Blood Reign

by Harvey W. McCarthy

  "I was going to help him load your things," he said.

  "Are you fucking deaf? I said if anyone else touched them, I'd kill him," she scolded.

  "Yes, ma'am, but I didn't think that meant me," he said truthfully.

  "Do you fucking think that he'd care?" she asked.

  Eric was lost for words when he realized what she meant. If he touched her belongings, that the driver would most certainly kill him. "I see," he admitted.

  "Good, now get your ass in the plane before the sun comes up and we are both fried," she ordered.

  "Get in?"

  "Are you deaf or just fucking stupid? Yes or would you rather me strap your ass to the wings so you can ride outside?"

  Eric said nothing. He scampered up the stairs and disappeared from sight.

  "If I didn't like drinking him, I'd fucking stake him right here."

  "Did you say something ma'am?" a beautiful blonde flight attendant asked.

  "No and you would be?"

  "I am Mary Springs. I will be accompanying you on this flight. We are just waiting for you to board and the other flight attendant will disembark," she said truthfully.

  "Oh Charles," she called to her driver.

  "Yes My Queen?" he asked as he had finished loading the last of her bags into the cargo hold.

  "Queen?" the flight attendant asked.

  "I believe the dinner that you ordered has just arrived," she said with a smirk.

  The flight attendant looked puzzled. She turned to the driver whose face had already prepared to feed. She tried to scream but he had slapped his hand over her mouth. She tried to struggle, but she couldn't break the powerful vampire's grip.

  "Don't make a mess and get her out of sight," she said as she checked out the beautiful woman. "Keep her if you want, but no fucking her on my seat."

  "As you wish, My Queen. Enjoy your trip," he said as he threw the terrified woman into the back of the limo.

  Oh, I will, she thought as she climbed the stairs and disappeared into the plane. I will be eating the pilot.

  Ten minutes later, the plane had lifted off and moments later it had reached its cruising altitude. When the plane had been switched over to the automatic pilot, Mikhaeli seduced the pilot. She told him that she was turned on by his forcefulness. He said that he was married. She had planned to pleasure him, but she fed instead. Seconds later, he was dead. Moments later, Eric was enjoying the young flight attendant who they had convinced that other flight attendant was ill. Mikhaeli had ordered him to take his time so she could watch. Screams filled the beige cabin as Eric violated the young woman before feeding on her. She smiled. It was a good thing that she knew these automated planes could land without a pilot.

  She smiled. She stripped out of her clothes. Eric watched as the flight attendant's blood dripped from his mouth.

  "You have some more eating to do," she ordered.

  Seconds later, Mikhaeli yelled screams of pleasure.

  * * *

  "You are joking," Chris stated.

  Larry glumly shook his head. "No, I am not," he replied.

  David nodded. "He's not joking. We've researched it several times. It could quite possibly be the greatest cover up in world history."

  "Okay, let me be sure that I am crystal clear on this. The Titanic didn't sink due to it accidentally striking an iceberg."

  "It was, for the lack of a better word, scuttled by the council," Larry said.

  "Yes, the council is responsible for one of the greatest nautical disasters in history," David added.

  "It is not a disaster," Chris said angrily. "They murdered fifteen hundred people. Many of whom were their own warriors."

  Larry held up a hand. "Chris, I don't think that you fully understand the gravity of the situation."

  Chris scoffed as he began to pace around the room. "Understand? They sent people to their deaths to protect a secret. The same secret that they have been keeping for centuries: Vampires exist. Larry, you know how I feel about this."

  "Yes, Chris, I do, however, times were different then," Larry said.

  His voice rasped. "Yeah and they are different now. Maybe we should let the world in on the secret and maybe the world would help the council. Wait! No, the council wants to do this on their own to prove some loyalty to a higher power. The fact remains that nearly hundred years ago, those same people that fight to preserve life murdered their own. Prove to me right now why I should continue to fight for their cause when their own morals have been corrupted. The real man that I used to be, who served God faithfully, is telling me to get up and walk away right now," Chris said.

  Larry glanced at David. He knew that they were having a very critical moment. Chris was angry. He was angry that he watched Myles die in front of him. The council had proclaimed him their greatest warrior. He had loyally fought for the council for centuries. Time after time he had fought and won until the vampire queen had continually bested him in battle. He was frustrated. Learning the secrets of the Titanic had only served to increase his frustration. Larry knew that he needed to choose his words wisely.

  "Cristof," Larry said in a soft, but firm voice. He had added his birth name for additional emotional power. "Bruce Ismay did what was necessary to prevent many more horrible deaths and to also stop a nest from reaching New York."

  Chris opened his mouth to speak, but David quickly interjected himself to prevent the angry vampire hunter from disputing their claims. "Chris, we know that you are angry and frustrated, but please let us explain. We were just as angry as you until we found the secret Titanic file hidden within another ancient text."

  Chris nodded. "Fair enough. Go ahead."

  David cleared his throat. "Since I've read this part of the story three times, I'll start off this time. Ismay had every intention of rendezvousing with the Californian and having their troops board the Titanic under the guise that the ship was having trouble and the people that were boarding were a repair crew. They were a precaution to assure safe passage to New York. However, during their dinner meeting, they had received further word that the vampire horde was overwhelming for their warriors. They were greatly outnumbered and the vampires were multiplying.

  "As you know, even when we face vampires with even odds, we are still at a grave disadvantage. They are faster and stronger than most humans. The warriors on the Titanic were some of the best trained members of the council army, but they were facing vampires who were created to kill and multiply. They were battling in confined spaces. They could be battling vampires in one room and another vampire could grab them from room across the hallway. They would be dead before they knew what had happened.

  "Furthermore, from what I have read, they would kill a vampire only to see two or three more appear. The men, women, and children of the third class section of the ship were rising as mindless vampires. Before long, the warriors on the ship were fighting for their own survival. It was a hopeless battle."

  "I can understand that feeling, but I still don't understand his reasoning for sinking the ship," Chris admitted.

  "We have concluded that was their last resort. Also, due to the myth that the ship was unsinkable, they didn't realize that the ship would sink so quickly," Larry interjected.

  "I have focused my research on why they sank the ship over the last couple of hours. I honestly believe that their goal was to damage the ship. With the ship damaged, moving people to the Californian and the Carpathia would allow them to get their warriors onto the ship without drawing too much attention to them. However, reports indicate that Lieutenant Murdoch commanded the bridge when the iceberg was spotted. He told Captain Smith that he tried to 'port around her' but he gave the order 'hard-a-starboard.' From what I have read, historians believe that if he had indeed turned the wheel to port, the ship would have missed the iceberg. Several reports state that Murdoch also said 'hard-a-port' which is why the aft section of the ship missed the iceberg entirely. It is documented that apparently he erred with his first orders. However, t
his is merely a council coverup of what exactly happened that night. He gave the wrong orders to bump the iceberg. This would give them a reason for stopping the ship to inspect the damage. However, they underestimated the affect that the speed at which they were traveling would have on the collision with the iceberg. They did not know that the ship's hull would be so greatly weakened by the cold temperatures. Instead of a small puncture, the hull buckled. They wanted the damage to be limited to no more than the first four sections which would allow the Titanic to remain afloat. Alas, when they saw that the first five sections were flooding, they knew that they had doomed the ship," David said.

  "Why didn't the Californian come to rescue the passengers?" Chris asked.

  Larry handed Chris one of the texts that they had been using for their research. He could still hear the anger in his voice. He had opened the book to a specific page. It was a report from the Council of the Light's inquiry into the Titanic disaster. The inquiry held the transcripts of all of the questions that were posed to Bruce Ismay. Chris quickly read that Captain Smith ordered Ismay into a lifeboat because he had to explain his orders to the council. However, a copy

  of the wireless message received by the Californian was dog-eared by his two researchers. It had been sent by Ismay itself. It read:

  BI STOP ALONE STOP V-O-B STOP NEST STOP THE

  NIGHT IS ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN STOP

  ORDERED STOP CEASE COMMUNICATIONS STOP

  Chris glared at his researchers for a translation of the apparently encoded message. "Care to translate this into something that I can understand?"

  "V-O-B," Larry replied, "We have concluded means 'vampires onboard.' I believe the main context of the message states that Ismay was talking directly to the captain. He was telling him that the ship was a nest of vampires. David concluded when he said ordered that he was indicating that the ship was to be scuttled."

  David nodded that he agreed with Larry's hypothesis. "The Californian shut off their wireless communications so the crew would not respond to any of the requests for aid. Ismay had ordered that the lower levels of the ship were to be locked to prevent vampires from reaching the upper levels."

  "So the locked gates to prevent third class passengers from reaching the upper decks were true?" Chris inquired.

  "Yes, most, if not all, of the third class passengers had been turned into the queen's mindless minions by the time they had struck the iceberg. However, some had reached the upper levels and Father Byles valiantly held them back by reciting prayers. People were not only gathering at the back of the ship to try to stay out of the water, but they were trying to escape the still feeding vampires," Larry said.

  "Amazing," Chris said in disbelief.

  "It also explains why the lifeboats did not return to attempt to save the people in water. The screams for help were from people being attacked in the water by vampires that had survived the ship's final plunge. They were just as afraid of being murdered by the vampires as they were of freezing to death in the frigid waters. The lone lifeboat returned only when they believed that it was safe to do so," David added.

  Chris flipped through the inquiry archive. "Does this ever explain Ismay's reasoning for scuttling the ship? I mean I understand their fear of the vampires but it still doesn't feel right. I know that every ship to this day carries several warriors."

  Larry extended his hand to Chris and he handed him another book. It was Ismay's personal diary. Larry had bookmarked the section that he wanted Chris to read. The elder warrior opened the tattered and ancient text to the page that Larry had wanted him to read. His words were honest and heartfelt. Chris suddenly empathized with the former member of the Council of the Light. He read:

  April 15, 1937

  I still hear them. It has been twenty-five years and I still hear their screams. Please help us! Please help us! They scream over and over again as they fought for their survival. I, on the other hand, sat in the safety of the lifeboat. I could feel the eyes of the other survivors staring at me as I looked away in shame. I couldn't even watch as she went down. It was too painful. It was too painful knowing that I had a hand in her sinking and in all of those deaths.

  I still hear them. My body is failing me and I wonder if it is some punishment for what I have done. Their screams still haunt me. Diabetes took my leg a year ago, but I wish it had been my heart. Every night I close my eyes and I relive that moment. I should have gone to the bottom of the sea with those who had served me, but I had to answer for what I had done.

  I never cared what the Americans or my fellow Brits said about me in the press. The company had to have a fall guy and I was the logical choice because I had survived. However, it was answering to the council that truly hurt my spirits. Again, I still hear them.

  The council demanded to know why we couldn't handle the threat. I repeatedly told them that we were vastly outnumbered and that we were battling in confined spaces. I had even prepared to take up arms when we learned that the threat was beyond our control. As I learned later, the vampire queen had survived the plunge. She had shown up in Sarajevo two years later. She had seduced Gavrilo Princip into assassinating Archduke Ferdinand. I still am amazed at her power. Cities and countries have been left in flames in her wake. The sinking of the Titanic paled in comparison, but the council didn't agree. Yet, I hear their cries.

  I explained that I didn't plan to sink the ship. I needed to get the people off of the ship. The ship was supposed to have been damaged to give us the excuse for our ships in the area to respond. However, the damage was worse than we had planned. It was a miscalculation on my part. The ship wasn't unsinkable after all. The vampires were reaching the upper levels and the people wouldn't get in the lifeboats. I repeatedly said that most of those people who had perished had become one of the undead before the ship struck the iceberg but they didn't care. They had something else on their minds. In my mind, their cries of pain fill my waking hours.

  The tome. They wanted to know why I didn't rescue Lord Visigoth's tome from the safe. I laughed. It was the first time in ages that I had felt that reaction. Fifteen hundred people died and the council was worried about one goddamn book. I justified leaving the tome in the safe as I knew that it would go down with the ship. It is sitting at the bottom of the ocean where it will never be seen again. They, on the other hand, said that I should have taken it with me. To this day, I still do not understand their logic.

  They said that if they had the tome they could study it and keep it from the vampires. I responded that people died trying to keep it from the most powerful vampire walking the earth. I doubt that she would have kept anyone alive if I had kept the tome. She would have kept killing until I had turned it over to her. How she managed to be saved is beyond me, but I at least kept her from the tome. The council however disagreed.

  I lived my life for the council and I was shamed and banished by them. The torture of not being a member of the council is dwarfed by the screams that haunt me. Now, I live as a broken man who is waiting to be judged by a higher power. As the doctors took part of my leg, I hoped that they would take my mind, so I wouldn't hear their screaming. The council took my heart. Alas, there isn't much left to be judged.

  Their close-minded dogmatic ways couldn't see that having the tome at the bottom of the Atlantic was the most secure method of assuring that no vampire would ever learn from it. As I sip my brandy to fog my mind, I can at least smile knowing that the vampire queen will never touch that tome. It is the one thing that gives this dying warrior any piece of mind.

  I still hear their screams.

  J. Bruce Ismay

  The still human part of Chris' body sympathized for the dying man who had written the words which were contained in his diary. Chris knew that Bruce Ismay had disappeared from public life not long after the Titanic disaster. He had always believed that the Titanic was a very unfortunate accident which could have been prevented. However, his researchers had told him that it was only partially an accident. Th
e ship sank as they tried to save the souls that were still alive. Bruce Ismay went to his grave with the guilt caused by the events that transpired that night. He sighed.

  Larry reached out and placed his left hand on his friend's shoulder. "It can be very overwhelming. We couldn't believe it either as we read it."

  "The one glimmer of light in this tragedy is that knowing Mikhaeli will never get to read the rest of the contents of the tome," David added.

  Chris straightened his shoulders and he stood. He glanced at both men before dashing out of the room. David and Larry looked at each other and David shrugged.

  "Do you have any idea what that was all about?" Larry asked.

  David shrugged again. "Damned if I know. One minute he is all pissy and in another breath, if he even has those anymore, he is dashing out of the room. I can't figure him out anymore."