I slipped into camp wearing the jacket of a man I just drained. Some of his blood soaked into the vibrant red fabric, but no human could detect it. The coat was worn at the elbows and along the edges, but it fit well enough. Three men sat around a fire, all of them young. They’d been told to keep watch, and as I trampled the hayfield making my way out of the wood line, one of them heard the swish of the tall grass, grabbed his musket, and stood. With his back to the fire, he faced the darkness. When his vision adjusted, he trained his gun on me.
“Who goes there?” he challenged.
“It seems I was lost, but now am found,” I joked, holding my hands out so he could see I was unarmed, and affecting a helpless posture.
The barrel of the gun slowly drooped. “You’re fortunate to have caught up to us without being eaten,” one of them joked.
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."