by Savill, Josh
He threw the doors open not at all scared to disturb the feast “Jack Crowe has gone mad he’s in the cellar, he’s killed the Chancellor and his fellow harvesters.” The man was out of breath and could hardly believe the words that were coming out of his own mouth he was terrified and confused as to what was happening down in the cellar.
The vampires looked up from their feast their faces instantly changed from a blood crazed lust to a look of pure confusion as the words processed in their minds a deep and powerful silence fell over the entire hall. No one had expected anything like this to happen. It was unheard of, a harvester killing a vampire especially one of the Chancellor’s power and skill by himself was something that no one could ever have thought possible.
The silence did not last long. The vampires quickly reacted to the news and several of them, including the High Chancellor, jumped up from their seats ran towards the door and headed for the cellar. Meanwhile, downstairs, Jack was unplugging the girl from the machines. He pulled out the final pipe and the girl collapsed onto the floor the pain slowly decreasing, her screams turning into quite whimpers as she lay there. Jack heard the quick footsteps coming towards the cellar door and knew that there were many vampires coming for him.
Jack ran towards the door and closed it, jamming it with barrels of blood. It was not going to hold them for very long but it was better than nothing hopefully it would give him a bit of time to gather himself and get ready for the coming assault. Even though he was getting ready for this fight he knew it would be his last. He had no chance against those who were coming for him he knew fully well that today would be the day that he died, but he might as well try and take a few of them with him.
Jack went back to where the girl lay whimpering on the floor. She was covered in blood but didn’t seem to care she just seemed relieved that the pain had ended. Jack stroked her hair trying to make sure that she was ok before he prepared for the fight. The blood from the wounds seemed to have stopped flowing. He didn’t know how he was going to help her past what he had done but at least he felt that in a way what he was doing was making it right. It was his way of apologising for his mistakes.
Jack took his two colt pistols span them in his hands and pointed them dead at the door ready for whoever was coming through. The footsteps stopped for a moment outside the cellar door there was an agonising moment like the calm before the storm it seemed to last for an eternity. Then with great force the doors came buckling in on themselves the barrels of blood exploded as they tumbled down the stairs spraying blood all over the walls and throughout the room.
Jack fired off two bullets as a couple of vampires came through the hole where the door had once been one bullet hit its mark and went straight through the vampires forehead killing it instantly the other hit the second vampire in the chest usually this would knock them momentarily to the floor. But because it had fed well not long ago it did nothing to slow it down the wound healing almost instantly.
More vampires flooded through the doors as Jack fired off more shots one or two of them killing his attackers but it wasn’t good enough they were coming too fast. There was just too many of them for him to deal with and they soon over ran him one jumping directly on top of Jack as he fired a shot straight into its stomach which did nothing to stop it. The vampire looked down at him on the floor his mouth full of fangs revealed his eyes black as night and prepared to tear Jacks face clean off of his skull.
“Stop!” Came a booming voice from the top of the cellar stairs and the vampires turned around too look it was Dreno. He slowly descended the stairs as he wore a look of pure hate and disgust “I do not want him dead, not yet anyway. Take him and throw him in the holding cell I will decide what punishment best suits this level of crime soon.”
Dreno approached Jack looking at how weak and feeble he seemed pinned there on the floor, disarmed and vulnerable he looked upon him with great pleasure “All that you have achieved here is your own death. I am ashamed at myself for thinking you were strong. The truth it seems is that you are weaker than even those we feed upon you have not saved the girl. As soon as you are taken away we shall plug her into the machine again and make sure that her agony never ends all because of you, now take him away I don’t wish to look at this maggot any longer.” The High Chancellor spat on Jacks face as two vampires holding his arms dragged him up the cellar stairs and towards the holding cell.
Jack lay there on the floor of the holding cell the vampires that had taken him there had made sure that he did not get off lightly, savagely beating him to within an inch of his life his face left swollen and several ribs cracked. Jack uncurled from the foetal position that he had been in for quite some time now and felt inside his jacket pocket. Pulling out the now blood-stained doll that belonged to the child that he had tried to save he thought about how unfair the whole situation was and how much the girl must now be suffering.
He placed the girl’s doll back in his jacket pocket for safe keeping and kept in mind that no matter what happened from here on out he would try and save the girl no matter what. The cell was small and poorly kept the High Chancellor was surely not going to make a decision today and would most likely keep him in the cell for a week or two just to make him suffer. It was dark and diseased ridden in the cell a lingering miasma hung heavily in the air and rats scampered around trying their best to remain unseen as they picked up scraps of whatever they could find; which mainly consisted of dead insects that had built a home in the cell. Jack crawled over to a pile of half decomposed straw that lay in the corner and used it as a bed, his dreams that night were once again plagued with the face of the tormented girl screaming out in agony calling for his help.
A week and a half later the cell door opened three vampires walked in ready to take him away, Jack was weak at fatigued most of the bruising and breaks had healed due to his black blood characteristics but the cold dark recesses of the cell had done no good for him and as the dim candle light flooded into the cell as the door opened Jack felt as though he was being blinded by the light. After his time spent in pure darkness the candle light felt like he was looking directly into the sun.
The guards said nothing but instead manhandled Jack picking him up by his arms with a very firm grip that was meant to cause him pain and began to lead him off down the hallways. Eventually they reached the door to the chancellor’s office which had now been adopted, it seemed, by Dreno himself as he was now staying to personally oversee the feeding programming. After the events that led to the death of the feeding houses chancellor he was no longer willing to take any chances.
The vampires opened the door and dragged Jack into the room throwing him down in front of the High Chancellor’s feet. There was a moment’s silence quickly broken by Dreno delivering a very powerful and very precise kick right into Jacks chest knocking the wind out of him and sending him into a heap on the floor.
“You are both filthy and pathetic Jack Crowe. I held you in such high regard and had such great ambition for you but you had to throw it away and for the worst possible reason at that, to help a human.” Dreno now began to circle around Jack pacing rings around him as he lay there on the floor “I have reached a decision as to what price you shall pay for your most heinous of crimes. You shall not die by our hands as much as we would enjoy tearing you limb from limb. No, this shall not be your fate Jack Crowe, tonight we shall preform the vampiric transformation rites upon you. You shall become a full vampire and then once the ceremony is complete we shall set you loose upon the human race to be hunted and killed mercilessly by those that you tried so hard to help.”
A cruel smile appeared on the High Chancellors face as he told Jack of his fate. It was the cruellest punishment he could think of for the crime against his people, Dreno could not imagine that Jack would last any longer than a few days out amongst the humans. He would resist his new found thirst to feed at first but it would only be a short amount of time until the pains of hunger became overwhelming and he would have to feed a
nd that would cause his inevitable demise. He would be hunted like vermin, just as Dreno himself was hunted all those years ago.
Jack was taken back to his cell awaiting the events that were only mere hours away. His mind swam in thoughts of survival and half-baked plans of how he may be able to live once he was transformed and forced to leave the feeding houses. A small amount of false hope filled his heart as he thought about possible ways that he could spend the rest of his days living in solitude, feeding occasionally, covering his tracks wherever he went, living as an outlaw but he knew full well that not even the most experienced vampire stood a chance out there in the modern world. It wasn’t like it had been all those years before the feeding houses. The world had moved on and the people within it had evolved. No longer did they use swords and bows they now used highly accurate guns and bullets that could easily kill a vampire, in an instant, from a long range.
He remembered great myths and legends of Dreno’s past before he created the feeding houses and the machines. Jack searched his memory for stories that might be able to help in the near future. They were tales of great skill and power. It was said that Dreno once moved silently across the top of the buildings of Paris, darting amongst the shadows with expert precision like a thief in the night. So skilled he was at this that the guards and soldiers who chased him down did not even know if he was real as he managed to become little more than a shadow.
Meanwhile in the great feeding hall the ceremony was being prepared for later that night when Jack would become transformed into a fully-fledged vampire. The turning of human to vampire can be done easily without a ritual or ceremony but the turning ceremony is usually only reserved for special occasions and this particular turning seemed to fit that description the ceremony would be a great way to make an example of Jack. Turning a person is not suggested this late in life and is usually only reserved for children as their bones have not fully developed. However it is possible to turn a fully developed adult but there is a high mortality rate and it is a very dangerous idea for it changes every part of your genetic makeup turning you into a whole new being. But if Jack was to die before he was set loose it was no problem for the vampires he was destined to die soon any way.
It was late that night that the vampires came for Jack dragging him from his cell to the feeding hall. He had been waiting so long by this point that it almost felt like they were never going to come for him but the sound of the lock and the swing of the door proved otherwise it was a sound that he didn’t want to hear at all and to him it was almost deafening.
The two vampires that held his arms dragged him into the feeding hall. It was full of vampires and the great ritual alter stood menacingly at the far end of the table. The high chancellor stood next to it, dressed in ceremonial black and red robes, looking like some form of unholy priest. A great cheer went up across the hall as the vampires pulled Jack along the side. All eyes turned to view him. The crowd was begging for his punishment, Jack was thrown down in front of the alter the high chancellor looking down at him.
Dreno turned and addressed the excited crowd the room quickly fell into silence spare Dreno’s booming voice. “For his crimes against his masters and for his despicable betrayal a worthy torment has been concocted for Jack Crowe. He shall be transformed into one of us and cut loose to live amongst the humans, to be killed by the ones that he chose so foolishly to help. They shall hunt him ruthlessly just as they once hunted us. He shall know then what true suffering is and shall beg forgiveness before he is killed without mercy by their feeble hands, just as our forefathers were.”
The crowd roared in agreement and got to their feet to give Dreno an almighty applause. For a few moments he bathed in the applause and then silenced it with a wave of his hand. Turning to begin the ritual for which the crowd did not stop cheering and yelling obscenities at Jack as if they were trying to murder him with their words.
The two vampires that had dragged Jack from the safety of his cell now took hold of him once again. He tried to fight them off but this attempt at freedom was futile and only resulted in Jack taking a very strong kick to the chest knocking the wind out of him and making his body involuntarily limp. The crowd of course only cheered louder at this. They lifted him up onto the ritual table and attached his arms and legs to thick chains which were held down by rings on the floor he struggled but could not move. One of the vampires then grabbed a clamp and placed it hard into Jacks mouth, tying it round the back of his head so that he could not close his mouth. Jack gave out a shout of rage and fear the crowd became hysterical and watched on with unnatural interest.
Dreno slowly picked up a ceremonial knife, its blade twisted into a strange but beautiful shape he was really turning this ritual into a performance and took great joy in this. Dreno held his hand up in the air as he walked closer to the crowd and with one slow but forceful slice he cut deep into his wrist. Blood began to pour down his arm, he did not wince. It had very little effect on him as the wound would easily heal. He took a great golden chalice much larger than the ones the vampires usually use for feeding. It was engraved with horrific pictures of mass feedings and allowed his blood to fill the chalice until it was near the point of over flowing.
Holding it up in two hands he gave a great vampiric scream that sounded like death itself the audience responded in kind the room filled with unholy sounds that would scar a man for a lifetime just to hear it once. Dreno took the chalice in two hands and walked towards Jack who lay there struggling helplessly upon the alter. He took a moment to look at him as he writhed taking great delight in his suffering before pouring all of the blood down Jacks throat.
Jacks mouth filled with blood as he tried not to swallow the blood but there was very little he could do. With every passing moment he could feel his throat opening ready to swallow it, he began to cough and splutter and Dreno’s blood covered his face and dripped down onto the alter. It was not long until the remainder of it went down his throat and he felt it travel down his body headed towards his stomach he knew it was all over. The vampiric blood felt like poison as it travelled down him it was red hot and was like swallowing fire he could feel it spreading around his veins attacking every part of his body he felt as though he was burning to death from the inside out.
The vampires cheered wildly as they watched Jack writhe with the pain of turning. Dreno held his arms up in success and soon Jack fell into a deep coma upon the alter, one he would be lucky to awake from again. The cheering continued as he was taken away ready to be transported into the city where he would meet his fate, they would take him there that very night with spies watching his every move and reporting back to Dreno. They would have a second to second overview of what had happened to their torture subject.
There was however one in the hall, one vampire who had not been cheering and had spent his entire time there watching quietly as he sat in the corner watching the ritual take place. He had arrived earlier that day in relative secret and had kept himself to himself trying to avoid contact with any of the other vampires. He watched intently as Jack was taken away and then finally, once he was gone, this vampire of mystery made a swift exit from the feeding house as though he had never been there.
Jack lie there disoriented writhing in a cold sweat. For three days he was in complete and total agony not knowing where he was or why he was there the only thing that he could properly notice was the sunlight that crept in through the cracks in the curtains and how slowly, throughout the day, it would once again disappear bringing the cooling relief of night onto his sweltering body. Knowing the difference between day and night was the only thing that kept him sane.
He could feel himself changing. This was not a normal pain. This pain was different it was almost as if someone was taking his body apart from the inside out and was replacing it with new cells and new skin. If he had a mirror to hand he would have seen the full extent of what was happening to his body. Bones could be seen moving under his skin as they became tougher, his muscles grew str
onger and leaner. He became toned and powerful.
It was his stomach and his mouth that hurt the most His internal organs were changing shape and design ready to accommodate a life of living off of nothing but human blood. It felt to Jack however like liquid fire coursed through his intestines and occasionally he could feel them repositioning themselves to fit in with his new life. His teeth felt like they were being ripped out very slowly with a pair of pliers but this was in fact his set of sharp pointed feeding teeth coming through which could be withdrawn into the back of his gums at a moment’s notice.
Even Jacks face was beginning to change ever so slightly. For you see vampires do not look like the depictions of them in mythology they look pretty much identical to regular humans but with a few key differences that once you know make vampires easy to spot in a crowd. The mythological depiction of vampires was actually created by the vampires themselves so that no one would ever suspect them.
Jacks face and general characteristics slowly became more vampiric over the three days that he lay in the bed. His nose became slightly sharper as did the rest of his facial features as all vampires have very sharp features, not unlike that of a wolf. His eyes gained the vampiric ability to turn completely black whenever he wanted. This ability is usually reserved for when a vampire is mad and wishes to fight or is feeding upon a live host. Jacks skin also became very pale to the point where it was nearly white. Just like all other vampires sunlight is lethal.
As Jack lay there in the bed, slowly transforming, he fell in and out of consciousness on a regular basis. Sometimes from the pain sometimes from the exhaustion he would fall into deep sleeps where he was plagued by visions of the little girl at the feeding house once again. He could see her there as clear as real life she was crying out for him to save her, asking him why he didn’t do more to help and begging for him to come back and rescue her. Every time he had this dream he would wake up screaming and fall back into agony the torment seemed endless.