Foul Blood Parts I & II

Part I

“Adray, we’ve brought the prisoner.” Commander Adray Lucille flinched after hearing these words. Not because the words themselves scared him, but rather because the prisoner disgusted him. The creature just generally had that effect on people. It was human enough at first glance, true, but the insatiable hunger in it’s eyes and the blood dripping from it’s long, fang-like teeth were enough to tell it apart from a normal human. Even down on it’s knees with it’s arms twisted behind it’s back, the vampire was a rather unsettling sight. Adray kicked it before he began to speak.

“Tell me, what feasible reason could you possibly have for the crime you committed?”

The vampire, with an arrogant smile and an even more arrogant tone, replied simply “I was hungry.”

Adray exploded with fury “Hunger! That was your reason for slaughtering an entire town?!”

“I only killed about five of them. Master Cervantes was nice enough to accompany me, so he did the rest.”

“Master Cervantes? Who is that?”

“He is the most powerful vampire to ever walk on this wasteland of filthy humans. If you’ll kindly remember your leader during World War II, he did not take his own life. He was killed by Cervantes, who had been hired by the Americans for this purpose if they couldn’t.”

“But the Americans could have killed him.”

“Cervantes gets impatient when he’s hungry.”

“I see.” Adray looked thoughtful for a moment “Men, let go of his arms and legs. This is no longer an interrogation but rather a negotiation.” Adray instantly regretted these words. Adray was a large man, about 6’5” and he was quite muscular. He weighed about two hundred pounds but despite all this, he still feared the man who now stood before him.

And what was there not to fear? The vampire’s red eyes spoke of untold power. His tall, slender form stood at about six feet. Although he was quite handsome, his appearance also betrayed his unspeakable cruelty. His pale face was framed by black hair that was cut off at the neck. He realized that Adray was afraid and took advantage of this fact to speak.

“And what are we negotiating, exactly?” he said, his voice no longer arrogant but calm and cool, very business-like.

Adray smiled and replied “A price. On the heads of three men. As well as some man-or should I say vampire-power.”

“Depends on the men. Could be anywhere from two to three thousand.”

“In what unit of currency?” Adray asked, fully aware that three thousand Francs would be incredibly cheap for what he had in mind.

A foul smile spread across the vampire’s face. “Human corpses. Fresh ones that still have blood in them.” His voice was like a bucket of ice; cold and unexpectedly sharp.

Adray had suspected this might be a response. In fact, this suited his plans quite well, so he got a little bolder. “Well, if that’s your method of payment, then I guess my budget could stand for me to change my plans a little. After the three men are assassinated, I want vampires to fight alongside the German army in war.”

The vampire laughed “Starting another war, are you? You Germans just don’t know when to give up. As for the price, it shall be three thousand, as well as anything we kill in battle. And if our forces are to join, then Master Cervantes is to be second in command of your forces. Agreed?”

“Perfect.” Adray replied, a smugness in his tone.

“In that case, I shall report to Master Cervantes. If he agrees, you will meet him tomorrow.” The vampire snapped his fingers and a wave of darkness flooded the room. When light returned, he was gone, leaving behind the scent of blood.

Adray fell back into a nearby chair with a sigh and thought aloud, speaking to something it seemed no one else could see. “I may not be using your method, but I’m still working towards your goal. Is that good enough?” He looked up at a small portrait of Adolf Hitler and once again seemed to see something no one else did. “I thought so. You never did care how your goals were achieved.”

Part II

As the vampire rematerialized, he saw the large manse that belonged to his master, Cervantes. However, it looked more like an asylum than a house. It was built completely from cold, gray stone and the two doors, one in front and one in back, were made of steel. He looked upon the same steel doorway he had seen whenever he chose to return home; the back door. He always came in this door because the only time he ever returned home was when he needed to see Cervantes, and the back door opened into a passage which led straight to Cervantes’ room. The homecoming vampire pushed the door open, pushing it closed again once he was inside. As he strolled along the narrow, straight corridor, he gazed upon pictures of some of the most powerful vampires from the last thousand years. A smile spread across his face as he stopped to look at his own portrait, reading his name, which was placed under it. He often forgot his given name, preferring to be referred to by the name Cervantes had always called him: Shadow.

As he pushed open the doors to Cervantes’ room, he was a little taken aback. Not only was Cervantes there, but so were his most trusted assistants, besides Shadow. There was Eagle, a short, curvaceous female vampire who possessed green eyes and black hair, and Golem, a tall, incredibly muscular male vampire with blue eyes and black hair. Black hair <b>was</b> very common among vampires. And then there was Cervantes himself. Despite being a vampire himself, Shadow was frightened by Cervantes. Cervantes was quite tall and slender. He always wore the same thing; a black business-like suit, except for the fact that the collar extended until just below his eyes. He also wore a black hat that was somewhat odd in a way. Shadow could never put his finger on it, but the hat put him off for some reason, maybe because of the length of the black hair that extended from under it. Of course, it was nothing about his appearance that freaked out his associate. No, it was simply his aura. An aura of madness, of power, of cruelty, and of blood thirst.

As Shadow opened his mouth to speak, Cervantes pressed a finger to his lips and began to speak himself. “Shadow, for what reason have you returned home after being captured by humans?” There was malice there, clear as day in the last word.

Shadow flinched a little before smiling and replying “For the simple purpose of sending a message from an officer of the German army. He has it in his head to start another war, and he wanted to strike a deal with us. I gave him some conditions I thought you’d agree with and told him you would meet him tomorrow if you agreed.” Shadow did not breath once while saying this, mostly because he thought there was a chance that Cervantes would erupt in anger and he wouldn’t have a chance to finish. But the reaction that this statement coaxed from him was far from Shadow’s expectancy. Cervantes simply replied with a voice that made Shadow sure the temperature in the room had dropped several degrees.

“Well then, what are these conditions?”

“I said that we would agree to assassinate three men, as well as join the German forces in war, for the price of three thousand fresh human corpses, along with anything we kill in battle, as well as giving the position of second-in-command to you. Is this agreeable?”

Shadow felt the temperature drop a little more “Though I am disappointed that you made such a deal without my knowledge, the terms are completely agreeable. You will accompany me to see this human tomorrow.”

“Yes, milord. May I be allowed to retire now? I am quite tired from having to deal with humans for the greater part of the day.”

“Yes, you shall be allowed to retire. Eagle, Golem, you get rest too. You’ll be coming with us tomorrow. We want to give this human a definite impression of which race is superior.” the two vampires smiled and walked out of the room, alongside Shadow.

“You screw up so often. I don’t know why you’re his favorite.” sneered Eagle.

“It’s because, unlike you two, I have brains and power. We both know I never screw up on purpose. I was getting bored, and I wanted to see what a human would do in contact with a vampire. I guess I made a good choice.”

Golem looked thoughtful for a moment, opened his mouth, and then closed it. Shadow assumed it was because he was afraid of proving that he really didn’t have any brains. On this light note, he went off to his room to sleep for a spell. Dealings with inferior beings had tired him out.