Cold Open.

The young woman fell to the floor in a heap, tears streamed down her face, her mascara and blusher bleeding together. “PLEASE!” she screamed.

“Oh, please stop begging.”

“Please. Please sire me. I really need this. I want to live like you,” the woman continued.

Rowena crouched down to her level and wiped the tears from the wannabe vampura’s cheeks in a gentle caress.

“If you’re not going to Ro-Ro, then just let me drain her out,” Tallon said, standing over the pair.

“N… no! I don’t want that,” the woman said, desperately looking at Rowena, with big puppy eyes.

“Honey, what’s your name?” Rowena asked soothingly.

“Jessica.”

“Jessica, I can’t stand your begging. It makes me cringe. Have some respect for yourself.”

“I will, I will. I’m sorry. I… I just have wanted this. I have only wanted this. And I only want you to do it. To be my Vamp Mama. Please, you won’t regret it and I’ll have nothing but respect for myself, I promise.”

“I mean, it matters not to me if I drain her myself or sire her,” Rowena said, getting up and turning to her life long companion, Tallon.

“I just hope once you do she’s not going to be needy like that woman was in the eighties. Do you remember her?”

“Oh yes, I remember her. God she was needy wasn’t she.” She looked down at Jessica. “She was a real needy bitch Jessica and I couldn’t stand it, so I decapitated her. Do you want that to happen to you?”

“No! No, I don’t! And I won’t be. Look, I know how to live as a vampura, I’ve been doing it for the last seven years. I know who you are. I’ve prepared, and I won’t be depending on you. Th-that’s not my style. Just please.”

Rowena sighed. Jessica had at least taken the time to deceive Rowena into this meeting. She ought to give her some credit for that at least. It mattered not to her if she gave Jessica what she wanted, and she still at least had something to drink on, considering the time it had taken for them to travel to Tarmsworth St Jude.

“Fine, Jessica. Fine. Just shut up your pathetic winging.” Rowena could see Tallon out of the corner of her eye tutting. “Tally, we’ll find you something I promise.”

Tallon shrugged dismissively. “Ok, we better.”

Rowena walked around to Jessica and offered her a hand to help her up. “Thank you so much,” Jessica said. “I… I have a playlist I’ve made that I’d like to put on while we do this, if that’s alright?”

“Well now you’re just taking the piss, aren’t you Jessica? Playlist? What next? Your favourite lucky knickers and lavender scented Yankee candles? No, we’re doing this now, and we’re doing it my way as my patience is wearing thin.” Rowena grabbed out at Jessica’s head and pulled it towards her, biting instantly and sucking the blood that gushed through the two holes she had made.

“Well, how does the bitch taste?” Tallon asked.

Rowena pulled off and started spluttering and coughing. She even gagged a bit. “Disgusting. Like, what the fuck is happening?!”

Tallon couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. “I’m glad I didn’t take a drink then.”

Rowena side eyed him, and let go of Jessica. She fell in a heap on the floor by Rowena’s feet. Cutting her wrist with the end of her pendant necklace to cause herself to bleed just enough to drip into Jessica’s open wound, Rowena then bent down and tied Jessica’s hands up behind her back and her ankles together, ahead of her reanimating.

After a few minutes, she did. And it was just as they expected.

“So the rumours are true?” Tallon said.

“Yeah, it would seem that way.” Rowena crouched down to look at Jessica’s eyes. The green from her pupils had burst, colouring the whole eye ball. The wannabe vampura gnashed angrily in a brain dead fashion, writhing around on the floor. “I think we’ll take our new pet with us to the blood bank,” Rowena decided.

“I’ll go find us a horse box trailer for it then.”

Chapter Twelve.

“Bye Mum!” Henry shouted as he ran down the stairs towards the front door.

“Err, excuse me Henry. You’re leaving this early? Don’t you want something to eat first?” Mum asked, intercepting him before he had the chance to leave.

“Yes, yeah. Sorry Mum, I’m actually meeting up with a couple of them for dinner before our shift,” he lied.

“Ugh, Henry! I wish you would have said. I’ve had chicken breasts defrosting for dinner.”

“You’re right, I should have told you. Sorry Mum.”

She sighed and looked him up and down. “I guess I can’t be too mad. It’s nice that you’re going out with friends. Well enjoy, don’t get too much fomo thinking about me sat watching the soaps all by myself,” she said smiling. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and stood out of his way.

“Love you Mum.”

“Love you too Henry.”

Henry shut the door behind him and heard his Mum lock the door behind him. He ran down the street and turned the corner, seeing Lana’s car parked up. She beeped the car horn to get his attention.

“I’m so glad you didn’t fall over that time,” she said as he got into the front passenger seat.

“That’s because I was expecting it this time.” He turned round to the three squashed in the back. “Hey guys! You all look cosy in the back,” he teased.

Nadheera, who was in the middle seat gave him a middle finger gesture with a dead pan expression.

“I hate three door cars,” David grumbled.

“Hey, leave her alone,” Lana said, pulling off into the road. “You could always walk.”

“It’s got to be one of the only times being the last to something gets you the better prize,” continued David, hunched between the window and Nadheera.

“Well it won’t be for long, so quit your moaning,” Lana said, looking into the rear view mirror into the back seats.

Zoe, who was also in the car, hadn’t said anything since Henry had got in, but he wasn’t going to bend over backwards to make an effort.

“What happened?” Lana asked Henry as they took the third exit on a roundabout. “You said you were ready and then took forever to come out.”

“Did you miss me?” Henry teased, pretending to be touched.

“No dumbass, we just don’t have time on our side.”

“It was my Mum. She intercepted me on the way out. I was hoping to just slip out without a fuss.”

“You didn’t tell her anything did you?” Nadheera asked behind him.

“Nooo, no of course not.”

“Good,” Nadheera said.

Once Henry, Lana and Zoe passed on Marta’s warning, and after the hours spent convincing the higher ups that they weren’t on drugs, a plan of action was quickly developed. But, it had to be done in secret. Word couldn’t get out to civilians that the blood bank and hospital were the targets of an impending attack. All hell would break loose. The blood bank is the hub for all of north England and southern Scotland. The less the public knew, the better.

“I just hope I make it out of this war alive to tell her about it after,” Henry mumbled.

“You will. We will,” Lana assured.

***

“Hey everyone. It’s good to see you!” Alistair said greeting the five of his team as they got out of Lana’s Renault Clio.

“Oh well, you know. We wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Henry quipped.

“The Captains have all had a meeting with the Chief and the manager of the firm that protect the blood bank for us to meet with our teams separately and discuss the plan,” Alistair explained. “Stanley, Callum and Bridget are already waiting.” Alistair led them to where they were.

“About time,” Bridget said seeing the others.

“Good to see you too Brij,” Nadheera said.

“Right. We’ve not got any more information than what Marta initially said to these lot last night, so we don’t know timings or strength of force. Just that we’re expecting an attack. Lana and Cal, you two are going to join the archers from the other divisions from the elevated platform that has been erected. The remaining lot from the divisions will be split between the two access roads to the site. We’ll be with Yissom West, the Town Centre and Victoria Moors teams on Warwick Road and then the other divisions will be out on St Andrews Street. We’ll need to be flexible depending on what kind of attack it is, whether it’s a two pronged on just one big push.”

“And if they get past all that?” Bridget asked with a twinge of concern in her voice.

“I mean, we’ve got full numbers out tonight from Tarmsworth St Jude. That’s about sixty four in total. But, if we struggle to hold them back then the manned flame sentries are going to be utilised by the private security firm in conjunction with the Wall of Fire,” Stanley chipped in. The Wall of Fire was a specifically built channel in the ground around the perimeter of the blood bank that as a last resort sent jets of fire up into the air.

“Shit,” David whispered. “This really is the real thing.”

“Indeed it is,” Alistair said. “We can’t allow the blood bank to be hit. The consequences will be disastrous for public health. The new Chief Constable Darci Shaw has passed on her good luck wishes. The police will be setting up a cordon but ultimately it’s not their jurisdiction.”

“That’s… nice of them. We’ll try to not keep them waiting,” Zoe said.

“Are there any questions? Sunset is in like three minutes,” Alistair asked. “Nope, ok. Helmets, knees and elbow pads on for this one guys.” Their helmets were essentially black cricket helmets with a wire visor that can be moved up and down.

***

Nightfall had completely fallen and the Pin Corner division and the three others with were lined up on Warwick Road.

Waiting.

And waiting.

“Do you think she lied to us?” Henry asked Zoe. He’d have asked Lana, but she was with the archers back at the blood bank.

“Maybe. It won’t be the first time some one has lied and we’ve all fallen for it,” she replied.

He eyed her up suspiciously. “Well, sure, but we did the right thing.”

“Yeah.”

“Zoe, what-”

“What’s that horse doing here?” she asked, interrupting him. A hundred metres up the street ahead of them, she had in fact spotted a lone horse trotting towards them.

“Hold it!” came an instruction shouted to them by someone more superior.

Then, behind the horse, a large group of people walking appeared.

Only they weren’t people.

Vampuras.

“Be ready!” came another instruction from the same supervisor. The group of Nasscies unholstered their stakes and stood in the ready position. “No sightings yet on St Andrews!”

That made Henry hopeful that the horde they were faced with were the only ones.

When the advancing attack was around sixty metres away, the instruction they all feared but anticipated came.

“Ready…? Charge!”

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! Henry screamed internally as he made his legs run with all the other Nasscies. The horse spooked and giddied up onto it’s two back legs, it’s front legs up in the air.

The fastest Nasscies first made contact with the front of the vampura group and straight away engaged in hand to hand combat, as the desperate need to stake them took over.

Seconds later, the rest made contact, pushing into the vamps deeper in the back of the pack. It felt very medieval, the charging and hardcore fighting taking place on the empty main town road.

As and when successful stakings were taking place, vampura corpse statues remained where they were hit, the time to hit them with the silver mallets coming later.

Henry staked a vampura, took the wood out from her chest and turned to stake another, but it was at that point he took a punch to the face, fell and landed on the ground on his back. Luckily for his helmet, the knock to the back of his head would have hurt a lot more.

Sliding the visor down, which is where it should have been the whole time, Henry tried to get up, but the vampura who hit him was already stooping down to rein more punches onto his helmet. Henry waited for the next punch to come, and when the vamp exposed his arm pit as the punching arm went back, Henry got a punch of his own in. It was just enough to stop that punch from coming down on him and give him the space to push up off the floor.

As he did, a flash of metal swished in front of him, cutting right through the vampura’s neck. It made Henry jump in fear and confusion. The vampura’s head fell towards Henry but before it landed, the body and head completely shattered into shards of dust.

“Aye, that felt good.”

“Fuck Marta, what are you doing here?” Henry said. She held out a hand to help him up, which he looked at semi-reluctantly.

“Just take it,” she said. He did, and was shocked by the freezing cold touch of her hand. When he punched her last night in the pavilion, he did not really take notice of her body temperature.

“Thanks.”

While Henry was being distracted and unawares of the fighting around him, Marta swung her sword at another vampura that fancied his chances against her. The sword went right into his gut and she pulled the sword upwards all the through the middle of his body.

“Shit, come on kid, pay attention. I’m here to help. I’m here for Rowena and Tallon.”

“Have you seen them?” he asked.

“Not yet.”

“They’re not here?”

“Not yet.”

“Huh, so this isn’t this all of them?” Henry asked.

“No way. A second group have-” she stopped as Henry staked a vamp running wildly past them to get to an occupied Nasscie. “-hit the other team you have on St Andrews Street now, and they weren’t there either.”

“Marta, you’re here?” Zoe asked, coming up beside them. The fighting had now died down and the Nasscies were regrouping.

“Fuck, get away from her!” another Nasscie yelled, raising his stake and getting ready to fight upon recognising Marta.

“Guys, it’s ok,” Henry said. “Our intel about tonight actually came from Marta.”

“Shut the fuck up kid, she’s a vampura,” someone else shouted.

“And right now, she’s here to help us get Rowena and Tallon,” Zoe assured.

“Oh for fucks sake?! They’re here as well?” cried a woman Nasscie over hearing the conversation.

“Yes,” Marta said. “They will be. So yous can all stand around fighting over me or you can go and back up your other team on St Andrews.”

“That would have been my next order anyway,” said the supervisor in charge. “We’re not doing it because you said it.”

“Whatever,” Marta said, giving zero shits.

“Let’s go then!” he said, and all the Nasscies ran back up the road towards the hospital and blood bank, leaving Zoe, Marta and Henry.

“Thanks for coming and for helping me from that vamp,” Henry said to Marta. “That’s a nice sword you got there, too.”

“It’s fine,” Marta said. “But you should go and join your team mates.”

“But what about you?” Henry asked.

“I need to get back in the shadows and look for Rowena and Tallon.”

“By yourself?” Henry asked.

“Henry, leave it. You heard her, and the instructions we got. We need to go,” Zoe urged. Henry nodded at Marta and did as Zoe said.

***

By the time Zoe and Henry caught up with their team backing up the other team, the surge of vampuras they were up against had already been defeated.

“This doesn’t feel right…” Henry heard someone say.

“That can’t have been it?” another asked.

“No, there’s more coming,” Henry called out in answer to the murmurs.

“That dick is working with fucking Marta Barr!” someone heckled Henry with.

“She told us that this was happening tonight. She also knows that Tallon and Rowena are coming, so if you see Marta, you leave her alone. She’s the one with the fuck off big sword,” Henry said.

“The kid’s right!” It was Alistair. “Marta’s off limits tonight.” Henry nodded in acknowledgment of his gratitude. “We regroup before we get anything else come our way.”

“Like that up there?” someone shouted. The 60 strong group of Nasscies turned to see a hundred or so strong group of vampuras coming down the road.

“Fuck me, they must be coming from all over the country!” a girl cried out.

The archers arrived and pushed through the group of Nasscies to get in front of them. They’d abandoned their posts to back up their colleagues in light of the larger advancing group of fanged fiends.

The vampuras pressed on, advancing towards the blood bank and the Nasscies. As they got closer, it was clear they were chanting something. “WE WANT FRESH BLOOD! WE WANT FRESH BLOOD!” over and over.

“Archers… release the arrows!” an instruction over a megaphone came out. Henry could hear the whistling of the arrows being fired simultaneously and felt the goosebumps come up on his arms. The firing continued one after the after due to the crossbows having magazines of ten arrows ready to go each time.

Some of the shots hit their targets, as vampuras stopped moving and stood where they were. Others were hit, but not in the money spot.

“Everyone else, charge!”

This was it. Again. Henry ran with the mass as they had done about half an hour ago on the other street.

The hand to hand fighting was brutal. Henry and his brother had been the best in their training cohort but even this was proving to be demanding for Henry. Was it tiredness? Fear? Were these vampuras just particularly good fighters?

They fought on. A stake in one. Pull it out to stake another. Duck, dodge and counter an attack. Turn… stab again.

Screeching tyres screamed out over the grunts and the shouts of the hand to hand fighting, as a car with a horse box trailer attached to the back came tearing round a corner into view, hurtling towards everyone.

“Shit, get back!” someone yelled.

Henry looked up and saw the panic in the Nasscies who were trying to get out of the way. He turned to run to the side of the road, but saw Zoe had fallen. He ran back to get her and pick her up, moments before the car sped past.

“Oh my God, are you ok?” he asked her.

“I’m fine,” she said.

“And you’re also ungrateful,” Henry said, majorly confused by the attitude.

“Do you want to do this now?” she shot back.

“Not really no,” he said, turning his back on her.

Every one had sort of stopped to watch what the car did, and it eventually crashed into the barricades in front of the blood bank. Out jumped a man and a woman, and to the vampura’s delight it seemed to buoy them up into a bigger frenzy.

Rowena and Tallon for real, Henry thought to himself. He hoped Marta was seeing this.

The vampuras seemed to ignore the Nasscies to push forward to join the legendary vampuras at the blood bank. The Nasscies, Henry included, didn’t want that to happen and they found themselves having to chase after them and staking them in the backs as they ran, but they were determined to get to the front, even if it meant forgetting the chance to try and kill a Nasscie.

No one had made it to engage Tallon and Rowena yet, letting them be free to run to the back of the horse box. As Tallon went to unhook the ramp, Marta came running into view, sword in hand.

“Long time no see,” she said to them.

Tallon stopped unhooking the ramp to look at his old friend. “Well well, if it isn’t Marta Barr,” he purred.

Rowena clapped enthusiastically with glee. “There you are sweety, Mama’s missed you.”

“I’ve not missed you,” Marta said with no feeling at all.

“You’re not here to stop us are you?” Tallon asked. “The way you’re holding that sword makes me think you might be.”

“Good boy, you got it right.”

“Don’t patronise him, you bitch,” Rowena snapped, her tone changing instantly. “We’re here for the fresh blood. It’s the only place in the area where the blood won’t have gone bad. Why are you stopping us from doing that?”

“I couldn’t give a shit about the blood right now. I fucking hate you two so much, I’m willing to stop you from taking the blood just to take my chance to kill you. And then maybe I might just take the blood for myself. But right now, it’s about killing you.”

“Well our little petty poo won’t be too happy to have us dead,” Rowena said, pouting a little.

Tallon unhooked the ramp, causing it to fall down with a huge metallic clang as it hit the road.

“Be a good little pet, Jessica,” Rowena said to it.

“What the fuck is that?” Marta said. The crazed blonde haired zombie ran screaming out of the horse box towards Marta as Tallon and Rowena ran away. Oh shit, Marta thought.

Making a split second decision, driven purely by selfish reasons, she went after Rowena, dodging the running zombie.

***

Henry and the Nasscies stopped when they heard the metal ramp crash on the ground. Then the vampuras stopped their advance to the blood bank when they saw the thing come running out of it.

“What the fuck is that?” Henry said out loud. He wasn’t the only one to say that. It screamed demonically and ran out. Henry couldn’t help but watch in frustration as Marta dodged it and ran after Rowena. She has a fucking sword! What do we have? Wood?! The zombie continued running and even the vampuras began to back away, running back towards the Nassices, back in the direction of where they came from.

“It’s real! It’s actually real!” a vampura screamed as she ran away past Henry.

That’s fucking real alright, whatever it is.