Yerick stood in front of the gold-plated doors. He stared into the eyes of the Egyptian gods carved and molded on the faces of the doors. They looked back at him without mercy, just a gaze as cold as the metal they were carved on. His only thoughts were of how Horus would punish him in terrifying ways, ways the gods would punish man, mercilessly. In all of his thoughts he kept a glimmer of hope that the clan’s leader would understand and give him mercy in light that the notorious Mr. Bartlett was on the enemy’s side once again. It was a faint hope but hope nonetheless.

He took a deep breath and pushed through the doors. He entered a long hallway and looked up at the faces of the large stone statues dominating the hallway, like protectors of an ancient realm. Each god and goddess of ancient Egypt stood upright, staring down on those who passed, their gaze penetrating the very soul of those beneath them.

He continued on, each step more agonizing than the last. Yerick knew not what Horus would think of him. The hope inside him slowly died with each step.

As he looked to his left and right he could see murals and giant stone carvings in between the statues, they looked as if they were straight from Egypt itself. Old and crumbling, the murals and carvings had shown how strong the Egyptians had been, and how their glorious empire had ended, much like that of the vampires.

He stopped when he stepped in front of the Statue of Horus, son of Osiris and Isis. The large, bird-headed statue forced his thoughts get darker. He started to wonder how far he could make it if he ran.

“It’s nice to know you admire me, Yerick.”

Yerick jumped and looked side to side. The voice was coming from the statue.

“You have failed me again, Yerick, I cannot tolerate any more failure from you.”

A tall tan man walked out from behind the statue. His hair was a streaked pale grey, and he wore an expensive grey suit, adorned with gold buttons and trim. The Egyptian man wore gold and turquoise rings on all his fingers, complementing his lavish necklace. His teeth were bright white, and his chin cleanly shaven.

Yerick knelt to the ground quickly. If Horus was going to punish him for his failure, it’d be quick. “Master, I...”

“Quiet Yerick, your apologies are a waste of time here.” His voice was as coarse as the sand. The tall man walked over to the groveling vampire and held out his right hand, “But do not worry Yerick, you are forgiven.”

A rush of relief came over Yerick as he took the man’s hand and kissed his ring, “But I failed you, Horus.” Yerick’s thoughts raced about his mind. What had happened? He finally pushed the thoughts aside and accepted the forgiveness.

The tall man grabbed Yerick’s hand and pulled him up. “Yes you have, but you also brought me the traitor, Andrelle, and you have uncovered who our enemies are in this dark time.”

Yerick wasted no time in revealing all he knew about what had happened at the restaurant, “The girl is being guarded by agents of the Institute, a woman with an axe, who is quite deadly despite her appearance. A psychic who is more cowardly than a beat dog, and an Agent, he is quite experienced in the supernatural.”

“And of course, Mr. Bartlett.” Horus interrupted Yerick and turned down the hallway, waving for Yerick to follow, “Mr. Bartlett and I had a deal, a deal which he has just broken. And this is very odd indeed, for him to go against me would mean that something very important to him was at risk.”

“The girl maybe,” Yerick questioned the lead vampire.

Horus chuckled to himself from his underling’s comment, “He knew about the girl the same time we did, it is something else altogether, but never mind that, we have more important matters. I have a feast to attend with my purebloods.” Horus smiled. His fangs were unusually long.

The vampires’ footsteps echoed in the quiet hall, creating an eerie ambiance, one only found in haunted houses.

“After your first failure I had to think one step ahead, play one move ahead of our opponents. I haven’t been clan leader all these years by putting my faith in others,” Horus’ head slightly turned to see Yerick out of the corner of his eye, “Always have a backup plan.”

Horus reached the doors at the end of the hallway. They matched the set that Yerick had entered through earlier, same carvings, same merciless stare. Horus raised his hands to open the door.

“Mr. Bartlett said you were afraid to set foot in his restaurant? What did he mean?” Yerick said the words and realized what he had done. His lack of social understanding would be his undoing now. He was just forgiven and now he had ruined himself. He cringed back a bit, expecting the worst.

Horus froze in place, staying silent as a predator waiting for its kill. Horus head slightly turned, “What?” His eyes opened wide and his neck flexed, producing rage induced veins.

Yerick swallowed the lump in his throat hard. He knew he should have kept his mouth shut. “Mr. Bartlett he…”

Yerick was cut off by the sudden jolt from Horus. The lead vampire turned and grabbed Yerick by the throat and lifted him into the air in a fraction of a second. The master vampire’s speed was matched by no one, not even his cousin.

Horus raised the vampire as high as his arms could reach, “I am afraid of no one!” His voice changed from the coarse sand, to storm in the desert. Horus started floating into the air until he reached the celling. “That means even Mr. Bartlett!” Horus bit his lip with his fangs, and the blood started to drip downwards. The plop of blood hitting the ground was heard like a mine exploding an unlucky traveler.

Yerick stared in terror at the eyes of his master. He could see the fire of rage deep within his soul. This was it for Yerick, he knew it deep inside.

Horus slowly floated back down to the ground, and quickly dropped Yerick, the vampire crumpled to the ground. Horus adjusted his suit, and took a deep breath, calming himself. “Yerick, since the untimely demise of Braddok, you are now my enforcer.” He took another deep breath. “You are loved by the half-bloods, for who knows why, so you will now be in charge of our soldiers.”

Yerick rubbed his throat and let a fake smile creep upon his face. He could only think of what would happen if he screwed up again.

Horus turned and swung the golden doors open.

Yerick quickly got to his feet and followed the lead vampire into his lair. He took two steps inside and stood in awe at the large machine in the middle of the room. The massive device stretched high up to the dome celling, with a small computer screen at the base. Wires and pipes were spread all throughout the room, and a glass container just big enough to hold a person was perched on top.

Horus walked up to a computer and typed a few lines of code. The machine started humming and whizzing to life. Electricity flowed through it with tremendous power. The humming started getting louder and louder, like a waterfall crashing downwards. Yerick covered his ears to drown out the sound.

Horus turned to Yerick and raised his arms, “This is the future of our race!” His smile opened wider than natural, or at least Yerick thought so.

Yerick’s heart started pounding with excitement. He started to get caught up in the power of the device. He could only start to imagine what such a machine would do.

Then the room went black. All the humming and whizzing was gone in an instant, the sound sucked from the room by an unknown force.

Yerick uncovered his ears, hearing a slight ringing left over from the machine, “What happened?”

Horus turned back to the computer. It was slightly lit. Horus typed a bit more and the lights came back on. “The machine uses massive amounts of power, more than I can supply it. More than anyone on Earth can supply it.” Horus’s smile faded.

Yerick moved closer to the machine, still intrigued at what the machine was. He could feel a slight trace of electricity flowing through the air. “What does it do, Master? If I may ask?”

Horus loosened his necktie and cuffs, “Let me inform you with a little history Yerick, the history of our clan that so many of you choose to neglect. But I remember, I remember every injustice done to our people.”

Horus pulled off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, he then turned to the machine and opened a smoking hatch. A billow of smoke shot out and into the lair. Horus turned to Yerick, “Back in the ancient days of Egypt, Vampires ruled the world of man, as they did throughout the world. But we Egyptians had our rule solidified with man-slaves as a workforce, we could accomplish anything. To make that rule long lasting and complete, my father, the Pharaoh, used the enslaved race of man to build a device that would ensure the dominance of vampire over man for all days to come. My father had them slave away their days building his great pyramid, his construct of human domination, but he was soon thwarted, thwarted by the first vampire hunter, Moses.”

Yerick let out a scoff, “Moses? As in the bible?” He started laughing to himself.

Horus eyes squinted slightly at the mockery. He folded his arms and waited for the vampire to finish. Filth like Yerick were necessary to his agenda, a slight compromise he had to make to progress his dream, his father’s dream.

Yerick quickly became silent at the sight of his masters rage fomenting.

“Yes, Moses, vampire hunter might be overplaying his roll, because he did not do it alone. The God of man stepped in and aided him with all the wrath of the prayers of the oppressed people we controlled. Plagues that only affected our kind, meteors falling from the sky, our crop and livestock died off, yet somehow, man was unaffected by all of this. Finally, the last of man’s wrath was the killing of our first born. My older brother was taken by some affliction and died overnight. After this my father’s sorrow was too much, and he let the race of man go, before their God destroyed us all.”

Horus turned to the hatch now empty of smoke and pulled out a small metal box burnt to a crisp.

“I did not know that happened, I was under the impression that the Bible was somewhat correct on its writings,” Yerick took the box from Horus and threw it in the trash.

“The victor always writes the history, Yerick. They rewrote us into an oppressive race of man, like the vermin they are. They tried to blot us out from history. That wasn’t the end though. After man had left our cities my father grew angry with them, and he sent hundreds of his best warriors after them, with my father leading them at the front lines. My father and his soldiers were all bent on destroying the people that had killed their sons and brought the vampire race under such affliction. At the Red Sea, Moses took his final stand, holding off our warriors long enough for his people to get to safety. Then on the floors of the sea, their God lifted Moses to the sky, and the Red Sea crashed down, killing my father and dealing the final blow to our empire, and here we are today, scrapping by on the bottom of the food chain.”

Horus turned to his machine, “And soon I will have the power to turn it on completely, and finish my father’s work of domination.” Horus stared at the machine in awe.

Confusion spread across Yerick face, “I thought you said nothing on Earth could power it?”

Horus turned back to his underling, snapped out of his dreams of grandeur. “That is why we need the girl.” Yerick stood in place still confused by his master’s plan. His eyes were caught by the glass container on top of the machine.

“But no time to dwell on this machine, Yerick. It’s dinner time! Come, follow me to the dining hall. Our guests are waiting.” Horus quickly turned and headed for a set of doors opposite the ones they had just entered.

Yerick left the machine behind and caught up to Horus, following Horus around the circular room. Horus rolled his sleeves down and pulled his jacket over his shoulders.

Horus reached the doors and threw them open quickly. He stepped into a lavishly decorated dining area with a large dark oak table in the middle. Red carpets covered floors, while turquoise drapes, with gold pyramids plastered about them, hung around the room. Horus took his place at the head of the table, standing next to a beautiful women dressed in a red gown.

Yerick took a step inside, seeing several familiar faces around the table. They all looked like pure-bloods, born vampire, instead of turned. They all had brought dates as well, and they sat around the gold trimmed table. He walked up behind Horus who was whispering something into the lady’s ear. Horus then spoke over the conversations going around the table. He raised a glass, “Attention guests of this glorious night!”

The people at the table all turned to their gracious host, all smiling and eyeballing the succulent food on the table. Gold cutlery and turquoise napkins were placed at every seat. The aromas filled the air and the patrons readied themselves for the feast of a lifetime. The patrons raised glasses into the air, mimicking the master vampire.

Horus let the silence settle in a bit longer, and then, “Let the feast begin!” He turned to the woman in red next to him and jerked her head back, biting deep into her throat. Some of the blood squirted out onto Yerick’s face.

The other guest shouted in horror as their dates to the party started sprouting fangs and tearing into their flesh like beasts. Soon, blood covered the table and all the food atop it, and then, it slowly dripped to the red carpet below.

The screams soon died out, and the sound of blood suckers filled the air.

Yerick wiped the blood from his face with his hand and licked it off slowly. It was truly a vicious sight to behold. “I guess it pays to be number two, rich blood always tastes better.” He whispered to himself, and then he pounced on the nearest guest, sucking sweet red liquor out of her body.