v Soucouyant
( also known in Jamaica as Ol' Higue )
This is our vampire. She is generally an old woman who travels by night in a ball of fire, leaving her skin behind her, to suck the blood of her sleeping victims. You can tell you've been bitten by a soucouyant if you see two little bite marks side by side, anywhere on your body in the morning. Of course it could just have been two mosquitoes biting you in tandem. And doing so again the next night. Believe what you wish. I am not sure how one becomes a soucouyant, but I do remember tales of a midnight ritual around a silk cotton tree that scared the living daylights out of me when I was little.
Ways to kill a Soucouyant
vTraditionally, you must throw a handful of salt or rice or other small grains by your door or window. That way she won't be able to leave until she has counted every last grain. Hopefully, you can keep there until the sun comes up and she's caught without her skin.vOr you can beat her with a big stick when you encounter the ball of fire. The next day the bruised and battered old lady down the road is revealed as the local soucouyant.
vOf course if you already know who she is, the task is simpler. After she leaves her house on her nightly outings, you take her skin and rub the inside liberally with salt and pepper. Then when she returns and dons her skin, she'll die writhing in agony.
Well, there is always the old crucifix to protect yourself from all evil, but I'm Muslim, so I hardly think I'm going to trust in that one. However, if you are Christian feel free to rely on this.
If you are interested in other vampire creatures, here's a link to check.. InterVamp's Vampires of the World
