King of the Damned

Part 1 - The Party

* Estrilda (Saxon origin) meaning "star, battle," maybe the new Goddess of Dawn.

It was that time again. Every 200 years, Estrilda had to find a new human to turn into one of her kind. It was no small undertaking. They had to be strong in mind, spirit AND body. The changing was a very intense process, and not everyone survived it.

She always thought it was funny how folklore - and later on, Hollywood - made it seem like one small bite would immediately change someone into one of the Damned. If that were the case, the world would have been run over by their kind ages ago.

No, it took time, patience, no small amount of pain.... and the right choice of a human. She had failed more than she had succeeded, especially in the early years before she really figured out the best way to keep her chosen alive through the change - and to keep them under control during their fledgling years. Because if they lost control, then all that work and preparation was for naught... because then it was her responsibility as their Master to end their existence permanently.

They had rules, her kind. And she knew them well. After all, she wrote most of them. Wrote them to keep her kind safe. To keep the humans unaware. To ensure their survival. She was one of the first. They had dubbed her Queen of The Damned, even though there was no official monarchy. But she wasn't mad about the title. It was pretty appropriate. She carried herself with the air of royalty, of superiority, of confidence, despite having humble origins before she herself was turned by The Original. If there was a female equivalent to having Big Dick Energy, she had it. In spades.

One of the rules was that she needed to find a new fledgling every 200 years. A soldier to train, to help keep her small army strong, to continue the line of her kind. More often than that, and humans would notice. Plus, it took a minimum of two centuries in order for them to truly come into their own power, to no longer require her blood to sustain them, and have the self control and strength necessary to leave her Seethe. If they so chose. After 200 years, when they were no longer a new fledgling, she gave them a choice: Stay in her Seethe, live as family, or go on their own way in the world as Lone Ones. Either way, they remained bound her to call, and their duties as soldiers of the Damned. She had only to call upon them through their bond, and anyone who left must return to fight if necessary. They were not the only non-humans in this world, and there had been no small amount of wars between The Others when one group or another decided that since humans were mostly food, they should be treated as such, and THEY should rule the world.

Morons. They had no understanding of the symbiosis necessary between prey and predator. After having lived in this world with humans for over 1500 years, she understood that the only way for all of them to survive was if the humans remained blissfully unaware of their existence - continuing to make the discoveries and advances in evolution the world required to keep functioning. With a little nudge in the right direction here and there, of course.

Tomorrow night there would be a full moon on All Hallows Eve - Samhain, Halloween, whatever people were calling it nowadays. The ideal time to begin the change. She discovered that it was easier for the soul to transition when the veil between the dead and the living was at its weakest. She just needed to find the right human to offer immortality to.... Which is why she was at this awful costume party. They were happening all weekend, as humans were more than happy to have an excuse to drag out the utter debauchery of dressing up to act like someone else and live out whatever fantasy their normal clothes wouldn't allow them to live out.

Waste of a life, if you asked her. If you weren't going to do all the things you wanted to do, what was the point? Mortal's lives were so short, they really should take full advantage of the time they had. She didn't see why the clothes they wore dictated their actions, but it did make it slightly easier for her to blend in, as well as feed and find who she needed while their guards were down. So she wasn't complaining.