Bloodlust: Sliver of Moonlight

7

Rosalina led Damien down a narrow walkway that hung above the onlookers. Damien cautiously looked over the edge, spotting dozens and dozens of vampires all conversing with each other.

"That's a lot of red eyes in one place," Damien sighed in astonishment.

"There used to be more of us," Rosalina responded, standing in front of a gold plated door, "but a lot of them either left or died. Usually it was death."

"Which begs the question," Damien asked as Rosalina entered a code in a keypad, unlocking the door, "Who's this 'us' you speak of? Some sort of rebellion group or something?"

Rosalina turned to Damien as the door creaked open behind her, "Actually, yes it is."

"Wow," Damien quipped, "I swear it just a wild guess."

"We started this years ago when Marcus and Alexandra came into power," Rosalina explained as she kept walking, "They were given this city by their mother Cassandra..."

"I am aware," Damien whispered, "And it still doesn't sound right."

"And they've been running it for the last 4 years," Rosalina continued, opening another door.

"What's bad about them?" Damien asked. Rosalina slammed the door behind them and threw Damien on the wall.

"What's bad?" Rosalina snarled "What's BAD?! Those two are cruel and tyrannical people who..."

"Rosalina," a voice called out in the room. Rosalina turned around to look at the voice. Damien moved his head lightly to see who was speaking. He looked around and noticed that they were in an ornate dining hall with a long table in the middle of the room. At the head was a middle age man with wild black hair. Rosalina dropped Damien and walked over to sit to the left of the man. Damien looked at Rosalina with anger.

"Mr. Damien Masters," the man said, "Please have a seat." The man offered the chair next to him to Damien. Reluctantly, Damien walked over and took the seat. Rosalina smirked at Damien, taking a small sip out of a golden chalice. Damien glared at her.

"Forgive my daughter," the man said, cutting a raw hunk of meat with a fork and knife, "She's a bit more aggressive than the others here."

"I've noticed," Damien sighed, keeping his eyes glued to Rosalina, "But I have a few questions for you. Starting with what the fuck is going on here?"

"Is that your only question?" the man asked, taking another bite of the raw meat.

"No. That's the what. The other questions include: who, where and why?" 

"Well first," the man responded, "would you like a drink? I sense that you are thirsty after what happened to you."

"How did you...?" Damien asked, then sighed, "I'll have a Dr. Pepper then." A vampire dressed in a black tuxedo nods and hurries to the back. A few seconds later, he returned with another golden chalice with Damien's desired Dr. Pepper.

"So for the who part," the man answered, "I am Maximus. I started this rebellion years ago. And, of course, you know my daughter, Rosalina. She is the best soldier in our rebellion, and she has led many successful missions."

"So that explains the noticeable lack of a rebellion force," Damien said under his breath, taking a sip of his drink. The table grew silent, Rosalina giving Damien a death stare.

"Unfortunately, sometimes a mission doesn't always go as planned," Maximus sighed, "There were a lot of sacrifices made along the way, but..."

"Sacrifices?!" Rosalina snapped, slamming her cup on the table. Damien jumped slightly. Her father sighed, putting his utensils down lightly.

"You sent thousands of people die out there!" Rosalina screamed at her father.

"Rosalina, that's not..." 

"Yes it was and you know it," Rosalina stormed off out of the room, leaving Maximus and Damien alone. Maximus sighed, taking a giant swig from a bottle of red liquid Damien assumed was blood.

"Her time of the month?" Damien asked.

"No no," Maximus sighed, "It's more complicated than that." Damien shrugged, draining the rest of the glass and tossing it aside.

"Now we covered the what: this is some sort of rebel group that wants to either dethrone or destroy the king and queen."

"Destroy," Maximus snarled. 

Damien choked, "Ok...destroy. You want to destroy said rulers." Damien scooted closer, looking Maximus deep in his eyes, "so why do you need me?"

Maximus sighed and stood up, "For the last two years, we have been working on a secret project: to create genetically superior hybrids."

"Ok then, Dr. Wu," Damien said, "But again: why me? I'm just a guy."

"That's not what I see," Maximus said, "I sense something special about you. Something that none of the others had..."

"Hold the phone," Damien stood up, "There were others?"

"Yes, yes, but the tests were unsuccessful," Maximus continued, "Each subject died. But you might just be the break that we have and could give us the edge in this fight." Damien looked at Maximus and shook his head. He walked over to Maximus and patted his shoulder.

"Thanks for the offer," he said, "But I'm not risking my life so you can maybe have a shot of creating some superhuman." 

Damien smiled and walked back to his little room. On his way, he looked over at this so-called rebellion. Dozens of vampires lied on cots badly wounded. Others roamed around, carrying bottles and cloths to help around. Damien sighed and kept walking to his room. 

What is so special about me? he thought, What makes me more capable to undergo this crazy-as-shit plan of his? He opened the door to his room and stopped. Rosalina was standing by the window, looking out over the people.

"Nice outburst, by the way," Damien smiled. Rosalina glared at him, so Damien stop talking and looked down to his feet.

"I don't know what Dad sees in you. Believe me: I don't," Rosalina hissed, "But I don't want all that trouble to be for nothing."

"Like I told your old man," Damien sighed, "I'm just a guy. I'm nothing different from any other human."

Rosalina glared at him again, and motioned for him to join her. Damien scooted next to her, looking out the window.

"What do you see, Damien?" Rosalina asked.

"A bunch of red-eyes all doomed to die," Damien answered, "That's what it seems like to me."

"Well I see a family down there," Rosalina said, "Friends. And if we don't try this, they'll all die. Everyone will."

"Everyone?" Damien's eyes widened. Rosalina heaved a great sigh and turned to Damien.

"Damien: Marcus and Alexandra aren't content with what they have. They want more: more power, more property to call their kingdom. They're amassing an army and they are going to storm the surface. Your father, your friends, coworkers...everyone you love is going to die."

Damien gulped, "Unless you stop them, right?"

"No Damien," Rosalina said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Unless we stop them." When Damien looked down, Rosalina gripped his chin tightly, turning his face to hers.

"Damien, listen to me: this is about your home. This is about saving our world and yours. We need a beacon of hope..." Rosalina started, choking back her words, "Be the hero that my father sees you can be. Be our symbol, be everything he and we need you to be. You don't owe us anything, but you owe your family." Damien sighed in frustration, moving her hand away.

"Alright, alright," Damien said, "I'll do it. But if I die: I'm haunting you forever." 

Rosalina smiled, "Knew it would work. You humans are so easy to fool with emotions."

"You...did you just...?" Damien stammered.

"Let's go,"Rosalina grabbed Damien's arm and dragged him out the door, "We have to prep you for the operation."