Vampire Civilization Ch. 14

"It is good to be home," Lady Nadia said and the tall, attractive, dark-skinned African vampire matriarch embraced her husband Hiram with all of her might. Hiram hugged Nadia back and then kissed her passionately. For far too long, Nadia had been stuck in the City of London, UK, far away from the enclave which she ruled with the vampire Hiram, her husband of many years. The happy undead couple looked at their son Erebus, beaming with pride. The tall, strongly built African vampire warrior nodded at his parents, pleased to see the two of them together again.

The House of Hiram is first and foremost, a loving family of vampires. Even among the bloodthirsty undead, family is indeed everything. Lady Nadia, Hiram and Erebus care deeply for each other. The three of them had been together for many human lifetimes, and it was their hope that they would get through this latest batch of troubles. The post-apocalyptic nightmare that followed the nuclear war and the conflict between vampires and humans had wrought much destruction across the planet Earth. Hiram, Nadia and Erebus were ready to do whatever it took to weather the storm.

"Father, Mother, I have dire news," Erebus said, and Hiram frowned while Nadia looked at her son with concern. Erebus has always been the taciturn type, and he delivered news in a brunt manner. The African vampire warrior sat his folks down and shared his bad news with them. After the nuclear war, various vampire overlords took over fiefdoms, and kept humans as livestock, basically. Lately, a fearsome new leader had risen among the humans. One that worries even the most powerful of vampires.

U.S. Army Colonel Amelia McGrath had organized the remnants of the American military and taught them to hunt down the undead. They'd taken back city after city, town after town, village after village. McGrath and her shock troops had slaughtered tens of thousands of vampires, and they were just getting started. The House of Hiram, which ruled much of Massachusetts, was one of a few vampire fiefdoms still standing, and it made sense that the human armies were coming for them.

"I've protected our human confederates from marauders and slavers, and renegade vampires, and this is the thanks I get," Hiram said, shaking his head. The tall, bronze-skinned and dark-haired Arabian vampire had been around for ages, and yet, human folly never ceased to amaze him. The humans residing in the enclave which Hiram ruled were well-fed, housed and clothed, and they enjoyed many freedoms. The only thing required of them was obedience to the Laws of the House of Hiram, and a few pints of their blood per month in order to sustain the vampire warriors who protected them.

Hiram, who once ruled a vast estate in the remnants of the Byzantine Empire during the Middle Ages, had fond memories of the feudal system. One must rule, and one must be ruled, but the ruler can be kind to his or her subjects as long as they are compliant. Hiram doesn't believe in unnecessary cruelty. He saw the humans of the enclave as his populace, and he saw himself as their rightful ruler. They weren't property or cattle, they were Hiram's people, and he owed them protection and safety in return for their obedience. That's the way the world works, at least according to the vampire Hiram's antique reasoning.

"Hiram, dearest, don't fret, we knew this day was coming," Lady Nadia said, her voice authoritative and soothing at the same time. Hiram nodded, gently acquiescing to his wife's good judgement. Hiram knew that Nadia was a woman of extraordinary intelligence and character from the moment he met her, eons ago, back in West Africa. Hiram took a major chance when he shared his ancient blood with Nadia, and transformed her into a vampire of regal beauty and infinite ferocity and power.

Lady Nadia became Hiram's lover and confidante, and they journeyed the earth together, carving out an empire of their own by taking on both humans and vampires. Hiram and Lady Nadia's love and loyalty to one another became quite simply legendary. Erebus, the tall, handsome young African whom Hiram and Lady Nadia raised together became a magnificent vampire, having been turned shortly after he reached manhood. The three of them formed a triumvirate of the undead, and when united, there was almost nothing they could not do. The question is, would their sacred family be up to the challenge posed by these fearsome human armies hellbent on eradicating the entirety of the vampire race?

"I have procured new weaponry for our warriors," Erebus said, and he gestured for two of his acolytes, a red-haired Caucasian female vampire named Becca and a tall undead Asian fellow named Yan. The two vampire acolytes brought forth two huge boxes containing military-grade weaponry which Erebus had gone to great lengths to acquire. The boxes contained five RPG grenade launchers, the kind of weapons that could take down airplanes, helicopters, tanks, and even certain good-sized buildings if need be.

The human soldiers were used to dealing with newbie vampires, the type that lacked experience and instead relied on their preternatural strength and speed in battle, rather than using weapons. Hiram, Lady Nadia and Erebus had been around long enough to know that in a battle, only a fool would give up an advantage. Since they're at war with human soldiers, they might as well take advantage of the cutting edge weapons that humans had developed over the past century. What is more poetic than using the weapons of the enemy to take down the enemy?

"Erebus, my son, you've done well, let our warriors learn the use of these weapons and let us give these humans a taste of their own medicine," Hiram said, and he nodded proudly at Erebus, who smiled thinly. With a curt nod toward his mother Lady Nadia, the vampire warrior Erebus took his leave. The vampire acolytes Becca and Yan followed him. In recent times, with Hiram increasingly distracted and restless, it had fallen to Erebus to keep order by reassuring the rank and file vampires that their overlord was doing well. With the vampires restless, the humans of the enclave were even more so.

With human armies going about slaughtering vampires, the enclave was on a razor's edge of tension and fear, with chaos a mere incident or two away. Erebus kept order, protecting the humans while reminding them of their duties towards the vampires, and vice versa. The House of Hiram is made up of civilized vampires, and once upon a time, they represented the best hope for interspecies coexistence and cooperation in the post-apocalyptic world. The human uprising and rogue vampires threatened all of that. What will become of the House of Hiram in the dark times that lie ahead for both human and vampire? Heaven only knows.