Broken Hunger

Prologue - Creator vs Cretin

Night doesn't fall, but rather, all the disregarded shadows of a day flock like blackbirds, and suddenly rise.

-         Stuart Dybek

Council Headquarters – Location Unknown

In the beginning God had created the heavens and the earth and all that we inhabit. He created creatures that move along the ground, and that of the waters and the sky. Then God created mankind in his own image to rule over all else that fall under his creation.

Never once was it said that the animals God created would morph into mankind and rule in their stead. Never was it said that mankind would drain the blood from their livestock or that of each other. Never was mankind to harbor capabilities beyond what their bare hands could produce and vegetate from the earth.

Our home was being overrun with demons with a thirst for blood and beasts beneath their skin.

They were not of us and we were not of them. Yet we were somehow destined to live amongst them and fight for the survival of our own kind.

Thus was born an order with the sole purpose of defending the human race and prevent them from being further contaminated by this spreading disease. The middle ages had forced our cause into hiding, but we have been leaking from the crevices and the importance of our calling has been passed down through the generations.

They were physically our superiors, but with the brilliant invention of manmade weapons we can finally take a stand.

We were men of God. Crusaders doing the work of our Lord and with every evil we eradicated we felt that much closer to our creator. The council was more than a mere calling. It was what we had been born to become.

A throat cleared hesitantly from the entrance to the large oval room we used for housing meetings and discussions of battle strategy. The elders had already dispersed after voicing their opinions regarding the shifter movements and their self imposed rights to claiming territory that should have been ours.

"Yes?" I bit out harshly at the new recruit and watched his eyes dart nervously around the room as he fumbled for his voice.

He looked about ready to piss his pants and I was tempted to pummel my fist into his abdomen for being a weak little shit and for tainting the cause with his fear. Grounding my molars with agitation I held back the urge to make an example out of him. We needed the men. Our only hope was that half of them would be somewhat trainable and exceed our expectations.

Taking a few shaky steps towards me, the boy held out his arm and handed me and ugly brown file with no outward hints as to its contents. A frown of annoyance creased my forehead at the dog eared state of the documents. Everything about this boy was testing my patience.

The manilla folder contained numerous photographs and police reports of suspicious animal attacks from our informant at the precinct. The dates on the reports stated that the killings started about two weeks ago with the most recent being two days prior. That's just the attacks they were aware of.

There was no preference as to age, race or gender, but the victims had all been human. I cared little for the circumstances other than getting justice for our kind. Adrenaline flushed through my veins at the prospect of taking down another of hell's offspring.

"What is the nature of the creature responsible for this?" The report had already provided me with sufficient answers, but I wanted to know if the messenger had done his homework before bringing this to me.

"W-we suspect vampire, sir. The bodies have all been drained of b-blood and twin puncture marks could be found to the juncture of the throat. There was the occasional broken bone and on some of the victims the jugular had been ripped out savagely."

The boy's confidence seemed to have been slightly restored as he relayed the information he gathered on the subject. Perhaps there was hope for him yet. This profession would either make or break him. My gaze rested unseeingly on the stain glass windows displaying the story of our origins and the love our creator has for us.

"What is the location of the last body? Is the vampire being tracked?"

"Virginia, sir. Your second had already tasked our best trackers with staying on the creature's heels. It has been constantly on the move and is closing in on wolf territory."

My fist banged loudly against the large oak table situated in the middle of the spacious room with unparalleled frustration.

"Which pack?"

The boy jumped at my show of aggression and fell back to his stuttering habits.
"N-n-nightshade, s-sir."

The shifters had no favor with me, but even less so the supposed children of Hecate. I cared not for bedtime fables. They were all from the devil and I'd be sure to deliver them all back to hell, but perhaps those dogs could be of use. The Alpha has been rumored to have no tolerance towards outsiders as rogues had wiped out many of their previous generation.

"Leave the pesky mosquito be for now, boy. Let the wolves deal with it whilst we gather our resources and finalize our strategy. Then we deal with them all. Should the mutts fail we will handle the situation accordingly. This is the perfect distraction and in the end it'll take care of both problems."

"V-very good, sir. I'll inform t-the men of your orders."

I nodded my head in both affirmation and silent dismissal. The boy practically fell over his own feet in his haste to get away from me. A grimace of irritation clouded my features as he scattered from my sight.

Whomever had recruited him would be sure to suffer the punishment of his training and the unlikely task of making a man out of him.

There was no place for weaklings within my ranks. Only the strong survive. It is our duty to rid this world of the soulless critters infesting its once holy planes.