Chapter 8: Feral Vampires

COHEN

In the shadow of the alley, I stood glaring out at the dimly lit street. It had to be nearing three in the morning and I already knew this trip was a bust.

The night was cool and felt good on my agitated body. I wanted answers and I wanted them now. I couldn’t see any stars beyond the light pollution of the city, but the moon hung low and full in the sky.

Lance strode up to me. “I called them all back in. They should be reporting back in the next five minutes or so.”

Gerald blurred into existence in front of me and gave me a nod of respect. “I didn’t find anything to the east. There were a few attacks there tonight, but by the time I reached them they were gone, and the humans were dead.”

I sighed and nodded.

Vance jogged up slower than Gerald and stopped in front of me with a nod. “Two attacks to the south but nothing left when I got there. No victims and no vampires.”

I looked to Lance and when our eyes met, I knew he had the same thought that I did. The two that were attacked had been changed. After that they’d either run away or had been taken.

Hailey came up next. “Nothing west. No attacks tonight. Last night there were several, but tonight was quiet.”

Before I could respond, Nia blurred up to us and tossed someone at my feet.

Before they could get up, I kicked them onto their back and placed my foot on their chest.

It was a male vampire. Freshly turned. His neck had no wound but was covered in crusted blood from where he’d been attacked. His mouth was covered in blood too from where he’d also done the attacking.

“I got there just as he killed one human, but it was clear he was a newborn,” Nia said.

I nodded and stared down at him. “What’s your name?”

His wild eyes shot around our group before landing back on me. He hissed through clenched teeth. I stared him down hard.

His body shuddered. “Ben,” he ground out.

“When were you turned, Ben?”

“Three nights ago?” He shook his head. “I don’t know for sure.”

I nodded. “Who turned you?”

“There were five of them. They didn’t speak. Snarled and hissed at me instead.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What do you want me to do with you? I can kill you or I can send you to a treatment center. You’re already half feral. It’ll take a while before you can be released back into society.”

Ben’s eyes darted around the group again. “Treatment.”

I nodded and waved at Gerald to take him.

Gerald grabbed Ben by the bicep and blurred him away. Gerald was one of the fastest vampires I had so I didn’t doubt that he’d be back to us in a few minutes. The treatment center was only a few miles away.

“Anything else?” I asked Nia.

She nodded. “I also found some evidence of feral packs. With what Ben said, I think that’s what’s happening here.”

I massaged the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger. That definitely seemed to be the case.

When you turned a vampire, you had to stay around them and teach them how to feed responsibly. If left alone, they’d become feral. Their instincts would lead them to find other feral vampires and then they’d become a pack. Packs were highly dangerous and disastrous.

A pack of ten feral vampires could wipe out a small town in a weekend with ease.

One of my most important roles as King was to keep control of feral vampires, but now it seemed like someone was actively working against me. I didn’t understand what there was to gain besides making vampires look bad, but only a vampire could make other vampires.

It didn’t make sense.

“What do you want to do?” Lance asked.

I shook my head. “There isn’t much more we can do tonight. Tomorrow night we’ll come back with more warriors and form hunting parties. We’ll start tracking down the pack, or packs, instead of trying to prevent attacks.”

Lance nodded. “Should we maybe send out others to patrol and prevent attacks.”

I considered it. “Yes. We’ll do both.”

Gerald blurred up, his chest covered in blood.

“What happened?” I demanded.

Gerald shook his head. “Got halfway there and he caught the scent of a human. Went crazy. Tried to kill me to get to them. He was too far gone, Boss. I had to put him down.”

I nodded. “I understand.”

And I did. Once a vampire went feral there was little that could be done for them. The treatment center could bring some back if they weren’t too far along, but usually the feral vampire had to be put down.

I’d thought Ben could still come back, but you never could tell with feral vampires.

Whoever was behind this had to be stopped. They were killing us at an alarming rate, not to mention how many humans were dying from their attacks.

Technically, you had to have permission to turn someone, and they were completely throwing that law out the window.

Whoever this was, they didn’t care about our laws or our lives. They only cared about whatever it was they were trying to achieve.

If I knew what that was, maybe I could figure out how to stop them.