Passion for Blood

Chapter 1

When we were children, we were always told stories about the undead living among us. We were always told to be careful who we trusted or who we let into our homes because it could very well be one of them ready to claim its next victim. In a world where humans believed they were the most important predators in the kingdom, most realized that was no longer the case and that a new species had emerged that no one knew how it had come to be or where it had come from. Bloodied corpses adorned the streets and terrified the city. In 1789, a council was formed by the four families, the Huxleys, the Collins, the Elwoods and the Bakers to prevent these creatures from causing further deaths. Over the years, the situation was moved underground to keep peace in the streets. My family was part of the council from the beginning. It became mandatory that the oldest male member of one of the four families on the council take the place of his fathers when he reached the age of majority.

They become either a councillor or a hunter. As for women, their duties are to nurse the sick, become record bookkeepers or act as messengers; otherwise, we have no other duty in the council.

Hearing screams from the hallway, I jerk my head up to find the cause. Doors burst open and women rush in carrying another injured soul. I get up and rush to them to help. "I need morphine," one of the women says. I rush to the cabinets and find the medicine and a syringe. after putting the medicine in, I rush back to give the man a shot. "Hold him still, I can not do anything when he's moving around so much," I say. As if on cue, two men come in to hold him down, and once he's still, I take the syringe and inject the morphine. Halfway through, the man starts to calm down, so I finish it off. " Whew!" another nurse says. "I was beginning to think he'd never shut up," she jokes, " Grace!" I say sternly and look at her " What?" she asks " I was just kidding Madeleine" I roll my eyes and put the syringe on the side table.

I take a pair of surgical gloves, put them on, and begin to examine the man. I look everywhere for his wound, from bottom to top. I turn his head to the side and freeze in place.

I look closely to make sure I have not made a mistake. "He's been bitten," I hear one of the men who helped me earlier say. "How long ago was that?", I ask, still looking at the bite mark on his neck. " Almost 24 hours," he says more quietly. When a human has been bitten by one of them, there are two possibilities: Either he turns into one of them, or he dies a horrible death as his body rejects the bite. A death I have seen far too many times after 5 years as a nurse." He will not make it either way," I say, taking off my gloves. " What do you mean?" He asks with a confused look on his face. " It's been

way too long since he's been bitten, which means he could turn, and if he does, the council will kill him." " And if he does not turn?" " Then the poison will end his life. Either way, there is no hope for this man." I say, looking up at the man. "That's another man that fell this week," I hear him mutter.

" Madeleine, your brother is asking for you," says a messenger behind us. "Excuse me," I say to the man and make my way out of the infirmary. As I open the doors, the stench of factory smoke and pollution from all over London rises to my nose. I walk through the quarter to the eastern building where the hunter's grounds are located. The grounds are considerably large, mainly because there is so much going on. The grounds are divided into four buildings: the east building where the hunters and their training grounds are located, the west building where the infirmary and hospital are located, my grounds, the north building for the council members, and the south building where the creatures are held, which can only be entered by hunters and council members are to enter there otherwise it's completely off-limits. Throughout my entire life, I have never once encountered or seen a creature.

Though I am a nurse and have treated wounded souls from these things, my brothers never wanted me to see what they look like, but I have heard from others that they look and act just like us, with the only difference being that they live off the blood of humans. I have heard other stories from patients who said their eyes are hollow, a black hole that pulls you in with no escape, and I can not say I do not believe them. Others have said they have inhuman abilities, quick reflexes, faster than any animal and the strength of a hundred men. When I hear such things, I never want to meet such a monster.