Famished

by Jacquelyn Frank

  However, all it took was a couple of feedings from tainted food sources and the cross over to sycophant would be permanent. Nowadays tainted food sources outweighed the clean. They had to hunt for clean sources. They could only feed from the same source once every two weeks at minimum, and most vampires could only go four or five days without feeding. That meant having multiple clean sources…and respecting the sources of others so there was little in the way of shared sources. It was obvious to tell when another vampire had tapped a source, so they avoided sharing of sources unless it was given as a gift to a vampire who might be in need for whatever reason.

  Feeding too often from the same source brought down that sources immune system, making them more vulnerable to common illnesses…as well as more serious ones. Cancer being one of them. So it behooved the vampires to respect their sources. In fact, it was law that they do so. By disrespecting a source or taking from an unclean source…i.e. a drug user or a source of slovenly personal eating habits and drinking habits…they were breaking one of their most fundamental laws…and must be punished for it.

  After about a week of feeding from tainted sources, a vampire was irrecoverable. They were lost to sycophanthropy. If it was caught in time there was a hope that they could be detoxed and brought back to lawful behavior and clean feeding habits…but that rarely happened. Sycophanthropy was a choice…and once that choice was made there was no coming back from it morally; or rather there wasn’t any desire to come back from it.

  At least…that had been the case until recently. Recently there were instances and reports of vampires being taken against their will and forced into sycophanthropy. An example was Halo, a powerful hunter who, although he flirted with bad habits and behaviors, was loyal to a fault. Lawful to a fault. He despised phants. As a hunter it was his job to hunt down the worst of the worst. Of course all vampires everywhere had permission to kill a phant on sight, but the hunters purposely sought them out…usually under a directive from the authoritarians, the vampire’s law keepers.

  Recently Halo had been kidnapped and forced, against his will, to feed from an unclean source…an innocent girl who had been pumped full of heroin. They had starved him until he had been forced into the choice of either feeding from her or slipping into torpor…a deathlike coma from which there was little chance of recovery without the aid of a powerful vampire. An aged vampire. A vampire like her.

  Halo had escaped his fate, but how many others were there being forced to cross over? This was a new threat. A horrifying one. Halo had been chosen because of his singular access to her and all of her movements. They had tried to recruit him in the hopes that he would be able to assassinate her.

  It was a flawed plan to say the least. Not well thought out, but not impossible either. When they had failed they had gone for a more direct approach, setting off a bomb in the vampires’ headquarters in New York, killing several vampires and shaking their confidence of being protected in their own secure little building. Vampires tended to, and by most laws were required to, live in a secure building. Live and work usually. Although it was not necessary for a vampire to work, food being free and living arrangements being provided along with a weekly stipend, the stipend wasn't overly generous and although it was enough to live on, it was without extras and without certain material pleasures that could only be bought with larger sums of money in this economy driven human society.

  Simone lived on the top floor of the New York headquarters, occupying the enormous penthouse apartment that looked out over all of New York City. The skyscraper was large, although not as large as others. It was also secure from humans entering it, with key-coded doors locking out anyone without a card, and live security that made rounds throughout the entire building as well as monitoring state of the art cameras. No humans were allowed in the building unless escorted by a vampire that could be trusted to keep an eye on them…and even then they were only allowed limited access. The building was a safe haven…a place where vampires could openly discuss their lives and needs without worrying about who was overhearing them. Of course upon seeing a human, vampires knew to edit their speech, but accidents happened and it was up to the accompanying vampire to use hypno to erase that human’s memory if they saw or heard something they shouldn’t.

  There were exceptions to this. This included one that was standing beside Simone at the very moment looking out over a snow-covered city, enjoying a moment of silence near the cold glass. Renee Holden was a cop, a NYC detective actually, and had been deemed trustworthy enough to hold on to the secret of the vampires’ existence. She was relatively new to the fold, having been brought into it by Simone’s right hand man Rafe. She didn’t know what she would do without Rafe, and Renee was proving to be just as valuable…although for different reasons. Rafe was both a business and personal friend; Renee was becoming more of a companion. Simone liked the practical, strong woman that she was. She could relate to her on many levels.

  Still, there were parts of herself she couldn’t share with either of them. The parts that she didn’t even want to recognize within her. She was a composed, sophisticated woman, but sometimes she wished…

  It was impossible, and not worthy of her time and consideration. She was queen. She was responsible for the well being of thousands of vampires all over the world. She would be responsible for them for another five years, longer perhaps if she decided to run for re-election. That was five years from now, however, and she had to turn her attention to matters of the moment.

  “The authoritarians are responsible for enforcing the laws set down by this new treaty, and as part of that new treaty we are required to have an exchange program for our authoritarians so that no one city-state can show bias in enforcement to another. It was agreed upon as a way of avoiding prejudice and hostility. But I never thought Danton would want to leave us…leave his position on the committee…in order to pursue work on different shores.”

  “I think perhaps he is bored. He may feel…like he is becoming disillusioned due to his work on the committee.”

  Simone turned sharply and narrowed her gaze on Rafe. “What has he said to you?”

  “It isn’t what he said. It is how he said it. He seemed…weary. Like he was feeling stagnant. Like he needed a change.”

  “I don’t want to lose him,” Simone said, unable to keep from pouting. “Egypt is so far away.”

  “It’s only for six months. A hiatus really. He isn’t giving up his place permanently…at least not yet. There is always the possibility he might enjoy law enforcement in differing settings. It certainly sounds like what he needs for the moment.”

  “You’re only depressing me more,” she said with a sigh. “Oh very well. We’ll let him go. You can tell him tomorrow.”

  “I think he would much rather hear it from you,” Rafe suggested.

  “An old friend to an old friend,” Renee said softly.

  Simone sighed and looked back out of the window. She actually envied Danton. She might like a change of scene and society herself. But it was so huge an undertaking to relocate her headquarters…and wherever she went she would be usurping the position of the prince in whatever city-state she decided to settle in. True, that prince would relocate to New York and be prince over the largest concentration of vampires in the world, so it was hardly a demotion. But princes preferred to rule their own people…the people that elected them. Also she would be relocating an elected official to a position he technically had not been elected to. There were provisions for this in their laws of course. She was free to live and rule from wherever she wanted.

  But NYC was the hub of the vampire world. Almost everything of any importance came through this city-state. It was the pulse of vampire society, and she needed to be on it. She needed to be able to feel it.

  So no, there would be no relocating for her. Not anytime soon anyway. But just because she couldn’t go it was no reason to deny others the opportunity. Only, she so depended on Danton, almost as much as she depended on Rafe.
He was a wise, strong-willed man, and she needed as many of those around her as she could manage. His movement would cause one other complication…the jockeying for the chance to fill his vacant position. She would have to choose a temporary substitute to manage not only the upper echelon of law enforcers of the largest city-state, but his place on the committee would fall vacant as well. Everyone was going to want to apply to the position, even if it was labeled “temporary”. There were few better positions in the vampire world than a seat on he committee. It would be quite a line on a résumé. So she could expect applicants to number many and to contain a large amount of ambitious people. It was also a position she had to fill personally. Only the queen could appoint someone to the committee.

  As a part of their governing, the committee play a crucial role in the legal process. It acted as a sort of grand jury. There were five members total, so that there was never a tied decision, and once the committee passed sentence on you, the decision was final. There were no appeals in a vampire court.

  It was a huge responsibility, choosing the right person for the job. It was also a daunting one. But she would face it like she faced everything else in her life…by plowing straight ahead and through. Simone wasn't afraid of duty, nor was she intimidated by it…not much anyway. However, replacing a friend and selecting a new person to serve in her inner circle…that would require opening up parts of herself to someone new. Trusting someone new. That part would not come easily.

  Also, she didn’t envy anyone who served a position close to her. It was hard work. It required someone being available at all times. It had the potential to ruin their personal life. Danton had no close connections. No wife. No kids. A hard thing to find. As long-lived as they were, there were usually kids to be found in at least a few generations of their lives. Usually when they were young. She, Danton, and Rafe had shared that same lack of familial connection, the exception being her cousin Leopold who was the prince of London. But he had his life and she had hers. It had been part of why her close companions Rafe and Danton had found family within each other. They had all been looking for someone to hold onto with their hearts and their loyalty. It hurt that Danton wanted to extricate himself from that.

  “It’s only for a little while,” Renee said softly, the sensitive human female intuiting her distress. “He’s not abandoning you forever. He’ll be a mere video chat away.”

  “Of course,” she said quickly. “I know this. It is just such an undertaking to replace him.”

  “I will assist you of course,” Rafe said readily.

  “I know you will,” she said with a smile. “I always know you are here for me. I greatly depend on you and I deeply, deeply appreciate you for it. I hope you know that.”

  “I do know that,” he assured her. “Very much so. I am never starved for gratitude from you.”

  “Is Halo still out there?” she asked, nodding toward the front of her apartment. Her living room, where they were presently seated, was cut off by only one room. It was the foyer by the front doorway. It was closed off, allowing a buffer between those that arrived and Simone in her personal space. She could either leave them where they were or bring them in. Either way she could make the choice in private. She was actually surprised Halo was waiting so patiently. He was like a child; impatient and demanding; a bully of sorts…albeit a goodhearted one. He was also devoid of all good manners. He had no respect for things like personal space. But as she focused her attention on the area of the closed off foyer, she was able to detect two energy signatures beyond the double doors.

  Ah. Suddenly his patience made sense. He was very likely with his new sweetheart, who had proven to be a good influence on him. Not a perfect one, but definitely a good one. She could only control him so far, so it would behoove Simone to not let him wait any longer.

  “Rafe, will you let him in?” she asked him.

  Rafe got to his feet and rebuttoned his sharp blue suit jacket over his soft slightly pink shirt. It was a color combination few men could pull off, and Rafe did it very well. He let Halo in, who entered the room like a pissed off bull.

  “About time,” he growled.

  Felice, his new girlfriend…also a human…followed in his wake. She caught up to him and snagged her hand in his, visibly squeezing it. It worked like some kind of soothing charm. His rough temper seemed to soothe as he turned to take her under his arm. But he was frowning when he looked back at his queen.

  “We have to do something about Draz. This has gone on long enough. I want your permission to hunt down the bastard. I’m gonna do it anyway, but I figured it’d be better if I had the green light from you.”

  Simone smiled a little and shook her head in wonder. Halo was coarse and rough, big and bullish. He took over a room like a drill sergeant. He dictated terms…even to those above him.

  “There’s always been a green light where Draz is concerned,” she said, referring to the current bane of her existence, the sycophant crime lord who had organized an enormous network of sycophants on the Eastern Seaboard. Not all of them, but a large number. It was enough to be a distinct threat to all vampires including, and perhaps especially, the queen. Draz had had his eye on total domination for some time. He wanted Simone’s throne…at just about any cost. He was willing to throw any number of sycophants in the way to get to her. In fact, he had been responsible for the kidnapping and attempted turning of Halo a short while ago. It had all been to get to Simone. Simone was Draz’s target.

  She wished she could summon up a hatred for a creature that obviously hated her, but instead she simply felt disgust and pity. Draz, like all sycophants, had chosen his descent into lawlessness and sin. He was only compounding that lawlessness and sin by organizing against all lawful vampires everywhere. Halo was right, something must be done about him. He and all of his kind must be routed out. He was setting an example. City-states everywhere were falling prey to organized sycophants led by dynamic men like Draz. It was part of the reason she had been so enthusiastic about getting this treaty signed. It meant they could stop all of the infighting and squabbling between them and start focusing on digging out the evil sycophants everywhere.

  Of course, sycophants like Draz saw nothing wrong with what they were. They felt entitled. They felt superior to those around them. They felt that lawful vampires were the unnatural ones; that they were meant to feed from any and all sources and that they were a natural evolution to vampire kind. There were no rules as far as they were concerned, except for the rules the vampires themselves had made up. In their eyes, who was to say what was right and what was wrong? Laws vampires themselves had created? It was just as natural, in their eyes, to feed from a tainted source as it was to feed from a clean one. They deserved the high they got from it. They were meant to enjoy it.

  It disgusted Simone just to think of it. To think of the lives the sycophants took or put at risk with their gluttonous ways. It was one thing for a sycophant to feed from a tainted source, and another thing entirely for them to kill that source. The only thing that might save a human from death was that one on one it was almost impossible for a sycophant to drain a source of all of its life energy. Unfortunately sycophants tended to travel in packs for their own protection. It was quite easy for a pack of three or more sycophants to kill a human. These deaths drew attention to the vampires’ existence. They risked all of then, vampires and sycophants alike. The one thing sycophants and vampires could agree on was that it was important that humans remain ignorant of their existence. If humans knew about them it would mean an all out war between them. In their fear humans would no doubt hunt them down and destroy them all.

  At least, that was the common belief. Simone had been toying with the possibility that they might be ready. That it was best they reveal themselves before they were actually discovered…a more and more likely event in this day and age where cameras were everywhere and people were tracked at every move. But then she would see how they treated members of their own society when they were pe
rceived as different from the norm, and her thoughts of full disclosure would run away.

  “You and I both know you don’t want anyone going straight at him,” Halo said. “You don’t want to provoke him.”

  “You’re right. I don’t. But I don’t have that choice anymore. That choice was taken from me the day we discovered he was trying to turn lawful vampires against their will in order to thicken his ranks and come after me.”

  “There’s no telling how many of those black sites they have,” Halo said, referring to the place where they had imprisoned him, watched him, tempted him and starved him. It had been a very elaborate setup, one that they had gone to great expense to create. None of them felt that Halo had been the sole target to be held at that warehouse. That it had been meant for him and him alone. As important as Halo was to the queen, there were equally important targets around her. Any of them could be at risk if more of these sites existed. Draz might be planning to get to her by whittling away at her inner circle this way.

  “You’re right of course. It’s time we took care of this. Now that the treaty is signed we can turn our focus to domestic matters. We need to go after Draz with the full force of hunters and authoritarians we have at our disposal.”

  “I work better alone,” Halo said with a dark frown.

  “And so you shall. Your job will be to hunt Draz down. Find him. He’s an elusive little bastard,” Simone said, frowning as well. “But once you find him you watch him only and report to me and the leader of the authoritarians where he is located. No doubt he is in a fortified place. He will be protecting himself like we protect ourselves. He imagines himself a king of his sycophantic peoples, and will no doubt use them as buffers to protect himself at all costs.”