Yerick’s fangs flashed through his smile as he entered the room. To his right were all the tools of torture he could wish for, to his left were all the tools of death he hoped for, and in front of him was the traitor, Andrelle.

Yerick waltzed around her and sniffed the air; freshly burned wood smoked in a nearby stove. He tightened the straps that held her to the chair and sat right in front of her, staring her in the eyes.

She smiled at him, receiving the same in return. She then spat in his face, laughing to herself.

Yerick stood and wiped the spit from his face, “I don’t think you understand the severity of your situation, Andrelle.”

The female vampire kept laughing, “Oh, you can use big words now? That’s a welcome surprise. Unlike your mother when she had you.”

Yerick snarled and punched the lady vampire in the face. Blood started to trickle from her mouth. Andrelle’s laughter died out instantly. She kept a hard stare on the vampire in front of her. She would kill him if it was the last thing she did.

“That’s better, some silence for once,” Yerick strode over to the torture table and started perusing the instruments of her demise. “Horus says I must make an example out of you. An example others won’t soon forget.” Yerick moved behind a camera he had placed in front of Andrelle. The video would be spread throughout the vampire clans once Horus took control of the new world. It would keep all the others in line, so Yerick had to make it terrifying.

Yerick bent down and examined a large metal poker. He picked it up from the table and stuck it into the woodstove nearby.

Andrelle winced as she saw what the man was planning to do, “An example?” She swallowed the large lump in her throat, but it moved nowhere.

Yerick chuckled to himself, “Not so funny now are we?”

Andrelle spit blood from her mouth, “My friends will be here soon, and when they get here you’ll be torn apart limb by limb.”

Yerick laughed out again, his amusement intensifying with every objection, “Your friends are beaten and have forgotten all about you. Not even that coward psychic can find this place. I wager they are now heading for the hills, hiding under any rock they can find.”

Anger rose in Andrelle, “He may be a coward, but he’ll have more power than you can ever dream of.”

Yerick went silent and came close to Andrelle, “After tonight,” he bent closer and licked the blood off of the side of her face, “I will have all the power in the world. No one will stop me. Horus will rule all, and I will serve as his number two.”

Andrelle took the chance and pushed her head forward, biting on to Yericks’s ear, pulling back as quick as she could. The ear ripped off of the man’s head and blood spouted out of the wound. Andrelle spat the ear out and laughed.

Yerick yelled out in pain, he then rushed over to the stove and pulled out the heated poker. He slowly walked over to the woman tied to the chair and held the red hot end near her face. Blood was still pumping from his wound.

Blood started to drip down to his chin as he pointed to his scarred cheek, “You gave me a nice scar, now it’s my turn.” He touched the poker to the side of her face. Andrelle let out a loud scream as the superheated rod burned her flesh. A large smile possessed Yerick’s face as he pulled the rod away. A large burn scorched the side of Andrelle’s face, small blisters sprouting instantly.

Yerick set down the poker and stepped in front of her, “See? Now we’re like twins.”

Andrelle’s eyes burned into the man’s skull, “You will always be Horus’s little dog. Eating what he gives you, barking when he says so, getting beaten for failing like you have so many times before. You’ll have no power, not now, not ever. You are just the trash that has yet to be taken out.”

Andrelle took a deep breath, pushing the pain aside, “You are a pitiful excuse for a vampire, the scum at the bottom of the food chain, and Horus knows this, that is why he keeps you around, because you will never amount to anything, and he doesn’t have to worry about your pathetic self, trying to overthrow him. You are weak, weaker than the psychic.”

Yerick scowled at the woman in front of him, his anger raging throughout his body. No one would speak to him this way. He was powerful, he was in control. He looked to the table on his left. He ran over to it, almost knocking it over. He pulled up a wooden stake and calmly walked up to Andrelle, pushing the hair from his face.

“And the only way you could ever get a woman like me, is by tying me up like the coward you are. Go ahead, you weak little…”

Yerick growled out, “Shut your mouth, bitch, I’ll show you!” Yerick lifted the stake over his head, and without hesitation, he slammed it hard into her chest.

Andrelle screamed and suddenly, her head dropped lifelessly, like a puppet cut from its strings. Yerick took a step back and waited for her body to disintegrate into flames. It was his favorite part of killing his own kind. The fire felt reassuring to him. Several moments passed yet her body still remained, and then in a quick moment, her head jerked up, breath rushing into her lungs.

Horus washed his hands and proudly looked at himself in the mirror. A tall, dark, handsome man stood before him. His greying hair made him look more sophisticated, a leader in dark times. A man countless others looked to for leadership or at least that is what he imagined he would look like.

The image faded, and the mirror was void of anything but the wall behind Horus. He turned and left the bathroom, straightening his black robes as he did so. Even if he could not see himself in the mirror, he knew he was a leader, he knew he was the man everyone looked up too. He held his head high. His plan was coming to an end, and it was working out perfectly. Soon he and his kind would rule the earth again, in all its beautiful darkness.

He would show all those who doubted him. Not even his cousin could defy his greatness.

Yerick was waiting for him outside, “Master, we are ready.”

Horus smiled as joy overfilled his body. “These are the final moments, Yerick, but you will not be there.”

Yerick looked confused, he stepped back preparing his self for conflict.

“I need you to take care of Andrelle, make her a lesson to all those who would betray me in the future. Film it, make sure it is gruesome, something I know you can handle.” He gave the lesser vampire a reassuring nod.

Yerick grinned like a child praised by his father, “As you wish master.” Yerick ran off down the hallway, hurrying to get to his latest victim.

Horus’s face turn disgusted as Yerick rounded the corner. Lesser vampires like Yerick gave them all a bad name. He would need to do something to rid himself of that scum, but for now, Horus had an audience to attend too. The real vampires that held noble blood in their veins, the pure bloods that would rule the new world, shrouded in darkness.

Horus marched triumphantly down the hall. He faced the set of doors, he coughed to clear his throat, and then he opened them, entering to a thunderous applause from his followers, his kin. He smiled, not at the applause, not at the grandeur, but at the number of vampires that had shown up to this glorious day. It was like the old days of the Pharaoh. The masses gathered to lay eyes on their glorious leader.

Before him, the room turned into a midnight desert. Pyramids rose in the distance as he stood upon his great pedestal, overlooking the masses of his followers. His crown sat upon his head like an eagle perched upon a branch, waiting for its kill.

He let the glory and admiration fall upon him as he raised his arms upwards, accepting their gratitude. He made his way up to his pedestal, slowly lowering his hands as he did so. The applause slowly died out, and then Horus realized his reality. The vision faded, and the room was filled with black cloaked vampires looking to him as their leader. He was their Pharaoh.

Once all their eyes were laid upon him he began his practiced speech, “Brothers and sisters! We are here to once and for all regain our place as rulers of this world. We are the true kings, kings of the night, and kings over man!”

He reached down and pressed a small button beneath his pedestal. Horus knew this would start the machine in the domed observatory. He had acquired the girl and all her limitless energy. She would rise from the top in the glass container and his followers would then enter into all the magnificence of his machine, humming with unparalleled power. Horus knew his theatrics would be much appreciated. It would consolidate his power once and for all.

“The humans have hunted us for far too long. They have sent us to near extinction and plan to finish the job. They hunt us like rats, as we run from hole to hole, cowering like beat children! But I, Horus, have completed the work of my father, our ancestors, and will soon bring eternal darkness down upon this planet. We will no longer be the hunted, but, we will be the hunters. Blood will flow like the Nile, down our throats, and into our veins!”

A black cloaked follower brought a golden goblet up to Horus. He grabbed it hastily and raised it into the air, spilling out a dark red liquor, “Raise your cups, and toast with me to the destruction of our enemies. May blood flow!”

The followers all raised their glasses and began to drink the dark red liquid inside.

Horus lowered his goblet and blood dripped form his lips, “Now, follow me to our salvation. The machination of vampire might!” Horus was cut off by the burst of the doors opening in the back of the room.

A woman stood there wielding an axe. She was soon joined by a familiar face to Horus. A man in a white suit, with an eye patch over his left eye. “Mr. Bartlett.”