The Feeding House (24 page)

Dreno
pulled Isaac up onto his knees by his hair, and pointed his head up to the sky exposing his throat.

“
You were always weak,” said Dreno as he looked into Isaac’s eyes.

Dreno
lifted the knife high up into the air and sliced down. A look of shock filled Dreno’s face as he looked down to see that just before the knife had hit Isaac’s throat, he had caught Dreno’s arm. Isaac was filled with determination as he kept hold of Dreno’s struggling arm and got to his feet. Dreno struggled further trying to stop Isaac from over powering him as slowly Isaac forced his arm to begin to bend and release the knife.

The knife fell out of
Dreno’s hand and Isaac caught it before it hit the floor, Dreno could not believe what was happening as he looked at Isaac’s broken face, he saw a look of power that he had never seen before.

Isaac lifted the knife “Good bye my brother,” with that he sliced down hard on
Dreno’s neck and watched as his head rolled across the floor and Dreno’s limp and lifeless body fell to the ground before his feet.

Isaacs’s knees began to give way and Jack ran up to catch him moments before he fell, helping him lay down on the ground. Although Isaac had managed to kill
Dreno he was wounded in a way that even his vampiric body could not recover from, he had shown that his love for humanity was not in fact a weakness but was instead something that he could draw great power from even in the very moments before death.

Jack held Isaac’s head up for support “You did it,” began Jack as he tried to hold back his grief knowing soon his friend would die “You’ve saved everyone, you’re a hero you know that.”

Isaac lent over to Jack, his voice was weak and husky “Help me to my feet, there’s something I need to say that everyone must hear.”

Jack helped Isaac slowly stand up, balancing Isaac’s weight on his shoulders “
Listen to me all of you,” Said Isaac as the vampires watched on “There is no need to fight each other, just like there is no reason to be stuck here in the feeding houses under a tyrant. The reason I left all that time ago was not because of any reason that Dreno may have given you, it was because he had hidden a discovery from you all that would change everything.”

Isaac coughed, he was getting weaker by the minute
“This discovery was blood fruit. It is a way that we can feed without the need to kill humans, It is a better way and will build a better future for all of us. I am appointing the man standing next to me, Jack Crowe as my successor. I have taught him all he needs to know to lead our race into a brighter tomorrow. Follow his words, he continues my legacy.”

Isaac began to fall once again, Jack supported his head, and he knew that death was soon to be upon him now. “Isaac, I don’t know how to lead the vampires are you sure that I am the best person to put in charge, surely there must be someone else.”

Isaac coughed and then smiled at Jack “You know I always knew I saw something special in you, some said that I was mad to go after you but I knew that you were different. Jack, I cannot think of a better person for the job and I can die happily knowing that you are continuing on, now go and make things right.”

Jack grabbed Isaacs hand and slowly as Isaac’
s eyes began to close, his grip became lighter until Jack put Isaac’s hand down onto his chest. Isaac was dead, but never had anyone died for a better cause. He mourned for a moment and then got up to face the vampires and see what their reaction would be to him being crowned High Chancellor.

The hall was silent, and one of the vampires began to approach Jack. The vampire stood directly in front of him and Jack prepared himself for a fight. The vampir
e began to speak “All hail the High Chancellor,” he cried.

“All hail the High C
hancellor,” responded every vampire in the room as they all got down onto one knee and bowed their heads, Jack looked over them and for the first time it fully hit him that they had won, now it was time to begin his new world. As he looked down into his coat pocket he saw the doll and realised what he had to do before anything else.

“Take me to the machines,” said Jack as the vampires rose to their feet “We are destroying each and every one.”

Jack and the vampires went down stairs and began to unplug the machines, Jack could not stand the sound of the screaming children and was happy to hear the horrible noise slowly dying away as each and every child was unplugged from the machines and the machines were destroyed one by one.

Jack was looking for one specific child though and began to run to where he remembered the little girl was. Eventually he found here and could not believe his eyes, he was finally back to rescue her j
ust like he had always promised. She was weak but she still had plenty of life in her and Jack was overjoyed to see that she was still alive, that she had still been holding onto life.

Jack quickly shut the machine down and began to get the girl out. He picked her up and lifted her down so that she was resting against the wall “You’re going to be ok,” Jack pushed the hair out of the young girls face “I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m here to help.
Look I brought Annie,” Jack pulled the doll out of his pocket and handed it to the girl, she smiled.

“I remember you,” said he girl, her voice was weak “I hoped every day that you would come back, to save me,” The girl held the doll tighter as she fell asleep from exhaustion.

Jack lifted the girl up and carried her in his arms all the way up to the room that he had first put her in when she arrived at the feeding house. He laid her down in the bed and tucked her in, and as he went to leave he looked back.

“Mary,” said the little girl as she turned in the bed, woken by the light in the hall.

“I’m sorry, what?” said Jack.

“My name is Mary,” she replied.

“Mary my names Jack and I promise you, I am always going to look after you. Nothing bad will ever happen to you again, not on my watch.”

Jack turned to leave but stopped as Mary began to speak “I’m glad that you finally followed what your heart told you is right,” Jack smiled and closed the door
, Mary was right and he knew that Isaac would be proud of him.

A few days after the
appointment of Jack as the new High Chancellor, it was the funeral of Isaac and Dreno. Jack wanted Dreno to be buried with dignity as well because this was a new age and as such he wanted to start it with the ending of the old age. What better way to start that than to bury two of the most powerful vampires of times gone by.

Both Isaac and
Dreno were in elaborate black coffins and were buried next to one another in the grounds of the feeding house, with great headstones that told the story of who they were. Every vampire from the feeding house and beyond were in attendance and all of them paid their respects not to Dreno but to Isaac. They begged for his forgiveness and realised what a mistake they had all truly made in putting their faith in Dreno.

Jack stood mourning over Isaacs’s grave as he
held Marys hand. Even in the short space of time since Jack had rescued them they had become great friends and Jack had adopted her as his own daughter. She knew that he would keep his promise to protect her forever and the two of them had become inseparable. She held her doll Annie in her other hand and the doll served as a constant reminder to Jack that he must forever continue working to fulfil Isaac’s legacy.

Jack stayed at Isaac’s grave for a long time
even after everyone else had left. He remembered the good times that they had shared together and he thought about how much he wished that Isaac could see all the good work that he was doing. Whatever it was that Isaac had seen in Jack, he was trying to make sure that he didn’t disappoint.

Over the next year Jack made some drastic changes in how the feeding houses were run and how the vampire race lived and fed. No longer were the feeding houses places of death and blood but instead the grounds of the feeding houses were now used to grow fields of blood fruit, that all of the residents could feed upon whenever they needed to.

It became a much healthier and happier environment to be in and most of the vampires quickly adjusted, of course there were some who couldn’t or simply didn’t want to adjust and they still, after a year, continued to cause Jack trouble. They formed their own nests and would kidnap and feed on people, but slowly Jack and many other vampires were hunting down each and every one of these rogues.

Vampires now lived amongst humans and many vampires chose no
t to live at the feeding houses. Instead they chose to build businesses in towns and cities where they could live normal lives, well as close as they were going to get. No longer did one single vampire rule over the whole food supply and the world was a better place for it. In fact Jack actively encouraged vampires to grow their own blood fruit and soon families of vampires were living happily away from the feeding houses on their own farms or in their own houses in the towns.

Not a day goes by when
he doesn’t visit Isaacs grave and tells him about what changes he’s making. Jack knows that Isaac would have been proud of him for what he had done and what he continued to do. Jack always tries, even now, to make sure that he remembers the time that he spent with Isaac and, although sometimes it made him sad that Isaac wasn’t around anymore, he always remembers that he died for the greater good.

It will take still more time for the vampiric world to properly adjust to the change and things are still far from perfect, but it’s a start on a long road to
make up for the mistakes of the past. With Jack leading the way to a better tomorrow and with Mary by his side reminding him each and every day why humanity is so important, Jack was finally living up to the promises that he had made all that time ago.

THE END