Abel was returned to the farm, escorting by another vampire soldier.

He entered through the gates, and was allowed to wander freely after that.

He went to see his friend, an older man aged in his late thirties. His name was Thomas

‘Thank heavens you are still alive’ Thomas cried out upon sight of him, storming up to him and embracing him briefly before letting him go again. ‘When I saw you being taken away again’ he said, ‘I feared you would return in the same condition as last time.’

‘No’ Abel answered quietly. ‘Not this time.’

A silence passed between them, a silence in which Thomas stared intently at Abel, who averted his gaze.

‘I….’ Abel began, ‘I um……’

‘You’ve never been lost for words before’ Thomas said to him. ‘What’s happened.’

‘I want you to keep this a secret’ Abel said to Thomas, ‘I mean it.’

‘Sure’ Thomas nodded. ‘What is it?’

‘I want to escape this place’ Abel said. ‘I want to use this young vampire lord, he may be useful to us somehow.’ Abel paused then, and Thomas waited in silence for him to continue. ‘The vampire is becoming…interested in me for more than just my blood. I think he will become sexually active towards me. He kissed me. He…’ Abel broke off, lowering his eyes.

He did not continue.

‘I think you should encourage it’ Thomas spoke, not reacting in any way to Abel’s words. ‘It would help you to gain his trust.’

Abel raised his eyes to Thomas.

‘I still hold hope for salvation’ Thomas said to Abel, ‘as you do.’

Abel watched him for a moment, before his expression broke into a wide smile.

‘I knew you would understand.’

*

Back in the manor, a messenger arrived at the door.

He was welcomed in by the servants.

‘Oh waw a visitor’ Cid declared, leaning forwards over the balcony overlooking the entrance hall. ‘What are you doing here?’

The messenger stared up at him, speaking with formality.

‘My young lord’ the messenger began, ‘I must meet with your father. Do you know where he is?’

‘He’s in his office’ Cid grinned back, leaning on his elbows with chin resting on his palm. ‘He’s always in there, so busy all the time, never stops working.’

The vampire official nodded once to Cid who had finished speaking, before turning and walking away, heading up one of the flights of stairs and towards the study in the manor.

Here he met Cid’s father.

He knocked on the door, and a muffled voice spoke out to him from inside the room, commanding him to enter. The messenger did, and as he opened the door, he saw him sitting behind the large oak desk.

‘My lord’ the official bowed, placing a hand upon his heart.

Walter looked up.

‘What news do you have?’ he spoke in a gruff voice.

The official closed the door quietly behind him, before approaching the large desk.

‘We’ve discovered a force of humans hiding within some caves in some mountains towards the north’ the messenger spoke, producing some papers and written documents, reports from the vampire soldiers that had been there. ‘They were all women and children however, there were no soldiers among them and they did not resist’ the messenger said, as Walter began to sift through the papers. ‘We were attacked as we were bringing the humans back’ he continued. ‘A forced of enemy vampires caught our soldiers unaware. It was a slaughter. Nearly all were killed.’

Walter could not suppress a groan as he read the figures on the paper.

‘Also’ the messenger continued, ‘our supply of blood is running dangerously low. We’ve lost one of our farms towards the north, it’s been taken over by foreign invasion, vampires. And…’

‘Go on’ Walter prompted, continuing to read the notes.

The official raised his head.

‘One of our human farms to the south have…’ he breathed a sigh, ‘the humans have committed mass suicide…rather that work for us and be used as a blood source.’

Walter stopped reading, and slowly raised his head, notes still in hand.

‘I see’ he spoke in a controlled voice.

The smallest of frowns crossed his lips, and his brow furrowed ever so slightly.

‘They were encouraged by…certain individuals, rogue vampires not of our own.’

Walter let out a sigh, bowing his head.

‘Do we have enough blood to keep ourselves sustained?’ Walter asked.

‘No’ the messenger replied. ‘We will have to find more blood soon, or else our vampires will begin to starve.’

‘Has there been any success in finding the rogue vampires?’

‘We know of their location’ the messenger replied sombrely, ‘their camp is situated in the mountains close to the human farm in the north. Our men are keeping them under close watch but they are not acting, they are merely under surveillance.’

‘I see.’

‘What shall we do?’

‘We could send some of our soldiers away’ Walter thought out loud, ‘if we send a large portion of the army overseas, we can make the blood supply last longer.’

‘That sounds like a plausible solution’ the official replied. ‘It would of course leave use vulnerable to attack.’

Walter steepled his fingers, leaning back in his chair and sighing.

‘Thank you for your report, I need to think about this.’

‘Very good sir’ the official bowed. ‘I will be staying here until you have reached a decision.’

The official straightened then, turning and marching out of the room.

Walter leant forwards upon the large oak desk then, resting on his elbows. For several minutes he was silent, and then he rose, moving across the room and towards the window.

He stood there, gazing out at the dark night silently, deep in thought.

*

Far away, at the edges of the kingdom that Walter reigned, battles were raging.

A group of vampires hid in the shadows, the light from the moon shining brightly in their eyes. A scouting party had been sent out to search for the rogues, their weapons raised and ready to fight. But they had been caught off guard by the vampires that waited for them, and the trap was sprung.

The vampire that attacked first grabbed the man from behind, sinking his teeth into his throat. The man let out a gurgled cry as he was forced to the ground. The vampire that had attacked him knelt on top of him, grabbing him by the face and jerking his head back, biting his neck for the second time, and ripping his throat out.

The man’s arms fell limply to his side, blood gushed from the wound and he was died in seconds. But the vampire that had attacked him did not pause, he rose quickly, moving forwards towards the fighting. Screams of pain, cries from the dead and dying rang through the night. And the human women and children that hid in the caves nearby, huddled closer together in fear, holding their loved ones to them, and praying.

*

‘I don’t care’ the vampire Eugene howled. ‘Grow a fucking backbone and do your job!’

‘Our men are being killed’ the soldier replied to the young lord. He bore sustainable injuries, blood was splashed on his clothes and body, some of it was his, some of it was not.

Eugene snarled at the vampire.

‘If you were a real soldier, you would die with your peers.’

‘We are doing everything we can’ the soldier replied shamefully, bowing his head and hunching his shoulders.

Eugene approached him. The soldier glanced up.

Eugene slapped him hard suddenly, causing the soldier to stumble.

‘You make me sick’ Eugene snarled. ‘You are disgusting.’

‘I’m sorry my lord.’

Eugene ignored the man, walking away from him then and towards the door, grabbing a weapon as he went.

He raised the weapon, checking the rounds.

‘If you are not dead by the end of this day’ Eugene said to the soldier, ‘then I will kill you myself.’

He opened the door, marching out, leaving the building and heading outside to the courtyard.

He stood at the top of the steps, staring down at the courtyard below him. He raised his head, glaring at the soldiers, as the man he had been speaking to, appeared behind him on the balcony.

‘I will not be accepting any more failures’ Eugene spoke loudly to the men he commanded. ‘Anyone who shows fear or cowardice I will kill myself.’

He grabbed the sword by his side, drawing it from his sheath and pointing it towards the sky.

‘I will lead you to victory’ he spoke in a calm voice, ‘I will lead you to victory no matter what the cost, even if I have to give my own life, if that is what must be done, as is expected from each of you.’ He sheathed his sword again, and silence rang in the courtyard. The vampire soldiers below him watched him closely, they were fixated on him, their expressions that of both fear and admiration. ‘I will not accept failure’ Eugene spoke quietly, though his voice was clearly heard in the courtyard. ‘I refuse to accept failure against these rogue vampires. If we do not gain the upper hand, then our blood supply will run dry. Sacrifices will have to be made for the survival of our kind. Our dependence on blood is a major disadvantage for us, a weakness, we must gain the upper hand. We need to secure our blood supply. For the survival of our species.’

He fell silent for several moments, letting his words sink in.

‘If we don’t secure our position’ Eugene said, ‘we all die.’

*

Back at the manor, Cid sat upon sill, staring out of the window, as the stars shone overhead, the moon hanging like a lantern in the sky.

Cid smiled as he looked onwards, kicking his feet happily as he stared at the farm in the distance, the far where Abel stayed.

‘MMON’ he smiled, closing his eyes and breathing a heavy sigh. ‘I look forward to seeing you again.’

Cid stayed by the window for hours that night, simply watching the world outside. It was peaceful for him here, serene. He was far removed from the violence and bloodshed that was happening far to the north, where Eugene fought.

Despite being a lord, Eugene insisted on being in the thick of the fray, on the front lines.

He swung his sword, blood rained down upon him, splashing his face.

Eugene paused only briefly to wipe the blood from his face, licking it from his hand, before lunging forwards again to kill.

He killed without emotion, his movements calculated, graceful.

As the sky began to lighten, he stood with his men upon the rocks, looking down at the aftermath of the battle. Eugene raised his head, as the first rays of the sun touched his face.

The vampires retreated into their dark homes, drawing the curtains. They washed the blood from themselves, and slept, waiting for the next night to come, when the fighting could continue again.