by Savill, Josh
“I can.” Jack’s reply was simple as he tried to hold back his views towards what he had been asked. It just didn’t feel right for some reason. He bit his lip and knuckled under preparing for what he had to do. An uneasy feeling lurked in the back of his mind.
That night the vampires feasted, as they did every night. They would not drink blood during the day, feeling no thirst for it, and would go about their daily business. Many of them had acquired quite a palate for fine wines and brandy. Once the night came however the hunger fell upon them and a lavish feast of blood was always set out in front of them by those who served them, be they slaves or worshipers, who blindly followed their vampire masters. At least until the day they too were fed upon, they didn’t expect this but vampires enjoy to play with their food.
The vampires gathered around the large dining table in the main hall with a look of lust in their eyes. The chancellor arrived and took his seat at the head of the table. He said a few words and the blood was brought in. Mugs of it filled the table and a chalice was served to each vampire. They drunk so much in a night and blood spilt over the table and up the walls. They were glutinous. Long gone were the days where vampires were thankful for even small droplets of blood this was an orgy fuelled by the blood of the innocent, as they became stronger they only became more ravenous for depravity.
There were whispers in hushed voices all around the house about the arrival of the high chancellor. Many were wondering why he would come here. What was so special about this feeding house that required the high chancellor to come all the way over here from Europe? The rumours and questions were mainly asked in the cellars by the harvesters who were slaving away at the machines getting the maximum amount of blood possible from the cattle. The vampires up stairs went through it so fast. It was a field of screams down there. Once the day came that they stopped screaming, that’s when you knew that they were on their last legs and were giving up on life.
The sun set once again and the vampires returned to their daily tasks. The house became quite and still. Some vampires studied the great works of authors and scientists of times gone by while others drank fine wines and spirits until they could no longer stand. Others went out into the city and gambled the night away, high rollers at every casino in town with specially reserved booths and treatment equal to royalty.
Jack was not enjoying the luxuries of his masters. He stood solemnly outside a country house in the middle of nowhere with the thought of what he was about to do running through his mind over and over again like a broken record. He had followed this family for a while now and knew they were all inside. He had come for the girl. Jack had been watching the house since nightfall and had seen the goings on of their day to day life. At moments he almost felt a hint of jealousy at the life this child had, the life he never got to lead.
It had been about three hours since the girl, from the looks of her about 4, had been put to bed on a night she presumed was like every other. Jack had watched her kiss her dad on the cheek as he sat by the fire place and then be taken up stairs by her mother, after of course she gave her the doll that she had been looking for. It seemed like such a pleasant existence and obviously Jack thought he must be feeling some kind of remorse or he wouldn’t have stood out here waiting and observing the family for so long. But he didn’t understand why. After all this was basically like any other job on any other night. Subconsciously the knowledge of what he was going to do must have triggered some inert memory hidden deep inside his head from the day that he was taken.
It was time to strike. No more waiting around. Jack pulled out his two shiny colt revolvers and checked them for bullets. He knew he had them and would barely need to use them but old habits die hard. He approached the house with a slow, confident stride, lighting the cigarette that hung from his mouth while he did so. Upon reaching the door he knocked twice. He could have just kicked the door down but manners cost nothing he thought to himself. You’ve got to have a sense of humour in a job like this or you’re just not going to make it.
The person behind the door opened it just a nervous inch wondering who could be calling at such a late hour such as this “Who’s there? What do you want? Do know what time it is?”
It was an elderly woman’s voice, probably a nanny for the kid. It was such a shame that she had to die too. Wrong place wrong time it’s a bitch for situations like this. Jack did not even bother to answer, his joke was over and now the serious business had to begin. He kicked the door in making it fly open sharply and rebound off the wall on the other side. He walked in noticing the old women on the floor as a pool of crimson spread around her head. She had flown back into the book case.
The noise of this violent entry was enough to alert the master of the house who got up from his chair in the drawing room and ran to the desk. Pulling open the second draw down he pulled out his revolver and fumbled with the bullets trying to place them in. He was not a dab hand with a gun but felt safer with it than without. As he put the final bullet into the gun he prayed to God that his wife had not come out to investigate the noise before he had a chance to shoot this home invader.
Jack climbed up the staircase looking for the child’s room. He passed pictures obviously drawn by the little girl on his way up the flight of stairs. He tried not to look at them knowing that as soon as he looked at them the human side of him would build an emotional attachment to the girl, and indeed the family, and that would make his job a hell of a lot harder.
Jack reached the bedroom door that he was sure was the child’s room. He began to twist the handle when a nervous yet forceful voice came from behind him.
“I don’t know who you are but you get the hell out of here you hear me. I swear I will shoot you where you stand,” Jack turned around to see the father of the child standing at the top of the stairs behind him. You could tell he was terrified and was not used to holding a gun. He quivered as he hid behind the barrel, the pistol in his hands was the only thing making him feel this strong it was the gun speaking not him.
A small crooked smile appeared on the side of jack’s mouth as he flashed the two colts at him as a form of intimidation, the man now in a state of panic prepared to pull the trigger. Jack jumped with lightning fast speed across the hallway, taking the gun clean out of the man’s hand and shooting him with it. The man stumbled backwards the look of inevitable death filled his eyes and with one uneasy step he fell backwards down the stairs leaving him in a bloody heap on the floor.
Jack kicked the door open annoyed now at the resistance he had had to deal with and saw that inside the room huddled in the corner sat the mother cradling her young daughter shielding her from the attacker. Jack stood in the doorway looking down at the child as the mother ran screaming towards him trying to find any desperate last ditch attempt to protect her child.
The young girl curled up in the corner holding desperately onto her homemade doll as she watched on through the tears in her eyes. She wasn’t quite sure what was going on but watched as her mother’s neck was snapped round her head facing the wrong side of her body. Jack dropped the dead body of the girl’s mother as she looked into her cold dead eyes wondering what was going on, knowing but not fully understanding.
Jack grabbed the child, not fully noticing that the doll was still in her hands, and not caring either way, he took her outside and threw her into the back of the carriage that was waiting for them. Jack grabbed a canister of gasoline and a box of matches and headed back inside. Pouring the gasoline all over the hall he took one last look into the dead eyes of the father before striking a couple of matches and throwing them down to the ground. He looked back as their carriage pulled away at the burning house behind them, the family that by his hand had just been destroyed forever. He didn’t know why but that uneasy feeling still remained in the pit of his stomach it was the feeling of knowing, like somehow he had been in a very similar situation before.
It was the day of the arrival of the high chancellor and there was a certain nervou
s excitement in the air. It was well known that Dreno was not easily pleased and if you were to anger him the consequences would be dire. There were stories of previous visits he had taken to other feeding houses across various states, tales brought by distant travellers who would occasionally stay the night. Whether they were just tales or not they all seemed to paint a picture of him as a very wise yet very fearsome man.
Upon arriving to the house the little girl had been taken to her own private room where she was being cared for. She had not let go of the doll since arrival and although she had not cried once, she had a vacant stare in her eyes almost like a part of her was already dead. No one knew why she was here or indeed why she was being cared for in this way but it was the high chancellor’s orders that she be here and for that reason alone no one dared question it.
Jack had helped the young harvesters transport the girl from the carriage to the room in which she was kept. He still didn’t know why he felt so connected to this girl or why it felt so wrong when he’d killed her family. After all they were only human. He had killed plenty others like them in his time and he was sure he would kill plenty more.
They walked down a corridor lined with artwork and candles making their way to one of the currently unused bedrooms. A harvester carried the girl in his arms. The girl did not struggle but instead looked blankly into nothing. She had been clutching the doll for as long as Jack could remember but now looking at her saw she was staring intently at the floor making a small whining noise as she did so. Jack looked behind him and saw, there on the floor, was the child’s doll. He felt sympathy for her it was the one thing that she had left in her life that she truly loved. He held himself accountable for taking the rest away from her. Jack walked over and picked up the doll, looking at its poorly stitched face and dirty fabric clothing, he carried it all the way to the room they had put the girl in and went inside.
She sat on the bed huddled in a ball, as Jack approached her. This was very unfamiliar territory for him and he did not feel completely comfortable. He handed the girl her doll and she held it close to her body seeming much more settled now that she had it. The girl looked up into Jack’s eyes, although she didn’t speak, her eyes said a thousand words. She seemed empty and dead inside, much like himself. He knew he was once fully, human just like the girl, and wondered if he had come into the vampires service through as violent means as this.
The sun had set and a group of vampires stood at the front of the house dressed in their finest clothes. A grand black carriage pulled up. There was no question as to who this was. The carriage was grand, painted in full black with gold leaf and pulled by the six most beautiful black horses you could ever hope to see. The driver stepped down from the front and removed his top hat as he opened the side door revealing the velvet interior of the carriage to the outside world.
The vampire who stepped out looked grand and had an air of power to him. He was dressed in a full black suit, his shoulder length hair sleeked back to perfection, not a hair out of place. He looked around forty but was one of the oldest vampires living. This was noticeable in his pure black eyes and sharp teeth and nails. You see gradually, over hundreds of years, a vampire begins to look more like a supernatural being, it’s the simple principle of the longer that they are out of the normality of human life, the more supernatural they begin to look. There are very few recorded cases in history of a vampire managing to live past 1000 years old due to fighting and of course the many years they were hunted. It is said that after 1000 years the signs become very noticeable. The oldest vampire in recorded history lived to be 1800 years old. He was said to have bat like wings which they developed towards the end of his lifetime. Dreno would be celebrating his 974th birthday this year.
The other vampires stood to attention after a nervous hum had cleared from the air. The High Chancellor walked slowly towards the house, his fellow vampires trying to look at him without making eye contact. They were scared of him. It was easy to tell even the chancellor of the feeding house was nervous staring straight at Dreno not knowing whether to look away or keep staring almost like a deer in the headlights. He was caught under dreno’s spell of fear.
“Welcome to our humble feeding house oh great high chancellor. I hope you find your stay most agreeable. We bow before your almighty presence,” The chancellor went down on one knee. It was not planned but he felt that it was only right, the other vampires slowly followed suit, each down on one knee bowing their heads to Dreno in submission to his power.
The chancellor was trying a bit too hard but Dreno did not mind he simply smiled to himself. He certainly had a large ego and loved it to be massaged. “You may rise,” the vampires got to their feet “I am weary from my long journey and wish to retire to my room for a while. I trust all of the arrangements have been made.”
The chancellor knew exactly what Dreno meant by the arrangements as they had been talking via letters for quite some time now. It seemed strange that the day had finally arrived when the plans would finally come to fruition “Yes my lord everything is ready and in order please follow me this way.”
The chancellor led Dreno into the feeding house and up the stairs to his master suite. It was large and furnished to the standard of a king but of course he would expect nothing less. A bottle of fresh blood sat on the side Dreno instantly took interest in it and walked over to begin pouring a glass.
“Ah, I see you are taking an interest in the blood my Lord. That particular bottle was made only hours ago from the blood of virgins only,” he said hoping for a positive response from Dreno who was drinking the entire glass in one long gulp.
“I thank you for your hospitality. Now if you don’t mind I wish to rest. I will see you in a few hours chancellor. We have much to discuss. You may go.”
The chancellor backed out of the door thanking Dreno as he went, closing the door behind him he let out a sigh of relief. He was happy that everything so far had gone off without a hitch. He could only hope that their conversation later would go just as well. He knew that he could keep up his formalities and please the high chancellor but this was not his concern. His real concern was how would Jack react and more importantly what would he do?
It was late at night and Jack was extremely confused. He had been given specific orders not to go out and hunt today, an order he had never heard a harvester being given before as the vampires are usually dying for fresh blood. He had also been given orders to not drink but he could guess why that was. He was told he had to meet the high chancellor and the chancellor in the drawing room in only a few minutes time.
Jack, just like everyone else, had heard the stories about the high chancellor and personally thought a lot of them to be bullshit as he put it. He was the sort of man who never had respect for anyone unless they had earned it from him. More to the point, why did the high chancellor was to see him of all people? It was said to be rare that the high chancellor ever spoke to fellow vampires let alone harvesters. Sure he was known to be the best harvester at this feeding house but that didn’t give any explanation as to what the high chancellor would have to say to him.
Jack walked down the hallway towards the drawing room and walked inside. He wasn’t quite sure if there was some way he was supposed to greet the high chancellor but he didn’t really care either. Upon entering the room Jack saw Dreno standing next to the chancellor as they both drunk blood from brandy glass’s and smoked pipes together it was easy to tell just from that moment that the chancellor was doing a hell of a lot of ass kissing. Jack was also surprised at how young the High chancellor looked.
“You wanted to see me sir?” Jacks voice cut the conversation dead and he felt the high chancellors eyes on him. Jack turned his head to look at him and corrected himself “Sirs.”
“Ah yes,” The chancellor looked genuinely pleased for the sudden break in the conversation “High chancellor Dreno this is our finest harvester Jack Crowe.”
Dreno eyed Jack up and down as he stood in front of him following
his eyes with his own, wondering what he was doing, not trusting him. Dreno walked behind him seeing him from every angle almost like he was weighing him up in his mind but for what purpose he did not know.
“A fine specimen you are indeed Jack Crowe, strong in body and in mind it would seem,” Dreno ran his index finger down Jacks cheek as he tried to stop himself moving away from him. Obviously this was a vampire who knew very little about personal space “The chancellor has told me great things about your work for this feeding house. I’m impressed with you. I was right to come here I have found my test subject, my guinea pig if you will.” Jack was trying to translate his way through the heavy French accent but did not like the sounds of being a guinea pig, the chancellor seemed to have a celebratory glint in his eyes almost if he knew that the majority of his hard work was now done.
“You are probably wondering why I have come out to this lovely, yet small, feeding house. It is certainly not usual for a vampire of my position but I have been exchanging letters with your chancellor for well over a year now I have chosen this as the best place to test out my new plan,” A questioning look filled Jacks face as the chancellor stepped closer to Dreno feeling like he should play a part in this conversation “The old way of feeding was good for a while but we need to become detached completely from the human race. With their new inventions of war it will not be long now until there technology beats our physical strength and agility. They are becoming smarter and as such we need to change with the times, we need to adapt the way that we feed with the modern times, this is where you come in Jack.”
Dreno paused waiting for a response but received nothing but the stern expression on Jacks face. He continued “For many years now we have sent harvesters taking few people on often occasions but this is becoming far too dangerous for our people now. Already several harvesters have been followed back to feeding houses across the world and attacks have been made upon them by the armed forces killing many of their residents and leaving the survivors stranded with no blood to drink and no safe house to return to. The world is changing and as such I have developed a new way for us to feed. It involves making each feeding house completely independent from the outside world. We shall trial run this new concept here first before making it world-wide but you have brought me the young female that I needed and for that I thank you. She will be our first test subject.” Jack did not like where this was going he already felt for this girl but what could he expect it was always obvious that they needed the child here for a reason “The taking of every day human adults is a task now too risky to carry out instead we shall now take a child every few years much like you did making it untraceable by burning the house. These children shall then be plugged into the feeding machines upon arrival and only unplugged upon their death my top advisors have assured me that if the child is young enough their body will naturally begin to create more blood to compensate for the constant but slow taking of blood, we shall feed them on a diet made specifically for increasing blood production and because they know no different they will never give up on life and want to die, the blood shall never be tainted and shall remain forever pure, Jack I want you to gather these children and run the machines in the cellar If you do a good job I shall reward you greatly. It is either this or death. There is no other choice. I promise you the other harvesters shall meet their doom shortly once we have this project up and running I have no doubt that you will do this.”