The Demeter, Atlantic Ocean 11:00pm
"Here lie the ruins of Volterra, a city torn apart by a suspicious…"
"…and no word from the town itself, with any hope of survivors…"
"New questions have been raised about the Cairo Necropolis riots, and the brutal methods used to put them down."
"Just why did the Romanian government build a nuclear reactor near the town of…"
"Beijing remains silent on the issue of the so called 'lost villages' in the northern provinces after sightings of black helicopters and shadowy soldiers in the area around…"
"Activity around RAF Hereford has increased in the past few days, with accusations of large scale military build-up firmly denied by the Ministry of Defence..."
"As protestors surround the heavily guarded UN Headquarters here in New York, sightings of the UN's shadowy new counter terrorism unit are still coming in…"
"The siege of the mansion near Forks, Washington, was brought its violent end as black uniformed soldiers descended upon it at…"
"Radiation from the Volterra reactor explosion still spreads, and the hundred mile exclusion zone remains impenetrable to independent science and research units…"
"…and this begs the question, just what is the UN hiding from the outside world?"
Caius tapped the off button on the remote and the ten television screens arrayed around him faded to black.
A grin came to his pale features as the hundreds of news reports he had seen in the past few days all buzzed around his memory and he thought of the media frenzy the UN would be subject to. Now was the perfect time, as the humans fought amongst themselves, to finally strike back a blow for the vampire race.
It had been a few days since he had personally infiltrated the human base in England to get a more personal style of revenge for himself. And it had felt so good, to feast upon that arrogant SAS captain's family, and leave him a little parting gift for when he got back. It hadn't exactly been hard to find out where he lived; now his new ally had presented himself, willingly, to him back during the sandy hell of Egypt.
It had been so easy to convert him, Caius thought as he threw on his heavy black cloak from the chair behind and stood up. So easy to promise that miserable wretch his life in exchange for his undying loyalty. The fact he had offered him so much crucial intelligence only made the deal sweeter.
He stiffened for a second as his vampire sense picked out the footsteps of his new ally in the corridor outside, whilist the sea still frothed around the ship as it ploughed on.
By the time the newcomer had knocked on the door Caius was right next to it, grinning triumphantly as it opened and the other man stepped in.
"Ah General, it is good to see you…" he said with a warm smile.
"The pleasure is all mine, my lord." General Uberto replied with a blank face, bowing slightly.
Caius smirked.
"Enough snivelling Uberto. You may have been useful so far, but don't think I haven't forgotten your previous allegiance…"
He left the threat hanging, but the sight of the former Ultra Vector general, sweating profusely, unshaven face pale and his black uniform still streaked with sand and dirt, only brought another smile to his face as he stepped out into the narrow corridor.
"Follow." He said simply and set off at a brisk walk along the dimly lit passage, moonlight spilling in from the grimy portholes on the right. The beaten up container ship was the sort of thing Caius wouldn't have been seen dead in during the glory days. The memory of his elegant galleon from over four hundred years ago was still fresh in his mind, a gift from Pope Urban VIII himself, as well as the more modern yacht he had settled with in recent years. Of course both were long gone now, the galleon destroyed by the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, after centuries of service, whilst the yacht had been seized and burnt by Ultra Vector forces after the revelation of his escape from the battle at the airfield in some foolish attempt to bring him out of hiding.
This old ship though was only a means to an end, stolen from Istanbul harbour after his flight from Cairo. He knew that Ultra Vector still hunted him, and had made sure he left Cairo as soon as the military reinforcements had arrived, taking with him the beginnings of his new army.
"What is the plan my lord?" Uberto stuttered as he fell into step behind him. The general was wasting away, a combination of being the only human on a ship filled with vampires who would, in a second, have torn him apart if it wasn't for Caius' influence, and the fact the ship carried no provisions of any sort. But Caius didn't care if the weak human was starving and slowly dying of thirst. He was, like the creaking ship around them, only a means to an end, and would be disposed of as soon as he was no longer useful. In many ways Caius loathed the man next to him. Not because he was a human or even because of his prior allegiance, although that was a small factor. It was the cowardice the general had shown when Caius had approached him in the blood soaked streets of Cairo, surrounded by the dead and dying members of his squad. He had instantly dropped his weapon as soon as the vampire came toward them, and, whilst his comrades tried futilely to fight the ancient vampire and were quickly destroyed, prostrated himself before Caius and begged for his life, even going as far as executing one of his dying comrades as a sign of loyalty.
Caius may have hated Ultra Vector and its agents like the SAS captain whose life he had torn apart, but he respected them at least. The soldiers he had encountered had gone to their deaths fighting, not fallen to their knees and begged forgiveness.
He sighed as he glanced at Uberto, and was brought back to his senses when another figure appeared, Amun,the leader of the Egyptian coven, who had been quick to join Caius' cause as the humans closed in. The burly form of Amun, dressed in an elegant maroon cloak, reminded Caius of Uberto in many ways. Amun had also betrayed his former friends, many centuries ago, when the Volturi and Egyptian coven had been on the brink of war, and Caius had never been able to look him in the eye since.
"What is it?" he snapped. He had no time for either of these men.
"My lord…" Amun began with a nervous smile. "We are nearing our final destination."
Caius nodded.
"Good. How are the others?"
"Holding up well…" Amun replied as they continued down the corridor. "The blood of the former crew proved an excellent aperitif to the great feast that awaits us."
"And you really think you are permitted to join this plan of mine?"
Amun's face fell.
"But…my lord. You promised me and my kin a place in the new world you are creating…"
"Yes." Caius said shortly. "But there is no place for cowards and weaklings in my army. Isn't that right general?"
Uberto laughed nervously, obviously not getting Caius' implied meaning.
"I assure you my lord." Amun said with a frown. "My coven will fight every step of the way. Benjamin's powers are already…"
Caius held up a hand.
"Spare me the grovelling. You will fight for me, but until you have proved yourself, your place in the new world is not assured."
"I assure you…"
"Enough!" Caius snapped, his eyes blazing. "Now, take me to the hold. I need to rally the troops…"
As they came to the hold door Caius felt the ship throbbing beneath them through the deckplates, and sensed their destination was near.
Ignoring the other two, he stepped into the hold, instantly leaping up to the balcony overlooking the gloomy room beyond. Although human eyes would not have been able to pick out the vampires gathered below him in the pitch black, Caius could see them clear as day, and saw their awe at their leader as he began to speak.
"My friends!" he declared, spreading his arms wide to address them all. "We stand now, not as the broken remnants of the old world order, but the vanguards of a new one! For too long we have dwelt in the shadows, hiding ourselves from the weak cattle that are humanity. We waited too long, and they rose up to fight us, more powerful than ever before. And yet, what are they? Weak. Small. Impotent."
With each word he said against the humans he slammed his fist into the iron railing in front of him, slowly bending it out of shape.
"And what are we though? We are strong. Fast. Powerful. Invincible!"
Glancing behind he saw Uberto and Amun, the Italian general looking around him with wide eyes, almost blind in the darkness.
"Step forward general." He said softly and Uberto stumbled over, Caius catching him gently before he fell, drawing him close in a tight grip.
"Here I stand with one of them. The enemy. And look upon him my friends! What is he? Without his guns and fancy technology he is nothing but an insect compared to us! Let me show you…"
Uberto's face was beginning to grow pale as Caius saw in the man's eyes that he had only just realised the danger he was in. He struggled but Caius grip was too strong as his other hand reached down and squeezed the general's right hand, giving him a comforting smile.
The general smiled back, as if he was somehow safe now.
Then Caius' grip tightened and, in one smooth movement, tore the general's hand off in a burst of crimson, his howls of pain echoing around the cavernous space. As the general fell to his knees, clutching his ravaged stump, Caius held his bloody hand aloft for all to see.
"See here!" he roared triumphantly. "See how he is nothing but an ant to us! An insect! Insignificant!"
And with that he turned to the weeping general, who feebly attempted to crawl away, grabbed him in one hand and hurled him down to the hold floor below.
"Feast my friends!" he shouted over the crack of bone and screams of pleasure as the vampires below tore the human apart. "For that is but a taste of the great banquet that lies in wait for us!"
As he said this the huge cargo doors that made the roof opened up with a creak of metal and Caius felt the cool night air on his skin. He looked down, where hundreds of pairs of blood red eyes watched his every move in awe, then to the view beyond, over the tangle of pipes and crates littering the ship's deck, to the lights of a city in the distance, beyond the rolling sea.
"Gaze upon this my friends!" he said with a laugh of triumph. "For this is the day we make Ultra Vector pay! The day we show them who rules this world! And the day we burn New York City to the ground!"