by Craig Zerf
The meeting in the grand hall was almost over. What had needed to be said had been said. Recriminations had been cast where necessary and praise had been given if called for.
But truth be told, there was little call for praise. After all, the fact of the matter was simple – they had still not found what they had been looking for.
And after a thousand years of searching, that was simply not good enough.
It was the first time in almost seventy years that Lord Byron Chelsea had been compelled to call a complete meeting of The House. Obviously he hadn’t gone as far as inviting the Familiars or the over one thousand Grinders. The subject to be discussed was simply way too important for them. And anyway, the Grinders’ brains were too damaged to comprehend what the meeting was about and he was confident that there would be no real danger, so their presence was unnecessary.
But he had insisted that the rest of the three hundred kindred attend.
In the vampire hierarchy there are four basic levels of rank. Level I was a mere Familiar. These are humans who are vampire wanabees. Little more than servants. A mixture of men and women who are either looking for power and immortality, or simply loners looking for a place to belong. Some are just idiotic teenagers who think that vamps are cool. Overdosed on a surfeit of Twilight novels to the point that they no longer see the fangs and blood-sucking. Only the suaveness, sophistication and tailored clothes. Basically, idiots. Although they are primarily treated as servants, doing daylight errands like carrying messages, they often simply end up as food. However, sometimes they were rewarded and turned but it is unusual for a vampire to turn anyone without very good reason.
The vampire virus is carried in the creature’s saliva, so, when one decides to turn a prospect, they simply bite them. It matters not if they kill them in the process as, ultimately, the virus will decide their fate. Some will reanimate and others will either stay dead or die.
The ones that turn do so in one of two ways.
Firstly, they either become level II’s. These are lower order vampires.
The virus doesn’t kill them but it burns them. Their brains are badly damaged and they are left with physical power and speed, longevity, fast healing, but not immortality. They are mere drones with severely impaired mental capacity and a penchant for serious violence.
Most of the humans that are turned become level II’s. The full vampires refer to these as Grinders.
Finally, level III’s are successfully turned vamps. These are named as Aspirants. They have access to full powers but have not fully grown into them yet. It takes many hundreds of years for a vampire to mature into his or her powers, such as the ability to glamour, or control people’s minds. When they do, they become level IV’s or Masters.
Lord Byron was over one thousand years old and was the head of the United Kingdom House. As such he was referred to as a Grand Master.
In the room before him stood seven of his eight Hydra, or lieutenants, as well as another three hundred brethren.
Next to him stood his eighth Hydra and his second in command. Radford Cromwell, the head of the Nosferatu Enforcers. The killing arm of the House of Byron. Radford was referred to by all simply as Enforcer and they had done so for the past six hundred years.
Lord Byron cast his eyes over his assembled kindred. ‘I have spoken,’ he said. ‘We must redouble our efforts. Use your familiars to seek during the day. Take yourselves into the darkness every night. We must not rest until it is found. Now go, my children. Go forth and find that which we seek. For our time approaches. The time of the Nosferatu. The time of the Shadows.’
Chapter 4