A few days had passed before Allison arrived with the rest of her Hive. I had expected eight Vampires, perhaps nine at the most, not twelve Vampires.
"Have you heard? The undertaker has an apprentice," Allison said after she introduced her Hive. Raphael, the Hathoway butler was second in command. Hope and William were Masters, as were Allison and Raphael. Allison, Raphael, Hope and William each had two fledglings. Two humans strong enough to survive the Change. I would be a Master. Which meant that I would eventually have to turn two humans.
"Good, he's getting old," Misty, one of William's fledglings said.
"I was beginning to think he would never take an apprentice," Bruce, one of Allison's fledglings mumbled
"It certainly seemed that way," Hope said. "Have you smelled his new apprentice though? He smells absolutely mouth watering," she told them and I felt a small protective twinge for Adrian. "If he wasn't the undertaker's apprentice I would have drained him dry," she added as a hungry look entered her eyes. I was suddenly very glad that Bartholomew had accepted Adrian as his apprentice.
"No I haven't smelled his apprentice," John, one of Hope's fledglings said.
"It's such an intoxicating scent," Hope commented with a wistful sigh.
"Alright now, enough talk about the undertaker's apprentice. Sapphira is going to join our Hive," Allison said, now bored with the topic of conversation.
"A new member?" June, one of Raphael's fledglings asked with a smile.
"She's Old too," May, Allison's second fledgling said. I could only imagine how they must be resisting the urge to run. I was somehow succeeding at not ripping all of their heads off. Especially since they were all younger than me.
Allison was the first to take my blood. She was also the first to share her blood. The rest of them took and shared their blood after Allison. Soon I could feel the Bond that some Vampires spoke of. I could feel them all inside of me.
"Welcome to the Hive," Allison said as Misty cleaned my blood off of her mouth. I began to clean the blood off of my mouth as well. "Let's Hunt," Allison said with a smile. Hunting sounded wonderful; especially now that I felt weakened. We left my home and headed to the harbors.
We arrived at the harbors and went our separate ways. I was glad that I wouldn't have to share my prey with anyone. Perhaps some other time I would be required to, but for now I was grateful that we were doing solitary Hunting.
Or perhaps I'll never have to share my prey, I thought as I began my search for a human to feed off of. Once again the harbors were empty. I went to the undertaker's shop and entered it, using the side door which remained unlocked during the night.
"Bartholomew?" I called.
"It's late, come back in the morning," Bartholomew said behind me. I turned around and sighed.
"This can't wait until morning" I said as Allison entered the undertaker's shop.
"What is it?" He asked as Adrian appeared him. I was suddenly overwhelmed by Adrian's scent. I had forgotten just how delicious he smelled.
"The Hunting is horrible. It's been that way for a little while now. How come?" Allison asked as the rest of the Hive entered the shop.
"There's a new murderer in town. People are calling him Jack the Ripper. He's been killing prostitutes and taking their wombs with surgical precision. However he leaves quite a bloody mess behind, Bartholomew told us. "Because of it people aren't venturing outside at night anymore. They're too afraid too," he added as Adrian glanced at the Hive.
"So we find this Jack the Ripper and kill him," Allison said.
"He's one step ahead of the Scotland Yard," Bartholomew told us.
"The Scotland Yard is useless," I mumbled under my breath.
"They're not entirely useless," Bartholomew said with a sigh.
"Pretty close to it," Allison stated.
"They do their best," Bartholomew said. There was silence after that. We couldn't argue with that after all.
"They're still useless," Allison mumbled, breaking the silence.
"We'll find this Jack the Ripper and kill him," I said.
"That would be good," Bartholomew said. "However I suspect that he's a Vampire," he told us.
"Why would a Vampire want to do that? They wouldn't be able to Hunt either," Allison pointed out.
"How am I supposed to know that? I'm not demented like he is," Bartholomew inquired with a yawn.
"Maybe he wants to expose you," Adrian said with a shrug
"What Vampire would want to expose their own kind?" Raphael asked with curiosity.
"To prove superiority," I answered as that fact dawned on me.
"Well, what Vampire doesn't need to feed?" Allison questioned.
"A Vampire who doesn't need to feed. Maybe an Old Vampire or an Ancient Vampire," Adrian replied with a nod.
"You've given this a lot of thought, haven't you?" I asked with a slight smile.
"The voices told me," he said with a shrug.
"Voices?" I repeated with mild concern. Adrian nodded with confirmation. "How many?" I asked, still concerned. Adrian held up two fingers.
"He's insane," Allison mumbled.
"What do the voices tell you?" I questioned, still concerned.
"They tell me I have powers," Adrian replied.
"What kind of powers?" I asked with mild curiosity.
"You're not getting them," he said.
"You can keep them," I commented with a reassuring smile. Adrian was silent.
"I don't trust them," Adrian said, breaking the silence.
"That's fine, you don't have to trust them," I told him, knowing that he wasn't going to tell me with anyone of the Hive around. Adrian smiled slightly.
"Well, this conversation has been enlightening, but I think It's time for us to go. The sun will be rising soon," Allison said after a small pause.
Allison and the rest of the Hive left. "Be careful Sapphira," Bartholomew said as I walked over to Adrian.
"I will be," I told Bartholomew as I pulled Adrian close for a hug.
"I don't like them," Adrian stated.
"I know; but there's safety in numbers and I need them right now," I said as I let Adrian go.
"Did you join them because of that Ancient Vampire?" Adrian asked. I nodded as a response. Adrian was silent.
"I'll be careful around them, don't worry," I said with a comforting smile. This did nothing to ease Adrian. "I don't plan on staying with them forever. Just until I'm free of my enemy," I told him.
"What if you're never free of them?" Adrian asked.
"Then I'll have to stay with them," I responded with a sigh. Adrian fell silent again.
"Just be careful," Bartholomew said.
"I will be. I'll be very careful," I told them. I then left and headed home. When I reached home I went to my room, changed and went to bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
I woke the next night to the scent of Noah's fear. I got out of bed and tan to the kitchen to see an unfamiliar Vampire in my home.
I growled at them and then ran at them as they whirled around. Noah ran out of the kitchen as I flung the Vampire against the wall and pinned them there. He somehow managed to break free of my grip and ran.
I followed him to the front door and closed the door when he was long gone. I was about to find Noah when someone knocked on the door. I opened it slightly and saw Allison.
"Are you alright?" She asked with concern as I opened the door wider to let her inside.
"I'm fine. I just had an unwelcome guest," I replied as she stepped inside.
"Who was it?" She inquired with mild curiosity.
"I have no idea," I told her.
"You don't know?" Allison repeated with disbelief.
"No, he just invaded my home and tried to kill my butler," I told her.
"I'll go after him," Allison said and then left. I sighed and closed the door so I could get dressed. I finished getting dressed and left my home.
"Sapphira?" Priest called when I reached the harbors. I whirled around and saw Priest lingering in an alley.
"Priest," I said as I rushed over to him. He jumped as I grabbed his shoulders. "I'm so glad to see you," I told him and then remembered what the Ancient Vampire had said. "What are you doing here?" I asked. He was silent. "Are you Hunting?" I questioned.
"I was told to," he replied quietly.
"By who?" I inquired, realizing I could know what this Ancient Vampire's name was.
"He calls himself Pearce Cronan," Priest responded. "I'm not sure if that's his real name though," he said. I was silent as fear squeezed my heart. There was only one Vampire who called himself Pearce Cronan; the Origin of Vampires. Which meant that he was toying with me before he killed me.
Maybe there was a way to apologize to him before he was done toying with me. Hopefully I wouldn't be boring to him so he would kill me sooner rather than later. I needed to know what interested him.
"What interests him?" I asked, realizing that it was too late to ask that. Priest was fleeing, his instinct to survive when faced with an older Vampire had won.
Now I would never know what interested Pearce. Which meant that I would die sooner rather than later. No, I'll find out what interests him and make sure he doesn't kill me beforehand, I thought as I headed home.