The Vampire from Hell

Chapter 3 and Chapter 4

Chapter 3 - Loyal Workers

As I approached the main entrance to the winery, I heard a growl to my right side and saw a flash of fur appeared before me. The smell of dead skunk hit my nostrils. 

"Hello, my lady." 

Pulling the flap of my jacket collar over my nose, I stepped back to adjust my balance and save what oxygen I had left before I fainted from the smell. Father's hellhounds reeked to high heaven, an odor I realized Blick did not share. "Don't jump out at me like that, Cedric. Why aren't you guarding the main gates?" 

"We're on heightened alert today. Do you have your badge?" Cedric barely reached my height of 5' 9" but he diligently worked at being authoritative with anyone other than Father. 

I hesitated, remembering I had left it in on the desk with my iPhone. "Can you just call Father? He's expecting me." 

"You realize in this organization we have security measures in place for a reason, my lady. The House of G would love nothing more than to know our secrets. Besides that, if His Highness sees another error on my attendance reports..." His voice trailed off and I recognized the fear in his eyes. He also knew of Father's disciplinary techniques. Father starved his 'mutts' regularly to keep them 'engaged,' as he called it. Actually, it kept them obnoxiously polite, extremely moody, and ready to do Father's bidding. 

Wally and Cedric were both promoted from the Jackal Patrol, a group of scrawny, filthy scavengers who fought the colony of Dragons on weekends for remnants of human flesh. Stephanie delighted in torturing any new arrivals she didn't like by ripping off 4" x 4" sections of their flesh and devouring it. Sometimes if she had a full stomach, she'd share the small portions among both groups and watch them fight for each piece. Other times she'd toss a human into the arenas with a jackal or dragon and tell the person to fight or die trying. It made the games between the lions and Christians in Roman times look like a friendly game of tag football. It sickened me to think of it, but at times I wanted to remind Cedric or Wally where they came from. 

"Yes, Cedric. I understand. Shall I go back for it? I don't want to be late for my meeting though. Hey, why are you green today?" 

Annoyed with my questions as I tried to stall entering the winery, the hellhound's fur bristled. "We were helping His Highness with some pigment placement for the new line." 

I frowned when I heard the title the hellhounds used for Father, at his request of course. His Highness, like he was some sort of royalty. What a joke! "Is he hoping to find a new hair dye for Leprechauns? I mean with that color and your natural black roots, I can see..." 

"What? No, my lady. For the new line of products, the wines, he's searching for the perfect color so he dyed us." 

I stared at him, puzzled, trying to ignore the 'My Lady' term. "Us?" I asked. 

"Wally and me. He dyed us earlier this morning and Wally got a snoot full of it. He'll be out for hours. His Highness is working on resolving the colors this morning before the guests arrive." 

Another one of Father's lame-brain ideas, going into the wine business. With a wine that was green? What was Father thinking? I searched the gravel path running alongside the front entrance of the winery and spotted Wally passed out under a holly bush. I hadn't noticed him at first because he blended quite well with the emerald green leaves on the shrub. "Father doesn't know how lucky he is to have such loyal workers, Cedric." 

"Thank you, my lady." 

"Stop calling me 'my lady.' Look, why don't I go get my badge while you catch a quick bath?" I fanned myself with the right lapel of my jacket.