Part Three, The Gift of Blood

The night was still and quiet. A little too still and quiet, thought David to himself as he set out once again from the empty cabin. For a while it had felt almost like home, but with Aidan gone it seemed empty and dead, just another bolt hole, and not really a particularly convenient one. Maybe I shouldn't come back, he thought.

He looked up at the sky, at the brilliant glory of the stars. He could remember only a few of the names for them that Aidan had shared with him. The stars, and probably Aidan too, are a billion billion miles away, and I am here, alone in the night. I never thought I would miss the sun this much. I never thought I would miss a friend this much...

He sighed, and then took a deep breath. No point in just mooning about, he had work to do. A sweep to the north, I think. And perhaps once I get there and have visited both cities, I can take a bit to look for bolt holes, haven't done that up north yet. He settled his hat more firmly on his head and began to run.

He had found no sign of exiles or caravans when he arrived at Cottonwood, and a sweep past Iron City had turned up nothing either. After bedding down for the day in a shallow bolt hole he'd made himself, not knowing any of the local ones, he did another quick round, but there was nobody on the road this night, and the vampires seemed to know it, for there was no sign of them either. With a shrug he set off in a wide arc that would carry him far out in the desert. He was going in no particular direction, just hoping to sense a vampire presence and find one or two hidden away. Less likely during the night than during the day, but some vampires bedded down in their bolt holes even while the sun was gone, particularly when they'd recently fed. And I can't exactly go looking for bolt holes during daylight now, can I? He chuckled to himself. Heck, he might even get lucky and find a lair. He hadn't found any yet, though Aidan had assured him they existed. "My own cabin is a lair of sorts," he'd said. Lairs were more permanent dwellings, and though usually they were the property of one particular vampire, often several could be found in one, particularly when somebody had caught a human that they were trying to make last for a while. Bolt holes were lousy places to keep captives.

It was somewhat past midnight when he caught the trace of a vampire mind. He stopped and stood still for a moment, blinking. It was strong. Very strong. As strong as Aidan's mind had been, maybe even stronger. It has to be a gathering of them, he thought to himself. There's no way on earth that's just one!

He moved cautiously towards it. Distance was hard to judge, and he did not want to just run out into the middle of a big group of vampires! Soon he began to pass among ruined buildings. Some sort of small town had stood here. And as he walked among the ruins, he came to the source. The night still looked empty of life, and he could hear nothing, but the direction of the sense of presence was now down below his feet. Somewhere underneath him was what must be a lair. He glanced around. Only one building stood near, its roof completely gone and its walls falling in. He stepped closer to investigate and found that in the floor of the ruined building there was a massive concrete slab. It smelled faintly of vampires and blood.

He took a deep breath. There were a lot of them down there, or some really strong ones, and he wasn't sure he could fight them all. But he wanted to investigate further. This was the first lair he'd found. And if there was a gathering of vampires, well... he'd just blend right in!