Thicker than Blood

3. Elias

CHAPTER 3

Elias

A fter touring the city with Benicio to see the damage firsthand, I return to my home, only to find a large gathering of nervous vampires. They all turn to me as one, their glowing eyes and agitated energy hitting me in a wave.

I hold up my hands as I approach, saying, “I know as much as you do. Did any of you witness the attacks or recognize the vampire who spoke on the broadcast?”

“I might have.” The voice comes from within the group, and as they part, a man appears. He has a slight build and isn’t very tall, but he carries himself with quiet confidence. “I’m Titus.”

I nod, surveying the vampire. I sense that he’s not very old, and his energy toward me is positive. “What do you know?”

“I think I recognized the vampire who spoke. He’s changed since I last saw him, but I swear he used to live in Barcelona in the early nineteen hundreds.”

Ah. Older than I thought.

“You knew him?”

“Only in passing. There was a club there, an underground place for our kind. He caused trouble then too. If I recall correctly, his name is Sagan. He hails from Greece but his maker was from the Arabic world and renamed him. There was a large coven of them, all surly and difficult. I’m sure it’s him because he had such unique eyes. I saw them again tonight.”

“Sagan,” I repeat. “Any idea where he lives now?”

Titus shakes his head. “No. I haven’t heard of him or his coven for decades. I honestly thought they may have died. Certainly he would have been part of the uprising five years ago, but I never saw him.”

“That time was pure chaos. He could have stayed beyond detection. What I’m most interested in is who he’s working with. Is he alone in his endeavor or is there a much larger group behind him? I need to know what we’re dealing with.”

“We’re with you, Elias,” Celia says. “None of us want the bloodshed of years past. The system works for all of us.”

“Apparently not all of us.” A vampire I recognize as Nunez steps forward. “I’m sure we can all relate to the feeling of repression from time to time, but there are more positives than negatives.”

“Yes, it was difficult for me as well. I enjoyed the hunt, but the modern world makes it more difficult anyway. As we learned the hard way.”

“Stupid smart phones,” someone mumbles.

I feel the same. I hate the constant technological intrusion into our lives the modern world has caused.

“I made contact with the SRC.”

My news is met with gasps and grumbles.

“I know, I know, but we may have to work with the mortals if we want to keep the peace.”

“They aren’t so bad,” another vampire says. He’s tall, with dark skin, green eyes, and an unusual cockney accent. I recognize him but I’ve never gotten his name. “Curiosity got the best of me and I visited it. They took my blood, some skin scrapings, and a cheek swab. It was relatively unintrusive. Then they called me back a few weeks later and showed me how I differ biologically from mortals. It was interesting.”

“You find being a lab rat interesting, Max?” another vamp says. “To each their own, I suppose.”

“None of you have ever been curious about what makes us what we are?” Max asks. “Have you forgotten what you used to be? I haven’t.”

“I’ve gone too,” Celia says. “I agree with Max. It wasn’t so bad. Their researchers are kind to us. They treat us respectfully, not at all the way some of them do.”

I nod, considering their words. I’ve heard that the workers at the SRC are the least speciesist among the mortals, and this confirms it. I suppose this means I should contact the mortal with the pretty eyes and curious aura.

“Let’s go home for now. I will keep you updated on anything I learn and I ask you to do the same for me. Keep your guards up. We have no idea how far these rogues are willing to go.”

The group disappears quickly into the night. I enter my home, inhaling an unnecessary breath as I lean against my front door. The metallic scent of blood is fading, but my stomach growls just the same.

I push off the door and head to the kitchen for a snack. I have much to lose if the rogues are victorious. Certainly my place as unofficial leader would be challenged, but my blood donation services, the technology training center, the identity program, all of it would be on the line. My fortune and livelihood are at risk, and that I will not stand for.

Rebuilding a place for myself after the war was difficult, and I’m not about to let some misguided immortal idiot take it away from me. He will absolutely have to kill me first.

As I heat a mug of blood, I sift through my thoughts. The only path I can think of right now is to partner with the mortals to see what they know. They’ll be more prepared now, and won’t hesitate to use their military force. That’s how they won the first round, but the vampire populations were decimated. I don’t want to see that happen again.

I can’t deny the part of me that detests the mortals and their arrogance over us. On some level I completely understand the rogue vampires and their frustration with being subservient, I’ve just learned to reframe it so it suits me. I don’t see myself as subservient at all, but as an opportunist. Many of them seek us out, offering blood and sex to feed our appetites in safe and consensual ways. While not as enjoyable as a hunt that ends in their deaths, even I have to admit it’s convenient. They pay me to participate in the program and I sit back and enjoy the spoils. I can’t be too mad about that.

The teapot whistles and I fill my mug with the steaming liquid. It’s almost the last of my most treasured blend, so I savor it, knowing I’ll never replace it. The darling group of college boys who gave their blood to me nearly a hundred years ago have long since passed on to the afterlife. Oh, but how sweet they were. So delicious I let them live so I could indulge more than once. I also fucked them senseless nightly for six months until their schooling was finished. Ah, memories.

Those were the glory days for me. I had fully accepted what I had become and reveled in it. I used my gift of compulsion freely, erased memories, indulged in any whim I had. There were no cameras, no smart phones, no drones. Hell, television wasn’t even a thing yet. I was free to do as I wished without repercussions.

It’s not all terrible though. The modern world has given me access to people I would have had to travel to before. My email is brimming with requests from people of all kinds desperate to fuck a vampire. And not just any vampire.

Me.

My reputation as a lover precedes me, which is exactly how I like it. My bed is only empty when I wish it to be. All are welcome.

After enjoying my snack, I settle in my study again, staring outside as night becomes day again. I doubt that tonight’s attack will be the last. They’re likely waiting to see what the mortals will do next, and if I have any hope of keeping the current arrangement in place, we need to get ahead of them. What the mortals didn’t have last time was a vampire helping them. They need that to be successful, and reluctantly, I believe that vampire has to be me.

Glaring at the phone on the side table—a landline, thank you very much—I lift the receiver and dial the ten digits still bouncing around my head. A hurried male voice answers, and I know immediately who it is.

“Hello, Geordi. This is Elias.”

“Shit,” he mumbles, and then, muffled, I hear him say it again along with a lot of jostling. “Sorry. I dropped my phone. Hi.”

“Hi. Is it a bad time? I know it’s early still.”

“No, I’m up. I’ve been at the lab since it happened. What can I do for you?”

“I’ve been thinking about the situation. I believe the only way out of this is to partner together.”

“Partner?”

“Yes. Vampires and mortals. Obviously, not all vampires, but I can vet the right group as I’m sure you can on your side.”

“Um…”

“We need to unite against a common enemy. As difficult as it is for me to view my brethren as adversaries, they’ve threatened my livelihood, so I have no choice but to join the mortal cause.”

“Oh.”

“I assume you need to discuss this with your leadership?”

“Yeah.”

“Do that and get back to me. I’m available and willing to meet whenever you are.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

“Sure. Yeah. I’ll get back to you.”

“Very well.” I hang up and lean back in my armchair.

I can’t believe I’m willingly offering my assistance to the mortals who are responsible for most of the trauma that’s happened to my kind. From hunting to persecution, they are the reason we had to go underground in the first place centuries ago.

Going against fellow vampires leaves a foul taste in my mouth, but if I’ve learned anything in this long life of mine, it’s that my interests have to come above all others’. It’s how we’re wired as a species. Protect ourselves at all costs, even if it means the demise of someone else. It’s not my fault I was made this way.

All I can do now is hope I’ve aligned myself with the right person and that I won’t regret this decision. If we can manage to stomp out the uprising and return to normalcy, then whatever we have to do to get there will be worth it.

Even if it means some vampires will have to die at my hand.