Trail of Tears (16 page)

Vampires cannot operate in sunlight and they
had struggled to police their prisoners. Vampires did not sleep as
such but they did require complete darkness. They were damned to
while away the hours of daylight, lethargic and helpless in their
darkened sanctuaries while their minds raced. No one had told him
of the hours he would have to think as one of the undead. No one
had told him of the torture that he had to go through each night
staring blankly into the darkness. How he wished he could turn
everything off for a few hours every day.

But Kavanagh had made a mistake in taking so
many humans with them. He had failed to account for the fact that
the humans would become clear-headed quickly and the vampires would
be helpless. He should have taken some thralls with him but he had
made his move on the fly, taking advantage of the human breakout so
there had not been time to plan ahead.

He had been forced to make a desperate
gambit and he still remembered the pain from that night as he
studied the map now. He remembered the fear. The humans sweated
fear as they huddled in the centre of the warehouse bathed in light
from the windows. As the sun grew stronger so too had their
defiance and he began to wonder if his brief time as a vampire was
already coming to an end. They had found themselves running from
the approaching dawn and locked themselves in this building with
their food. Unfortunately their prey had become emboldened with the
sunlight and prey had become hunter. He and his fellow vampires
surrounded the humans but they had been forced to hide themselves
in the shadows, behind stalls, walls and machinery, anything that
protected them from the searing pain from the sunlight.

Kavanagh looked up at the roof and saw a
large skylight above him. His stomach dropped as he realised the
danger they were in. Once the sun climbed high enough to shine
through that vast area of glass the light would sear into every
nook and cranny in the warehouse leaving them with nowhere to hide.
If the sunlight did not kill them the humans would. Already he
could see some of the humans looking up at the roof and they too
had realised the danger…or salvation as they saw it. All they had
to do was keep the vampires at bay for a little while longer and
they would be free. Already the pools of shadows around the
warehouse interior were reducing as the sun climbed higher in the
sky.

There was only one solution, he decided.
Kavanagh took a deep breath and strode form the shadows. He felt
the warmth immediately. His skin prickling uncomfortably at first
and then beginning to hurt. The flames had begun to lick at his
exposed flesh by the time he reached the first human. The humans
moved away from him but they could not retreat too far before they
drew too close to the other vampires. He reached the first human, a
man who stood as defiantly as he could against the burning
visage.

Kavanagh grimaced as the flames began to
blacken his skin. The pain filled his senses and he barely had the
strength to reach up and snap the neck of the human. He pulled the
limp form towards him and tore into the human’s neck. The blood
flooded down his throat, surging through his lethargic veins. Flesh
healed only to burn again. He drank again, sucking greedily at the
blood. Pain racked his body but the blood gave him strength. Too
soon the warm flood reduced to a trickle and then he had to work
too hard to suck the blood from the body. The flames were winning
again. His clothes were already burned off him. The humans screamed
and huddled in fear as Kavanagh reached out for a woman.

He tore her head from her body and let the
blood rush over him from the stump of her neck.

“I can do this until you are all dead.” He
forced his voice to remain calm and steady, though the pain was
overpowering.

One human came forward. “You won’t be able
to do it for much longer,” he stated as he pointed up towards the
skylight.

“Long enough,” Kavanagh grunted and then
tore the man in two with his talons, allowing the blood to pump
into the ground. He was desperate to drink the blood and cool the
pain but he dared not show weakness. “I can do this far longer than
it will take the sun to come to your rescue. I offer you life or
death. It is your choice. We need three of you to guard the others
until nightfall. For your loyalty you will be offered power and
health.”

Kavanagh waited, the pain was incredible.
His hair had burned off, his fingers were mere blacked nubs and his
face was skeletal. His eyes had burst only to heal and burst again
so his vision came and went. He decided he would reinforce his
offer and took a thin man to his left and tore into his throat. “I
will not wait long,” he stated as blood dripped down his chin. His
eyes reformed and he would have smiled if he still had lips. One
man and a woman came forward.

“We will help you.”

Screams of outrage and hate tore from the
throats of the other humans and they tried to attack the man and
the woman, but Kavanagh pulled them protectively towards him. He
brought his flaming head forward and bit quickly into their necks,
taking a little of their blood into his mouth. He allowed his
spittle to mix with their blood and then he blew the mixture back
into their veins. The wounds quickly healed and the two humans
stood straighter, flexing their arms and smiling at their newfound
strength.

“Secure them,” he ordered and then he
grabbed one final body as he walked back to the shadows. The sounds
of his feeding were carried to the small group of defeated humans
and their wails reached him as he drained the human of the last of
his blood. It only took another few minutes for his lips to reform
and he could smile at last. He had won an important victory. Not
only were the humans terrified of him, but the other vampires would
long remember his strength.

He had healed from that night and they had
found more accommodating quarters on the other side of the city.
But the memory of the pain remained and he still fancied that he
felt his skin prickle as dawn approached. But he had more pressing
worries that phantom pains. Von Richelieu had been searching the
city for the last week. It could be merely to recapture the escaped
humans but he suspected that his main focus was in removing any
threat Kavanagh might pose. His fifty surviving humans were already
badly weakened after a week of feeding eleven vampires. Three were
already too weak to feed on so that put an added pressure on the
others. His own men searched the ruins for human survivors but they
had come up empty so far.

It was fast approaching the time when they
would have to secure a larger food supply. To do that, however, he
would need to either remove them secretly from Von Richelieu’s
supply or attack the camp directly and remove them that way.
Unfortunately, Von Richelieu had nearly a hundred vampires under
his control so there was little chance of that strategy working. Of
course, if he could find another source of supply then he could
remain hidden a little longer, create more vampires, and then
attack when Von Richelieu wasn’t expecting it.

He had created two more thralls since that
first night and he had sent one of them to spy on Von Richelieu’s
camp. Earlier that morning the thrall had come back with news that
the food transport for the prisoners had been attacked. Somewhere
on this map a sizable band of humans remained free. Somewhere out
there was his salvation.

That was why he was studying the map so
carefully. He was trying to determine where the escaped humans
could be hiding. Somewhere that was secure, somewhere that hid them
from the vampires’ incredible senses and still allowed them to
attack the food convoys during the day. He would have to increase
the number of thralls to spread a wider net. It would put an even
greater burden on his remaining food supply. It was a huge risk but
you had to roll the dice if you wanted to recoup the rewards.

* * *

Von Richelieu was annoyed. In fact, livid
was probably closer to the truth but he forced himself to remain
outwardly calm. The reports he was receiving were a long litany of
failure, bad luck and betrayal. He had been so worried about of
betrayal from within that he had gotten into a habit of changing
his resting place every night. When it had really counted he had
slept too far from his seat of power and he had been unable to
react when all hell had broken out.

The humans, it always came down to the
damned humans, had managed to break out. His thralls and, to be
honest, he himself had grown soft. They had grown used to the
humans being easy to control and they had paid the price. Somehow
they had managed to get loose and it had taken his thralls and
vampires the best part of a week to recapture the majority of them.
Of course, they were still missing over two hundred and, no matter
how hard they looked, they had found no sign of the remaining
humans.

As if the loss of the humans was not enough,
he had been forced to take the humans still controlled by the serum
off the liquid to replenish his supplies in food and to replace the
thralls killed during the escape. Now he had two large pens filled
with angry and plotting humans and it was taking most of his thrall
force just to keep them in line.

Added to that was the fact that someone was
hijacking his food convoys. He had placed his prison for the humans
in the easiest place he could find to cater to the large numbers
and still allow him to create secure walls around them. While this
had worked perfectly when the humans were on serum it was a
nightmare now that they were roaming free. All their food was grown
and stored outside the city. Unfortunately, if the humans did not
eat then they did not survive the bloodletting and he would start
to lose his food supply.
How had they gotten so organised so
quickly?
Humans had always been resilient but he had lost three
shipments now in as many days. He had increased the number of
guards but it had not mattered. As well as the food, he had lost
more thralls that he could not afford.

Already he could see his own cabal looking
at him with questioning faces and frowns. Of course the betrayal by
that bastard Kavanagh hadn’t helped his standing either. To have
one of his own Lieutenants betray him was a serious sign of
weakness, especially when he had been plotting to remove Kavanagh
as a threat. His trusted inner circle knew of his plans for
Kavanagh and the fact that the fucker had beaten him to it had
caused him to lose face.

He knew that they would be talking among
themselves, questioning if his long reign was finally coming to an
end. He had to regain control and respect but, with each report,
his standing was being eroded piece by piece.

It was almost ironic that his plan to reduce
the vampire population back to more manageable levels and to cull
the human population accordingly was backfiring now and he would
soon not have enough of either to survive unless he found
Kavanagh.

He felt his anger boil up. Even his pet
project had grown quiet. He hadn’t heard from his spy in a few
weeks now. Had they been caught? Turned. Were they dead? Too many
questions and no answers. He needed a success. Just one success
would ease the pressure, and he had spent the last few days
furiously thinking. He had slowly come to an uneasy truth. He and
his inner circle were of another time. Another era. They did not
understand this new generation of human. Oh, he had lived for
centuries and experienced all the changes throughout history, but
that wasn’t the same as growing up in this century.

He had decided that he needed to bring new
blood into his inner circle. New bloods were more about instant
gratification, war, and death. If he was to prepare for Kavanagh he
must remind his cabal of his power and their place within his
empire. No one knew of his latest gambit. He had chosen his modern
vampire with great care, promising territory and status to his
chosen spy. Tonight his vampire would seek out those malcontents
who would leave him and seek out Kavanagh. Once ingrained in
Kavanagh’s cabal he would report on their movements and their base.
And then Von Richelieu would remind all who doubted just why he had
lived for centuries.

He was risking a lot on too many unknowns
but the risk was worth it. In fact, it was less of a risk and more
of a necessary gamble. He had watched this vampire spy for some
time, recognising the man’s greed and low intelligence as the
perfect foundation blocks for his cultivation. This vampire would
never normally rise above the level of a thug in the cabal. With
his limited intelligence and slight frame he was too easily
overlooked. However, he was shrewd and had been quick to recognise
that Von Richelieu needed him almost as much as he needed the
master vampire. Mutually assured destruction was the term he had
heard so long ago that fitted his position perfectly. Well, he had
rolled the dice on the Kavanagh problem so he must leave that to
the side for now.

The darkness of the night surrounded him.
Its usual comfort was different somehow. Instead of settling on him
like a comfortable blanket it seemed to hang over him like a cloud,
full of threat and danger. Coming to a decision he pulled himself
from his chair. He moved in a fluid motion like a shadow, his
clothes rustling softly as he strode towards the door to his
chamber. Tonight he would have his success. He might not understand
the modern in this world but he had survived for centuries using
his intellect and he still had a few surprises left. Tonight he
must deal with the human rebel problem. He had two plans forming in
his mind and he would waste no more time on planning. It was time
to act.

Aidan Flemming pulled his coat tighter
around his neck but the icy wind still managed to creep inside and
chill him. Snow lashed against his face freezing one side but the
other side had too much nerve damage and remained dead to the
sensation. He forced himself on. Around him almost a hundred others
struggled to make their way into the city and the train station.
Each figure pulled make-shift sleighs with as much food and
equipment as they could carry. The rest of the community would be
slow enough carrying the old and the sick as well as the rest of
their supplies so they had split the job. The initial plan was for
a smaller party to prepare the train but the heavy equipment and
food supplies would take time to load so they had increased the
number in his group. It was his job to ensure they were ready to go
as soon as the others arrived. It had been left unsaid at his
briefing but it was obvious that they might not be alone when the
rest of the community got here and they could not afford to lose
the supplies.