Empire of Blood [Box Set]

by Robert S. Wilson

  But then he heard sounds, strange sounds, and realized that he was in fact conscious. He strained to open his eyes. At first, the same darkness was all that he could see. Then, his vision was completely gray and fuzzy for a long while. He knew that his eyes were adjusting to the lighting in whatever room he was now in. The strange sounds continued. He could hear the incessant beeping of what sounded like hospital monitoring equipment and something else. The "something else" was what confused him. It sounded like French kissing maybe, or a person sucking on something. He closed his eyes and opened them again, repeating the process several times over.

  His sight began to restore. He was first able to make out the black-dotted, white ceiling tiles above him. Then, he looked downward to see the wall that was before him. It was white as well, only completely vacant of any other detail, save for a few electronic devices and a chair in front of it. He looked to his left, the direction the strange sucking sounds were coming from. He first saw the long flow of Ishan's hair. But the contrast of blonde hair intermingling with it demanded his attention. Then Ishan's body jolted as if he were convulsing and Peter's face was revealed as he drank from Ishan's neck. The fury of what happened to him came back to Simon then and it was now combined with a new thing. It was now linked with a desperation to save Ishan, a vampire for whom, he realized, he now cared deeply for. The impulse from his brain told him to lunge for Peter, but his body did nothing. Ishan screamed out in pain almost as if he realized that Simon could do nothing for him. But Ishan showed no signs of coherency other than agony. Simon tried yet again with all of his will to move and still his body did not comply. A deep rasping sound came from Ishan as the ancient vampire continued to hold on to his own life. But Peter only sucked harder in response.

  * * *

  Peter was surprised enough when he found out Simon had managed to be chosen by the ancestors as a host. He was doubly surprised now to learn just how much of Ishan's blood the fledgling vampire managed to drain before it knocked him out. If he hadn't have been so wrapped up in Ishan's memories, the edge of fear in him would have developed more fully, but he was too emotionally involved to let it consume him. He had good reason to fear. It changed things a lot. It meant the only reason the battle between Ishan and himself went so smoothly was due to Ishan's extreme weakness. Arrogantly, he had assumed that Ishan's state was more due to being worn down in the fight. It also meant that Simon was now possibly a much more formidable opponent than Peter expected. He could feel now that Ishan was just on the verge of dying. He savored the taste of it, the blood and the thought that this contemptible thing would die. He had loved him once. Back then, he would have taken on the Empire on his own, if Ishan had asked him to. He had never known that he could feel so much in one single moment. But now, the time was his to inflict anguish. He began sucking harder, wanting more and more for Ishan's life to end forever.

  * * *

  Simon focused all his concentration on his legs. At first nothing happened, but after a moment of harvesting all of his mental strength his legs began to twitch. Relief flooded his heart, and he tried again, pushing harder this time. His left leg moved slightly. As it moved, he felt an electric jolt through his entire body, a feeling akin to pins and needles. The sensation grew until his skin, muscles, and bones felt like they were vibrating. It reminded him of what he experienced when he changed from human to human vampire, only much more complex and enhanced. After a moment or so, it faded and he was left with a pleasurable vibration throughout his core. At that moment, he knew he could move. He knew he could move fast. So fast that he realized he was already in the air, lunging for Peter, before he had even finished his thought.

  Chapter 19

  One Foot in Front of the Other

  It hadn't been what Hank expected. Of course, he hadn't really had much time to expect anything anyway. But the experience that overcame him was completely alien to anything he ever encountered. He was pretty sure it was mostly because he had never been a little girl before. But now, in all the information going into his brain from his sensory organs, it would seem he was a little girl. But not just any little girl. He was a little girl named Rachel. He experienced himself wearing a poofy, bright red dress and dancing around gleefully to the tune of an airplane overhead in what Rachel's brain remembered to be her back yard in the summer of 1934. He noticed the pretty sparkles that shone at random on the ruffles of the dress. He felt his eyelashes bat as he shared Rachel's dream of being the most glamorous princess in all the land. But then, dark clouds cast over the sun and an all-encompassing shadow covered the ground before them and Hank felt Rachel's stomach twist like a rag being wrung. The shadow took the shape of a large man as Rachel began to cry.

  "It's okay, darlin’. Daddy just wants to play with his little girl," a rough voice said from behind them.

  After only a short few minutes of being a girl, Hank experienced the most horrible thing a little girl can be made to endure. Not just once but several times. It quickly became clear to Hank that Rachel's brothers took after their father in more than just looks. Before long, Hank was experiencing puberty all over again but from an undiscovered spectrum well contrasting the first. All the while he also experienced a form of slavery as well. A mental slavery, a sexual one, and the general sort as well.

  Rachel cooked, cleaned, and let herself be violated in more ways than just physical. She was passed around by the three of them like a rag doll on any given night. But then, it all changed. She was seventeen and walking down a dirt road at night, smoking a cigarette, going anywhere but home. She knew what was waiting for her. She was now hours late and would get it much worse than any other given night. The corn fields adorned both sides of the road like a princess's long golden curls down each side of her face. Rachel cried thinking of that long-lost little princess inside of her. They had killed her little princess long ago. Well before, she learned to use her body as a means of getting what she wanted with anyone but her family. Why not use what she had to get out of class, or get a little cash, or even get a free ride out of town? She had tried that once. It worked so far as getting out of town, but her father had found her. Then came the worst beatings of her life followed by the most terrifying assault her father ever put her through.

  Coyotes were singing their tune in the background of the full moon as headlights from a motorcar turned around the corner up ahead of her. Before she could get herself hidden between a couple rows of corn, the car slowed as it pulled up to where she was. It came to a complete stop and the window opened, revealing a strange smile attached to a blonde boy who looked like he was in his early twenties. Hank recognized him right away. Peter hadn't changed at all in nearly a century.

  "Hey, dish, you want a ride somewhere?"

  Hank felt himself blush and simultaneously heard and felt a high-pitched squeal come through his chest and out of his mouth in a slight giggle.

  "Sure, handsome. Where you headed?" Hank felt Rachel's vocal cords vibrate into speech.

  "Anywhere you want, gorgeous."

  "Anywhere but here will do."

  "Well, get in then," he said smiling widely.

  Hank couldn't help but notice Rachel almost consciously, but not quite, realizing for herself that something was strange about that smile. Whatever it had been was out of focus. He felt her rationalize that it must have just been her imagination. Peter reached across the seat of the black Ford Model T and opened the door. Rachel, blushing, got in and closed it beside her as Peter put the automobile into gear and began to let off the clutch, making the car push forward.

  Peter took her out to Dickson City to a fancy restaurant that night. The waiter took her for an adult and gladly served her wine without a second thought. She had a wonderful time with this stunning older man. After that, he took her dancing and before long she found herself alone with him back in his motor car parked in an alley behind a swing club. They started with small pecks at first and before long they were rapidly probing each others mouths with their tongu
es. She was feeling lust for the first time in her life as no man had ever made her feel before. She never understood before this moment why all the other girls talked with such swoon about men. Then he was opening her blouse and kissing down her chest. He made his way back upward and began kissing around her collar bone and then along her shoulder toward her arm. She had never felt a longing such as this. All those years of abuse had never let her feel anything at all pleasurable from a man's touch. But now, it was like a new world had opened up around her. She began to moan in pleasure as he kissed his way back toward her neck. She clutched at the steering wheel as she felt a luscious pressure in her neck. She began to moan louder as the windows of the car steamed up with fog. She felt a sweet darkness begin to fill her all over and screamed out in absolute delight. In slow motion and at the speed of light all at once, the passenger door of the automobile flung open in a burst. A bright flashlight flooded the inside of the car with light as she squinted her eyes in the direction of it. Peter let go of her neck and she saw him way too quickly wipe his mouth from the corner of her eyes.

  "You kids get out of here before I have to take you downtown," a loud nasal voice said from behind the flashlight. Then the door was slammed just as fast as it had been opened.

  Rachel straightened herself and began buttoning up her blouse as Peter started the car and put it into reverse. It was only after they were back on the road that she noticed the small scab that was starting to form on her neck. She felt as though she were in another world. Her head floated along on top of her shoulders as the car drove on. Before long, she found herself being dropped off at her house even though she hadn't given Peter directions. In that same daze, she got out of the car, walked into her house, and went to her room without even looking at Peter. Nothing about this was strange to her in any way. As she lay down in the bed and closed her eyes, she heard the sound of screaming and a struggle from somewhere in the house. Then everything went silent for a long time. Still none of this was strange to her. Finally, she heard a rooster crowing just before she fell asleep.

  The next day Rachel was rather confused to wake up and find the house completely empty. She didn't know what gift God had bestowed on her to cause her father and her two brothers to be gone without so much as a bruise on her or in her. She got up and fixed herself a big country breakfast and enjoyed a long summer's day reading on the front porch with a big glass of freshly brewed tea that usually only the men of the house were allowed to have. She was astonished to find herself feeling a pang of worry when evening came and still her monstrous brothers and father hadn't arrived home. When the last rays of sunshine faltered over the horizon and the sound of crickets filled the air, an immense fear gripped her. She went inside the house and locked the door and lodged it shut with one of the kitchen chairs. She was certain they were out there waiting. They were waiting for her to lie down and stop watching for them so they could come in and catch her just as soon as she was off guard. Then they would give her the raping and beating to end all and maybe even finally kill her. She paced around the house wondering what she should do.

  After an hour of nervous pacing, she nearly jumped out of her skin when headlights filled the front yard as a motorcar pulled into the gravel driveway in front of the house. She knelt down below one of the front windows and peeked out the corner of one of the curtains. What she saw turned her world upside down. It was her terrible male blood relations all right. But not how she had expected to see them. They were lined up in the grass on their knees, each with a rag tied around his mouth. They had looks of fright on their faces and made muffled, whining sobs like dogs through their cloth-covered mouths. Rachel couldn't help letting out a giggle at the site of her abusers in such a docile and embarrassing pose. Then she saw the missing piece of the puzzle. Standing beside them, talking real gentle to them in a completely belittling tone, was Peter. After a moment passed he turned and looked right at her as if he could see her just as clearly as she could see him. He shouted to her.

  "It's all right, Rachel. You can come out now. It's all right now. These bastards will never bother you again," he said and then turned and moved in a blur.

  Rachel was filled with that same driving lust as she realized that in a movement too fast for her eyes to make out clearly, Peter had slapped all three of the men in the face, turning their heads to the side and leaving each a purple bruise on their left cheek. In a rush of haste, Rachel got up and moved the chair from the door, unlocked it, flung it open, and ran to embrace her newfound lover. As they embraced, they seemed to spin forever together in the wind and the grass in front of her wicked old man and brothers as their moans were muted by the rags tied round their mouths. She was in heaven with this man. She didn't know what he was about to do to her kin, but she was sure it was going to end with them never being able to hurt her again. Peter whispered in her ear.

  "If you want me to, I'll kill them right here in front of you."

  She giggled loudly from the tickle of his breath on her ear and from the thrill of his words.

  "But if I do it, first you must make me a promise," he continued.

  "Anything," she said smiling and giggling in his arms.

  "Promise me you'll be mine, all mine, forever," he said, his voice rising beyond a whisper.

  "Yes! Forever," she said solemnly as she looked into his eyes. But the next thing that happened was far too brutal to keep from tearing her out of the spell she was under.

  Peter smiled, opening his mouth and laughing, revealing his fangs to her. A tight fear gripped her heart as he swiveled effortlessly and pulled her father's neck up to his face. Then he tore his fangs down into the man’s neck and began to suck the blood, tearing his flesh carelessly. A scream tore out from her involuntarily. Inward, she felt a barrage of conflicting feelings. But ultimately what won out was the curiosity she felt and the joy that her oppression from her brothers and father was finally at an end. She laughed hysterically as her father's body became visibly lighter and lighter. It was a rush to watch. When good ol’ Dad's fat, writhing corpse fell to the ground with a plunk, she found herself wanting more.

  "Jimmy next!"

  "Which one is Jimmy?" Peter asked, licking the blood from his face.

  "That one!" she said pointing down at the brother on the right who was shaking his head rapidly, her face morosely excited.

  Peter lunged into him like a tiger crashing onto an elk.

  The next instant, Rachel found herself running forward and kicking Jimmy in the chest over and over again all the while swearing at him at the top of her lungs. Then as Peter continued to drain Jimmy, Rachel turned to Bobby who was now lying sideways on the ground trying to get his tied hands out from behind him. She ran forward like a bullet and flung her body at him feet first. She could feel his jaw break beneath her shoes as she landed on top of him. She got up and kicked him in his abdomen with all of her might. Blood was pouring out of his mouth when Peter finally got to him.

  When the deed was done, she took Peter into the house and made love for the first time ever in her life. She had lost her virginity long ago, but on this night, she lost her family, her torture, and her inhibitions.

  They burned the house that night with the only blood relatives she had ever known inside. Then, they took off and headed south. Peter promised her that she could have what he had. She sure wanted it. She wanted the strength and the power. She had been disappointed when she learned it was a gift that he couldn't give her as she had read about it in books and stories. He told her all about the place they were going to. He told her all about the hive hidden in the city. The Big Easy. He told her about Ishan. The one who chooses, he had said of him. For her to become as Peter was, she would have to submit to Ishan and pass the test of the ancestor queen. He told her the strange way in which the ancestors and the human vampires lived together off of each other. It was a strange word he used to explain it. The word was "symbiotic". He explained to her that there were many men among the ancestors but only one fe
male, the queen. But the strangest thing of all he told her was about how the ancestors reproduced. In a way, they didn't. At least, not alone. The male ancestors, although there were many, were all completely and absolutely sterile. But once in several millennia, he told her, something strange happens. Among the many infected by the ancestor's venom, the queen picks one of great age and power. And through mating with him, she impregnates herself.

  Hank had almost forgotten who he was as the experience seemed to go on forever and yet had only just begun a short while ago. He was learning so much that he hadn't expected and wasn't sure he really wanted. As the vision moved on outside of time, he saw Rachel and Peter arrive in New Orleans. He saw them arrive at the hive and Rachel and Ishan introduced to each other. He lived through Rachel's transformation from human to human vampire as she was given to a crowd of ancestors who covered her body in bites, draining all of her blood. Ishan asked the queen if Rachel was worthy. The queen said Rachel was and the males gave her the venom. He saw many faces put to death by Peter and Rachel over decade upon decade. After seeing so many of them, some sense of reality started to come back to him. He felt his physical body, his arms gripping her, his teeth buried into her neck. With a great amount of effort, he pulled his teeth free of her flesh. But the visions continued.

  He saw the war and the blood pact through her eyes. He saw the founding of Necropolis as the vampires flooded the city and devoured every living person they could find. The innocent and the reprehensible. Finally, he saw the planning that went into their betrayal and felt a confirmation of the power he could feel Peter had over her.