Abel stood in line, the line of men behind him stretched far through the camp, and there was just one person in front of him.

His eyes lowered only for a moment, before he looked up again to the dark night above.

I miss the sun he thought mournfully. It’s only been for a short time and yet…

‘Hey’ the man standing behind him whispered. ‘It’s going to be alright.’

Abel glanced back at him, recognising him. A faint smile flickered across his lips. ‘I should be telling you that’ he mumbled.

‘Being leader must be hard’ the young man replied in a quiet voice, bowing his head and avoiding the eyes of the tens of vampire soldiers that watched over them. ‘I want you to know that your men are still with you’ he whispered, ‘no matter what…to the end…’

Abel felt a lump in his throat, but he showed none of his sadness. Instead he faced ahead again, teeth gritted in determination and forcing himself to breathe calmly.

There was a small group of vampires ahead of him, about five in number. These vampires were soldiers, much like the ones they had fought against in the war. Even now, even when they were standing there calmly, they were still so frightening, so bizarre and strange.

Once human Abel thought.

The vampires ahead were gathered loosely around a single vampire, who was leaning over a human sitting in a chair before him. This vampire had a tattoo in his hand, and was marking the human on the back of the neck with their identification, their new name.

As Abel watched listlessly, he saw the young man, clench his fists, nails digging into his thighs. The tattooist was going deep with the ink.

When he leant back suddenly, having finished, the human let out a heavy breath, and even from where Abel stood now at the front of the line, even through the darkness, he could see the blood mixed with ink at the back of the man’s neck.

Another vampire stepped forward, cleaning the wound briefly before putting a patch over it, as the vampire with the tattoo gun replaced the needle with a fresh one, throwing the old one away.

‘Next’ this vampire called out, and Abel stepped forward, moving to sit in the simple wooden chair as he had seen so many before him do.

The human before him was taken to another place beyond the fence, and as Abel bowed his head, exposing the back of his neck, the vampire with the tattoo gun moved behind him, running his hand up the back of his neck and pushing his hair back.

Abel felt the vampire quickly clean the area of skin as another took Abel by the hand, biting the veins in the back of his hand which bled quickly.

‘Mmm’ the vampire said licking his lips. ‘MO-, a rare bloodtype.’

The vampire with the tattoo gun brought the thing closer to the back of Abel’s neck, the buzzing sound close to his ears as the vampire that had bitten him bandaged up his hand.

Humans were categorised by their sex and blood type. Abel’s name would be MMON. M for male, and MO negative for the blood type.

Abel grimaced, trying not to let the pain show too clearly. It hurt a lot, the vampire was pushing the needle deep.

Abel let out a slow sigh, closing his eyes slowly, trying to clear his mind.

Worry about the now…don’t think about the future…don’t worry about tomorrow…

‘The lords will want to claim him for sure’ the vampire that had bitten him said to the one beside. ‘He’s delicious.’

‘Aww’ another beside the first groaned, a young vampire with auburn hair. ‘They’re always so lucky…they always get the best blood, its so unfair that some are just born into the titles of lords and ladies. Must be nice not to be on the front lines and fight like we do.’

‘Are you kidding?’ the one beside him spoke. ‘I think its rather exciting. Who would want to stay cooped up in a castle when you could be out having a piece of the action?’

The auburn haired vampire snarled then. ‘I’ve lost friends in the war’ he hissed. ‘I hate these creatures…’ he said turning to glare at Abel who kept his eyes to the ground. ‘The fact that we must depend on them to live makes me hate them even more.’

‘Get a grip’ an elder vampire said. ‘They are not so different, vampires were human once.’

‘We are still worlds apart’ the auburn haired vampire mumbled.

He reached forwards then, taking Abel by the hand and staring at the flesh intently.

‘Rare blood type…’ he mumbled.

‘Don’t even think about it’ the elder vampire snapped.

‘But why?’ the younger argued. ‘He’s going to work on the buildings isn’t he?’

‘For a short time only until the lord gets back.’

‘It will be hard work’ the young auburn haired vampire continued in a distant voice, staring with eyes fixed on Abel’s flesh as he continued to hold him by the hand. ‘His hands will get coarse and torn from the heavy work…all that lifting…’

The vampire with the tattoo gun paused suddenly, glancing up at this.

‘Can’t we just have a taste?’ the young auburn vampire whispered, eyes growing large and beginning to salivate. ‘Just a taste…’

The vampires hesitated.

‘If we’re caught…’ one voiced.

‘Just one bite…’ the young vampire insisted, ‘and no one will find out…come on…you’ll rarely get to taste blood like his again…’

They hesitated, and Abel as he sat there, remained silent, though his skin prickled a little now, feeling more nervous.

‘Alright’ the vampire that had first bitten his hand said, taking his other hand and pulling the bandage off. ‘Just one taste.’

He bit into his hand again, this time deeper, Abel grimaced in pain, gritting his teeth and bowing his head, though making not a sound.

The vampire had bitten into several of the veins in the back of his hand, and the blood ran freely and quickly.

Each of the vampires had a taste, all savouring the flavour and licking their lips, not spilling a drop.

Enjoy it while you can you leeches Abel thought bitterly to himself, though he conveyed none of his emotions. One of these days I will start the old war again…and I will kill every single one of you…parasites……

‘So tasty’ one of the vampires moaned.

‘Alright that’s enough’ one of the elder ones spoke, taking Abel’s hand and bandaging it up again. ‘No more. Finish your mark’ he said to the tattooist, ‘and get him out of here.’