Vampire Civilization Ch. 02

When the world is a post-apocalyptic wasteland, ravaged by radiation and post-nuclear fallout, even vampires have trouble surviving. Humans and vampires are at war, and the vampires, as stupid as ever, are quarrelling among themselves. There are dozens of vampire warlords all over the planet Earth, ruling fiefdoms where humans are herded like cattle, bred to feed their precious blood to their vampire captors. There are rogue vampires who roam around, unaffiliated with the different vampire overlords vying for power.

There are human armies roaming the landscape, laying siege to the vampire strongholds. It's a mess, a bloody stalemate of global proportions. Rayshawn Brant is a rogue vampire who has grown tired of this state of affairs. He has wandered the planet looking for the mythical Elders, the oldest and most powerful vampires in the world. They are to the Undead what the United Nations leadership was to the bulk of humanity, once upon a time. Rayshawn hopes that the Elders can come out of hiding and unite the various vampire factions against the resurgent forces of humanity...before it's too late.

"Infighting will be the death of us, you must intervene," Rayshawn Brant said, and the tall, athletic and dark-skinned young Vampire, who'd been a standout in Division One NCAA football back in Michigan, glared at his so-called Elders. The fact that Rayshawn had been granted an audience before Rama, Amore and Lilac was almost unprecedented. The trio of Elders sat at the center of a circle. To the naked gaze, they appeared to be three dark-skinned, attractive young women clad in crimson robes. Looking at them, Rayshawn repressed a lustful shudder.

The Elders resided in a chamber, deep below the earth, somewhere beneath the City of Accra, Ghana. Like the humans, the ancestors of modern vampires evolved in Africa, and the oldest vampires in existence still dwelled there. Rayshawn knew that the vampire triad housed in the chamber had been around for many thousands of years. Rayshawn couldn't fathom being around for so long. Hell, he'd been twenty two years old when he was turned, and in the two decades since, the world had changed so damn much...

"Do not presume to tell us what to do," said Rama, the leader of the vampire triad. She'd been born in what would later be known as Kerala, in Southern India, more than three thousand years ago, and had roamed the world ever since. Rama was old enough to remember when Indian merchants ventured into Africa, and sometimes brought back exotic animals and goods from the African motherland.

Rama had become a vampire when she was twenty years old, and still retained the form and youthful visage of the lovely brown-skinned and dark-haired, curvaceous young Indian woman she'd been, once upon a time. When Rama's pure black eyes met those of Rayshawn, the young African American vampire repressed a shudder of a different sort. He forced himself to stay calm, knowing that if he showed weakness or did anything to displease the ancient vampire, she could kill him in an instant.

Rayshawn had gained many abilities since becoming a vampire, such as superhuman strength and speed, sharp senses, and the ability to regenerate. Those were the standard vampire abilities, though. There was no telling what an ancient vampire like Rama might be capable of. At a time like this, instinct and experience urged Rayshawn to be careful.

"Such an arrogant pup," added Amore, the second member of the triad, a six-foot-tall, gorgeous black woman with rapturous ebon skin and a smooth shaved head. The crimson toga she wore hugged her body tightly. Looking at Amore, Rayshawn was struck by how much the African female vampire resembled the former supermodel Iman. Will wonders never cease? Rayshawn bowed his head and searched for the right words. Before he could reply, however, Amore left the dais on which she and the others stood, and crossed the gap between herself and Rayshawn in an instant.

Even for a being gifted with superhuman speed, there are limits. Rayshawn was fast, but he wasn't cartoonishly fast, and Amore was much faster than him. The African female vampire stood in front of Rayshawn, and she flashed him a fanged smile. Rayshawn suddenly realized that Amore's fangs were longer and whiter than his own fangs would ever be. Even though Rayshawn lacked a heartbeat and hadn't drawn breath in decades, he held his breath before Amore's scary magnificence...

"My sisters, please, don't make the pup embarrass himself," came a third voice, and Rayshawn looked at Lilac, the last member of the triad. Tall and dark-skinned, with neatly braided hair, the curvaceous and sexy-looking Lilac resembled the video vixens that Rayshawn watched on MTV videos back in the day. Like the other ancient female vampires in the chamber, Lilac had pure black eyes, and some of the whitest fangs that Rayshawn had ever seen.

Lilac walked slowly toward Rayshawn, who stood, frozen between Amore and Rama. The two elder female vampires looked at Rayshawn the way cats look at a wounded bird. Rayshawn braced himself for what was to come, silently vowing to defend himself even though he knew he wouldn't stand much of a chance against vampires of this caliber. Lilac approached Rayshawn and touched his face in an almost tender gesture. Rayshawn kept perfectly still, and wondered what he was in for...

"Venerable ladies, I come before you as a humble member of your brethren, seeking your help and wisdom, if our wayward kindred cannot unite against the humans, we are doomed to extinction," Rayshawn said, making his case once more. The African American vampire looked at the Elders, hoping that these ageless monsters, leaders of the vampire species, would see the logic of his statement. Rayshawn refused to believe that these monsters who had been walking the planet earth since before the time of Julius Caesar would stand aside and do nothing while the entire vampire species was wiped out by humanity.

The triad's lair had been constructed many centuries ago, and the complex which housed them was a testament to West African architecture and design. The place was hard to find, to say the least, and watched over by a small army of vampire warriors. The triad was powerful, but largely uninvolved in modern vampire politics. What was their frigging deal? There must be a point to power, rather than mere existence.

"Little fledgling, we of the Triad have lived for thousands of years, we've survived cataclysms, wars, plagues, and things you cannot imagine, we will outlive the war between humans and vampires," Rama said, her stern voice echoing around the underground chamber. Rayshawn sighed, cursing himself for bothering to travel to the City of Accra, Ghana, all the way from his hometown of Detroit, Michigan. The situation in Detroit wasn't that bad. With neither vampires nor humans firmly in control of the post-apocalyptic metropolis, Rayshawn had a good time. There was always some unfortunate soul who would cross Rayshawn's path, and he would feed.

Rayshawn lived in an underground lair located beneath an old movie theater. He ventured to the surface once or twice a month, only killing to feed, and disposing of the corpses, unlike other vampires, who were driven to spread their numbers. Rayshawn knew that in a long enough timeline, the humans would overwhelm the vampires. All he could do was sleep and hope that someday, the vampires would become the stuff of myth once more, and that humanity would forget about them. As a creature which cannot die naturally, Rayshawn had all the time in the world, provided he didn't get himself killed. It really was that simple.

"Thank you for your time," Rayshawn said at last, diplomatic to the very end. The tall African American vampire bowed his head gently, and then walked out of the chamber, aware that Amore, Rama and Lilac all watched him. Rayshawn left the underground lair that night, and was on a boat leaving the African continent by the next day. Due to the nuclear holocaust, airplanes had become a rarity. It took Rayshawn eight weeks to reach the shores of North America.

Once on the continent, Rayshawn thought about going back to Detroit, Michigan, but then decided against it upon learning that the human forces, led by former U.S. Army colonel Amelia McGrath, had effectively conquered the city, slaughtering thousands of vampires along the way. The human warriors were raiding the vampires nests, killing them easily. Rayshawn decided to head to the Oaxaca region of Mexico.

Unlike the United States and Canada, Mexico had survived the nuclear holocaust largely unscathed. As far as Rayshawn was concerned, the whole world could go up in smoke, along with every vampire and every human. Rayshawn grew up in the hood, and learned the game of survival early on. He had a golden ticket to the good life thanks to his smarts and athleticism. He was supposed to go into the NFL after graduating from the University of Michigan. Rayshawn got turned into a vampire by a mysterious African vampire named Lady Nadia, and his world changed forever. One day, Rayshawn intended to destroy Lady Nadia for turning him into a monster. For now, though, Rayshawn would do what he did best, and survival is the name of the game.