Something of the Night by Paul Cave Read Free Book Online Page A

found himself in an
open courtyard. To the left of the exercise yard was another set of gates like
the ones through which he’d just passed, and beyond them were the chambers that
contained the breeding cells.
    Never, not once, had he
ventured into these terrible holding pens. He had heard a lot about them;
indeed, it had been his idea to attempt to breed humans with his own
kind. Desperation and the insistent whisperings of his ‘trusted’ lieutenant,
Isaac, had clouded his judgment. Conversely, rather than producing the
provisions needed, they had instead conceived a brood of the undead.
    Ezekiel sighed.
    His people needed food, and
soon.
    The unexpected scrape of a
boot sounded from the left. Squinting, Ezekiel saw the outline of four shapes.
He took a step to his right, and the flickering light from beyond the prison
walls revealed a glint of gunmetal.
    The vampire leader took a
step closer. “What is this?” he commanded.
    A voice that Ezekiel
recognised said, “Time for a bit of fun.”
    It was a voice he’d once
trusted.
    The speaker cleared the
shadows, and Ezekiel looked upon a hideous female face.
    “Bara, what is this?” he
asked.
    A face of bloated flesh
spoke. “We’re taking this … whore for breeding.”
    Two well-muscled soldiers
stood behind the overweight vampire, holding between them the slight figure of
a young woman. The flicker of light revealed a skinny teenager, clamped tightly
between the soldiers. The teenager looked directly at the vampire leader, and
Ezekiel saw fear clear in her eyes. He looked from one soldier to the next, and
found only lust in theirs. Time for fun indeed, he thought.
    “Who gave those orders?” he
asked.
    The jailer grinned slyly.
“Brother Isaac.”
    Damn that fool, Ezekiel
thought. “My orders were to suspend any attempts to mate with these humans.”
    “But there is no food,” Bara
retorted. Her words had not been an observation but rather criticism, which was
aimed at the man standing before her.
    Ezekiel gritted his teeth. “I
am aware of the … situation, but still, there have been too many failures with
the cross-breeding.”
    “Then we’ll mate her with one
of her own kind,” Bara said.
    Ezekiel looked at the mask of
desire that the two soldiers wore. No, this young woman’s fate had already been
decided.
    “Take her back,” he ordered.
    “No …” Bara responded, in
defiance.
    Ezekiel stepped closer. The
two soldiers twitched nervously; unsure as to whom their loyalties lay towards.
    “Bara, you will do as
I say. There will be no fun tonight,” Ezekiel said wearily.
    The jailer’s face twisted
itself into a hideous contortion of anger. A long time ago, the face had been
different - almost pretty. At the beginning of the vampiric uprising she had
stood alongside the dark man before her, and had even shared his bed for a
short while. But years of gorging herself in the spill of blood had turned her
into a fat, bloated ogre.
    “Return her to her cell,”
Ezekiel instructed.
    The vampire jailer’s mouth
opened. She snarled in annoyance, four rotten fangs. With a wave of her chubby
hand, she said, “Take the bitch back to her putrid cell. I grow tired of this
fool.”
    Ezekiel looked at each
soldier individually, burning their faces onto the film of his memory. “Do as
she says,” he ordered, “but make sure she is returned unharmed, or you’ll both
be the toast of tonight’s feast.”
    Understanding exactly what
the vampire leader was telling them and, in no rush to be served on a platter,
both soldiers bowed quickly, then escorted the young woman back to the confines
of her cell.
    “What has become of you?”
Ezekiel asked Bara, once alone.
    Bara saw his look of pity. She
spat a baleful hiss in his direction. “You – Ezekiel, that’s what’s happened to
me. You’ve reduced me to a keeper of animals. What a miserable existence! I
need to feel the thrill of the hunt. When will you lead us to the humans’
lair?”
    “We will