《Blood Drive》


 Blood Drive - 1

    There was something about hate, the way it sat in your stomach. Not like a wound, exactly, because it didn''t always hurt. More like a drug - something addictive, at any rate. For those who had lost their reason to live, hate more often than not made a fine substitute. It was like clay, in that way. It could take whatever shape you liked - and it would play along with you as long as you needed it to.


    It had just started to get dark. Nathan was sat in the same position he''d been in for hours, staring out of his car window at the DeSuza Community Centre. It was usually fairly busy, but as the sun went down the usual visitors had retreated back to their homes. Now it was as quiet as the grave.


    Nathan''s earpiece crackled.


    ''Athena?'' he said, quietly. Even if the streets were all but empty, you never could be too careful. Especially with the kind of prey he was hunting.


    ''Manager just went up to his hotel room,'' came Athena''s voice from the earpiece, just as cautious. ''How about you?''


    ''I haven''t seen Rhodes go in - but there''s a back entrance. She could have gone in that way.''


    ''It would have been better for you to stake out the back.'' The slightest hint of admonishment - but for the older woman, that was the equivalent of a rant.


    ''Sorry. Should I check it out now?''


    ''No point. If she''s already gone in, you''ll have no way of knowing. She might have already left.''


    Nathan''s gaze went up at the sky - at the moon that was slowly starting to reveal itself. ''It''s just getting dark. She couldn''t have fed yet.''


    ''Well done.''


    Nathan''s eyes flicked to the community centre''s front doors. It looked to be pitch-black inside, but that wouldn''t matter to Calamity Rhodes. A thing like her could see just fine wherever she was.


    ''There''s no more time to wait,'' came Athena''s voice through the earpiece. ''I''m going to kill her manager - you take her out if she''s in there.''


    ''Roger. Good luck.''


    There was no reply. After a second or two of waiting for one, Nathan opened the car door and stepped outside. St. Hester was a pretty big city, but the Family had it trained well. People knew not to go out at night, even if they didn''t exactly know why.


    The lock to the front doors wasn''t anything special - lockpicking was one thing he hadn''t had to learn from Athena, in any case, and Nathan liked to think he was pretty good at it. He''d certainly spent enough time doing it.


    As casually as he could, on the off chance someone was watching him, Nathan patted his coat and felt the reassuring shape of his concealed shotgun - and the other side of his coat, of course, was his other weapon. That one would only come out at the end of the fight, however.


    The door creaked as Nathan opened it. Of course it did. Nathan could practically feel the element of surprise disintegrate into the air around him. There was already a sound echoing through the building, however - a loud slurping noise. It seemed Calamity Rhodes was feeding quite greedily.


    Nathan strode down the hall - from what he knew of Rhodes'' kind, they wouldn''t take their prey far from where they found it before feeding. The information Athena had given him let him know where the body was stashed for Calamity, so it was simply a matter of going there. That, and following the sounds of drinking. The walls of the hallway were painted brightly - in the daytime they probably looked pretty nice, but at night the contrast just made it plain creepy.


    He reached the door to the main hall, where the sounds of feeding were coming from, and took a moment to collect himself. He had his shotgun, his pistol in a holster at his side - and of course, his stake, ready and sharpened. If all went well, he should walk out of this room without a scratch. If all went well.


    The sounds of feeding stopped as Nathan opened the door. The room was big - bigger than he''d expected, at any rate - usually used to hold community meetings or presentations. There was a stage at the back of the room, but that wasn''t where he was looking. His eyes were fixed firmly on Calamity Rhodes, who was knelt in the centre of the room, feeding off a corpse that was more viscera than solid object at this point.


    ''Oh?'' she said, in a voice as clear as a bell. ''Are you one of my fans? Sorry, but I don''t sign autographs while I''m out and about.''


    Nathan could feel the smugness radiating off her. She knew that she''d been caught in the act, of course - but she probably believed there was nothing Nathan could do about it. Half a year ago, she''d have been right. It took a lot of preparation for a human to take on a vampire.


    Calamity Rhodes - eighteen years old, and scheduled by the Family to begin the next big thing for impressionable teens. Presumably that''s why she''d agreed to join their ranks. The promise of fame was a powerful motivator. But, Nathan thought - eyes flicking down to the corpse on the floor - you couldn''t do that to someone without being fucked up a little beforehand.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ''You''re disgusting,'' said Nathan.


    ''Rude,'' said Rhodes, rising to her feet. She licked some blood off her soaked hands, and turned to face Nathan. She had a face that was more cute than pretty, framed by a bob of platinum blonde hair - striking a stark contrast with the blood coating her mouth. She cocked her head. ''You don''t look too surprised.''


    ''Nothing you things do can surprise me anymore.''


    ''Wow, that''s pretty edgy,'' said Rhodes, hands on her hips. Her eyes flicked up and down, scanning Nathan. ''You some kinda Van Helsing type, then?''


    ''If you want.'' How long would it take him to draw his pistol and fire? He''d been stupid, not taking it out before he entered the room - what had he wanted? To hear the monster''s voice, see it''s face before he filled it full of holes? He''d practiced with Athena for months, so he was fairly confident in his drawing speed - but he knew that vampires were quick, as well. Inhumanly quick. By the time he got the pistol out of it''s holster, there was a good chance Rhodes would have his arm out of it''s socket.


    Rhodes, her eyes fixed on Nathan''s face, cocked her head the other way. A cat playing with it''s food.


    ''You look nervous,'' she giggled, a grin on her face. ''I''ll tell you what. How about you turn around and walk back out that door, and we both forget this ever happened? It''s a win-win deal, yeah?''


    ''You''ll rip my spine out the second I turn around.''


    Her grin widened. ''You don''t know that.''


    A noise cut through the tense silence - the sound of a car going past outside. It seemed like someone wasn''t scared of going out at night in this town, at least. After a moment or two, it faded away.


    Rhodes licked some of the blood off her fingers. ''Well, how about this,'' she began, and then Nathan shot her in the face. A new spray of blood, somewhat darker than her victims, spread out onto the floor behind her.


    It seemed like he really was fast enough. Rhodes dropped to the floor like a puppet with it''s strings cut. Nathan charged over, reaching into his jacket and frantically pulling out the steel stake - specially crafted by Athena for piercing a vampire''s core. He had to be fast - it would only take a few seconds for her brain to regenerate.


    Rhodes'' eyes flicked back open, and they were full of fury.


    Shit. Shit. Shit. He wouldn''t get a chance like that again - the only reason he''d been able to shoot her in the first place was because she was distracted. With her attention firmly on him, she''d be able to dodge any of his attacks with those inhuman reflexes of hers. Nathan stopped running - but the floor was smooth and slick with blood, and as he tried to stop himself he continued sliding towards her. She jumped to her feet in less than a second and thrust her arm towards him, fingernails bared like claws.


    Burst T20Q! The spell Athena had first taught him activated as he focused on it in his mind. The word, the code and the image - electricity flowing through a tree. It was a fairly unorthodox activation procedure for magic, but it was one Athena used for all her spells. Nathan''s reflexes, suddenly just as fast as Rhodes, acted automatically - and before he could really process what he was doing, he''d ducked under her swipe. The spell''s power faded away almost instantly. It was only really useful if you used it right before you''d take a hit.


    Rhodes'' face twisted in confusion for a moment, then her eyes flicked down to see where Nathan had gone. Her eyes were pure black now, and her teeth long and sharp, like those of some ocean predator. Her human guise was falling - and the shape of her soul, which had been warped when she became a vampire, was starting to show itself.


    She lunged at him again, this time with her teeth, but Nathan was ready. He thrust his shotgun, which he''d whipped out of his jacket, into Rhodes'' stomach and pulled the trigger once, twice. She went flying backwards again, her stomach a gaping hole, and crashed down onto the floor.


    This exchange, from the time Nathan first shot Rhodes with his pistol to the time she went flying through the air, took about ten seconds.


    Nathan didn''t go after her this time - it wouldn''t work. She''d regenerate before he reached her, and right now he needed to reload more than anything else. The second he ran out of bullets, he''d be dead. Bullets couldn''t kill a vampire - unless a specially crafted one hit them in the heart, of course - but they could damn well hurt them just as well as a normal person. Rhodes would keep her distance now, and that gave Nathan time to think of a way to kill her.


    She was fast, sure, but not as fast as he''d expected. She''d only recently become a vampire - maybe she was still getting used to her new body. Her regeneration, on the other hand, was infuriatingly fast. Shooting her in the head then going for the stake wouldn''t work.


    Rhodes'' stomach closed back up after maybe five seconds, and she rose calmly to her feet. Had he tried to go for the stake there, she''d have run him through on one of her arms, most likely. Getting within arms-reach of her was a death sentence at this point.


    ''I''m going to rip you to pieces, you know,'' growled Rhodes from the other side of the room, pacing like a caged animal. ''Limbs first, then I''ll start on the guts, tear them up and show you them.''


    If he could destroy her entire body at once, that would give him enough time to go for her heart. But that was easier said than done. There weren''t exactly a great deal of combat options in a community centre.


    ''I have an idea,'' said Rhodes, putting on some of her assumed sweetness again. ''Why don''t you just take that pistol and shoot yourself? That way, I can''t kill you.''


    ''Yeah, good idea,'' said Nathan, putting the gun to his head.


    Watch out for her Blood Drive, came Athena''s voice in his head. From what I''ve heard, it''s some kind of hypnosis. Don''t let her get to you.


    Well, that was annoying. He was supposed to be shooting himself, but Athena''s voice was distracting him. He couldn''t kill himself with this kind of - oh, shit. Oh, shit shit shit. He''d forgotten about her Blood Drive.


    He''d forgotten about her fucking Blood Drive.


    Every vampire had their own little power, as if the super speed and super strength weren''t enough. If the vampire had been a magic-user, it was usually some mutation of their preferred spell - but in cases like Calamity Rhodes, who had been a normal human being, it came from the vampire''s personality. It seemed she was used to people doing what she told them.


    ''Weren''t you listening?'' said Rhodes, cocking her head. She''d returned to her human form, confident that she''d already won. ''I said to shoot yourself. Go ahead.''


    Well, now that Nathan thought about it, shooting himself did seem like a - no, nonono! Bad idea. Bad idea. He couldn''t win against her like this. He couldn''t even fight against her like this. His hand holding the pistol was still trying to move towards his head, so Nathan grabbed and restrained it with his other hand.


    Rhodes rolled her eyes, apparently getting sick of the theatrics. ''Shoot yourself shoot yourself shoot yourself shoot yourself,'' she repeated in a cold monotone as she began walking towards Nathan. As long as he was busy trying to restrain himself, she had nothing to fear from him.


    There was only one thing to do.


    Nathan pulled the pistol up next to his head and pulled the trigger.

 Blood Drive - 2

    As the gun fired next to Nathan''s ear, the sound of Rhodes'' voice was interrupted by a deafening ringing noise, which gradually faded into silence. If Rhodes'' Blood Drive relied on Nathan hearing her voice, than all he had to do was deafen himself.


    Nathan saw Rhodes'' lips move - maybe still trying to hypnotize him, or perhaps just asking if he was crazy. He wasn''t too sure of the answer to that. He''d managed to give himself an immunity to her Blood Drive, but he''d given up his hearing in the process. All things considered, he was worse off than he was before - well, he wasn''t dead, so he wasn''t that worse off. Anything was better than being dead, after all.


    Nathan knew that Athena would be able to treat his hearing - he''d seen her take care of worse while training with her. He himself hadn''t quite managed to grasp magical healing, but she''d been studying magic most of her life - it was second nature to her. But before anyone was getting healed, he had to take care of Calamity Rhodes.


    She was only a short distance from him - if she leaped, she''d be right in his face within a second. Despite the surprise of Nathan''s last move, there was still an unmistakable glint of excitement in Rhodes'' eyes. It only made sense - she''d only recently become a vampire, recruited by her manager, and the thrill of the hunt hadn''t yet lost its novelty for her. If she got her hands on him, Nathan knew he wouldn''t die easy.


    Her regeneration was superb - trying to down her with wounds was a futile effort. They''d heal before Nathan could take advantage of them. A vampire''s body excelled at rebuilding itself - it would heal every spot of damage on her body at the same time, so there was no point in trying to inflict more than one wound. Even the effects of aging were repaired. Athena had told Nathan that vampire''s bodies were specifically designed to live forever - immortality had been one of the goals of the asshole that had first become one.


    The only thing that could kill a vampire was destroying their soul. A human soul couldn''t be destroyed, of course, because it didn''t exist in the human world. There was no way to get to it. But the process of creating a vampire involves turning their soul into a physical object within their bodies - resting within the heart. With the soul existing in the human world, it can influence it''s owner''s physical form - giving them the advantages that made them such a pain in the ass. The soul remembers what it''s owner should look like, after all, and constantly restores them to that state. Sucks for the people that turn into a vampire while injured or sick, of course - they stay injured or sick, as that becomes their default.


    So - he had to get her to stop moving and attacking him. He had to plunge a stake into her heart, damaging the soul to such an extent that it can''t sustain itself. And he had to do all that when even a slap from her would probably send his head flying off.


    She leaped forward, the impact of her jump causing the wood to crack where she set off.


    Burst T20Q! Nathan rolled to the side, avoiding Rhodes by centimetres. Her head snapped around to look at him, and she went for him again. It seemed like she was sick of this fight - she wanted a kill now.


    Burst T20Q - there was no alternative, he had to use it again. Using the same spell twice in so short a time, without training beforehand, sent jolts of pain rippling through his body. A third use was out of the question - he could do some serious damage to himself. With the burst of speed granted by the spell, Nathan thrust his palm out towards Rhodes'' face. Flare S993, he thought, picturing a star beating like a human heart. A tiny speck of light appeared just in front of his palm - and Nathan squeezed his eyes shut the moment before it spilled out into a blinding explosion. He ducked just in time to feel her flailing arm brush over his head, then opened his eyes once more.


    Rhodes'' eyes had been severely damaged by the Flare, their surfaces now white and scarred. If Nathan had to go without his hearing, then she''d have to fight without her sight - for a few seconds, at least. She screamed some threat, still flailing wildly, all strategy overridden by sheer fury.


    Nathan whipped out his combat knife from his side - he hadn''t expected to use it all against a vampire, to be honest - and jammed it into the back of Rhodes'' knee, plunging it in deep. Rhodes'' kicked out with her other foot, striking Nathan in the arm and sending him flying into the wall. Nathan felt his arm snap the second he went into the air, and he certainly felt it when it cushioned his impact against the wall. For a moment, he joined Rhodes'' in her screaming, but stifled himself when her head snapped towards him again. Her eyes had regenerated, and were mad with rage.


    She said something - another threat, probably, taking a step towards him. She stumbled, and her brow furrowed with confusion. Her eyes flicked down towards her legs.


    Nathan''s knife was still jammed into her knee - her leg couldn''t regenerate as long as the blade was occupying the space it needed. She reached down to pull it out, and crumpled to the floor as Nathan shot her in the head with his pistol once again.


    He began moving as fast as he could towards her, gun still pointed at her head. He had three bullets. A vampire''s regeneration made them seem invincible, but there were ways to get around it. His trick with his knife was just one of them. All the wounds on a vampire''s body healed at once, so doing a lot of damage to them at the same time was pointless. However, if you inflicted a wound to them just as they finished healing a previous one, you could keep them down for much longer.


    He had three bullets. The hole in Rhodes'' head closed up. Nathan, pulling the trigger, opened it back up again. Two bullets - he had almost made his way over to her. She healed, and her eyes snapped open. Nathan shot her again. One bullet - he was standing over her now. He put his pistol back in its holster - he only had one good arm, after all - and pulled the stake out of his jacket. Dropping to the floor, Nathan straddled his prey and plunged the stake down into her chest - and at the instant it pierced her body, her eyes snapped open.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Nathan felt the impact against his stomach - and felt something inside his body break. He couldn''t tell exactly what it was as he went flying into the air, but it was important. Something a human needed to survive. He landed a little ways from Rhodes, unable to move. With a great effort, he lifted his head up to look at her.


    The stake had gone partway in - not enough to destroy her soul, but enough to do irreparable damage to it. She was standing, stumbling in place as she tried to pull the stake out of her chest. Her hair lengthened and contracted. Her blood, spilling from every orifice, changed colours as it spread in a puddle around her. Her skin dripped from her face like candle-wax.


    She was screaming something, turning in circles as she pulled on the stake - but the energy leaking from her soul was too much. It was warping her physical form, affecting the world around her. The windows in the hall shattered, and Nathan could feel the wooden floor shivering beneath his cheek.


    She was still saying something, repeating it to nobody in particular, now facing away from Nathan. ''Get it out, get it out!''


    If Nathan didn''t finish her off quickly, the energy leaking from her soul would contaminate the entire building - maybe the entire neighbourhood. Everyone around would end up dead or worse.


    Burst...T20Q. Nathan had been right - his body couldn''t handle the same spell three times in such close proximity. He felt blood fill his mouth, and one of his eyes stopped working. He felt like he probably couldn''t have stood before the spell, but he knew he couldn''t now. With the burst of energy the spell gave him, he took the pistol from his holster and fired his last bullet at Rhodes.


    With one eye no longer working, it was more luck than anything else that Nathan hit his target. Rhodes went limp as the bullet went through her head, and she fell to the floor - landing directly on the stake protruding from her chest. There was a burst of something - it couldn''t really be called light, as it wasn''t so much something you saw as something you felt. Like taking a bath in boiling water, but without the burns. When it cleared, whatever it was, the only thing remaining of Calamity Rhodes were her clothes, and a few scatterings of ashes.


    He''d won. Despite everything, Nathan felt a smile spread across his bloody lips. He''d won. He''d shown the bastards, taught them a lesson. You didn''t fuck with Nathan Westwood. This was what happened. This was what fucking happened. He laughed silently, as best he could in his state.


    A hand grabbed him by the back.


    Panic. Did Rhodes'' have another comrade here? Had the manager survived his fight with Athena?


    The hand rolled him over to face upwards, and he looked up into the face of Athena. The black woman sighed and said something - maybe asking him a question. Probably asking him what the hell he''d been thinking. Nathan wasn''t really in a state to reply. Instead, he simply looked up into the older woman''s eye - her other was behind an eyepatch. Right now, Nathan realized, they were both blind in one eye. That seemed kind of funny - maybe he was delirious.


    -


    ''Can you hear me?'' said Athena after a few minutes of healing. Magical healing was a strange thing to experience - it felt like invisible hands were assembling you, putting you back together - and that was where stuff was just broken. Where things were missing, it felt like you were a plant, growing back into your intended shape. He hadn''t thought he''d lost any body parts, but Athena corrected that pretty quickly.


    ''Your eyeball burst,'' she said, glowing hands held above his chest as she continued to heal him.


    ''Oh,'' slurred Nathan, still somewhat out of it. Magical healing tended to do that to you - pain nullification was part of most spells designed for healing, so it worked a little like anaesthetic in that regard. ''I thought it had just gone blind.''


    ''That''s a pretty common side effect of an eyeball bursting, yeah. And a bursting eyeball is apparently a common side effect of overusing magic your body can''t handle.''


    ''I guess. I would have died if I hadn''t done it, though.''


    ''You almost died doing it.''


    ''But I killed Rhodes. Dying and killing a vampire in the process is a pretty good result, the way I see it.''


    Athena hesitated at that. This often happened when they were speaking - Nathan would say something that seemed perfectly reasonable to him, and Athena wouldn''t care for it.


    ''We''re vampire hunters,'' he continued. ''We should be prepared to give our lives for that. Right?''


    ''That''s not what you said. Taking the enemy with you should be a last resort, not the goal.''


    ''I guess.''


    Athena frowned - clearly, she saw that she hadn''t really convinced him of anything.


    Best to change the subject.


    ''How''d your fight go?''


    Athena smirked. ''If I''m here in one piece, you know how it went.''


    ''That easy?''


    ''Easy peasie.''


    It wasn''t much of a surprise, but it still stung. Athena was a Sorceress from America''s most elite Circle, even if she had been kicked out. Nathan, on the other hand, was just some kid she''d plucked out of a massacre. Rhodes'' had been the first target he''d gone after on his own, and he''d barely managed to kill her. For Athena, a vampire like Rhodes would have been nothing. Even in their most basic attributes, there was an unbelievable gap - the maximum number of times Nathan could use a spell repeatedly without damaging himself was two. He''d never seen Athena''s limit - if she had one, it was high enough that she probably didn''t reach it often.


    Athena looked down, clearly noticing the crestfallen look on Nathan''s face. ''Penny for your thoughts?''


    ''When will I get better at this?''


    ''You just killed one of them solo. I''d say you''re pretty good.''


    ''I killed a teenage girl that was turned maybe two months ago, and it nearly killed me. You can do it like it''s nothing. When will I be able to?''


    Athena raised an eyebrow at him, bemused. ''You want an exact date? You''re healed, by the way.''


    Nathan picked himself up into a sitting position. ''If it''s actually possible, then yeah.''


    ''It isn''t actually possible.''


    ''Oh. No, then.''


    ''The thing about magic - it comes from the soul, not the body. You need to move it from the soul to the body to use it, and if you try to do that too much before you''re ready, you damage the connection between the two. It''s like any muscle - you need to build it up.''


    ''I don''t get all this soul stuff,'' Nathan sighed. ''If I use magic a lot, I get better at using it. That''s it, right?''


    Athena smiled. ''That''s it. The tutors in my Circle would have killed you for saying that, though.''


    Nathan looked around. The room was a mess, and the rest of the building had probably suffered some ill-effects from the energy Rhodes'' soul had released. The disappearance of Calamity Rhodes wouldn''t go unnoticed either - she hadn''t hit the big-time yet, but she''d been close.


    ''So,'' he said. ''What do we do now?''


    Athena slung her backpack off her shoulders, rummaged around in it, and pulled out a laptop - one she hadn''t had when Nathan had last seen her.


    ''We work our way up the ladder,'' she said.

 Blood Drive - 3

    It was a curious feeling, matching the face of the Devil to his name. A name was something abstract - you couldn''t really hate it. A face, on the other hand, you could hate. Oh, you could hate it quite a bit.


    The man on the laptop screen was elderly - with the appearance of a man in his eighties - bald, leaning on a walking stick. He wore the plain brown habit of a monk, simple attire but easily maintained. Wrinkles crossed his face like spider-webs. There was a look in his eyes - a look you noticed the moment you saw him - like that of a shark. Sizing you up, working out where it would be best to take the first bite.


    Abbot Tain, head of the Family. The first vampire.


    When looking through Rhodes'' manager''s laptop, Nathan and Athena had found a video message - nothing specifically intended for the manager, but a message to the whole Family. A State of the Union for those who enjoyed the taste of blood.


    ''My sons and daughters,'' said Tain, a gentle smile on his lips. ''It''s good to speak to you again.''


    He was standing in some sort of grand dining hall, chandeliers glittering above and grand paintings adorning the wall. From what Athena had told Nathan about the Family, he guessed that the video was recorded in Castle Aeternum. It was supposed to be the Family''s worldwide base, but nearly nobody knew where it actually was. Even among the Family members Nathan had watched Athena interrogate, it was said that only the highest leaders even knew what country it was in.


    ''I''m gladdened to hear that so many of you are doing well in your service to the Family - and in your own endeavours, of course,'' continued Tain. ''Our Family spreads further around the world everyday, and you are all to thank for it.''


    ''Smug bastard,'' muttered Athena. Nathan''s eyes flicked to her. It seemed that her bitterness was reserved mostly for the leaders of the Family. In Nathan''s eyes, every member was worthy of scorn. When they agreed to turn, they knew that they were signing up to kill people to extend their own lives. There could be no sympathy for that.


    ''In regards to the Circles we have relations with, those relations remain cordial. As long as we continue to leave them and their members untouched, they have no quarrel with us.'' Tain''s eyes suddenly took on a look of deep sadness - but to Nathan''s eyes, the transition was too fast. Too sudden. Rehearsed. ''As you all know, the incident last November caused serious tension between us and the Circle of Alhazred. While I do not regret executing the members of our Family responsible, I do regret that it became necessary. Please keep that incident in mind when coming into contact with members of Sorcery Circles. I have no wish to repeat those punishments.''


    Nathan paused the video. ''Last November?''


    ''From what my Alhazred contacts told me,'' said Athena. ''A few newly turned vampires went and killed some students at that Circle. They and the one who turned them were killed by Tain for it.''


    ''Personally?''


    ''Of course not personally. Wherever that castle is, he never leaves. He got some goon to do it.''


    So even the Family didn''t want to mess with some people - the Circle of Alhazred must have been able to pose a threat to them, at the very least. Then again, the reason the Family had been able to spread so far was that they did their best to keep under the radar. They didn''t cause trouble, or start conflicts with those who could fight back - they just spread, like a virus. Everyday, they controlled more and more, and nobody did anything to stop them - because, of course, nobody really cared.


    Nathan pressed play again, and the video went on. A long speech about how the pride of the Family was what kept it together, a few personal congratulations for members who had done well in getting the Family more influence in society and, as a conclusion, Tain asking the viewer to continue their hard work for the coming year. All in all, it seemed to Nathan like thirty minutes of Tain congratulating himself for being a piece of shit leading other pieces of shit. Smug bastard indeed.


    Nathan didn''t speak again until half an hour later. He usually went quiet when he started thinking about the Family - the leech sucking the blood out of the world. Taking down one vampire was difficult but doable, even for him. But the Family as a whole? It seemed invincible. You kill one member, and they''ll replace them soon enough. Nathan had no doubt that they''d find someone to take Calamity Rhodes'' place in their plans within maybe a month. The loss of her Blood Drive might effect them, but not too harshly. If they couldn''t influence people directly, they''d do it indirectly - they were good at it.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ''What would happen if Tain died?'' said Nathan. They were in the car, him and Athena, on their way out of the city. They wanted to be far away before any connection could be made between them and the dead body in the community centre. Plus, Athena had apparently done quite a number on a hotel room while fighting with Rhodes'' manager, so the police would want to take her in too.


    ''Tain?'' said Athena. ''He won''t die, far as I can see it - unless another leader goes for him. If that happens, they''ll just be the new Tain.''


    ''What would happen, though? If someone outside the Family did it, I mean?''


    ''We can''t kill Tain.''


    ''I never said we could.''


    ''You were thinking it.''


    Silence for a few moments.


    ''What would happen?'' repeated Nathan. ''You''ve thought about it, right?''


    Athena sighed. She often answered Nathan''s questions if he bugged her enough. ''I''ve thought about it, yeah, when I was starting out right after I was kicked out of my Circle. If he were to die - suddenly, without warning - the Family would probably split as other leaders tried to assume command. It''d probably splinter even more from there, as people lower down the ladder tried to make big for themselves too. You''d have dozens of smaller groups, instead of one colossal one.''


    ''That''d be good, though. They''d be easier to take down.''


    ''Maybe. But Tain keeps a lot of them in line, much as I hate to admit it - stops them running wild. If the Family split, a lot of people would die.''


    ''A lot of vampires too.''


    ''Not worth it - and not possible, either, like I said.''


    Athena often said things were impossible. She''d been the one to bring Nathan into this fight, but sometimes he couldn''t help but wonder if her heart was really in it. She was content to kill a vampire or two every month, members of the Family that wouldn''t be missed, but he''d never seen the same desire for revenge that he had in her. It was like she wanted something else - and that fighting the Family was just incidental to that. He''d tried to talk to her about it in the past, but she never said a word. It probably had something to do with her exile from her Circle, but that was all Nathan had figured out.


    Nathan sighed, leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes.


    -


    Blood. The dream always started with the smell of blood. Then there was smoke, and he couldn''t breath. Trapped in a scrunched up piece of metal, the smoke obscuring everything outside. He was going to die. He knew without a doubt, every time he had this dream, that he was about to die.


    Then came the voices.


    ''Is this alright?'' said the first. Young. Male. Nervous. ''Won''t people find out?''


    ''Of course,'' said the second, also male. Older. Patient. ''We''ve got it set up as a car crash. Nobody will ever know.''


    There was meat around Nathan, in the wrecked car with him. The meat had used to be people close to him, but he didn''t like to think about them, even when he had this dream. So they were just meat. Red. Burning. Something pulled them out the car. Something started drinking from them. Slurp. Slurp. Slurp.


    Nathan didn''t see a thing. He didn''t see a thing.


    ''Um,'' said the first voice. ''I think one''s still alive.''


    Something grabbed Nathan by the back. A hand. Strong. Impossibly strong. It could have crushed his head by merely squeezing. It pulled him, and he was out of the smoke and the meat and the fire. He was looking up at the sky. Night. The moon was out. It was pretty.


    Two faces looked down at him. He couldn''t make them out - he must have hurt his head in the crash. Was it a crash? He didn''t remember them hitting anything.


    ''Ah shit,'' said the older voice. ''No worries, this could be a good thing.''


    ''It could?'' said the younger one.


    ''Yeah, sure. You haven''t killed one yet, have you?''


    I''m gonna die. It was a certainty - an inevitability. The moment the thought entered his mind, he''d accepted it. There was no choice, after all.


    ''Not...not yet.''


    ''Go on, then. It''s easy - just grab the neck and squeeze. Probably doesn''t even hurt if you do it that way.''


    There was a moment of hesitation, then the smaller of the two figures reached down - his fingers gripped Nathan''s neck. He still couldn''t make out the figure''s face, even when he was that close - no, he couldn''t make out anything about him. He was a blur. It was less like he couldn''t see and more like someone wouldn''t let him see.


    ''Well, go on,'' said the older figure, and then his head exploded.


    Nathan felt the fingers on his throat release him, saw the younger figure whirl around - so fast it was a blur - just in time for a metal stake to launch itself between his ribs. There was a flash of something, and then the figure was gone. A moment later, a second stake launched itself from the darkness into the chest of the headless body on the ground. He too vanished as it penetrated his heart.


    A new figure walked into Nathan''s sight. A dark-haired woman, in a thick coat, with an eyepatch over one eye. In the air behind her floated several circles, like pentagrams, most of which holding a stake in the air at their centre. Only two of them did not.


    She looked down at Nathan, and her face showed a mixture of horror and pity.


    ''You still alive?'' she said.


    That was where the dream ended.


    Sometimes, Nathan wondered if maybe he''d died in that car crash, and that everything after was some sort of split-second dream right before the end. But then he felt pain. He was thrown across rooms, his bones were broken, an eyeball burst. He never felt pain in his dreams. So, of course, he must be awake - and like everyone else, he just had to deal with it.


    What else was there to do?

 Blood Drive - 4

    Abbot Tain leaned back in his throne, his eyes wistful. He put a hand to his mouth to suppress a cough - something he''d gotten used to doing. He''d been dealing with that illness for hundreds of years, after all. When he''d performed the first ritual and become a vampire, he hadn''t been aware he was sick. Now that illness was frozen in time, living forever within his body, just like the rest of him.


    ''Maria?'' he said quietly, his eyes inscrutable. ''What do you suppose the greatest distraction of mankind is?''


    ''Distraction?'' said Maria, from the other side of the dining table. ''Lust? The desire to reproduce?''


    Tain''s wife was a beautiful woman - she''d made herself so before becoming a vampire - with long black hair and bright yellow eyes. She was wearing a simple dress today - that is, simple for her. It still had the three ribbons wrapped around her waist, of course. She went nowhere without her defenses. The ribbons were enchanted, and if anything got too close to their master they''d slice it to pieces in an instant. Vampires couldn''t perform magic, of course - their physical souls couldn''t handle it - so she''d created the ribbons before she''d been turned. She was wise in that way.


    ''Lust...'' said Tain, considering it. ''Could be. It could be. But there''s things outside of that - things that aren''t influenced by lust, so it can''t be the greatest distraction, can it? There''s got to be something above it.''


    Maria cut her steak as she thought - there was no need for vampires to eat, but she still liked to taste food. Tain didn''t feel the same way. To him, the process of eating was a tedious matter that interrupted the things that were truly important.


    ''The greatest distraction,'' continued Tain. ''The way I see it, is fear of death. Nearly all aspects of humanity stem from it. The desire to reproduce. The desire to make a mark on the world. It''s all, deep down, the wish to live forever in at least some form.''


    ''You think so?''


    ''I do. I''ve seen it in immortals - over time, they become...inhuman. That''s because they shed their fear of death. They are distracted no longer, and can achieve their true selves.''


    ''Do you count yourself among them?''


    ''No. I''ve seen men who truly cannot die,'' he tapped his chest, just over his heart. ''We just can''t die of old age. The fear of death is still there. Lessened...but still there. People seek immortality because they fear death. It''s just another form of that distraction.''


    ''You''re one of the most powerful men in the world,'' said Maria. ''If not the most powerful. What do you have to fear?''


    There was silence. On the walls above, paintings of many men - most of them Tain during several stages of history - looked down on the two. They were married in the loosest sense of the term. The title of being Tain''s wife was something given to Maria as a reward - when she came to Tain, she''d brought decades of magical research to strengthen the vampiric race, stolen from her Circle. There was no love between them, only the relationship between a leader and a valued contributor.


    ''I could kill you right now,'' said Tain, slowly. ''It wouldn''t even be difficult. It would take me perhaps a second - perhaps - and then you''d be gone. Doesn''t that frighten you?''


    ''Of course not.''


    ''Please don''t lie to me, Maria. Why would you join the Family as you did if you did not fear death?''


    Maria leaned forward. There was something in her eyes, the glimmer of a fanatic - but not one for the Family. Tain knew that Maria''s adoration was reserved for herself most of all. As a magical researcher - even if she couldn''t perform magic, she could still investigate it - most would think that she was in love with her discoveries. They''d be right - but she didn''t love her discoveries because of a love of discovery itself. No, she loved them because she were the one who found them. It was simply an extension of narcissism.


    That, Tain reflected, was her greatest distraction.


    ''I''ve told you this before, my dear husband,'' she said. ''But I looked into humanity for eighty years. I''m done with it, I''ve seen all there is to see. I want to see what happens next.''


    Tain looked into her eyes. It was an everlasting disappointment to him that there really was nothing more to his wife than that.


    Silence passed. Maria ate. The clock ticked.


    ''I need to feed my hounds,'' she said, suddenly, and left the room.


    Tain didn''t react as she left the room. Once she was gone, he leaned back in his chair once again.


    The clock ticked. Eternity continued.


    -


    ''It''s been a while, Athena,'' said Otto, wrapping the woman in a bear hug the moment he saw her. The magical engineer was huge, dwarfing Nathan as he looked at the two reunite. He was half-afraid that Athena would be suffocated by the man''s bushy beard before the hug ended. After about a minute, Otto released Athena, who seemed to still have plenty of air in her lungs.


    They were standing in Otto''s workshop within the headquarters of the Circle of Thompson, located beneath an abandoned power station in the city of Leston. It was a little after three AM - as an exile, Athena wasn''t exactly supposed to be in a Thompson facility at all, so they''d had to come in under cover of darkness.


    Weapons were scattered everywhere within the workshop - guns, swords, daggers, spears and a colossal hammer that seemed to have pride of place above the fireplace. No doubt every single one of them was enchanted - according to Athena, Otto was employed to create enchanted items to be handed out to Thompson Sorcerers according to rank. One could grow exhausted during battle and be unable to use spells, but an enchanted item would continue functioning until destroyed.


    The workshop itself was blazing hot, and Nathan was sweating like a pig every second he was in there. Otto, on the other hand, seemed fine - presumably, he''d enchanted his own body at some point to better deal with the heat.


    ''You''re cheeky as fuck, you know?'' grinned Otto, hands on Athena''s shoulders. ''You could''ve just come to see me tomorrow - they''re having their fancy gala. Even wizards and witches welcome - they''re trying to recruit some.''


    ''You know me,'' said Athena, a similar smile on her own face. ''I hate doing what I''m supposed to.''


    ''Wouldn''t have you any other way,'' said Otto, then his eyes flicked to Nathan. His smile flickered for a moment, but he quickly restored it. ''Who''s the new face?''


    ''Nathan Westwood,'' said Nathan. ''Nice to meet you.''


    ''Otto,'' said the man, extending a hand for Nathan to shake. ''Same to you.''Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Nathan shook Otto''s hand gingerly - it was stained with oil, and Nathan got the feeling the man could break his hand with the slightest squeeze on top of that. The handshake lingered for a moment too long, Otto''s eyes boring into Nathan''s as if searching for something in particular.


    ''Don''t break him,'' laughed Athena, an uneasy grin on her face.


    After another moment, Otto relented, releasing Nathan and roughly ruffling his ginger hair. ''Sorry, sorry,'' he grinned. ''They''re just so fragile these days.''


    She punched him in the arm. He didn''t even flinch. ''They''re not fragile,'' she said. ''You''re just too strong.''


    Otto turned away from them, and went over to his workbench - a battered metal table that seemed to have born the brunt of quite a lot of hard work. He rolled up his sleeves.


    ''Ah, I''m as strong as I need to be,'' he said. ''So - if you''ve come to me, you want me to make something for you, yeah?''


    Athena smiled apologetically. ''Haven''t the luxury of personal visits, I''m afraid. My mantle was destroyed in my last fight.''


    Nathan''s eyes flicked over to Athena. He hadn''t even known she had a mantle. Judging from the fact that she was going to a magical engineer about it, it must have been enchanted. What had it been for? He''d assumed she was simply more experienced than him, but was she just better equipped? There was definitely a huge gap between them in terms of ability, but was it smaller than he''d assumed?


    ''Mantle?'' said Nathan.


    ''Made it harder to aim at her when she put it on,'' said Otto mournfully as Athena handed him a shredded cloak from her bag. ''Oh, what''ve they done to you?''


    Nathan turned to Athena. ''I could have done with one of those. Rhodes definitely didn''t have any trouble aiming at me.''


    ''Wouldn''t have worked,'' she said. ''Otto made it for me - he enchanted it so that it couldn''t be used by anyone else. Didn''t want it getting stolen.'' She saw the look on his face, and chuckled. ''This was before I met you - I wasn''t trying to keep you at a disadvantage, don''t worry.''


    ''I wasn''t worrying about that.''


    ''If you say so.''


    Otto had taken the shredded mantle to his workbench and was inspecting it with some kind of eyepiece - probably enchanted as well. For all Nathan knew, everything in the room was.


    ''I can get it fixed up for you,'' he said, after a few seconds. ''Don''t say I never do anything for you.''


    ''I never would,'' smiled Athena.


    Otto grinned back, and reached for his tools.


    ''Uh, sorry,'' said Nathan. Both Otto and Athena turned to look at him. ''I actually have a request, as well.''


    -


    Gabriel Rook took a swig of his coffee, following up with another drink of his ice-cold orange juice. It was important to keep your internal temperatures balanced - it encouraged good luck and warded off evil spirits. He''d heard that from a one-eyed shaman in Ireland...India...some country with an I, at any rate. It was funny, thinking about that - there were lots of countries containing the letter ''I'' (their names, that was, although the letter I was probably also written down innumerable times within that country), but very few that actually had eyes. There were National Spirits, of course, but those didn''t really count.


    The waitress looked at him, a bemused expression on her face. She was pretty. Cute. Pretty cute, for that matter, if he was any judge. He wasn''t, however - he was just another citizen, not someone who really had the right to rate somebody''s appearance. He wasn''t cut out for that pressure, that responsibility, either. He wouldn''t even know what rating scale to use.


    ''I like to keep my internals at room temperature,'' he told her, as way of explanation. ''Like the engine of a car.''


    ''But...'' she said, as if she were unsure if she should even be talking to him. ''Car engines are supposed to be hot, right?''


    ''Who told you that?'' he said. He hadn''t been informed of this - he''d never really looked into the inside of a car during his long, long, long life. One day they''d just replaced carriages, and he''d just rolled with it.


    ''I...nobody told me that, I just know.''


    ''Are you an engineer?'' Rook leaned forward in his booth, shifting the pile of plates in front of him. He''d been in the Lucky 8 Diner for a few hours now, ordering food and drinks, and he was fairly sure that his waitress wasn''t an engineer. He had a good eye for people.


    The waitress didn''t even reply. She just walked off back to the kitchen with a worried look on her face. That hurt. It stung - like a bee, or perhaps a wasp. Wasps were worse, in Rook''s opinion, as they could sting as much as they wanted. They''d evolved the capacity for sustained violence. The waitress stung just like one of them. He looked younger than her, but that gave her no right to treat him with such disrespect. He was a paying customer. Well, he hadn''t paid yet, but he had every intention to.


    Rook looked out of the window at the highway outside. He was about halfway between Saint Hester and Leston, so he felt he''d deserved a little rest stop. He didn''t need to rest, or even eat really, but that didn''t mean it wasn''t satisfying.


    He activated his Blood Drive. The soul of Rhodes, previously captured, connected to his mind.


    I''m dying. I''m dying, it said.


    ''No, you already died,'' sighed Rook, a downcast expression on his face. ''Sorry about that. I need the memory of the person who killed you again - his face, please.''


    It was awful when a member of the Family died - killing one of them was an unforgivable crime, and Rook was more than happy to execute the punishment. One looked after their own, after all.


    Kill him. I need to kill him. He''ll kill me, I need to kill him.


    Rook sighed. He shouldn''t have released her soul on the way here, but it seemed to be the right thing to do. He hadn''t wanted to keep her trapped in her last moments of dying panic, but he''d left her alone too long. Her soul was undergoing the process of reincarnation, suppressing the memories of her previous life. During his first life, when he was but a simple necromancer, he''d become quite familiar with the process. The longer you waited to bring someone back, the less them they were. It wasn''t an easy thing to witness.


    ''Goodbye, Rhodes,'' he said, and let her soul go for good. He''d never met the girl when she was alive, but he had no desire to keep her from reincarnating longer than he had to. Letting her go meant he couldn''t use her Blood Drive, but he''d do without it. Her memories, too, were gone - but he''d do without them. He still remembered the essentials of the target from the first time he''d contacted Rhodes'' soul. Ginger hair, freckles, and bright blue eyes. He wondered what sounds the guy would make if those eyes got popped. Would they sound like Rhodes'' screams? Full of regret and confusion?


    He''d just have to find out.


    -


    ''I wasn''t expecting you to want an enchanted item,'' said Athena, as they drove back to the motel. ''But I have to say, those would be pretty useful.''


    Nathan sat next to her, looking out the window. The city of Leston was in infinitely better shape than their last shop. With the Circle of Thompson being present in the city, the vampires couldn''t run a campaign of fear like they had in Saint Hester. The streets were full and bustling, even at this late hour. This was what a normal city was like - it honest shouldn''t have been so surprising to him. Maybe he''d lost some perspective on the world, focusing on the vampires that infested it.


    ''I thought of it after my fight with Rhodes,'' said Nathan. ''The trick with the knife saved me, so I thought a knife they couldn''t just pull out would be fantastic. Do you think Otto can do it?''


    Athena laughed. ''A request like that? Honestly, that''s nothing. One of the students of the Circle here could probably have done it for you. A knife that changes shape once it''s inside a body is simple stuff.''


    ''So you could have done it?''


    Athena''s laugh trailed off, and she glanced at Nathan - and then quickly away again. ''My focus wasn''t - well, isn''t - on enchanting items, exactly.''


    ''I know. You have the spell that launches the stakes, right? That''s your speciality?'' He''d first seen that spell - Burst, he thought it was called - the night when he met Athena. For a vampire hunter, Nathan could think of no better method of attack. It gave the stakes the speed and force of bullets - even if it didn''t hit the heart, it still caused enough damage to down the vampire long enough for a second stake to hit its mark. Nathan was quite eager to learn it, but apparently his body wouldn''t be able to handle it yet. It was a reason he heard a lot.


    ''That''s useful, and I put quite a bit of work into it, but no.''


    ''So, uh, what is your speciality?''


    ''Not important,'' said Athena - and that was the end of it. Nathan assumed that she hadn''t really meant to say as much as she did, and she''d be more careful in the future to avoid saying anything potentially uncomfortable.


    They drove in silence for a while, the music from numerous clubs outside wrestling for supremacy.


    ''We''ll go to the event tomorrow - Otto can hand us our supplies back then,'' she said.


    ''What''s this event, anyway?''


    ''A gala - a chance for wizards and witches to become Sorcerers and join the Circle of Thompson. It''s also a chance for exiles like me to visit the Circle without getting into trouble - without getting killed, mainly.''


    ''You were exiled from the Circle of Thompson?'' said Nathan, cocking his head.


    ''I was exiled from the Circle of Domino, but I''m generally not welcome everywhere else.''


    ''Oh. You must''ve fucked up pretty bad, huh?'' Really, that wasn''t meant to come out as bad as it did. Light-hearted ribbing, not harsh accusing. It didn''t seem to bother Athena, though, who simply nodded.


    ''Mm,'' she said.


    And now, that was that.

 Blood Drive - 5

    Truth be told, Nathan had expected the gala to be a little more magical. He''d expected little dancing pixies jumping around over a crowd of showing-off Sorcerers, fire and lightning surging through the air like fireworks. You know, some Harry Potter shit.


    Hagrid was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Nathan was just standing awkwardly in the middle of some kind of high society gala, undrunk champagne in hand, feeling like he probably wouldn''t have felt so out of place at Hogwarts. He had no desire to dress up, but he still couldn''t help but feel a little lacking with all the suits and gowns around him. He was wearing the same jacket he always wore, a shabby thing he''d owned before he''d...before he''d met Athena. As subtly as he could, he turned his head to the side and sniffed his jacket.


    He was definitely out of place, and alone in it too. Athena was off getting their stuff from Otto - it seemed he really did work as fast as she said. They''d received some dirty glances when they''d first arrived, but Athena hadn''t seemed to notice. Either that or she''d just gotten used to it over time.


    Nathan glanced around the party. Music was playing from somewhere, something on a violin, but he couldn''t see anyone playing. Couldn''t see a speaker or anything, either. Maybe the party wasn''t as mundane as it seemed. As he thought that, he started to notice more - the unusual appearances of some of the guests for one, more than one having a sword at their hip. From what Nathan knew of Sorcerer society, they were most likely enchanted artefacts, passed down through the generations. They were as much status symbols as they were weapons.


    There were a few people, like Nathan, who came from outside the Circle - you could easily recognize them by the nervous looks on their faces. They''d come in the hopes of building connections with Circle members, seeking to prove themselves and gain membership. The benefits were worth any amount of sucking up, it seemed.


    At the center of the room was a statue of Eve, triumphantly holding the Apple aloft. Occasionally, when a new person arrived at the party, they would touch their hand against the statue respectfully. Presumably they were the more traditionalist Sorcerers in the Circle.


    He idly rotated the champagne glass around in his hand. Was the champagne enchanted too - to taste better? Was that a thing that could happen? He tried it. It didn''t taste any better, but then again he didn''t often taste champagne. Maybe this was better.


    ''Excuse me,'' said a voice from behind him. He felt a hand gently tug on the back of his backet. ''I''m going to talk to you for a moment.''


    Bemused, Nathan turned around. That wasn''t the most polite way to ask for someone''s attention, but he guessed it was pretty direct.


    The person speaking was a young woman, maybe a year or two older than Nathan, with long grey hair and tired-looking eyes. Behind her stood a man, presumably a relative, with similar features. Grey hair and tired-looking eyes seemed to be a running theme among some of the party-goers - Athena had pointed them out to him as they''d arrived. Apparently, they were members of the Gellenbight, a family of necromancers prominent in this city.


    Necromancy was a little too close to vampires for Nathan''s liking, but he smiled politely nonetheless.


    ''What did you, ah, want to talk about?''


    ''You''re a wizard, right?'' said the woman, looking at him with a dull gaze. It was more like being watched by a security camera than by a human being - impersonal in that way.


    ''A wizard?''


    ''A magic-user without Circle training. You''re familiar with the term, or you wouldn''t be here.''


    Well, he was familiar with the term, but it''s hard to speak coherently when you''re being borderline-interrogated by someone you''d never met before.


    ''I guess so,'' said Nathan. ''I don''t have any formal training, at least.''


    ''You don''t guess so, you are,'' said the man disapprovingly, glaring at Nathan.


    There was a moment of awkward silence as the two stared at Nathan, apparently awaiting a response.


    ''Well,'' he said. ''I am, then - sorry, I didn''t catch your names.''


    ''I think it''s sad,'' said the man, ignoring Nathan completely.


    ''What is you think is said, Ingrit?'' said the girl.


    ''Well, Mybal, I think it''s sad when wizards try to rise above their stations. They''re doomed for failure, the way I see it.''


    ''Mm, yes,'' said Mybal. ''I suppose that is sad.''


    The two turned to Nathan, and he could see derision in their eyes now. Apparently, he''d failed some criteria for their approval. Well, he didn''t care much about that.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ''Can you two fuck off, please?'' he said. ''You''re kind of annoying.''


    Derision turned to rage. It seemed they weren''t used to people standing up to them.


    ''Do you know who we are?'' said Ingrit, stepping in front of Mybal.


    ''Addams Family rejects?''


    ''No,'' said Mybal, shaking her head as if that was a serious suggestion. Then she stepepd forward in front of Ingrit, getting right in Nathan''s face. ''We are Gellenbight. Everyone here knows what that means because they are Sorcerers, because they have proven their worth.''


    Nathan noticed that the others party-goers had started to quiet down, their eyes flicking over to the brewing argument between him and the two Gellenbight. Huh. Maybe they were a big deal. Nathan would likely get into shit with Athena for this, but he honestly couldn''t resist at this point.


    He leaned forward, and whispered in Mybal''s ear: ''Never heard of you.''


    Something rushed out of the sleeve of Mybal''s gown - an arm, skeletal - grabbing Nathan by the neck and squeezing. He fell to his knees, gasping for air - the arm was surely enchanted, decayed bones just couldn''t be that strong. He could tell just from the few seconds after it first grabbed hold of him that it could crush his neck with the slightest of efforts. The party went silent.


    I can''t die like this, thought Nathan, panic swirling throughout his head. Not for making fun of some rich kids. I''m not done yet!


    ''Hey now. No need for that,'' came a voice from behind Nathan. Cheerful, as if an attempted strangling was nothing at all. ''We''re all pals here, right?''


    The arm released Nathan, and withdrew up into Mybal''s sleeve. After a moment, the noises of the party resumed. Mybal and Ingrit stepped back, their expressions uneasy. Nathan turned to look at his rescuer. It was a Hispanic man with a wide smile and eyes that were open just a little too wide. Long black hair fell past his shoulders. He extended a gloved hand to help Nathan up, which was gratefully accepted.


    ''Rook,'' said Ingrit, resentment obvious from his tone. ''Why are you here?''


    The man, Rook, turned to Ingrit after helping Nathan up. ''I was invited, wasn''t I? You''re meant to accept an invitation - that''s only polite. Or have the rules of this Circle changed since I was last in town? I don''t keep up with these things, sorry.''


    His head snapped over to Nathan again, studying his face intently. ''Can we talk, you and me? I have some stuff I want to say to you.''


    ''Uh, sure?'' said Nathan - truth be told, talking to nearly anyone would be better than talking to the zombie twins.


    They moved over to a table in the back of the room, further away from the partygoers - and escaping the glares of the two Gellenbight. They sat opposite each other and Rook reached into his jacket, pulling out a can of coke and a coffee thermos. Nathan furrowed his brow in confusion, but Rook took no notice, taking a swig of each.


    ''Gotta keep the internals balanced,'' he said. ''By the way, I''m a vampire.''


    There was a stake in Nathan''s jacket. If he was quick, he could jump over the table and plunge it into Rook''s heart. But he didn''t know his Blood Drive. He could have some protection. There was cutlery on the table - best to stab it into Rook''s joints to impede his movements.


    ''That''s a scary look in your eyes, pal,'' said Rook, raising his eyebrows. ''This is neutral ground here. You go crazy, and everyone here''ll go crazy on you. Like dominoes. Or maybe checkers.''


    Nathan slowly exhaled. The vampire was right - he couldn''t take on a room full of Sorcerers alone.


    ''So,'' said Rook, after a moment of tense silence. ''From that look, I''m guessing you wanna kill me - which is a heck of a coincidence, because I really want to kill you.''


    ''What''s this about?'' Nathan was fairly sure what this was about, but it never hurt to check.


    ''Rhodes and Anderson. I''m sure you know those names.''


    ''Anderson?''


    ''Just Rhodes then - I''m guessing Anderson was one of your pals. I''ll kill them after I kill you - or maybe before. You can never really predict how these things go, you know. Life''s messed up that way.''


    ''They were monsters - like you.''


    ''Yeah, okay.'' Rook accepted it as if it was perfectly fine, a casual smile on his lips. To be honest, Nathan had expected some denial, some claim that the Family were the real heroes or some such nonsense.


    ''What?'' he said, trying to work out what Rook was up to.


    ''We''re monsters. We kill people. That''s fine with me. I mean, look around you.''


    Nathan did so. All he saw was a party. ''What do you mean?'' he said, eyes narrowed.


    Rook scoffed. ''You think these Sorcerers just dance around all day waving magic wands and learning magic words? The Gellenbight siblings, the ones you were talking to before, for instance. The boy, Ingrit, is supposed to be some sort of prodigy. He''s a big deal, but he hates me - can''t imagine why. You know how a necromancer like him gets results?''


    ''With the dead.''


    Rook laughed. ''With the living. You can work with decayed remains, but those are weak. For the best results, you need to prepare a human before they die. A genius like him...I''m sure quite a few people have gone missing in this city for those amazing results of his.''


    ''So he''s a monster too, then.''


    ''Well, of course he is,'' said Rook, throwing his hands up. ''The thing is - everybody knows about it. Yet he''s here, drinking at a party without a care in the world.'' He leaned forward. ''D''you know why?''


    Nathan didn''t reply. He already knew the answer - he didn''t want to give the vampire the satisfaction of making him ask for it. From what he''d seen of the guy, he liked the sound of his voice. He''d tell him anyway - and sure enough, he did.


    ''Because nobody cares, Nate,'' said Rook. ''Just like nobody cares what we do. Except you, of course - and your comrade, I''m guessing. But you''re not long for this world.''


    With that, he got up from his seat and looked down at Nathan.


    ''After tonight,'' he said. ''You''re fair game. I''m going to kill you, and it won''t be fast. I hope you dream about that.''


    He walked away, leaving Nathan to sit alone.


    Nobody cared. He''d already known that, from what Athena had told him, but hearing it so bluntly still left a chill in him, like he''d swallowed ice. People were dying everyday, drained of blood to keep those things immortal, and nobody cared. Murdered to put them in power. Massacred because it was easy, because they could. And nobody cared. Nobody cared, because they were just as bad, and it didn''t affect them.


    Nathan''s eyes drifted over to the Gellenbight siblings, looking over the party with a sort of haughty disinterest. They almost looked like corpses themselves, they were so pale. Maybe that was some side-effect of their necromancy.


    Maybe - maybe people could be made to care.