The Blood Contract

Prologue

"Please sign the contract here." Gem pushed a piece of paper across the mahogany wood desk. Sitting opposite her was a well-dressed pale man with long blonde hair. His eyes were a bright vivid green and his stance was almost predator-like. 

"I thought that the undead are not bound by mortal laws," he said slowly. "Why do I need to sign a contract?" Being cautious and careful were the traits most vampires possessed and more often than not, it served them well. Unfortunately, Gem could immediately tell that he was a young vampire from his utter lack of knowledge.

"The undead are still dependent on human blood to live," Gem replied coolly. "You are going against the Order if you mercilessly kill human beings. If you do not sign the contract, you'll be driven by your thirst and become crazy. Are you sure you want that happening to you?"

She focused her gaze on him. It would be foolish for vampires to underestimate humans, particularly her. If not for her services, most of them would be long dead.

She had been operating as a middleman between humans who were desperate enough for cash to sell their blood and vampires who had the wealth and resources to buy the substance for years. Registered under a fake company which sold furniture, the business was profitable and she earned quite a fair bit from commission for all the deals.

Having stumbled upon this business by chance, Gem still wasn't sure if this was going to be a life-time career. She couldn't imagine herself forever doing this but as far as everything goes, this was all she could do.

From years of dealing with the supernatural beings, she was most accustomed to the vampires. The occasional werewolf or faerie did turn up but their requests were often so strange such that she couldn't rejected them. 

While vampires were usually unusually pale, there were no specific trait that set them apart from normal human beings and her businesses thrived from mouth-to-mouth recommendations. They were often civilized beings with a variety of manners of speech depending on which era they had come from.

The oldest vampire she had associated with so far was one coming from the Stone Age. Naturally, his manners weren't the best.

"The Order?" he says puzzledly.

Gem smiled, her suspicions confirmed. "Do you think that you're free to do whatever you want just because you're the undead? The vampires do have laws and the entire population is controlled by the Order which, to put it literally, the vampire government."

"How do you know all this? You aren't a vampire," he asked somewhat suspiciously and he showed her his fangs.

Ah, the usual theatrical shows of threat. Gem was unfazed by all the tricks the vampires had up their expensive silk sleeves. Needless to say, this coolness was obtained the hard way. She had been bitten countless times over the years but had managed to heal by drinking holy water.

"Don't go all showy on me with your teeth," she replied calmly. "It'll do you no good. I'm the best in this business and if you don't cooperate with me, you will have to resort to drinking filty animal blood which is frankly revolting."

"Fine," he growled, grabbed a pen and signed his name, "Raven Mortison" with a flourish on the dotted line.

"Welcome to the supernatural world," Gem smiled. "You'll receive your first blood donor in two days."