Back to Contents

The floor they entered served as a large office space, with several conference rooms and offices along the walls and innumerable cubicles packed into the center. The windows making up the outer walls were stained black, allowing no one to see outside; by that same token, no one could see inside either. Glass panels separated the conference rooms and offices from the main floor.

Ceres asked Edgar and Isabelle to wait in one of the conference rooms while she got the humans settled. The two vampires made their way to the closest room. Edgar took a seat at the end of the table nearest the door; Isabelle pushed a chair aside and sat on the table looking out over the main room. She surveyed the room, noting the exits, barriers, and potential weapons, as Edgar had instructed her during their time in the shooting range. She then turned her attention to the humans, attempting to gauge their strengths and their weaknesses. There weren't many of them; perhaps thirty, at most. Between herself, Ceres, and Edgar, she guessed they could overtake the humans with ease, if necessary.

"I'm hungry." Isabelle said this without emotion, urgency, or humor. She remained scanning the large room.

"I forget how quickly hunger arises for one so young," said Edgar. "Rest assured that collar will do its job, though I think you have yourself well in hand."

She turned to look at Edgar. More a gesture of acknowledgement, as they both yet wore their helmets. She turned her attention back to the humans.

"Okay, but what do I do about the hunger?"

Edgar sat up straight, confused and annoyed.

"Did they never make you wait it out?"

"What?" Isabelle was herself confused by the question. "Wait it out?"

"Mi Dios!" My God. "You're soft."

Isabelle wanted to feel insulted by this comment, but she was growing accustomed to Edgar's often brusque manner. She sighed.

"Yeah, maybe."

Edgar leaned back in his seat and thought. He surveyed the humans and considered their plight. He mused over the city's condition. He nodded.

"Well, you don't have much choice now. You'll learn to school your hunger soon enough. The city's dead, and even we, the apex predator of the planet, are scurrying from shadow to shadow to avoid who-knows-what." He stood and walked to the entrance of the conference room and closed the door. He then moved to the side and leaned against the metal frame, looking out over the humans who were now claiming their own cubicles in which to rest and wait. "Without a blood farm, the comfort and security of the manor is gone. All that remains is metal, debris, and an unknown quantity of potential problems." He was, of course, referring to those still in hibernation in the Barrows.

Continued after the break

"Where did you get the blood to feed me?"

"From our remaining stock. There is enough to last the three of us--" he gestured to Ceres, Isabelle, and himself, "for a few years, if we don't get greedy. Were we to come upon others of our own, that timeline will fall shorter and shorter."

"What about the humans?"

"We don't know anything about them. We might consume these a little at a time and slake our thirst for some decades, and then what? What if this small group is a sign of a decline in the species? Are we to subsist on mammals and birds for the remainder of our existence?"

Isabelle sat silent. She hadn't considered this. Ceres was helping these humans for a reason. She wouldn't be shuttling them around otherwise; she had never cared for human stock and always left the interactions with humans to others. Not because she hated humans, she just didn't want to deal with them. She was the leader of the Pelican Squad, a position she had worked toward with purpose and intention. Being a member wasn't enough; as leader, she had subordinates handle dealings with humans when hunting down ferals. Isabelle had listened to all of the jokes about Ceres' human avoidance, when spending time with the group.

There was something much bigger happening, or had happened, to put Ceres in the position she was in. For the first time since she was awakened, Isabelle felt fear. As a vampire who had never wanted for anything, this fear was almost crippling. She looked up to find Edgar's helmet turned toward her.

"You're shaking," he said.

"I ..." Isabelle didn't know what to say. She swallowed in a dry throat. "You knew it was bad."

"How can it be anything else?"

There was no brusque edge to his comment, no arrogance. How he said it made Isabelle feel like he was content to find their reality beginning to dawn on her. She took one of the pistols out of its holster and turned it around in her hands, careful not to point the barrel in either of their direction. Edgar watched her without comment.

"That's why you were adamant about making sure we were ready. 'Who knows what's out there,' you said." She turned her head to face his. "And we still don't know."

"Oh it's much worse than that," said Edgar. "We think we may have found an ally, but we don't know that either."

There was a short knock at the door. Edgar turned around and opened it wide, giving space for Ceres to pass through. She grabbed the chair Isabelle had pushed away and sat down in it, removing her helmet and setting on the table before crossing her hands in her lap. Her minions lounged just outside the door, appearing casual, but clearly intending to keep anyone from wandering too close.

"Now that they're all settled out there, I'm sure you two have questions," said Ceres.

Isabelle removed her helmet as well; the cool air in the building felt strange on her bare scalp. Edgar followed suit, removing his helmet and taking the seat he had requisitioned.

"At the moment, I have only two questions," said Edgar. "What happened at the manor, and does it have anything to do with what happened out here?"

Back to Contents

Back to Contents