.

No hunger, crime, or temptation existed; we all had equal access to everything. There was certainly no jealously which had led the wars in our history. Now, everyone could have the same. Whether they desired it or not was a different story.

For example, my parent’s home was lavishly decorated and extremely comfortable, and yet one of our neighbours was spartan. It simply depended on a person’s taste.

This life sounds idyllic, but I hear you thinking it was boring. I can ensure you it was not. We hunted or swam in the sea, although we did have to be careful, as there were several dangerous creatures that dwelled in the depths.

There were no different religions. We all believed in God, called the Creator. We didn’t believe in the Devil. Kaltons wouldn’t be sent to any underworld for being evil.

When we died, we went to a different level of existence. The bottom rung was called Hell. Our Hell was nothing like the modern one. People believed it was our temporary home before being reborn.

Each time we were reborn, we managed to climb to a higher plane until we reached the top where the Creator was. Once there, we stayed and weren’t reincarnated again. The reason we kept returning was so we could learn the lessons that needed learning. It was an easy religion to believe in.

Kaltos didn’t have a currency. We traded with each other. Meat ranchers bartered their wares for fruit. Fruit farmers exchanged theirs for vegetables, and so on. Potters swapped with gold or silversmiths. Builder with jewellers, for example, and we all spoke one language.

No ruler existed; instead, a ten-member publicly elected council governed free from power struggles. Land disputes, or crime, or jealous fights… simply didn’t exist.

Indeed, I often wondered what the council was there for. I’d often suppose they were there to keep life wonderful, which they had… until I turned twenty-five. But I’ll come to that later.

Our clothing resembled Roman garb. In fact, it was Kaltons who influenced Rome’s fashion sense. The men dressed in a tunic that fell to mid-thigh. There was no set colour, but most chose white or another bright shade. The tunics were sleeveless and fastened on our shoulders with buttons.

If we wished, we could undo these and allow the top part to fall (showing off well-defined chests). Those tunics appeared similar to a double-tiered skirt. We wore leather boots that came to about the middle of our calf. Everyone had a strong belt, which held a knife, that was called a ‘Carma’. The blade was kept well-honed because you never knew when you would need it to defend yourself.

Dangerous creatures roamed the land, not too many, but enough that you needed to carry a weapon. We all learned how to protect ourselves from an early age. Many children were taken and eaten in the past. Lessons were learned quickly around defence.

On our right bicep, we wore a coloured leather strap to show who we were. Blue for a fisherman, green for a fruit farmer, etcetera. When a band specialised a trade such as potato farming, then the band would often have a badge of the product on. If someone grew several items, then they would all be on it.

We knew almost everyone in our immediate area. When we went travelling, our bands would identify us to a stranger.

The women wore tunics similar to ours, although they were of varying length. It depended on what the woman wished to wear. Again, there was no set colour.

Kaltons didn’t need winter clothes, as there was no winter. Kaltos had spring, summer, and autumn, but not a winter likeyou know. Winter was a mild autumn, colder than spring, but never falling below ten degrees.

The women wore a gold or silver belt and a headband too. Actually, now that I think back, so did the men, as our hair would fall to our shoulders. A woman could have her hair whatever length she chose, and it was fairly common to see it reach a woman’s waist. Hair this long would usually be tied back in a ponytail, great for grabbing on to or pulling when a girl upset your boyish pride.

The women would also carry Carma’s and were just as skilled as using them as the men. Kaltons did have weapons like modern guns, but they were mainly used for shooting creatures at sea. Huge mammals would attack our ships. They were the size of today’s blue whales, but boy, did they have a mouthful of teeth. We never hunted those; it was too dangerous.

We called them the Kraken; oh yes, that Greek legend was based on truth. Although, when Greece stole the myth, the Kraken had been extinct for two thousand years.

My childhoodwasidyllic. I’d a brother and three sisters. I was the youngest and always the one getting into trouble. My parents were both goldsmiths. I was very proud of them; they were incredibly talented. Naturally, I would never have dreamed of telling them that at the time.

Our home was a huge, sprawling villa. Each child had our own sleeping quarters, and, in addition, there were four extra rooms for guests. The bedrooms had their own bathroom with a deep sunken bath to one side, the toilet to another, and there was also a shower for quickness. Eons ago, my people had learned to plumb water from the great lakes and the sea. The piping was all underground, so it didn’t spoil our beautiful countryside.

There was a large kitchen that contained its own oven for baking bread. A separate stove for cooking meat and an extraon behalf of vegetables for meals like stews and soups. It had two tables, one for meat and the second was for preparing other foods. There was also a huge refrigerator and freezer.Yes, we had electricity, you have just rediscovered it, solar power!

Kaltos was technically advanced. We had things you’ve never heard of and have yet to discover. For example, our medical library and instruments were far superior to today’s. We did not need to cut through a person’s skin to cure them. Kaltons had equipment that would scan an individual’s body to pick up what was wrong with them and then correct the tumour, cancer, or whatever. (Although cancer was extremely rare, we’d nearly wiped it out.)

Kaltos did not have television. We didn’t need it; we had plenty to do. Kaltos did have radio, and it played music like today’s pop and classical. Occasionally, we had broadcasts of plays and acts, even concerts.

There wasn’t any needless jabbering on it like the D.J.s that pollute today’s airwaves.

Sometimes, late in the night, when I have fed, I to listen to music and find myself rapidly growing annoyed with those who love the sound of their voices.

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