Dracula: Vampire Primarch

B Plus was quite delicious.

A little thick, with notes of dark chocolate and just the faintest peppery hint of paprika. It left a fine savory aftertaste that reminded me of warm summer nights when a breeze would drag whispers of smoke and fried onions up from the valley below and through my castle's window.

I smiled as I licked the last precious drop from her neck and nodded.

I hadn't thought of blood like this before, I think.

I'm sure I must have enjoyed its flavour, but not considering blood had Types might have left me blaming the individual's personal habits or diet rather than anything I could categorise.

Making a mental note to keep a log of the various flavours I encountered in future, I patted the corpse's cheek and stood a little steadier. My body still felt weak, but also warmer.

I could feel the blood pushing at my Meridians before being lost to the ether. I would need to repair them first. It would make the drinking of blood more efficient again. I shouldn't have to drink this much to feel slightly warm.

Sighing, I turned to the three girls to find Molly frantically tapping away at a shiny little device in her hand. Light glowed from its face, and I frowned at it in a way that made Vela shiver.

"It's a phone, Master," she told me, as though I knew what that was. "We use it to communicate to each other. We'll show you how to use one soon. Hina has already prepared one for you back at the apartment."

I put that information aside. If I was to find out later, there was no need to push it for now. I was already impatient to leave this place. There was so much to do.

Molly glanced up at me, her eyes bright with curiosity. "On a scale of one to five, how much did you like her blood, Master?"

"Three," I said firmly. Then paused, reconsidering. "And a half."

She gave me a thumbs up and tapped away. "I'm making a note of her blood Type, but also her age, occupation and other relevant details."

"The Type is more important," Hina sniffed.

"But we don't know that for sure, Hina," Molly said, her expression suddenly mischievous. "It could be lots of different things. It might even be something like boob size, couldn't it? Some posters in the forums say they met vampires who swear it's true. They say the bigger the boobs, the tastier the blood."

Hina snorted. "Ridiculous."

Molly's eyes dropped to Hina's smaller cleavage. "Yes, well. Maybe if we can find someone else with B Minus blood who has boobs, we can test your theory. I'm sure Master won't mind confirming it for us, would you, Master?"

My first response was to chide her for her silliness.

But a number kept floating in my thoughts. Three thousand. Three thousand dead girls.

For me.

I would endure her silliness, I told myself. Besides, she was genuinely trying to please me.

"We will discuss it later," I promised gently.

"I'll also start making flavour profiles," she said, excitement in her eyes. "Just like how they profile wine. Or whiskey. I don't think anyone's ever done it for blood. It's so exciting. Isn't it, Hina?"

Hina's eyes smouldered at the other Renfield's words, and she opened her mouth to snap something back, but I held my hand up and cut her off.

"Vela," I said, turning to the one I thought most sensible for now. "Lead me to this apartment you have for me. I need some time alone."

"Of course, Master," she said, dipping her head. "Hina will lead you. It's not far. Molly and I will tidy up here. I'm afraid we all need to walk. The Cloaked are searching all cars, and there's patrols everywhere. So you'll need to be careful."

"I'll protect him with my life," Hina swore, her fingers curling into tight little fists.

I wasn't sure how the small woman would fare against a vampire. She didn't look strong enough. But she also didn't seem to doubt herself, so I guessed she'd had at least a little experience.

Still. It didn't bode well that three thousand Renfields had died retrieving me.

With a guilty wince, I patted the book in my hands and pushed that uncharitable thought aside.

"I am in your hands," I said.

The black-haired vampire shot a small smirk at Molly before leading me from the room. She walked in a way which emphasised each small step. Like she was stuttering along. It should have made it frustrating to follow her, but she wasn't slow.

In fact, in my current state, I found it a challenge to keep up with her.

At the end of a small corridor, she paused at a door to press some buttons on a small box. There was a sharp little beep, and then a dull clunk from inside the door as it popped open an inch.

Cold air brought with it a greasy stench with odours both familiar and alien.

Turning to me, she looked me up and down, clearly assessing my skeletal form.

And trying to hide her disappointment.

"I am not as weak as I look, Renfield," I told her. "I can easily pick you up and throw you all the way back up the hall."

"I'm more worried about how strong you are compared to other vampires, Master. Right now, I think Vela is right. We should be cautious." She pursed her lips. "Very cautious, ne?"

"I'll trust your guidance," I said, feeling a little insulted but at the same time not stupid enough to ignore the fact that this was, essentially, a new world to me. She had more experience here and I wasn't stupid enough to disregard that experience.

The differences between the world of my past and the world of now was made clearer to me as she shouldered the door open and we entered a dark alley.

The stink of garbage, piss, and rot was the first thing to hit me.

Puddles of putrid fluids slick with slime and grease.

Overflowing bins.

Trash littering the ground.

My first thought was everything was still the same as before. But then I looked up.

And, instead of just stars, I saw towers. Gleaming and bright, each lit with crisp lights from within like beacons.

I stared up at them in awe.

I had never seen such tall structures. Not in Paris. Not in Berlin. And not even London.

I couldn't help the words breathing across my lips; "What is this place?"

"New York," she growled, picking her way through the trash. "It's disgusting. Tokyo is better, Master. We should relocate there as soon as possible. You'll like it, I promise. It has mochi. Real mochi."

"Hmm?" I couldn't take my eyes off the towers.

I heard a metallic slide and click and glanced over to find she had a rather large weapon in her hand. So large that I had no idea where she'd pulled it out from.

There was absolutely no way it could fit under her skirt.

Where had it come from?

"An FN-P90 submachine gun," she announced happily, giving the long pink barrel a gentle caress. It was covered in little bat-eared faces and had Kuromi scrawled on the side in glittery pink. "Special Edition Tactical version with suppressor. Custom 5.7mm rounds. Oak wood cores, silver shells, and a sprinkle of sparkly phosphorous. Pyaa! Dusts mean old bloodsuckers dead. Oh. Umm. No offence, Master…"

"None taken," I said drily.

She held the weapon up in front of her small chest, presenting it eagerly. "Isn't she pretty, though?"

The manic grin she wore wasn't something I had expected from her.

I had no idea what she was talking about, but I dimly recalled seeing guns before and this resembled one, though clearly much more advanced.

"Yes," I said slowly, reaching out to move the barrel from pointing at me with a fingertip. "It's very pretty."

Hina let out a quick giggle, then emotion left her face again and she gave me a strict frown as though I'd been the one giggling. "Follow close, Master. We need to keep to the shadows as much as possible."

Stumbling into the street behind her, I was struck by the thought that perhaps I had gone mad. That the extended torpor had splintered not just my memory, but my mind.

The world was that different.

Black asphalt streets crisscrossed each other in all directions, pockmarked with deep potholes and gaping craters. Steam billowed up from rancid-smelling drains. Buildings flanked the streets, squatting in the shadows of the impossibly tall towers rising behind them. There were more towers than I could count.

And lights!

So many lights. Lights from lamps above. Lights blazing within the tower windows. Colourful lights flashing from shops in the street. Everywhere I looked there were lights.

I flinched from one as we stepped under it, its glare forcing me to squint.

"What magic is this?" I muttered.

Hina glanced back, unfazed. "Not magic. Electricity. Science, ne?"

"Hmm."

I knew that, once upon a time, I believed vampires were the final evolutionary step of man. That we would rise above mortals and be like gods. But now?

Now, I wasn't so sure.

A loud mechanical wail split the night, shrieking its warning. Moments later, a low rhythmic rumble swelled into a roar as a flying vehicle soared above our heads like a buzzing steel dragon. Lights flashed along its tail.

I stared, mouth agape, unable to believe what I was seeing.

She must have been lying to me. How could this not be magic?

Hina snatched my arm and dragged me quickly into an alcove until it passed, but I watched as it swept between two towers. Streams of light speared down from its nose. The beams zigzagged in a way which left me breathless.

It was hunting.

My heart raced as she tugged me back out into the street, only to swerve abruptly into another alley.

Without warning, her steps stuttered to a halt, and she let go of my wrist to flick a switch on her weapon. Then gave me a grim look I knew well from my years on battlefields across Europe. Some things didn't need conscious memories to confirm.

"Master," she whispered softly, lifting the weapon. "They're here."

And the shadows erupted with violence.