Darren:
Everything has changed. Everything. We're walking back to through the trees, back to the village. I see the wooden huts ahead. See them clearly and sharply with my new eyes. I smell the forest around me, hear the life. It's intoxicating. The scurrying and crunching, the life and death going on, ignorant of the changes.
But it's not as intoxicating as her. If I would follow her before, now I would do anything for her. My thoughts are consumed with her, and blood and the newness of it all. I have only vague recollections of my human feelings and senses. My memories are complete, but my emotions, feelings, instincts and impulses are different. I don't feel like a monster. The human teachers have it wrong.
"What just happened..." I begin to say. She puts a finger to my lips and I stop, tensing.
"Shhh now. We have a battle to start, a war to win. There will be time." She says. I nod and resist the urge to take her into my arms. She's stronger than me anyway. Her voice is commanding. "Don't mention it to anyone."
I nod my head again. Who would I mention it to? I know no one. My mind drifts back to Percy, my human companion. Did the master consume him as he did with Frank? I'm strangely empty about it, almost numb. What happened to Jack? I feel a small stab, a small return of human feeling at the thought of Jack. But it's fleeting.
We've reached the start of the stone houses and there are a few vampires around. They cast furtive glances at us but won't hold our gaze, quickly looking down, or bowing to Alesco.
I follow slightly behind as she walks, tall and erect, through the stone houses and past the house of the master. The houses change again into wooden huts. More and more vampires are gathered here. I recognise the two vampires from earlier, moving up the path towards us, the ones who dragged Percy in for the master, the ones I fought with.
"My lady." One of them says. They both bow.
"Tell me of the preparations." She says.
"We are ready. The fighters are gathered, we have selected the best. The rest will remain to protect the youngsters and mothers. We are waiting for the master to come, we will need his magic."
"Anything else?" She says.
"Yes, my lady." Says the other vampire, Brendan. "Your mother insists upon joining the battle. We have told her to remain, but she listens not."
Alesco looks throughtful at that. She opens her mouth to reply but stops. Another vampire is moving towards us from the crowd. "Brother!" She calls out to the oncoming vampire.
Draven and Brendan step aside as the new vampire arrives. He looks at me, flaming red eyes piercing me, x-raying me. There is a look of suspicion on his face. "You!" He says.
"Yes, it is I," I say. I hear the deep tones to my own voice, the smooth rhythm it now holds.
"Wynn, what brings you?" Alesco says, ignoring his suspicion, ignoring his comments.
"Are you sure about what we are doing, Alesco?" He asks. "Your mother is refusing to remain."
"I heard." She says. "Let her join the battle, her fate is in her own hands."
Wynn is looking at her. He looks as though he's never seen her before. "What has become of you, sister?" He says.
"I am as I should be. When you have tasted human blood as I have, when you have seen as I have seen you will know. Trust me."
Something flickers on his face. It looks like his trust is waning, he seems unsure. She sees it. "Brother, we will rescue father. He will know what to do."
That seems to settle him. He nods. "Very well, Alesco. Let's hope so."
She looks away from him. "We are almost ready. I would address my people."
"Yes, my lady. I shall prepare them." Says Draven. He turns and runs along the path, speaking to vampires as he passes them. They turn towards us and move closer, gathering in around Alesco. The pale faces, the yellow and red eyes, once so alien to me now normal. I'm getting used to my senses.
The gathered vampires are watching her with rapt attention, focusing on her. They are standing close together, pushing closer and closer. Draven is back and he joins Brendan in front of Alesco, keeping the crowd a short distance away. They are joined by two other protectors. I recognise them from the platform where I was bitten, they were guarding her there too.
"My people." She says, her voice carrying across the crowd. "We will march on our enemies, our oppressors. We will bring the darkness to them. With the master's magic we will be protected from their darts."
She pauses, looking around. "But we are not the monsters they believe. We are merciful. It is not death we seek, but freedom. Freedom for us and freedom for them. With our fangs we can liberate them from the weakness of their flesh and blood."
She turns to me and lays a hand on my shoulder. I feel my body tense, feel a tingling sensation spread throughout. I hold myself back from moving closer to her. Not here, not now.
"We can free them as I have done here."
A sort of buzzing sound starts up amidst the crowd. It sounds like excitement, anticipation. "We shall free them, and we shall free ourselves. I have seen it, I have tasted it."
The crowd responds, louder now, calls of agreement and approval. I hear the sounds of wolves mixed with shouts, their mournful howls rising to the night.
"When the master comes we will go."
As though in answer a new voice drifts towards us. Quiet, hissing, as though only in my own mind. "Well spoken, Alesco." It says. "The time is ripe."
I turn around and see him moving towards us, the snake within the robes, darkness incarnate. This creature is a monster. If he truly is the father of vampires, then perhaps we all have monsters within. A darkness waiting to burst free.
"My children..." He says. "I shall bring the darkness. Stay within its boundaries and you will be safe from the human weapons. Without their darts they are nothing, your strength, your fangs, these are your weapons. Weapons of mercy."
The master steps to Alesco's side. I feel a protective streak, a jealous streak pulse through my body. I hold myself back. I know I cannot fight this creature. As though in reply he turns to look at me, the empty hood staring. But he says nothing.
"Bring me the last human. I will need him when we are done." The master says to Draven, who nods, bowing a little and then runs off towards the village center.
The vampires are organizing themselves. They are splitting into smaller groups within the larger group. A number of vampires are moving off to the side, youngsters among them. These must be the ones who are remaining behind. The others are moving into smaller groups, each headed by a vampire giving instructions. They are ready.
I remember the futility of trying to fight the vampires as a human when our darts wouldn't work. I remember the feeling it brought, the hopelessness, the fear, the frustration. I imagine the panic that will descend upon the HQ when they realise they cannot fight. A savage pleasure flashes through me as I remember the vampires we hunted, as I remember the way they could not fight back, the futility of their own fight. How the tables will turn.
Draven is coming towards us again, pushing Jack in front of him. Unlike the others, Jack is walking willingly towards us. He's not bloodied and bruised as they were. I hear his heartbeat from here, it's surprisingly slow, I see his expression though I know he can't see me yet. His face is set, grim determination on his features.
In the recesses of my mind something stirs, something human. Jack was my friend. He wasn't cruel. He didn't like the hunting any more than I did. I don't want to see him consumed as a meal for this creature beside me. I consider my options.
I feel a hand on my shoulder and look round into Alesco's yellow eyes. "Do nothing, Darren. There is nothing you can do."
I look into her eyes and her words push aside the feelings I have. I can do nothing, nothing to lose her, nothing to endanger her.
Draven and Jack walk to where we are. Jack is looking at me through squinted eyes, his features changed to confusion.
"Damn it, Darren! No!" He says suddenly, lunging towards me. There's a pain in his voice. Draven grabs him easily and holds him back. "What the hells has happened to you?"
"I'm free, Jack. Liberated from the weakness of my flesh." I say. "We are not monsters as the humans teach."
"We?" He says, his voice rising. "You are a 'we' now? You were a human! You were born to humans. Remember that. You have a family somewhere!"
"Enough!" The master lifts a hand and Jack's mouth closes. "Now is not the time for reunions. We will go." He raises his hand again and Jack's arms are bound in twine behind his back. "Silence or death."
He raises both arms and a gentle breeze moves across the clearing in response. "The protection is in place. Move ahead."
The vampires at the head of the crowd call instructions before turning and stepping out of the clearing into the trees. The whole group moves ahead. I marvel at the silence of such a large amount of movement. The vampires move lightly and quickly, almost gliding over the forest floor. These bodies are built for stealth. In contrast, Jack's heavy steps, his heartbeat and breathing are like thunder. I see vampires turning and casting glances in his direction. Some with hungry eyes. But they dare not do anything, not with the master close at hand.
We enter the trees last, Alesco, the master and I , flanked by Alesco's four guards. Draven and Brendan included.
I think of what we'll find. Of the people I've known. Of the vampires and humans trapped beneath HQ in the cells of the director's jail. I think of the city and like a flash I recall my family. Vivid pictures of my mother and father fill my mind, their proud faces as I left to join the hunters. What would they think now?
"Do you mean to leave any humans?" I ask Alesco. "Or to change them all?"
The master answers. Always watching, always listening. "Perhaps we shall send some to the trees where we can hunt them for sport. Where they can taste their own game."
I see a darkness cloud her eyes, as though she is battling something within. She doesn't respond. He is a monster, of that I have no doubt. But is there a monster within her? I saw something in her eyes.
"Part of me wants revenge. Part of me wants harmony. I do not know which side will win. The darkness feels right, yet at times, like now, I am unsure." She says.
"Embrace the darkness, Alesco. Embrace your true nature, the predator within." The master says.
I don't like to see her conflict, her anguish is clear, her uncertainty. I think of humans I have known. Of John and the director, of Jim and Jack and Billy, the driver.
"There are those who act the monster, and there are those who do not." I say. "Not all humans are evil, just as not all vampires are." I say.
"Silence, fool. You not of what you talk." The master says. I feel a constricting pressure on my mouth as I am forced into the silence. Alesco sees my struggle and bears her fangs at the master, hissing.
"Release him!" She says.
I feel the pressure lift. What control does she have over this creature. Why does he do as she says? He is stronger than us all. I can't help but feel there is much I do not know.
The guards around us continue moving, making no sign that they heard or saw anything. I look at Jack, he is walking behind the group, hobbling with tied hands as though being pulled by an invisible rope.
We walk on through the trees, the pale moonlight filtering through, casting blue pools upon the mulchy ground. A voice carries back from the front. "Light ahead!"
I see it, the border between light and dark. We are coming out of the safety. I think back to the map I saw, the map that showed the area of darkened forest and I remember something else, the tip of another island in the ocean. I wonder what's to be found there.
The master raises his arms. "Continue moving." He says. There's another breeze, it passes over me, stronger than the last one. I see its progress through the crowd as it lifts dried leaves and shakes the trees. When it reaches the light I see it retreat, chased by the darkness. The night moves like an advancing army and soon the light is lost to view.
We plough on in silence. I find myself swallowed in the repetitiveness of the motion. My attention is occasionally drawn to Jack's increasingly laboured breathing, the exertion is taking its toll on him. His body is not made for the speed and endurance that we are. I don't know how to judge how long we have been moving, the sky never changes, but it has been a while.
"Stop." The master says. Everyone stops.
"Master?" Alesco says. "We have yet a ways to go."
"Listen..." He says. I listen, focusing my hearing but hear nothing unusual, only the sounds of the forest.
"I hear nothing master." Alesco says.
"You will soon, Alesco. They are coming."
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