High Society

by Bond, Casey

  The soldier lowered his gun and seated himself in front of the fire once again, reaching his hands out to warm them. His friends waved me over and invited me to sit with them. I accepted their offer gratefully, sitting cross-legged in front of the small inferno.

  “Tell us,” one young man began, “did you see any vampires?”

  I raked my tongue across my fang, considering his question. “I didn’t, but there were strange noises in the wood.”

  The men were silent for a few moments, staring at the fire solemnly and passing around a bottle of spirits. The night was already cooler to them than they were comfortable with, and the alcohol would warm them from the inside until their bodies burnt it off.

  “Being on the edge of the encampment is an unfortunate position to be in, given the circumstances,” one of the other men commented.

  The young man who’d trained his gun on me earlier spoke up. “I haven’t seen anything yet, but can almost feel their eyes on me.”

  I stared at him. His eyes darted in the direction of every noise emanating from the darkness over my shoulder. “Have you met vampires in battle?” I asked casually, lounging back against a dead tree trunk.

  The men paled, and then each of them began to recount tales of what they’d seen, heard, and felt in the wilderness. They described Asa as tall, with dark hair and eyes. They described him as merciless. Infallible. They chattered about what they’d seen Asa do to those he captured.

  “Nothing as scary as Enoch, though,” one said quietly. The others quickly nodded and muttered their agreement.

  “Asa’s an efficient killer. He enjoys it, even. But Enoch is terrifying. He tore one man’s throat in two and laughed as the blood spurted him in the face. It was like he was possessed. He laughed and threw the man’s body down, then kept tearing through person after person.”

  All the escalating talk about blood began to make my head feel light. My mouth watered at the sound of the pulse that raced beneath each man’s skin. If Asa and Enoch could revel in the brutality of battle, then so could I.

  “What if I told you there was a way to protect yourself from Asa and his company?” I offered.

  The three men’s attention locked onto me, eagerly awaiting my next words.

  “How would we do that?” one asked.

  Before they realized I’d moved, I knocked two of the men’s skulls together. They fell over onto the ground while I bit the third, holding my hand over his mouth to stifle his screams. His hot, panting breaths were like music to my ears. Panic was power. God had given me the ability to hold a man’s life in my hands, to transform him into a weapon to fight the evil cancer that had been propagated and was already spreading over this land, quicker than it had in the past we’d learned about.

  I pushed venom from my fangs into his veins and released him, his body falling to the ground with a thump. Turning the other two, I left them to be found by their compatriots. It was only a couple hours until dawn. The regiment would awaken, pack up the camp, and move along without them, at a faster clip than they would have without the influence of depraved vampires nipping at their heels. When the sun rose, my new sires would awaken with a certain amount of discomfort. Their skin would sting where it was exposed. Their gums and head would throb.

  Then, I would find them and command them to follow me. We would grow my company and I would prepare my sires to fight Asa’s company of them.

  This would be no skirmish. To Asa and Enoch, I would bring war. I would bring death.

  * * *

  Eve

  What originally was a mass of candles spread across the surface of the desk, was now a dried, lava-like flow of wax. The candle holders sat empty, their bases encased in a waxy goo, while Titus snored. His body was slumped in the uncomfortably small chair and his head and hair were plastered to the dewy window. Dawn was creeping over the horizon.

  Someone softly knocked on the door twice. I threw the blankets off and hurried to move the chest that blocked it. Asa was on the other side.

  "Breakfast is ready." He glanced into the room over my shoulder at Titus. "I don't know how he can sleep like that."

  "Me either. I need to get dressed, but I’ll be down in a few minutes."

  Asa opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but promptly closed it again and then turned and walked away. I pressed the door closed, hurried to dress as neatly as I could, and slipped out the door. Asa was waiting for me at the bottom of the steps.

  "You look well this morning."

  I jogged down the stairs. The weakness in my muscles was gone and my head didn’t feel like it was being cleaved in two this morning, so I had that going for me. And judging by the growling of my stomach, breakfast was exactly what I needed.

  Down the hall was a small dining room where a table was set for three. "I assume one of these settings is for Titus. Does that mean Terah won't be dining with us?" I asked.

  "Terah is busy and I’m glad Titus is still asleep. I'd like to have a word with you in private before my brother shows up."

  He pulled out my chair, pushing it in as I sat down. It was a gallant gesture, but it left me feeling awkward. "Thanks."

  Asa laughed. "You don't have to be polite if it bothers you."

  "It doesn't bother me."

  "My brother told me you were a terrible liar. He was right."

  Well, his brother told me he was evil, and I'm pretty sure he was right about that, too. Asa folded his napkin over his lap and poured each of us a glass of water from a carafe. I didn't bother to thank him, but that didn't stop Asa from laughing at me.

  "You wanted to talk?" I asked, tired of his games.

  "I should have known you wouldn't bother with pleasantries if politeness offends you,” he began ruefully. “To answer your question, yes, I have a few things to say to you. First, Terah will not bother you again."

  I couldn't help but interrupt. He was right. Politeness be damned. "You can't guarantee that. You didn't sire her, and you have no control over her. She is your equal."

  "She is my sister, but beyond that bond, Terah is at my mercy because she lives here. If she wants to continue living here, she will do as I say."

  "Why doesn't she have her own home? In every time we've traveled to, she's lived with Enoch. He mentioned that she had her own ship at one point, but that didn't seem to last long."

  "Well, that could be because her first mate committed mutiny and stole it the first time she dropped anchor to visit Enoch."

  "That’s another thing…why did Edward owe Enoch? I get why Terah hated him, but Edward kept talking about this huge debt he owed to Enoch. Enoch forgave him, but I never quite figured out what he was forgiving."

  Asa smiled as a woman brought us each a dish filled to the brim with piping hot food. Golden knots of bread, eggs with sunny middles, rice, and swirling sweet rolls. She placed a platter of fruit on the table between us and asked if we needed anything else. Asa thanked her and told her we were fine for now, but that he would call for her if we did. She curtseyed and left the room.

  "Do you feed from them?"

  Asa gave a hearty laugh, but I kept my fingers near my knife. "To answer your first question,” he began, “Edward stole something from Enoch. Nothing as big as a ship, mind you, and not an amount that should matter to my brother, given all he has, but even if Edward had taken only one coin, Enoch would have sought restitution. My brother feels there is a distinct line between right and wrong, and he takes great offense to anyone who wrongs him."

  I challenged, "And you don't see the distinction or take offense when someone crosses the line?"

  Asa took a sip of water and sat his glass back on the table. "I suppose he and I see the world in a different light, and always have. Truthfully, that's why we don't get along. I take the view that the line between right and wrong isn't distinct. It's blurred at best, missing in spots, and sometimes you have to do what's wrong to make things right."

  The eggs were divine. I took a few more bites c
hewing them while I thought of a retort. "Sometimes what we think is right is actually wrong."

  "And sometimes what we think is wrong is justified." He lifted his glass and tipped it toward me. "You are the perfect example of that sentiment."

  "What are you saying?"

  "Do you regret traveling through time? Do you regret the life you wasted hating the three of us? Enoch thought you were right in coming after us. You were willing to do anything to end our lives, and yet you found numerous things you were told about us that were wrong. Everything your leaders thought they knew about us was wrong."

  I swallowed thickly. He was right. Victor and Kael had been wrong about so many things, I couldn't even begin to list them. If I tried it would just piss me off, so why bother?

  "I believe that based on the information we had, our actions as far as traveling back in time were completely justified,” I chose my words carefully. “In the future, you and your siblings are scourges on mankind. The human population is shrinking at a rate you couldn’t even fathom, and at the fangs of those you three sired."

  "Then we could stop it," he pushed.

  I scooted my chair out a little, consumed by immediate, intense anger. "But you don't, Asa. You don't stop it. You don't stop them. If anything, you encourage them."

  "Why would we do that? It makes no sense."

  "Where I come from, or I guess I should say when I come from, the three of you are power-hungry. All that seems to matter is how many followers you have, how many people you desire or how many desire you, and how many people you can terrorize. Now, I don't claim to understand why. It was like vampires revealed themselves, overwhelmed the government, seized power and then fed, and fed, and fed, until all that was left were scraps like me."

  Tears flooded my eyes, but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

  "Eve," he prodded quietly.

  I gritted my teeth, staring at the napkin in my lap as my fingers wrung the fabric, straightened it and wrung it again.

  "You are no scrap," he bit out. "You are the most formidable opponent we could have."

  "Well, that’s clearly not true. I came to end Enoch, and couldn't even raise a stake to him."

  "You impaled his hand."

  "I was supposed to strike his heart."

  "A vampire would die from such a blow, but a Nephilim would not, Eve. We are different."

  "I know. Enoch told me on his ship."

  "Eve's Curse," he added with a smirk.

  I couldn't help but smile at the memory of my namesake. "Eve's Curse."

  Asa became thoughtful. "Do you believe that a person can change the core of who they are? Can they change their values, beliefs, and reactions? Who they truly are within, who they are when people aren't watching?" he suddenly posed.

  I thought about it for a few minutes before answering. I thought about those closest to me and how their personalities were consistent, regardless of age or circumstance. "No, I don't believe people can change who they truly are. I think they can adjust their actions, and I think they can make different decisions, given experience and knowledge. But I don't think that who we are deep down ever really changes. I feel the same now as I always have. My traits are the same. So, I think that while events can influence a person, I'm not sure they can actually alter that person."

  Asa leaned back in his chair and crossed his feet at the ankle. "I happen to agree with you."

  "Why do you ask?"

  I wondered if he was about to explain his seemingly changed behavior. When I first met him, he made both the earth and my skin crawl. The last time I saw Asa, he told me he regretted not killing me the first time we met. Was he now trying to tell me he changed his mind? I couldn’t help but believe it was a trap. He just finished agreeing that a tiger couldn’t change its stripes. It certainly wouldn't pluck out its own teeth – or in his case, fangs.

  “My sister’s hatred of you won’t die. It will grow more intense every time she encounters you.”

  “Well then, why didn’t she attack Titus when he fell into the chicken coop? Not to mention the fact that she could’ve attacked me last night. It was almost like she wanted to, but couldn’t bring herself to actually do it.” Maybe deep down, Terah saw me as the only legitimate threat.

  “Because the three of us made a pact not to harm any of you if you showed up again – in any time.”

  There it was. I was breathing right now because Enoch made them promise not to hurt me. I wondered how many promises the siblings had made to one another over the eons, and then broken.

  “Well, you haven’t tried to kill me. I can’t say the same for Terah.”

  “She claims she only wanted to talk to you.”

  “She could have talked to me from where she was hiding in the corner of the room. She wasn’t interested in conversing, Asa.”

  He nodded. “Still, if she wanted to attack, she could have,” he said, letting the words linger for a moment. “She won’t bother you again.”

  “Again, you can’t promise that; but I’ll promise you one thing: I will defend myself the next time she, or any of you, slinks into my room in the middle of the night.”

  “This is my house,” he warned.

  “Titus and I will leave if we aren’t welcome – and not just because Enoch made you promise not to kill us. If you’d rather we were dead, there’s no point in staying here – not that we’ll be here long, anyway.”

  “You’ll leap ahead?”

  “As soon as we can, yes.”

  He pursed his lips together and his brows drew in.

  “What?” I asked, exasperated. “Don’t you want us to leave?”

  “No, it’s not that.”

  “Well, what is it?”

  “I heard something. Stay here.”

  He was sitting in front of me one minute and gone with a whisper the next. The front door wobbled on its hinges. I ran to the door, surprised to see Titus jogging down the main staircase to meet me, groggy, but with a stake clenched in his hand. “What is it?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered warily.

  A dusty trail was approaching and I zeroed in on the rider whose horse was making it. “Captain Asa!” a woman screamed. “They’re firing our houses one by one! They’ve already burned five. Enoch’s was the last. They’ll come for you next!”

  “Who?” Asa demanded as Mary slowed her horse and he lifted her from the saddle. “Who, Mary?”

  “Redcoats.”

  “We’ve fought them before,” he scoffed. “Just drain them and be done with it.”

  “Can’t,” she panted. “They’re vampires.”

  Chapter Eight

  Abram

  The soldiers I’d sired were thirsty for much more than blood. They craved revenge for their fallen compatriots, for the years of their lives they’d forfeited to come here and fight, only to be met by cowards who refused to fight like gentlemen.

  Therefore, they were more than pleased to bring the fight, and the fire, to their enemies’ doorstep. We made our way through the countryside, dressed in common clothes. We carried no muskets, brandished no swords or knives. Our bodies were God’s weapons.

  The farm was quiet, for the most part. A few still toiled in the fields and in the kitchens behind the house. The house was made of brick, but the inside was filled with furniture and trinkets, things that loved to burn. However, before we lit anything, we needed to find Eve and Enoch.

  I wanted to grip Eve’s hair and drag her kicking and screaming from the house. I wanted my men to hold Enoch by the arms while I drove a stake through his heart as she watched, powerless to help, and then I wanted to drive the same stake through hers.

  And Titus? If he was with them? He would die, too.

  Why should I leave him to crawl home and bask in the glory that was rightfully mine? All Titus and Eve had ever done was lie and deceive. They would pay for those indiscretions, and then I would go home and collect my due.

  “Surround the house,” I comma
nded. “Bring anyone who is inside, out to me. Set fire to it as you go. I believe Asa’s home is nearby. Perhaps we should pay him a visit next.” Once I gave the orders, my men fanned out. Before long, fire billowed from the tall windows, scorching the brick and turning the serene home into a fiery hell. A scream tore from a woman near the kitchens. More came from men in the field. But I never heard a sound resembling Enoch’s voice, or Eve’s. Everyone brought forth was human. A horse tore from the barn stall and galloped to the earthen road, a single rider on its back. The scent wasn’t a familiar one.

  “Should I go after the rider, sir?” one of my men asked.

  “You. Only you. Go after him.” I turned to the humans. “I’m looking for someone.” They were quiet. “I’d be happy to make an example out of anyone who refuses to assist me.”

  “Who…?” a man grunted out. One of my soldiers held his arms behind his back painfully. “Who are you looking for? We’ll tell you anything you want to know,” he vowed, his voice trembling.

  “I know you will,” I replied with a placating smile. “This is Enoch’s plantation, is it not?”

  “It is,” the man confirmed. His hair was as thin and gray as his linen shirt. His face and hands were the same dirt-brown color of his pants. His face was red and splotchy. I wasn’t sure if the sun had burned him, or if he always looked that way.

  “And where might Enoch be?” I asked.

  The man shook his head. “He ain’t here. He left for his brother’s place and hasn’t been here in days.”

  “Have you seen a dark-haired woman with him? Her name is Eve.”

  The man shook his head. “Ain’t seen nobody like that. We ain’t had no visitors in a long time, save Enoch’s brother on occasion.”

  “Is Asa close by?” I asked.

  The man nodded. “Oh, yes. His plantation is the next one over, though it’s several miles away. Just head that way,” he pointed north, “and you’ll run right into it. It’s a tall, white house with big pillars in the front.”