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  She hit the gas and the grinding increased but the SUV moved forward as though it were on the most bumpy road ever. She knew from her experience earlier that night that the tires must have blown, but she continued pushing on the gas anyway. Something bright caught her eyes in the side mirror. She looked and saw sparks flying up from underneath the rims of the wheels. Behind them she could see the creatures gaining behind her.

  Jackie didn't really think they would hurt innocent little girls. She had only meant to scare Karen, to have a little fun. But now her sister lay dead in the passenger seat and they would soon get Jackie, too. She punched on the gas with anger.

  "I'll kill you motherfuckers!" But she knew she was really only angry with herself.

  Something scraped across the roof. As it came closer to the cab, she panicked and swerved to the left. The SUV toppled and flipped several times over, flinging her into the steering wheel and the window each time. Glass spilled from all of the windows and flung around the cab like violent glitter. The screeching was now louder than life itself. When the truck finally landed and was still, it lay on the driver’s side. Karen's dead fingertips grazed the side of Jackie's face and she began to weep, her face a mess of moisture.

  Let me die, please, God, let me die, she thought. There was a slam against the passenger door and the screeching was so loud now it seemed to be in Jackie's head. Before she could even think of moving as she lay crunched against the driver’s side door, Jackie watched in terror as Karen's body and the passenger door were both plucked from the vehicle. She couldn't even see them. A scream like no other erupted from Jackie.

  As if to spite her lurching screams, one of those pale faces appeared where the passenger door had been. Its catlike eyes reflected an array of neon colors and its yellow and green rotted teeth caught her eyes. Particularly the two long canines that seemed to be pointing out at her with a longing. Her scream broke into a series of whimpers. The thing started crawling slowly toward her as if gravity didn't exist. A strange snarl hung in the back of its throat.

  Jackie shifted in her fright and felt several sharp penetrating pains in her left shoulder. She knew then it was broken. The creature looked at her mindlessly as it crawled ever closer. It was now within reaching distance. Jackie squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for it to rip her throat out, unable to get rid of the image of that first man they had seen.

  Cold, clammy hands like solid, fleshy ice gripped her by the collar of her shirt and in an instant they were in the open air and the pain in Jackie's side and arm was almost enough to make her pass out. But she hung on, determined that if she would die she would not fade away, but instead be aware of every last second.

  The cold air stung her skin as she felt the fangs puncture into her neck. That horrendous scream exploded from her lungs and she swung her good elbow back into the creatures solid, rock-like face. The pain in her elbow was almost enough to take away from her arm and neck.

  She felt a quiver through the creature then. An intense sting and pressure and then open air upon the wound in her neck told her the vampire had removed its fangs. It screamed out in that screeching tone and she could hear what sounded to her like a trace of bitterness in it. Then, the air stung even more and the sense of movement was more than she could consciously take. She slipped away into darkness.

  When she woke, she was lying on solid, uncomfortable ground. The creatures were in the sky again, circling above her and in the corner of her eye she could see movement.

  A male, only slightly pale, with long black hair wearing what Jackie was sure couldn't possibly be a business suit knelt down beside her. That's when she noticed the color of his eyes. As her father would say, they were as red as the Devil's jumpsuit. He looked at her with a sort of pity and sorrow. She'd heard they were deceptive creatures, though. And she knew any minute he would bury his face into her neck and take away what little life was left within her.

  He opened his mouth to speak and the fangs became all she could see.

  "Why would you do something so completely stupid?" His voice had an accent she couldn't quite place. He reached a hand out to her then and she didn't know why, but she felt she had no other choice but to take it. He pulled her up to a sitting position and she saw a body lying still behind him. It was Karen.

  "Yes. You have some sense of what you've done after all, haven't you?"

  She nodded hesitantly, tears sliding down both sides of her face. Why did he seem to be examining her moral choices? Was this some sort of test. A slight grin took over his face.

  "You are wondering why you are still alive, aren't you? Why you live to hear me speak at all, am I right?"

  She nodded again, unable to use her voice.

  "It's true, you will die. But I will not be the one who takes your life. I'm afraid I can do nothing to stop this. If her blood was not on your hands, it might be different, however."

  Jackie began to sob. She wanted to die, wanted to die more because it was true. She had killed her. It was her fault that Karen lay dead in the street.

  The man turned and walked toward Karen's body and Jackie tried to get up on her feet, a scream escaping her and echoing off of the surrounding buildings. "No!"

  But he kept on walking and that screeching returned as strange shadows on the road grew until the creatures were there and biting into her body. The last thing she saw was the man leaning over Karen's body, his hands hovering over her belly and a look of concentration upon his face.

  The pain flowed through her every vein. It was like ice, fire, and liquid all at once. Then something changed and a metallic pressure gripped her all over like electricity. Her body spasmed and she realized then that the creatures were gone. Her skin hardened and her vision blurred and then cleared. Cleared more than she could understand. She heard coughing and spitting that seemed loud enough to make her head burst. And she knew it was Karen. It was Karen. But before she could try and understand, another electric jolt went through her body and she died.

  Karen's sobs snapped her awake. Karen stood over her body curled into as much of a ball as she could while still standing. She was alive. And staring at Jackie with a horrified expression. He was blurry with Karen so close, but Jackie could see the man standing behind her. He patted Karen's shoulder and then spoke.

  "It's time to say goodbye, Karen. The bloodlust will come soon and you won't be safe."

  What was he talking about? Jackie knew she had changed, knew the horrible truth but she wasn't really sure what it really was just yet. She only knew she would never do anything to hurt her little sister. Not now. Not ever again.

  But then, he pulled her away. And she knew now why she was so angry. It wasn't that sense of protectiveness that had come when the tires had blown. It wasn't that sense of love that overcame her when they tried to take that first car. It was a hunger unlike anything she'd ever experienced before.

  She could smell it. The blood that was so important now. So alluring and yet more compelling than she knew anything could ever be. She reached out greedily for her sister as the man--the vampire--shielded Karen from Jackie.

  A car pulled up then. A strange black car with tinted windows. The vampire opened the back driver’s side door and Karen got in. He closed the door and Jackie watched furiously as the car sped off. She swiveled her body to run after it and before she even knew what hit her, she was on the ground, pain erupting in her chest. The car disappeared around a corner and she looked up to see the vampire standing over her.

  "Let her go. The weekly drop off will be here tomorrow. You will have to endure a special kind of hell in the meantime. Then, you will find yourself plenty of blood to quench the thirst now within you." A strange look overtook him as, for the second time, he reached a hand out to her and with deep bitterness, spoke.

  "My name is Ishan. Welcome to Necropolis."

  Fading in Darkness

  Empire of Blood Book Two

  for Vickie

  Part One

  To Heed Warning
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br />   Chapter 1

  The Assistant

  The bastards had starved Jack for months. They'd kept him in the isolation of his cell without any blood. It was bad enough before, just the isolation, but the blood had kept him centered. It was good blood. Not quite as innocent as he would prefer, but it still kept him strong. Then, one day, the Imperial sentry just stopped bringing it, stopped coming around at all. It was now July and nothing but silence had accompanied Jack since April.

  He focused in on the rough gray concrete and watched as a huge, panicked crowd of hundreds of thousands of microorganisms scattered at random across its surface. He heard the faint reverberated tapping of shoes against concrete somewhere on the floor above him. He followed them in his mind's eye as they entered the elevator. A clump of dirty shoulder-length hair fell from behind his ear as he listened. Whoever it was seemed to be coming down to his floor. The elevator door closed and the smell of human blood almost put him in shock as footsteps slowly became louder and louder. Then, for the first time in almost four months, he heard the peephole screech open.

  "Cellmate number 536637?"

  Jack looked up at the faint glow of light, his entire eyes black with bloodlust. "It bloody-hell sure won't be anybody else, now will it, you fucking prat?"

  The sentry sighed and went silent, save for his heart seemingly jack hammering in Jack's ear. "The Emperor would like a word with you. You're to be transported to a safe room to be briefed."

  So that's why they'd starved him. Jack wouldn't be much of a threat if he didn't have any strength.

  "Well, you can sod off and tell the Emperor that he can bloody well fuck himself silly! And while you're at it, get me some goddamn blood." He might not have any strength, but Jack Draper always had plenty of spirit.

  The peephole scraped shut and the sound of nervous echoing footsteps faded away. Jack knew when he had the upper hand in a situation, he'd seen it happen enough the past 500 or so years. He could smell it just like he could smell the blood in their veins. He caught himself then, biting his own arm again. He lapped up the two little crimson bubbles beginning to build and run down the small of his elbow. Fucking prats, the lot of them, he'd break even with them soon enough. The next bloody one of them to open that ear-piercing fucking peephole would regret it.

  But days went by and no one came. After the fifth day, he started to have doubts about the overpowering smell of bullshit and fear that had come from the last sentry. He went back to counting as he often did at times of lengthy boredom. 1,453,456. 1,453,457. 1,453,458—the sound of the elevator distracted him as it neared his floor. He came to immediate attention as something snapped in his senses.

  He could smell her. She couldn't have been any more than six years old. She was with him. He'd smelled that strange mix of aging human and ancestor blood enough times now to recognize it was accompanied by the Emperor. So much for transporting him. But why the little girl? She was frightened, but trusting. He could smell that too. His sense of smell had always been strong but he was pretty sure it had more than doubled since he'd been stuck in this cell.

  The peephole screeched that deathly pitch again and light spilled into the room in a thin, rectangular beam that spread across the floor of the cell and blinded Jack's eyes for a second.

  "Ah... Mr. Draper. Nice to see you're still getting along."

  "Sod off."

  "Now, now, Mr. Draper. Weren't you ever taught it's unwise to bite the hand that feeds?" The Emperor's voice was scratchy, but with a hint of playfulness to it.

  "Your bloody torturing me, aren't you? That's why you brought that lamb along, eh? Well, I can take it. I've starved a lot longer in shittier caves than this fucking rat hole."

  "Mr. Draper, I have no intention of... torturing you. Quite the opposite. You see, I've come to offer you this young lamb as a gift. A sort of down payment. And if you'll be so kind as to hear what I have to offer, I think you'll find this gift to be quite a small offering indeed. At least, compared to what I'm willing to offer overall. Would you be willing to hear me out now, Mr. Draper?"

  Jack was biting his arm again, trying to fight back the thirst. She was so innocent. So precious and innocent. And all he had to do was say yes, and even if the Emperor didn't plan to give her to him, he would take her. All he needed was for that slimy old bastard to open the door. The smell of death on him was almost as strong as the blood of that innocent child. It wasn't a smell Jack had ever noticed from any other living human.

  "You see, Mr. Draper, I'm in need of a new assistant. I'm finding it hard to find someone loyal enough to do everything I tell them without letting their own emotions get in the way, but I think—"

  "Piss off! You and I both know good and well you're no god. You'll get no bloody loyalty or worship from me."

  "Mr. Draper, I never said I was looking for a new acolyte. I have plenty of followers. I need an Assistant. And a loyal one. You needn't believe in my divinity to be loyal. It's very simple, actually; you do what I say to the letter and I provide you with more like her. Many more like her."

  Jack had torn a gash out of his arm as he listened to the Emperor’s words. He pulled his teeth from the wound and concentrated on the pain as his flesh began to heal. He was hungry enough to drain them both and thirst for more but something about that dead smell coming from the Emperor held him back. It was revolting. Human blood couldn't always be as precious as the rare, delectable drink of the innocent, but it was barely ever revolting.

  He found himself nearly as intrigued as he was hungry.

  "And precisely what is it your assistant does, Mr. Emperor, sir?"

  "A great many things. Not the least which would be killing. Lots of killing. Would you say you're suited for such a job, Mr. Draper?"

  "Bloody hell if I'm not. I suppose you've done some digging, or else you wouldn't be knocking on my sodding door, eh?"

  "Yes. I did indeed choose you with a certain criteria in mind. What do you say, Mr. Draper? Do we have a deal? All the innocent blood you can handle in exchange for being my loyal assistant?"

  Jack leapt at the door and put his arm through the peephole, stretching the metal opening. But his hand grasped empty air and an even stronger arm grabbed hold of his own and snapped it clean at the elbow. Pain exploded from his dangling limb as he stood stuck against the door.

  "Nice try, Mr. Draper. As you can see, I am certainly not in need of a bodyguard. I can protect myself just fine. What I do need is an assistant. And if you value your life, I'd suggest you take my offer before I take the pulse from your throat."

  Jack didn't understand. He had moved with the same speed as if he hadn't been starved but still it hadn't been enough. It took all the strength he had left and now he was spent. And still the hunger coursed through him, making him quiver at the smell of the child's blood. The Emperor held his arm in that broken position, preventing it from healing.

  "All right, all right, I'll fucking do it, you fucking bastard."

  The Emperor released his arm at once and let out a sigh. "You see, Mr. Draper? There wasn't any need for all that show of opposition, now was there?"

  For once in his long life, Jack held his tongue. When his arm finished healing, he pulled it back into the cell and rubbed it where the break had been mere seconds before. He heard an array of mechanical workings from within the door. Then, they were abruptly cut short by a single echoing thunder of metal as the door visibly shifted from its locked position.

  Although Jack had set aside his ambitions to escape and would actually give this deal a chance, he couldn't help having an impulse to try and take a bite out of the Emperor while he had the chance. The door slid open and the Emperor walked in without a hint of fear or concern. The little girl appeared to be in some sort of trance as she played with a porcelain doll in a red dress and matching sandals.

  Jack watched her with black, watering eyes and his mouth went even drier with thirst. The Emperor leaned down and whispered into the girl's ear. She looked up at Jack and
smiled. Jack shivered. She was so innocent. She was made even more innocent by the fact that she was oblivious to the danger surrounding her.

  Jack knelt down before her and reached his hand out to her. Her smile grew and she laid her tiny hand in his. He gripped it gently and spoke.

  "Now, what might your name be, little lass?"

  "Samantha," she said then looked at the floor shyly. She began to sway back and forth, still grinning all the while. So much life in her. So precious. It was taking everything he had now to hold back. But that's when he saw it. She looked up at the Emperor as if for approval and Jack could see then that he did have her in a trance.

  "Well, it was nice meeting you, Samantha. Do come back and visit some time." He turned away stiffly then and walked toward the corner of the room to show his denial of the Emperor's offering.

  "What are you waiting for, Mr. Draper? Isn't she just what you've wanted all these years you've been cooped up in here?" A good deal of impatience was slipping into the Emperor's voice now.

  "She is, but I won't have you brainwashing my food, eh?"

  There was a loud scream from the little girl and before Jack could react, he heard a snap and the screaming went silent. He turned to see the girl's body lying lifeless in the middle of the floor and the Emperor standing over her and staring at Jack with equally black eyes. His anger at what the man had just done overwhelmed his curiosity as to whether the Emperor really was a man at all.

  He leapt at the Emperor, going right for his throat. Before he could come anywhere near him, he felt two clawed hands grab hold of him and thrust him back into the concrete wall of his cell. The Emperor stood there holding Jack against the wall and staring right into his face.