The Feeding House (18 page)

Dreno continued once the hall was in complete silence “Tonight’s feast shall be one that goes down in history as the turning of a new age. As you may have all noticed this is no ordinary blood sitting in front of you, as you know I have been working on my new machines and the end product is finally ready. My friends I proudly introduce to you pure blood, this blood will quench your thirst greater than any that has ever passed your lips before. It will give you great strength and will even allow you to tread into sunlight for a short amount of time after only one glass. This my friends is the future of our race. Now I hope you all enjoy it and please do not hesitate to ask for more we have plenty to go around. Tonight you make history, now taste the future.”

Dreno
watched on as the vampires began to gorge themselves on the new pure blood, some of them were at first sceptical about it but after their first sip all worries were thrown aside. It was unlike anything they had ever drunk before, they felt invigorated and powerful the blood that they had drunk before now felt like a distant memory one that they would rather forget. The congregation was hooked, soon cheers started throughout the hall praising Dreno for his wondrous invention.

The High Chancellor
raised his glass in thanks to all the praise, he poured another glass of the blood on his table and began to sip. This blood was different though it was his own private stash, it was not pure blood but in fact the same blood that he and the rest of the vampires had always drunk. He smiled as he took yet another sip from his glass, his plans seemed to be going off without a problem he had the vampires wrapped around his finger. Of course he would never drink the pure blood that would be foolish, he knew how dangerous it could be if he was not able to get it he had seen it first hand and he didn’t want to run that risk. After all he wouldn’t want to use his own weapon on himself.

“High C
hancellor” a vampire approached him and bowed in respect of his presence “a word if I may, in private.”

“Certainly,”
Dreno would not usually leave during a feast but he knew that this news would be important the two walked out and into the hallway closing the doors behind them “What is it?”

“Sir,” replied the vampire “We believe that we have discovered the whereabouts of Isaac, we have reason to believe that he is, as you said, hiding Jack Crowe.”

Dreno was not surprised by the news, he only had to hear the story to know that it stunk of Isaac. However the question remained what why had Isaac taken Jack and what did he want with him surely this could not just be a way at getting to Dreno, there had to be something behind this Dreno could sense that there was something going on.

“Confirm that this is in fact the hiding place of Isaac, this is not the first time that we thought that we had finally pinned down his location. Once you know for sure, burn it to the ground and kill everyone within. Do I make myself clear?” ordered
Dreno his tone suggesting a degree of annoyance.

Dreno
had come to Oxford for many reasons, but one of them was Isaac. Oxford was where reported sighting of Isaac had been and Dreno was not about to pass up the chance to kill him, he had been a pain for far too long now. Dreno smiled to himself as he stood in the hallway alone it seemed to him as though everything was going to plan. The vampires were soon to be completely under his control and soon Isaac, Dreno’s most hated enemy would be dead, Dreno returned to the feast, his plans were unfolding better than he could have expected.

Jack had been training under the guidance of Isaac for over a week now and already he had learnt more than he
would have thought possible. Jack presumed that there was not much to learn on his first day of training but soon he discovered just how foolish he had been to think this. His technic was slowly becoming better and better, improving every day. Isaac had given no hint that he thought he might be ready soon but as Jack had got to know Isaac better he realised that he was a secretive sort of person. There were many things in Isaacs past, terrible dark things that Jack was sure he would never learn about or possibly never want to learn about.

It was another day of training and now that Jacks technic had improved Isaac was making his challenges harder and harder. Jack was walking through a wooded area just outside the
farm house and Isaac had told him to tread carefully and prepare for my attack at any time. Jack had learnt that Isaac was one to teach a hard lesson as he walked listening out for any signs of an imminent attack he thought back to his first day of training.

Isaac had taken him outside into an open piece of land, Jack should have realised at the time what was going to happen because a small crowd of the residents had formed a sort of circle around them they were waiting to see how the new arrival faired. Jack was very surprised when Isaac told him to pick up the machete that
lay on the floor next to him and try and decapitate him. Isaac explained that decapitation was the only way to kill a vampire, you had to destroy the brain. When Jack had protested asking what if he succeeded, Isaac only laughed and assured him that he stood no chance.

He
took a deep breath and charged towards Isaac. As he ran he noticed that Isaac revealed his fangs and his eyes went jet black. Jack swung the machete with full force at Isaacs neck, in a split second Isaac managed to disarm Jack, throw him onto the floor and have his fangs inches from Jacks throat.

Isaac got to his feet and
pulled Jack up. He gave him a friendly smile and said “Do you see now why it is important that I train you how to fight a vampire, it is not as simple as just being stronger. It is about your technic and how you channel your rage.”

Jack learnt many things in the week that followed that, he learnt about the importance of his fangs and how best to decapitate a vampire using only the side of your hand this second point being a tradition in vampire on vampire combat. He learnt how to use his senses to anticipate the next move of his opponent and most importantly he learnt how to channel his rage to make himself a better fighter and rage was something that Jack had
by the bucket full.

Now finally Jack found himself here in the clearing of a wood on the out skirts of the feeding house wondering when his attacker would strike.
He could feel that his vampiric senses had improved tenfold since Isaac had first started training him. Like all vampires Jack had the ability to smell vampires and humans from quite a distance and distinguish between the two, but it was the honing of this skill that was now controlling every movement that Jack made.

Jack stopped, realising that he was now out of the tree line and into a small open area that seemed to almost resemble a circle or ring. Jack could tell that Isaac was directly on top of him now he used all the training he had been given. He stood perfectly still, unmoving and closed his eyes smelling the air around him, trying to feel every movement that Isaac made as he looked down on Jack standing there in the clearing.

Jack could feel Isaacs heart beat now, it seemed to beat with his own. He could feel every breathe that he took and every movement even down to how sweaty his palms were becoming. Isaac said that once you could sense everything about a vampire before they even attacked you, you stood more than a good chance of killing them no matter how big or ugly they were.

Jacks eyes were now closed and he bent down on one knee clenching his fists as he did so. He seemed to almost be in some sort of trance like state as though he was preparing himself, predicting every attack and block that he would have to make, picturing the fight in a second by second action replay before it had even taken place. Jack now knew that any second now Isaac would jump down from the tree top behind him and try and land on Jack taking him by surprise. Jack clenched his back and leg muscles ready for what was about to follow.

Isaac jumped down from the tree his aim being to him Jack directly if he could taking him by surprise and off guard. However Jack had already wised up to the situation he knew what was about to happen and he had already mapped out Isaacs plan of attack, only a week ago Isaac may well have taken jack by surprise using this tactic, it was a very different story now.

In the very last second Jack rolled out of the way and instantly got to his
feet his body poised for battle. Isaac hit the floor but quickly countered the embarrassing fall turning it into a roll that he pulled off perfectly he too got to his feet and readied himself for the fight. Jack’s eyes turned pitch black and he revealed his fangs, so too did Isaac and with a great vampiric war cry Jack charged towards Isaac who continued to steel himself.

They collided with great impact
throwing punches and kicks all of which the other blocked and countered. It seemed as though they were now evenly matched, Isaac had taught Jack well. The fight continued Jack drew blood from Isaac’s face but it seemed not to bother him, nothing did, it was almost as if he was in a trance like state, he was calm and yet he fought with great skill and strength.

The battle continued for quite a while and inhuman feats of strength were displayed neither of them seemed to falter it was not until Jack dodged a punch aimed for his head that he managed to finish it. Jack pulled Isaacs punching arm towards him and bent it far behind Isaacs body, throwing him to the ground he quickly pounced, aiming straight for the neck he displayed his fangs and held his victim securely down to the floor, Isaac did not struggle but instead realised that the fight was lost.

Isaac tapped on the floor a sign that the fight was indeed over, Jack got to his feet and helped Isaac up at the same time. Both of them took a short moment to breath, they needed to after the fight.

Isaac patted Jack on the shoulder and smiled as he regained his composure “I’m proud of you, you have done well my friend. I believe that your training is complete you are now ready to help me.”

Jack thanked him for his kind words, he had been waiting for this day for a long time. Training had seemed fairly easy to him and at times a little boring. Jack had always been the sort to go in whole heartedly and not give up until he or the other man was dead. However he had learnt that there was more to these tactics than just fighting and he knew if he was to ever try and kill Dreno he was going to need the knowledge that Isaac had taught him.

“I think that it is about ti
me that I show you my plan Jack. We will return to the house, I have some things that I need to show you. However let me say this now, if everything goes to plan, Dreno shall be dead I can promise you that.”

As they walked back to the house Jack felt pleased, he would try his hardest to make sure that whatever it was Isaac had planned would be a great success. After all he wanted
Dreno dead and there was more than a good chance that at the same time he would be able to save the little girl he had met all that time ago. It seemed as though everything was finally coming together and soon it would be time to follow through on the plan.

Once they had finally reached the house Isaac took Jack up
stairs to his make shift office. He had converted one of the smaller bedrooms into a office area. It had been furnished in a typical vampiric style and it was obvious to see that Isaac had once lived amongst the normal vampires long ago. The room was filled with old paintings dating back hundreds of years, relics and memorabilia from times gone by filled the walls and shelves and great mahogany furniture added a touch of authority to the feel of the room.

Isaac sat down behind the desk on a great leather chair and invited Jack to sit on the other side of the desk on a smaller but
, none the less, lavish chair.

Isaac lit a cigarette and offered one to Jack who graciously took one from
Isaacs’s expensive silver cigarette case. Isaac was a connoisseur when it came to tobacco. Over time his palate had adapted to be able to pick out every flavour and he would often be found with an expensive cigar or hard to come by pipe tobacco. Isaac was even known to grow and blend some of his own tobacco here at the farm house from time to time.

Isaac leaned in towards Jack “I believe now that you seem to be able to handle yourself in a vampire on vampire battle situation
. It is time that I told you the plan. I didn’t want to tell you any sooner than this just in case the thought of what we were going to do would stand in the way of your concentration on the training and for that I feel I must apologise.”

He continued “right
, down to the plan,” Isaac pulled out a large folder from a draw in his desk, he opened it up and began to skin through from what Jack could initially see from his obstructed angle there were a lot of drawings and many pictures of boats his mind began to try and guess what this might be about.

After refreshing his memory for a moment Isaac began to speak once again “As you know
Dreno has begun work on his feeding machines, these new machines will allow him to have complete control of the blood supply. I cannot tell you where exactly this intelligence has come from but believe me when I say that we know that this blood is dangerous. Once vampires have tasted it there is no turning back, you become a slave to whoever it is that feeds you. Dreno is probably the most dangerous person I could think of to possess such a power, combine his hate for humanity with his love for power and we have a very dangerous mix on our hands.”

“Now as for these feeding machine
s, he has a few of them in the Oxford feeding house but not enough to run a continuous supply and certainly not enough for the feeding houses in local cities. He is sending a shipment through in a week from Paris, fifty brand new feeding machines will be arriving at Biloxi, their destination; Oxford, Tupelo and Greenville.”