by JN Moon
“There are several entrances here,” Nathaniel addressed everyone. “Once you’re in and fed, look for their computers, phones, iPads or tablets. Hack everything. Take these.”
Darren handed everyone a few different types of USB sticks. “Julian and I have put these together. Once you’ve plugged this in, it will over-ride all their security and you can access their info. Use the codes I sent in the text message and then delete the message. We may be immortal, but we’re not indestructible. Enough humans find out what happened and come after us, we could be in trouble, so we can’t be sloppy. Afterwards, if we do it right, they won’t know their information has been lifted and we can put this database together.”
“We’re so high tech!” I laughed.
Darren grinned. “Of course! We’re twenty-first century vampires using human technology to help ourselves.”
Nathaniel clapped me on the back. “Don’t worry, Anthony, we can always stalk our prey when we feel like reminiscing. But for the most part this isn’t just about making our life easier—safer even. It’s also about the global market. It’s about survival, evolving. We can sell this technology and transform our species from primitive to modern. You’re new to this world, but me, I’ve been hunting for centuries. I’ll still do it occasionally; I enjoy it. But if I want I can just use this and then do something else with my time rather than stalk criminals. I’ve never told you, but I hate the cold, the rain, and this keeps me out of it,” Nathaniel added.
Darren laughed. “Grandpa here needs it a bit easier!” Then his laughter stopped and his face was serious. “But guys, Julian and I will need these back straight after. Don’t try and hack these. We got equipment that won’t detect us. And the other important issue—I don’t think we can just go in and kill a house full of people. Not without alerting people we don’t want alerted. I think we’ll just have to drain them almost and then re-condition their minds.” He turned swiftly and jumped onto a small roof balcony and lifted the locked window easily.
“Is he busting locks?” I asked.
“Oh, don’t worry. The mortals will fix them afterwards! Then we’ll use the front door. Nobody will see us leaving.”
We descended en mass into the building. Nathaniel and I decided to hunt out the delinquents together. I can’t speak for what the others found within the flats of that huge place, but for us we found a pitiful state of human who would make any sane being—mortal or otherwise—want to drain his body of blood.
His soul full of anger, of fear that the result of which the room was filled with a gigantic wraith that screeched as we entered, but didn’t react to us per say as we knew not to acknowledge it. Difficult as that was, I was now getting used to closing my mind off from others since being around my nephilim friends. A skill that was more precious than I realised at the time.
We kept righteous thoughts and feelings within us which was tricky as this pathetic excuse of a human and its crimes made me want to explode in a fury upon him and drain him slowly to death.
I’ve been told my entire life that I have an expressive nature and I am affected a lot by others actions. Now I was learning to control my emotions. And as in the beginning of my vampiric life, I had Nathaniel to aid me.
As we entered the damp tiny flat, the fiend stopped in his actions and looked at us with shock and abject horror. A plain looking man, plump from years of sedentary lifestyle, his face was non-descript, ugly as was everything about him. A loser. A nobody who only felt power in inflicting pain and suffering of others. No self-esteem, no pride. No soul. A waste of good air.
Most don’t fight back, knowing on a subconscious level that we are the predators, they the prey and our strength is far greater, but also that they deserve this end. Often, our power radiates from us so much that they just freeze in fear. This man was no different.
Nathaniel took the criminal’s left wrist, I took the right, and as the wretch crumpled under our joint bleeding of him, his wraith started to vanish, but not without screaming it’s lament of its futile existence.
I left Nathaniel to recondition the human, to instil within him a new philosophy similar to a programme in a computer so that he’d never be capable of hurting or inflicting any pain on another, even in self-defence. He would become scared of his shadow.
For most this is easy, for the evil have no awareness of self, no intelligence. They are automatons, re-enacting their petty, nasty behaviours in a self-righteous manner. And they go from cradle to the grave without ever realising this.
You may wonder why we don’t instil something more positive, but the truth is, we can’t over-ride a criminals subconscious that well. It’s easier to break them down, knowing they’ll never harm another. Maybe a nephilim could do a true reprogramming, but there are so many like this fiend that it would be unreasonable to expect the nephilim to go about reprogramming all of them.
I hacked all his tech quickly, using the various USB’s and the text that Nathaniel had sent me just before entering. Shoving them in my pocket, I turned around and found Nathaniel finished, the man on the floor dead instead of reprogrammed.
Nathaniel smirked. “Yeah, well, it’s only one body and what we found here, I didn’t want it to live.”
I just nodded. I did the same these days with those that were really vile. “Let’s dump it now before it stinks,” I offered.
And so off we headed, up the hill beyond the city and into the surrounding countryside to bury the dead.
I felt there could be a chance that we could make progress without the need for the nephilim to call upon the higher beings. If we vampires could organise ourselves using Darren’s app, could we wipe out most of the phantom apparitions and a lot of delinquents? I never worry about running out of blood. The human species is too rife with malevolence, and if only they knew their own true power, they could become so much more. But they don’t. If Acacius didn’t need to call the higher ones, we would have a better chance of survival.
But what of the non-evil mortals, whose hearts had merely turned sour due to the unhappiness of their lives? Drinking their blood to save their souls? Even if we did that, would that rid them of their wraiths, of their hatred, their fear?
Even if I could justify the morality of this, there were just so many.
I reflected on these thoughts with Nathaniel. He tilted his head to the side, frowning and wide-eyed. “Anthony, you really don’t understand the threat of this situation. I applaud your compassion for the human soul, I really do. But their wraiths, this is their responsibility. There is a choice, there is always a choice. When I lived as a mortal, hundreds of years ago, I was lucky to have some fortune. But life then was meagre, filthy, disease ridden. People had no choices then. Today, here at least, they have a kingdom and if they choose self-imprisonment within their minds, then who am I to be their saviour. I don’t want to see man destroyed by hate, by fear, I really don’t. But you and I, even with our friends, cannot solve this problem on our own. For every human we see in doom, maybe five, ten more are as them elsewhere in this city. And with the veil thinning, these creatures are spilling through. How could we send them back?”
I nodded. There had to be an easier way. If the higher angels came, we all faced annihilation.
“We need to know where they are coming from. They live in the hearts of man, the soul. Acacius had said the veil was thinning and so they must be able to be sent back, if we cannot kill them all.”
The Children
Anthony
Hunting with Nathaniel, Darren, and Marcus, we decided to take to the streets this busy Saturday night instead of using the Vamp app. Apparitions hung thick in the air like low hanging clouds. The apparition fog affected people, causing them to lose their senses, seeking refuge in alcohol, hoping that its promise of drunken ecstasy would be their salvation from the confusion and depression which had fallen upon them. As the people gorged themselves on the alcohol, confusing their senses more, the ghostly demons feasted upon the negative emotions that bo
th they and the humans’ methods of escape wrought.
With so much evil, more were attracted and I feared that there was too much to feast upon, gluttonous proportions, and there would be too many evil souls to contain. More vampires from neighbouring cities and towns had come to dine and tension grew between the supernatural species, unseen by the mortals.
Fights broke out over humans, petty and vicious. With the humans so drunk, they barely noticed. For us, my species drinking from mortals who are high and drunk affects us greatly in a similar way as it does humans. We feel heady and it can be to our detriment, but it can also be fun—to a point.
We found ourselves in a club where the pounding music reverberated through our bodies, and we sprawled out in the corner and watched a band hammering on their instruments as people jumped and threw themselves around in a frenzy of the music, fuelled by drink.
I was glad I had already eaten. Their scent, their blood thick in the air, and my senses high on that could make me rash and dangerous, as I had been in the beginning of this crazy vampire life. It was needed though, time away from the reality of the situation with only the spectres keeping our attention. We had almost learnt to ignore them.
After some hours of living vicariously through the drunk humans, we decided to head home. The streets were less busy now and we grew more relaxed than we had been in months.
Walking back to my flat, I came across a female vampire creeping around the entrance of a pub that was closing. There was something about her, something smelled different. She didn’t look particularly different and she was dressed very casually in jeans, boots, coat, and short blonde hair. But there was definitely something odd about her.
I stood back and watched behind a building. That smell, I knew it, I’d smelt it before. She took her victim easily enough, but she led her off, fingers gripping mercilessly into the woman’s neck. What was this new thing? I can understand taking her victim off the street. To drink her there would be suicide, but her behaviour, her constant checking, scanning around to see who or what was watching her, or what could threaten her was peculiar indeed. Most vampires, while cautious, were confident in their own abilities and didn’t tend to look over their shoulders. I kept at a distance as I followed and my heart beat fast as my instinct told me there was something weird here.
Sure enough, after a short distance she took the woman into a building. At least I assumed it was her home, unless she’s chosen a random building that was empty to use for safety. It’s an unwritten rule.
I waited outside, waiting to pick up where she was in the building when I heard a sound that chilled my soul: A child crying. I shot up the building using ledges and indentations in the bricks to climb, my intuition guiding me to the room where this fiend was keeping a child. I waited outside the window, not daring to look in until I had calmed my breathing.
As I peered through I saw something I never knew existed. There, a child feasted on the drunken woman. But this was something else. Black feathered wings tinged crimson, luminous porcelain skin with fangs so large they were almost comical. Her hands! They didn’t resemble hands at all, more claw like and this child gorged on her victim with a ferocity which was cruel and dangerous. From the side of the room the vampire and her nephilim lover watched over the child, pride beaming from their faces.
I jumped down, startled, my heart racing with fear and wonder. Now I was the one looking around, making sure that no one had seen me.
Fascinated and horrified at what I’d just witnessed, I felt I should tell the others. But then they’d kill the child, but then maybe they should? Vampire and nephilim, how could that be? Yet this was just the newest development in my supernatural knowledge, which seemed to grow constantly.
A new species had emerged and it looked to be more powerful, more brutal than its parents.
I went to find Marcus and we wandered to the park to talk. I wouldn’t speak of what I had seen yet, and I would keep my mind fixed on mundane matters.
Even in the parks, wraiths hovered over the criminals and in my heart, I longed for a fast solution.
We noticed fewer nephilim and vampires who were previously and blatantly paired up in the city now and I was suspicious about that. Something told me that a change was at hand.
Marcus was there, sitting casually on a park bench not looking too good. As I walked towards him, out of nowhere a woman stepped out of the shadows from the tree line in the park. We were taken aback, firstly because she took us by surprise and secondly because I had an uncanny feeling I knew her from another time.
“My name is Lauren. I have come with my friends, my kin to help you rid this place of the phantoms, the demons, and some of my kin...” She looked to Marcus. “Some of my kin are hoping, trusting that in return you can help us?”
“Your kind are mindless vicious killers, so why should I help you?” Marcus replied indifferently.
“We come in peace. Like you, we are locked into the trap of feeding on humans to survive and though most, like you, would rather die than kill the innocent, that hunger is as strong as yours, if not stronger. The pack I represent doesn’t kill humans, and is trying to persuade others not to kill. You can’t tarnish a whole species on the actions of a few.”
“Hardly a few. Then your pack is a most unique one. You are all here?” Marcus nodded, completely calm.
“No, that would be foolish,” she said quietly. She was about my age when I was turned, her dark blond hair touching her shoulders. Her hazel eyes twinkled, I could smell instantly that she was human, but she had a stronger scent on her, a musky woody scent.
Then I sensed them and an overwhelming urge to run seized me. I wondered why I had not smelt them before.
Marcus interjected, “Don’t fear, Anthony. They come in peace. They are lycans. So, Lauren, how do you propose to help?”
“A few of our kind have studied and practised magic and are now able Necromancers. With your help, we are confident we can aid in sending these demons back to where they came from and seal the veil,” Lauren offered.
“And how can we help you?” Marcus enquired casually.
“Many have had enough, but don’t want to be damned into the void like these phantoms. We cannot easily die and our history—or so we’ve been told—of those who have tried, end up living in a worse state. Could you or your kin help them back to their mortal selves?”
Marcus’s voice was compassionate and warm. “I am truly sorry that you have been mutated against your will. You must know that normally my kin would kill you on sight, and they are fully aware that you are killers beyond your choosing. We couldn’t change you back, but even if we could, can you imagine how you would cope, psychologically, after all you have done, after all those deaths on your hands? A vampire would struggle mentally if changed back.” Looking at me he added, “It cannot be done. Your salvation. That is an interesting question and one I have never been asked, or never contemplated. But what I will do is ask those who know more. If we can’t help you, will you still help here?”
“Yes. We would ask a truce and are willing to help seal the veil. Maybe he could help? He had Emidius’ blood. Maybe that could help us.”
“It has made me stronger but I cannot help you find your salvation. Aside from our help, I wonder why you concern yourselves with these human affairs.”
“That’s simple. We’ve seen the increase in demons and the state of the humans is unhealthy for us, and remember, we were human before this. We still have fond memories.”
I could feel their presence increase now. Although they weren’t all here, there were many of them. They were hidden in the trees, protecting Lauren. I had to ask, “You’re human? Why are you with them? I’ve seen you before, haven’t I? When I collected my lover as she stood over the burning remains of her Maker, in the waste grounds outside Bath on the South of the city. That was over a year ago. You and these lycans were watching us in the tree line?”
“Which question to answer first?” She smiled. “I wa
s led to aid them, but I am not their leader. It was a calling. It’s easier having a mortal to negotiate. Yes, we saw you. We’ve been watching you for some time. You interest us; you’re quite different from most vampires. And we hoped that your blood will help us.”
“Them, you mean. Not you, not we. But lycans don’t drink blood. Had you not considered seeking out the demi-god yourselves? And, I may add, I am surprised they’d risk your mortal life to contact us.”
Lauren was undeterred by my comment that we could’ve harmed her and continued, “Emidius... If we could find her we would’ve asked her first, but we’ve never managed that. We’d risk being killed, but that’s not something that would deter us.”
A man stepped forward. He was well-built, tall, with shoulder-length dark hair, and a beard. He looked rugged and I knew at once this was their Alpha. Somehow, he was exactly as I imagined an Alpha would be. The stereotypical TV Alpha.
Marcus had a look of surprise, as did I that they would risk the life of a mortal over their own.
“No, you’re both wrong. We wouldn’t, I wouldn’t. Had you made the slightest move to hurt her, I would’ve torn you apart.”
At which point Marcus smirked at the audacity that a mere lycan could do such a thing. His voice was deep and he had a warmth about him, a protective, almost caring aura towards the human woman. He stood close to her, arms touching. Lovers, human and lycan.
This bold creature walked closer to Marcus, meeting his gaze, but kept a respectful distance. He watched Marcus but spoke to both of us.
“As Lauren said, we’ve been watching you—all of you. You are different from your kind; you have a conscience of a sort. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Sabian, and yes, I am the Alpha. The reason Lauren welcomed you was to put you at ease. If I had wandered out straight away you would have become immediately defensive. We didn’t want that.
