This is my short story "Blood in the Vial". I hope you enjoy it, and any feedback, positive or negative (as long as it's not malicious), will be warmly received.
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BLOOD IN THE VIAL
By
James T Palmer
I ran in a state of ecstasy, sweeping through the dusty streets like the head of a hurricane. The darkness gathered behind me, flushing the small alleys of their meagre light. The buildings towered on either side as I soared like madness towards my goal.
I was chased, but I was not worried, my strength had not long ago been replenished. I would outrun them easily. Never the less haste was needed. Dawn approached, and while my cast would provide some protection, it could not shield me from sunlight’s direct malice. I would be spared that fate for long enough, however. Indeed, these buildings, the avatars of industrialisation, shaded me after dawn and before dusk. They made my time longer. In a few hours, these streets would be packed with the people of this new era. Those that had forgotten the struggles of the past. For they no longer needed to remember, they had grown strong. And the years had not been so kind to the numbers of the Other Spawn. Nor to us, the old, the obsolete weapons of an age long past; the champions of man's army.
That also they did not remember.
Though we were too many to be entirely forgotten, we were now shrouded in falseness and fear. The ties of old were no more, and we were forced to death or scavenging, forced to fulfil this new role created for us, as we had been forced to accept what we had been made into all those ages ago. For it was who we were, it was the very purpose of our creation.
It was difficult not to hold contempt for them, those that had condemned us to an eternity of bloodshed in the name of their war, and had then discarded us like used rags when their need was through. And it was not as if we led this shrouded existence through inability to change it; no, it was through our own restraint. The humans did not live our lives, their time was short; they could not be held accountable for the mistakes of their parents, or their parents' parents before them. But there were those who were not so inclined to empathy; usually those who had been changed in error, and did not remember the days of old.
For after the war, when we foresaw the plight that lay before us, we pledged that we would live our lives as long as we may, but create no more of our kind. However, to live we needed to take the blood of men, and our bite is also what changed them. And so, if by some mistake or interruption death of the victim was not reached, another of us would be born. Thus some that did not remember were created; some that were not wise enough to chose our pledged fate. First they numbered few, too few to cause worry. But they changed people at will, and soon their numbers rose. It was almost humorous how easily the newly changed turned against the humans, that which they had themselves been days or even hours previously. First they would reject and detest their new life, wishing to die. But when faced with that death, or the choice to avoid it, they quickly forgot their wish. Once the hunger took hold, they obeyed, they had to obey, for the hunger was stronger than any other desire. When it came upon you, it was unassailable. The newly turned felt this hunger, and their new power, and the contempt that the humans now gave to them, and they never looked back.
It was not long before we, the old, the wise, were outnumbered. We saw the need to stop them too late. Our kind developed power with age, true, but their numbers were increasing exponentially.
Thus began our second war. Yet again for the sake of human kind we fought, this time not against the Other Spawn, but against our own.
‘Vampires’, men now named us. The new breed embraced that name, and endeavoured to live up to its meaning. We preferred to remain unnamed, as we were in the days of old.
Our new enemies were not strong enough for open war with men, though. Mankind had grown strong, too strong to challenge outright. However, we could not ask them for assistance in their defence, for they would have garroted us out of blind fear where we stood.
For a time, we hindered and almost halted the new breed’s growth. But they continued to change the humans, and one by one, we began to fall. And still the empire of mankind grew, ignorant to the defence being waged in their own streets, fought by those whom they had once called allies but now called monsters. The buildings grew bigger, great chimneys began to pump out silt and smoke; by-products of industry and mass production. Their greatest achievements were being constructed amidst the battle for their very survival and they knew it not. And the battle was being lost.
If the new breed won, humans would exist only to feed vampires, prisoners of their own creation.
We were on the brink of losing all control. These were desperate times, and thus, desperate measures were required.
And so I ran. Casting my darkness around me and flying through the streets at an impossible speed, even by the standards of my kind. My quest had been successful and terrible at the same time.
Minutes before, I had encountered a group of the new breed. They were young and weak. One of them had advanced on me ahead of the others, confident and imposing. The only thing more potent than the blood of a human is that of another vampire, and when I drank from his neck my veins had been exalted. With my age, and the new fire of immortal blood in my body, I was unstoppable. But I could not risk losing what I had attained in my quest, for it was irreplaceable, and so I had taken flight. Faster I ran, with distilled vitality, than they could ever have hoped to achieve. But they tried never the less, and so I continued to run, through the streets as the night crept towards dawn.
I was reminded of the day I had been turned. I had been running, much as I was now doing, through the twilight at the edge of a new day. Though then, I was still human, and my pursuers were the Other Spawn.
Larger, faster, stronger, with thicker skin than humans, though similar in shape, the Other Spawn were a deadly foe. My village had been attacked and almost everyone killed. A few of us they had let run, so that they could hunt us down again. Their glee in this blood sport was unmistakable. For there was nothing the Other Spawn desired more than the pain of humans, be that the pain of injury, that of seeing family and friends slaughtered before your eyes, or that of panicked, uncontrollable fear. Indeed, the Other Spawn had many times sacrificed a greater victory for the sake of causing more pain to their enemies. And so they chased me, driving me to a panicked frenzy before they moved in for the kill. My mortal legs hadn't a chance and the enemy of man were soon upon me. I was struck from behind, razor claws ripped through my flesh and I fell to the ground. A great force came crashing down upon my back, forcing me into ground, cracking my spine and crushing my chest. I thought without a doubt that I was going to die.
Then they arrived: the champions of the war. They fought courageously with the Other Spawn, and beat them away. They risked the impending sunlight to help me. But I had been mortally wounded. To save my life, I was bitten, and changed. Within days, I had recovered much of my strength, and far more. I had become one of the champions, the salvation of mankind. To sustain us, the people would collect their blood in fine goblets; they would feel honoured in presenting it to us.
The bitter irony of the present was not lost on me, and I cursed it.
The war between human kind and the Other Spawn was an ancient one, more ancient than the first vampire. In fact, vampires were a direct result of the conflict.
It was said in legend that humans and the Other Spawn were the antithesis of one another, the finest creations of opposing gods. That they were destined from creation to be enemies for all eternity. I knew not the truth of such things; they had been no more than distant legend even at the time of my birth. What I did know was that the Other Spawn had been winning. That at a time still centuries before my birth it was the humans, not the Other Spawn that were almost extinct.
And in desperation, men had dabbled in dark lore that has long since been forgotten. From the blood of man, they created the first vampire. He was a strange being; daylight burnt his skin to the point where he could not enter the light for fear of death. But this weakness was made up for in excess by his physical strength and agility. Furthermore, he appeared to be immune to the effects of time. And wherever he travelled, darkness followed like a veil. But as he was created from the blood of man, it was also needed to sustain him. And as the antithesis of man, the Other Spawn’s blood--a dark and dangerous blue--was the most deadly of poisons.
At first, only ten vampires were sired by the creation, made to lead the army of humankind. And they were successful. Soon more were turned, and the strength of vampires began to turn the tide of war back against the Other Spawn. By the time I had been born, the war was all but won. I was told that the decline of the Other Spawn had been sudden. They had not shown their weakness in the slightest until about ten years before my birth. It seems that they were relentless in their war effort, replenishing their armies beyond what their population could sustain, determined not to show their losses. Only a handful of them remained by the time they finally crumbled. My village was one of the last had been attacked.
And humans, with their lives so short, had been quick to forget.
But we, those who were called vampires, did not forget so eagerly. And thus in the age when industry and mass production were ripe, and the world of man was stronger than ever, yet their destruction loomed so close, I was sent by the last of my kind--of the old--to seek out the ancient enemy of man, and ask them for help.
I did not expect to return. The only persuasion I had to offer them was that if the new breed was successful, then it would not be long before they turned their attention elsewhere. And if that happened, the Other Spawn would not last long.
Armed only with this, I set off to the ancient home of the Other Spawn, from where they had not ventured for millennia. By day, I took shelter, by night, I headed north. Blood became ever harder to come by as I travelled further north, but I found enough to sustain me, just. It seemed like madness; even if I was not killed on sight when I reached the home of the Other Spawn, in what way would this almost extinct species ever be able to help us? Well, they had their lore. It had kept them unfound by the humans for all of this time, perhaps they could be of some help. The only way to know for sure was to send a messenger, which was me; little did I know what my mission would yield.
That which I now had in my possession.
The sun had almost risen above the buildings when I finally arrived at the place I called home: a large, empty, abandoned warehouse. It was not old, but had been unused long enough to avoid attention. I was not concerned about my pursuers, I had almost certainly lost them, and if I had not, they would not be able to get to me in the daylight. No, for now I was safe; from them, at least.
The warehouse seemed somehow darker than usual, perhaps because I had been using only make-shift shelters for the past weeks. various staircases led from the main warehouse floor to the next level, which was comprised of offices and other such rooms. I rarely ventured up there, I had no need to.
I stood by a boarded up window, slithers of light shining through were being strangled by my cast. I stood and I contemplated what I had contemplated a thousand times before: was I on the right side?
The new breed would argue that it was merely nature. Just as men kept cattle for food, vampires would keep men for their blood. But was it that simple? No, of course not, if that were the case there would be no war. We were created to be weapons, weapons in a war to save humankind; how, then, could it be justified to enslave them? The new breed would say that this was irrelevant; that we (the old) were deluded and confused; that the days of old were dead, and that in forgetting what we did, the humans brought this fate upon themselves. We would argue that the humans' lives were short; that they (the new breed) were young and did not understand; that we were created to protect humans, and acting in contradiction to that was a violation of our very existence.
Our arguments were right. So why, then, was I less convinced of them every time thought about it? I could not afford weakness now; now more than any other time, for I held the key, and any weakness would jeopardize my purpose.
I reached into my robes' inner pocket, and wrapped my fingers around the small vial. It was cold and hard, made of a material not dissimilar to glass, but far more durable. The fact that I even had it, or more precisely, the circumstances by which I attained it, were astounding and unprecedented in all of our history.
I had been travelling north for several weeks before I reached my goal: the home of the Other Spawn. I knew the place well, but never had I been there since the end of the war. Suffice to say, it was very different. Before, huge grey constructions had spanned the horizon, great fires burned day and night, fuelling their war effort, and masses of the Other Spawn would be engaging in their brutal training. Now, however, nothing of that remained. Nothing was left to show the once great border that separated the world of the Other Spawn from that of the humans.
I knew, of course, that although depleted, the Other Spawn were not gone. This was the result of their lore, designed to keep them hidden from their enemies; I had just never dreamt that it would be so complete and infallible.
At that point, I had been lost, I did not know how to proceed but could not turn back. I spent the following nights searching for some flaw in their deception, but I found none. By day I sheltered from the sun. And I grew weaker; no humans ventured this far from their civilisation.
But it seems that the Other Spawn had not been unaware of me.
On an afternoon almost eight days since I had last fed, they finally showed themselves. I was sheltering from the light in a small cave when they came for me, five of the beasts. I had not seen any of their kind in so long that I had almost forgotten the vehemence of their grotesqueness; I smelt their blood, and almost gagged. By that point, however, I was beyond weak with starvation. They had been deliberately hiding themselves from me until I could no longer fulfil any purpose which I may have had against them.
Or resist any purpose they had with me.
I had tried futilely to hide my weakness, rising to my feet with as much dignity as I could muster. "I seek council with you," I had proclaimed, though we shared no common tongue.
It was then that I had noticed the two vials held by the foremost of the Other Spawn. Ignoring that I had spoken, it advanced upon me. Barely able to stand, let alone fight or take flight, I had simply watched. One of the vials, a thick, dark blue liquid, which I assumed was the blood of the beasts, was placed into the pockets of my robe. The other, a clear liquid that could easily have been water, was uncorked by the Other Spawn. Before I could react, two of the rank creatures grabbed and restrained me, I was unable to move while the contents of the vial was poured down my throat. It was not water.
The pain that I had felt as that liquid rushed through me was almost indescribable. Every inch of my body felt as if it had been set aflame, as if I had not been in the cave but instead outside in the direct path of the afternoon sun. As if I had swallowed the blood of the Other Spawn. A long time--and no time at all--passed before I realised that I was no longer in the cave.
Sprawled before me in a vast mass of grey, was the home of the Other Spawn as I remembered it. Thousands of the beasts streamed in and out of huge, single leveled, grey, circular buildings. Their purpose, I did not know.
Directly in front of me was one of the Other Spawn, it was looking directly at me, as if in expectation. I tried to take a step back, but my legs refused. Horror overcame me as I found that I could not even move my head to look down at what obstructed me.
A noise emanated from my mouth, but not by my volition. "The derivative is among us," it said. It took me a moment to realise that I had spoken in the voice of the Other Spawn. That was shadowed by the shock that I understood it.
"Good," replied the creature opposite.
I suddenly felt it, the other presence in my head. Another conscience inhabited the same space as I did, it had taken control of my body. No, not my body, I could not speak in the tongue of the Other Spawn. So, then, I was the stranger, in the body of one of them. If I could have gagged, that thought certainly would have made me do so.
"Human derivative," the Other Spawn opposite was addressing me, "violation of life, welcome to our home.
"We have much foresight, and thus we knew that you would seek us out, and we have prepared. You come seeking a way in which those that you call 'the new breed' can be stopped, and I can tell you that we have the solution."
My mind was racing; I could not believe what I was hearing. Were the Other Spawn really going to help me? The beast, however, was not finished:
"You already have our gift. Simply drink the blue liquid that has been given to you if you desire to know the fruition of our labour.
"But be warned, that which will stop those whom you oppose, will also be the end of every last one of your kind on this world."
With one breath, everything had changed. My world had suddenly and violently been ripped up by the roots, and flung into the air. I did not seek the extinction of my entire species, and yet here I was being presented with a chance to save humankind. With a single sentence, the Other Spawn had given me hope, and utterly damned me. And so my dilemma began.
I felt the amusement of the other conscience in my head as my mind struggled to come to terms with what was being said. There was too much that didn't make sense; if this liquid could cause the destruction of all vampires, then why had the Other Spawn not simply forced it upon me in the first instance, or any other vampire they had happened across, for that matter? Surely it was in their interest?
I was again distracted by the increasing laughter of the Other Spawn who's body I shared, it could feel my thoughts, and took vile delight from my desperate confusion. Almost instantly, my confusion turned into rage.
I threw my conscience back at the imposing, ridiculing mind of the Other Spawn, and attacked it with the whole of my desperation; perhaps I could get my answers that way. I felt as it's amusement turned to concern, concern that it tried in vain to hide. I felt as it's presence backed away, and tried and defend itself from my onslaught.
"The time has come to send the violation away," we said.
At that, a thick, hair covered arm reached down and wrapped it's clawed fingers around a vial similar to the one that the contents of which had been forced down my throat, and raise it to our mouth. Still I did not cease my attack; slowly, the barriers were being broken. Thoughts, answers, they lay just outside of clarity. Slowly; too slowly.
"You now face a test," The malice in the voice of the Other Spawn opposite was almost palpable.
The vial's contents was flung suddenly into the back of our neck, it's taste was truly rank. And my attack was ended, as the burning sensation overcame me once again. I felt myself being pulled out of the body by a pain intense and virulent, being separated from the mind of the Other Spawn by means of agony. I was being torn away from my answers! I was sure, however, that just before I was rent from the body entirely, amidst the rage of pain, I had taken a step forwards.
Without transition, I found myself lying in darkness. The cold, hard ground lay beneath my back me, and a full moon shone down upon my face. My hunger and resulting weakness had returned. Where was I now? How far had I been taken? Why?
A test?
However, such concerns were secondary. I was too weak to stand, if I was not aided before dawn I would die lying here in the dirt, burnt to ashes.
Like an answer to my problem, a woman's voice called out. "Are you OK?"
"Help me, please," Though it did not become me, as I didn't approve of gaining sustenance by deception, I had no choice but to end this woman's life; my cause was too important for me to fail through personal ethics. At least, I told myself that such was the reason. In reality, my thirst had grown so great that even had I bared no higher necessity, I would not have been able to resist my urges.
I stared vacantly at the moon as she approached.
"William, there is a hurt man! Come!" Peering down at me with genuine concern she asked, "What happened to you?"
"I'm sorry," I mumbled.
"I can't hear you. Can you speak louder?" She bent her head down towards me.
Summoning all my strength, and closing my eyes, as if that would somehow distance me from the act I was about to commit, I screamed, "I'm Sorry!" At the same time, I thrust upwards, wrapped my arms around her neck, and pulled her down on top of me. A shrill scream was silenced as my teeth sank deeply into her jugular. Blood had never tasted so sweet, and it's vitality rushed through me, returning me to myself. Yet as sweet as it was, the memory of it was to remain forever bitter.
Carefully, sorrowfully, but with renewed strength, lifted her corpse from me, and rose to my feet.
Directly before me stood a man, struck dumb by shock and horror. My robes billowed, unnaturally violent in the calm breeze. For a moment, there was silence.
"Fiend!" He yelled suddenly, in morbid dismay and rage, "I will end you!"
He started towards me with all of his mortal fury, leapt, arms outstretched, tried to tackle me to the ground. Almost effortlessly I stepped aside, and he fell roughly to the ground, rolled over, and looked up at me. His eyes told volumes of sudden hatred and sorrow and fear. I had, however, seen this look a thousand times before, through the ages, and grown somewhat indifferent to it.
"I'm sorry," the words were uttered by my lips again.
I turned and ran, faster than mortal legs could hope to follow.
His words, however, harried my back "I will avenge my wife, foul demon!"
Had this been the Other Spawn's malevolent test? If so, what was its meaning? To such questions I held no answer.
With the blue filled vial hidden in my robes, I left my victims, and set about finding my way back home.
I could not drink the liquid before seeking council with the rest of the old. And so, almost two weeks later, having outrun a group of the new breed, and arrived home shortly before dawn, I paced my warehouse. I contemplated my actions, their meanings, their implications. I waited anxiously for night time when I could seek my council. I was so absorbed in my thinking, that I had not noticed the eyes upon the back of my neck.
I heard the hiss of cut air too late, and a sharp pain impaled itself deep into my back. I let out a surprised grunt and stumbled a step forwards, before spinning on my heel to face my assailant. She stood halfway up one of the old staircases, an arrogant grin hung on her face. Her long, thick black hair amplified the darkness that surrounded her. She was a vampire.
I focused my senses around the warehouse, and heard footsteps on the other staircases and on the floor above.
She took a few steps forward, her smile unwavering, a black, gleaming knife in each hand. Her cast was not intense; she was not old.
Determined to show no pain, I ripped the blade from my back, and clutched it tightly in my grasp.
But I could already feel it's toxins running through my body.
"I am a vampire," I condescended at her, "what are you expecting your poison to do to me?"
"Paralyse you," she retorted confidently. "For a time, at least."
"I will rend you limb from limb before that happens."
"I doubt it."
Her smile remained as unrelenting as her confidence.
And her confidence was not unfounded. I could hear more and more footsteps descending the stairs, edging closer behind me. A pack of the new breed must have taken residency here in my absence. With my free hand, I fingered the cork of the vial in my pocket.
The poison was running ever deeper into my body. My mind was racing, but I was running out of time; already my legs were becoming heavy. Closing my eyes, I dropped the blade to the floor and raised my palms in front of me to show that I held no weapon. I felt swift footsteps approach me from behind, and a massive force connected to the side of my head. The last thing I saw as my vision blurred and faded, was an unwavering smile.
#
"What could it be? It's colour leads me to think--but it can't be."
"He barely let it out of his grasp. And you heard him mumbling as well as I. I know not if it really is their blood, but whatever it is, it must be important."
"We shall just have to ask him; we'll need to be persuasive, of course, to ensure that he answers truthfully."
The voices, though close by, were somehow detached, as if they belonged to another plane and held no consequence for me. My senses, in that regard, deceived me. Slowly, I shook away my unconsciousness and returned to my grim reality.
I sat tied to a chair in the middle of a wooden floor, which I quickly recognised as one of the higher rooms in the warehouse. The side of my head still throbbed with the pain of recent injury; I had not been unconscious for long. Several others were present in the room, all vampires.
The rope that restrained me was old and worn, and the chair was very rickety. Under normal circumstances it would have been a matter of little effort for me to cast off my bindings. These circumstances, however, were not normal. The toxin had taken it's full affect: I could bend my fingers, I could just about move my head to look about the room, and I could probably talk, but that was it. For all intents and purposes as far as escaping was concerned, I was completely paralysed. For now.
The voices I was hearing originated from two vampires that stood opposite me, some way away from my chair, by a table. A glance at the table confirmed what I had feared. The vial containing the blue liquid rested on it's surface.
"Ah, speak of the devil," said one of the two vampires, noticing that I was conscious. A disturbing grin spread across his lean features. "We have some questions for you."
They walked slowly over to me, dragging long dark capes behind them.
I found myself suddenly and inappropriately amused by how similar this scene was to those depicted in the human myths of vampires. This pack were certainly doing a thorough job in living up to our reputation. I had no choice, however, but to put up with their so obviously contrived manner.
The three other vampires present had all stopped what they were doing to watch the proceedings.
One of the two, who sported long, pure black hair, and a slim, pale face stopped directly before me. "What is it?" He asked.
I struggled to pull a sarcastic smile and replied, "Why, I have no idea what you're talking about."
A hard fist smashed into my already pounding head. "The vial!" He snarled. "What is it?"
"Ah. It's a secret."
Again the vampire stuck a blow to my face that momentarily sent the room whirling out of clarity. I tried to feign a laugh.
I had not lost my mind; my actions served a very real purpose: my captors would have accounted for my age, and they would have accounted for the possibility that I had recently fed; what they would not have accounted for, however, was that I had fed on another vampire. Every moment, that crimson potency was vitalising my body, and speeding my battle against the toxin. I would recover my mobility sooner than they would be anticipating. That created a crack in their plans, something for me to hold on to. A crack that I needed to lever open. Opportunity was not going to throw itself at my feet, I needed to create it for myself.
So I laughed; I angered my captor, I dared him to try something rash.
But I was saved from another blow by a voice from the doorway. "That's enough," said the female vampire that had impaled the knife into my back.
She walked slowly into the room, her confident smile still fixed to her face. She stopped a few paces away and took a moment to examine me as if she were trying to read some incomprehensible writing embedded in my features that only she could see. "What is your name?" She asked.
Sticking to my ploy I replied, "You don't need to know my name."
"Indeed. I do need to know what's in the vial, though."
"That's too bad, it seems to have slipped my mind."
She did not react as I had hoped. Instead of commanding my torture, she changed the subject.
"Why do you fight to protect the humans?" She asked.
Her words caught me by surprise, and for a moment I forgot my act. "It is our purpose," I said.
"Why?"
"It is the reason we were created. It is the meaning of our existence."
"No," she said, "we are sentient, we have the right to choose our own purpose. No one else can do that for us."
"It is not our right to kill them!"
"You're wrong," she retorted, her voice filled with passion, "if it is necessary for our survival then we have every right to kill them. Predator and prey, don't you see? It's nothing more than predator and prey."
Something about her words resonated in my mind. I had heard this argument a thousand times, probably more, and each time I had shrugged it off. Now, however, I was not so sure. Her voice compelled me.
Now of all times, I thought.
This was no time for weakness. "You--you don't understand," I said.
She let out an exasperated sigh, as though I were a misbehaving child. "If you choose to embrace reason," she said, "call for me. If you wish to die for your denial, then so be it." And with that she turned and left the room.
Most of the others followed, leaving me alone with the two vampires that had been interrogating me previously. I resumed my act.
Predator and prey.
"Fine, I'll tell you what it is," I lied.
"Ah, finally seeing sense, are we?" The vampire who had hit me said, in a condescending manner.
"But only you," I said, "I only want you to hear."
The pale faced vampire let out a laugh. "OK," he said, and leaned his face towards me.
"Careful," warned his companion.
Again he laughed. "You worry too much. There's nothing he can do to me."
It was true that I posed no real threat, but harm was not my intention as I lunged my head suddenly forward and ripped my teeth viciously through his ear. He instantly recoiled and clasped his hand to his bloody, shredded ear. I licked the blood from my lips.
He shot me a look of utter rage, and the next thing I knew, the room whirled upside down as my nose shattered. I heard the sound of cracking wood as I landed, and squinted at the ceiling through the blood in my eyes.
"You shouldn't have done that!" Roared my attacker, just before his boot struck my chest and sent me in a full spin through the air.
I let out a grunt of pain as I felt my ribs give way. I was now completely detached from the broken chair that had served to restrain me.
"That's enough." The voice of the second vampire, muffled by the blood in my ears, seemed barely audible.
My attacker ignored him. He took hold of my arms and pulled me to my feet. "You really shouldn't have done that," he growled at me, before throwing me with all of his might into the rear wall.
My feet left the ground, and the air was sucked from my lungs as my back struck the bricks. Again I collapsed to the floor. Even were it not for the impact, my legs would not have been able to hold my weight, the toxin still held too much sway; but it was weakening. I managed to roll over onto my back to look up at my assailant. The fury in his face was palpable. This time it was my turn to laugh. By my robes he pulled me erect again, and pinned me against the wall.
"Tell me," he commanded, "what is in the vial?"
Still I laughed.
The blows began raining down. Held pinned against the wall, I was subjected to a torrent of frenzied attacks. Bones cracked and blood poured, yet I remained silent. The pain was immense, but I desperately held on to consciousness.
Eventually, my attacker had satisfied his hunger for pain. He pulled my bloody, broken face close to his, and whispered into my ear, "This is your last chance, scum. Tell me what's in the vial or I will kill you."
My opportunity had come. Summoning every last ounce of my being against the toxin, fuelled by desperation, I flung my arms tightly around him and held on for everything I was worth as I sank my teeth deep into his neck.
He let out a shocked cry, and tried frantically to throw me off of him. But the toxin was failing, and somehow I held my grip. He tried desperately to prise my arms away, and sent his knees crashing into my stomach, further shattering my already broken ribs. Yet still I held tight, as I drained his life away. And by degrees, with the vitality pouring into me once more, I began to regain my strength. The toxin could not withstand this new elixir.
But it did not last long. The other of my captors threw himself bodily into us, and broke my grip, sending all of us tumbling to the blood-soaked floor.
The three of us scrambled instantly back to our feet. I stood facing them, waiting for one to make a move. The original attacker was first. He threw his fist at my face with all of his remaining strength. But I was older, and revitalised; I easily took hold of his arm, and in one fluid movement twisted him around into my arms and snapped his neck. There was an audible crack, and he fell lifeless to the floor.
The other vampire still stood before me. We locked gazes, and I could see that he was contemplating his options. After a few seconds, he span on his heel and dashed for the door. No doubt he was going to alert the others in the pack, but I had no chance to stop him.
I grabbed the vial from the table and slid the heavy wooden bolt into place across the door. It was a sturdy door, it would have taken humans a very long time to break through. It would not keep vampires at bay, though. Already I heard shouting from somewhere in the warehouse.
I uncorked the vial, and it's rank smell filled the air; the smell of their blood. The thought of what I was about to do made me sick to my very core. Yet I had no choice. Somehow, though, I already knew that the Other Spawn had misled me.
There was a crash at the door, and the wood creaked a plea of agony. My mind raced, searching desperately for a non existent alternative as I raised the vial to my lips.
Predator and prey.
Another immense blow struck the door, sending splinters flying outwards as the wood began to crack.
With no other choice, I flung my head back, and accepted the liquid. For a third time, my body was set aflame. I closed my eyes and tried to scream, but no sound emerged. And then, an eternity or an instant later, without my volition, my eyes were opened again. A landscape of fire and grey lay before me.
"The derivative is among us," we spoke, one body with two minds.
As before, one of the Other Spawn stood opposite. "Violation," it spoke, "welcome back. You wish to know how the new breed may be stopped, and we have promised to answer your question. We shall live up to our word."
I felt a twisted glee emanating from the other conscience as these words were spoken.
The Other Spawn continued. "There is but one way in which the new breed--and all vampires--may be stopped: us.
"You are a fool, human derivative, you and all your kind, and your creators also. Everyone you have ever known, everyone you have ever fought to protect, soon they will be no more. The liquid which you believed to be your answer was in fact no different from the contents of the first vial we gave to you, save for colour and smell. You believed it to be the answer to your problem, but you were wrong. We are the real answer. We are the only answer."
I tried to speak, and to my surprise, the other conscience did not try to stop me. "What are you talking about? You can do nothing to harm us. You're too few."
"Wrong, violation. We are not and we never were! We have foresight, violation, great foresight.
"During the ancient war, we came to realise that the strength of the Human derivative was great. Also, did we realise, was their hunger. We foresaw your present trouble, and we foresaw that which has not yet to come to pass. So we hid. We led you to believe that you had won the war, when in fact we were as strong as ever, hidden from you by our lore. And so it has been for century upon century. We have been studying our lore and strengthening our army.
"Humans forget, and vampires, with hunger so great, lose control. Soon the numbers of those that you call 'the new breed' will reach a critical point. Overnight, the empire of humans will collapse. And vampires, with hunger so great, with no food source, will turn against their own. Thus have we foreseen.
"The new breed believe they will be able to sustain their numbers and those of the humans, yet they too are fools, for their hunger is far too great for such restraint.
"Soon, violation, the world of humans and vampires will tear itself apart. You are a violation, it is your fate. We have foreseen it.
"And then we will reemerge. We will sweep through your pathetic lands and strike you from this world entirely.
"It is fate, violation! You may try to rally a force, but you will fail; we are insurmountable. And even if, in all folly, you still chose to attack, it would be useless; our lore hides us completely and none shall find us until we deem the time ready. There is no way to stop us, violation, our will shall be done! You and your pathetic kind have no hope."
Each syllable it spoke drove another stake deep into my heart. Each word left me teetering further over the edge of despair and insanity. How could it be? Over the ages, I had forgotten how vile these creatures were. And this, more malevolent, more terrifying than anything I had experienced in all the years of my existence, this had pushed me too far.
I fell into myself in a storm of dismay and disbelief. This could not be happening, yet it was. The war was not over.
The war was not over. My purpose had not been fulfilled. I could not let myself fall into despair. Never! I would not let them win.
Finally I understood what the other conscience found so amusing. I understood it all. The reason for all of this.
I could deny nothing of what the Other Spawn had said. The hunger was too powerful, the new breed would not be able to control it. But the Other Spawn could have just waited, there was no need for them to tell me. Why had they subjected me to all of this?
Now I understood.
When the Other Spawn attacked my village, they let some of us go, so that they could hunt us again. The Other Spawn craved nothing more than to drive their enemies to panic and insanity. This is what they were doing to me now. Everything they had done since my quest began served the single purpose of pushing me into despair. I could not let that happen.
They made a mistake when they released me from my village, for I had been changed into a vampire because of it, and I had exacted my revenge countless times over. And by my life, I would make sure that they lived to regret this, too. If our hunger was our weakness, then their hunger would be theirs.
From the edge of insanity, I returned, ready for war, galvanised with furious determination. The other conscience was taken by surprise. As before, I attacked it's mind, but this time I would not fail; I could not fail. I felt it try suddenly to lift a vial of liquid to our mouth, and I instantly shot my focus to the arm, forced it with all of my being to stop.
And it obeyed.
I grappled furiously with the mind of the Other Spawn for control of our body. My rage and my determination fought against it's despicable malevolence. Slowly, I was winning. I flooded myself through the body of the beast.
The Other Spawn opposite realised what was happening, and rushed towards us. It did not comprehend, however, that I was now in control. I leapt at the beast, tackled it to the floor, and furiously gouged and slashed at it with our long, razor claws. I did not relent until I was certain that it was dead. Then I turned my attention back towards the other conscience.
It cowered before me. Beaten and fragile. It was not difficult to break it open. I searched through it, searched for knowledge. The Other Spawn had their lore which kept them hidden, and I would have it to; I would find out how to break it! And I did. The mind of the Other Spawn pleaded for me to stop, but I had no sympathy for such beings. Perhaps I was a monster, but I failed to care. Their lore would hide them no longer.
There was one more thing I needed, though. The last time I had been rent from the body of the Other Spawn, I had awoken in a different place, and hours later. I needed to do so again. If I awoke back in the warehouse, all of this would have been for nought.
It was not hard to extract the required knowledge from the broken mind of the Other Spawn.
With everything I needed in my possession, I struck one final blow to shatter the mind of the Other Spawn completely, and swallowed the liquid.
The fire and grey began to blur before me. I quickly intoned the stolen lore, and chose my location. Somehow, this time, the burning was less intense.
I opened my eyes, and saw the stars.
I had a truly daunting task ahead of me, but it was one that I had to undertake. Not because my creators commanded it, but for myself.
My task was to reunite the worlds of humans and vampires, to prepare them for the coming battle.
We had all made mistakes.
Humans condemned us without any thought. They feared us for they did not know us. They had to change their ways and embrace us once more, or they would surely face doom at the hands of both vampires and the Other Spawn.
The new breed preached predator and prey, but it was not that simple. For their actions also played straight into the hands of the Other Spawn. Their numbers had to be limited, or it would spell demise not just for humans, but for us all.
And we, the old, had committed perhaps the biggest crime of all. We above anyone had possessed the knowledge, the strength, and the opportunity to prevent this situation from ever arising. But we sacrificed ourselves and our power for a purpose that was not our own. Thus, we had mitigated our power to the point of negligibility. It was not by choosing our own fate that we violated our existence, on the contrary, we did that by living the purpose of our creators and denying ourselves the right as sentient beings to choose. If we had only lived for ourselves, we would still be strong.
But all was not lost. The Other Spawns' weakness had allowed me to comprehend our own, and comprehension was the first step to finding a solution. We had to overcome our weaknesses, or we would fall. Thus my task, the task that I had chosen for myself, was clearly laid before me.
Wrapped in my determination, and imbued with new knowledge, I climbed to my feet, and stalked away into the night.
Perhaps it would all be in vain. Perhaps the Other Spawn truly were insurmountable. To such things I held no answer. But to one thing I swore everything that I held dear; we would not go down without a fight.
END
Blood in the Vial
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