

# Vampire Zoo

By Razor Blade

SMASHWORDS EDITION | COPYRIGHT 2015 Razor Blade

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# Chapter 1

# Abilene Kansas, 1875

The bartender watched the stranger avoiding a lap dance from a nude saloon dancer named Penny. She was one of a group of dancers that put on a show each weekend for the local men who spent their days on the range, working long hours under the hot sun. The stranger entered the saloon less than an hour ago and seemed disinterested in the woman who was now grinding her backside into his chest. She was looking for a tip and was getting pissed that she wasn't getting any response at all.

"What's wrong buddy? You don't like girls?" Penny asked.

The stranger raised his hat brim just enough to make eye contact with the woman. "You need to shave," the stranger replied.

"What the fuck?" Penny asked. "You look like you haven't had a bath or shave in a month."

"I haven't," the man replied. "Now get me a drink."

"I'm not a barmaid. If you want a drink, get it yourself," the woman replied. Frustrated, she spotted another lonely man across the bar, and zeroed in on him.

The stranger then stood up and walked to the bar; dressed in dirty clothes he looked like he hadn't been out of the countryside in years. Strapped to his waist was a gun belt and pistol, and tied to his belt loop was a bag that contained his money.

"What can I get you?" the bartender asked.

"Beer," the stranger replied. The bartender popped open a bottle of beer and poured it into a tall glass stopping before the head spilled over. The stranger tossed a coin on the counter and took his beer to his lips for a drink. At room temperature, it had a bite. "I need a girl," the stranger stated looking over at better looking nude dancer.

"A girl?" the bartender asked.

"You know, to fuck. Not like that dog that was humping me."

"Oh, those girls are strictly for dancing, they aren't working girls, those girls are upstairs," the bartender replied pointing to the rooms that lined the upper floor of the building. "You can get there from the stairs over there," he added pointing towards the entrance door to the saloon.

"Do I pay you?" the stranger asked.

"No, stop at room number three, knock and talk to the madam that lives there, she'll hook you up."

"Thanks," the stranger replied and took a long chug of his beer finishing it off in three swallows. He set the mug on the counter and walked over to the stairs. As he crossed the room, all eyes were on him watching to see what he would do. No one had ever seen this man before and strangers were often bad news for whoever they met. It didn't take long for the stranger to climb the stairs to the balcony above and find room three. He knocked on the door and waited for the madam to respond.

The door opened and a woman answered the door. The stranger expected to see an old woman with no teeth and an angry disposition, but what he met looked more like a school teacher.

"What can I do for you?" the madam asked. She knew the answer, but was being polite.

"I need a woman," the stranger replied.

"I see, step inside so we can talk."

The stranger stepped inside the room and closed the door behind him. He took a quick look around at the room and noticed a very feminine touch. Lots of frilly decorations filled the space and dolls sat like they were waiting for a party.

"What kind of girl are you looking for?" the madam asked.

"Don't matter, I need to get laid," the stranger replied.

"I have several girls I can set you up with, do you like a large girl? Or maybe a petite one? I have a set of twins if you like, you have to pay double, but it's worth it."

"How much?"

"Depends on the girl, if you want a white girl its one dollar, if you want a Mexican or black, its twenty five cents. The twins are expensive, they get a dollar and a half each."

The stranger stood and thought for a moment. He looked around again at the decorations that filled the room and felt his money bag. "I'll take a Mexican," he replied.

"I have three, Maria, Anna and Claudia. Would you like to take a look?"

"Yes," the stranger replied. He was getting frustrated and felt like he was getting the run around.

"Follow me," the madam said and walked to the door. As she passed the stranger, she brushed up against his money bag to try to feel how much he was carrying. She led the stranger down the balcony to room five and entered the room. Sitting on the bed was a Hispanic woman dressed only in a long shirt, two others were lying on the bed talking when they noticed the stranger and madam enter and stood up in attention. "These are my Mexican girls," the madam stated holding out her hand as to offer them up.

"Which one is the best one?"

"They all do a very good job," the madam replied.

"They look like they're twelve years old."

"I think Maria is fourteen, right Maria?" the madam asked.

"Yes ma'am" Maria replied.

The stranger smiled and rubbed his crotch. "I'll take Maria," he said. "And her as well," he added pointing to Claudia.

"That will be fifty cents," the madam said.

The stranger stood for a moment like he was lost in thought. "I changed my mind, I'll take Maria, that's all."

"I can make you a deal, I can give you all three girls for fifty cents."

"No, I just want the one," the stranger replied.

"Alright, I need twenty five cents then," the madam stated holding out her hand.

The stranger fished into his money bag and pulled out a coin. He placed it in the madam's hand and waited for the other women to leave.

"You have one hour," the madam said and motioned for Claudia and Anna to follow her outside.

Once the door was shut, the stranger stood staring at Maria like she was the last meal to a starving man. He didn't move, he just seemed to be thinking and this scared Maria.

"What's wrong?" Maria asked in her thick Hispanic accent.

"Strip," the stranger said. Like he was talking to a slave.

Maria pulled her long shirt over her head and tossed it on the bed. She stood naked across the room nervously trying not to shake.

"Are you scared of me?" he asked.

"You make me nervous, yes," Maria asked.

"Why?"

"You're so quiet, I don't understand you."

"I paid to fuck you, what's there to understand?"

"Most of the men who come here don't look at me like you do. They do their business and leave."

"Don't worry, I'll do my business and leave as well. I just like to take a look at what I'm paying for before I start. I have an hour and it won't take me that long to do what I came for."

"Fine, you look then, let me know when you want to get started."

"Do you usually have long conversations with the men you fuck? I mean really, you are just a slab of meat to most of them. Do you really think they want to talk to a dirty Mexican whore?"

"I've only talked to you. None of the others ever say anything, they just crawl on top of me and do what they paid to do," Maria replied.

"Dirty Mexican whore," the stranger repeated, as if he was trying to get a rise of her.

"I do this so I can feed my family, I am no whore," Maria replied.

"Can't you get a job washing clothes? Or cooking? Why be a dog for any man that will pay?"

"It's hard finding work, especially work that pays. I have to help support my family."

"Were those other two girls your family?"

"Yes, Claudia is my sister, Anna is my cousin."

"Fuck, if I'd of known that, I'd of kept Claudia here. I'd love to watch two sisters go at each other. You ever fuck your sister?"

"Please, can we get on with this?"

The stranger was getting aroused, teasing Maria about having sex with her sister. He was having more fun taunting her than he would ever having sex with her. "What's the best thing about your sister?"

"What do you mean?" Maria asked.

"I didn't get a good look at her, does she have nice tits?"

"I'm not interested in women, especially my own sister."

"I think I'll pay a little extra so I can watch you two on the bed, what do you think about that?"

"I won't do it," Maria replied.

"No?" the stranger asked. He expected this answer, but used it to taunt Maria some more. "Maybe you'd like to watch me fuck your sister, would you like that?"

"No, this is a job to me. I don't enjoy this at all."

The stranger stepped over to Maria and came in close, close enough to touch her. He put out his hand and caressed her right breast with his dirty hand. He made circles around her nipples and then looked up into her eyes. "What do you do best?" he asked.

"I lay on my back and let the man do what he wants, that's all," Maria replied.

"You don't suck dick? Or give hand jobs or anything?" the stranger asked, still taunting Maria.

Maria didn't reply.

"What? Did I hit a nerve? I guess you do more than lie on your back and take it. I want something extra," the stranger said. "Ever take it in the ass?"

Maria looked at the stranger with horror in her eyes. She knew if she didn't do what he wanted, the madam would punish her or put her out of work. But the idea of taking him that way scared her, she had never done it that way before. "No, I haven't," she replied.

"Good, there's a first time for everything," the stranger said as he pushed Maria back onto the bed. "Up on all fours," he demanded.

Maria crawled up onto the bed and assumed the position. She put her head down and offered up her ass to the stranger who was now undressing. She closed her eyes and waited for the man to enter her when she felt his hand grab her by her hips. He was now in position behind her and felt him try to enter her dry. The pain was incredible, and with every thrust the man cursed her for being a dirty filthy Mexican whore who would let him take her this way for pay.

"Stop!" Maria cried out. "It hurts!"

The stranger continued to push, trying to enter Maria from behind until he finally gave up and sat back on his heels. Maria was relieved that the man had given up and was hoping he'd do like the other men and turn her over and fuck her and get it over. Instead, she felt him grab her by the neck and pull her upright. He wrapped his arm around her chest and thrust his fangs into her neck while covering her mouth with his other hand. For the next few minutes, the stranger, a vampire sucked the blood from Maria's neck and let her limp body drop down onto the bed in a heap.

He stood up and pulled up his pants fixing his belt and readjusting himself. He wasn't done with her, he pulled a knife from his pants and walked over to Maria's dying body. He flipped her over on her back and mounted her with a leg on each side of her hips. He looked down at her vacant stare and pressed the tip of his knife below her sternum. With a quick thrust, he shoved the knife into her belly and sliced down until he hit her pelvis bone.

Then with his left hand, he reached into her bowels and pulled out her intestines and laid them on the bed. Once he had them out as far as they would go, he used the knife to cut them free and pushed them onto the floor. He now had access to her ribcage and once again reached inside to find her heart. Once he had hold of the organ, he brought in the knife with the other hand and cut the vessels until he was able to remove her heart and place it on the bed next to the dead prostitute.

# Chapter 2

# St. Andrews

The candle light from the church windows revealed a man sitting at a desk next to an office window with his back to the glass. Further into the building, a woman's dark figure could be seen moving about between the pews but nothing else about her activity could be determined. It was late evening, and the pastor and his wife were working in the church cleaning and doing book work.

From outside the stranger couldn't tell if anyone else was inside, but now he found what he was looking for, fresh meat. He stepped up to the rear of the church and found the door ajar, the way the pastor's wife had left it. He pulled it open slow and slid inside keeping as quiet as he could. Once inside the back store room, he found his way to the door to the altar and stepped into the shadow in the corner where the candle light couldn't reach. He watched the pastor's wife as she swept the floor between the pews concentrating on her work.

It was important that he kept quiet so the pastor wouldn't enter the main part of the church. Not yet at least. First he wanted to have his way with his wife if he could. Then the stranger heard the sound of a chair scraping across the wood floor and knew the pastor was getting up from his desk. The stranger pressed hard into the corner and slid down to hide better in the dark.

The pastor entered the main room and spoke to his wife. "I need to go home for a while, I forgot some papers," the pastor said. "Will you be alright without me for a while?"

"Yes, I'll be fine," the pastor's wife replied.

The pastor nodded and turned back leaving the room. The stranger watched and waited until he heard the door close and spied the pastor out the window heading away from the church. Relieved, the stranger stood up and stepped out of the shadow and walked slowly towards the pastor's wife.

When she noticed him, she didn't scream or move. It was as if she was expecting him. "Who are you?" she asked in a calm voice.

"Bohdan," the stranger replied. "Bohdan Malko."

"What can I do for you Bohdan Malko?" the woman asked. She was nervous now and began to tremble.

"I came for your blood, and the blood of your husband," Bohdan replied.

The woman stood motionless. She had a broom in her hand and probably realized that it would do no good if Bohdan attacked, so she kept it at her side. "I have children," she added.

"I will come for them as well."

"Is there any way I can stop you?"

"Is there anything you can offer, anything I can't get for myself?"

The woman stood and thought. She had to come up with something to save herself, her husband and her children. Time was short and she needed an answer. "I can get you parishioners," she replied. "I have access to all that go to this church."

"And why can't I get them for myself? Why do I need you?" Bohdan asked.

"They will find you, and kill you. I can give them to you one at a time, keep them guessing. If you take them yourself, they will find you, and they will kill you."

Bohdan thought for a moment. "What guarantee do I have you won't turn them on me?"

"My children, if I give you up you can take my children."

"By that time it will be too late. I don't see any advantage gained by saving you. I have a plan to take out everyone in this town eventually and that plan doesn't require any help from anyone. Including you," Bohdan replied.

"What are you? A vampire?" the pastor's wife asked.

"Yes, isn't it obvious?" Bohdan replied. He exposed his fangs for her to see.

"This is a church, how can you be in here? The crosses?"

"This is no church, it is a building made of wood to host a flock of hypocritical sinners. Like you and your husband."

"We are not sinners, my husband is the pastor!"

"Tell me why you are here in the evening? What is your husband doing that he can't do during the day?" Bohdan asked.

"He's doing book work," she replied.

"Book work, yes, cooking the books would be more accurate."

The pastor's wife stood dumbfounded, as if her secret had been exposed. "What are you talking about? My husband has to keep the books, that's part of his job."

"I assume there is a church board, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"And he shows his books to the board, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"How much is he skimming off the church?" Bohdan asked.

"My husband is not skimming off the books, how dare you say that!"

"My powers are limited, but I can tell something isn't right here. I would guess he's taking plenty, you can deny it all you want, but you know it's true."

The pastor's wife shook her head as if she was either in disbelief or just caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"This is all a moot point anyway, neither of you will live to see the dawn," Bohdan said. "And the town will be better off for it, as will I."

Just then a door slammed open startling both Bohdan and the pastor's wife. Standing in the doorway, backlit from the candle light was the pastor holding a gun pointed at the vampire. "I think you'll be the one not seeing dawn," the pastor stated as he stepped between the pews.

"A gun, how quaint," Bohdan said. "Everyone's got one these days. Is that yours from the war?"

"Yes it is, Eighth Regiment Kansas volunteer if you must know," the pastor replied.

"Ever kill anyone?" Bohdan asked.

"Oh fuck yeah, lots of greybacks, couldn't kill enough of them."

"Did you hear I told your wife I was a vampire?"

"No, but there is no such thing as vampires, unless you escaped from the state asylum," the pastor said with a grin.

"No, I didn't, I was in the war as well," Bohdan replied.

"Johnny Reb?"

"Maybe, but that was ten years ago, times are different now."

"You break into my church, accuse me of stealing, and then I come to find out you're a confederate? And a psycho as well? What a lucky man I am," the pastor said.

"Once again, you do realize I'm a vampire," Bohdan said.

"That's what you say, what of it?"

"You can't kill a vampire with a bullet."

"I'd like to find out," the pastor said.

"Do as you wish, this is your house. At least for now."

The pastor took a few steps closer to the altar and pointed the gun square at Bohdan's chest. Then his wife spoke up. "If you kill him, how will you explain it?" she asked.

"He broke in, tried to steal from the church and kill us. I'm justified," the pastor replied.

The pastor's wife nodded her head in agreement.

Taking careful aim, the pastor pulled the trigger of his forty four caliber and shot Bohdan in the chest with a pop and a poof of smoke that filled the air. As the smoke cleared, the pastor could see that Bohdan was unaffected and stood his ground as before.

"Now do you believe me?" Bohdan asked.

The pastor took a look at his revolver and then back at Bohdan, he took aim and squeezed off two more shots in his chest. Then one in the face. When the smoke cleared again, it was obvious Bohdan wasn't affected and there was no wound to his face or anywhere else he could see.

"I know I shot you, I couldn't miss from this far," the pastor said.

"You did shoot me, I told you, I can't be killed with a gun."

"Then how do I kill you?"

Bohdan laughed and shook his head. "Are you kidding me? Do you think I'd tell you how to kill me? How absurd."

"There must be a way," the pastor said. He thought fast and ran over to an oil lamp that was setting on the fireplace mantle. It was lit and shining bright; one of the main sources of light in the room. With the lamp in hand he walked back over to where he stood before, only this time Bohdan was standing behind the altar like was the pastor.

"You'd burn your church to the ground?" Bohdan asked.

"If it meant saving my life I would," the pastor replied.

"Funny you didn't mention your wife in that statement. Guess when it comes down to it, saving your own life is what really matters."

"I meant her too," the pastor said.

"Nice catch. Now put up or shut up, toss the lamp," Bohdan said.

"Only if I have to, if you attack I'll burn the church to the ground with you in it."

"How do you expect to get out? If I can't make it, neither can you."

"I'll find a way," the pastor replied. "Now get out before I light you up."

"All that will happen if you throw that lamp is you burning down the building. I will survive and come back another day to finish what I started. Either way, you lose."

"What do you expect me to do? Let you kill us both?"

"Good job, you included her this time," Bohdan said. "Your wife was in the middle of making me an offer before you barged in."

The pastor looked at his wife then back at Bohdan. "What offer?"

"She said she'd get me all the parishioners I wanted."

"For what?"

"I wish you'd of came back earlier, I really don't like repeating myself. Like I said, I'm a vampire," Bohdan stated, this time showing off his long yellow fangs.

"By the grace of God," the pastor said.

"Are you a real pastor?" Bohdan asked. "Or are you scamming the people of this town with that as well?"

"I'm as much a pastor as anyone else."

"I see, what did you do before you were a pastor?"

"I was in the army, I told you that."

"And before that?"

"I worked for the railroad a bit, and farmed. What did you do?"

"I sold slaves back to the south, I was a bounty hunter I suppose," Bohdan replied.

"But you said you were in the war."

"I was until I left, I didn't care for it much, and there was profit in slave sales."

"A vampire that sold slaves?"

"I wasn't always a vampire. I was turned by a slave, a slave vampire. Killed the bastard after that. Like a mosquito."

"How long have you been a vampire?" the pastor asked.

Bohdan thought for a moment. "Going on thirteen years now I suppose."

"You've been living on the blood of humans for thirteen years? How come I never heard of you?"

"I'm very good at what I do, I come into a town, clean it out and leave before I get caught. Except for that one time, but that's in the past. So we have a deal to discuss. Do I kill you both now, or do you send me a supply of victims? I'm use to hunting on my own, but if you want to get them for me, I can try that."

"Yes, we can get you as many as you need," the pastor said.

"You realize the second you turn on me, the deal is off and I take you both," Bohdan said.

"We understand."

"No, I don't think you do actually, I think I need some collateral."

"What do you mean by that?" the pastor asked.

"Maybe collateral isn't the right word, what I need is to prove to you that if you fuck me over, I fuck you back. Maybe I should visit your house, see your kids."

"No!" the pastor shouted, you stay away from my children!"

Bohdan expected that reaction, but he didn't think his point was clear. He needed an example that would guarantee that the pastor and his wife would never turn on him. All he needed was one of them, the other would prove to be more a value hanging from the town square disemboweled. And that's exactly how they found the pastor's wife, the next morning, hanging from courthouse bell tower, white, lifeless and drained of all blood. Her intestines spread on the ground in a heap covered in flies picked over by birds.

# Chapter 3

# Bible Study

The funeral for the pastor's wife was held early in the day leaving the pastor alone in the evening to meet for bible class, a class the pastor scheduled at the request of Bohdan. The pastor's wife was killed without Bohdan feeding off of her, something he regretted in hindsight so now he needed new blood. He needed to feed at least once a week and tonight the pastor was bringing fresh meat to the table.

Bohdan hid in the back storage room of the church while the class was held for a small select group of people. A group the pastor thought would make good targets for the vampire. Seething with anger over the murder of his wife, the pastor had no choice but to carry out the wishes of the vampire who slaughtered her and left her out to hang in the public square.

The class was scheduled for an hour and the hour was up when Bohdan heard the pastor offer up a last prayer for the night. Now the plan was for the pastor to keep one person behind so Bohdan could end his/her life and drink of their blood. Bohdan put his eye up to a crack in the doorway watching to see who the pastor would ask to stay. The group was a mix of two families, four adults and four children, three girls and a boy. Bohdan wanted a girl, he always preferred them over males.

The crowd dispersed and all the members of the bible study left the main room of the church heading out the main door. Bohdan was confused and as time went on became angry that the pastor didn't keep one of the girls behind. When the room was empty, Bohdan opened the door and stepped into the church behind the altar. From there he scanned the room looking for the pastor, he was not to be found.

"Don't worry, I have one coming back," the pastor said as he walked back into the room.

"Which one?" Bohdan asked.

"Angela," the pastor replied. "The oldest daughter, she's going home to get a book and bring it back. I asked her to show it to me."

"Good, how long will it take?"

"She lives three miles from here, it will take an hour for her to get back, you can wait."

"It's dark outside, do you think her parents will allow her to be out at night alone? What if her father returns with her?" Bohdan asked.

"I can't help that. I told you I'd find you parishioners to kill and I did. How you do it is your business, not mine."

"I can't kill a grown man as easy, and he will have help, his daughter will be here as well."

"You don't know that, she will probably come alone. We don't have much crime around here, at least before you showed up," the pastor said.

It was two hours before Angela returned to the church alone. She opened the main door and stepped inside holding a book looking for the pastor. She turned and found him sitting in his office reading. "Pastor," she said trying not to startle the man.

The pastor jumped and laughed hearing him called out by the girl. "Sorry Angela, I didn't hear you come in. "I see you brought the book I asked for."

"Yes," Angela replied setting the book on the pastor's desk. "Sorry I was late getting back, I had to help my mother with some chores."

"No problem, that's what a good child does."

Angela turned to walk back out the door when she saw a tall stranger standing in the doorway. She gasped and put a hand to her chest swallowing hard. "Excuse me, I didn't hear you behind me," she said.

Bohdan put a hand on each side of the doorway blocking Angela's escape from the room He didn't reply at first keeping an eye on the girl, sizing her up for a meal.

"I don't believe we've met before," Angela said, trying to prompt the stranger to speak.

"My name is Bohdan," the strange man said.

"Do you have relations around here?" Angela asked trying to make conversation.

"No," Bohdan replied cold.

Angela waited for the stranger to step away from the doorway, but didn't; he continued to block her way out with a hand on each side of the door. Soon it became uncomfortable so the girl looked to the pastor for direction. "I need to get going," Angela said to the pastor, then she looked to the stranger expecting him to step aside. He didn't. "Excuse me sir, may I get past you?" she asked.

Bohdan hesitated, then moved so the girl could walk by. As she passed Bohdan, he placed a hand on her breast and squeezed hard enough for the girl to lurch away in fear.

"What are you doing?" Angela asked.

"I haven't been with a woman in months," Bohdan replied.

"How dare you touch me like that! And in God's house!" Angela snapped back. She looked to the pastor to back her up, but he sat silent, deferring to Bohdan. The pastor seemed timid and scared.

Bohdan stepped in closer to Angela and reached out to grab her by the collar of her dress. She backed away before he could get a grip. "Don't try to get away from me," Bohdan said. "If you put up a fight, I will be very angry, and you don't want me to be angry. Do you understand?"

Angela looked to the pastor who was in the other room sitting at his desk. "Help me pastor!" Angela said. The pastor sat quiet and didn't reply.

"He won't help you," Bohdan said. "Nobody will help you now, so you might as well do as I say."

"Do you expect me to let you rape me?" Angela asked.

"Take off your clothes," Bohdan said. He was direct, to the point and didn't raise his voice.

"I won't," Angela replied. "Pastor, please do something," she pleaded.

"He set this up," Bohdan said with a smile. "Take off your clothes and it won't be as painful."

Angela could tell by the pastor's demeanor that the stranger was right. The person she relied on for guidance and comfort put her in the path of this stranger who was now planning to rape her in the church. The thought of bolting out the front door crossed her mind, but she knew the chances of her escaping from the stranger's grasp were slim. So she tugged at her dress, and pulled it up over her head and dropped it on the floor. She then removed her undergarments and stood naked before the stranger and the pastor. The pastor who was now turned away so he couldn't see what was about to happen. "I hope you're happy pastor," Angela said.

The next day Angela's nude eviscerated body was found at the edge of town draped over a fence post. Sheriff Jim Greenwood had little to go on, but now had three murdered mutilated females to deal with and a town angry and in fear for their lives. People had noticed the stranger in town, and people talked enough that word got back to the sheriff with concerns he might be the one he should be looking at. The only common bond between the women otherwise was the pastor's wife and a parishioner were both church members, the prostitute was a single event upon itself with no clear connection to the others. Unless the stranger could be tied to all three.

The sheriff rode to the pastor's residence and found him working in the back feeding his animals. He got the pastor's attention, dismounted from his horse and stepped over to speak to the local man of God. "Morning pastor," the sheriff said raising his hand.

"What can I do for you sheriff?" the pastor asked. Sweat dripping off his forehead as he set his feed on the ground.

"I have some questions for you if you don't mind."

"Is this about the girl they found dead on the fence?" the pastor asked.

"The girl?" The sheriff asked. He was struck by how informal the pastor spoke. "Wasn't she a member of the church? I've seen the family there every Sunday."

"Yes, I suppose so."

"And you don't know her name?"

"I don't know the name of everyone who attends church," the pastor replied.

"Her name was Angela Johnson, her father is Thomas Johnson, and he farms south of town by the river."

"Yes, I know," the pastor said. He was being defensive. "I just don't know the names of all his kids, do you know their names?"

The sheriff stood for a moment and thought. "No, actually I don't, I'm sorry. But why did you assume I came here to talk about her?"

"I don't know, it just happened, why else would you be out asking questions about anything?"

"How are you holding up with your wife's murder?" the sheriff asked.

The pastor swallowed hard. "Not very well," he replied.

"Must be tough losing your wife and now a parishioner. You're in the comfort business and it seems you're the one in need of comfort."

"I keep busy, it takes my mind off it," the pastor replied.

"I have another question. Some people in town said they saw that stranger in town hanging out near the church, did you happen to see him?"

The pastor had to choose his words carefully. "Yeah, I saw him."

"Did you happen to speak to him?"

"We had a conversation, yes."

"Do you know his name?"

"Yes, he said his name is Bohdan," the pastor replied.

"Bohdan? That's an odd name."

"Sounds east European I think," the pastor replied.

"What did you talk about?"

"Oh, small talk mainly."

"I see, out of curiosity, what kind of small talk?"

"He asked about the church, if I was the pastor, things like that."

"And what did you tell him?"

"I told him I was the pastor and that he was welcome to come to church on Sunday," the pastor replied.

"Anything else?" the sheriff asked.

"No, that's about it."

The sheriff could tell the pastor was lying, but didn't want to piss him off. His wife had just died and he knew the pastor would be sensitive.

"You know I have no leads on your wife's murder," the sheriff said. "Do you think this Bohdan could have anything to do with it?"

"Why would I think that?" the pastor replied.

"Nobody knows him, and nobody I can think of had a motive to kill your wife. The timing is suspect. Did he give you any vibes as to his personality?"

The pastor wanted to tell the sheriff everything he knew, but he also feared for his life knowing Bohdan had killed both his wife and Angela Johnson. "He seemed normal to me."

"I want to talk to him, if you see him again, can you send him down to the jail?" the sheriff asked.

"If I see him I will," the pastor replied. "I need to get back to feeding my animals."

"Sorry to bother you, doing my job," the sheriff said. He climbed back on his horse and took off down the dirt road back into the main part of town. It didn't take long for Bohdan to step out of the house and approach the pastor who was now sweating profusely under the sun.

"What did he want?" Bohdan asked.

"He wants to talk to you," the pastor replied.

"Me? Why me?"

"I don't know, you ask him."

"You must have told him something about me if he wants to speak to me."

"Maybe he wants to speak to you because three women died in the last two weeks and you are the only person around here nobody knows anything about. I'd be asking about you too if I were him. Maybe if you didn't walk around town acting so creepy this wouldn't be a problem!"

"I won't talk to him," Bohdan replied.

"I don't give a shit what you do, if I were you, I'd get the fuck out of town as soon as possible. There's a target on your back and now the sheriff is onto you. You're plan isn't working any longer and I'm getting sick of you threatening to kill me. If you're going to do it, fucking do it."

"I won't kill you, I will make your life a living hell if you don't do as I say. You need to go to the sheriff and tell him to leave me alone."

"Are you kidding me? Why the fuck would I do that? I don't need a target on my back."

Then Bohdan got an idea, he needed to pin the deaths on someone, and that someone was standing right in front of him dripping sweat from his brow.

# 

# Chapter 4

# Altar

Bohdan returned to the saloon driving a horse pulled wagon. The wagon was empty except for a few sacks of grain covered by a blanket and some tools. He pulled the wagon behind the saloon and tied the horses up to a rail by the back door. The wagon set just under the second floor windows and was well hidden in the dark of the evening.

When he knew the wagon was secure, Bohdan walked around the side of the building and entered trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Most of the patrons at the bar noticed the stranger right away and now knew a little of him from when he first arrived in town a few weeks ago. Bohdan looked around and watched the nude dancers grind on the willing men who were paying for lap dances. For a moment he took in the show, but he needed to get on with the business he came for. He turned and headed up the stairs by the front door to the apartment of the madam he had met once before.

As he headed up the stairs, all eyes were upon him, and this was exactly what he didn't want. He needed to be invisible. At the door, he knocked and the madame opened the door. She was shocked to see the man who was the last person seen with Maria before she died. "What do you want?" the madam asked. She was pissed.

"I came for your services," Bohdan replied. "May I come inside?"

"I think you've had enough of my services, you can leave," she replied and tried to shut the door in Bohdan's face.

"Wait," Bohdan said, putting up his hand to stop the door. "Let me in."

"Why should I let you in?" the madam asked.

"I have money."

"So do I, and I don't need any more of my girls dead."

"I didn't kill anyone," Bohdan replied.

"Then tell me what happened to Maria."

"She was alive when I left," Bohdan replied.

"I'm sure she was, now tell me what really happened."

"I don't know, like I said, she was alive when I left."

"They didn't find her till the next morning, and she was torn apart."

"I heard, it was all over town," Bohdan said.

"And you just happened to show up in town and be the last person she was with. Did the sheriff talk to you?" the madam asked.

"No, nobody spoke to me."

"Probably couldn't find you," the madam said. "Where are you living?"

"With the pastor," Bohdan replied.

"His wife was murdered, what a coincidence."

"I had nothing to do with that either. If the pastor thought I had anything to do with her death, do you think he'd allow me to live in his house?"

"I don't know, what are you doing there?"

"I'm working as a hired hand, for the church," Bohdan replied.

"Do you think the pastor would approve of you coming here? I mean, spending your earnings on prostitutes?"

"The church is for sinners, not for angels," Bohdan replied.

"Yeah, I suppose so. I still don't want you here, and I know none of my girls will have anything to do with you."

"I'm willing to pay whatever it takes."

The madam stood and looked at Bohdan. Money did talk, especially in her business. "How much?"

"I'd go so far as a dollar," Bohdan replied.

"Nobody will fuck you for less than three," the madam said. "You are one scary fucker."

Bohdan fished in his money purse and pulled out what he had. He counted eight dollars and handed three to the madam."

"Not me, I don't fuck for money, I just take a cut."

"Fine, show me the girls," Bohdan said.

The madam hesitated. She didn't know which girls to show him since none of them would touch him let alone fuck him. "I can show you around, but no guarantees."

Bohdan started to get nervous. He really did need a girl, but it didn't matter to him which one, he had no plans to fuck any of them anyway. Then a new plan popped in his head and he spun around to see if the door was shut. Seeing it was closed, he lunged at the madam and forced himself onto her driving her to the floor. Pinning her down, he covered her mouth and tried to bite her on the neck. She fought back and pulled his hair, yanking him from side to side.

Angry that she was fighting back, Bohdan placed his hands around her neck and forced his thumbs into her windpipe until it gave under the pressure. Feeling her windpipe snap, the madam panicked and put her own hands to her own throat in an attempt to free up the airflow, but to no avail. Bohdan sat back and watched her as she gasped for air and turned a dusky blue color. He knew that before she died, he needed to drink from her as he was getting weak and needed the energy to continue his plan.

As she lost consciousness, Bohdan placed his fangs on the madam's neck and punctured her artery taking a drink before her heart stopped. Once she was dead, he raised back and wiped the blood from his lips and scanned the room for a blanket or large cloth. He found what he was looking for on her bed and picked her up and placed her on the mattress so he could wrap her inside.

As the woman was concealed in the fabric of the blanket, he stood up and opened the door of the apartment scanning the hall to make sure it was clear. He then returned to the bed, bent over and picked up the dead woman slinging her over his shoulder like a sack of grain. He carried her to the doorway and poked his head out and saw no one in his view. The patrons below who were drinking and frolicking with the nude dancers were too enamored to look up to see what was going on. Bohdan stepped out of the apartment and walked along the balcony until he was at the back of the building. At his destination, he opened the door to the middle apartment and stepped inside closing the door behind him. He set the dead woman on the bed and walked over to the window and opened it looking down at the wagon he had parked there earlier.

Back at the bed, he picked up the madam and carried her to the window and dropped her to the wagon below. She landed with a soft thud that went unnoticed by anyone within earshot. Wanting to avoid being seen back in the bar, Bohdan slipped through the window and jumped down to the wagon below landing on the soft sacks. He quickly scrambled to the driver's seat, jumped down off the wagon and untied the horses. Back in the seat, he slowly took off down the street trying not to bring attention to himself. The bar was always noisy and the distraction was good to keep the nosy townsfolk from noticing he was transporting a dead woman down the main street towards the church.

At the back door of the church, Bohdan dragged the dead woman from the wagon into the building and unraveled her from the blanket. He tossed the blanket aside, cleaned off the altar and lifted her dead body onto the clean area facing her towards the ceiling. Her head, arms and legs dangled off the sides. He walked back to the supply room and found some tools he had stored and waited for the pastor to show. He told the pastor he needed to meet with him at ten and it was important. He just didn't know how important. The pastor argued and said they could talk at the house, but Bohdan insisted that they meet at the church.

Before the pastor showed up, Bohdan had something he had to finish. He took the bag of tools and found a knife inside. He approached the altar and stood at the side where the madam's head was hanging back with her long hair touching the floor. Straddling her head between his legs, Bohdan placed his knife at her lower abdomen and stabbed down hard until he cut through the muscle. He then used an up and down motion to cut her open as he brought the knife closer to her chest. Once he hit her sternum, he cut across making a T that allowed him to split her open and pull her intestines out and drape them over her side and onto the floor.

It was then he heard the pastor call out to him. "What the fuck are you doing!" the pastor yelled.

Bohdan dropped the handful of bowel and turned to face the pastor who was stopped halfway between the front of the church and the altar. "I'm doing the Lord's work, can't you see?" Bohdan said with a grin.

"The Lord's work? You've desecrated the altar! Who is that?" the pastor asked.

"I don't know her name, but she runs a brothel upstairs at the saloon."

"Jane?" the pastor asked.

"You know her?" Bohdan asked.

"Yes, I've known her for years."

"Then you've known what she's been doing all this time."

"Everyone knows what she does, but that's no reason to kill her."

"I'm sure the Lord is good with it, she was helping men commit adultery. I put an end to that."

"Nowhere in the bible does Jesus say to kill the sinner. He says to turn the other cheek, to let those without sin cast the first stone. What you have done is commit the ultimate sin of murder."

"I was doing your God a favor," Bohdan said. "He wasn't serious, but was enjoying the debate.

"Only God is the judge, not man. He will do it his way and in his own time. Jesus lived with the sinners, Jesus would never condone what you've done." the pastor said.

Bohdan turned to face the pastor, dripping blood on the floor as he moved. He stabbed the knife into the wood altar and raised his hands to show what he had done. "Too late now, don't you think?" Bohdan said with a grin.

"I can't let you continue to murder innocent people," the pastor said. "You've gone too far."

"I would think killing your wife would have gone too far, but whatever. What are you going to do to me?"

The pastor stepped up closer and thought hard. "I'll get the sheriff," he said.

Bohdan didn't think the pastor had the guts to follow through with his threat, but he needed him to be his patsy and frame him for the other murders. He didn't need him turning and running off to tattle on him at this moment. "Wait," Bohdan said.

"For what? I've seen enough," the pastor said.

"I want to show you something."

The pastor hesitated and said, "Show me."

"You need to come closer," Bohdan said.

"No, you can show me from here. You have a knife and you've murdered before."

Bohdan knew the pastor was onto him. What could he do to stop the pastor from leaving before he finished what he came for in the first place? "I need your help," Bohdan said, thinking fast.

"Help with what?" the pastor asked. "Your soul is beyond help."

"Not with that, with disposing of her body."

"You've covered my altar with blood, how do you expect to clean that? And what makes you think I'd help you in the first place?"

"You know if you don't, I'll do to you what I did to your wife, that Mexican prostitute and Jane, your madam friend here."

The pastor turned and looked behind him trying to judge how quickly he could escape if he took off running.

"You can run, but I'll find you eventually. You know what I'm capable of, and if I say I'll kill you, I mean it. And I can back that up. Turn me into the sheriff and you'll be dead in a week."

"Did you drink her blood?" the pastor asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Bohdan asked.

"What kind of evil creature drinks the blood of another human?"

"I don't know, the slave that turned me didn't explain it very well. But I know what I have to have. Now get over here."

The pastor stepped up closer, knowing that Bohdan was right and that running to the sheriff would not save him from death. As he climbed the steps to the altar, the pastor looked down at Jane who was lying on her back, her belly empty off its contents. "What are you going to do with her?" the pastor asked.

Bohdan picked the knife out of the wood and stabbed it into the pastor's chest repeatedly until the pastor lie on his back gasping for air. After he died, Bohdan placed the knife in the Pastor's hand in order to frame him and headed out of the church to alert someone to call the sheriff. It would have been a better plan on a Saturday night, but not everything works out as planned.

# Chapter 5

# Posse

The sun burned hot in the sky when the sheriff and his deputies rode up to the pastor's house looking for the stranger who lived there. There were no visible signs that anyone was there, but the sheriff had a hunch that he would find who he was looking for inside the house. He didn't need a warrant, it was eighteen seventy five.

The sheriff dismounted from his horse and led his three deputies to the front porch. He didn't think knocking would be a good idea since he didn't want the strangers trying to escape or shooting at them. He told one of the deputies to go to the back of the house and watch to make sure the stranger didn't escape. Giving him ample time to get around to the rear, the sheriff opened the front door and led the remaining two deputies inside.

What the found was a pine wood coffin setting on the floor in the main room with the lid on.

"What the fuck?" Deputy Diller asked. "Why is there a pinewood box in the house?"

"He's a preacher, he does funerals, maybe it has something to do with that," Deputy Davis replied.

"The mortician takes care of the bodies, he has all the coffins down at the mortuary. This isn't right," Deputy Diller said.

The sheriff moved in closer and took a long look at the lid. He pulled his pistol and aimed it at the center. "Take off the lid," he said to Deputy Diller who was standing closest to the coffin.

"What do you think is in there?" Deputy Diller asked.

"Not what, who," the sheriff replied.

Deputy Diller bent over and gave the lid a little shove to make sure it wasn't nailed down anywhere. It gave so he knew the lid was just resting on top. He looked up at the sheriff and then back down at the lid and pushed it until it slid off onto the floor. To everyone's shock, the stranger lie inside the coffin with his eyes closed. He didn't look dead, and it didn't take long to see that he was breathing. Removing the lid didn't wake him and seemed to annoy him a bit as he readjusted to turn from the dim light streaming through the window.

"What's he doing?" Deputy Diller asked.

"Sleeping from what I can tell," the sheriff replied. "Wake him."

Deputy Diller reached over to the stranger and pushed him trying to wake him. With each push the man in the coffin became more and more agitated. Then he woke up in a groggy state covering his eyes from the glare from the window. It took a few moments for him to gain his bearings, but when he did, he was shocked to find law enforcement in the room looking at him from above.

"What's going on?" Bohdan asked.

"Is your name Bohdan Malko?" the sheriff asked.

"Yes, why did you interrupt my sleep?"

"I have information that you murdered Jane Henry and Pastor Brett Adkins last night at the church and left their bodies for me to find."

"What makes you think I killed them?" Bohdan asked.

"I found a letter on the pastor's desk. It said if anything ever happened to him, that it would be you that did it," the sheriff replied.

"That mother fucker," Bohdan said. He was very disappointed that he didn't search the pastor's office before he left the church and now he was busted.

"Did you kill them?" the sheriff asked.

"Of course not," Bohdan replied. He was now sitting up in the coffin and was getting adjusted to the dim light filling the room. He squinted as if the light was a pain to him.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you sleeping in a coffin in the middle of the day?"

"I have a sensitivity to light, I can only leave the house at night unless I'm covered from head to toe," Bohdan replied. "I can't explain it, my mother had it as well," Bohdan lied to the sheriff.

"Why a coffin?"

"The light can't get in, I can't sleep if there is any light at all."

"I need to take you down to the jail, I hope that won't be a problem," the sheriff said. He was being sardonic, he didn't care if it hurt Bohdan or not.

"Give me a few minutes to get ready," Bohdan said as he got out of the coffin. By now Deputy Smith heard the conversation from where he was standing at the back of the house and joined the rest inside.

"Once he gets ready, tie a rope from his hands to a horse. And toss a blanket over his head so he doesn't get sunburned."

Bohdan put out his hands and Deputy Diller tied them with a rope he brought in from outside. He then tossed a blanket over Bohdan's head and led him outside where he attached the rope to the harness of his horse. From there, the posse slowly led Bohdan down the street to the jail as he trailed behind the horses being led by the rope. Town's people watched in curiosity as the stranger walked behind the four horses with a blanket over his head. Nobody had ever seen anything like that before. Was it because they were hiding something?

At the jail, the sheriff pulled off the blanket and locked Bohdan in a cell. The light shining through the barred window cast a rectangle on the wall that lit up the room. Bohdan squinted and covered his eyes with his hand. "Can you give me the blanket? I need to cover the window."

"It really hurts that bad?" Deputy Davis asked.

"Yes, the light is very painful," Bohdan replied.

Deputy Davis pushed the blanket through the bars of the cell and dropped it on the wood floor. Bohdan quickly picked up the blanket and draped it over his head leaving a small area to see and speak through.

"Can you put something in the window to block the light as well?" Bohdan asked.

"Use the blanket," Deputy Davis replied.

"I can't get that close to the light, it will burn me."

"Wait till it gets dark," the deputy replied.

Bohdan moved to the darkest corner of the cell and sat with his blanket covering him as best he could. It was a little past noon and the sun was bright in the clear sky that day. It would be a long while till sundown when he could plug up the hole in his cell.

The sheriff pulled up a chair and sat down with a pad of paper and a pen. He looked at Bohdan like he was a circus freak. "I have some questions I need you to answer," the sheriff said.

"Ask what you want sheriff," Bohdan replied. His eyes were closed and shaded by the blanket.

"Where are you from?" the sheriff asked.

"I was born and raised in Texas."

"What are you doing here in Kansas?"

"Looking for work," Bohdan replied.

"What kind of work?"

"Any kind."

"How long have you been in town?"

"About three weeks."

"And how did you meet the pastor?" the sheriff asked.

"I came to his church looking for help."

"Is that why you were living with him?"

"Yes."

"Did you meet his wife?"

"Briefly."

"You know she's dead as well."

"Yes, I know."

"Do you have any idea how she died?" The sheriff asked.

"Why would I know? What are you getting at? Are you accusing me of killing her?"

"Since you've shown up, four people have died. A prostitute named Maria, Jane Henry, the pastor and his wife, and you happened to be living in the pastor's house sleeping in a pine box coffin. Explain that."

"I have no explanation," Bohdan replied.

"I bet you don't," the sheriff replied. "

"Do you have any evidence, besides the letter from the pastor that I did anything wrong?"

"No, but that letter points the finger at you and you are my only suspect."

"Have you even tried to look at anyone else? Or are you being lazy," Bohdan said.

"Fuck you asshole," the sheriff replied. "I don't answer to you, you answer to me. As far as I'm concerned, I'd rather string you up right now than ask any more questions. It's pretty obvious that you killed these people. I'm just going through the motions till the judge shows up to kill you off legal."

"When will the judge be here?" Bohdan asked.

"He's due in three weeks, you'll be sitting in jail until then."

"Three weeks?" Bohdan asked out loud. He knew he'd probably starve to death without fresh blood before the judge came to town.

"Is that a problem for you?" the sheriff asked sardonically. He didn't give a shit.

"No, that's not a problem at all," Bohdan replied.

"Maybe by then you'll have decided to confess."

"I don't think so, I have nothing to confess too," Bohdan replied.

"I'd think about that really hard if I were you, if you confess, they might go easy on you."

"Why would anyone go easy on me? You've already convicted me as far as I can tell."

"Because Jane Henry is the sister of one of my deputies, and if you pretend to be innocent, it will just piss him off more. If you fess up and ask for forgiveness, you might live to see your trial."

"Which deputy is that?" Bohdan asked.

"Smith," Bohdan replied. "Henry was her married name."

"And you want me to confess to Deputy Smith so he won't kill me in my cell while I sleep."

"I can't be here all the time to protect you."

"So you're no better than a thug."

"You're no better than a killer," the sheriff replied.

"If you can't grant me basic protection from your own deputy, you should house me somewhere else."

"Where?" the sheriff asked.

"Where is the nearest town with a jail?"

"Salina would be the closest, but I'm not sending you there. This is an Abilene issue and we will take care of you here."

"Fine, do as you wish, you have me locked up like an animal, and now I won't live to see my trial. I've seen worse during the war, far worse. I should have died many times and survived. I've been a prisoner of war, and I'm still here."

"There is a big difference between a prisoner of war and a murderer who kills innocent women and butchers their bodies to be picked over by vultures. You'll have plenty of time to think over the next three weeks, if you survive that long. Until then, remember, Deputy Smith has access to the jail keys and I'm not here most of the day. He takes turns sleeping overnights when we have prisoners and you two will be alone."

"If he touches me, everyone will know who did it," Bohdan replied.

"You ever hear of jailhouse suicides? When they find the prisoner hanging from the rafters? Happens all the time."

"I bet it does, you're no better than a criminal yourself," Bohdan replied.

"Confess, you'll live to see the judge."

"Confess and he'll put a bullet through me."

"I'll talk to him, you'll survive," the sheriff said.

"What guarantee do I have?"

"None, but your odds will increase. If you're a gambler, you'd know to stack the cards in your favor."

"I'll think about it," Bohdan said. "But that's not a confession. I need some time to myself to decide what I'm going to do."

"You have plenty of time, you have nothing better to do than sit in that cell and ponder your fate. I give you a week at the most before I find you dead in your cell. Two maybe. You think about that."

Bohdan turned and looked away from the sheriff, hoping he'd leave him alone.

# Chapter 6

# Trial

Three weeks passed slow for Bohdan who was now a sickly version of what he had been. The constant sunlight flooding his cell and lack of blood left him weak and pale. He was transported to the courthouse covered with a blanket to keep him from burning from the sun and was set up at a table with his public defender attorney Jack Shultis. This was the first time he had contact with his attorney and he knew he didn't have a chance in hell.

Across the room sat the county attorney and prosecutor Ed McDaniel who had been working the area for years and knew the judge well. The room was filled with interested locals who came to see the show and what would happen to the person accused of serial murder in the town of Abilene Kansas.

The bailiff looked at his watch and then announced the judge to the courtroom. "All stand for the honorable Judge Stevens," the bailiff stated and the room rumbled with the sound of the gallery standing while the judge entered the room.

"Be seated," Judge Stevens said and the room rumbled again with the sound of everyone taking their seats.

The bailiff announced the case and the judge addressed the county attorney telling him to make his opening statement.

County attorney Ed McDaniel stood and faced the jury box where twelve locals sat in anticipation of the arguments. "What we have here is a simple case, an open and shut case of the murders of three women committed by one Bohdan Malko who you can see sitting at the defendant's table. According to a signed letter from the former pastor Brett Adkins, the accused was identified as the probable cause in his death. I contend that the accused also was responsible for the murder of a local prostitute Maria Ortiz, her Madam Jane Henry, the pastor's wife Julie Adkins and local Angela Johnson.

"Objection!" the defense attorney Shultis said. "My client is not on trial for any murder other than Brett Adkins."

"Sustained," the judge said.

"The letter has been entered into evidence, but I have written down what the pastor wrote and would like to read it aloud to the jury if I may?" McDaniel asked. He looked to the judge for approval and saw him nod in agreement. "The letter reads as follows. 'In the event of my untimely death, I ask you to look to a man named Bohdan Malko as my probably killer. This man has come into my life and caused terrible hardships upon me and the town as a whole. I don't feel it is my duty to go into detail, but it is my duty to point you in the right direction if anything were to happen to me or anyone else in town. Bohdan Malko is an evil man, with evil intentions. That is all I have to say for now. Pastor Brett Adkins.'"

"Objection!" Shultis said. "What proof is there that the pastor penned this letter?"

"It was found at his desk the night of his murder. It was in his handwriting," McDaniel replied.

"Handwriting can be faked. Do you have an expert to verify the handwriting is that of the pastor?"

"The closest expert would be Kansas City maybe, Chicago if we're lucky. I ask the judge to rule that the handwriting is that of the pastor and can be considered as legal evidence of his state of mind at the time of his death."

"So you don't have any proof? I ask that this letter be tossed out as evidence!" Shultis yelled. "The letter itself is no proof let alone its authenticity. I ask that the letter be struck from the record as evidence!"

The judge sat and thought for a moment. "I've seen the letter and have read it. I am convinced that the letter is genuine and I will allow it as evidence."

"Thank you your honor," McDaniel said. "The question at hand is why would the pastor pen this letter? Why did he think his life was in danger? What was the relationship between the defendant and the pastor? I will make the argument that the defendant knew the pastor and that the defendant killed the pastor based on this letter. That is all I have for now," McDaniel stated and sat down.

"The defense can make its opening statement now," the judge said.

Defense attorney Jack Shultis stood up and walked towards the jury box. He was nervous, but anxious to get his statement read into the record. "The letter means nothing," Shultis said. "It's points a finger but that's it. There is no testimony in the words, there are no facts, just a broad sweeping generalization that my client may be responsible in the event of a death that hadn't occurred at the time the letter was written. Does that make sense to you? When this letter was written, there was no murder. The pastor was still alive. Maybe the pastor and my client had an argument, and the pastor decided to slander my client with this letter? Who knows the real intention behind what's written. The pastor isn't here for me to ask. It's a baseless accusation with a hidden agenda. Even if the pastor did write the letter, it proves nothing, nothing at all." Shultis said. "I have nothing further."

"The prosecution may call the first witness," the judge said.

"Don't bother," Bohdan said. He was cold, sickly and trembling in his seat. "I did it, I killed the pastor."

"The gallery began to rumble with the revelation that the defendant just confessed to the murder.

The judge raised his hands and spoke loudly, "Silence in the court!" When the crowd calmed down the judge addressed Bohdan directly. "Would you repeat what you said?'

"I killed the pastor," Bohdan said. He had a hard time getting the words out.

"What is wrong with your client?" the judge asked Shultis. "He looks like he as tuberculosis or something."

"His time in jail made him sick, he needs to see a doctor," Shultis replied.

"Is there a doctor in the room?" the judge asked. "There was no response.

"There's a doctor in town," Shultis said.

"Will someone fetch the doctor?" the judge said.

Bohdan's lips were dry and he had a hard time focusing his eyes. It had been weeks since he had any blood and the light that he was exposed to darkened his skin in spots, and burned him in others. He was dehydrated and undernourished.

"In light of his confession, I ask that the court rule on the case," McDaniel said.

"Not so fast, I think the doctor should take a look at the defendant before I make a ruling in the case," the judge said.

"What difference will it make, he said he did it."

"I don't want a confession based on a medical condition. I want to make sure he is of a right mind. His life depends on it."

The local doctor examined Bohdan in his seat and came to the conclusion he was suffering from starvation and dehydration. Neither of which could be resolved without human blood and the doctor didn't know. Nobody but Bohdan knew. And Bohdan was on the verge of unconsciousness when he reached out and grabbed the doctor by his arm and pulled him in close and sank his fangs into his neck puncturing his artery drinking as fast as he could.

The gallery erupted seeing what Bohdan was doing but no one had the insight to stop him from killing the doctor. For a few seconds Bohdan drank from the doctor's neck in full view of everyone in the courtroom until he dropped the doctor on the floor in a heap. Bohdan leaned back in his chair, blood draining from his mouth feeling the rush of nourishment fill his body. Then he felt a strike to the back of his head and fell face first onto the desk. The bailiff had finally come over to stop Bohdan and made sure he didn't attack anyone else.

Bohdan was dragged to a side bench while the gallery was forced to leave the room. Ropes were tied to Bohdan's hands and feet while onlookers tried to get one last glance before being forced out the front door. When the gallery was emptied, the room was left with the judge, the bailiff and the two attorneys. The sheriff was on his way.

"Now what?" McDaniel asked. "Now we don't need a confession, we all saw him kill the doctor."

"I know," the judge said. He had never seen anything like this before. An actual murder, witnessed by a crowd in attendance for a trial.

"Are you going to do something?" McDaniel asked.

"There is due process, I can't make a ruling without a trial."

"But you can rule on the pastor's case. From what you saw, you can obviously tell that the defendant is capable of murder. I don't need a letter to tell you that. And he did confess."

"I know, I will hand down my decision tomorrow," the judge said. "That's the best I can do for now."

The next day the courtroom was again filled with people wanting to see how the judge would rule. There was a line out the front door and people were turned away once the seats were filled. Bohdan sat at the same table as before with his defense attorney sitting next to him. He was feeling much better now that he had fed and now regretted confessing to the crime of murder. But it was too late and he had no choice but to await his fate.

The bailiff again called the judge into the courtroom. Once the gallery was seated, the judge pulled out a sheet of paper as if he was going to read something aloud. He set the paper down and looked out into the crowd. "As you know," the judge said. "Yesterday the defendant confessed to the murder of Pastor Brett Adkins. We are here to adjudicate that case and that case only. What you witnessed yesterday was altogether a different crime and would be heard at trial if it weren't for the decision I'm about to hand down. As we all saw, the defendant's character is that of a cold blooded killer, and with the confession I have no choice but to rule the defendant guilty as charged in the murder of Pastor Brett Adkins. I now sentence the defendant, Bohdan Malko to hang from a rope in the town square at noon until he is dead. That is my decision, and that is final." the judge said slamming his gavel.

The crowd again erupted and the judge left the room. Bohdan was led out the side door, covered in a blanket and driven back to the jail where he'd wait three hours until his death. Or that's what the townspeople thought. They had no idea Bohdan was immortal and hanging would do nothing to him. Bohdan smiled in his cell, this time with the blanket shoved in the window.

"What are you grinning about?" the sheriff asked.

"You'll see," the newly recharged vampire replied.

"See what?"

"When they put the rope around my neck and pull the lever. I'd make you a bet that you'll see me again in this jail cell before nightfall."

"We have a morgue," the sheriff said.

"I'm sure you do, but I won't be in it," Bohdan said with a grin.

Three hours passed fast and Bohdan was brought out to a hastily built set of gallows just large enough for Bohdan and the executioner to stand on. It was nothing more than a platform that held the men and allowed the appointed executioner to shove the condemned off to his fate below. Bohdan was brought out into the bright sunlight, still covered and forced to climb the ladder to the top of the platform. The executioner was a volunteer the judge appointed for this execution who followed Bohdan up and stood next to him. In his pocket was a sack to cover Bohdan's head before the noose was placed around his neck. And above, hanging from a strong tree branch was a rope with a noose dangling down far enough to reach below the floor of the platform.

The executioner pulled the blanket off of Bohdan and quickly placed the sack back over his head. He then placed the noose around his neck and tightened it snug. The county clerk then approached the gallows and held up a sheet of paper and began to read to the crowd who had gathered to witness the execution. "Today we are gathered to witness the execution of one Bohdan Malko for the murder of Pastor Brett Adkins before the people of Abilene Kansas. July seventeenth, eighteen seventy five. May the execution commence." the clerk said folding up the paper.

His nerves rattled, the executioner placed his hands on the back of Bohdan and hesitated- afraid to administer his duties. He saw all the eyes upon him from below and awaited some official signal that he should shove the condemned man off the platform. Then here heard voices from the crowd yelling for him to push.

Hearing calls all around him, the executioner felt like it was alight to do what he was asked to do and shoved Bohdan off the platform. As the rope snapped tight, Bohdan stopped with a jerk dangling ten feet from the ground spinning in the wind. The crowed clapped and yelled enjoying the show until they saw his feet move like he was dancing. He wasn't struggling at all, and it seemed like he was making a mockery of what they had just done to him.

There was no sound from his mouth, but once he managed to work his hands free, he began to clap mimicking what the crowd had done when they thought he was dead.

"What the fuck is going on?" Mc Daniel asked.

# Chapter 7

# Present day

The vibration from the tram could be felt through the floor but the sound of the car itself was silent. Once again, for the twelfth time since lunch, a tourist car pulled up to the Plexiglas side of Bohdan's cell and stopped so the ticket holders could get a look at the prison's most famous resident. Bohdan the Vampire Ripper. Housed at this prison facility for over a hundred and thirty years, Bohdan had become the most famous resident of this now privately owned business.

Built near Topeka in eighteen eighty, the state owned prison was sold to New Systems Corrections Inc. in nineteen ninety three. It was then retrofitted to hold a tram line that could navigate through the building stopping at cells to let paid tourists view the inmates. Inmates that were now exclusively vampires. The venture was akin to a zoo, or a theme park that allowed visitors to view the attractions from a safe distance. Each cell had one side fitted with a Plexiglas that faced the tram and allowed the visitors a full view of the inmates housed inside.

The inmates didn't care for it much, and made it as difficult as they could for the prison to profit off their crimes. The cells were set up as to have no blockages of view from the tram with the bed, toilet and table set against the back wall. The inmates had no choice but to be in full view when the tram lines stopped at their cells. And they stopped a lot. The trams ran from nine in the morning till eleven and started again at one and ran till six in the evening. The whole time, the inmates were on display. Not much to see, but tourists would flock to the prison to see the vampires in person, and many of them had fans.

Today Bohdan sat in the corner facing away from the tram and ignored the gawking spectators on the other side of the Plexiglas. The trams held around twelve people and the seats faced towards the cell. The tour took about an hour to get through the entire prison and the cars only stopped at certain places. The places that housed the most famous vampires, like Bohdan.

Inside the tram a woman vented her disappointment that the one vampire she came to see, the one she paid fifty dollars to look at, was facing the wall ignoring her. "If he doesn't turn around, I'm asking for a refund," the woman said.

"Did you look at your ticket?" an older man said. He was sitting two seats from her.

"No," she replied.

"It says no refunds."

"What kind of shit is this? I paid to see Bohdan the Vampire Ripper and all I see is the back of his orange jumpsuit."

"At least you can say you saw him," the man replied.

"I'm telling everyone I know this ride is a rip-off."

"I don't think that will do much good. We waited in line for an hour and there was another hour's worth of people behind us. And this is a Thursday, can you image what it's like on the weekend?"

"They don't even have any rides here, other than this stupid tram," the woman said. As she spoke the tram began to move again to the next area of the prison leaving Bohdan behind. As the car slowly moved along the tracks, Bohdan turned his head, almost as to say "Fuck you" and then turn back. For a moment, the woman caught his eye and she smiled, almost jumped out of her seat. "Did you see that? He looked right at me!" she said.

"Guess you got your money's worth," the man said.

"God, I'd fuck him in a heartbeat if I could."

"Are you crazy? Are you one of those prison groupies who gets off on inmates?"

"He is so sexy, you don't know, you're a man," the woman said.

"He murdered four, or was it five women, I don't think he's sexy at all."

"There was no proof, I saw the movie they made on his life. All there was, was a letter that the pastor left."

"He confessed," the man said.

"They were starving him to death, anyone would confess under those conditions."

"So you're saying they've kept an innocent man, I mean vampire locked up here for over a hundred years?"

"Absolutely," the woman replied. She was rubbing herself between her legs subconsciously.

"It's a good thing they don't allow kids on this ride," the man said.

"Why do you say that?" the woman asked.

"They don't need to see a grown woman masturbating after seeing her obsession sitting in the corner of his jail cell."

The woman pulled her hand from her crotch and acted like she wasn't doing anything.

Seven in the evening, after the inmates were fed, a loud clank could be heard on Bohdan's cell door. He knew what this was, the guards were coming to get him. He knew the routine, he had to face the wall with his hands behind him so the guards could put on the wrist cuffs and chains. So he stood and waited for the door to open. With another loud sound, the door opened and three guards dressed in riot gear entered the room holding stun sticks and chains.

"Assume the position," one of the guards said. He had to say it, the words were part of his job. He saw Bohdan was already facing the wall and the men approached binding the vampire and leading him out of the cell into the hall.

"What's it this time?" Bohdan asked.

"Warden wants to see you," the lead guard replied.

"About?"

"She didn't say."

"I get really tired of these late meetings, why can't she come visit me?"

"That's not how it works," the guard replied.

It took less than ten minutes to traverse the long halls to the elevator. From there, they went down to the main floor and walked again for a few minutes until they stopped at the locked door to the administration wing. When buzzed in, the group walked around the office space and stopped at the warden's office and knocked.

"Come in," the warden said.

The lead guard opened the door and led Bohdan to a seat on the opposite side of the warden's desk. He was left in his chains and surrounded by the guards on each side and behind.

"Hello Bohdan," the warden said. Her name was Kathy Coyle, a fifty something skinny witch with long thin grey hair.

"What can I do for you Kathy," Bohdan said.

"Call me warden," Kathy replied.

"Fuck you Kathy," Bohdan replied. He had no respect for her at all, and didn't really care what she thought about it. "What does my favorite lesbian queen bitch want today?"

"I want you to stop hiding in your cell, we have paying customers who drove a long way and paid good money to see you."

"I know, I'm your number one cash cow around here. If it weren't for me, you'd have no theme park/zoo at all."

"Don't flatter yourself, people will come from all over to see a prison filled with vampire criminals. You're just the topping on the cake."

"I'm the cake, and you can't make me do anything, cunt," Bohdan said with a grin.

"I can have them make a display case down at the shop and have the guards strap you to it. Put you in a nice Jesus Christ pose and face you towards the tram if I want. When we bought this prison, it was with the agreement and understanding that we needed special privilege to make it work financially. And that included a broad interpretation of the abuse code. I can basically treat you like a dog if I want. You are property that we use to make a profit, and if you chose to not play by our rules, we will make rules that will ensure we make money."

"What? Tie me to a rack? Nice," Bohdan said.

"Exactly, I have maintenance drawing up a plan right now. I have authorized the cost of the materials and they are going to weld something together. So unless you want to be chained to a bunch of angle iron and displayed like sheep at the fair, I'd suggest you play along and entertain our customers."

Bohdan was used to being abused, but this was something new. The thought of being shackled to a welded steel frame and parked next to the Plexiglas really bothered him. For the last one hundred and thirty years, he had his meals provided for him and a warm place to sleep and had a relatively quiet existence. But now that the corporation was running the prison, his life became hell. More and more hell as they tried to increase profits. To the point a few years back where they would stage fights between the vampires like a gladiator's to get more people interested in buying tickets. That was put on hold when one of the vampires died and the company contract was almost revoked by the state. Abuse was one thing, murder was another.

"If I play along, I want something out of it," Bohdan said.

"What do you want?" Kathy asked.

"I want a woman, I have needs."

"We don't do conjugal visits here, you know that. And if we did allow it, we don't provide sexual partners."

"I can find a woman, I get a hundred fan letters a week. You wouldn't believe what these women are willing to do."

"No, actually I can, I've been in the prison business for thirty years. I know what these women are like, believe me. I've seen it."

"Then let me have one, or two. Give me the chance to fulfill their fantasy, and let me get off once and a while."

"Against the rules, sorry," Kathy said. "You will do as I say or you will be forced, I don't have to provide you anything."

"I'm sure your patrons would prefer for me to engage them willingly. Not tied to a rack."

"Actually, I think the rack would be more interesting. I could see them now, trying to figure out why you're chained to this metal frame facing the window. When word got out, I could see an increase in ticket sales.

"How many more tickets can you sell? That fucking tram runs all day. I never see an empty car go by, they are always full," Bohdan said.

"I'm thinking about extending our hours. I think we could sell tickets up till nine."

"Nine? Are you fucking crazy? I need my privacy!" Bohdan snapped back. "I usually sleep during the day, but you fucked that up and now you want me acting like a zoo animal all fucking day?"

"If I had my way, I'd not only have you on display all day, but I'd put in a pay site so people could log in online and watch you sleep. Anything to increase our profit."

"I have rights," Bohdan said.

"As a vampire, technically you don't. You know that."

"I was a human before I was a vampire."

"You had rights then, right up till you became a vampire," Kathy said. "You tried to sue before, how did that work out for you?"

Bohdan sank back in his chair, he did try to sue for his rights back in the eighties. It went nowhere. According to U.S. law, vampires had very limited rights, basically the same as an ape in a zoo. Only the corporation had a few laws amended so they could take the prison off the hands of the state and make a profit. All the prisons had to do was feed and house the vampires and keep them reasonably safe. They had to provide blood products once a week to keep them healthy and have them see a doctor once a year. There were no social workers, just a few case managers that kept the books.

"Fine, I'll do as you say, what can I do?"

"Do you want to see the plans for the rack?" Kathy asked. "I can have maintenance fax me a copy."

"I'm surprised you don't have a copy on your desk," Bohdan said.

"Here is what I want you to do. When the trams are running, you are to face the window and let the customers see you. You are not to face away and try to hide. I am going to do random sampling of the customers and survey them to see how happy there are with the ride, you in particular. If I see a marked increase in the satisfaction rating, I will keep you off the rack. If I don't see an increase, I'll have it installed and then run the survey again. Either way, this company is going to make more money. Do you understand?" Kathy asked.

Bohdan nodded his head in agreement.

"Take him back to his cell," the warden said. And the guards led him out the door and back through the halls to his cell. It was late, and he needed to sleep, he had a hard day ahead.

# Chapter 8

# The Rack

The next morning, Bohdan was led down to the commons for breakfast with forty seven other vampires that gathered there for each meal. Forty one males, and six female vampires all sentenced to life in prison for murder. Bohdan sat down at his regular table, dressed in his prison orange jumpsuit keeping to himself like he usually did. Only this morning there was an electricity in the air, something was a buzz and Bohdan didn't know what it was. Vampires were staring at him like he was on display. He tried to keep to himself until another vampire spoke to him from another table.

"I heard you got called into the warden's office yesterday," Oden snarked. He sat with a group of other vampires who snickered and acted like schoolboys taunting another.

Bohdan ignored Oden and started to eat. His meal consisted of eggs, bacon, three pancakes and a drink that contained enough blood to keep him healthy. All the vampires got the drink three times a day. It was a mixture that contained blood from a national blood bank and manufactured at a food processing plant in Minnesota.

"What did you do this time Bohdan?" Oden asked again. He was more taunting this time.

Bohdan looked up at Oden and chewed his food. This made Oden happy, he at least got Bohdan to acknowledge him.

"I hear you're in big trouble with the warden."

"Fuck off asshole," Bohdan replied and continued to chew his food.

"Word is you're being punished, what did you do this time?"

Bohdan stopped chewing and swallowed his food. He knew if he got up and kicked the shit out of Oden he'd be put in the hole. But at the same time, if he were put in the hole, the prison's biggest attraction would be off the tour and that wasn't good for business. Bohdan was a local celebrity, and everyone knew it. That's why he was such an easy target. "She offered me a blow job," Bohdan replied.

"Bullshit," Oden replied.

"Nope, she sucked it right there in her office."

"You wish she did. What did the guards do while that was going on?"

"They held her hair back so it wouldn't get in her mouth. The other wiped my cum off her shirt when I was done."

"You're so full of shit," Oden replied.

"Go ask her, she's standing right over by the door."

Oden looked over to the window and saw the warden standing there. Dressed in her skirt suit combo with black heels. "I heard you're in big trouble. We'll see who's right."

Twenty minutes later and breakfast was over. Most of the prisoners were led back to their cells in a group. Bohdan was always escorted by a single guard. Not that he was an escape risk as much as he was an asset. He was responsible for most of the ticket sales. To the average person, a vampire looked like any other prisoner. But Bohdan had history, a very long and gory history. He was like a living museum.

When they arrived back at Bohdan's cell, three more armed guards met him at the door dressed in riot gear. This wasn't the normal meal time routine. Usually the door was buzzed open and Bohdan was led inside. This time, something was going on that Bohdan didn't know about.

The door opened and Bohdan stepped inside. He immediately saw the metal rack that the maintenance department welded together and set up facing the Plexiglas observation window. "What the fuck is this doing here?" Bohdan asked.

"Warden decided to try out the rack," one of the guards replied.

"I told her I'd do what she asked. We agreed not to use the rack," Bohdan said.

"She didn't think you were serious."

"That fucking cunt!" Bohdan snapped.

The guard shoved Bohdan towards the rack. It had chains and cuffs attached at the four corners ready to attach to Bohdan once he was in position.

"If you think I'm going to let you attach me to that thing, you're fucking nuts," Bohdan said.

"I am authorized to have you sedated if you don't comply," the guard said. "The nurse is waiting for my call."

Bohdan knew he had no choice. If he struggled, a dose of Thora zine would be injected into his arm and he'd wake attached to the rack. He relaxed, stepped over to the metal structure, raised his hands to the corners and allowed the guards to snap the cuffs onto him. After his hands were secure, his ankles were cuffed as well. Now he stood facing the tram rail line waiting for the first car to come by with gawking visitors. "What time is it?" Bohdan asked.

"Eight thirty," the guard replied.

"You're going to leave me attached for a half hour before the show starts? Can't you let me go for now?"

"Warden said to rack you after breakfast, and then after lunch. You're going to be on the rack all day until the tour is over at six. Have a nice day," the guard said and left the room with the other guards leaving Bohdan behind.

Nine on the dot the first tram came by and stopped at the window. The trams were programmed to stop for two minutes and move on. Any longer and the ride seemed boring, and there were a lot of stops along the line. Bohdan looked through the Plexiglas at the group of twelve who were looking back. Many of the tourists were taking cell phone pictures and talking amongst themselves, pointing at Bohdan and chatting back and forth. Bohdan couldn't hear anything they were saying, but he could make out a lot of it from their lip movements.

He could make out the word "vampire" easily, and "murder, and "ripper," and could also make out simple sentences. Most of the tourists talked about the same things so it was easy to pick up on the conversations. For the most part, Bohdan was bored, so bored that he tried to fight against the rack and turn away from the Plexiglas. The rack was well made and it was difficult to move, but he did have a little wiggle room and managed to turn enough that he could face away from the tram for a short time.

For most of the morning tour, he kept at an angle so he didn't have to face directly into the window. After about a dozen tram cars, he began to hang his head and look at the floor so he could avoid eye contact. That worked for a while until his neck began to hurt. There was no way he'd be able to maintain this day after day after day. It would become too painful. So he needed a way to get off the rack. He couldn't physically break the cuffs, chains or the structure itself, so he had to find another way to get off. And then he had an idea.

Bohdan looked at his cuffs, the cuffs that had been digging into his wrists all morning. There were red marks from where the cuffs dug in and this gave him an idea. He tugged on the cuffs and forced them to dig into his skin until they bled. He pulled harder until blood began to run down his arm and soak into the sleeve of his jumpsuit. The orange of the suit blended the red of the blood decreasing its overall visual impact, but none the less, it was obvious from anyone on the other side of the glass looking in.

The next tram car that stopped at the window was treated to the site of Bohdan pulling and tugging on the cuffs in a gory dance that caused blood to run down his arms into his prison jumpsuit. On the floor, a pool of blood formed from the drainage that ran down his body, his legs and from his shoes. Bohdan was either going to bleed himself to the point they had to remove him from the rack or kill himself trying.

One of the passengers on the tram pressed an emergency button and spoke to a voice emanating from a speaker attached to the roof of the car. Bohdan could see the concerned passenger and was happy someone noticed what he was doing. He couldn't tell what was being said, but he could tell there was a disturbance on the tramcar and that something was probably going to happen soon.

Then the door to his cell opened and three guards entered the room followed by two nurses and a gurney. There was no way to cover the Plexiglas window so the tramcar was moved down the tracks and the tour was put on hold briefly while the guards detached Bohdan from the rack. They then loaded him onto the gurney and took him to the infirmary.

Bohdan was wheeled into the emergency room where he was met by Dr. Christian, and Nurse Cara Scott RN. He was transferred over to an exam table and surrounded by three armed guards who stood off against the wall.

"Let me see your wrists," Dr. Christian said.

Bohdan raised his arms and let the doctor take a look.

"This isn't as bad as it looks. You have a few abrasions, but I don't think you need stitches. Maybe a dressing with some gauze. And an antibiotic. Order Azithromycin and a three days of Rocephin IM," the doctor said. "Change the dressing every day for a week then have him seen again in the med office."

Cara took the order and left to fill it at the pharmacy. She came back and the doctor was gone, just Bohdan and the guards remained in the room. "I have a shot for you," Cara said. I have to put it in your hip.

"What about my wrists?" Bohdan asked.

"Oh shit, yeah," Cara said. She put on some gloves and dug through her cabinets looking for supplies. She washed off the blood and applied a telfa pad covered by some Kerlix and tape. "One of the nurses will be in each day to change that, now for your shot." Cara prepared the Rocephin shot and with the help of one of the guards gave it in Bohdan's right hip. "Did that hurt?" Cara asked as she typed her notes into a computer.

"Stung a little," Bohdan said.

"I'm going to give you an oral med as well, you'll be on this for five days."

"Are you going to give it to me?"

"No, I'm an E R nurse, one of the LPN's will bring it to your cell." Cara finished typing and addressed the guards. "You can go, I can take care of this."

One of the guards replied, "We can't leave him alone."

"I'm a vampire myself," Cara said. She lied. "I don't need anyone to guard me. I'll call you when I'm done. I have to do an assessment and it will take about a half hour."

"We can wait," the guard said.

"I don't want you to wait. We are locked down here in the hospital, he can't escape and he can't do anything to me. Now go."

"I'll call my supervisor," the guard said.

"Who is your supervisor?" Cara asked.

"Shawn Cole," the guard replied.

"Shawn? I know Shawn, his wife's a bitch. Call him if you want. We do what we want down here in medical. Like I said, I'll call you when I'm done. I don't need to be baby sat."

"What if we stand outside the door?"

Cara thought for a moment. All she wanted was privacy. "Fine, that will work, but don't come in here. When I'm done, I'll come out."

The guards agreed and left the room closing the door behind them.

"I thought they'd never leave," Cara said. "She stepped over to the door and locked it. "I forgot this had a lock on it."

"I like your spunk," Bohdan said.

Cara pulled off her top and stood before Bohdan wearing her scrub pants and bra.

"What are you doing?" Bohdan asked.

"I've been your biggest fan forever," she said as she removed her bra and set it on the counter. Her large round breasts in full view of the vampire she was infatuated with.

"What exactly are you doing?" Bohdan asked.

"Getting laid, what do you think?" Cara asked.

"I'll have to admit I'm a bit shocked. I've never met a woman who was so forward."

"Get used to it," Cara said. She took off the rest of her clothes and approached Bohdan who was now sitting on the edge of the table. "We have about twenty minutes, how do you want to do it?" Cara asked.

"What makes you think I want to fuck you?" Bohdan asked.

"You're a man, that's what you do," Cara replied.

"The last woman I was with, I tore apart and ripped out her intestines, are you sure you want to go there?"

Cara reached between Bohdan's legs and began to massage his crotch until she felt him get hard. Then she massaged him harder. "We have fifteen minutes, I can bend over the table if you want, or you can lie on your back and I can get on top. Make a decision, I'm not leaving until I have you inside me.

Bohdan put his legs back up on the table and leaned back until he was lying flat on his back. Cara unzipped his pantsuit and grabbed a stool so she could get on top. For the next fifteen minutes Cara tried to fuck Bohdan, but the shot to his hip caused a reaction that made it difficult for him to maintain an erection. Frustrated she stopped trying and got dressed, she'd have to try another day.

# Chapter 9

# Friday night

Cara Scott RN entered Tadpole's Bar and Grill dressed like a slut. She was on a mission and knew exactly how to get what she wanted, she just needed to find the right person to do it. The bar was filled with employees from the prison, guards, grounds, kitchen, maintenance, you name it, and there were there to party. She was looking for a particular guy from the maintenance department named Steve Grant who she only knew from work from afar, mainly passing each other in the halls.

Inside the bar, she quickly scanned the busy room and found a full table where Steve was sitting with a group of guards from the prison. She did her best to ready herself and strolled past the table on her way to the bathroom finding an excuse to run into Steve. When she approached the table, she slowed down, smiled and waved at the group at the table and made the comment, "There isn't a place to sit anywhere in here." She knew that would be all it took to get an invite to the table. The table was mostly men with two females sitting next to each other by the wall.

"We can get you a chair," one of the men said. He stood up and walked to the next table and asked to borrow the one spare chair they had. He brought it over and squeezed it between him and another male guard, across the table from her target, Steve.

"Thanks," Cara said and she sat down at the table.

"We don't see you out here very often," the man next to her said. His name was Allan Lake.

"I know, I'm usually home with Brent," Cara replied. The second she said it, she regretted it. She didn't want to bring up her home life, she was here to take Steve for a ride later.

"Where is Brent?" Allan asked.

Cara needed to make up a lie. "We're not doing so hot right now actually," she replied. "He went out with some of his friends."

"That's too bad, how long have you two been going out?"

"Oh, about a year now," Cara replied. "She needed to make it sound like they were breaking up. In all actuality, she and Brent were getting along well.

"What's the problem?"

"I don't know if we're right for each other. He's so into his hobbies and never has time for me anymore."

"That sucks. So you decided to go out on the town tonight?"

"Yeah, have a few drinks, see what's out there," Cara said looking Steve in the eye. From under the table, she tugged down on her shirt exposing more of her cleavage.

Allan took notice of Cara's gaze at Steve and made the comment, "Maybe you should go out with Steve here, he's single."

Cara grinned like a coy schoolgirl and tried to blush. She got Steve's attention and he perked up.

"I don't know anything about Steve," she said.

"He works in maintenance," Allan said.

"I've seen him in the hallway, that's about it."

Allan looked at Steve and asked, "What the fuck do you guys do down in the basement anyway?"

Steve smiled and tried to act cool. "We fix anything that is broke in the building, keep the boiler and central air working. Stuff like that."

"Mow the lawns?"

"No, grounds does that."

"Mop the floors?"

"No, housekeeping does that."

"So you guys sit in the basement jerking off all day," Allan stated as a joke.

"I replaced the lightbulbs in the commons yesterday, you saw me."

"That was you?" Allan asked with a laugh. "Yeah, I guess that was you up on the ladder wasn't it."

"We also run fire drills, fix the cells when the inmates tear them apart, keep the trams running, install and keep the video equipment working..."

"I get it, you fix shit."

"More than you guys, standing around watching vampires all day. I'd love that job."

"Apply, we're always short staffed," Allan said.

Cara spoke up, "You should apply in medical. We could use some assistants."

"What do they do?" Steve asked.

"Baths, cleaning, some medication administration," Cara replied.

"Wipe ass?" Steve asked with a laugh.

"The prison isn't an old folk's home," Cara said.

"What about that Bohdan? He's got to be well over a hundred," Steve said.

"Yes, but he doesn't age anymore. He's frozen at thirty two."

"How do you know?" Steve asked.

"I know a lot about Bohdan, I think he's fascinating. I got to see him in the E R a few days ago."

"For what?" Allan asked.

"He had some lacerations to his wrists," Cara replied.

"I heard they made some sort of metal rack they were going to shackle him to for punishment, I never thought they'd go through with it."

Steve spoke up, "We made that rack, down in maintenance."

"You built it?" Allan asked.

"Not me, I can't weld, but some of the guys did build it for the warden."

Cara chimed in, "Yeah, well Bohdan cut himself up pretty good pulling on the cuffs."

"So what's he like?" Allan asked.

"He's amazing. Just being around him gives me the chills."

"I've met him a few times, I don't think amazing is the right word. I heard he's a real asshole," Allan said.

"Maybe he is, but I've done a lot of research on him and I was in awe when they brought him into the ER," Cara said.

"Sounds like you had an orgasm," Allan replied taking a sip of his beer.

"Funny," Cara replied. She looked over to Steve and made eye contact. She wanted him to think he had a chance with her, because he did. How to get him away from the group was her problem. She needed to think up an idea. Then she got one.

"Hey," she said to Steve, getting his attention. "You said you work on central air?"

"Yeah, HVAC is what I like to do best."

"I don't suppose you'd come look at mine would you? I can't get my thermostat to work right."

"Yeah, I could take a look if you want."

"Do you have time now?" Cara asked.

Steve grinned and looked at Cara like she was nuts. It was late on a Friday night and they were having a party, and she wanted him to look at her thermostat. Either she was having some real air conditioning problems or she was horny as hell and looking for an easy lay. "Yeah, I suppose. I probably shouldn't be driving right now."

"That's fine, I can take you," Cara said.

Steve hesitated for a moment and started to get up when one of the women sitting next to him spoke up. Her name was Lisa Miller. "If you're that hard up for cock, maybe you should pay a prostitute."

"Excuse me?" Cara asked. She was offended and pissed.

"Thermostat? How lame of an excuse do you need to get Steve in your bed? Don't you think your boyfriend will get pissed?" Lisa was drunk and unable to filter herself.

"My boyfriend is none of your business - cunt," Cara replied.

"Steve is my friend, I'm watching out for him, "Lisa said, her speech was slurred.

"You do that, I need help and he's going to look at my thermostat. If he needs to get laid, I'm sure you can do that for him, you seem like the jealous type."

"Oh you fucking cunt, you think because you work in medical that you're better than the rest of us?"

"I am a professional," Cara snapped back.

"You don't think guards are professional?" Lisa asked. She was getting more and angrier as the conversation escalated.

"Registered nurses are considered professional nurses, I don't know what they call guards. I'm not trying to start an argument, that's just the way it is in nursing."

"Everyone at this table is a guard, well, except for Steve, he works in the basement. So don't you say shit about us guards. Without us, you'd be fucked. Do you know what I mean?" Lisa asked. Her speech was filled with slobber she spit as she spoke.

"I'm very happy that the guards watch over the prison. Without them, we'd all be in big trouble."

"You come here dressed like a whore. If the prisoners had a chance, they'd rape the shit out of a whore like you. You should be happy we keep them in line."

"I am, what do you want from me?" Cara asked.

"I want you to apologize for acting like the guards are low lives. And apologize for being a whore."

"I think it's time for me and Steve to go," Cara said. She pushed her chair back from the table and stood up pulling her short skirt down and pulling out the wrinkles.

"Steve isn't going anywhere," Lisa said. She slammed down here beer and grabbed Steve by the arm like she was his mother.

"Steve, can we go?" Cara asked.

Lisa stood up and pointed her finger in Cara's face. "Get the fuck out you whore cunt!"

Cara was completely sober watching this drunk woman try to pick a fight with her. All she wanted was to get Steve alone so she could talk to him in private. "Steve, I'll be waiting for you at the front door," Cara said and she turned and walked away.

"Yeah, you better leave you dime store whore!" Lisa said. She picked up a half filled mixed drink and tried to toss the contents on Cara only to splash her on the back of her legs. Cara ignored the drink and kept walking, hoping Steve would be following soon.

Cara waited at the door for a few minutes watching Lisa yell as she looked across the bar at her. Steve stood up and made his way around the table to Lisa's dismay and met Cara and together they left the bar and got into Cara's car.

"I'm sorry about that," Steve said. "I don't even know Lisa that well."

"She's drunk, I'm not worried about it," Cara said as she pulled the car out of the stall and headed down the street.

"Yeah, she's making an ass out of herself," Steve said. He felt awkward being in Cara's car alone with her.

"I have a confession to make Steve," Cara said.

"What's that?" Steve asked.

"She was right, I do want you to fuck me."

Steve was taken aback when he heard Cara. "What?"

Cara hiked up her skirt and exposed her crotch to Steve. She wasn't wearing panties and she was shaved. She reached over and grabbed Steve's left hand and placed it between her legs and motioned for him to rub it. This was all part of her plan, to get Steve hooked before she asked him for the favor she really wanted. She didn't want to ask right away, she wanted to make sure that Steve would do whatever she asked, and the way to a man's obedience was through sex.

Steve did as Cara motioned and began to rub Cara between her legs. She had a spot picked out in a dark section of the city park where she planned to fuck Steve. Brent, her boyfriend had been sitting home alone while she was out. She had told him that she was meeting some girlfriend and had some old pictures on her phone she could use to send him wearing the same outfit.

At the park, Cara pulled into the dark area under a large maple tree and turned off the engine. She reached the seat lever and eased the seat back spreading her legs as she leaned further and further back. Soon, Steve was on top of her and it wasn't much longer that he was inside her. All a while her boyfriend sat at home waiting for her to come home. She'd be home soon, but filled with another man's cum inside her. Now her plan was in motion.

# Chapter 10

# The Yard

On Monday's the trams don't run, it's the one day of the week when traffic was slow so they decided to use the day for cleaning and maintenance. Because of this, the inmates were given the hours in the yard to themselves as a way to unwind and socialize. Like any other prison, the yard segregated itself into factions based on anything from race, politics to sexual preferences. Bohdan always sat alone on a bench near the entrance door. He had no friends, chose not to make any and today was no different. Then a small group approached him. The skinheads.

"Rumor is you stood up to the warden," the lead skinhead said. His name was Thor Anderson and looked as bleached white as any vampire could be. Covered with dark, thick tattoos that showed his allegiance to his views, he was an intimidating man with no fear. At least no fear you could see.

Bohdan raised his arms and showed the bandages. "It didn't end well," he replied.

"I give you credit for standing up to that black bitch," Thor said pumping his fist. He looked to the other two skinheads standing at his side to make sure they were just as enthusiastic.

"Black? She may be Hispanic, I'm not sure," Bohdan said. "But not black."

"Doesn't matter, she's not white, fucking cunt!"

"No, she's not, is there something you want from me?" Bohdan asked.

"No, I just wanted to tell you we think you did all of us a big favor by putting that bitch in her place."

"I didn't do it for you," Bohdan replied. He was annoyed with Thor, he hated skinheads and everything they stood for.

"You could be a bit more appreciative," Thor said.

"You know, there's a reason why I sit alone in the yard."

"What are you saying?"

"I hate racist fucks, especially skinheads. You're the worst kind of white trash there is."

"Really? What are you? Part nigger?" Thor said with a grin.

"You can go now," Thor replied.

"We came over here to support you and you put us down? You're not very smart, we have a large group here in the prison."

Bohdan looked over at the skinhead group who were watching them from the other side of the yard. He estimated there were around five others. That would make eight total including the three assholes standing in front of him blocking his view.

"Eight out of forty seven, I guess that's a significant percentage," Bohdan said.

"Damn straight!" Thor said with a huge smile.

"Now get the fuck away from me."

Thor stepped in closer, like he was ready to fight.

"Id' watch yourself if I were you," Bohdan said. "Look up at the tower behind me."

Thor looked up and saw a sniper pointing a rifle at his face.

"Now look to your right at the other tower."

Thor slowly glanced over and saw another sniper pointing a rifle at his head."

"There are two other towers behind you, both with sharp shooters ready to take you out if you touch me," Bohdan said. "I'm worth a lot to these people, you'll be on the ground with no head before you lay a finger on me. And as you know, beheading is the one thing that will kill a vampire."

Thor backed away from Bohdan.

"Why do you get so much security?" Thor asked. He knew the answer, but didn't want to seem impish around his fellow skinheads.

"People flock from all over the world to see me. I'm worth a lot in ticket sales, you're worth nothing."

"If I took you out, I'd be the one they came to see," Thor said.

"Maybe, but Bohdan the Ripper Vampire sounds better on a poster than Fucktard the Skinhead Asshole. Now leave."

Thor stood his ground.

Bohdan stood up and looked Thor in the face. "Ok jackass, do something." Bohdan now wanted Thor to attack him so he could watch the bullets tear his skull off his neck.

Thor stood his ground.

"If you don't do something, you're girlfriends here will think you're a pussy. Are you a pussy skinhead?"

Thor was pissed, but knew he was trapped. Trapped between attacking the asshole who was insulting him and losing his head if he tried.

Bohdan looked Thor in the eye and didn't blink. "Go back to your clan and suck some cock like a good skinhead," Bohdan said. "Or is it your turn to get it this time?"

Thor backed up and shook his head. "I'm not dealing with you today."

"Good, now go back to your friends and get that hand job party started," Bohdan said with a shit eating grin.

Thor couldn't take it anymore and bolted at Bohdan. Like a twelve gun salute, all four rifles shot at the same time striking Thor in the head. His braincase exploded and he fell to the ground in a bloody heap. Bohdan picked chunks of Thor's skull off his jumpsuit and flicked them on the ground.

The other two skinheads backed off and walked back to the other side of the yard leaving Bohdan and their former leader behind. A siren went off and which told the inmates that they needed to get back into the prison. They would usually have had another hour, but the shooting meant that yard time was over for the day. The guards had to take the body to the county morgue to be processed, and the yard needed to be cleaned up by housekeeping.

Bohdan was brought back to his cell for the rest of the day, on Monday he usually read his fan mail. It was scanned and put on a pdf file that he could read on a tablet. A tablet that was encased in hard plastic resin so he couldn't break it open. On a good week, Bohdan would receive fifty to seventy five letters, most from women looking to have sex and or marry him. He enjoyed the insanity of the idea that women actually wanted to be with him, and looked forward to reading the letters.

Then the door to the cell opened and a guard led Cara the nurse into his room. She was dressed in her scrubs, pink today with Disney characters printed on them. She had supplies to change Bohdan's dressings and told the guard he could leave. He didn't.

"I need to change your dressing today," Cara said.

"Bohdan sat up from his bed and faced Cara holding up his wrists for her. "How long will you have to do this," Bohdan asked.

"Until it heals, about four to six weeks," Cara replied.

"Everyday?"

"No, twice a week is normal," Cara replied cutting off the old gauze.

"How does it look?"

"No infection, it's not draining and it doesn't smell."

"If it were infected, what would you do?"

"I'd contact the doctor, he'd prescribe different antibiotics."

"Would I need to go to the infirmary?"

"No, not for that," Cara replied.

Bohdan seemed disappointed. He enjoyed his last private visit with Cara and wanted to see her again, and try to fuck the shit out of her like the last time. He was pissed that the guard stayed in the room, he wanted to talk dirty to her, but felt if he did, and the guard might catch on and end his chances of another possible score.

Cara washed up the wounds, put on some antibiotic cream and put on new gauze dressings. As she bend over, Bohdan looked down her scrub shirt at her large round breasts. Cara knew he was looking, she did all she could to make sure they were in plain view for as long as he wanted to look. She wanted Bohdan to notice her, to keep her in mind. She had a plan for him and wanted to be with him as much as she could.

"Is there any way I can come to the infirmary?" Bohdan asked.

"Why, is something wrong?" Cara asked.

Bohdan needed to think fast. The guards were trained to report anything odd to the administration, and asking outright to go to the infirmary to get laid was a huge red flag. "I have some stomach issues. I may be coming down with something."

"I can talk to the doctor and see what I can do," Cara replied.

"How soon will you know?" Bohdan asked.

"How bad is it?"

"It's pretty bad."

Cara put the back of her hand to Bohdan's forehead to feel for a temperature, then she remembered that vampires are room temperature and don't show a fever when they get sick. Only a culture can identify a bug in a vampire and that required lab work. "I'll talk to the doctor when I get back to the clinic. "He'll want to know how long you've had symptoms."

"It started yesterday," Bohdan replied.

"Do you feel nauseous?"

"A little."

"Any body aches? Sweating? Chills?"

"Yes," Bohdan replied.

"Sounds like the flu," Cara said.

"Yes it does," Bohdan said. "What do they do for the flu?"

"It's a virus, so not much. They have antivirals, but for the most part, they isolate you and wait for your body to take care of it."

Bohdan was faking and trying his best to keep Cara in the room. He liked her around and she liked being around Bohdan as well. If he kept it up, he might be able to spend some time in the infirmary if he could fake his symptoms well enough.

Cara had some time before she had to be back at the clinic, so she decided to stop down at the maintenance department to see Steve, her coworker she fucked in the park. The closer she got to the maintenance department, the louder and dirtier the halls became. She could hear the sound of the boilers and central air humming louder and louder the closer she got to the door.

As she entered, she found Steve sitting at his desk reading a newspaper. It must have been slow today. "What are you doing?" Cara asked. She startled Steve who jumped in his seat. "Don't worry, I'm not your supervisor."

"What are you doing down here?" Steve asked.

"I wanted to say hi," Cara replied. What she wanted to do was get Steve to do whatever she asked. And she knew how to do it.

"Hi," Steve said. It was awkward, since they had just had sex a few days prior. "How are you and Brent getting along?" Steve asked.

"Not well, he's an asshole," Cara replied.

"That's too bad," Steve said.

"Why do you say that? Got you laid didn't it?"

Steve was hoping Cara wouldn't bring that up. For all he was concerned, it was a one night mistake.

"Yeah, I guess so," Steve replied with nervous laughter.

"Do you want to go again?"

"What, now?" Steve asked.

"I could give you a quick blow job if you want," Cara said.

"On the clock?"

"What else are you doing? Reading the paper."

"What if someone walks in?" Steve asked.

"Is there somewhere private we can go?"

Steve thought for a moment. There were several closets filled with supplies they could hide in.

"Yeah, I know a few places," Steve replied.

"Good, let's go then."

"Can I ask you something first?"

"Sure," Cara replied.

"Why me?" Steve asked.

Cara tried to think of a good answer. She said the first stupid thing she could think of. "I don't know," She replied. In all reality, she needed to use Steve, and this was her insurance policy that he'd comply.

# Chapter 11

# 3 weeks later

Cara pulled up to the curb and got out of her car. It was Saturday morning and she had the weekend off. She always had weekends off. She walked up to Steve's house dressed in an outfit that Steve liked. A short skirt, heels and a low cut top that left little to the imagination. Before she could ring the doorbell, Steve opened the door and greeted her.

"What are you all dressed up for on a Saturday morning?" Steve asked. He looked her up and down and smiled.

"I want to talk, after we have sex," Cara replied.

"Where is Brent?" Steve asked.

"He's on mandatory overtime, he won't get off till one."

"Are you sure he has no idea what's going on?"

"Are you going to let me in?" Cara asked pushing her way into the apartment.

Steve backed up and let Cara walk into the living room. "Do you want something to drink?" Steve asked.

Cara knew where Steve kept all his drinks, in the refrigerator. She stepped into the kitchen and opened the fridge door looking to see what he had. Slim picking, a half-gallon of milk, and a two liter bottle of diet Dr. Pepper. "No thanks," she replied and slipped her skirt onto the floor.

"Are you in a hurry?" Steve asked.

"I have something I need to ask you," Cara said.

"What?"

"I want you to help me bust Bohdan out of the prison."

Steve stood there like a deer with his eyes caught in the headlights. "Of course you're kidding right?" Steve asked.

"No, I'm serious, I want to be with him."

"Really," Steve said droll. "What about me?"

"I'll do whatever it takes to get him out," Cara replied.

"So you've been fucking me this whole time so I'd do you a favor?"

Cara pulled off her top and stood in her bra, panties and heels. "I scratched your back," Cara replied.

"You think I'm such a loser I couldn't get laid without you?" Steve asked.

"I'm sure you could have had any fat drunk girl you wanted Steve."

"So now you're calling me Steve? Insults will get you nowhere."

Cara walked over to Steve and brushed up against him. She pressed her breasts on his chest and gave him a kiss. "I'm not asking for much, I need someone on the inside to help me set him free."

"And how do you think I can help?"

"I've done some research on the prison. I know a few things and have a plan. But I can't get to the places and equipment to do what needs to be done."

"What's your plan?" Steve asked.

"Do you want to fuck me first?" Cara asked.

Steve was pissed, and for once sex was the last thing on his mind. "No, just tell me what you want me to do."

"I want you to gas the place."

"Gas the place? How the hell do you gas an entire prison?"

"Sit down and I'll tell you," Cara said. Steve sat down on the couch and Cara sat in a recliner across the room. "You work in the boiler room right?"

"You know I do," Steve replied.

"And you have access to the central air?"

"Yes."

"It's simple, you detach the exhaust pipe from the boiler, and connect it to the intake from the central air with a flex pipe. Like what you use for a dryer vent."

Steve was impressed that Cara came up with this idea on her own.

"The tram line has its own air vent system. It was put in place in case they ever had to use tear gas on the inmates."

"Yes, you're correct."

"The tram line also has its own independent electrical system."

"That's right too," Steve said.

"Once the gas is released into the prison, you could trip the breakers and stop the trams and lock the doors so no one could get out," Cara said.

"Yes, but why trap people on the trams?"

"Hostages," Cara replied. "And food for the vampires. I anticipate a long standoff and the vampires would need to be fed."

"But the vampires would die as well. You can't gas everyone."

"You can't kill a vampire with gas. Only beheading. The guards, and auxiliary staff would die, but the vampires would all live. As well as the hostages we provide them for food."

"How many staff members are you talking about killing here?"

"I guess around thirty," Cara replied.

"Does that include kitchen, and laundry?"

"Yes, and housekeeping as well."

"You're willing to kill all those people just to try to get Bohdan out? What are you going to do if you get him out? They will track you down and find you both."

"I don't plan on leaving, the prison will be his new home, and he will run it like the king he is."

"Do you think he wants to be set free? He has it pretty good in there."

"His life is horrible, he is treated like an animal on display. He is nothing but a cash cow for the company."

"They will cut the power, try to starve him out. Do you plan to live in there with him?"

"I do," Cara replied. "I will be his queen."

"Does he know anything about this?"

"No, not yet. He won't know until the plan is set in motion."

"And you plan to coordinate this all yourself?" Steve asked.

"With your help."

Steve stood and thought for a moment. "What do I get out of this? Once they find out I was the one who helped you, my life is over."

"I will make a place for you in the prison. You will be safe."

"I've seen the inmates there. You can't guarantee my safety."

"Bohdan will," Cara replied.

"He doesn't know what's coming, how can you speak for him?"

"Trust me," Cara said.

Steve laughed and looked out the window. He looked back and saw how ridiculous Cara looked sitting in the recliner in her underwear and how absurd the whole situation was. "Put your clothes back on and get out," Steve said. "No fuck is worth this, you're nuts."

"My plan will succeed with or without you."

"Not if I go to the warden and tell her what you're planning."

Cara was pissed. She thought she had worked on Steve long enough to get what she wanted from him. She was sure the sex would seal the deal. "Is there anything else I can do that would change your mind?"

"Change my mind so I can live the rest of my life, and I mean probably short life, surrounded by vampire criminals that have no other desire but to end my life? Unless you can sweeten the pot, I don't think so. I don't want to live at the prison. I hate going to work there five days a week as it is and I spend most of my time in the basement. The basement sucks and upstairs isn't much better. If you were smart, you'd try to smuggle him out."

"And how do you propose I do that?" Cara asked.

"There are miles of tunnels under the prison. They run from the basement all the way to the city. They were put in when the prison was built so they could transport the inmates without anyone from town seeing them. They were also used to transport inmates and staff between buildings when there was three feet of snow on the ground."

"Do you have access to these tunnels?" Cara asked.

"I'm in them all the time. We store shit in them."

"Have you been in the tunnel that runs to Topeka?

"Yes, and it's in good shape. I have to change out the lightbulbs that run the length of it. We have to keep it in working order in case we ever had to evacuate the prison."

Cara sat and pondered what Steve said. "I'd still need to get the guards out of the way. They won't let me take Bohdan. I'd still need to gas the place."

"Probably," Steve said.

"So I still need your help."

"Tell me again how this works out for me?"

"You can escape with us through the tunnel."

"Let's say this all works out, and we do make it to Topeka. Then what? Live a life as a fugitive? What kind of life is that? I'm better off as I am right now working that shitty job." Steve said.

"I'll work out the details before we break him out," Cara replied.

"That's a lot of details to work out. I'll tell you what, if I do this, and I don't plan too, you need to set me up somewhere nice where I never have to work again. A place where the cops won't come looking for me, and where I can live a better life than I have now. You find that fairyland and I'll sign up for your mission in a second."

"Give me some time, I'll come up with something."

"Tell me, what's your obsession with this Bohdan anyway? You have a boyfriend."

"Obviously my boyfriend doesn't mean all that much to me if I've been fucking you all this time."

"Touché," Steve said.

"My obsession as you put it, is a fascination for someone I think is the most interesting soul I've ever met. Do you know his history?"

"I've seen the Lifetime for Women movie," Steve said.

"Exactly, how many people, I mean vampires, have had a movie made of their lives? He is a living legend. There are books written about his life, fan clubs, and a clothing line."

"My nephew has a lunch box with his picture on it, I get it, he's a celebrity," Steve said.

"He's more than that, he's the rock god of the vampire world. He's also the Vampire Ripper. No other vampire has that title."

"Title? You make it sound like the queen knighted him or something. Sir Bohdan, the Vampire Ripper, your majesty," Steve said making the motions of knighting an invisible kneeling man with a sword.

"You don't understand," Cara said. She was sitting on the edge of the recliner making wild hand gestures as she spoke. She was manic and Steve could tell.

"Now I get it," Steve said.

"Get what?" Cara asked.

"That tattoo on your back. The one over your butt crack."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a picture of Jack the ripper, with fangs. Now I get the connection."

"The tattoo shop didn't have a vampire dressed like Jack the ripper so I had them put fangs on what they had."

"You're a fucking groupie," Steve said. "A groupie willing to die to be with your rock star. What I don't understand is why you just don't leave him where he is. You know where his cell is, you can see him whenever you want."

"I've worked at the prison since I graduated nursing school, and last month was the first time I ever saw him in person. It's not easy getting access to Bohdan. They keep a very short leash on him. Plus, there are hundreds of other women out there sending him letters every week and I don't like competing with them. I want him all to myself."

"You are one creepy bitch, you know that?" Steve asked. He knew the answer. "Unless you come up with something for me I want, you can forget it."

Cara knew she would never come up with anything Steve would want so now she needed to come up with something Steve didn't want. If he wouldn't play along because he wanted too, he'd have to play along if he wanted to avoid something. A little blackmail, a threat against his life or his family? She didn't know yet, but she planned to make it worth his while to play along and get Bohdan out of the prison.

# Chapter 12

# Commons

More times than Bohdan could remember, he was escorted from his cell to the commons for lunch. He got in line, picked his food and took his usual seat keeping an eye on the inmates surrounding him. There was tension in the air. He had just come off an incident in the yard where Thor the skinhead lost his head picking a fight with him. The inmate population just went from forty seven to forty six and the rest of the skinheads weren't too happy about it.

It was rare there was a confrontation in the commons area, but it was one of the few places where the inmates weren't segregated and vulnerable. The guards stood at various positions around the room, unarmed so the inmates couldn't arm themselves in a takeover. Then Bohdan saw something out of the corner of his eye. One of the skinheads was walking over to his table trying his best not to bring any attention to himself. Bohdan expected a shank in the ribs, but instead the skinhead sat down opposite him and waited to be addressed.

"What do you want?" Bohdan asked.

"I came to make peace," the skinhead said. He went by the nickname Rancid.

"I just want to be left alone," Bohdan replied.

"There are a lot of inmates here who want to see you taken down. A lot."

"I didn't realize Thor was so popular," Bohdan said.

"He wasn't, he was universally despised. I'm talking about the other vampires, the one's you never hear about."

"I've had a target on my back since the day they put me in here, why should I worry now?"

"Talk is if they take you out, they will get rid of the tram system, get rid of the tourists. We could actually have a chance at getting out of here."

"If that were the case, they'd house me separately and sell tickets. It's not just me, there is no larger collection of vampire killers anywhere in the world."

"I know that, and you know that. But there is plenty of talk out there to the contrary. You need protection."

"And you're offering me protection?" Bohdan asked with a grin.

"Yes, the skinheads are willing to watch your back."

"Why? What do you get out of it?"

"We get Bohdan the Vampire Ripper as our new leader," Rancid said.

"Oh, that's what I figured," Bohdan said.

"It's no joke, I know of at least two plots to take you out."

"Just two? I'm offended. There's no way anyone is taking me out. I'd have to be beheaded to be killed. There isn't a time when there isn't a guard within twenty feet of me, snipers in the yard. And I'm no pussy," Bohdan said.

"These guys are experts with a blade. Some of these guys could remove your head in less than twenty seconds," Rancid said.

Bohdan loosened his collar and pulled back showing healed cut marks on his neck. There were several of different sizes and shapes. "I used to wear a steel neck brace collar. Chafed like a son of a bitch."

"You better get refitted, you'll need another one," Rancid said.

"I'll take my chances. After being locked up for the last hundred and thirty years, I'm ready to check out anyway," Bohdan said. "Do you know what it's like to do the same routine day after day without a chance of being set free? I don't have a life, never had. I long for the days when I roamed the countryside free."

"If you want to die, I can arrange that too," Rancid said.

"I'll die when I choose," Bohdan replied.

Rancid looked over Bohdan's shoulder and back in Bohdan's eye. "There's someone coming over right now," Rancid said.

"Who is it?" Bohdan asked. He looked down at his plate and moved around the mush lying there.

"I don't know, looks like a fucking zombie."

"Zombie? I've seen those guys around before. I think they have their own cult. What's he doing? Is he pulling out a knife?" Bohdan asked. Almost joking.

Then Bohdan heard footsteps and saw a dark figure take the bench seat next to him to his left. Bohdan looked over and saw a sickly, thin, jaunt man sitting next to him reeking of death and sweat. The figure of a man spoke up in a Jamaican accent, "Listen to me Bohdan the Vampire Ripper. This man has come to deceive you, don't trust what he says."

Bohdan looked at the sickly looking man. This is what Bohdan thought a zombie would look like in real life. "Why is everyone so concerned for my life all of a sudden?" Bohdan asked.

"You have great power here, everyone knows of the great Bohdan. Everyone wants you to be on their side," the zombie vampire replied.

"What's your name?" Bohdan asked.

"My name is Rodell."

"Well Rodell, I'm not responsible for you or your clan. I have no power and I don't plan to join anyone's group."

"You may have no choice," Rodell said.

"And how do you figure?"

"My people will cast a spell upon you. You won't be able to resist."

"Voodoo hocus pocus? Do what you want, toss some chicken bones or whatever the fuck you do? I think you guys smoke too much pot if you ask me," Bohdan said.

Rancid chimed in. "Fucking potheads, get lost!"

"If you haven't noticed," Bohdan said. "I'm trying to eat in peace. Please leave before I call the guards."

Neither Rancid nor Rodell backed off.

"Tonight we do our magic, and tomorrow you will be ours," Rodell said.

"If you were able to do this magic, why didn't you do it before now?" Bohdan asked.

"What makes you think we haven't?"

"For one thing, I still am my own man. I haven't joined any clans yet."

"Do you think what happened in the yard was an accident?"

"When they shot Rancid's butt buddy and blew his head off? Yeah, that wasn't planned," Bohdan said.

"You are wrong, very wrong," Rodell said.

"Fuck off gypsy, and get the hell away from me."

Rodell stood up and limped away. His smell lingered behind.

"I can't eat now," Bohdan said. "I think I'm going to throw up."

"I can take him out for you if you want," Rancid said.

"I'm sure you can, but don't do it for me. I can take care of myself."

Before Rancid could answer, Bohdan felt a blade pull against his neck tight and a hand pull his forehead back pinning him against a warm body behind him. Rancid didn't see it coming and was as shocked as Bohdan.

"Don't move," a voice called out from behind Bohdan. "Try to get away and I'll take your head off."

Rancid stood up and looked at the person holding a knife to Bohdan's neck. It was a woman, holding a knife made from what looked like a sharpened angle iron. Something made in her cell, stolen from the workshop.

Bohdan didn't move or say a word, he kept an eye on Rancid to see where he was looking.

"What are you doing bitch?" Rancid asked. "If you're going to take his head off, do it!"

The woman hesitated, then pulled the knife across Bohdan's neck cutting his skin. The knife was dull and unable to cut deep enough without sawing back and forth. She slid the knife back in the other direction when Bohdan realized if he acted quickly, he could save himself. He made the comment that he wished his life was over, but when it came right down to it, in a panic, he wanted to save himself.

Bohdan grabbed the woman's hand and stopped her from sawing back and forth. He then leaned forward and forced her to lunge forward allowing someone, anyone to get behind her and pull her off. He knew if he waited long enough, the guards would come over and pull her off of him. He was right, in a blink of an eye, two guards were tugging at the woman trying to yank her off of Bohdan's back. It was then that Bohdan let go and let the guards took her.

Bohdan's hands were stained with the blood that had dripped from the superficial wounds left by the woman with the homemade knife. Pissed, Bohdan stood up and turned around to see who had attacked him He didn't recognize the woman, there weren't a lot of them housed at the prison, and they mostly stayed to themselves away from the general population. "Who is she?" Bohdan asked as he wiped the blood on his suit pants.

Nobody answered, nobody knew her name. She didn't stand out, wasn't branded, tattooed, or have any other marks. Just shoulder length brown hair and looked white, or maybe a light Hispanic. As they took her away, Bohdan asked her, "Why?"

In the distance, she yelled out, "You have to die!" and then she was gone.

"See what I said?" Rancid asked. "You are a target. People are getting pissed about this whole Vampire Zoo thing and want to go back to when they weren't on display."

"That's not my fault," Bohdan said.

"Doesn't matter, as long as you're alive, you will be a target."

"These fuckers need an education. Even if I were gone, they wouldn't get rid of the trams. It's the wave of the future. It's all about the money."

"You need to go to the infirmary," Rancid said.

"Yeah, I know," Bohdan replied feeling his neck. The guards escorted Bohdan out of the commons and down to the infirmary, where he was met again in the E R Nurse Cara was on duty.

The sound of the buzzer filled the air and Bohdan and two guards entered the E R Cara was surprised to see Bohdan again, and shocked to see the blood drenching the top of his jumpsuit.

"On the exam table," Cara said, directing the guards. "Doctor, we have a patient," Cara called out to the other room.

Dr. Christian entered the E R, and took notice of Bohdan's wound. "What happened?" the doctor asked.

"Some bitch attacked me," Bohdan replied.

"With what? This looks like she used a rake."

"Fuck, I don't know."

"She tore you up pretty bad. It's not deep, but it's wide, and shredded in areas," Dr. Christian said.

"Who did this?" Cara asked. She wanted to kill whoever did this to her obsession.

"I don't know, didn't recognize her."

"Since it's the neck, I want x rays, and a CT scan of the neck and head," Dr. Christian said.

Cara walked to the phone and called radiology. No other prison had its own radiology department, but no other prison had as many expensive assets either. These weren't prisoners to the company, they were income.

Then a squawked voice came over one of the guards radios. It sounded like someone said the female was in custody, and needed to be seen in the E R Then the voice said she was not breathing, or dead. It was hard to make out.

"What's going on?" the doctor asked.

"Sounds like we have another dead inmate," the guard replied.

"What the fucks going on around here?" the doctor asked.

"It's a zoo," Cara replied. "You have to expect some of the animals will die."

"I've heard of this place being referred to as a zoo. I tried not to think of it in that way, but I guess you're right. I've never worked in a prison like this before."

"What about me doctor?" Bohdan asked.

"Radiology will be here in a minute to take you for your scan, I think the bleeding has stopped for now. After the scans, Cara will clean up your wounds. If you need stitches, I'll put them in. Then we'll put on some dressings. How's your wrists coming along?" the doctor asked.

Bohdan raised his wrists so the doctor could see.

"They look fine to me. You healed up well. I will need to prescribe some antibiotics for the new wound. What did I prescribe the last time?"

"Azithromycin," Cara replied.

# Chapter 13

# Gas

Steve heard his phone ring and answered it, it was his supervisor Alex Penner calling him into his office. It was eight in the morning and he had just clocked in, now he had to see what his boss wanted. When he opened Alex's office door, he was met by Alex and the warden Kathy Coyle. Steve instantly panicked.

"Have a seat Steve," Alex said.

Steve took a seat across the desk from Alex and began to sweat.

"I called you in this morning because we've decided to make a change in maintenance. And this change will affect you."

"What's going on Alex?" Steve asked.

"Kathy and I have decided that we want to put in someone else into the position you have. You currently supervise three staff and we have noticed that you have been doing more on hands work than supervision. We need someone who can manage a team, not be a member of it."

"What are you saying?" Steve asked. "Are you firing me?"

"No, we are demoting you. You will work along with the crew you used to supervise. I have a new man starting in three weeks. I'll need you to train him."

Steve sat looking at Alex not believing what he was hearing. He had always been short staffed and had to pitch in to get the jobs finished. He didn't want to screw in lightbulbs and paint, but there wasn't anyone else to do the work. "I only did that work because I had no one to do it," Steve said. "Turnover here is horrible."

"We know, but you were hired as a supervisor, not as crew. It was your job to manage the workload and make sure the work got done," Alex said.

"If I hadn't of pitched in, you would have chewed me out for that. I was screwed either way. Now that you're replacing me, you have another crew to get the work done. Why didn't you just hire more crew?"

The warden spoke up. "It wasn't just the work you were doing. There were complaints."

Now Steve really began to panic. He didn't want to know what is crew was saying about him.

"Do you want to know what the complaints were?" Kathy asked.

"Not really," Steve replied.

Kathy picked up a sheet of paper and began to read from the list. "The first on the list was your attitude. You're staff said you bullied them, didn't listen to them and created a hostile work environment. They said you were often absent from the department and hard to locate. You spent a large amount of time on the computer, and failed to update their time sheets in a timely manner. I looked into some of these complaints and I found that for the most part they were true."

Steve didn't have anything to reply.

"You're also taking a pay cut, down to nine dollars an hour," Kathy said. "Starting immediately. For the next three weeks, payroll will be done in my office, and your access to the computer will be strictly monitored. Any Facebook or other social media found will result in your termination. Do you understand?"

Steve nodded his head in agreement.

"Alright, in the interim, you will report to Alex in the morning and after lunch to go over your work. He will be responsible for what your duties were. You will still carry the supervisor keys until your replacement comes, but for the most part, you are crew now. Do you have any questions?"

Steve shook his head no. He had nothing to say.

"In that case, I want you to come back here in an hour so Alex can go over your duties for the day. I will inform your crew so they know who to report to. You can go," Kathy said.

Steve stood up and sulked out of Alex's office. He was in shock, pissed and a bit dizzy. As he walked back to his former office, thoughts raced through his mind. Thoughts of killing Kathy and Alex, stringing them up for the whole prison to see. He was beyond livid. Then another thought crossed his mind and he reached for his phone. He dialed Cara's number and she answered, "Hello?"

"I'm on board," Steve replied.

"On board?"

"With your plan, I want to help you."

Cara could hear panic in Steve's voice. "What's going on?" Cara asked.

"That cunt warden demoted me, cut my pay," Steve replied.

"Oh shit, sorry to hear that."

"She'll be sorry when she's dead," Steve said. "How soon can we go with your plan?"

"I'm ready now," Cara replied.

"What about you? How will you survive the gas?"

"I have an oxygen concentrator in the E R, I can use that until the gas dissipates."

"How long will it last?" Steve asked.

"It can run for weeks, I just need to know when you gas the prison, and when you clean out the air."

"It will take hours to fill the whole prison, and a few hours to clear it after I take the exhaust pipe out of the central air. How long will it take to kill the staff?"

"No more than ten minutes. Carbon monoxide works fast. Do you have everything you need to connect the two systems?"

"Oh fuck yeah, I could have the boiler exhaust connected in an hour. I have plenty of stove pipe and fittings. When do you want me to do it?"

Cara knew she needed to strike while Steve was pissed. If she waited, he might change his mind. "Do it now, call me as soon as you have the gas flowing. You have video monitors down there don't you?"

"Yes, so we can monitor the systems from here."

"You can see when the staff start to drop?"

"Yes," Steve replied.

"Good, as soon as you see the staff hitting the floor, wait twenty minutes and disconnect the pipes."

"I have a carbon monoxide monitor, I can tell you when the levels are safe."

"Is that a mobile unit? Or is it attached to some warning system?" Cara asked.

"It's hooked in with the fire system," Steve replied.

"Can you disconnect it so it won't alert the fire department?"

"Yes," Steve replied.

"And will you still be able to tell when it's safe for me to leave the medical unit?"

"Yes, I can call you," Steve replied.

"Good, get started," Cara said and ended the call. "And don't forget to cut the power to the trams as soon as you see the staff drop."

Cara waited an hour, then another thirty minutes before her phone rang. It was Steve telling her the connections were made and the gas was now being piped into the prison through the central air unit. She stepped away from her desk and entered the E R finding an unused oxygen concentrator setting against the wall. She found the correct tubing and locked the door. She then turned on the concentrator and breathed the oxygen rich air coming from the unit. As long as there was power to the medical unit, she'd be safe from the gas that was now starting to kill every non vampire in the building.

Bohdan sat on the edge of his hard cold stainless steel bed and watched the next tram stop. Another twelve paying customers sat in their chairs taking pictures with their phones as Bohdan watched. He sometimes flipped them off, he often ignored them. But today he watched them like they watched him. He felt something different in the air, like something was going to happen, but he didn't know what.

Then he saw the lights on the tram blink, then go off. Immediately the emergency lights came on and the passengers began to panic. Bohdan stood up and walked over to the huge Plexiglas wall and looked at the passengers moving about trying to figure out what was going on. The tram didn't move, and the emergency lights were not nearly as bright as the regular lights. As he moved closer to the clear wall, he could make out the sounds of an emergency siren emanating from the tram tunnel. No wonder they were panicked, he thought.

As he watched, a smile came over his face. He enjoyed watching the people scurry like rats trying to figure out what was going on. Then Bohdan noticed a slight smell of exhaust in the air. Like burnt oil or gas. He stepped over to his air vent and took a whiff of the cold air pouring down upon him. He definitely smelled gas and knew something was wrong. Was the prison on fire? He thought. If it was, the sprinklers would have kicked on.

Then he saw one of the patrons trying to kick down the Plexiglas wall to escape from the tram. Once the tram car was locked into position at the side of a cell, there was only a small escape hatch to get out. And there were too many panicked people to get to the door, so some of the guests were trying the only other option. Kick down the wall itself.

Bohdan began to feel dizzy, like he was drunk. Whatever was coming out of the vent was affecting him and he had no way to escape his cell. Gas can't kill a vampire but it can knock them out. The last thing Bohdan saw before passing out was a woman beating her fists against the Plexiglas, screaming, but making no sound. Then all went black and Bohdan was unconscious.

Steve waited until the carbon monoxide detectors lowered to a safe level and called Cara. It had been over two hours and he couldn't see any staff moving any longer. They were all lying on the ground dead. Including his boss Alex. Cara left the medical unit and walked to Bohdan's cell where Steve agreed to meet her after he locked down all the exit doors leading to the outside of the prison and unlocked the inmate cells. The exits were usually locked down anyway, but the outside guards had access to open them at will. At least they did, now Steve had full control of them and nobody was getting in or out without him knowing.

"Can we stop at the warden's office before we see your boyfriend?" Steve asked Cara.

"Why?" Cara asked.

"I want to cut that bitch into pieces."

"She's dead, why bother?"

"She's not dead, I cut off the vent to her office so I could finish her off myself."

"Do you know she's still alive?" Cara asked.

"Yes, I put an app on my phone that lets me monitor the cameras. She has one in her office for security, she's moving around in there."

"What the fuck? She's probably called the police!" Cara snapped. "I told you to cut the carbon monoxide monitors so the fire department wouldn't catch on right away. Now everyone will know!"

"Didn't save any time. Once I locked the gates, the guards were onto us," Steve replied.

"Fine, go kill the bitch, I don't care. But before you go, tell me how to unlock the safety doors to the tram tunnel."

"It takes a code," Steve said.

"Tell it to me."

"I'd rather not, I'll unlock the doors when I get back."

"I don't want them all unlocked, just one. I need to control where they go. Is there a door that opens near the commons?" Cara asked.

"Yes," Steve replied.

"Can we isolate them there?"

"Yes, I can lock the gates."

"How many tram cars were running when you cut the power?"

"Three," Steve replied. "With twelve passengers on each."

"That's thirty six people, not bad, the commons can hold that many."

"Yeah, until the vampires wake up. Then what? A blood bath?"

"No, that's why I need to get to Bohdan, to make sure they don't. These people need to keep the vampires alive for months, maybe years."

"I don't think you thought this out well. They will try to starve you out. All they have to do is stop feeding the hostages."

"Who does that? People won't stand for it. We will get plenty of supplies and the vampires will have plenty to drink. All we have to do is keep our hostages alive. As long as people see the hostages on CNN and FOX news, we won't have a problem. It would be murder to starve out our food supply.

"That makes sense, but they will try you know, they won't give up until the hostages are set free, and you are either captured or killed."

# Chapter 14

# Bloodbath

Steve took off to the warden's office while Cara left to free Bohdan. The tourists on the trams were now roaming the tunnels unable to escape, scared for their lives and the vampires were now regaining consciousness. The prison was on lockdown as Steve controlled all systems from various control panels throughout the pods, and the authorities were now on their way to evaluate the situation. The shit had hit the fan.

Steve found his way to the warden's office and reached for the doorknob, it was locked. He fished out his master key from his massive key ring and popped open the door. He found Kathy sitting behind her desk holding a pen like a knife. Steve smiled and entered the room. "What are you going to do with that?" Steve asked.

"What's going on?" Kathy asked. She was a bit dizzy from the gas that had found its way into her office. She got a small amount and was becoming more lucid every second.

"I gassed the place," Steve replied. "Except for your office. Some of the gas must have seeped in through the doorjamb."

"Why did you gas the prison? Is anyone alive?"

"You're the only human besides me and Cara that I know is alive. Your assistant is lying on the floor next to her desk, I suppose she'd dead. Good thing for you, your door was shut. What were you doing in here? Banging it?" Steve asked with a smile.

"You didn't answer my question, why?"

"So I could take it over bitch," Steve replied. "Cara and I are going to run this place."

"Cara? The nurse?"

"Yeah, she has a hard on for Bohdan."

"What are you going to do with me?" Kathy asked.

"That's a good question considering that you just demoted me, and made me feel two inches tall."

"Alex wanted to fire you, I suggested the demotion."

"Oh, isn't that nice, you saved me from big bad Alex."

"Yes I did, please take that into consideration before you do anything to me."

"Why does everything you say sound like a job interview? Talk like a normal person," Steve said.

"I'm the warden, I am a professional," Kathy replied.

"Alright, well first, put down that pen. If I want to fuck you up, I'll use an office chair and beat you till you drop it."

Kathy put down the pen.

"Next, you're coming with me."

"Where are you taking me?" Kathy asked.

"To the commons, we're going to have a meeting there soon."

"Meeting, with who?"

"A shit load of vampires and a crap load of tourists who are in for a big surprise," Steve said.

Cara opened Bohdan's cell door. Steve had unlocked them after locking all the exits out of the prison. She found Bohdan sitting in the corner holding his head like he was hurt.

"Are you ok?" Cara asked.

Bohdan looked up at the nurse, squinting his eyes and gritting his teeth. "I have a headache like you wouldn't believe," Bohdan replied.

"I believe you, gas can do that," Cara replied.

"Gas?"

"Me and a friend gassed the prison, all the staff are dead except for a few."

"What about the tourists?" Bohdan asked.

"They're fine, they have a separate ventilation system. Right now they're roaming the tram tunnels looking for a way out. We need to get to the commons before they panic and start hurting themselves."

Cara helped Bohdan stand and led him out of the cell, down the hall and towards the commons where they met Steve and the warden. It was quiet, with a few random bodies lying on the floor. A few guards, and some kitchen workers were scattered around the room dead.

"I see you found your boyfriend," Steve said.

"And you found your girlfriend," Cara replied. "Where is the emergency tram door exit?" Cara asked.

"Over here," Steve said leading the group to what looked like a bare wall. As they got closer, Cara could see the outline of a hatch door with a keyhole. Steve fished out his keys but couldn't find the correct key. "Fuck," Steve said. "I'll have to do it from the pod." Steve took off across the room to the locked pod where the guards monitored the inmates on closed circuit television. He punched in a code and stepped inside. Once he had access to the control panel, he punched a few buttons and a light lit up on the emergency tram door. Steve spoke into a microphone that sounded all across the commons with an echo telling Cara to try the door.

Cara stepped over and pulled on a recessed hand hold and the door popped open with a hiss. It seemed the tram tunnel was slightly pressurized and when the door opened, the air escaped into the commons. Now the tourists could get out of the tunnel if they could find the door. Steve ran back over and stepped into the tram tunnel being careful not to step on the track. One wrong move and he could twist an ankle or fall on his face.

"Do you see anything?" Cara asked.

"No, but I hear voices," Steve said. "Sound carries a long way in a tunnel like this. They could be hundreds of yards away."

"How long is the tram?"

"It runs the full length of the prison. It has to be a quarter mile from end to end."

"So how do we get them to find us?"

"They will eventually," Steve said. "Be patient, they will roam around until they find a way out, and this is it."

Kathy spoke up, "What are you going to do when they find the door?"

"We're going to keep them here in the commons," Steve said.

"What about the vampires?" Kathy asked. "Can you keep them out of here?"

"Not any longer, the gates are unlocked, it's too late."

"I see Bohdan is here, did you unlock all the cells?" Kathy asked.

Steve stood dumfounded for a moment.

"Did you unlock his cell only, or all the cells?"

"All of them," Steve replied.

"Why?"

"I don't know, I thought I was supposed to," Steve replied.

"Now you see why I demoted you," Kathy said. "You're going to have forty six vampires running around in this building with thirty six tourists. What do you think will happen?

"I can lock the tourists up in the guard pods," Steve replied.

"Or we can get the fuck out of here," Kathy said.

"There's only one way out and that's the tunnel system in the basement."

"Wait a second," Cara said. "I didn't plan this so we could all run. I planned this so we could live independently. The vampires will feed on the tourists, but not kill them. We will run this prison as our new home."

"Are you fucking nuts?" Kathy asked. "Do you think criminals will play by your rules? These inmates may be vampires, but they are also convinced murderers. They won't do what you want them to, they will kill all the tourists and then try to escape."

Steve heard sounds coming from the door to the tram tunnel. Voices that got louder and louder. He stepped over to the door and shouted, telling the tourists to come his way. He heard shouting in return and then the sounds of the rumbling of footsteps on the tracks.

"They're coming," Steve said.

The commons quickly filled with scared and angry tourists. Steve put five in the guard pod and watched as more and more came out of the escape door and filled the room. He did a quick head count and found that all thirty six had found their way out of the tunnel and into the commons. Probably the most unsafe place they could be. The tourists made all kinds of sounds, mostly yelling and screaming that they wanted to leave. Cara didn't realize that the crowd would become this agitated and decided to address them over the com system. She was joined in the pod by Kathy, Bohdan and Steve, who showed her how to use the public address.

"Everyone listen up!" Cara said over the microphone. Her voice carried across the speakers throughout the commons and most of the first floor. "You need to all calm down!"

The crowd quieted for the most part. At least now someone seemed to be in charge and was telling them what was going on.

"We need to get all of you into the guard pods for your safety. There has been a breach of security and your lives are in danger."

From inside the pod, Cara could hear the muffled sounds of the tourists yelling. They were scared, frustrated and pissed. Then she saw a group of vampires standing in the hall entrance at the rear right behind the tourists, almost out of view. She quickly scanned to her left to the other commons entrance and saw a few more. The sounds they were making were like a homing beacon to the vampires who were now running loose in the building.

"Do you see that?" Cara asked pointing to the back of the commons.

Steve looked to where Cara was pointing and back at her. "Fuck, how many are there?"

"I see five or six, and look over there at the other door."

Steve did a quick count. "There are at least ten there. Holy shit, there is going to be a bloodbath.

"Attention everyone," Cara said over the speakers. She didn't know what to say now that she had spoken into the microphone. There wasn't anything she could do to save anyone. The guard pods were located at various points all over the prison, and if she could get the tourists to them, she had no way to get them inside in time. The people standing like sheep in the commons awaited her next comment, but nothing came.

In the blink of an eye, the commons filled with vampires looking for an easy target. Like fish in a barrel, the tourists were torn apart, shredded and killed as the vampires fed on them, one after another until the room filled with bodies bleeding out across the white tile floor.

From inside the pod, the remaining nine humans watched from the safety of the locked door and three inch thick safety glass as everyone else was killed and fed upon. The vampires, almost drunk with blood, sauntered around the commons looking for anyone they missed. It was overkill, as there would have been enough humans to last for months, and now they were all dead.

It didn't take long for a few of the vampires to notice the remaining nine standing in the pod looking out at them. The vampires, drenched in fresh blood, tried to open the pod door to no avail. They knew from experience that they wouldn't be able to get inside, but with the new feeling of unlimited power, they tried anyway.

Bohdan spoke up," I'm ashamed to call myself a vampire."

Almost unable to speak, Steve replied," Unfucking believable. I've never seen anything like that in my life."

Cara knew her plan was fucked, and she was too ashamed to talk about what just happened.

But Kathy had a few digs for her. "What's your plan now Cara?" Kathy asked in the most condescending tone she could muster.

"I don't know," Cara replied.

"What a stupid cunt," Kathy said. "Now we're all going to die."

"You were supposed to be dead by now anyway," Cara snapped back. "You're lucky the gas didn't kill you."

"No, from the looks of it, I'm not lucky at all. Now I'll starve to death in this pod, or suffocate, who knows?"

Steve spoke up, "You won't suffocate, and there is plenty of air coming in here. But starvation, that's a possibility."

"Maybe Bohdan the Vampire Ripper can save us all," Kathy said. "He's one of them."

Bohdan looked to Kathy and bit his lip. He wanted to lay into the bitch but kept his comments about her to himself. "There is a very small chance I could be of assistance, we'll have to see how this plays out."

"See, that's what good management does," Kathy replied.

Steve shoved Kathy back against the glass and glared at her. "Don't push it bitch," he said and turned back to face the mayhem lying on the commons floor.

# Chapter 15

# Pod 3

Three hours into the prison takeover, the nine humans left alive pondered their fate locked up in guard pod three with no way to escape. Steve, Cara and Kathy all sat at the control panel filling the only seats with the rest resting on the floor with their backs to the walls. From their vantage point they couldn't see the bodies and blood on the commons floor, it was a blessing considering the mess.

"How long till it starts to smell?" Paula Borodin asked. She was a fifty something woman who dragged her husband to the zoo as a getaway trip for the both of them.

"Depends on the temperature," Ted, her husband replied. "But I'd say two days."

"Oh my God, that's going to wreak!" Paula snapped back.

"This was your idea, not mine," Ted replied. He was pissed. He didn't want to go on the trip in the first place.

"Yeah, well at least I tried to do something, that's more than you would have."

"No, I wanted to go to Kansas City, but no, you wanted to see the vampires. Fuck these vampires, I didn't give a shit about them now, and now they want to kill us," Ted said.

Kathy said, "Can you two stop bickering? We have to figure out how to get out of here and you're bitching doesn't help."

Paula barked back, "Who are you anyway?"

"I'm the warden," Kathy replied.

"Great, then you should know how to get us out."

"It's not that easy, there are lots of safety precautions put in place at the prison. It was designed so people can't get out, including us."

"So how long do we have to wait before someone gets us out?"

"I don't know, could be a long wait," Kathy replied.

"What do you mean by long? Five hours?"

"Could be five days, or longer. You do realize there are forty six vampires loose in this prison. It could take days to capture them all."

Kent Parker, a large man of few words spoke up, "Capture? Why capture them, why not kill them all?"

Kathy replied. "I don't know what they'll do. They might just kill them all, that's up to the governor."

"Has anyone tried contacting the authorities?"

"Yes," Kathy replied. "My boss at the state corrections knows as much as we do. They're working on it."

"Fucking fantastic," Kent said, and looked away to stew.

Ted stood up and walked over to the control panel next to Steve who was watching the television monitor. "What are you seeing?" Ted asked.

"I see a lot of pissed off vampires," Steve replied. "I think they're starting to organize around pod one."

Paula spoke up, "What? Organize? What do you mean?"

"I can see about twenty of them at pod one and they are trickling in quickly."

Bohdan leaned over and looked at the monitor. "That's not good, do you see that?" Bohdan asked.

"What?" Steve asked.

"Look who's in charge."

Kathy looked at the monitor and saw that Rancid, the skinhead who had tried to recruit Bohdan as their new leader was speaking to a large group of vampires. "What's going on? They usually split into groups."

"Yeah, but this is different," Bohdan said. "Now there are no guards and they need a single leader. Looks like Rancid volunteered for the job."

"How long will that last?" Kathy asked. "It won't be long before they split off into their separate groups again."

Ted said, "How do you know what's going on anyway, you can't hear them."

Steve poked a button on the console and replied, "Now you can."

From the speakers in the pod, the sound of Rancid's voice filled the room, along with the sounds of the rumbles of the rest of the vampires near pod one. Everyone in pod three quieted down as they listened to what Rancid said and watched the monitor. Steve zoomed in the camera so they could get a good look at him as he spoke.

"We need to work together," Rancid said. His voice was amazingly clear over the speakers. "If we don't, we won't last a week."

"Why should we listen to you?" another vampire asked. "I don't need a skinhead to tell me what to do!"

"It's simple, together we're strong, and apart we're weak. The National Guard is probably on their way here now. If we want to stand a chance, we have to put up a united front! We've already made a huge mistake that will cost us and we can't go off halfcocked and make more."

"What mistake?" a voice called out from the crowd.

"We killed all the humans! Once the food in the prison is gone, we can't survive!"

"We didn't kill all of them, there are some locked up in pod three."

"How many?" Rancid asked.

"Four or five," the voice called back.

"We need to get them if we are to survive. Five humans won't last long, but we can use them as bargaining chips."

"How? They are locked up behind steel and bullet proof glass."

"We have time to figure that out, for now that is our main priority. We need food to survive and hostages to keep the governor from killing us all. Right now we need to concentrate on securing the prison, and to clean up the fucking mess you all made. When those bodies start to rot, this place will fill with disease. Disease that won't kill us, but will make us sick enough that we won't be able to defend ourselves. We need to collect all the bodies and bring them out to the yard and burn them."

Steve turned down the sound when he saw the vampires disperse. He knew they would be returning to the commons to collect the bodies like Rancid told them to do. Seems Rancid was a good leader, he had good ideas and was able to get the group organized.

Bohdan spoke up, "He's right, if they don't get the bodies out, they'll bring disease."

Paula said, "You sound like you like this guy."

"I hate skinheads," Bohdan replied. "He tried to recruit me as their new leader. I refused."

It wasn't long before vampires entered the commons area and started removing the bodies. One by one they would drag them out of the room and down the hall. The distance from the commons to the yard was about fifty yards with the yard in the center of the rectangle shaped prison building. It was the only open air space they could get to.

Two hours later smoke could be seen rising into the air from the window, the only window they could see from the pod. Steve clicked on the monitors and brought up the image of a stack of bodies burning in the center of the yard. Surrounding the bodies were six vampires who were tending to the fire, tossing on paper and wood to keep the flames burning. They found it wasn't easy to burn something made up mostly of water.

Cindy Lewis stood up and walked to the monitor and looked over Steve's shoulder. She hadn't said anything the whole time she'd been in the pod, and everyone knew she looked more upset than the rest, or at least she gave that impression because she was so quiet. Then she went manic. "How the fuck did this happen in the first place? I want to know God damit! You're fucking in charge of this place, and now my sister's burning in a pile of bodies!" Cindy snapped at Kathy. "Talk to me bitch! How did you let this happen?"

"I didn't do this," Kathy snapped back. "I had nothing to do with it. Ask Steve, or Cara!"

"What?" Cindy asked.

Kent walked over and grabbed Steve by the shoulder, "What's she talking about, are you responsible for what's going on?"

Steve spun around and looked up at Kent who was towering above him. He didn't want to say anything but had to defend himself. "It's was Cara's idea," Steve said hoping Kent wouldn't take a swing at him.

"Cara?" Kathy asked.

Steve replied, "She has an obsession with Bohdan, she wanted him set free. This was all her plan!"

"Is that right Cara?" Kathy asked.

Cara grinned and nodded her head. She knew eventually everyone would figure out she was the mastermind behind the plan. And she knew she'd have to suffer the consequences. Her only backup was the wish that Bohdan would defend her. "Yes, it was my idea."

Bohdan didn't want to say anything, and sat stoic waiting for the humans to tear her apart.

Steve said, "She had the plan and recruited me to help. I wasn't going to help until I got demoted." Steve looked at Kathy and snapped, "If you would have left me alone, none of this would have happened."

"You're blaming me?" Kathy barked back. "If you did your job correctly, you would have kept it. Punishing me just killed forty people."

"It wasn't forty, it was less than that," Steve said.

"Fine, does that make you feel better?" Kathy asked.

"Why are you targeting me anyway? It was Cara that did this, I just helped."

"Ever hear the term accessory?" Kathy asked.

"It's too late now, placing blame won't help."

Cara moved over close to Bohdan, like he was her personal guard dog. "If you do anything to me, Bohdan will protect me."

Bohdan didn't share the same lust that Cara did for him, but at this point he wasn't going to argue. He was the only vampire in the pod and being a vampire right now wasn't a very popular thing to be. He was best to hide under the radar.

Kent said, "So you have your own personal bodyguard, nice."

Cara replied, "Bohdan and I were meant to be together, and now we are."

"Is that right Bohdan?" Kathy asked. "Are you two together?"

Bohdan nodded. Not because he felt anything for Cara, but because it seemed the right thing to do at the time. He could always change his mind, he was almost immortal.

Kathy asked, "What is it you see in her? She's a killer."

Bohdan replied, "She didn't kill, the vampires did."

"Are we splitting hairs Bohdan? If it weren't for her this never would have happened. You're both still locked up in this prison, what has this got you? Do you prefer being locked up in this pod to your cell? At least your cell was private, and larger than this place."

"I was lonely and I hated the trams. I hated being on display. For once I feel normal," Bohdan replied. "As normal as I have ever felt."

Kathy looked over at Cindy who was back sitting on the floor sobbing. She was still manic, but now she channeled her mania into tears. "You call this normal? Look at her, her sister is dead because of what your lover did."

"She's not my lover, and I don't take responsibility for what she's done. Don't try to pin this on me," Bohdan said.

Cara moved in closer to Bohdan and pressed against him looking for comfort and protection. She felt the hostility in the room and knew they could turn on her anytime.

"You must have had an exit plan," Kathy said.

Cara replied, "My plan was to live here."

"Indefinitely?"

"Yes," Cara replied.

"You're as stupid as you are tenacious," Kathy said. "There is no way you could sustain any kind of life here. The state would have taken you down in days."

"You're wrong, if my plan would have worked, and the vampires not let out, I could have lived here forever."

"You - are - insane," Kathy said.

"If it hadn't of worked out, at least I'd of lived my life with Bohdan, the way I wanted to. Any time we have together is worth it."

"Worth the lives you took?"

"Yes, and I'd do it all again," Cara said.

Kathy could smell the smoke from the fire through the vents and gagged a little. She turned away and sat down on the one empty chair. "God save us all," she mumbled.

# Chapter 16

# Rancid

Rancid paced around pod one trying to think of what he could do to save himself, if he could save anyone else, that was extra, and he didn't care. "What kind of tools do we have access to?" he asked aloud.

"You know as well as we do, nothing," Charles replied. He was not a skinhead, but was as frustrated a vampire as any of the rest. "The guns are locked up in the armory, the kitchen is locked, and so is maintenance."

"We need to break into one, get some tools we can use, which would be the easiest?"

"Kitchen I suppose, maintenance is locked down as much as the armory I'd think, they keep a lot of shit down there. But I don't see how you plan to open a sealed door, the kitchen has a deadbolt I'm sure, if not more."

Rancid was pissed, he knew that all the cells were the same, with the beds, tables and toilets molded as part of the cell with no moving parts. They were designed that way so they couldn't be used as weapons. But where there is a will, there is a way. "There must be a key somewhere," Rancid said. Then he had a thought. "The bodies we burned, were there any kitchen staff in the pile? Or did they all die in the kitchen?"

Charles thought for a moment, "If there was a staff, and he had a key, how do you plan to find it? There is nothing but a pile of bones and ashes out in the yard."

"We need to look, sift through the ashes. See what we can find, keys, pens, any tools, if we can find enough stuff, we should be able to pry open some doors, maybe unlock them."

"Who do you think is going to go sift for that shit? Me?" Charles asked.

"What else better do you have to do? If I were you, I'd be the first vampire out the door looking before anyone gets the same idea and gets the best haul."

Charles realized that Rancid was right. Finding any kind of stash would be a bonus to whoever found it. "Fine, I'll go look," Charles said.

"Bring back what you find," Rancid said.

"Who do you think you are?" Charles asked. "You're not my leader."

"Then who is?" Rancid asked.

"I don't need a leader, I can handle myself fine. You have nothing I need that I can't do for myself."

Rancid knew Charles was right, but every group needed a leader and eventually one would stand out. Rancid was hoping he'd be the one the vampires chose, on purpose or by chance. Charles turned and left walking down the hall to the door to the yard. For a moment, Rancid thought about following him, but he didn't want Charles to think he was a follower. Rancid needed a new plan, or a way to steal whatever Charles found in the yard.

"He's going to fuck you over," a voice spoke out. Another vampire, a woman named. Anita Drake stepped over and took Charles spot.

"I'm sure he'll try," Rancid said. "Who are you? I've seen you around."

"My name is Anita," she replied.

"What are you in for?"

"Murder, just like everyone else."

"I know that, I mean specifically, who did you kill?"

"I killed a lot, just like everyone here, I was caught killing a kid in an alley."

"A kid?" Rancid asked.

"Teenager, he wasn't a child," Anita replied. "Don't get all judgmental, he wasn't innocent."

"I suppose not, everyone we kill deserved to die, that's why we live here."

"Yeah, and it looks like we're going to do that soon enough, die. I heard sirens, I know the National Guard is here."

Rancid and Anita walked to the window that faced the out the front of the building. Together they spied a line of patrol cars and emergency vehicles that lined the street before them. In their view, uniformed officers scrambled to get in positions to take on the inmate's that were now running the prison. In the sky above a helicopter hovered, as if to be taking video of what was going on in the yard. Moving slowly to the right, a television helicopter also flew above the prison broadcasting live images of the smoke that rose from the yard above the prison.

"I wish we had a television in here," Rancid said. "I'd like to see what the news has on us."

"There's a television in the pod," Anita said.

"It's locked."

"Yeah, but you can see the screen through the glass. Can't hear anything, but you can see the picture."

Rancid walked over to the pod and looked inside. There was a screen at the top of the wall with pictures of the prison, little squares showing the halls, and rooms. And next to it was a live shot of the yard from the helicopter outside. Rancid could make out the image of Charles kicking the ashes of the dead and tossing bones around as if he was searching for something. Charles either didn't notice, or care that the helicopter was above him shooting live video. He wanted something he could use as weapons or tools.

"What does it say on the bottom of the screen?" Rancid asked.

"You can't read?" Anita asked.

"No, I have diabetes, I can't see shit anymore."

Anita stepped up to the glass and read the words scrawled across the bottom of the screen. "Governor Tate has requested assistance from the Federal government to assist with the takeover of the prison."

"Great, now we have the feds to worry about," Rancid said.

"You know, we didn't do this, at least I had nothing to do with it. We can give ourselves up."

"I can see Charles tossing leg bones into a pile on live television. Do you think the government is going to believe we had nothing to do with this? I'd be surprised if they didn't dump napalm on the place and burn it to the ground."

"There're humans left, they won't do that."

"They will try to rescue them, once they do, we're done," Rancid said.

"They have no idea how many humans are left, they won't do anything unless they can account for everyone who was working at the time."

Rancid scratched his chin and thought for a second. "Yeah, you're probably right. Until they can force us out, they can't do much."

"We need to get the humans out of pod three and into a cell, so we can keep an eye on them. Maybe put them if a few different cells so they can't get to them at the same time."

"You forget something, I'm not in charge," Rancid said.

"You want to be," Anita replied.

"Want and be are two very different things. I might have some pull with the skinheads, but that's about it. I'm surprised you're talking to me. Why don't you take the lead?"

"If I thought I could, I would. The women here get no respect at all. If we didn't keep together, we'd be raped and killed," Anita said. "It's still a man's world."

"Well, I don't think there's a chance in hell I can tell these fuckers what to do. I'm best saving my own hide. You're welcome to join me if you want," Rancid said.

"Good luck, we're all locked up in here like animals," Anita replied.

"This in an old building, with lots of hiding places, and I'm a rat. I can get to places that most can't"

"What do you know I don't know?" Anita asked.

"This place has tunnels that run under the building. There are crawl spaces above the ceiling and there are tram lines that were built but never put into use. I can use that to my advantage," Rancid said. "If I can get to them."

"Yeah, and it looks like Charles is out finding all the good tools," Anita said pointing to the television screen.

"What's he found?" Rancid asked.

"He has something in his hand, looks like a screwdriver, I can't tell." Anita again read from the scroll on the bottom of the screen. "Reports are coming in that the remains in the yard belong to the tourists. Estimates are that approximately twenty to thirty bodies are contained in the pile."

"I wonder how they figured that out?" Rancid asked.

"It's a guess, I could have done that," Anita replied. "I think you better make friends with Charles soon, if he has all the tools, he'll be the one in charge."

"Do you know how prison works?" Rancid asked. "If he has all the tools, he'll be dead and his tools will be all over the place. Prisoners don't like to share." Then Rancid heard the sound of the police helicopter get louder. He pressed in close to the window and saw the dark colored machine slowly lower to his level. He knew the glass was bulletproof, but stepped back anyway as a reflex and hid behind the wall.

He kept an eye on the spinning blades and wondered what was going on. Then he saw two officers jump down from the helicopter to the ground and approach the window. They were dressed in full riot gear and carrying guns and a note that they taped to the window facing inside. As soon as they placed the note, they took off and jumped back onto the helicopter and took off.

Rancid stepped back around the wall to the window and looked at the note. Why did they chose to put the note up on that particular window?

Then Anita spoke up, "We're on television."

Rancid looked to her realizing there had been a camera on them the whole time and that's why they picked that window. They knew there was someone there they could contact. Rancid squinted his eyes and tried to read the print. He couldn't make it out.

"It says, "You have no chance, surrender immediately. If you have access to a phone, dial 911 and ask for the commissioner. Signed, Governor Tate Williams."

"What the fuck?" Rancid asked. "The governor signed this himself?"

"I'm sure it's a copy, but it is signed," Anita replied.

"Well if that's the case, I'll put my hands right up and walk out the front door," Rancid said with a smile.

"Why don't you? Probably save your life."

"I'm in too deep now, I killed at least two tourists in the commons, and they have video cameras all over this fucking place. If I leave, it will be a short walk to the guillotine."

Anita looked at Rancid and saw how much blood covered him. But she didn't realize he had personally killed anyone.

"Did you kill anyone?" Rancid asked.

"No," Anita replied.

"Did you feed off any of the bodies?"

Anita hesitated.

"Yeah, you're as fucked as I am."

"It's not a crime to feed off a dead body," Anita replied.

"Desecrating a corpse is a crime, look it up," Rancid said.

Anita bit her lip and shook her head. "I was just doing what vampires do. They can't do anything to me for that?"

"Are you serious, that's exactly why you're here in the first place, for doing what vampires do. That excuse might fly when you're talking about a tiger locked up in a zoo who kills its trainer, but they expect more from us. We're supposed to know the rules, and ignore our instincts. You're in this as much as I am, and the idea of walking out the front door with your hands up won't save you in the end when the blade comes down on your neck and cuts off your head."

"Fine, then we should leave," Anita said.

"I agree, fuck them, we need to get to the tunnels, but first we need to find Charles and see what he's found."

"Are you going to ask him to hand over what he's got?" Anita asked.

"No, but if you want out of here, you'll help me get some of his stuff from him."

"We don't know what he's got, don't count your chickens yet." Anita said.

Rancid heard footsteps and turned to the doorway. Emerging from the hall was Charles, with a handful of objects dangling from his fingers. Rancid spied what looked like a long metal shank, or screwdriver between Charles fingers.

"What do you have there?" Rancid asked.

Charles smiled and kept walking, waving a cell phone and a set of keys as he moved along. Before they could digest what they saw, Charles was out of the room and back into another hallway.

"Did you see that?" Anita asked.

"He has keys," Rancid replied. He was anxious and jittery.

"We need those keys," Anita said.

"Let's follow him," Rancid said and the two took off walking towards the hall where Charles disappeared from view.

# Chapter 17

# Escape from Pod 3

"What are our options?" Kathy asked. She looked to Steve for the answers. "There must be a way to get out of this pod."

"Yes there is," Steve replied. "There is an escape hatch built into every pod in case of a prison riot or takeover, just like this."

"Great, why didn't you mention this before?"

"Because it won't work unless you have someone in maintenance to open the door at the end of the tunnel. Every pod has a hex key in the emergency box that will let you open the pod escape door, but once you traverse the tunnel, which is only two by three feet, you have to exit by another hatch door that is opened by someone in maintenance. Last I checked, Alex was dead and I'm here. And unless the National Guard goes in and opens the hatch door, we're fucked."

"There's no way to open it from inside the tunnel?" Kent asked.

"You won't fit in the tunnel anyway fat boy," Steve replied. "What are you? Three fifty?"

Steve expected to get beat for his comments, but Kent was more of a gentle giant who remained seated and stewed.

"You didn't answer the question," Kathy said. "Is there a way to open the hatch from the inside?"

"No," Steve replied. "How do you not know this? You're the warden."

"I'm administrative, I don't change lightbulbs for a living."

"You fucking cunt," Steve said. "You're administrative job won't save you now."

Ted shook his head in frustration. "What else can we do?" Ted asked.

"He have water, air and a bathroom. And emergency food for three days," Steve said. "If we ration, we could last ten days."

"I'm going to be out of here in less than ten hours," Ted replied.

Paula spoke up, "Don't do anything foolish Ted, let them figure this out."

"Them? Who's them?"

"The authorities," Paula replied.

"I'll take responsibility for my own life, thank you very much."

"You don't know anything about this place."

"What's there to know? All I have to do is get from here to an outside door and I'm free," Ted said. "Just tell me how to get there, and I'll take care of myself."

"What about me?" Paula asked.

"Come with me," Ted replied.

"I'm not going out there! Are you crazy? There are vampires all over this building. You don't know where they are."

"We have monitors, I can see the hallways from that screen," Ted said pointing to the television screen mounted on the wall.

"What good is that going to do you once you leave this room?"

"It can't be more than a few hundred feet to the nearest door," Ted said.

"Steve replied, "It's more like few hundred yards, and the front door is locked with second set of doors to boot. This isn't a daycare, it's a fucking prison for vampires."

"Give me your key," Ted said.

"My keys open the doors to the housekeeping closets, stuff like that, they don't give me the keys to the front door."

"You can get into the maintenance department right? And from there you can get to the outside right?" Ted asked.

"Wrong, I have to come in the front door like everyone else. I get scanned, patted down, just like the prisoners. What kind of place do you think this is? Who would put a door to the outside in the maintenance department? That would be way too easy for the inmates to get out. Why not relax and wait for the National Guard to get us out?"

"Are you sure the front doors are still locked? Can you tell from the control panel in this pod?" Ted asked.

"No, there isn't a reason to have that here, they have that at the main entrance."

"So you don't know if the vampires have found a way to open the door?" Ted stated.

"No, if you want to get right down to it, I don't know. But why would they do that? Where are they going? They'd be shot the second they tried to run out the front door. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Plus, keeping the door locked would make it harder for the National Guard to get in."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ted replied.

"The only way to get out of the prison is through the old tunnel system under the prison, and that's locked up as well," Steve said.

"Who has the key to that?" Ted asked.

"I do," Steve said.

"So let me get this right, if a vampire could somehow get into the maintenance department and get your keys, they could in theory, escape?" Ted asked.

"Yes, but first they'd have to get past a locked door to maintenance, find me, and break into a tunnel that nobody knows about," Steve replied.

Kathy spoke up, "I can't believe what you're saying is true, how long have those tunnels been there?"

"Since they built the prison," Steve replied.

"How did I not know about this?" Kathy asked.

"Too busy banging yourself in your office to find out I guess," Steve replied.

Ted said, "So all I have to do is get to the maintenance department and I can get out. What are we waiting for?"

"The maintenance department is clear across the building, in the basement. You'd have to go the length of two football fields, out in the open to get there. There are over forty vampires running around in the halls, do you think they're going to let you walk on by?" Steve asked.

"No, but I have a phone."

"So?"

"You can watch the monitors, and tell me where to go, so I avoid any contact with the vampires. Most of them are near pod one anyway. My chances are pretty good."

"That would mean giving up my keys, no way," Steve said. "And if you made it, what good would it do for the rest of us?"

"You can come with me."

"Like a walking buffet? No thanks, I saw what they did to the tourists, now they're a pile of ashes and bones."

Then a voice spoke up, "I want to try," said Taylor Mendoza, a petite middle aged woman with a boyish haircut.

Steve replied, "I said I'm not giving up my keys."

"What good are they doing if you're sitting in here locked up?" Taylor asked. "We deserve a chance to save ourselves."

"I might need them later, I'm the only person here who knows the in's and out's of the prison."

"I could take them from you," Ted said.

Steve swallowed hard, he didn't like conflict, and wasn't much of a fighter. But he knew giving up his only set of keys would make everyone's life a lot harder. "Is that what everyone wants? For me to give up my keys to this guy?"

Kent spoke up, "No, don't give them to him. He'll get twenty feet and get killed, then we won't have them anymore."

Then Steve saw something out of the corner of his eye. A lanky, long haired vampire step out of the hall and into the commons walking towards pod one. Keeping an eye on the floor to keep out of the blood pools, the vampire stopped outside the pod and looked at the survivors inside. He didn't say anything, just scanned what he could see and smiled. Steve pressed a communication button and spoke on the outside speakers. "What do you want?"

"How many of you are there?" the vampire asked in an awkward British accent. His voice carried from the microphone on the outside of the pod.

"Fifty," Steve replied.

"Looks more like ten or so to me."

"Hey, do me a favor," Steve said. "Go get the cops and let us out."

"You're a funny one," the vampire replied. "I don't think I'll be doing that."

"Where are you from? I didn't know we had any foreigners locked up?"

"I'm from London originally. Moved to the states back in the sixties."

"How did I not know that?" Steve asked.

"I don't know, maybe you're fucking stupid."

"What's your name?" Steve asked.

"Isaac Abney, glad to meet you," Isaac replied holding out his hand as if to shake.

"Well Isaac, if you didn't come here to help us, I don't think we have much to say to you."

"I understand, you seem to be in a bit of a predicament. I wouldn't want to be in your shoes."

"I bet, now if you don't mind, you can leave," Steve said.

"I'd rather not if you don't mind," Isaac replied.

"Fine, I'm turning off the microphone," Steve said.

"Now hold a minute, we might be able to work out a bargain after all."

"What kind of bargain?" Steve asked.

"We can make a trade."

"Trade what?"

"Do you have any girls in there? I think I see one or two."

"We have a few females, why do you ask?" Steve asked.

"I'd rightly like to have a girl, if you know what I mean."

"No, I don't. Are you proposing I trade one of us for something in return?"

"Yes, that is correct, you provide me with a lovely young lady, and I'll assist the rest of you to escape."

Steve turned around and looked at the others. "This guy is nuts."

"Keep him talking," Ted said. "See what information you can get out of him."

Steve turned around and faced Isaac again. "Let's say I gave you a "lady" as you put it, what can you do to help us get out? Do you know something I don't?"

"I can't tell you that until you provide me with who I want," Isaac replied.

"You do realize I don't own anyone in here, I can't just pick out a woman and give her to you."

"Of course you can."

"Maybe in your world that's how it works, but in a civilized world, we don't send people out to be killed."

"You don't watch the news do you?" Isaac asked. "It happens all the time."

"I'm not getting into a political discussion with a vampire. Tell me what you know."

"Give me a lady."

"You have nothing to bargain with, and this isn't sixth grade. You need to learn to argue like an adult."

"Adult? I'm over a hundred years old," Isaac said.

"You look thirtysomething," Steve said.

"Yeah, I bet I do."

"I think this discussion is over."

"Wait, I can tell you one thing," Isaac said. "I can get a couple of you out later this evening. Rancid is planning a meeting tonight and will have most of the vampires there. Once the rest of the building is clear, I can lead you out the door."

Kent spoke up, "He's lying, and you said the doors are locked."

Steve addressed Isaac, "How can you open the front doors?"

"I have a key," Isaac replied.

"That's not how it works, there is no key that opens the front gates. It's all on computer."

Realizing his lies were getting him nowhere, Isaac decided to change tactics. "That's fine, Rancid will find a way to get you out soon enough. If he doesn't, someone else will. These vampires will get very hungry very fast and you're the only meal in town. If you don't want my help, fuck yourselves. This pod may be saving you for now, but they will find a way to open it like a tuna can and have you for lunch. And I'll be there to get my lady. Either way, I'll get what I want, and it will be more fun to watch them tear this thing apart than to have you give up one of your own."

Kent spoke up, "Is there a gun in here, I want to shoot that fucker."

"No, there are no guns in here, in case of a prison take over, they don't want to arm the prisoners."

# Chapter 18

# Vote

Early evening creeped in and the group in the pod were becoming restless. Only a few vampires could be seen walking the halls across the commons as the sun glared through the window and began to set.

Then Bohdan spoke up to Steve, "How come you didn't get gassed?"

Steve turned and looked to Bohdan, "The maintenance department is on the same vent system as the tram lines. That's so we can fix them when they break down."

"Didn't your boss die in the gas? Isn't his office in the maintenance department?"

"No, his office was in the administration section, down the hall from Kathy."

"Kathy survived," Bohdan said.

"I kept her office off the vent. I wanted her alive. Long story."

"Seemed odd that you survived when all the rest of the staff died."

"I wasn't going to connect the boiler to the vent system if I knew I was going to die in the process."

Then the lights in the pod blinked on and off. And again, only this time it went dark for a full second.

"What's going on?" Ted asked.

Steve replied, "I don't know," and looked to the control panel. He looked back at the display screen and didn't see anything out of the ordinary either. Then Steve heard a clank of metal on metal, and another.

"What was that?" Ted asked.

Steve saw a display light up. "They unlocked the doors."

"What?"

"They managed to unlock the pod doors," Steve said. "They must have broken into maintenance."

"Kent stood up and walked over to the display. "Shit, what are we going to do now?"

Steve got off his chair and walked over to the nearest door. He bent down and looked at the panel. He pulled a pair of pliers from his belt and tugged at the door cover and managed to peel it back far enough that he could see the inside. He shoved his finger inside and pushed on a metal bar tugging it back and forth.

"What are you doing?" Kent asked.

"I'm trying to lock the door manually," Steve replied. "I can't get the bolt to slide over."

"Let me try," Kent said.

Steve backed away and let Kent get access to the door.

"Which way do I slide it?" Kent asked.

"To the left," Steve replied.

Kent shoved his large finger in the opening of the panel and pushed the metal bar as far as he could. "There's something blocking it. It wants to slide, but it won't."

"It could be the difference in temperature, it gets pretty cold in here. Try shoving the door and pushing the bar at the same time."

Kent put his weight into the door and tried to shove the bar. Then he pulled the door and felt it give a little.

Cindy spoke up," Look at the television, there's someone coming," she said pointing up at the monitor.

Steve looked up and saw two vampires traversing the halls on their way to the pod. "Hurry up," Steve said as he jumped to the other door. He again pulled his pliers and pulled back on the door lining. He shoved his fingers inside the door and this time was able to slide the manual lock all the way. "I got this one, how are you doing?"

Frustrated, Kent tugged and pulled to no avail. "How long till they get here?"

Cindy could see the two vampires enter the commons through the window of the pod. One was Isaac and the other was Rancid. "Hurry, they're here."

Kent punched the door repeatedly, shoving and pulling until the metal bar found the receiving hole and slid inside just before the two vampires arrived at the pod. Kent sat back and got his breath, panting with a racing heart.

Steve sat back in his chair and looked out at the two vampires who were now standing at the pod. Rancid stepped over and tried to pull on the door latch, he expected the door to open and was surprised when it didn't. He stepped around to the other door and it was also locked. Steve clicked on the page button and spoke into the microphone. "Sorry guys, we locked the doors."

Rancid walked back over to where Isaac was standing. He was holding a set of keys, the same keys that Charles had when he came back into the prison. He held them up for Steve to see.

"Where did you get those?" Steve asked.

"Found them on a dead vampire," Rancid said with a grin. "I was able to unlock the door to the maintenance department and fuck with the locks in your pod. I don't know why the door won't open, what did you do?"

"The pods have manual override, in case something like that ever happened."

"Smart, very smart," Rancid replied. "But that won't save you."

"What do you mean?"

"I cut off your air."

Steve looked up at the ceiling vent and back at Rancid. He knew the vents could be controlled back at his old workstation.

"See for yourself," Rancid said.

Steve stood up and put a hand by the vent, it wasn't blowing any air. Steve sat back down and looked at Rancid.

"You have about a day's worth of air in there, after that, you all suffocate."

Steve knew Rancid was right.

"Now Isaac here told me he made a bargain with you, and you declined. I think you might reconsider now."

"I'm not sending out a woman so your butt buddy can kill her."

Then Bohdan spoke up, "Send one out."

"What?" Cindy asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Send out a woman, if it will save the rest of us."

"You have no dog in this fight," Cindy replied. "They won't kill you."

"You're wrong, I'm despised in this prison. Many of the vampires feel I've been given special privileges and would have no problem setting me on fire if they had the chance. I've been threatened more times than you know."

"That's fine and all, but you can't die from suffocation, you still have no right to kill one of us," Cindy said.

"If they can turn off the air, they can find a way to get to us. We need to buy time, until the National Guard can save us. Sacrificing a few women can buy us that time," Bohdan said.

"What kind of misogynistic prick are you?" Cindy asked. "I'm not some animal you can send to the slaughter to save your own hide."

"You're a woman, basically worthless," Bohdan said.

"Fuck you asshole!" Cindy yelled.

Paula stood up and pointed a finger at Bohdan. "Keep your mouth shut!" Paula said. "I don't know what I ever saw in you or why I ever came here in the first place."

Kathy chimed in, "You do realize why Bohdan is an inmate here don't you? He used to kill women for sport. He's known as Bohdan, the Vampire Ripper. Don't expect that zebra to change his stripes."

Bohdan shook his head in disgust. "There are nine of us in this metal trap, if we give up two females, in let's say twenty four hours, that could buy us enough time to be rescued. I think that's a valid trade."

"What if he'd take you instead?" Cindy asked. "You said yourself they hate you." Cindy waked over to the control panel and pressed the page button, "Would you take Bohdan in trade?"

Rancid stood silent as he thought. He spoke quietly to Isaac and then turned back to the pod. "Maybe, but after you send out a woman first."

"Bohdan first, then you let us go," Cindy said.

"I can't feed on Bohdan, I would love to tear him apart, but I need to eat. You send out a woman, and then Bohdan, and we have a deal."

"Why does it have to be a woman?" Cindy asked.

"Women taste better," Rancid replied licking his lips.

Bohdan spoke up, "I think we should send you," he said looking at Cindy. "Or maybe we should put it to a vote."

"A vote?" Cindy asked. "Are you crazy?"

Kent spoke up, "No, I think he has an idea."

"What the fuck?" Cindy asked. "You're not seriously going to vote to toss me out to them are you?"

"If we can save eight of us, I think we should consider it," Kent said.

"Sure, you're a man, you don't have to die!" Cindy yelled.

Paula snapped back, "I'm not voting to send anyone out to die! There are five females in here and four males, I don't think any of the women are going to vote to send another out."

Then Kathy spoke up. "No, I think it's a valid idea, we should put it to a vote."

"Holy shit!" Paula yelled.

"If we don't send out one, we all die," Kathy said.

"What if you're the one that loses?" Paula asked.

"I won't lose, I know this prison and I'm too valuable. It will be one of you that goes."

Kent said, "What do the rest of you think?"

Ted said, "I'm not voting, nobody's sending my wife out to die."

Paula looked to her husband and nodded. "You guys can vote if you want, but nobody's going to be able to shove anyone else out the door. It's a stupid idea."

Then Kent stood up and walked over to Paula. Kent was a full foot taller than her and much stronger. "When it comes time, I'll make sure the loser goes."

Ted stepped over and tried to intimidate Kent, but Ted was less than five foot five and not in very good shape. A twenty year smoker, he didn't have the stamina to take on a man half his age and a foot taller. Kent shoved Ted back against the wall and grabbed Paula by the neck. "Don't fuck with me bitch, we will vote and one of you will be removed."

Steve said, "Hey hey now, let's not get all medieval here. Maybe there's a way to get some air in here. Don't let these guys get to you."

"Ok mechanic, make the wind blow and I won't toss one of these ladies out," Kent said.

Steve knew there was no way to get the air back on from the pod. He'd need to be back at his workstation in maintenance in order to do that. He lied to buy some time and now needed to make it look like he was trying.

Then they heard Isaac speak up, "I want the tall skinny one."

"Which one is that?" Rancid asked.

Isaac pointed to Cara, "The one in the nurse's uniform. I'd like to fuck her before I kill her. And then maybe fuck her again," he said with a smile.

Cara heard Isaac and backed up closer to Bohdan. "You won't let them take me will you?" Cara asked Bohdan.

"I have no issue with it," Bohdan replied.

"What? I saved you?"

"Saved me? I'm locked up in a smaller room than I was in before," Bohdan replied.

"But you don't have tourists gawking at you any longer."

"No, but this isn't any better."

"But I tried, I had no idea this would end up like this. How was I to know?" Cara asked.

"You failed to plan accordingly, and now you are responsible for the deaths of the tourists and the prison staff. Not that it matters to me, but now my future is uncertain. Many times I wished for death, but now that I have tasted freedom, if that's what you call it, I wish to continue to be free."

"Do you think the state will set you free? When the National Guard shows up, the first thing they will do will be to put you back in a cell," Cara said.

"Yes, but it won't be here, I'm sure of that. The days of putting the vampires on display are coming to a close. I see a day where I have more freedom than I have now. I will never see the outside of the prison, but I won't be locked up like a gorilla in a zoo for the public to see. There will no longer be shirts with my image printed on the back for sale in a gift shop.

# Chapter 19

# Survivor

"I still think we should put it to a vote," Cara said.

"No, they chose you," Kent said.

"We don't have to do anything now! The air will last for a while, give the National Guard a chance to save us first."

Kent looked at the clock on the wall, it was a little after seven o'clock. "I'll wait till noon tomorrow that is if the air holds out."

Steve turned around in his chair and looked at the behemoth of a man who was taking control of the pod. "Who elected you president?" Steve asked.

Kent glared at Steve. "Someone had to take charge."

"You need to give me a chance to figure this out. Giving into the vampire's demands is the last part of negotiations."

"What can you do? We're trapped in here, and the vampires have control of maintenance. The only way out of here is through the front gate which is locked."

"Or out the tunnels below the prison," Steve said.

"What's your plan? To bore through the floor?"

"No, can you be more of a condescending asshole? Give me a chance to think on this. You're so fucking lazy that you want to give in before you try. Are you one of them?"

Kent didn't respond, it was if they were onto him.

Bohdan spoke up, "Tell them," he said.

Steve looked at Bohdan and said, "Tell us what?"

"He's a vampire."

Steve looked back at Kent and asked, "Is that right? Are you a vampire?"

Kent stood stoic and didn't reply.

"If you're a vampire, why don't you just walk out the door?"

"I'm not a vampire," Kent replied. "Yet."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm planning on becoming a vampire, I just haven't gone through with it to the end."

"Is that like getting a tattoo? You just decide to be a vampire one day? And why does Bohdan think you are one?" Steve asked.

"Probably the way I smell, I roleplay as a vampire a lot. I found a way to make myself as much of a vampire as I can," Kent replied.

Bohdan spoke up, "If that's so, you do a pretty good job. But I think you're lying."

"I'm not lying, I'm as human as everyone else here, except you."

Paula spoke up, "When he grabbed me, he felt cold."

"You don't have to talk about me like I'm not here," Kent said.

Bohdan replied, "You may be more vampire than you realize."

"How can that be?"

"You can only be a vampire by birth or being turned by another vampire. I don't think you were born a vampire, so you must have been turned at some point," Bohdan replied.

"I don't know any real vampires, I just roleplay."

"It's obvious to me that someone you roleplay with is a vampire. You just didn't know it."

Kent stood and thought for a moment. As he pondered what Bohdan said he realized that during roleplay, it was very possible that a real vampire drank of his blood and he didn't know it. "Shit, that fucking bitch," Kent said. It was almost under his breath as he realized what happened.

"What are you talking about?" Steve asked.

"Samantha, she might be the one."

"The one who turned you?"

"Yes, we roleplayed bites all the time, she drew blood more than once," Kent said. "How much blood does it take before a person turns?"

"Not much," Bohdan replied. "Just enough to break the skin."

"Fuck," Kent said.

Ted spoke up, "Looks like you have a free ticket out of here."

Kent shook his head. He felt betrayed, like his virginity had been stolen from him.

"Why so glum?" Ted asked. "You got what you wanted."

"I know, but not like I wanted. I was planning a big ceremony."

"Sounds like it may have worked in your favor, now you can leave and not worry about being killed. They can't feed on you."

Bohdan said, "How long ago did this happen?"

"Three weeks, maybe," Kent replied.

"And you didn't notice the changes?"

"I thought I was getting a cold, or the flu," Kent replied.

"Fever, chills?"

"Yes," Kent replied.

"But you never took your temperature?"

"No."

"Smile at me."

Kent put his fingers to his canine teeth and felt if they were longer or sharper. They weren't. "My teeth are the same."

"They will change eventually," Bohdan said.

Ted said, "Well, what the fuck are you waiting for? You can leave whenever you want."

"Yeah, I can leave the pod, but what makes you think they'll let me out the front door? If it's locked, I have to hang around a bunch of murderers. I'm still safer in here."

"You have a point, they may be vampires, but they are all convicted killers first," Ted replied.

"Until I know I can walk out alive, I'm staying right here," Kent said.

"What about the demands? For a woman to be sent out?" Ted asked. "Do you still want to do that?"

"Yes, I still think we should send one out. We need to vote."

Paula spoke up, "Well count me out, I'm not voting."

"I don't think the women will vote for each other anyway so let's have the men vote."

"I agree," Bohdan said.

"I'm not voting," Steve said.

"Me neither," Ted replied.

Kent spoke up, "That leaves me and Bohdan to vote."

Cindy said, "No fucking way are you two deciding my fate. Good luck with that."

"If you're voted out, I'll put you out, Bohdan and I will see to that."

Steve said, "You'll have to get past me and Ted, as well as the other women first. Don't think just because you're three hundred pounds and have the backing of Bohdan that you'll win."

"I vote for the nurse," Kent said. "I think we should give them what they want. What do you think Bohdan?"

"I agree, Cara should go."

Cara stepped away from Bohdan like she was betrayed. Shaking her head in disgust, she said, "They won't let you take me."

"We are two vampires, we have strength no human possesses. When the time comes, you will be removed from here," Bohdan said.

Cara looked to Steve. "What can you do to help me?"

Steve was a bit shocked that she singled him out for help. He shrugged his shoulders as to say he had no clue.

"You're the smart one here, think of something. You said we can get out through the tunnels, think of a way to do that."

"The only way to the tunnels is through the maintenance department, and as you know, they've broken in," Steve replied.

"So?" Cara asked.

"What do you mean so? We'd be exposed if we tried to get to them. It's a hundred yards past the commons, down a flight of stairs, another hallway to the maintenance door, through the department and another hundred yards to the tunnel entrance. All while trying to avoid any vampires that might be running around in the building."

"I'd rather try that then let them feed me to those two vampires sitting over there," Cara said. Isaac and Rancid were both chatting, sitting at a table in the commons area.

"Are you going to ask them to leave so you can try?" Steve asked.

"I'll wait till they go," Cara said. "Who wants to go with me?"

No one spoke up. "We need to try to escape, we can't let them kill us in here. It may seem safe for now, but by tomorrow, we'll all be dead from carbon monoxide poisoning."

Paula spoke up, "I'll take my chances here. The National Guard won't let us die. I'm sure they're aware of what's going on."

"You stupid bitch, you'll be dead by morning."

"He'll find us air," Paula said. She looked to Steve for acknowledgement, she got none.

"I can't guarantee I'll find a way to get any air in here. The doors are basically air tight, and the pod is sealed in case of tear gas. I'll work on it, but who knows."

"I can't believe they didn't think of this when they designed the prison!" Ted snapped. "Who runs this place?"

"When New Systems Corrections took over, they spent millions to upgrade the building. This place was built two centuries ago. Who would have thought the guards would ever be trapped in the pods?" Steve asked.

"Someone with some fucking brains! That's who," Ted barked. "All they had to do was put in some sort of backup system."

"Well they didn't, so now we have to figure this out on our own."

"How thick is that glass?"

"Three inches," Steve replied.

"Do you have a drill in here?"

"No, there is a tool kit in each pod, but just the basics. Screwdrivers, a wrench set, stuff like that. All the power drills are back in my department."

"Can we unscrew a few panels, to let some air in?"

Steve looked at Ted and shook his head. "Don't you think I would have thought of that? These pods aren't something someone designed and built in a garage. They are state of the art control pods designed to stand up to a prison riot. You can't just unscrew a panel, if that were the case, I wouldn't want the guards to work here. They would be worthless."

"Fine, is there a way to see if the halls are clear? To the maintenance department? The camera view on the television only shows the commons and part of the hallway."

"There aren't cameras in every hall. That isn't practical. They only put them in places where large groups usually gather," Steve replied.

"So we can't tell if the hall is clear? Fucking fantastic. If we take off running, we might run into a shitload of vampires in the hall."

"Or in the staircase, there are no camera's there either," Steve said.

"So this is basically a crapshoot," Ted said.

"Basically, that's why we should do what Paula suggested and wait this out."

Just then Steve noticed Isaac and Rancid approach the pod. They stepped in close and knocked on the stainless steel shell. "Have you decided yet?" Isaac asked.

Steve pressed the communication button. "No, we're still thinking on it, we'll get back to you as soon as we know."

"Can you fucking hurry up?" Isaac asked. He sounded like a coherent version of Ozzy Osbourne. "We don't have all fucking day."

"Actually, you do," Steve said.

Cara approached the glass and flipped Isaac off. "You can fucking go to hell," she said.

"She's a feisty one I see," Isaac said. "I can't wait to fuck the shit out of her, then drink her blood."

Cara smiled at Isaac, taunting him. "Why don't you go fuck your friend there in the ass? He'd like that. I've seen what you guys do in here. I know you like it more than you say."

"No thanks darling, I prefer a nice pussy. I can wait," Isaac said. And the two vampires walked back to the table and sat back down.

"What a couple of losers," Cara said.

"They're inmates, what do you expect?" Steve asked.

# Chapter 20

# Bluff

Four in the morning Bohdan looked around the pod and saw that everyone was asleep. It was ten hours since the vent was turned off and the room was filling with carbon monoxide slowly killing everyone inside. Bohdan saw his chance and decided to take it, he crawled over to Cindy, who was fast asleep and sunk his teeth into her neck and fed off her. Nobody in the pod heard or noticed a thing as he slowly killed her.

When Bohdan finished, he decided it was time to leave. He needed Steve's keys, so he stood up and walked over and took them. While he was looking for the keys he found his pliers and a pocket knife. He took those as well. Now that he had a knife, a thought crossed his mind, it had been over a hundred years since he gutted a woman, and Cindy's lifeless body lay on the floor of the pod waiting for him.

For the next ten minutes, Bohdan stripped Cindy and cut out her bowls dumping them on the floor and spreading them around the pod. Still nobody opened an eye or noticed a thing. The gas in the pod affected Bohdan, but as a vampire, it couldn't kill him. As he looked around the room, he thought about taking one of the humans with him. Not sure why, maybe just for company, but now he needed to make a decision. He had an issue with females, but decided he didn't want a male who might try to fight him later on. A woman would be who he picked, but which one?

Then he realized that Cara would be the only female that wouldn't try to leave him. He had grown tired of Cara, and at one point offered her up to the vampires, but she was still the best pick of the remaining four. But before he could take her, he needed to open the pod door, so he took the pliers and forced out the locking pin on one of the doors and removed it from the door completely. In the process, he bent the pin enough that it wouldn't go back into the lock channel. The door was permanently open.

Bohdan set the pin on the pod console as a token and grabbed Cara by her shirt dragging her out of the pod. The commons was quiet, and it was still dark outside the windows. There were no vampires in sight. With the keys, pliers and knife in his pocket, Bohdan lifted Cara and slung her over his shoulder and left the pod for good. He left the door open so the vampires would know they had a free breakfast when they returned. In doing so, he let in fresh air.

Six o'clock in the morning Kathy woke groggy with a headache and felt something wet on her face. She touched her face and looked at what was on her hand, it was blood. She sat up quickly and looked at her shirt and skirt and saw she was covered with blood and bits of tissue. "What the fuck!" She yelled.

Steve woke quickly and replied, "What's going on?" He saw Kathy a few feet away with blood all over her clothes and face. He touched his own face but felt no blood, but then saw small intestines lying on the console with a large section dangling off the side onto the floor. He looked around and saw Cindy's body, lying on its back, split open from sternum to pelvis. Her bowels were gone. He then did a quick head count and noticed Cara and Bohdan were both missing and the door to the pod was wide open. "Close the door," Steve said.

Kathy scrambled over to the pod door and shut it.

By this time, everyone in the pod was awake and aware something very bad had happened while they were sleeping. They were still groggy, and recovering from carbon monoxide poisoning, but were becoming more lucid every minute.

Kent stood up when he saw Cindy's body on the floor and her intestines strewn about the room He was very squeamish for a large man. "What the hell is going on?" Kent asked. "When did that happen?"

Steve replied, "Sometime last night. Cara and Bohdan are gone and they left the pod door open." Steve looked to Kathy, "Did you lock the door?"

Kathy shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know how to lock it."

"Move the slide bar into the lock, quick, before the vampires show up."

"You do it, I'm not a mechanic!" Kathy replied.

Steve moved over to the pod door and put his finger into the slot where he had pulled back the cover with his pliers the day before. He reached inside and noticed the lock bar was missing. "Holy shit," Steve said. 'The lock bar is gone." He turned around and immediately noticed the lock bar sitting on top of the pod console. He stepped over and picked it up and saw that it was bent, bent enough that it probably wouldn't fit back in the lock slot it came from. He walked back to the pod door and tried to put it back, but it was no use, the slide bar was bent too far out of shape to return.

"Did you get it?" Kent asked.

Steve turned around and showed the bar to Kent. "No, it won't go back in."

"What does that mean?"

"It means the door won't lock, no matter what we do."

"Can they tell from the outside?"

Steve thought for a second. "No, as long as the door is shut, they won't be able to tell the locks broken.

Then Kathy spoke up, "But they will notice that Bohdan and Cara are missing, and they will might try the door.

"They won't have any reason to think we didn't relock the door," Steve replied.

"If I were them, I'd try the door anyway," Kathy said. "Especially if I saw this mess."

"Mess? That's what you call the remains of a fellow human?" Kent asked.

"She's dead and now she's going to rot in here. The air still is off and we will use our new fresh air supply very soon. It won't be long before she starts to decay and stink up the place. We're no better off now than we were yesterday."

Ted spoke up, "We should go now, while the vampires are sleeping."

"That's not a bad idea," Paula replied.

Then Steve felt his pockets, almost out of instinct and noticed his keys were missing. "Holy shit, my keys are gone!" Steve said.

"Did you misplace them?" Paula asked.

Steve did another check, then another. "No, that fucking vampire took them, now if we escaped from here, I can't open any of the doors. I can't get to maintenance and to the tunnels!"

Ted said, "That son of a bitch."

Kent leaned back against the pod wall and closed his eyes. "We went from having no chance to less than that. We might as well walk out of the pod and wait for the vampires to come."

"I'm not waiting to die," Ted said. "I'm taking my chances on my own."

The sediment in the pod was that Ted was right, if they were going to survive at all, they needed to leave and try to find a way out. Chances were slim to none, but they were better than waiting to die in the pod. Then Kent saw something through the pod window by the north hall that connected to the commons. It was a vampire entering the room. Chills ran up Kent's spine knowing how exposed he was. "Look, over there," Kent said without pointing.

"Shit, looks like our luck just ran out," Paula said.

Ted replied, "Act like nothing happened."

The vampire walked over to the pod and looked through the window inside. His eyes scanned back and forth and it was evident he knew something was wrong. He moved in close and almost pressed up against the glass trying to get a better look. And then he smiled.

Ted stepped over to the window and banged on the glass. It barely made a sound on the outside, but was enough to get the vampires attention. "Get the fuck away!" Ted shouted.

"He can't hear you unless you press the page button," Steve said.

Ted stepped over to the console and saw the page button had a section of Cindy's large intestine laying on it. He was pissed enough that he used his foot to kick the organ onto the floor and press the page button. "Get the fuck out of here!"

The commons filled with the sound of Ted's voice yelling at the lone vampire echoing in the halls.

With the communications button on, the vampire could be heard inside the pod. "What happened in there?" the vampire asked. "Looks like one of you exploded."

"None of your business," Ted replied. "Go back to where ever you came from."

"You telling me what to do? That's funny."

Ted had no recourse and trying to intimidate this vampire wasn't working. Then the vampire saw the blood trail that Bohdan left when he exited the pod. Cindy's blood was all over him when he walked through the commons leaving a trail that led back to the unlocked pod door. The vampire stepped over to the blood trail and saw how it started heavy at the door and lightened up to a smear at the other side of the room. For some reason, the vampire grabbed the door handle and pulled. To everyone's shock and horror, the door opened allowing the vampire to see inside.

Nobody tried to hold the door shut, it was as if they had given up. They knew it was a matter of time before one of the vampires tried the door again, maybe out of curiosity, but now it was too late to go back. Vampires had far more strength, and it would have taken all of them together to hold the door closed. And that would have only been until they tired, or another vampire came along to assist.

"Look what I found," the vampire said with a grin. "Looks like I have breakfast."

"Don't do this," Ted said, knowing full well the vampire would ignore his plea.

"The only question I have is this. Do I take one of you now for myself? Or do I go tell the other vampires before you all get too far away? I'm starving."

Then Kent had an idea. Now that he knew he was a vampire, he might be able to do something, what exactly he didn't know, but he had one chance and he needed to take it. So he stepped out of the pod and tried to intimidate the vampire with his size. "Back off," Kent said.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" the vampire asked.

"I'm a vampire," Kent replied. "You can't do anything to me."

"Is that so?"

Kent was bluffing, but he was doing his best to save himself. He didn't reply, just shook his head and folded his arms across his chest trying to look as intimidating as he could.

"Are you the one who tore that woman apart?" the vampire asked.

Kent stood stoic, not replying.

"If you did, you did a pretty shitty job. Look at the mess you made."

"I don't need your critique," Kent replied.

"So you did kill her?"

"Yes," Kent replied.

"So you wanted to keep all these humans for yourself? That's kind of selfish don't you think?"

"These are mine, go get your own."

"I'm sure I'm not the only vampire here who thinks you should share. I imagine there will be more coming soon enough. It is getting to be sunrise. I realize most vampires despise sunrise, but they have us trained here to be on the human schedule, not our own. Why don't you give up one, and I'll pretend that we never met."

"You can have what's left of the dead one," Kent said.

"What good is a dead one? You took all the good parts. I don't want your scraps. Let me have the tall one in the back."

Kent knew the vampire was talking about Ted's wife Paula. "I don't think Ted will approve."

"Who is Ted?"

"That's her husband."

"Fine, I don't care, send me one that isn't married."

Kent was stuck, his bluff was going nowhere fast. He was putting off the inevitable for as long as he could; as they would all be dead in an hour. Then he saw more vampires enter the commons from the hall and now there were six or seven heading his way. Now the shit would hit the fan.

From inside the pod, Steve watched the vampires walk over towards him. He knew they saw that the pod door was open so they picked up speed and joined the vampire that was talking to Kent outside the door. Then Steve saw a vampire push Kent aside and enter the pod. Then another until the room was filled.

For the next ten minutes, the vampires tore the humans in the pod apart feeding on them. Kent stood aside and watched as more vampires entered the pod and doused the screams and lives of those trapped inside. Now the only human left was Cara who was being dragged down the hall by Bohdan. He was looking for a way to the tunnels to escape.

By nine in the morning, the commons were filled with vampires and the pod ran red onto the white tile floor. It continued out the pod door and into the hall. Kent sat at a table and pondered his fate. He thought they'd kill him as well, but being a vampire saved him for now.

# Chapter 21

# Tunnel

Bohdan fumbled with the keys and managed to unlock the maintenance door with Cara slung over his shoulder. He entered the short hall into the department to another door and entered. Once inside, he looked around the large, dark, dusty mechanical room looking for the entrance to the tunnel that led to Topeka. What he saw was endless shelves full of wires, tools, and other odds and ends used to repair the prison. To his right were the boilers, near them was the central air units and to his left was the control panel that allowed the maintenance workers to run various parts of the prison and view what was going on.

The one thing Bohdan didn't see was a sign that said, "Tunnel this way." Cara began to struggle as she woke from her carbon monoxide induced sleep. Bohdan laid her on the concrete floor and walked around the room looking for anything that would lead him to the tunnel entrance. Then he heard voices. The voices of Rancid and Isaac speaking to each other. The room Bohdan was in was huge; it was two stories high and around fifty feet long with huge windows that let in plenty of light to see. It was large enough that it wasn't easy to spot the two other vampires who shared the space with him.

"What's going on?" Cara asked as she stood up.

"Quiet," Bohdan replied.

Cara whispered, "Why should I be quiet? Tell me where I am."

"We're in the basement, and we're not alone, so shut up."

Cara looked around the huge room and tried to gain her bearings. In all the time she worked at the prison, she'd never been to the maintenance department. They always came to the hospital if she needed them. Then she saw two men walk around the corner, two men she recognized as Rancid and Isaac.

As Rancid approached, he noticed Cara and Bohdan and paused for a moment. "Look what we have here!" Rancid spoke up. "Looks like Bohdan and his bitch got away from the pod."

Bohdan turned and looked at Rancid as he approached. He didn't reply.

"How did you two end up here?" Rancid asked. "Where are the rest of you?"

"I don't know," Bohdan replied. "They were alive and well when I left."

Rancid stepped over to the control center and punched a few keys on the video monitor screen. He found what he was looking for. The camera in the commons showed a picture of a handful of vampires sitting around at tables, and the floor covered in blood. Rancid moved the camera and pointed it at the pod. He could see the door was wide open and blood covered the floor all around it. "Looks like they're dead now." Rancid said.

"Looks like it," Bohdan replied.

"And you brought your girlfriend, isn't that nice?"

Cara snapped, "He was going to let the vampires kill me, I'm sure he doesn't consider me to be his girlfriend."

"Is that right Bohdan? Were you going to let us kill her?"

"At the time yes," Bohdan replied.

"What changed your mind?"

"I thought I could use her, feed on her if I needed."

Cara snapped again. "Are you fucking serious? You brought me along as food?"

"I didn't know if I could find the tunnel, and if I were trapped, I'd need to survive."

Rancid smiled and said, "You brought a snack lunch, how special."

"Where's the tunnel?" Bohdan asked.

"Why should I tell you?" Rancid asked.

"I'll find it either way, you don't have to tell me."

"Before you leave, we need to talk," Rancid said.

"About what?"

Then Isaac said in his British accent, "About you helping us run this place."

"I just told you I'm leaving, why would I help you?"

"We want to change your mind."

"I don't have time for this."

"No, you have plenty of time for this, if you don't hear us out, we'll kill you and take your woman."

"You'll probably do that either way," Cara said.

"Shut up bitch," Isaac said. "You're nothing but food to me, and I don't discuss anything with my lunch."

"Get to the point," Bohdan said. He was trying not to get too pissed.

"Fine then, we want to run the prison, and we need help organizing the rest of the vampires. We think you might be able to help."

"You didn't know I was here ten minutes ago, when did you hatch this idea?"

"The second we saw you," Isaac replied.

"So you don't really have a plan do you?"

"No, that's why we want to talk."

"You do realize that the prison population is segregated along racial lines don't you? Each group has its own leader. What makes you think they would all group together under me?"

"Because if they don't, they won't survive."

"They won't survive anyway, I'm sure it's a matter of time before they storm this place. They are probably waiting until they starve us down to the point we can't defend ourselves and then it's over."

"I think we all realize that, so that's why we need someone to organize these vampires so we can survive."

"Good luck with that, you'd have a better chance trying to organize a cat parade," Bohdan said.

"You think you're funny?" Isaac asked.

"No, I'm not funny at all," Bohdan replied.

"I'm half tempted to let you try to find your fucking tunnel. Last I heard it didn't exist. And if it does, I'm sure it's either locked or has been filled with concrete years ago."

"Tell you what, if there is no tunnel I'll agree to help you, how does that sound?"

Isaac turned to Rancid and both looked back at Bohdan. "Fine, we have nothing to lose, and if you do find the tunnel, maybe we can use it as well," Isaac said.

Bohdan stepped away from the two vampires making sure Cara was following him. He walked away from the boiler side of the room towards the storage part looking for a door that led to the tunnel. The maintenance room was huge, it went on for a hundred yards filled with a hundred years' worth of old unused equipment and crap. The door to the tunnel could easily be hidden behind any of a number of shelving units and stacks of old tin roofing and boxes of wire and metal parts. It would be a frustrating long tedious search that Bohdan wasn't up for. He was hungry and starting to get weak.

"We'll never find the tunnel," Cara said. "There's too much shit in here."

"Keep looking," Bohdan replied. He was visibly getting lethargic and his speech reflected that.

"What's wrong with you?" Cara asked.

"I'm starving, I need to feed soon."

"Not on me you're not!" Cara barked.

"Who else do I have?"

"You'll have to find another way."

"You're the only human I know left in the prison, if you go back, you'll be food for every vampire left alive. I image they are all starving as well. The tourists were a great feast, but their blood only lasts so long."

"We can go to the medical unit, we have blood there."

"Have you tasted processed blood? It's no good for us."

"When have you tasted it? We keep those bags locked up."

"You're not the first nurse to work here. Back in the day the nurses would smuggle blood out to the vampires. Back when it wasn't so processed. Now the blood tastes like weak tea, and has the nutrition of it as well. If it comes down to it, I could drink of you without killing you. Just enough to keep me going."

"What? Like a juice bag?"

Bohdan smiled when she said that. "A juice bag, I like that analogy."

"If you drink my blood that will make me a vampire won't it?" Cara asked.

"If my mouth touches your skin as I drink yes, then the enzymes pass and you will change. If you like, you can bleed into a cup, and I can drink from that. Then you will be safe and won't change."

"Bleed into a cup, that sounds odd to me," Cara said. "I don't see a cup dispenser anywhere around here."  
"There is a water cooler back at the control panel, I saw it. It has disposable paper cups."

"I'll keep that in mind," Cara said.

"Now find the door to the tunnel," Bohdan said.

For the next hour Bohdan and Cara searched for the entrance to the tunnel in vain. The room was an endless expanse of stored junk with no doors anywhere. Then they found something. Back behind several rolls of wire fencing was a single door with the word "No exit" painted in red. Cara pushed the rolls apart and made her way to the door and looked for a handle to open it. What she found was a place where the handle use to be and a slot for a key.

"What did you find?" Bohdan asked. He stayed back as he wasn't strong enough to move the heavy rolls of fencing.

"The handle is missing, and it takes a key to open," Cara said.

"Does it say anything about a tunnel?"

Cara looked again. "No," she replied.

"Here, come get my keys," Bohdan said.

Cara pushed her way through the fencing again and took the keys. She made her way back to the door and fished through them one at a time trying to find one that fit. "None of these work," she said.

"We need to move the fencing and try another way."

Cara again fished her way back out of the fencing to where Bohdan was standing. "The doors not marked, we could work for nothing. There must be a map around here."

"That's the door to the tunnel, I'm sure of it," Bohdan said.

"You don't look like you're in any condition to be moving any fencing around, let alone trying to break into that door. Hell, I don't think you could stop me if I tried to leave."

"Leave then" Bohdan said. "Take your chances alone. You won't survive."

Cara knew she had to take care of the one being who wanted to use her as food. The irony sucked, but she had no choice. It was either help Bohdan escape, or be killed by the vampires who were loose in the prison. "What do you want me to do?"

"Go find some tools, something we can use to break the door open."

"And in the meantime you're going to move all this fence?"

"I will try," Bohdan said.

"Fine, you'll be passed out before I get back. You look like a diabetic who forgot to eat lunch."

"In a way I am," Bohdan said.

"You better sit down and wait for me, don't do anything until I get back."

Then a familiar voice spoke up. It was Rancid. "Did you find something?" he asked.

Spooked, Cara spun around and replied, "We think we may have found the door to the tunnel."

"Let me see," Rancid said. He moved in closer and looked over the wire fencing to the wall. He saw the door with the writing on it and smiled. "Jesus Christ, you might have just found it. Or the door to the cellar."

"Cellar?" Cara asked.

"They used to store food down here, back in the early part of the century. But don't get me wrong, this could very well be the door to the tunnel."

"Yeah, I need to find a way to open the door," Cara said.

"Fuck, I can give you a hand with that missy," Rancid said.

"If you don't mind," Cara said.

"Yeah, after I eat that is,"

"What?" Cara asked.

"I'm kind of hungry, and so is Isaac, I think we'd do a better job getting that door open on a full stomach."

# Chapter 22

# CEO

Brian Jordan, CEO of New Systems Corrections Inc. sat at the end of a long conference table staring at his laptop screen. On the laptop was a repeating video loop of a group of vampires entering pod one and forcing everyone out and killing them. The picture was clear, in color and horrific.

"They're here," a voice called out. It was Eric Fox, president of the company.

"About fucking time," Brian replied.

From the door at the other end of the room, three people entered. One woman and three men, it was the crew they hired to fix their vampire problem. They were a private security company called, V Control LLC with the V standing for Vampire.

"How was your trip?" Brian asked.

"Fine," the woman replied. Her name was Ashley Blunt, and she was the leader of the group. "Santa Fe to Topeka is a pretty quick flight."

"Who do you have with you?"

"This is Jesse Scott and Arthur Hansen," Ashley replied.

"Where's the rest of your crew?"

"We are the crew."

"Seriously? There are over forty vampires running loose in the prison, how do you plan to end this standoff with the three of you?"

"How many humans are left alive?"

Brian tapped his pen on the table top. He didn't want to reply, but he did. "One, maybe two."

"Out of how many?"

"Does it matter?" Brian replied.

"It will tell me how strong they are. Vampires can go a week without feeding."

"Feeding, I love how you use that word. I think at last count, with staff and tourists, they probably killed fifty people."

"You don't know for sure?" Ashley asked.

"I don't have an exact count. There may be staff hidden in the prison we can't find. I don't have cameras in every corner of the building."

"Ok, it's been three days since the takeover, so they should be at full strength for another four days or so. It's best we wait them out."

"And what about the staff we haven't accounted for? What do they do? We hired you to go in and rescue them," Brian said.

"It would be suicide to go in now. You could bring in an army and you'd lose. Until they lose some strength, you have to wait."

"How much am I paying you?"

Ashley sat for a moment and didn't reply.

"I'm paying for results, immediate results. If you can't go in today and start saving lives, you're gone."

"You can't throw money at this and expect it to go away. There has never been a vampire takeover of a prison before. Nobody knows what they are capable of. We're the most experienced vampire exterminators in the country, and we've never dealt with anything like this before. This is unprecedented."

"Exterminators?" Brian asked. "It's not illegal to be a vampire in this country, but it is illegal to murder. How do you get off calling yourselves that?"

"It's a label we picked up over the years. It's not official."

"Eric, what do you think?" Brian asked the president of the company sitting to his right.

"I think we could have waited them out ourselves. That's not rocket science. We hired you to do what we can't. Tell me what you bring that I can't do with the police."

"We know how to handle vampires, that's all we do," Ashley replied.

"Explain."

"I'm not at liberty to discuss our proprietary methods."

"I think we're all familiar with how to handle a vampire. We've been housing them in this prison since we bought the property in ninety three. What do you do that's special?"

"Probably nothing if you want to get right down to it, but from what I understand, most of your staff is dead. You don't have anyone left to deal with them."

"Not all my staff was on that day, I have probably a dozen guards I can call in. They know these fucks like the back of their hands."

"Fine, call them in then. I have plenty of work back in Santa Fe." Ashley said.

"Why Santa Fe? Of all the places in the country, why are you based there? Is there a huge vampire problem there?" Brian asked.

"No more than anywhere else, that's where the founder is from. He sends us out all over the country now," Ashley replied.

"Tell me this, how did you expect to corral forty some odd vampires with just the three of you. Even starved, they will fight to survive."

"Depends on what you wanted, if you wanted them alive or dead."

"At this point alive, vampires have rights, and we have staff in the building still, we can't just burn the prison down," Brian replied.

"If that's the case, we have special tools we can use."

"And this is where you can't tell me what they are?" Brian asked.

"We don't want others going out and taking our business from us. We came up with these processes and techniques on our own."

"And you can't trademark them or something? Get a patent?"

"That's all in the works, but for now we can't say anything. If you want to hire us, you have to trust us," Ashley said.

"What guarantees do you offer?" Eric asked.

"We're not Terminix, we can't make those kinds of claims. All we can do is try."

"And what are you costing us?"

"Ten grand a day," Ashley replied.

"Holy shit," Brian said. "That's fucking outrageous! This could cost the company fifty grand before we're done."

Eric said, "The estimated cost so far is well over a million dollars. Fifty grand is nothing if we can't get this under control soon."

Brian shook his head and looked at the looping video on his screen. "We have insurance for the staff killed right? That won't cost us anymore will it?"

"We have insurance, but if the courts go beyond what the insurance pays the company will go under. And the way it looks right now we're basically trying to save what's left, which isn't much."

"Did you ever find out what caused this takeover in the first place?" Brian asked.

"We think it was an inside job, it looks like a maintenance worker hooked up the exhaust from the boiler to the central air and gassed the prison."

"Who is he?"

"Steve Grant, he was killed in pod one."

Brian looked at his screen closer. "What did he look like?"

"Average looking, short dark hair, glasses."

Brian tried to make the picture on his laptop larger but couldn't. He saw a man that fit that description get pulled from the pod and torn apart more than once as the video looped.

"What are you looking at?" Eric asked.

"Video of the pod takeover. I think I saw him get pulled out and killed. But the camera is all the way across the commons. I'm not sure, but I think that's him." Brian pushed the laptop over so Eric could see Steve torn up and gutted.

"That's sick," Eric replied. "But I think that's him. That's the shirts maintenance wears."

"So we don't have to worry about prosecuting him for his crime," Brian said.

Ashley spoke up, "Can I see that video?"

Brian tapped on the keys and the video lit up on the large white wall to his left. "Hit the lights," Brian said and Jesse Scott flipped a few off.

Everyone watched as the vampires tore into pod one and pulled the humans out one by one. In horror, each human was beaten, bit and torn to pieces and left on the floor to bleed. Other vampires surrounded the bloody mess and lapped up the excess as it drained away from the bodies. All except for Kent, who was basically ignored by the vampires and left to walk away unharmed.

"What about the big one?" Brian asked.

Ashley replied, "He's a vampire, that's the only reason they'd let him live."

"Why would there be a vampire in the pod with the humans?"

"Who knows? It doesn't matter anymore," Ashley replied.

"Now that you've seen the video, what do you think?" Brian asked.

"I think we need to get to work, and formulate a plan."

"Do you still think the three of you can handle this situation?"

"We'll need your staff to back us up. We three will split into groups and each attack this problem from different places. How many staff can you get me?"

"Not a lot, maybe ten."

"Ten each?"

"No, ten total. I have dedicated staff mind you, but this is beyond what they're used to. I'm sure they'd be happy if we torched the building, but convincing them to go inside will be hard."

"That's why we wait, let them get hungry, turn on themselves," Ashley said.

"That's all fine until you consider we have staff in there, maybe tourists, we don't know. The public will crucify us if we leave them for four days until the vampires are weak. We need to act now, do something. Show the public we're trying to evacuate the people trapped inside. The media is all over this. I get bombarded constantly for interviews and the prison is on live television right now."

"Maybe you need to hire a public relations firm." Ashley said.

"I'm the CEO here, I'll deal with that, you need to get to work."

"So you're still hiring us?"

"For now, if this goes bad, I'll replace you in a second. I want you out so the media can see you, so they know we're doing something. When the press asks me about you, I'll tell them you have a plan and that the situation is under control. Don't make a liar out of me. The last thing I'm going to tell them is that we're going to wait four days."

"Are there televisions in the prison? Can the inmates see what's going on?" Ashley asked.

"Yes, in the pods," Eric replied.

"Can they be turned off?"

"I don't know. We can kill the power temporarily, but that will affect anyone hiding inside."

"How about the signal?"

"It's all internet, I don't know."

"Kill the feed as soon as you can. We don't need the vampires knowing what we're up to."

"Fine, what else."

"Bring in all the staff you can to assist us, we'll brainstorm this and get started today. I can meet with the media for you if you like."

"I want to know what your plan is before you meet with anyone in the press," Brian said. "I need to be in control of what the public is seeing and hearing."

"You have television helicopters flying around constantly broadcasting what's going on around the prison, you can't control everything."

Brian pushed the stop button on the video player and the picture on the wall disappeared. "Eric, get as many staff in here as you can find. Pay them double time if you have to. I want a progress report by nine o'clock tonight so I have something for the media. They are screaming for a press conference. I will say one thing, and I don't want this getting out. But I have a huge problem with a woman leading the attack team."

Ashley spoke up, "Why doesn't that surprise me?"  
"It's not me as much as what the public will think. We have a huge problem and I don't think they will get past your tits if you know what I mean," Brian said.

"I'm not wearing a stripper costume," Ashley said. "I'm dressed appropriately."

"The public will want a man in charge, I'm just saying."

"I didn't get this job because of my looks," Ashley said. "I run this team because I earned it."

"Maybe so, but I'd like to see a change."

# Chapter 23

# Computer

A voice called out over the speakers on the maintenance console. The sound startled Rancid causing him to turn around without thinking. "What's that?" Rancid asked.

"Fuck I don't know," Isaac replied. "Somebody's trying to call us."

"Wait a second," Rancid said. He put up his hand to silence everyone so he could listen to the voice. It sounded like two officials talking to each other. The quality of the sound was poor and hard to make out, but Rancid was sure they weren't talking to them. He took off towards the console followed by Isaac, Bohdan and Cara.

At the console, Rancid sat down and looked at the monitors. He heard more voices talking about securing the back wall, and something about moving some officers to a different location. "It's the fucking police," Rancid said. "For some reason, they are broadcasting on the prison communication system."

"Should we try to talk to them?" Isaac asked.

"What do you want to say?"

"Maybe we can negotiate a release."

"A release? To where? We're already in prison."

"You don't think we can live here forever do you? They will come in and take the prison back over again, and by that time, they won't be taking prisoners. We probably won't survive."

"The way things are going, we'll starve to death before they take us."

Then Cara spoke up. "Why not use the blood supply in the kitchen?"

"What?" Rancid asked.

"They feed you that blood product don't they? To keep you alive? They must have some stored in the kitchen, or in the freezer."

"I didn't think about that," Rancid said. "That's very good of you to think of that. How can we get to the kitchen without running into other vampires?"

Bohdan spoke up, "Check to see if there is a diagram of the prison layout. Maybe there is a direct passage from here to the kitchen, like an unloading zone."

Rancid pulled the computer keyboard up close and tapped on some keys. The monitor lit up and immediately asked for a username and login. "I don't think this is going to work, unless you know the username and password."

"It's taped to the monitor," Cara said.

"Holy shit, it is," Rancid said. He looked at the post it note and entered the information. He hit enter and the screen popped up a command screen with various links. Rancid took a long look and found what he was looking for. He used the mouse and selected, "Layout," and waited for the screen to change. What he saw was more links to various parts of the prison. Including the floor he was on.

"Click that one," Bohdan said.

Rancid clicked the link to the maintenance floor and a diagram of the floor popped up on his screen. Bohdan immediately saw what he was looking for. "There it is," Bohdan said.

"What?" Rancid asked.

"The door we were at, that is the tunnel entrance."

Rancid took a closer look and replied, "Damn, you're right. So how the fuck do we break into the tunnel through that door?"

"Power drill," Bohdan replied. "They have all sorts of tools down here. Find a drill and bore out the lock."

"What about the food?" Isaac asked. "I'm starving."

Bohdan said, "Go back and look at the floor above, see where the kitchen is."

Rancid clicked the link for the second floor and a different diagram popped on the screen. Everyone took a look and tried to locate where the blood products would be stored.

"Looks like the kitchen storage is right above us," Rancid said.

"How do we get there?" Isaac asked.

"Simple, we go out the door, up the stairs to the second floor. The kitchen is right there. We have keys to get in."

"Let's go then," Isaac said.

"You go, we'll stay here and work on the door."

"I can't carry all the blood myself, I'll need help."

"We don't need much, just get a few gallon jugs and come back."

Isaac was frustrated, but hungry. "Fine, give me the keys."

"Which set?" Rancid asked. "I have one and Bohdan has one."

"I don't care," Isaac said.

Rancid tossed Isaac his keys and pushed back from the desk. "Hurry back, it shouldn't take long to get through the door once we find a drill and get to work."

Isaac took off and left the room. Then Rancid noticed something else on the computer monitor. "What's this?" Rancid asked.

Cara and Bohdan moved in closer to take a look at the screen. In red, was a special link that read, "Prison security, auto destruct."

"Click it," Bohdan said.

Rancid clicked the link and a page popped up with the words, "Prison self-destruct" on the top in red letters.

"What does it say?" Bohdan asked.

Rancid moved in close and read the copy. "The auto destruct can only be authorized by the governor of the state of Kansas. All key codes must be entered manually and match the preselected codes in the system. Once the codes have been verified, the system can only be stopped by an override made at this console, or at the corporate headquarters."

Cara said, "There's an auto destruct? I had no idea."

Bohdan replied, "I heard rumors about it over the years, but I didn't know it was for real."

"What did you hear?"

"The rumor is that there are ammonia nitrate cells at each corner of the prison. They say it's enough to level the building three times over."

"Why would they put a self-destruct in the first place?" Cara asked.

Rancid replied, "To kill the fucking vampires, why do you think?"

"What about the staff?"

"I'm assuming that by the time they set off the bombs, the staff would either be dead or evacuated. Or the public would be in danger so the staff would be expendable."

"So there is a chance they could set them off now?"

"Not yet, they haven't tried to enter the prison. Unless our fellow vampires are causing a huge problem, they should try to negotiate first."

"Can you bring up the cameras so we can see what's going on?"

Rancid looked the screen over. Then he saw a different set up for the camera surveillance system. "It's all right here," Rancid said pushing the monitor so Cara could see it. The screen was much smaller, but she could see a dozen different camera shots from different locations around the prison.

"Where is everybody?" Cara asked.

"I see a few in the yard," Rancid said, "And there are some in pod one and pod two."

"Yeah, but there should be a lot more, did they escape?"

"I doubt it, they are probably back in their cells, and the doors are unlocked, where else can they go?"

"I don't see any police yet," Cara said.

"I don't either, I'm assuming they'll wait a few more days until we're almost starved to death before they make contact."

"And let any humans that are still alive starve as well?"

"As far as I know, you are the only human left alive," Rancid said.

"But they don't know that."

"I'm sure they'll send in a small team to check for survivors. If they don't the media will be all over them. I'd expect them to break into the prison tonight or tomorrow, and we'll be fucking long gone by then," he said with a grin.

Then another voice called across the speaker. The voice was talking about needing two officers at the command center and another being sent to help direct traffic.

"Maybe we should talk to them," Bohdan said.

"Talk to them about what?" Rancid asked. "We're almost home free."

"You have no idea if that tunnel is intact. It runs for miles. It could be blocked, and you don't know what's on the other side. We might be best off negotiating a release."

"You like living in prison?" Isaac asked. "I've had enough of living in this shit hole. You can negotiate, I'm leaving."

"How long have you lived here?" Rancid asked. "A hundred years?"

"More like a hundred and thirty," Bohdan replied.

"And you want to live here longer? You're in for life right?"

"Yes," Bohdan replied.

"I don't think they took immortality into consideration when they came up with a life sentence. Have they ever considered giving you parole?"

"No."

"Then why not take the chance to escape?" Rancid asked. "What are you going to lose?"

Bohdan thought for a moment. "This prison is all I've ever known since the eighteen hundreds. I wouldn't know how to survive outside now."

"You've become institutionalized." Cara said. "It happens to lots of inmates over the years."

"You learn that in nursing school?" Rancid asked.

"No, I've worked here long enough to know."

"So what's it going to be? Do you want to talk to the police and see if they'll give you your cell back? Or do you want to leave with us?"

Just then the door opened and Isaac stepped in holding a cardboard box the size of a microwave oven. On the side it read, "Blood products, not safe for human consumption." He stepped over to the console and said, "I found it, fucking freezing in there."

"Open the box, let's feed so we can get going," Rancid said. "It might be the two of us, I think Bohdan wants to stay."

"Fuck that," Isaac said as he tore open the box. Inside the box were individual containers that resembled what you'd find in a soda machine all labeled with the same warning as on the larger box. When they served the vampires at lunch, they always poured the contents of the bottles into a Styrofoam cup and threw away the original container. None of the vampires had ever seen where the blood product came from, or the label. It was felt it was better if they didn't know what the ingredients were. The product only contained ten percent human blood, the rest was pig blood bought from a rendering plant in Crete Nebraska.

Isaac popped the top on a bottle and took a long drink downing the whole thing in one setting. He licked his lips and read the label on the bottle. "Holy shit, this is ninety percent pig blood," he said.

Cara replied, "Kept you alive didn't it?"

"Did you know that had pig blood in it?"

"Yes, diets are part of my job."

"What if I were Jewish?" Isaac asked with a grin.

"I don't think the state cares. Pure blood is expensive, the pig blood made it cheap enough the taxpayers could handle it."

"I'm sure the taxpayers would prefer we were all given the lethal injection," Isaac said. His British accent was almost comical.

"I'm sure," Cara said.

"I thought this was a private prison, why would the taxpayers give a shit?"

"It's subsidized," Cara said. "Like Medicaid."

Rancid interrupted, "Enough chit chat, we need to get going. Are you going with us Bohdan?"

Bohdan took a long drink and felt his energy coming back. Not from the drink, but from the adrenaline he felt knowing he would be at full strength soon. "Yes, I'll go with you. We need to find some lights, and a backpack to store some of the drinks in case we get trapped inside."

"No problem," Rancid said. "Let's start looking for that and a drill large enough to open that door."

Cara felt better now knowing she wasn't on the menu, at least for a while. As long as the blood products held out, she was safe. And hopefully the trip through the tunnel to Topeka would be a fast one.

# Chapter 24

# Terminal

Ashley got a phone call and read the name on the display, it was Eric Fox, the president of the company that owned the prison. She slid her finger over the keypad and answered the phone, "Hello?"

"This is Eric Fox, we need you in the prison as soon as possible, and there has been a security breach on the computer system."

"What does that mean?" Ashley asked.

"Someone logged onto the computer in the maintenance department. It's either a staff that's still alive or a vampire, we don't know and we have to find out before they blow up the building."

"Blow up the building? What are you talking about?"

"There's a self-destruct mechanism that can take down the entire prison. The computer that was compromised has accesses to that prompt."

"Isn't there an access code or other safety precautions in place to stop that? Can't you take down the system from the corporate headquarters?"

"No, it's on an internal network, it's not internet based."

"Can you cut the power to the prison?"

"Yes, but the backup generator will kick in immediately. The only way to deny access to the prompt is to take out the terminal, and that's what I need you to do," Eric said.

"What about the codes? Who would have access to them?"

"They're emailed to maintenance once a week," Eric replied.

"Would a vampire have access to the email? Doesn't that take a password as well?"

"Yes, but we don't know what's going on. There may be a maintenance person down there who's being forced to log on, if that's the case, they may also be forcing him access to the pass codes. We don't know what's going on exactly, just that the terminal was logged onto and someone is poking around. We need you and your team to go into the prison, and secure that terminal."

"If they have access, we could be blown to bits," Ashley replied. "Ten thousand a day won't do much when you make my kids motherless."

"If you don't want the job we'll find someone who will, just tell me now so I can start looking."

Ashley thought for a second. "I have to ask the rest of my team first."

"I'm going to start looking elsewhere while you piss my time away. If you decide you want the job, call me back." With that, Eric hung up.

"What was that all about?" Jesse Scott asked. He was the second member of the V Control LLC team.

"They want us to go into the prison and secure a computer terminal."

"What was that I heard about blowing up the prison?"

"He said someone accessed a computer terminal in the maintenance department. And that terminal has access to a self-destruct mechanism."

"Why the fuck would they install a self-destruct mechanism in a prison?" Jesse asked.

"I suppose in case the vampires ever took over."

"Well shit, blow the place up. If that's what it's for, use it."

"I'm guessing it's a last ditch sort of thing. They think there are still staff alive in the prison, and maybe some tourists. Until we find out, they won't use it."

"So we get to go in and risk our lives to find out?"

"If we don't, he'll hire someone else," Ashley replied.

"Fuck, let him. I came here to exterminate vampires, I have no computer expertise. They can call Best Buy and have them take care of it."

"From the sounds of it, all we have to do is cut the cord to the screen. Just make sure they don't have access to the prompt."

"So a pair of bolt cutters would take care of it?" Jesse asked.

"Probably," Ashley replied.

"Did you get any details on this self-destruct mechanism?"

"No, and it doesn't matter, I'm sure it can kill us either way."

Ashley spoke with Arthur Hansen and together, all three members of the team agreed to go ahead and enter the prison. They gathered their gear and coordinated with the guards at the front gate to allow them access through the front door. There was a rear entrance, but they figured there was nothing to be gained by going that route. The maintenance department was at the north side of the rectangular shaped prison, and there was just as much a chance of running into vampires from either entrance.

When the team was ready, Ashley called the guard at the gate and signaled she and the others were prepared to go. The guard buzzed them in the main gate and allowed them to enter the prison grounds. Once inside, the guard remotely unlocked the front door and let them enter. When they were no longer in view, the guard locked the door and the team was on their own.

Following the map they were provided, the team moved down the long hall to the locked door at the end. Ashley used the keys she was provided and gained access to the stairwell leading down to the maintenance department. At no time did she see any staff, tourists or vampires. But the air smelled like rotting death and was warm and muggy.

As the team stepped down to the basement, they entered another hallway, walked to the maintenance department and unlocked the door. The mission was easy, almost too easy. Ashley called on her radio to tell of her progress and slowly entered the maintenance department with gun drawn. She was followed by Jesse and Arthur. From her vantage point all she could see was a huge room, filled with shelves of tools, parts and scrap. The room buzzed with the sounds of the central air and boilers and smelled of grease and dust.

What she didn't see were any people or vampires. Looking around, she quickly found the control panel and the computer they were looking for. She scanned the room again and took off to the work station followed by her team. When she arrived at the terminal, she looked at the screen and saw a diagram of the first floor. No prompt for a bomb.

"What's that?" Jesse asked.

"Looks like a blueprint," Ashley replied. "Of the basement floor from what it says."

"Cut the cable," Jesse said.

"Hold on, I want to look at this," Ashley replied.

"They're paying us to cut the cable, then we can leave."

"There's no one here, you can wait a minute. I want to see what they were looking at."

"What does it matter? They're not paying us to look at their computer shit."

"Go look around, see if you can find anyone alive, or any vampires!" Ashley snapped. "I'm leading this team and I'll tell you when we cut the cable."

"Fine," Jesse barked back. He took off followed by Arthur.

"What are you doing?" a voice called out. It was Bohdan stepping out from between two shelving units.

Ashley jumped when she heard the sound of Bohdan's voice and spun around to face him.

"Who the fuck are you?" Ashley asked. She pulled a pistol and pointed it at the vampire who was now in her view.

"I thought everyone knew who I was," Bohdan replied. "I'm Bohdan, the Vampire Ripper."

"Never heard of you," Ashley replied.

"I've never heard of you either," Bohdan said. "What are you doing here?"

"None of your fucking business," Ashley replied.

"From what I can see, it looks like you're interested in that computer."

"Are there more of you?"

"Yes," Bohdan replied.

"Are there any humans alive that you know of?"

"Yes."

"How many?"

"I only know of one."

"Where?"

"She's looking for a flashlight, I don't know exactly where she is."

"Are there any other vampires?"

"A couple," Bohdan replied.

"Where are they?"

"Breaking into the door to the tunnel. If you listen you can hear the drill over the sound of the boiler."

Ashley listened and heard the faint sound of a drill.

"I'm assuming you're not alone," Bohdan said.

"Of course not, I have a full team with me."

Then the sound of a shot rang out. And the drill stopped and all was silent.

"Sounds like your team has just met my vampires," Bohdan said.

Another shot rang out and then another. Then all was silent.

"Are you here to stop us from leaving?" Bohdan asked.

"I had no idea you were leaving," Ashley replied. "I'm here to stop you from blowing this place up."

"Oh, the self-destruct, that makes sense. I'm afraid you're a bit too late to stop that now, we entered the code a half hour ago. The self-destruct will occur in less than twenty minutes. And unless you have the codes to stop it, you will die with the vampires who remain."

Ashley looked at the screen again, all she saw was the diagram for the prison. "You're lying, you don't have access to the codes."

Bohdan stepped forward and picked up a clipboard off the desk. He tossed it closer to Ashley so she could read what was printed on the top sheet. It said in bold letters, "Self-destruct access codes," and was dated for that week. "Looks like the maintenance department were a bunch of dumbasses leaving that out for anyone. They printed out the codes every week and posted them on that clipboard for anyone to see."

Ashley was shocked at how easy it was for anyone to set off the self-destruct. "Are the reset codes on there too?" she asked.

"I don't know," Bohdan replied. He stepped closer to the computer as if he was going to look at the clipboard, but instead grabbed the monitor to the computer and tore it from the tower. He dropped the dead monitor on the floor and kicked it towards Ashley. "You do realize that a bullet won't kill me," Bohdan said. "And you have less than twenty minutes to get out of the prison."

Ashley looked around to see if Jesse and Arthur were coming back, they weren't.

"You're other option would be to join us in the tunnel, but I don't think that would be a good idea, so you better get going."

"Where does the tunnel lead?" Ashley asked.

"Topeka, and to safety. We'll survive when this place goes up."

"I don't know what's going on with my team, we won't make it out in twenty minutes."

"Make that fifteen, you're wasting time," Bohdan said. "I'm heading for the tunnel, you can join me if you like."

Ashley holstered her gun and watched Bohdan walk past her down the long path to the tunnel. On his way, he was met up with a woman, the woman who was looking for a flashlight. She turned and looked at Ashley as Bohdan told her what just happened. Looking at her watch, Ashley knew her time was limited, she could either take off back out into the hall and up the stairs or follow the vampire she just met. Her instincts kicked in and she took off after Bohdan.

"Hold up!" Ashley yelled as she ran down the hall. When she met up with Bohdan, she saw Arthur lying on the floor in a pool of blood and an open door surrounded by spools of wire fencing.

"What happened to Arthur?" Ashley asked.

"I don't know, I was standing with you when the shots rang out," Bohdan replied. "This is Cara, she's my nurse. The only human I know left alive."

Ashley looked at Cara and Cara returned a blank look. Cara didn't care for another woman in her presence. "Where's Jesse?" Ashley asked.

"In the tunnel bitch," Cara snapped back. "You better follow before this place blows."

Ashley followed Bohdan and Cara into the tunnel, Cara turned on her flashlight and Ashley pulled her's from her tool belt. Then she stumbled over something on the floor. As she stood up, she saw that Jesse was lying face down, not moving. Blood surrounded his head and he looked dead. Now she was the only other human left alive.

# Chapter 25

# Cabins

Bohdan, Cara and Ashley caught up with Rancid and Isaac in the tunnel. The vampires had excellent night vision and didn't require the extra lights, even in total darkness. No one knew for sure how long the tunnel ran, but they figured it would be around three or four miles. At first the tunnel was lined with concrete with tubing and wire bundles running along the ceiling. As they moved on the smooth walls gave way to a broken and crumbling concrete facade and finally to Earth and soil with wood supports that held up the loose ceiling. It looked like the tunnel had never been finished and they didn't know what they would find at the end.

"Is anyone else getting nervous?" Cara asked.

"We'll get out, don't worry," Bohdan replied.

"I didn't hear an explosion, do you think the prison is gone?"

"It would be hard to hear anything in here."

"What if it didn't blow, they might try to find us."

"We'll be long gone before anyone finds the tunnel."

As they moved along, they noticed tracks forming on the bottom of the tunnel. Small tracks, not like that of a train but that in a mine. Then they saw light up ahead and noticed there was no door, but an opening to the outside world. The closer they got to the light the fresher the air became, and a cool breeze blew by them.

Rancid spoke up, "About fucking time, I was getting tired of walking."

"What a lazy bastard," Isaac said in his British accent. He always sounded like an episode of Monty Python. "You could have died back there, you should be happy."

"I am happy, can't you tell?"

As they approached the end of the tunnel, they looked out upon a landscape of rolling hills and off in the distance a low lying grassy plain. A short distance away, they saw two cabins with cattle and horses, and men that seemed to be working on horseback. The scene reminded Bohdan of past times when he was younger, working as a slave trader.

"What's this place?" Rancid asked.

"Looks like an abandoned mine," Bohdan replied.

"Why in the hell would an abandoned mine connect to the prison? And where is the fucking prison? There's a mountain behind us."

"It's not a mountain, more like a large hill. Probably was a gold mine at one time," Bohdan replied.

"I don't remember anything like this in Kansas," Cara said. "I grew up on a farm, but not like this."

Bohdan scanned the landscape and saw a town off in the distance. "Look, I can see a town over there," Bohdan said.

Isaac set the box of blood products on the ground and looked for a place to sit. "So now what do we do?"

Rancid looked down at the box and asked, "How long will those bottles last without refrigeration?"

"I don't know," Isaac replied.

Cara said, "About a day."

"That's not going to last us shit," Rancid said. "Where are we going to get more blood?"

Bohdan pointed to the town and said, "There, and probably those cabins until we get there."

That night Bohdan came up with a plan to feed the group. The vampires all drank from the blood supply, but Ashley and Cara had nothing to eat. They needed to get to the cabins and break in. Bohdan's plan wasn't elaborate, just to head down the hill and see what they could find at the cabins. The idea of walking up and asking for a handout seemed like a bad idea since the vampires were all wearing orange prison jumpsuits and the women refused to go by themselves.

At around three in the morning, the group of five headed down the hill and walked the mile and a half to the cabins keeping as quiet as they could. Any stray dog would alert on them to the people in the cabins, so they had to be very careful. As they got closer it seemed impossible for them to find anything useful. Anything they needed would be inside the cabins, and well-guarded.

"This isn't going to work," Rancid whispered. "We need to get some balls and go inside."

Bohdan replied, "I'm sure they have guns. These guys are ranchers."

"Guns don't kill vampires, remember?"

"I know, but they will fuck us up."

"We can't live on cattle and sheep. We have to take a human."

"I realize that, but we can't barge in. We have to isolate one."

"And how do you propose to do that?" Rancid asked. "If one comes out, they will all come out."

"I have an idea," Bohdan said. "The three men get closer to the cabin. The women can spook the cattle and when they come out to see what's going on, we pick one and take him out. It's dark, they won't see what's coming and our chances will be better."

"That might work for us, but that don't feed the women. If we take one, we have to take them all," Rancid said. "And we don't know how many of them there are. Maybe we should set fire to one of the cabins and see who comes out. Kill them all and raid the other cabin for food."

"Did you bring a lighter?" Bohdan asked.

Rancid knew what Bohdan was getting at and shook his head. He was hungry and pissed. The blood product was just enough to keep a vampire alive, but not much more. It was very nutrition poor. "Fuck it, I'm going inside one of those cabins and killing everyone inside. If you don't come with me, I'll do it alone.

"Take Isaac with you," Bohdan replied.

"You'd like that, I do all the work and you reap all the reward."

"I had a plan, you didn't like it. Now it's your turn."

Rancid thought for a moment. He really didn't give a shit about anyone but himself. "Fine, I'll go. Isaac, you coming with me?"

Isaac replied, "I don't think I have much choice in the matter. I'm starving to death."

"Let's go," Rancid said and the two stood up and walked towards the closest cabin.

Bohdan, Ashley and Cara stayed close to the ground watching Rancid and Isaac walk towards the cabins in the moonlight. In the distance, they could hear the sounds of cattle and not much else. For the most part it was quiet with only a slight warm breeze.

Cara said, "What do you think will happen?"

Ashley replied, "I think they'll both get killed."

"It's hard to kill a vampire you know."

"I've been in the vampire extermination business for five years. I'm well aware of how hard it is."

"Have you ever killed a vampire yourself? Or are you just some sort of manager?"

"I started off on the ground floor like everyone else. Yes, I've killed many vampires," Ashley replied.

"Is that legal? I mean, being a vampire isn't a crime."

"No, but being a murdering, drug dealing vampire thief is. There are different rules for vampires. They are considered human to an extent, but the laws covering them are far more lenient when it comes to enforcing the law. Probable cause for a vampire is less than for a human. If I think a vampire is committing a crime, I can shoot first and ask questions later. I could never do that with a human. They have rights. Vampires have very limited rights."

"I thought bullets can't kill a vampire," Cara said.

"I shoot first, burn second. Or behead if I have time."

"Do you carry a saw with you? That sounds absurd."

Ashley pulled a gadget from her tool belt. It had a handle and a wire that formed a loop and fed back into the handle. "See this? I can slip this over your head, pull the trigger and it will automatically pull tight enough to cut through your neck up to the bone. Once it cinches up to the bone, it then automatically heats up to three hundred degrees and burns the rest of the way through."

"You've used that before?" Cara asked. She was appalled.

"A few times," Ashley replied.

"So how many vampires have you killed all together?"

Ashley knew the exact number, but she wanted to act like she had to count them up. "Six or seven," Ashley replied.

"Six or seven?" Cara asked. "Doesn't that make you a serial killer?"

"I did it for my job, no, I'm not a serial killer."

"I think it's really strange that a private company can kill. I thought only the government could do that."

"You worked for a private prison," Ashley said.

"I guess you're right, they are privatizing a lot of things these days."

"So what do you think Rancid and Isaac are doing right now?" Cara asked.

Bohdan replied, "Getting themselves killed I'd imagine." Then a gunshot rang out, and another. "See, I told you," Bohdan said.

After the two shots rang out, it went silent again. Just the sound of the wind on the grass and the soft sounds of the cattle in the pen.

Cara asked, "What should we do?"

Bohdan replied, "We wait."

Then another shot rang out and the sounds of voices yelling filled the air. It looked like people from one cabin had come over to the other to see what was going on. Bohdan and the women lay on the grass trying to see in the dim moonlight wondering what was happening. Was Rancid and Isaac dead yet? Then it went quiet for a long time. Or what seemed like a long time, it may have been twenty minutes.

"Do you think we should go check on them?" Cara asked. "I haven't heard anything in a while."

Then they saw a figure walking towards them in the dark. They could make out it was Rancid, and he was limping, holding his arm. He seemed to be looking around in a daze spying for the three who stayed behind. Then they heard him call out, "Where are you?"

Cara spoke up, "Over here!"

Ashley jabbed her and whispered, "Not so loud!"

Rancid hobbled over to where the three were hiding and found them on the ground. "They're all dead, you can come now."

Cara asked, "What about Isaac?"

"He's shot up pretty bad, but he's alive."

"How many of them we're there?" Bohdan asked.

"I don't know, five maybe."

"How did you kill them?"

"I got a gun off one of them, Isaac tore two of them apart."

"Are you sure you got all of them?" Bohdan asked. "Were there any women?"

Rancid stopped to think. "Yes, I think so. I think we killed all the men."

Just then, the sounds of more shots rang out.

"You should have killed the women too," Bohdan said. "I don't think Isaac is going to make it."

"You can't kill a vampire with a gun, you know that!"

"You can if they separate his head from his body, or shoot up his heart so bad it's no longer a heart. Do you still have the gun?"

"I left it back at the cabin," Rancid said.

"You dumbass, go get the gun!"

"I can't, I've been shot. You need to go get it."

Pissed, Bohdan stood up and looked over at the cabin trying to figure out where the women were with the guns. "Fine, I'll figure something out," Bohdan said. "Come with me," he said to Ashley and Cara. "You can stay here for all I care," he said to Rancid.

Bohdan took off walking towards the cabins with the two women following.

"What are you going to do when you get there?" Cara asked. "They have guns."

"I know how to take care of women, that's not a problem. Remember, I'm Bohdan, the Vampire Ripper."

"You might end up Bohdan, the Vampire dead if you're not careful."

"I've never met a woman yet I couldn't tear apart. Don't worry your pretty little head missy," Bohdan said. And they continued to march to the cabins.

# Chapter 26

# Girls

Bohdan, Ashley and Cara moved in close to the cabins and listened to hear the sounds of voices, or movement. All they saw was two dark cabins and bodies lying on the ground. Then they saw a figure move as it crawled out of the cabin on the left. From the way it was moving, it looked like Isaac and he was hurt.

"What should we do?' Cara asked.

Bohdan signaled for the women to follow him. The group of three slowly walked over to the man and recognized Isaac and saw he was bloody and in pain. Trying not to spook him, Bohdan asked him, "Where are the guns?"

Isaac looked up at Bohdan and replied, "In the cabin, I used the last shot."

"Are there anyone else with a gun out here?"

"Not anymore," Isaac replied. "There are two girls in that cabin, the rest are all dead."

"They're unarmed? Good."

"As far as I know," Isaac replied.

Cara asked, "Can you feed on dead bodies?"

"Yes, if they're fresh, I prefer feed on live humans."

"How long can you feed off of these bodies? How long is fresh?"

Bohdan looked around at the two bodies he passed on his way to the cabin. "A few hours," Bohdan replied.

"Good, you better start feeding before they spoil."

"Who are you to tell me what to do?"

"I'm a nurse, I'm trying to help."

"Did you hear what Isaac said? There are two girls in the cabin, I will feed on them."

Stunned by what Bohdan said, Cara replied, "They're girls, you don't have to feed on them. You have plenty of blood out here going to waste."

"I like girls," Bohdan said.

Ashley spoke up, "What do you mean you like girls?"

Cara said, "Bohdan was in prison for raping and mutilating women."

"No one ever proved I raped anyone," Bohdan said.

"Back in those days it was almost impossible to prove that, did you rape them?"

Bohdan was silent.

"You seem to be so proud to be Bohdan the Vampire Ripper, but Bohdan the Vampire rapist doesn't have the same ring to it?" Cara asked.

"Yes, I raped them as well," Bohdan said. He didn't seem to gloat on the subject, he said it as a matter of fact.

"I'm not going to stand here and let you go in there and rape two innocent girls," Cara said.

Ashley said," I'm not either. You need to feed on the bodies that are already dead."

Bohdan looked at the women like they said the most absurd thing he had ever heard. "Are you telling me what to do?" Bohdan asked. He grinned and shook his head.

"I will defend a child," Ashley said. "I was hired to end a standoff, but I'll end you for free."

"And how do you intend to do that?" Bohdan asked. "I'm stronger, faster and immortal."

"You're not immortal, you know that," Ashley said. "I've killed and seen enough vampires killed to know that."

"Maybe so, but you can't stop me, nor her. The two of you together are no match for me. I should kill you both, and then rape and feed on the two girls in the cabin. Then I can tear them apart like I love to do when I'm finished."

Cara looked to Ashley for support. She knew Ashley had killed vampires before and hoped she had some plan, or way to stop Bohdan in his tracks. Ashley saw the look Cara was giving and tried to think of something. She fumbled with her tool belt looking for an answer.

"You have something in your bag that will stop me?" Bohdan asked. He almost laughed.

Ashley pulled out a small box and held it up to Bohdan's face and pressed a button on the side. A small red light lit up and Bohdan's face turned a slight tint of orange.

"What is that toy?" Bohdan asked.

Ashley waited to see if the machine would do its job. It was an ultraviolet light that normally burned the skin of most vampires. It had little to no effect on Bohdan.

"Are you trying to give me a suntan?" Bohdan asked.

Frustrated, Ashley put the box back on her belt and grabbed a bottle from the other side. She unscrewed the lid and pressed on the top shooting a liquid onto Bohdan's face. Again, nothing."  
"What was that?" Bohdan asked.

"Fucking holy water," Ashley replied.

"You've got to be kidding me. They actually gave you holy water to use against vampires?"

"I've used it before, and it works."

"Did you check the expiration date? You may need to get it blessed again," Bohdan said. This time he laughed out loud. "What other tricks did your company give you?"

Ashley put the holy water back on her belt and pulled out another gadget about the size of a pack of cigarettes. This time she didn't point it at anyone, just turned it on and waited to see if anything happened. Then Bohdan rubbed his forehead and seemed to be losing his balance.

"That one hurts a little, what is it?" Bohdan asked.

"Subsonic radio transmitter," Ashley replied. "Has a limited effect on vampires."

"It's giving me a headache," Bohdan said. "You can turn it off now."

Seeing that Bohdan was affected, Ashley decided to make an attempt to render Bohdan incapacitated. She pulled some flex cuffs from her belt and approached Bohdan like she was arresting a perp at a bank holdup. Bohdan swatted at her and struck her in the chest knocking her to the ground. It felt like she broke a few ribs on the way down.

"What are you doing you stupid bitch?" Bohdan asked. "You can't tie me up, you have to try harder." Bohdan stepped over and stomped on the box that was emitting the radio signal breaking it into several pieces. "I'm tired of your toys, give me your belt."

Ashley pushed herself away from Bohdan crawling like a crab on all fours. She wasn't going to give up her tools that easily.

Bohdan stepped towards Ashley and then stopped. "If that's the best you have, then keep them. You're company is a joke. They have no idea how to stop a vampire. I'm surprised you haven't been killed yet."

Ashley knew a lot of the agents she supervised had been killed over the years. And there had been rumors that the tools they had been given to use against the vampires were either ineffective or broke to begin with. And now she saw firsthand that the rumors were true and her life was on the line.

"I should feed on you first," Bohdan said. "I could save the girls for later, a desert let's say."

"You won't feed on me," Ashley said. "My blood will make you sick."

"And why do you say that?" Bohdan asked. He was getting bored with this woman.

"I've had shots that turn my blood into something vampires can't drink. It makes my blood taste bad to them." Ashley didn't want to tell him the shots had a limited effect which faded over time. Basically she was bluffing.

"If that were the case, why don't all humans get the shot? There are thousands of vampires running around," Bohdan asked.

"It's expensive, only agents get the shots."

"Tell me about your agency?" Bohdan asked. "What is it exactly you do?"

Ashley needed time to stall and this was a prime opportunity. "We do the same thing that police do with gangs, only we do it with vampires."

"So you're some sort of vampire hit squad," Bohdan said. "How much do you charge?"

"I don't know, I don't work in the business end, I'm in law enforcement."

"I think what you do is needed, I've known a lot of very bad vampires in my day. I wouldn't want your job. It's too bad your agency is so cheap."

"The tools they give us are top of the line and cutting edge," Ashley said.

"A spray bottle filled with holy water is neither top of the line or cutting edge. It's based on fairy tales and fantasy. I know of vampires who've fed on priests, even drank holy water out of spite. They used to sit a few tables down from me at lunch in the commons."

"Holy water is considered a last resort, that's why I tried it last," Ashley said.

Bohdan looked over at the cabin. "I don't have a watch, what time do you think it is?"

Cara looked at her watch, "Four thirty," she replied.

"The sun should be coming up in a few hours," Bohdan said. "I better get to feeding."

Cara and Ashley watched Bohdan walk over to the cabin and open the door. They expected a shotgun blast but heard and saw nothing. Bohdan hesitated for a moment and then stepped inside the cabin. A faint light lit up the room from the embers in the fireplace. More than enough light for Bohdan to see the two girls huddling in the corner. Both were dressed in nightgowns and neither looked older than sixteen years old.

"Girls, come here," Bohdan said waving them over with his hand.

The girls didn't move, Bohdan didn't really expect them too. He wanted to get their attention without scaring them. Seeing that they were still cowering in the corner, Bohdan pulled a few split logs from the wood pile and tossed them onto the glowing embers kicking up sparks that shot up the chimney. He stood watching the logs catch fire, lighting up the room more so the girls could see him.

"I would say you have nothing to fear, but that would be lying," Bohdan said. "You both need to come over here before I come get you. You don't want me to come over there."

The girls slowly stood up and walked closer to Bohdan. They both were about the same age, long brown hair and dressed in full length nightgowns.

"That's better," Bohdan said. "What are your names?" he asked.

"Clarissa," the closer girl replied, "And this is my sister Anne."

Clarissa and Anne," Bohdan said. "What nice names you have. Tell me something, how old are you?"

"I'm sixteen, Anne is twelve," Clarissa replied.

"Sixteen?" Bohdan asked. "I've never had a sixteen year old before."

"What do you mean?" Clarissa asked.

"Lift up your dress," Bohdan said.

Clarissa was shocked at what Bohdan asked her to do, she acted like she didn't hear what he asked.

"I know you heard me, lift up your dress."

Clarissa backed away pulling her sister with her. "I won't do it," she said.

Bohdan began unbuttoning his orange jumpsuit salivating at the idea of raping these two girls. "If you don't do what I say, I'll make it hurt so bad you will wish you had." Bohdan had every intention of killing them both when he was done anyway, and tearing them apart.

Anne stepped forward and tugged up on her gown when Clarissa stepped up from behind her and tried to pull her back.

"Don't" Anne said. "We should do what he says, then he won't hurt us."

"He's lying, he's going to have his way with us and kill us," Clarissa said.

Then a voice called out from the doorway, it was Cara. "If you want to fuck someone, fuck me. I've wanted to be with you since the first time I saw you."

Bohdan turned to the doorway and looked at Cara in her nurse's scrubs. "You're too old. And I've tried you before."

"I'm only thirty seven," Cara replied. "And it will work this time."

"And this girl is twelve, did you hear that? I said twelve, do you know what it's like to fuck a twelve year old girl?" Bohdan asked. He was getting excited, the most excited Cara had ever seen him get before.

Cara slipped off her scrubs and approached Bohdan naked. For a woman of thirty seven, she had a body no man could turn down. "I will give you anything you want," Cara said. Her smooth skin lit up in the light of the fireplace.

Bohdan looked upon Cara and again hesitated. He wanted the twelve year old girl, but was now presented with a woman. A woman with breasts and hips, not like a girl who had nothing to offer but her age.

"I'll get to you when I'm done with them," Bohdan said.

"No, it's me now or never. You won't get this offer again."

"You are obsessed with me, I could have had you whenever I wanted. Don't act like you're withholding anything."

Cara's bluff was called. She indeed would have given Bohdan sex at any time he asked. The problem was that he never asked and she knew it. She had no power and no control and now these two girls were destined to be raped and killed. She had no other plans and thought about leaving the cabin so she wouldn't have to witness what horrible things Bohdan was about to do to these two innocents. Then she heard a voice call from the doorway and all went black.

# Chapter 27

# Sara

Bohdan saw Cara fall to the floor in a heap, and then saw the woman standing behind her holding the fence post digger she used to hit her. The woman was slight of build, olive colored skin with dark eyes and long brown hair. Her name was Sara. She was panting and almost shaking but the look in her eye was that of a cornered animal. She was pissed. "You let my girls go," Sara said. She locked eyes with Bohdan and readied herself to strike out at him.

"You may have knocked out a woman who didn't see you coming, but you won't take me out so easily," Bohdan said. "I will have your girls, and then you when I'm finished."

Sara looked around the room to see if there was anyone who could help her. She could only find her daughters and no one else. "Girls, I want you to leave, do you understand me?" Sara said.

Bohdan watched to see if the girls would do what their mother told them to do. They hesitated and began to walk away from Bohdan. Seeing them step away, Bohdan reached out and grabbed Clarissa by her dress and pulled her back letting Anne walk away. Clarissa didn't fight Bohdan, she gave in and let him pull her near.

"Anne, out the door, now!" Sara said. "Clarissa, pull yourself away from him and go."

"I can't mama, he's holding me to tight," Clarissa replied.

Sara stepped in closer and pulled the fence digger back like a baseball bat ready to swing at Bohdan's head. "You let her go, you hear me?" Sara asked.

"I hear you," Bohdan said as he pulled up on Clarissa's dress. He placed his hand on the girl's thigh and began to rub up and down.

In a rage, Sara swung the fence digger at Bohdan and felt the momentum stop when he grabbed the digger by the handle and stopped it dead. Giving the tool a good yank, Bohdan pulled the digger from Sara's grasp and tossed it in the corner on some metal pots. The sound rang out of metal on metal and then the room went silent. Sara was now unarmed and had no way to defend herself.

"Now what are you going to do bitch?" Bohdan asked with a grin. He started to stroke Clarissa on her exposed thigh again to taunt her mother slipping his hand higher and higher as he went. Sara looked around the room for anything else she could use as a weapon, she found a few logs stacked up by the fireplace, and some cooking pots, but not much else she could grab close by. "Why don't you leave?" Bohdan asked. "You don't want to see what I'm going to do."

"Take me," Sara said. "Let her go, I'll do whatever you want."

"How old are you?" Bohdan asked.

"Thirty four," Sara replied. "I'm experienced, she doesn't know how to please a man."

"Why is it all of a sudden women are throwing themselves at me?" Bohdan asked. He knew the answer, but was reveling in the attention.

Sara slipped the top of her dress down and exposed her breasts to Bohdan.

"Yours are better than the nurses," Bohdan said. "But I still want the girl. I want to be her first, and last."

"I won't leave without my daughter," Sara said.

"You can have her when I'm done with her."

"I want her alive."

Bohdan hesitated. "I don't think that's possible."

"Why? Why must you kill her?"

"I don't know, it's my nature I suppose. She won't be my first if you must know."

"How many girls have you raped and killed?"

"Less than twenty I suppose, and I've only raped a few. The killing is what really gets me off. Now go, so I can get on with this."

Sara clenched her teeth and pulled back a fist like she was going to strike Bohdan. She knew she had no chance and for a moment, began to cry. Then Clarissa slapped Bohdan in the face temporarily distracting him. This gave Sara the chance she was looking for so she bolted towards Bohdan fists flying towards his face.

In one swift motion, Bohdan grabbed Sara by the waist of her dress and flung her across the room into the fireplace. Her head struck the mantle before her body landed on the burning logs. Unconscious, she began to cook as her dress caught fire.

"Momma!" Clarissa yelled.

Bohdan put his hand over the girl's mouth and pulled her in close. He looked her in the eye and said, "She's dead, shut the fuck up and do as I say."

Ashley looked into the cabin window and watched as Bohdan raped the girl. She was powerless to do anything and decided it was best to stay out of the vampire's way. She needed her strength to fight the battles that would save her life later on, so she put what she saw out of her mind and pretend it wasn't happening. She saw Anne run out of the cabin and into a wooded area where she disappeared into the darkness. Rancid and Isaac were both tending to their wounds by the cattle pen ignorant of what was going on in the cabin.

Sickened by the sounds she was hearing, Ashley walked over to the cattle pen to talk to the only other beings she knew who were able to talk. Cara was still lying on the floor in the cabin naked, not knowing what was going on around her.

"You vampires are the sickest fucks I've ever known," Ashley said. She stopped at the cattle gate and looked upon the two wounded vampires.

"That's not news to me," Rancid said. "Why? What's going on?"

"Your leader is back in the cabin raping a sixteen year old girl. He killed her mother and when he's done he's going to kill her too."

"Yeah, that's what Bohdan does. Don't you understand that?"

"I do, but that doesn't mean I have to accept it," Ashley replied.

"Then go do something about it. Go kill that fucker, he should have got death instead of life in the first place."

"I'd need your help, I can't do it alone."

"Oh, no fucking way, I'm not getting involved." Rancid said. "Ask Isaac."

Isaac replied, "Leave me out of this, he's one bad mother fucker."

"But we can take him if we stick together," Ashley said.

"If you haven't noticed, we both took a few bullet hits. It will be weeks before we are properly healed. If you don't like it, you can leave at any time."

"I would, but I have no idea where we are, this is not what I expected. Once it gets light, I might leave."

"Yeah, this is odd, the prison was in the country, but Topeka is a large city, and this is the sticks as far as I can see."

"Something's not right," Ashley said. "It will be light in an hour or so."

Everyone got quiet for a moment as they looked back at the cabin to see if they could hear Bohdan raping Clarissa. They heard nothing and then pretended like nothing was happening.

"Maybe we should go now and leave him behind," Ashley said. "I have no ties to him, do you?"

"You were hired to clean this mess up, if you leave, won't that be your job?"

"They can fire me if they want. I've had it. No pay is worth this," Ashley said. "As far as I know, we're lost anyway."

"Lost? You can get back in the tunnel and walk back to the prison if you want, it's not that far away," Rancid said.

The other end of the tunnel is blocked if the prison blew up. And I have a feeling it doesn't go back to the prison in the first place. You did notice how the tunnel changed as we walked through it. It went from smooth concrete and ended up at the end of a mine shaft. Something happened to the tunnel and I don't think it was natural."

"Like some sort of portal?" Rancid asked.

"Look at this place, it looks like the eighteen hundreds. Did you see the clothes these guys are wearing? They look like they fell out of a western."

Rancid nodded in agreement. "I noticed that as well. I thought maybe this is the way ranchers dress, but to be honest, they look like Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid could live here."

"Do you see any cars? Trucks? Any modern machinery? Most ranches have at least some of that stuff. I don't even see a telephone pole, how do they communicate?" Ashley asked.

Bohdan stepped out of the cabin. It was starting to get light and it was easy to see he was covered in blood. As he caught notice of Ashley and the other two vampires, he walked away from the cabin towards them.

"Looks like it's too late to leave him behind now," Isaac said.

"No, we can always leave him," Ashley said.

Bohdan joined the three and smiled from ear to ear. He was happy and proud of what he had done and wanted to gloat. It was a badge of honor to show the blood to other vampires, like showing off a fancy car or jewelry.

"Are you happy now?" Ashley asked. "Did you make her suffer?"

"Oh yes, she was in great pain, I made sure of that," Bohdan replied.

"I don't want to hear about it," Ashley said.

"Oh, but you must, it was wonderful."

"You might be able to kill a sixteen year old but I'll fuck you up if you say a word about it."

"I just fed, my strength is double what it was before. Try me woman, see if you can hurt me now."

Ashley let her emotions get to her, not realizing how much danger she was putting herself in. She backed off and turned away from Bohdan.

"Where are you going?" Bohdan asked. "Where is your big mouth now?"

Ashley continued to ignore Bohdan stepping around Rancid putting him between them.

"Walk away you stupid cunt, leave if you want. I know you want to go, that would be the best thing you can do."

Rancid spoke up, "If she leaves, what will you feed on later?"

Ashley was shocked at what Rancid said. She thought for a while that he was on her side, but now obviously he wasn't. She was in more danger now than ever.

"There are plenty of humans around here. If there are humans here, they must be closer by," Bohdan said. "I know I saw a city from atop the hill. We need to head there."

"Dressed like this?" Isaac said. "And wounded?"

"We will take the clothes from the dead men. We can live here for a few days while you heal. Then we will head into town and find more to feed upon. We still have the nurse, and the sister that ran away. She will be back soon."

"What makes you think so?" Rancid asked.

"It's a feeling I have," Bohdan replied.

"I feel like she's going to run into town and find the cops and send them out here," Rancid said. "I just left prison, I don't want to go back. And from the looks of this place, I think it won't be as nice as what we left."

"Then go find her," Bohdan said. "She can't be far. Bring her back and you can have her for breakfast."

Rancid and Isaac were hungry, and the blood products they brought were now spoiled. They could feed off the livestock for a while, but it was nutrition poor to them. The girl had a good hour head start, and the vampires were injured. But what else choice did they have? If they let her go, they would most certainly be found later that day by the authorities.

"I can smell her," Isaac said. He tilted his head back and sniffed the air.

"With all the blood around here, cow shit and what not, how can you tell it's her?" Ashley asked.

"Our senses are trained to pick out the smells of food. Like a drug dog looking for heroine."

Rancid said, "I smell her as well, she's in the woods."

"I bet she's looking at us right now, wondering what we did to her sister and mother."

Ashley spoke up, "That's horrible, and a twelve year old girl out in the woods not knowing you killed her family."

"That's what we do," Bohdan said. "You can't blame us for doing what we were born to do. Cats kill birds and mice, do you blame them?"

"Cats can't distinguish between right and wrong, so no, I don't blame them," Ashley replied. "You can."

"I don't consider what I did was wrong. If you were hungry, you'd be surprised what you'd eat."

"True, but I wouldn't rape it first."

# 

# Chapter 28

# Saloon

Rancid stepped out of the cabin and looked towards the westbound sun. It was two days later and Anne never came back. The bodies of the dead men were gathered up in a pile out in a distant field and eaten by coyotes and buzzards. The vampires were hungry, only Cara and Ashley had food from the cabin they could eat and it was gone. It was late afternoon and the group decided to head into the town they had seen from the mine entrance on the hill.

Dressed in the clothes they found in the cabins and removed from the dead men, the group gathered on a horse drawn wagon and headed off into town. What town they didn't know. Rancid took the reins and led the horses down the path. Nobody knew anything about horses or buggies, but they were quick learners and made good time leaving the cabins behind.

Hours passed and the horse drawn buggy came into town. Immediately they noticed they were no longer in the modern world. There were no cars or trucks, just horses and buggies like they were using. The buildings all looked like a western movie set and the road was soft, muddy and strewn with buggy tracks. All around it smelled like horse shit and all the people they saw were something out of the past.

"What's going on here?" Cara asked. The dress she wore was something her great grandmother might have worn, but she thought she had raided a storage closet, not something anyone modern would wear. Now she realized her dress was in fashion for the time and place she was at now. It was like Little House on the Prairie had come true.

"Looks like the land time forgot," Rancid replied. "Some of these small Midwestern towns never caught up to modern times."

Ashley spoke up, "No, even the small towns had cars and people don't dress like this. We're not in Kansas anymore," she said.

"Actually I think we are," Rancid said. "Just not the Kansas you remember."

"Do we have a plan yet?" Cara asked. "Or are you three just planning to grab the first three people you can find for supper?"

Bohdan pointed up ahead, "There, pull up over at that saloon."

"You want to get drinks?" Cara asked. "I'm hungry, can we stop at a cafe?"

"I don't think your cash will spend here," Bohdan said.

"Then why stop at a saloon? Do you have cash?"

"No, I found silver coins at the cabin."

"Do you mind sharing?"

"You could have found them, if you'd of looked," Bohdan said.

"I was too busy moving dead bodies and trying to stay alive to raid the fucking cabin," Cara said.

Isaac interrupted, "Don't bother, he's not the sharing type."

The buggy pulled up to the rail in front of the saloon and stopped. The horses seemed to know the routine when they saw the tie rail. Rancid jumped down off the buggy and tied the horses to the rail and came back to assist Cara and Ashley off the buggy. Both were wearing long dresses and had a hard time getting around.

On the ground, the women thanked the vampire and headed to the saloon followed by the three men. Bohdan quickly caught up to the women and passed them getting to the saloon door first. It was as if he was a kid at a play park. Giving the swinging doors a push, Bohdan entered the saloon and looked around as he made his way to the bar. This saloon was laid out about the same as the saloon he remembered in Abilene. The only difference he could find was the bar was a lot bigger, and had no mirror behind it.

Cara looked around and noticed a nude woman dancing on stage swinging on a brass pole. "What the fuck? Since when did they do live nude shows in saloons?"

"For as long as I can remember," Bohdan replied. "She's blow you if you tip her well."

"No thanks, I don't need to be blown," Cara snapped back.

"Wait a second, I forgot, these girls aren't prostitutes, those girls are upstairs," Bohdan said pointing to the balcony that surrounded the second story.

"Sounds like you've been here before."

"Not here, but close. I think most of these saloons are the same."

"That's nice, I'm starving, and can we get some food?"

Bohdan dug into his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins. It wasn't much and he didn't know what he could buy with what he had, but he handed Cara a few coins to shut her up. He then handed her a few more and said, "This is for your girlfriend. Go eat."

Cara turned and left with Ashley leaving the three vampires behind in the saloon. Bohdan asked the bartender for three beers and handed him a coin. The bartender made change and handed it back. Isaac took a drink and made a sour face. "This tastes like shit, it's warm."

Bohdan took a sip. "Yep, it's warm, just the way I remember it."

"What are we going to do now?" Rancid asked. He took a sip of his beer and then chugged the rest.

"We wait," Bohdan said.

"For what?"

"When this place clears, we can go upstairs and get a girl. I'll save enough to buy one."

"Buy? You mean rent right?" Isaac chuckled.

"We won't be giving her back."

"Won't they be onto us if we do that?" Rancid asked.

"We have to be careful, I can go buy the girl, kill her and drop her out the window in the back to you. Then I can leave and we can all feed on her," Bohdan replied.

"Then what? We have to feed at least once a week. When they find her missing, they will track us down. I don't think finding a girl in a saloon is a good idea at all."

"Prostitutes are the best kind of girl to feed on. They are rarely missed."

"I get that, but once we do feed on her, we will have to move onto another town. We can't keep coming back here."

"What did you do before you went to prison? Did you find your meals at the supermarket? No, you had to go find new ones each day."

"And that's how I ended up in prison," Rancid said. "I finally got caught. If you think about it, I was actually better off in prison. I had three hots and a cot as they say."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you, I'm buying supper tonight, you can buy supper tomorrow night," Bohdan said.

Cara and Ashley crossed the street trying to keep out of the mud and horse shit. Before they stepped up onto the wood walkway they spied Anne, the twelve year old girl and sister of Clarissa who Bohdan had raped and killed. Anne took notice right away and turned to run.

"Wait!" Cara yelled.

Anne hesitated and turned back.

"We won't hurt you, we promise. We're alone."

Anne had been on her own since the attack and had nowhere to turn. She also had no reason to trust these two women except for when Cara offered herself up to Bohdan in exchange for Clarissa's life.

The two women quickly caught up to Anne who was nervously watching their every move. "We want to help you," Cara said.

"Where is that man who killed my mother and my sister?" Anne asked.

"He's in the saloon, don't worry, we won't let him get you."

"How do I know? I already went to the sheriff, he's looking for him now."

"We didn't see anyone on the road here, where's the sheriff?"

"I don't know, he said he would get out there as soon as he could."

"Where have you been staying since you left?"

"I slept in the woods that night, then I walked to town the next day."

"Do you know someone here?"

"No, I've been sleeping behind the central supply store. In the stable."

"Let's get you something to eat," Cara said. "Where's the cafe?"

"Over there," Anne said pointing down the walkway.

"Alright, I have a little money, let's get you fed."

Together, Ashley, Cara and Anne headed down to the cafe and stepped inside. They took a booth and were waited on. Cara had enough coin to buy sandwiches and tea, and the three ate like they hadn't eaten in a month.

"Is everyone dead?" Anne asked.

"Yes, all your family is dead," Cara replied.

"They weren't all family, some were hired hands."

Ashley looked out the window at the horse drawn carts and wondered where there were. It was getting dark and she felt lost not knowing her location. "What is this town? Is it Topeka?" Ashley asked.

"Topeka?" Anne asked. "I've never heard of Topeka."

"The tunnel was supposed to run from the prison to Topeka Kansas."

"This is Seneca."

"Seneca Kansas?"

"Yes," Anne replied.

"How the hell did we end up in Seneca Kansas?" Ashley asked. "What year is this?"

"Why are you asking her that?" Cara asked.

"Eighteen seventy five," Anne replied.

"What the fuck?" Ashley asked. "It's passed the year two thousand. What do you mean eighteen seventy five?"

"I was born in eighteen sixty two. In Seneca Kansas," Anne replied. "That makes it, eighteen seventy five."

"That explains all the buggies and these backwards looking people," Ashley said. "If I could believe it."

"It was the tunnel," Cara said. "Traveling through the tunnel sent us back in time."

"And about a hundred miles away I'd guess."

"Eighteen seventy five, that was the year Bohdan was caught and sent to prison," Cara said.

"How do you know that?"

"I was always a huge fan of his. I had his autobiography, and a copy of the Discovery channel documentary on his life. I know all sorts of stuff about him. I was the one who busted him out of prison in the first place."

"You're kidding me," Ashley said.

"Nope, I found this stupid maintenance guy and had him gas the prison. I planned the whole thing out myself," Cara said with pride.

"You're the one responsible for the deaths of over fifty staff and tourists?"

"It was worth it, to be with Bohdan," Cara said. She didn't like Ashley's attitude.

"Do you still think it's worth it? Why are you so obsessed with this guy?"

"It's hard to explain, unless you've been in love, you won't understand."

"Love? Is that what you call it? I call it an unhealthy obsession," Ashley said.

"You're jealous."

"Uh, no, I'm not jealous at all. I think he's a perverted sick freak. And I'm not sure you're not. You know he rapes and kills women right?'

"Yes, that's why they call him Bohdan the Vampire Ripper."

"You are such a groupie, women like you make me sick. Make me embarrassed to call myself a woman in the first place."

Anne finished her sandwich and took a drink of tea. "Do we have to talk about this now? He did kill my mother, my father and my sister."

"I like talking about Bohdan, I'm sorry your family is dead, but he is my lover," Cara said.

"Your lover? You've had sex with him?" Ashley asked.

"We tried once, it didn't work out, but I will eventually," Cara replied.

"You are one sick bitch, you know that? I need to find a way to get back home before I die in this God forsaken hell hole."

"Don't feel sorry for yourself, this little girl has survived for two days without any help, you can act like a big girl for once."

"A big girl? I've killed before, I can take care of myself," Ashley said.

"Anyone can kill, that's not hard. It's staying alive that's the hard part. If you want to go, go. I won't miss you. And I don't need you around. I have Bohdan, and he will take care of me. Like I always knew he would."

Ashley took a drink of her tea and set it down. She looked at Cara and shook her head in disgust.

# Chapter 29

# Gypsy

Isaac took a seat in front of the stage so he could get a close up view of the nude stripper working the pole. He was excited to see something he'd only seen online. The girl was a bit thicker than he thought a stripper should be, and wasn't as clean shaven as he'd of liked, but she had a nice rack of tits and that was enough to make him happy. Although the prison was co-ed, he rarely saw the females in anything other than the orange jumpsuits the prisoners were issued.

Rancid and Bohdan joined Isaac at the table and Rancid sat down. Bohdan remained standing, looking around at the patrons who were also watching the show and drinking.

"Sit down Bohdan," Rancid said. "Enjoy the show."

Bohdan continued to scan the room, looking up at the balcony to see if there were any girls available. "I need to find the madame," Bohdan said.

"You can do that later."

Bohdan hesitated, then took a seat at the table. A waitress approached and took their order leaving the vampires alone to talk. "I only have a few dollars left," Bohdan said. "We can't spend too much money, we need some to pay for a prostitute."

"Why pay if we're just going to kill her anyway?" Isaac asked.

"We can't abduct one, we have to pay for her first, don't be stupid. We discussed this."

"Fuck off asshole," Isaac said. "We could go around back, climb up the side of the building and break in a window. Wouldn't cost us a dime and nobody would think to look for us afterward. If you pay for a girl and she turns up missing, it's a huge red flag."

Bohdan looked around to see if anyone was eavesdropping on their conversation. No one was close enough to hear over the piano music being played and no one seemed to care about anything but the nude women on stage and on the floor giving lap dances. "I'd rather have easy access to a girl, kill her and then run than attempt some sort of fool hearty break in. What if the windows are locked? Do you plan to break it? The noise would get us caught."

Rancid said, "Sounds like either way would work, but Isaac's plan saves us money."

"It's not your money," Bohdan said. "And we can get more."

"Really? From where? Last I checked, we didn't have jobs."

"We steal it."

"This place may look like the old west, but I think you're being a bit too romantic. Do you think we should put on black hats and handkerchief masks and rob the bank?"

"We have guns, we could," Bohdan replied.

"I think we should discuss that before we try it," Rancid said. "I think robbing a store or breaking into a house would be a better bet."

"Maybe," Bohdan said. "But we need to decide before it's too late. The money won't last long."

Isaac said, "We don't need money to feed, maybe the women do, what's your problem?"

"We need money for other things. I don't want to live like an animal in the woods," Bohdan replied.

Isaac shook his head in disgust and noticed a dancer coming his way. She was a tall woman, with large breasts and a nice round curvy backside. She sashayed her way over on six inch heels and not much else. Finding a good spot she began a lap dance for Isaac, fishing for tips. Isaac leaned back in his chair and watched the woman lean in close and put her breasts in his face and push. For a moment he couldn't breathe, his face covered with her soft round tits.

The woman pulled back and turned around, bending over and grabbing her heels. She wiggled her plump round rear in Isaac's face and then leaned back and sat on his lap. The more she moved, the more Isaac could feel his pants begin to bulge. The woman turned and waited for her tip but received nothing. Frustrated she spoke out, "What's wrong mister? Are you a queer?"

Isaac was immediately offended by this woman and gave her the finger.

"Cheap bastard, if you don't tip, I'll call the owner and have you kicked out."

Isaac held up his empty hands showing he had no money to tip the dancer. "Sorry, I spent my last dime on beer."

The dancer looked at the empty glass on the table and bit her lip. "Then get the fuck out, this show isn't free."

"I'm waiting on my friends - bitch," Isaac replied.

The dancer looked at the other glasses and saw they weren't finished. Bohdan's was almost full. "Borrow some money from them then," she said.

"Fuck you, go bother someone else," Isaac said.

Bohdan interrupted, holding out his hand to the dancer. "Here, I'll pay you," he said.

The dancer took the coin and dropped it in a small purse she brought with her.

"I'm sorry for my friend here, he's had a real bad day," Bohdan said.

The dancer stepped over to Bohdan as to start a dance for him. He put up his hand as to say no and she backed off pissed. "We strip at this saloon, if you don't like it, you and your buddies can go across the street."

"Do they have prostitutes there?" Bohdan asked.

"I don't know, I'm not a prostitute and I don't work there," the dancer replied.

Isaac spoke up, "What do you mean you're not a prostitute? He just payed you for me to look at your hairy snatch. What's the difference?"

"The difference is that you didn't stick your nasty cock in there."

"I bet for the right price you'd let me," Isaac said.

"Maybe, but it would be a lot more than you could afford."

"What's the difference between you and the prostitutes? Why aren't they dancing?"

"Because they're Mexicans and niggers," the dancer said. "We don't let them dance. They're gross."

"Little judgmental aren't you?"

"Have you ever seen a Mexican whore naked? Looks like a dog in heat. You have to fuck them in the dark so you don't have to see what they look like. And those nigger women, I can't believe any man would fuck them. But then most men are whores as well."

"What are you? Irish? German?" Isaac asked.

"German, why do you care?"

"I could tell by your hairy bush, you German's look like men."

The dancer, trying to show how unoffended she was, leaned over and hung her two large breasts in Isaac's face. She grabbed them from the sides and shook her large pink nipples in his face. "You think I'm a man?" she asked.

"I think your pussy is disgusting. You should go to a barber and have it shaved."

"I would if assholes like you tipped well."

"I tip for attractive women, you get what you put out," Isaac said.

Rancid, watching the two go at it spoke up. "I think maybe we should get going."

"You have half your drink left," Isaac replied.

"I can finish it off," Rancid said.

"No, I'm not letting this cunt run us off. You paid for your drinks, we can stay until you're done. Plus, I think Bohdan wants to get a girl."

Bohdan took a sip of his beer and slid his chair away from the table. "Which room is the madam in?" Bohdan asked the dancer.

"Top of the stairs, first room. Watch out, she's a gypsy."

Rancid asked, "Why does that matter?"

"She'll try to steal from you, all gypsies are thieves," the dancer replied.

"I take it you don't like gypsies?" Rancid asked.

"No, they rent from the owner, they have nothing to do with me or the saloon. As long as they make money for the owner, he ignores what they do."

"If they're stealing, don't the customers complain?"

"No, the men who pay these women, the married men, never say a word. The gypsies blackmail them to keep them quiet."

"What about the single men?"

"They cast spells on them," the dancer said.

"Spells? Are you kidding?" Rancid asked. "Why not cast spells on the married men as well?"

"It's easier to blackmail them. Spells take work, and no gypsy wants to work for a living. Just lie on their backs and suck the lives out of the men they fuck."

Bohdan stood up and asked, "I can handle a gypsy, they should be worried about me."

"Good luck," the dancer said. "You'll regret it when you're done."

At the top of the stairs Bohdan knocked on the door. He didn't know who to expect when the door opened, but wasn't surprised when the door opened and met a women dressed in elaborate colors and jewelry. She was exactly what a gypsy would look like in his mind.

"You need a girl?" the madam asked. She had a Romanian accent and dark piercing eyes.

"I do, how much?" Bohdan asked.

"I like you, you get right to the point, and do you want to see my girls first?"

"Sure, show me what you have."

"Follow me," the madam said. She walked into another room where three girls were sitting talking to each other. All three girls were dressed in short brightly colored skirts, wearing lots of necklaces, bracelets and other jewelry. They took notice the instant Bohdan entered the room.

"This is Alina, Crinia and Mirela," the Madame said. "Alina and Mirela are mother and daughter. You can have them both for twenty five cents."

Hearing the price, Bohdan was now convinced that he had somehow traveled back in time. A modern prostitute should have been fifty dollars or more. He tried to put it out of his mind as he made his choice. He had about two dollars left in his pocket. "I only need one," Bohdan said. "I'll take the other one, I don't want to separate the family."

"They won't be offended, I was just making you a special offer. They work well together, Alina taught her daughter how to please a man well."

"I bet she did," Bohdan said. "I really don't care which one, I have the twenty five cents, and how long do I have her?"

The madam signaled for Mirela to stand up. "You can have Mirela until midnight. I picked her because she's young and I know how men like girls."

Bohdan did like girls, the younger the better. Mirela looked to be eighteen at the most, and he had no intention of fucking her as he was starving. The craving to eat far outweighed his craving for sex.

"But before you take her, I have a question for you," the madam said. "You are a vampire aren't you?"

Bohdan was shocked at the question and didn't know at first how to answer. "Yes, how did you know?"

"I'm a gypsy, I have the power that few possess, the power of insight. I can feel it in you, I can see it in your eyes."

Bohdan smiled and showed his yellow fangs. He was good at keeping them hidden, but now had no reason to anymore.

"Do you intend to kill my girls?" the madam asked.

Bohdan hesitated and tried to think of a good answer. "No, I'm here for sex, that's all."

The madam approached Bohdan and looked deep into his eyes. "You're lying to me. "

No, I'm not lying," Bohdan replied.

"I won't give you one of my girls if you intend to kill her. If you want a girl to feed on, I can give you that as well, just not one of these. Do you need to feed?"

Bohdan shook his head, he knew he had to confess. And the madam was making an offer he couldn't refuse. "Yes, I need to feed, and so do my friends down in the saloon."

"I can get you three slaves for twenty five cents."  
"Slaves? What are you talking about? What year is this?" Bohdan asked.

"Eighteen seventy five," the madam replied.

Bohdan had to think for a moment. That was the year he was sent to prison, and ten years after slavery ended. "Slavery ended by now. The Civil war ended in eighteen sixty five, slavery was abolished."

"What Civil war? What are you talking about? We've had slavery for hundreds of years, and still do."

Bohdan now knew that not only did he come back in time, he had entered a new universe where events were different. In this universe, the civil war never happened, and slavery still existed.

# Chapter 30

# Stakes

The women finished the meal at the cafe and decided to head back to the saloon to meet the men. They convinced Anne to go with them and told her she would be safe. As they approached the saloon, they saw two rows of lighted torches surrounding a pile of wood that was growing larger as men added to the pile. In the center of the woodpile were three tall posts, around six feet in height each.

The town had no electricity, and the only light emitting was from lamps set up on the walkways and from the buildings that lined the main road. The saloon was the most lit up building since it was occupied most evenings until midnight or later. The women looked over at the saloon to see if they could see the men inside from the street, all they could see were stranger's playing cards at a table near the door.

"What's going on?" Cara asked. "What's with these pole and the wood pile?"

"Looks like a witch burning," Ashley replied.

"They're burning vampires," Anne said. As if it were the most common thing in the world.

"What do you mean, burning vampires?" Cara asked.

"Whenever they catch vampires, they bring them out here and burn them in the street. It's how they try to scare them away and keep them from coming into town."

"How often does that happen?"

"Not very often, the last time I can remember I was a kid."

"You still are a kid," Cara said.

Ashley said," From the looks of it, they caught three of them."

"Check it out, there are people starting to come," Cara said.

Anne replied, "It's a big deal when they burn vampires. People bring food and they make a big party out of it."

"Who does the burning? The Chamber of Commerce or something?" Cara asked.

"The sheriff puts it on, look, he's over there by the jail talking to someone."

"I figured he'd be out looking for us."

Ashley said, "Maybe they found three others and pinned the killing on them."

"That would be nice," Cara said. "Then we wouldn't have to hide."

Then the three women saw Bohdan, Isaac and Rancid walk out of the saloon and head their way. Cara waved at them and got their attention.

As Bohdan approached, he looked over at the gathering and asked, "What the fuck is that?"

"They're burning vampires tonight," Cara replied. "Do you want to stay and watch?"

"I don't think that would be a good idea. Small towns like these have crazy ideas. They might take one look at us and decided to burn us as well."

"I don't think so. The sheriff was looking for the vampires that killed Anne's family and he found what he was looking for. We're safe."

Bohdan looked at Anne and expected her to take off running to the sheriff. "Don't trust her, she'll turn us in, in a second."

Cara knew Bohdan was right, Anne had no reason to not turn them in.

"Maybe I should take her in the alley and finish her off before she becomes trouble."

"There are too many people here," Cara replied. "Plus, if she wanted to turn us in, all she has to do is scream."

Bohdan stepped over to Anne and tried to intimidate her by looking down at her from above. Anne was just a little over five foot and Bohdan was a giant next to her. "If you make a sound, I will snap your neck, do you understand me? You might get revenge, but you won't be around to enjoy it."

Anne looked up at Bohdan and then back down to the ground. "I won't say anything," Anne replied.

"Good, now let's go," Bohdan said.

Isaac spoke up, "I want to watch the burning, and I've never seen anyone burned at the stake before."

"You can stay here for all I care, I'm not sticking around," Bohdan replied.

Ashley said, "Its best if we stick together, nobody will know the difference, and I want to watch as well."

Bohdan shook his head in disgust, he had no reason to stay with these people anymore and was probably better off without them. But for some unknown internal reason decided to stay, at least for a while. "Fine, but at the first sign of trouble \- we leave."

"We have to be back by midnight anyway," Rancid said.

Cara asked, "Why? What's going on?"

"The gypsy madam is going to get us some slave girls to feed on."

"I think that's a real bad idea," Ashley said. "She's setting you up."

"What do you mean? Setting me up?" Rancid asked.

"When you get back at midnight, the sheriff will be there waiting for you."

"You don't know that," Rancid said.

Ashley pointed over to the jail, where the sheriff was talking to a woman in a bright colored dress. "Is that your madam?" Ashley asked.

Rancid looked over and saw the madam talking to the sheriff. "That fucking cunt," Rancid said.

"Now we have to leave," Bohdan said. "The sheriff knows we're here."

"Yeah, maybe those poles are for us?" Isaac asked.

"No, look," Cara said pointing to the now open door at the jail. Three black slaves were now being led from the jail to the wood pile. As they walked closer, the torches shined upon two men and a woman. Behind the slaves were white men, possibly deputies, forcing the slaves to their deaths.

"I know that one," Bohdan said. "The tall one of the left."

"How do you know him?" Cara asked.

"He's the slave that turned me. I was in the process of selling him back into slavery when he got to me and bled me. I survived and turned into a vampire."

"Small world," Isaac said as a joke. His accent did make it sound funny.

Cara said, "Well, now you get to watch him die for what he did to you."

"Yes, and I very much want to see that happen," Bohdan said as he walked closer to the wood pile. He wanted a front row seat at the vampire burning.

The crowd that formed to see the three vampires die grew larger and larger and a table was set up next to the boardwalk with pies and sandwiches for sale. The event was turning out to be almost as good as the county fair, with better main entertainment than they'd seen in years. Kids played and music filled the air as the atmosphere became more festive.

Ashley said, "This is so sick and wrong."

Cara replied, "Didn't they do this in Rome? Kill slaves and make a party out of it?"

"Yes, and that was wrong as well. How people can do that to each other I'll never understand."

"They dehumanize them, they're not people, and they're blood sucking animals."

Bohdan spoke up, "Like me?"

"Yeah, I suppose so," Cara replied.

"Why do you worship a blood sucking animal like me?" Bohdan asked.

"Because you're sexy," Cara replied.

"Sexy? There's nothing sexy about me. You're delusional."

"She's a groupie, you can't explain it. It's a perverted fascination," Ashley said. "Anyway, I think they're about to get started.

The sheriff joined his staff and watched as they led the three vampires to the poles and tied them securely. The first man and the woman gave little resistance, but the third fought for his life as they held him up against the pole and strapped him to it. Once they were secure, the wood was spread to cover the open space and make for a more even burn. The sheriff took one last look at the set up and called out for one of his men to spread a little fuel oil on the wood to make sure it lit up and burned as expected.

After the wood was prepared, the sheriff walked over to the mayor and said a few words. The mayor then stepped up onto a raised platform, well lit by torchlight, to address the awaiting crowd. "Hello my fellow citizens, we are gathered here tonight to end the lives of three of the most vile beings to grace our small town and the planet itself. As you well know, vampires are the scourge of the Earth, leaving a path of destruction wherever they go. It is our privilege, and pleasure, to eliminate three of them forever, making our community a safer place to live."

The group listened intently as the mayor made his speech, and watched as a pastor joined him on the raised platform holding a bible in his hand.

Bohdan whispered to Cara, "If this wasn't so wrong, I'd find it entertaining."

"That slave turned you into a vampire, why are you so against this?" Cara whispered back.

"It's different once you are one. It wasn't my choice, but I do have a kinship with him now. That could very well be me up there instead."

The pastor joined the mayor on the stage, was introduced and asked to say a prayer. "I want you all to listen to Pastor John now as he leads us in scripture and prayer at this time in history. This is a momentous occasion that should be remembered and cherished. Pastor John, the stage is yours."

The pastor stepped up, held up his bible and said, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, and by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image, Genesis 9:6. These evil people shed the blood of man, and now we will send them to God for their righteous punishment. Pray with me, moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death."

Rancid shook his head in disgust. "I think he's cherry picking scripture, I hate it when they do that."

"Shut the fuck up," Isaac said. "Don't bring attention to us. These religious nut fucks will turn on us in a second.

The pastor lowered his bible and looked upon the crowd that was eagerly awaiting the fire and death of the vampires. "Before we do God's work here tonight, I want to tell you a story, a story that will help you and guide you on a path to God." The pastor slowed down and timed out his words for maximum impact. He had his audience where he wanted them and wasn't going to let them off the hook until he was finished. He loved what he did, and the attention fed his ego like no other.

"Once there was a man, a man who had no life, no family, nothing but himself. This man turned to evil, the only way he felt he could make a mark in the world and eventually was caught. This man plead for his life, explaining that no one had ever tried to help him, make him a better man, and that evil was the only thing that he ever found to fill the loneliness in his soul. He was found guilty of many crimes, and on the day he was to be executed, he pleaded before man and God yet no one listed to him. Then a small boy came up to him and asked, 'Why did you do the evil things you did? Why should I not follow the same path as you?' The convicted man looked down in shame, and said, 'If I were not restrained, I would kill you where you stand, for I am God.'"

Bohdan shook his head, "What the fuck was that all about? That made no sense whatsoever."

Ashley replied, "I'm not sure that bible is the same bible you and I are familiar with."

"What do you mean?"

"This isn't just a different time that we were from, but a different place as well. I think they have a different history altogether. They still have slavery, and the civil war never happened. It wouldn't surprise me if they had an alternate history for everything, including religion. We should be very careful, once this is over, we need to leave."

The pastor stepped over to the side of the stage, dipped his bible in fuel oil and raised it up for the crowd to see. He put the edge of the book in the flame of a torch and lit it up to the cheers of the crowd. He then stepped to the edge of the stage and tossed the burning bible onto the wood pile and set the fuel oil ablaze. The wood pile lit up and the crowd erupted as the vampires began to recoil from the heat of the flames.

# Chapter 31

# Sheriff

Ashley watched the flames engulf the three slave vampires and had to look away. The sounds of the crowd weren't loud enough to drown out the screams of the three burning to death for the pleasure of the spectators. It really was like Rome in a way, in a sick pathetic way.

"How can people do this to each other?" Ashley asked. She didn't expect an answer.

"It's one of the few ways to kill a vampire," Cara replied. "You can't hang them, shooting won't work unless you tear them apart and I don't think guillotines are easy to come by."

"I know, but couldn't they knock them out first? Or gag them and put a bag over their heads so they couldn't scream so loud?"

"What fun would that be? The vampires terrorize the town, and this is the only way the people have to feel better about the situation. Seeing and hearing them die gives them a sense of revenge."

Bohdan spoke up, "I wonder if they gave them a trial?"

"They're slaves and vampires, I don't think they would have any rights," Ashely replied.

The crowd calmed down a bit once the screaming stopped. The vampires were either dead or unconscious from the pain and smoke. Now all anyone could hear was the crackling of the fire and the cooking of the meat.

"Can we go now?" Bohdan asked. He looked around and noticed Anne was missing. "Where's the girl?" he asked.

The group looked around and couldn't find Anne.

"Where would she go?" Cara asked.

Isaac raised his hand and pointed a finger towards the sheriff who was standing on the raised platform. "She's over there, talking to the sheriff, we need to go."

Rancid stepped forward to get a better look. Then he saw the sheriff look right at him. "Holy shit, she's ratting on us!"

"We can get away if we go now!" Isaac said. He turned to run but was face to face with a man with a rifle. Another man quickly joined and before they knew it, was surrounded by armed men, some on horseback.

"Don't move!" one of the men said. He pointed his rifle at Isaac and motioned for him to back up.

The sheriff stepped off the raised platform and walked around the burning wood pile to where the vampires were now surrounded. He stepped in between the men who were holding the vampire's from escaping. Anne quickly followed and joined the sheriff. In the dark of the night, the light from the fire painted shadows across the street onto the storefronts. The shadows danced with the flickering flames.

"That's him, he's the one who killed my sister Clarissa," Anne said. She pointed at Bohdan and grit her teeth.

"Who are you?" the sheriff asked, looking at Bohdan.

"My name is Bohdan, Bohdan Malko," Bohdan replied.

"Where're you from?"

"Romania originally, but I come by way of Texas if you must know."

"This girl claims you killed her sister, what do you say?"

"I say she's lying," Bohdan replied.

"I've been out to her family's ranch, I've seen what happened. Someone, or something tore her family to pieces."

"Do I look like I could do that?"

"No, but you and your friends here could have. Who're they?"

"You'll have to ask them for yourself," Bohdan replied. "I'm not responsible for them."

Anne stepped forward. She said, "He's a vampire too! He drank blood from my sister before he killed her."

The sheriff looked at Anne, and then back at Bohdan. "Is that right? Are you a vampire?"

Bohdan shook his head, hesitated and realized he was a trapped dog with no way out. He feigned a fake smile to show off his yellow fangs. He knew they'd look eventually, so he gave it up.

"Holy mother of Christ," the sheriff said. "We have another one. How about your friends, are they vampires too?"

"Like I said, you'll have to ask them. I only speak for myself."

The sheriff looked to Rancid and pointed his rifle at him from the hip. "What about you? Are you a vampire?"

Rancid wasn't so quick to turn himself in. He chose to stay silent.

"If you don't answer me boy, I'll have one of my deputies rip your jaw off so I can see for myself."

Rancid opened his mouth and showed his fangs as well. His weren't yellow, but they weren't white either.

"What about the rest of you? Tell me now or I'll make this hell for you."

Isaac stepped forward and put his hand to his mouth holding back his top lip so he could show off his fangs. He didn't say anything else and stepped back next to Rancid.

"What about you women?"

Cara replied, "We're not vampires. Just the men."

"Let me see,"

Cara opened her mouth to show her teeth, she had no fangs. Ashley did the same and the sheriff was satisfied.

"What are you two doing hanging with these vampires? Are they holding you against your will?"

"No, we are free to go," Ashley replied.

"Then why are you with them?"

"It's a long story," Cara replied. She didn't want to tell the sheriff she had an obsession with one of the vampires.

"You know we kill vampires out here," the sheriff said.

Bohdan replied, "Yes, we watched you kill those three slaves. We're not slaves, we're free men. White men."

"You're lucky, you have some rights, and we can't just string you up and burn you like we can the slaves. But that doesn't mean you get to walk away. There will be a trial, and then we'll see what happens to you. You are being accused of murder, and vampire or not, that's still punishable by death."

"The girl is lying, I had nothing to do with her sister's death," Bohdan said.

Anne spoke up, "You're lying! You killed her, in the cabin."

"We're you there?"

"No, I escaped, but she's dead, and my mother, you killed her too!"

"You have no proof that I did anything, let alone kill anyone."

"You said you were going to kill us both."

"That's your word against mine," Bohdan said.

The sheriff said, "At least you admit you were there."

Bohdan realized he should have kept his mouth shut. "I was there, but I didn't kill anyone."

"Did you see who did?"

"No, they were all alive when we left."

"Is that right?" the sheriff asked to everyone there.

"That's right," Isaac replied. "They were all alive when we left. Maybe it was the fucking Indians."

"What I saw wasn't done by Indians, I'm putting you all under arrest until I can sort this out."

"You can't arrest us on the lies of a girl," Isaac said.

"I can do pretty much whatever I want," the sheriff said. "I'm the only law around here for two hundred miles. I could probably put up three more stakes tonight and burn you three into ashes if I wanted and get away with it. Do you understand me? Slaves have no rights, vampires, even white ones don't have much more. I can pretty much do what I please. Take them to the jail."

The sheriff's deputies escorted the three vampires and the two women to the jail and locked them up. Isaac and Rancid in one cell, Bohdan in another and the women in a third. There was no coed jail, they had to share equally. After they were locked behind bars, one deputy remained, he was an asshole and loved to taunt the prisoners.

"You like to kill kids you motherfucker?" the deputy said to Bohdan.

"You are mistaken, I've killed no one."

"That's what they all say. You know what I think? I think I'm going to shove a red hot poker up your ass and see how you like that."

Bohdan chose to ignore the deputy and stare at the brick wall.

"Did you fuck that little girl before you killed her?"

Bohdan crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

"I was out there, I saw what you did. They found her mother in the fireplace. She was all burned up. Did you do that? Stick her in the fireplace? Did you make her daughter watch her mother burn up?"

"You're wasting your time with me," Bohdan replied. "Go find the real killer."

"Oh, I think I found the real killer alright, you just need to confess. And you know what? I'm real good at getting confessions."

"I bet you are."

The deputy stepped over to the cell with Ashley and Cara. They were both sitting on the bench watching the show when the deputy came over. "Did you see him do it?" the deputy asked.

"No, we didn't see anything," Ashley replied. Ashley was the only person who did see Bohdan rape Clarissa, she chose to lie, but didn't know why.

"You're a woman, doesn't it bother you that this sick fuck raped and killed a girl?"

Cara stood up and approached the cell bars. "Bohdan would never kill anyone, especially a child."

"How do you know? Are you his lover?"

"Yes, he is my lover," Cara replied.

"He's a lucky man, you're not too bad looking."

Cara was put off by the deputy's comments.

"I'd love to fuck you myself."

"What?" Cara asked.

"Yeah, I think I'd like to have a little pussy before I close up shop tonight.

"What are you saying?"

"Take off the dress," The deputy said.

Cara stood dumbfounded. "You can't be serious."

The deputy unbuckled his gun belt and set it on the desk. "Take off your dress, bend over and back up to the bars."

"I will do no such thing!" Cara snapped.

The deputy had a way of getting what he wanted, especially from female inmates. "If you don't drop the dress, you won't see tomorrow, do you understand me?"

Isaac spoke up from his cell, "Leave the woman alone you sick freak. Where's the sheriff?"

"He's out for the night, I do all the overnight work here. He trusts me. Now shut the fuck up so I can get on with my business."

"Leave her alone!" Isaac yelled.

The deputy stepped over to his desk and pulled out a glass bottle from behind his chair. He brought the bottle over and set it on the floor next to Cara's cell. "You know what this is?" the deputy asked.

Cara looked down at the bottle and back up at the deputy. "What is it?"

"Sulfuric acid, nasty shit, burns like hell."

"Sulfuric acid? Where did you get that?"

Bohdan replied from his cell, "They use it in the mines."

"That's right, you can buy it down at the general store, but I got mine from a mining company. Works real well to get people to do what you want."

"You wouldn't," Cara said.

"If I don't see your plump round ass backed up to the bars in the next few minutes, I'll give you a shower you won't forget."

Cara was shocked at what she was hearing. She had no choice but to comply with the deputy or be permanently burned by the acid in the glass jar.

Bohdan spoke up, "You better do as he says, sulfuric acid is nasty stuff. You'll wish you were dead if he gets that on you."

# Chapter 32

# Fish in a barrel

Cara slipped off her dress and stood naked in full view of the deputy. Only Bohdan could see what was going on from the cells, his cell was against an adjacent wall. Rancid and Isaac were on the same side as Cara and Ashley. The deputy signaled for Cara to assume the position and she did backing up to the bars and pressing her smooth round buttocks between them.

"Bend over bitch, and grab your ankles, this is going to be fun," the deputy said.

Cara looked over to Bohdan who was watching, sitting on his bench.

"Do what he says," Bohdan said.

Cara bent over and grabbed her ankles waiting for the deputy to penetrate. Feeling him grab her hips, she tensed up as he entered her from behind. She was dry, but he didn't care. He was inside quick and thrusted in and out as fast as he could manage. He was done in less than a minute and pulled out leaving Cara bent over. He slapped her butt and pushed her forward trying to tip her off balance as he laughed at what he had done.

"How'd you like that you stupid whore?" the deputy asked. He pulled up his pants and put his gun belt back on.

Rancid didn't see what happened, but he spoke up anyway, "Big man, raping a woman in a jail cell. How tough you are."

The deputy stammered over to Rancid's cell and stood before him like he was John Wayne. "Shut the fuck up vampire before I show you what I really can do."

Rancid knew he had no power against this man, but after what he'd been through, didn't really care anymore. "Fuck you," Rancid said, and flipped off the deputy.

The deputy stepped up to the bars and grinned. "No, I'd rather fuck her again, she had a nice tight pussy. You ever fuck a woman? I heard all vampires are queer."

"What if I was? Would you let me suck your dick?"

The deputy wasn't ready for that comment. "Are you serious? Are you a fucking queer?"

"Whip out your dick and find out," Rancid replied.

"Oh no, I ain't showing my cock off to no queer. The one thing I hate worse than vampires are queers - and you're both."

"I think you're afraid to take on a man, it's too easy to rape a woman, try raping a man once."

"Why the fuck would I ever do that? I ain't no queer. I bet you've raped lots of men," the deputy said.

Rancid had raped many men in prison, and he enjoyed every time he had. "That's right, I've had my cock in all sorts of men, loved to shoot my load inside. What a fucking high that is."

"You're making me sick boy, if you don't shut your mouth, I'll shut it for you."

"Put your cock in my mouth that will shut me up, for a while at least."

The deputy walked over to the bottle of acid, brought it over to Rancid's cell and set it down. "You want an acid bath?" the deputy asked. "This shit kills vampires too you know."

Rancid looked down at the glass bottle and back up at the deputy. He knew the deputy was serious about dowsing him with acid if he didn't shut up. "Fine, you're not my type anyway."

"Your type? You're a funny queer vampire, I ought to give you an acid bath just for being what you are. We don't need vampires around these parts, and no queers either."

"I'm done talking to you," Rancid said. He looked away at the brick wall on the other side of the cell. He could see Isaac sitting on the floor away from him in case the deputy decided to douse Rancid with the acid.

"Looks like your friend there has the right idea, I wouldn't want to be near you if I were him. Is he your queer lover?"

"No," Rancid replied. He wanted to keep his answers short and sweet to keep from pissing off the deputy any further.

"Why don't you go fuck him while I watch?" the deputy asked.

Rancid was surprised by the comment the deputy made. If he wasn't gay, why did he want to watch him have sex with Isaac? Maybe the deputy was gay after all. "I'd rather not if you don't mind."

"What's with all the manners all of a sudden? A minute ago you were all up in my face and now you're being all nice."

"You didn't have a bottle of acid. I'm not stupid," Rancid replied.

"Tell you what vampire queer, you go over and give your buddy a blow job and I won't pour acid all over you? How is that for a deal?"

Rancid looked over at the deputy and saw him grinning from ear to ear. It was as if he had no better fantasy than watch a gay vampire give another vampire oral sex. "I don't think Isaac is gay," Rancid said.

"I don't give a shit if he is or not, I have enough acid to burn you both."

"I have a feeling you're going to throw the acid on us regardless of what we do. If you're going to do it, do it now."

The deputy was pissed. Rancid had managed to take some of the wind out of his threat. Looking down at the bottle of acid, the deputy said, "I think I'll save my bottle for later, I can find another way to get my way for now."

"Like what? Bullets won't kill us, if you try to burn us you will kill everyone in the jail. I'm sure the sheriff won't like that," Rancid said.

"I don't have to kill you to get my point across. I just have to hurt you enough to make you suffer. I like to watch people suffer."

Rancid watched the deputy leave the jail and close the door behind him. He knew it wouldn't be long before he returned with something evil to unleash on them. The deputy had his caged animal's right where he wanted them and was getting off on torturing them.

Ashley spoke up, "Now what are we going to do? That sick fuck is going to come back with something to kill us all!"

Bohdan replied, "No he won't, his boss wants us alive in the morning. There's a reason he didn't use the acid. He couldn't explain that to the sheriff, it was an idle threat and Rancid called him on it. If he wants to hurt us, he has to do it in a way that doesn't leave any marks. Of if he does hurt us, he needs a damn good reason, and he'd have to kill us all or be found out later."

Isaac spoke up, "He's gone, and maybe we should be finding a way to get out of here."

"The walls are brick, the bars are steel, I don't know any way of getting out without the keys," Bohdan replied. "We may have more strength than normal humans, but we're not strong enough to bend steel."

"Then we need the keys," Isaac said.

"Yes, and he has them," Bohdan said. "Maybe you can offer him a blow job and take them when he isn't looking."

"That isn't funny," Isaac said.

"I was talking to Rancid, he seems to like men all of a sudden."

"I don't think it was all of a sudden," Isaac said. "I heard a long time ago that Rancid was gay."

"A gay skinhead? How did you manage to survive?" Bohdan asked Rancid.

"We lived in a prison, everyone was doing it," Rancid replied. "I just liked it more than the rest."

"What's it like for two macho men to fuck each other?"

"Do you really want me to describe it to you?" Rancid asked.

"No, not really," Bohdan replied.

"You lived in a cell by yourself, you weren't exposed to what the rest of the general population was. Other than meals, you didn't see what was going on."

"No, but I heard all about it," Bohdan said. "Some pretty sick shit. I wondered if it was true or not."

"Most likely it was. We did things to each other than would make your skin crawl."

Ashley spoke up, "Do we have to discuss your gay prison sex life? He's going to be back any minute and we need to do something so he doesn't kill or hurt us!"

Rancid yelled, "We're behind bars! We can't do anything. Get used to it, you're going to die!"

Just then the door opened and the deputy walked back in. He shut the door and approached cells with a three foot length of chain dangling from his left hand. He pulled his pistol and held it with his right hand using his left to unlock Rancid's cell with the key. After the door was unlocked, the deputy swung the door open and said, "You, queer vampire, out."

Rancid didn't move from his bench, if he was going to get shot, he was going to get shot on his terms. "Shoot me fucker, see where it gets you."

The deputy stood waiting for Rancid to move. He was livid and wasn't thinking with his best judgment. "I said get up you fucking fag."

"You are one stupid fucker you know that?" Rancid asked. "You just unlocked the door to my cell, and as I told you before, bullets won't kill me, or Isaac for that matter. It will take you at least twenty seconds to lock the cell door so if we rushed you right now, you'd be fucked."

"Why are you telling me this?" the deputy asked.

"Because I wanted you to know how stupid you were before you died," Rancid replied. A moment later, Rancid was on his feet followed by Isaac rushing the deputy. Before the deputy took could shoot, he shoved the door back towards the vampires. The move bought the deputy a half second before Rancid and Isaac pushed it back and tackled the deputy to the wood floor. Ripping the pistol from the deputy's hand, Rancid tossed it across the room landing under the sheriff's desk where it came to a rest.

"Hold on," Rancid said. He looked to Isaac who was agitated and panting like a dog. "Don't kill him, yet."

"Why wait? He can't follow us if we kill him," Isaac asked.

"I want to ask him a question before he dies," Rancid said.

"Holy shit, do you have to be so dramatic?"

Rancid placed his hand on the deputy's neck pinning him to the floor. He looked into his eyes and smiled showing off his fangs. "I've known a lot of pricks like you in my day, and I've never had the chance to get back at one before now. Before I kill you, I want you to beg for your life."

"I thought you were going to ask him a question," Isaac said.

"I changed my mind, I want this asshole to beg, but before you do, I want you to apologize to Cara for what you did to her."

The deputy looked up at Rancid and stared into his eyes. "Fuck you, she was the best pussy I've ever had and I'd do it again."

"How did you ever get to be a lawman? What kind of sick fuck pretends to protect the public and then takes advantage of them?"

Ashley spoke up, "He's a sociopath."

"What's that mean?"

"He has no remorse for what he does."

"I see that."

"What you're doing won't do any good, you can't change him or his ways."

"I'm not planning on it, I'm planning on ending his career as a socio whatever you called him."

Rancid pressed down on the deputy's neck and choked him. The deputy panicked and pushed back trying to free himself from Rancid's grip of death. With the strength of three men, Rancid had no problem holding the deputy down placing a knee on his chest to get better position. Once the deputy began to lose consciousness, Rancid leaned down and pressed his fangs into his neck and began to drink.

"You'll have to kill him when you're done," Bohdan said. "You don't want to turn him into a vampire when you're finished. We don't need his kind running around the countryside."

Rancid took a long drink and raised his head. Blood dripped from his mouth falling as drops onto the chest of the deputy below. "I don't have a knife, I can't cut off his head."

"Use the acid, you can burn him that way," Bohdan said.

"Will it work the same as fire?"

"I don't know, I've never tried it before."

Rancid let go and crawled over to the bottle retrieving it. He stood up and walked over to the deputy who was in the midst of changing into a vampire. With the bottle in hand, Rancid unscrewed the top and poured the acid over the deputy, making sure he doused his head and face the most.

An acrid smell emitted from the deputy as his skin began to turn red and burn. Rancid turned away and sought fresh air as the smell was overwhelming. The deputy moaned, twisted and turned as the acid did its work and as quickly as Rancid started the process, the deputy stopped and went silent.

# Chapter 33

# Liquefied

As quickly as Rancid had found fresh air to breathe, the door to the jail opened and the sheriff stepped inside holding a shotgun head high. Without hesitation the lawman stepped up to Rancid, pointed the barrel at his face and shot his head off splashing Isaac with brains, bone and blood. Rancid's dead body fell to the floor in a heap lying next to the fuming deputy. "Back in the cell," the sheriff said to Isaac, and Isaac complied.

The sheriff fished out his keys and locked the cell door trapping Isaac back inside. "What a fucking mess," the sheriff said. He set his shotgun on his desk and shook his head in disgust. "What's that smell?" the sheriff asked.

"Acid," Bohdan replied. "Your deputy was going to use it on us."

"Bastard, I knew that fucker was no good."

"He's dead now," Bohdan said.

"No, no he's not," the sheriff said. "He's moving around."

"You might want to finish him off, he'll turn into a vampire soon if you don't"

"I can't legally kill him, it's not a crime to be a vampire."

"If that's the case, why did you burn those three slave vampires?"

"Slaves have no rights, I can burn them up if I want. It's not murder. The fact they were vampires was a bonus," the sheriff explained.

"Do you go around killing slaves as a rule?" Bohdan asked.

"No, they were escaped slaves. I don't have time to track down their owners and return them. It's easier to dispose of them."

"What if they hadn't of been vampires? Would you have disposed of them then?"

"Probably not, I could have sold them off and kept the money. Use it for the jail."

"Is that legal?"

"As long as I turned it over to the county clerk. Why are you so interested in small town revenues anyway?" the sheriff asked.

"I just find it odd that you can kill some people and not others. I realize this is a backwards time, and in a way I miss it, but it does seem a bit barbaric."

"What do you mean you miss it?"

"It's hard to explain, and I don't think you'd understand anyway. Let's say, I miss the old west. It has a romantic history. But then I didn't care for parts of it either. Nobody ever remembers scraping to get by and starving most of the time. And then there was the war."

"War? What war?" the sheriff asked.

"I forgot, you didn't have the war here."

"You make little sense and I'm getting a bit bored with you. The judge is on his way and your trial is set for tomorrow."

"That's quick, where did you find a judge around here?" Bohdan asked.

"He's a traveling judge, comes on the train. I sent out a wire and he was close enough by he could make it tomorrow."

"What about our defense? Do we get an attorney provided for us?"

"Us? You're the only one on trial. The girl said you killed her sister, and probably her mother. She didn't see the rest of you do anything."

"Then why are they in jail? Let them go."

"Not until the judge comes. If I let witnesses go he'll hang me."

"So these people are being held against their will?"

"No, they are being detained until the judge lets them go. I wouldn't be doing my job if I let your friends here walk away."

"Your deputy raped Cara. She wouldn't have if she wasn't locked up in your jail," Bohdan said.

"And that fucker got what's coming to him from the looks of it," the sheriff replied.

"You better do something fast, he'll be a full vampire in less than an hour."

The sheriff had no empty cells so he moved Isaac over in with Bohdan and dragged the deputy into the empty cell and locked it. He looked down on the acid burned man who was in the middle of changing and shook his head in disgust. "I hated him, but you know what? Nobody deserves to suffer like that."

"He said he liked to watch people suffer, he's getting what he deserves," Bohdan replied.

The sheriff stepped over to the cell where Cara and Ashley were held. He looked to Cara who was sitting on the bench with her head in her hands. "Sorry about what happened, I didn't think he'd do anything like that."

Cara looked to the sheriff and scowled at him. "How didn't you know? He's a creepy fucker, I'm sure you had an inkling he was abusing the inmates."

"If I did, I wouldn't admit it to you," the sheriff said. "I know you're pissed, but he's all I had for the night shift. Otherwise I'd have to live in this shit hole."

"I was scared to death he was going to pour acid on me!" Cara snapped.

"I said I was sorry, what do you want me to do?"

Cara put her head back in her hands and went silent. She had nothing else to say to the sheriff.

"So did you like it?" the sheriff asked.

"What?" Cara asked.

"Did you like it when he fucked you?"

"Are you serious? He raped me."

"Yeah, but I bet you liked it, most of you whores do."

Ashley stood up and approached the cell bars. "Leave this woman alone! Can't you see she's been through hell?"

"Shut the fuck up bitch," the sheriff said. "You ain't much better than a nigger. And I hate niggers."

"Great, we got another one," Ashley said. "I suppose you want to rape her as well?"

The sheriff rubbed his crotch and adjusted his gun belt. "I wouldn't mind having a try at her as well. She's a nice looking lady."

Just then a sound came from the deputy's cell. It was the sound a man trying to speak, but couldn't. All they could make out was growling sounds. The sheriff stepped over and looked through the bars at the man who was severely acid burned, but was clearly alive and trying to stand.

"What's going on?" Ashley asked. She couldn't see what was going on in the cell next to her.

"Jim's trying to stand up," the sheriff replied. "And he's not doing a very good job."

Bohdan could see what was going on from his cell and watched the mutilated half vampire try to stand. The deputy grabbed the bars and pulled himself up to a standing position. He was obviously in pain from the acid burns and his face was disfigured. One eye melted shut and his jaw hanged showing off his newly forming fangs. In an attempt to speak, the new vampire said, "Help me!"

The sheriff stood back as the deputy spit blood as it spoke. The sound it made wasn't clear, as if it had been chewing on its tongue. "What do you want me to do Jim?" the sheriff asked.

"Get the doctor!" Jim said. Blood and spit drooled from his mouth onto the floor.

"I don't think the doctor is going to help much Jim, you're too far gone."

"I hurt! Stop the pain!"

"I can't, I don't know how."

Jim stumbled back and let go of the bars briefly, then tipped forward and grabbed them with both hands. "Kill me," Jim said as he looked down at the floor.

"I can't Jim that would be murder."

"Don't let me hurt," Jim said. His speech was more slurred than before.

"Go lie down on the bench, you might feel better later."

Bohdan spoke up, "He feels pain far worse than you do. Vampires have heightened senses, pain is one we can't control."

"Than what do you suggest?" the sheriff asked.

"I suggest you do as he asked and kill him."

"I said I can't do that. He isn't a horse with a broken leg, or a slave. My hands are tied, he will have to suffer."

"Then get the doctor for God's sake!" Bohdan snapped. Normally Bohdan didn't give a shit about anyone, but watching the deputy drool and bob his head up and down was more than he could take.

"It's two in the morning and the doctor lives three miles from town."

"So? Go get him!"

"All he's going to do is shoot him up with morphine."

"He needs morphine, how can you stand there and watch your deputy suffer like that?" Bohdan asked.

"I can give him whiskey, that will do the trick," the sheriff said.

"He barely has lips, how do you expect him to drink from a bottle?""

The sheriff looked at Jim and crossed his arms. From what he could see, the deputy wasn't getting any better, or worse for that matter. He just bobbed back and forth and drooled on the floor making a puddle of sputum and blood near his feet. "Are you feeling any better Jim?" the sheriff asked.

Jim looked up and tried to make eye contact with the sheriff but his lids were melted over his eyes covering his vision. His lips hung down and his jaw slacked moving from side to side making mumbling sounds.

"He looks fine to me," the sheriff said.

Then Jim stepped up to the bars and spit across the room at the sheriff splattering his face and shirt with red drool. He didn't know if Jim did it on purpose because he was pissed, or if he had done it on accident because he was trying to speak. Either way, the sheriff was now livid. "You fucking bastard! Did you see what you did?" the sheriff asked.

Jim tried to smile, and for a moment showed off his new fang buds in the process. He backed away and seemed to laugh at what he had done.

"You think that's funny do you?" the sheriff asked. He grabbed his shotgun from the desk and stomped his way over to the deputy's cell. "I'll show you what's funny!"

"That's exactly what he wants you know," Ashley said. "He wants you to kill him."

The sheriff stopped in his tracks. If he shot Jim, he'd be on trial after Bohdan. He took a deep breath and backed off. "Yeah, you're right. I'm not giving that bastard what he wants."

Bohdan spoke up, "What time's the trial?"

"After lunch, the judge won't be in till after eleven. That's when the train gets here."

"You didn't answer my question from before, do I get a lawyer?"

"We don't have a lawyer, you have to represent yourself," the sheriff replied.

"The constitution provides I get adequate representation under the law."

"I can't give you what I don't have," the sheriff replied.

"Then I demand my trial be postponed until a lawyer can be provided."

"You demand? That's funny," the sheriff said. "Get one of your friends here to play lawyer for you."

"There's no reason why my trial has to be tomorrow, you can wait until a lawyer can be found."

"Here's the reason your trial is tomorrow. We have one judge that works a thousand miles of territory and he's available tomorrow. If we don't try you tomorrow, it could be a year before we see him again, and I ain't housing you in my jail until then. You need to work on your defense because your life will be on the line in about twelve hours. This ain't the big city where you can get what you want when you want it."

Bohdan looked away from the sheriff and rested his head on the wall looking up at the ceiling. "I don't have a chance," Bohdan said.

"Probably not," the sheriff said. "You did kill that girl and you will pay for it. Think of it that way."

"Can you at least move the deputy to a different location, he smells like burnt flesh."

"I'll think about it, I need to get home and get some sleep. If he's still alive by sunrise, I'll chain him to a tree or something. I'll have other deputies and I have a long day tomorrow, so you all sleep tight." The sheriff left the jail, closed the door and locked it.

"What are you going to do Bohdan?" Cara asked.

"Die I suppose."

# Chapter 34

# Trial

Bohdan stood in the bright afternoon sun as the sheriff attached the chain to the train depot roof support. The other end of the chain was attached to an iron brace that was locked around Bohdan's neck keeping him from running off. The judge had arrived and his train now sat on the tracks refueling and taking on more water for the steam engine. The whole trial would take place outside in the shade of the depot in three hours before the judge had to leave for his next case three hundred miles away in Garden City.

The judge brought along security, a bailiff, a court reporter, a prosecutor and nothing else. Everything else for the trial had to be provided by the local jurisdiction, including a defense attorney, which Seneca didn't have.

The sheriff set up a makeshift courtroom with a raised platform and bench for the judge and two tables for the prosecution and defense. The rest of the area was patchy grass covered dirt and a group of spectators who came out for the show. With the depot as a backdrop, the judge donned his robe and sat at behind the bench. The bailiff called out the defendant, most times there were no spectators, but today, there were many.

"Call the case," the judge said. He was a middle aged man, grey hair and wrinkles with a pair of bifocals he used to read the complaint.

"The state of Kansas versus Bohdan Malko," the bailiff said. "On trial for the murder of Clarissa, Nate and Sara Rockwell."

"How does the defendant plead?" The judge asked.

Bohdan looked at his shadow on the ground. He was the only member of the trial left out in the hot sun. "Not guilty, not that it matters."

"I understand you are a vampire, is that correct?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"Under U.S. law, you have limited rights, do you have a lawyer present?"

"No, they didn't provide me with a lawyer, and I can't get a fair trial without one. This isn't fair."

"These small towns can't always provide everything we need, so you'll have to do the best you can. Do you understand me?" the judge asked.

"I'm no lawyer, I don't know how to defend myself."

"Certainly you do, have faith in yourself."

"I don't know the law, you have an advantage."

"I'm not your adversary Mr. Malko that is the prosecutor's job. I'm only here to pass judgment on what is presented."

"You know the prosecutor, you brought him with you."

"Don't assume I have any ties with him, I will be impartial. For all you know, I despise the ground he walks on."

"Still, the law is his profession, not mine."

"What is your profession?" the judge asked.

"A long time ago, I worked as a ranch hand," Bohdan replied. "Then after the war I sold slaves back to the south."

"What war?" the judge asked.

Bohdan remembered there was no Civil war here. "I'm sorry, I misspoke."

"I find it interesting you would make up a war to misspeak of. Is there something I should know about you? Did you come from another country? Is there a war in your background?"

"No, I didn't get much sleep last night, I may have dreamed it."

The judge leaned over in his chair and gazed upon Bohdan. "Odd dream to have," the judge said. "Tell me in your own words what happened to the Rockwell's? If you didn't kill them, what happened?"

"I have no idea, I wasn't there," Bohdan replied.

"That's your entire defense? You weren't' there?"

"That's correct."

"According to the complaint, a girl named Anne Rockwell claims she saw you kill her sister, father and mother. How did she get this idea if you weren't there?"

"I don't know."

The judge nodded his head and bit his lip. "I see," the judge said. "Prosecutor, you have the witness."

The prosecutor stepped up and addressed Bohdan. "State your name for the record."

"Bohdan Malko," Bohdan replied.

"Where are you from?"

"I was born in the United States, but my family is from Romania."

"Where were you a week ago, the night of September tenth?"

"I don't recall," Bohdan replied.

"Were you in fact at the ranch of Nate and Sara Rockwell?"

"No."

"I have a witness that will state you were in fact at the ranch on that date. What would make her think you were there?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Bohdan replied.

"She will state that you raped and killed her sister, and then tossed her mother into a fireplace and let her burn to death."

"How would she know? She wasn't there." The second Bohdan said it, he regretted it.

"What do you mean she wasn't there? Obviously you just admitted you were."

"I meant she wasn't anywhere near me on that date. Don't put words into my mouth," Bohdan said.

"Tell the court how you raped Clarissa Rockwell, tell the court how you threw her mother into the fire to let her burn alive."

"You're grasping at straws, maybe this girl did it and is blaming it on me."

"That's absurd, what reason would there be for her to kill her family? And three hired hands as well? She's only a girl, not capable of committing such a crime."

"Ask her," Bohdan replied.

The prosecutor smiled and backed away. "Trying to cast the blame elsewhere is a staple of a good defense. You're doing a great job for not having representation. But it won't work. No one, including this judge would believe a girl could or would commit such a crime against her own family."

"I'm sure it wouldn't be the first time. Ever hear of Lizzy Bordon?"

"Lizzy who?" the prosecutor asked.

Bohdan thought hard and realized that the Lizzy Bordon murders were twenty years off. And in this alternate dimension, may never occur.

"She was a woman who murdered her mother and father."

"Where did this occur?"

"Back east somewhere, I don't remember where exactly."

"Seems your memory is lacking all around," the prosecutor said. "And I think you're making up stories to sway the judge. This girl is innocent, she didn't kill anyone."

"Do I get to examine her, like you are doing to me?"

"Yes, you get to ask the witnesses questions. That is your right. But it won't do you any good. She had no reason to kill her family."

"And I did? What reason do you propose I had to kill?"

"You're an admitted vampire, what do vampires do?"

"I'm not the only vampire around here, when I came into town, there were three vampires being burned at the stake. Anyone of them could have killed her family."

"But you're the one she saw do it!"

"She's wrong! She made a mistake!"

"I call Anne Rockwell to the stand," the prosecutor said. There was no actual stand, just a patch of dirt between Bohdan and the judge.

Anne stepped up and took her place on the designated spot. The bailiff swore her in and she awaited questioning from the prosecution.

"State your name for the record," the prosecutor said.

"Anne Maria Rockwell," Anne replied.

"How old are you Anne?"

"Twelve years old."

"Tell the court what you saw the night of September tenth."

"I saw that man come into my cabin and kill my sister."

"Did you actually see him kill her?"

Anne hesitated for a moment, she knew she didn't see Bohdan do anything since she ran out of the cabin before she died, but she wasn't going to let Bohdan off the hook that easy. "Yes, I saw him do it."

"How did he do it?"

"He put his hands around her throat and cut off her air," Anne replied.

"Did you see her after she was dead?"

"Yes, she fell to the floor and wasn't breathing."

"Then what happened?"

"That bastard took a knife and cut her open."

"You watched him cut her?"

"Yes, I was too scared to run."

"At what point did you leave?"

"When my mother came in to help. She told me to run and I did."

"Did you see the defendant kill your mother as well?"

"No, but I know he did. Who else would have?"

Bohdan spoke up, "I object! She admitted she didn't see me kill her mother. That alone should be enough to toss this case out!"

The judge slid his fingers over his chin as he thought to himself. "Sustained, but the case is still on. She said she saw you kill her sister."

Bohdan knew Anne had left the room when he killed Clarissa, but if he admitted that, it would have been the same as admitting he killed her in the first place.

The prosecutor added, "What about your father, did you see him kill your father as well?"

"No, my father was outside. I haven't seen him since."

"Where did you go after he killed your sister?"

"I ran to the woods and hid. I stayed there for a while and came back to see if anyone was alive. When I saw everyone was dead, I left and came back to Seneca and found the sheriff."

"Was Mr. Malko still present at your ranch?"

"I saw him, and his friends tossing bodies into a pile," Anne replied.

"Was your sister one of the bodies?"

"I don't know, maybe."

"Your witness," the prosecutor said to Bohdan.

Bohdan stepped as far from the depot roof post as he could without pulling the chain taut. He tried to step into some shade but had no luck. He could barely see Anne in the glare of the sun. "Can I get some shade, the sun burns like hell."

The judge shook his head and said, "Proceed with your questions."

Frustrated, Bohdan asked, "Why are you lying to the judge?"

"I'm not lying," Anne replied. "I saw you, you know I was there. You were planning raping us both."

"I've never met you before in my life, are you suffering from a sickness? Are you possessed by a witch?"

"A witch? Are you crazy?"

"No, young girls like yourself are often possessed by witches. Many of you are witches. Did your mother find out you were a witch and that's why you had to dispatch of her? Where you having an affair with your father? Did she murder him?"

"You are sick, and insane. I would never let my father do that."

"He didn't have to, you were after his seed. It was all your plan. You are the witch."

The prosecutor said, "I object, this isn't a line of questioning, it's one lie after another trying to distract this girl from the facts."

"Overruled, the witness may answer," the judge said.

Anne looked in horror at the judge. She didn't want to answer knowing all too well that her father had indeed had relations with her since she was ten. And she was a willing participant.

"Please answer the question," the judge said. "Did you have an affair with your father?"

"Yes," Anne replied. "But I'm no witch, I promise you that."

# Chapter 35

# Verdict

Three hours later the trial was wrapping up. The judge had to move on to his next case and needed to rule before he and the train left. The witnesses were heard, and the prosecution rested its case. By now, the sun had fallen in the west and it no longer burned Bohdan as he awaited his fate. The judge was now in the train depot going over his notes and making his call based on the evidence presented.

Cara and Ashley sat on the depot steps anxiously biding their time awaiting the verdict. Cara would be lost without Bohdan and didn't know what she'd do if he were taken away. Ashley could fend for herself, but had no ties to this place or time. "What are you going to do if they convict him?" Ashley asked.

"I don't know, I'll see what happens first."

"Do you think the judge will find him guilty?"

"Based on what was said, yes, I think he's going to lose."

"I think you're right, we might be stuck out here all by ourselves. I wonder if there's a way to get back."

"I'm not going back, if I can't be with Bohdan, I don't want to live," Cara said.

Just then the bailiff called out, "All rise," and the crowd that remained stood as the judge stepped out of the depot and took his seat on the raised platform. He gave the signal for the gallery to sit and he took his seat as well. "Before I pass judgment, I was informed there was an issue I needed to address concerning the local sheriff's department. Is that correct?"

"Yes your honor," the bailiff replied.

"What is it?"

"The local sheriff wants you to rule on the welfare of one of his deputies that was disabled by one of the vampires."

"Where is the vampire?"

"He was killed."

"And the deputy? What's come of him?"

"He was turned into a vampire, and then was disfigured with acid."

"What's the issue? I don't understand what I'm supposed to rule on."

The sheriff stepped up and addressed the judge. "Your honor, my deputy has become a menace to society, not only is he now a vampire, but he's burned up and dangerous. I think if he is allowed to go free, he will be a threat to our community. I'm asking that you allow me to legally put him down for the safety of the town."

"You speak of him as if he was a rabid dog."

"I think he's far worse than a rabid dog, you'll understand once you see him."

"Where is this rabid vampire?"

"He's locked up in the jail, I can go get him."

"Yes, go get him," the judge said. "In the meantime, I will rule on the case at hand. In the case of the state of Kansas versus Bohdan Malko, I find the defendant guilty as charged. I sentence the defendant to serve life in prison at the Vampire Zoo in Chicago Illinois."

Cara gasped, shook her head in disbelief and looked to the ground. Ashley took a firm grasp of her arm and tried to comfort her.

Bohdan spoke up, "Vampire Zoo? What is this place?"

"It's a new facility built to house vampires. They put them on display and sell tickets," the judge replied. "I hear it's quite the attraction."

Bohdan was shocked to hear he'd be put back on display like an animal. He escaped the peering eyes of tourists and now he would be sent back to a similar facility.

"I'd rather put you to death," The judge said. "But current law doesn't allow that kind of relief. The most I can do is the Zoo. Now, let's get on with this other issue, where's the deputy?"

"He's coming," the sheriff said. "My other deputies have him now."

The judge watched as two deputies dragged the disfigured vampire out to the depot. The vampire deputy shuffled his steps and had a hard time seeing where he was going. His eyes were red and puffy, draining down on his face. His skin, peeling where the acid had burned. "So what do you want me to do with this man? Kill him? What is his crime?" the judge asked.

"Before he became a vampire, he raped a woman being held in the cell. Now that he has become like this, I am sure he will rape again, and kill. He is a dangerous animal, I ask that you allow me to legally end his life."

"Did you hear what I said about killing vampires? It's not allowed by law. The best I can do is sentenced him to the Vampire Zoo as well. And from what you told me, he committed his crime before he became a vampire. The penalty for rape is prison, not death. I can't kill a man for what he might do, that's not how the law works."

"I don't understand," the sheriff said. "If you let him go, you will be responsible for the deaths he causes. You will be as guilty as he."

"I'd watch what you say sheriff," the judge said. "Making false accusations about me will get you more than jail time."

"Fine, I will let him go, then when he kills, I will put him in jail and call you back. Then you can explain to the family of the victim why you let him go."

"If you want him dead, go out and kill him and don't tell me about it. I don't understand why you think this is a legal issue. Stop wasting my time, I have to get going. I need to be in St. Louis by morning."

The sheriff stepped over to the former deputy vampire and motioned for his staff to let him go. To the shock of the crowd, the now free vampire stammered away and headed back towards town. The sheriff turned to the crowd and said, "I tried, but I won't commit murder. I wash my hands of this."

"Put Mr. Malko on the train," the judge said. "We're going to be in Chicago in a week. I can deliver him to the prison myself."

Cara was now distraught. She couldn't let them take Bohdan away so without thinking, she ran to him and wrapped her arms around him. She then turned to the judge and yelled, "I killed the mother, not Bohdan!"

"I don't have time for your theatrics madam," the judge said. "I've ruled on the case."

"I'm a vampire too! You have to put me in the zoo with Bohdan!"

"You're a vampire?" the judge asked. "Is this some sort of joke? Prove to me you're a vampire and I might listen to you."

Cara turned and looked into Bohdan's eyes. She whispered, "Turn me now."

Bohdan looked back at her with a confused look. "What?" he asked.

"Turn me now so I can go with you. I can't be without you."

Bohdan shook his head and grabbed Cara's wrist. He brought it up to his mouth and bit into the skin taking a sip of blood. Just enough to start the process. He had nothing to lose, he was going back to prison for the rest of his unnatural life.

Cara turned back to the judge and held up her hand. "Look, there's your proof! I am a vampire!"

"Maybe so, but you weren't when and if you killed the mother. If you were human at that point, you would be subject to a different set of laws. You'd be either hanged, or sent to Leavenworth."

"I was a vampire then as well, I just did this because you demanded proof. How else was I able to do that?" Cara asked.

"Normally vampires have fangs, let's see yours," the judge said.

Cara knew it could take weeks for her fangs to grow to their full length so she had to think fast. "I was turned a week ago, just before the killings. It takes up to two weeks to fully form fangs. I'm still in the process of changing."

The judge didn't know what to think. He was no expert on vampirism and didn't know if what she was saying was true or not. He needed an expert. "Bohdan, is what she's saying the truth? Does it take two weeks for fangs to form?"

"I've been a vampire so long I can barely remember, but I think she is correct," Bohdan replied.

"And who turned her?"

"It was Rancid," Bohdan replied. It was a lie, but there was no way to fact check a dead vampire.

"Rancid? He was a companion of yours?"

"He's the one who turned the deputy and poured the acid on him. You're sheriff blew his head off with a shotgun." As Bohdan said those very words, the sounds of gunshots rang out from town. "Sounds like someone has already taken care of your deputy problem," Bohdan said with a smile. "I hope they know that bullets won't do the job alone."

The judge looked around for the sheriff and couldn't find him. "Where's the sheriff?" the judge asked.

One of the deputies replied, "He went back to the jail to get something."

"Yeah, I bet," the judge said. Then he saw a plume of dark smoke rise into the air from behind some buildings and the sounds of screaming. "I don't have time to work up another case right now, I need to get going. So I'll try her case on the train on the way to St. Louis. If I find her guilty, I'll drop her off in Chicago at the Vampire Zoo as well. If she's not guilty, she gets dropped off at St. Louis and is on her own. Now load up the train!" the judge said and slammed his gavel.

Cara held Bohdan tight and pressed her head on his chest. "Now I get to be with you forever," she said. "I am as immortal as you are."

"You'll one day regret ever saying those words," Bohdan replied. "I have often wished for death. I was hoping that would be my fate today. The thought of being on display again fills me with such rage and sadness. I've paid my dues, many times over."

"But we will be so close," Cara said.

"Do you think they will house us together? Like a husband and wife? You use me for your own benefit, and I admit I've used you as well. But I don't love you, not like you want me to. You are like a pet to me. That is all. A distraction."

"You will grow to love me."

"If it makes you feel better for me to agree, then so be it. I have nothing to lose. At the least you are entertaining."

Cara smiled knowing that Bohdan didn't reject her outright. She at least had a chance to win him over.

The bailiff approached Bohdan and Cara with a key in his hand to unlock the neck brace that kept Bohdan from running. He freed Bohdan and pointed to the steps that led to the train platform. Bohdan took the hint and walked up the steps to the platform with Cara by his side. The train belched black smoke and steam puffed from under the carriage.

"All aboard!" the conductor yelled and the two vampires stepped up into a passenger car followed by a security officer.

The coach was nice, with padded seats and large windows to see out. The train had only three cars, not including the coal car and the caboose. One car was specifically set aside for the judge to live in, and another for transporting prisoners. The third could be transformed into a makeshift courtroom if necessary.

Once Bohdan and Cara were seated, two security officers found seats on both ends of the car to keep an eye on them. Each had a rifle in their arms and a pistol on their belts. None of which would have helped if they needed them.

"Why don't you love me?" Cara asked.

"When you've been alive as long as I have, you learn to live alone. It's better that way."

"Why? Is it because everyone you know eventually dies?"

"That was at first, but living a long life makes you cynical. I can't stand people anymore. I can't stand what they do, and what they say. I'd rather live in a cube than be around those pathetic fucks. I get so sick of the politics, the religion. I've heard it all before, over and over, and it never changes. The people may change, but the circumstances never do. Some themes are timeless. There's always someone coming for your gun, or your god. People are so stupid and treat each other with such hatred. How many wars can I witness, how many massacres? Tragedies? At some point it all needs to come to an end."

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

"You'll feel that way yourself soon enough. Wait a hundred years and when someone tells you that your freedoms are less important than theirs try not to beat them to death. I've seen leaders repeat the same mistakes over and over to no avail. People don't study history and people die for no good reason. I'm not sorry I feel this way, it was burned into me over time. I want out, I wish he would have cut off my head, not sent it to Chicago."

# Chapter 36

# Bailiff

A hundred miles down the track, Cara watched the landscape fly by through the train window waiting for her chance to convince the judge she was guilty of murder. Bohdan sat across from her on the other bench seat with his eyes closed. "What do you think will happen to Isaac and Ashley?" Cara asked.

Bohdan replied, "Isaac will be fine, I'm not sure about the woman. The old west isn't a very kind place."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not like the world you knew, you can't call 911 when you need help. You're on your own, and she is out of her element."

"She's a security officer for a vampire hunting company, she's not some child."

"Right now she's alone in a world she doesn't know. Who can she turn to? She's basically a homeless person lost in time. Isaac is the only person she knows, and she's only known him less than two weeks. He might turn on her the second he gets a chance."

Cara adjusted her dress and looked around the train car. She was surprised how quiet it was yet felt every bump and sway the car made on the tracks. "How far are we from St. Louis?" Cara asked.

"Four hours probably," Bohdan replied.

"I wish the judge would call us in, I'm getting nervous."

"Us? I'm not on trial, I'm a convict, remember?"

"Yes, I remember."

The train crossed the Missouri river an hour later and almost immediately the bailiff stepped into Cara's train car with a security guard behind him. He approached her and grabbed the back of her seat keeping his balance due to the bouncing of the car on the tracks. "The judge will see you now," the bailiff said.

Bohdan looked to Cara and said, "Good luck."

Cara got up and followed the two men back through the door of her car into the next one that housed the temporary courtroom. It was basically the same layout as the car they came from, with a modified bench on one side and two small tables set up for the prosecution and defense. The judge sat behind his bench and seemed very uncomfortable. There was a reason why he tried cases outside, the car was stuffy and hot.

"Take a seat," the bailiff said. He then took a seat next to the judge.

The judge didn't wear his robes for this case, it was very informal and this made Cara nervous. It was like the judge wasn't taking her plea seriously. She knew she was going to be dumped in St. Louis and scrambled for another plan in case that happened.

The judge had been eating lunch and now Cara knew why it took so long for him to see her. He moved his platter aside and wiped his lips with a napkin. "I've been thinking about what you said," the judge said. "You confessed to a murder, and I get that. You even claim that you were a vampire at the time it occurred. But I have a hard time believing your story. I think you have an external motive for me to find you guilty. You want to be with that thing in the other car. I think you have a sick obsession that would lead you to make a false confession."

"I'm not..." Cara said. And then was abruptly cut off.

"Don't interrupt me madam," the judge said. "I'm finding you not guilty. You're being dropped off in St. Louis as soon as we get there."

"But your honor, I swear I killed her. I can give you all the details. Give me a chance."

"I'm sure you can make up any story you want. Nobody was there when the woman was murdered. It will be your word and your word only. I can't cross examine a dead woman."

"Just give me a chance, we have time," Cara pleaded.

The judge leaned to his side and looked at the bailiff. Normally the judge would dismiss the case and move on, but he found this case to be more interesting than normal, and he was bored. "Fine, go ahead, tell me what happened."

Cara was giddy. She got her chance to convince the judge that she was a cold blooded vampire killer and could possibly be housed at the same facility as Bohdan. Now she needed a good story. "I killed her when she tried to stop Bohdan from raping her daughter. I heard screams and came into the cabin. I found the woman beating Bohdan with her fists and I pulled her off. Then I pushed her to the ground and put my knee on her neck and crushed her windpipe."

"Is that all?" the judge asked. He seemed to be wanting more.

"What do you mean? I just told you how I killed her."

"Her body was found burned up in the fireplace. You seemed to have forgotten that part."

Cara panicked and had a hot flash. She realized that the judge had her where he wanted her. If she backtracked now, she'd surely be screwed. "She was dead when I left the cabin. I don't know how she ended up in the fireplace. Maybe Bohdan put her in there after I left."

"Maybe so, but she could have been alive when he put her in the fireplace. It could have been his actions that actually killed her. Do you know for certain she was dead when you left the cabin?"

"Yes, I watched her take her last breath."

"That sounds very convenient."

"It's the truth, I wouldn't lie."

"Do you know the penalty for perjury?"

"No," Cara replied.

"Ten years in the state prison. If you're lying to me, you'll never see your boyfriend again."

"I swear I'm telling the truth."

The judge shook his head and took the drink from his dinner plate. "If I asked Bohdan the same question, what would he say?"

"He'd tell you the same story."

"Let's find out, bailiff, bring Bohdan in here."

The bailiff left the train car and brought Bohdan back in. He sat the convicted vampire on a seat designated as a witness box. It was a single wood seat too small for an adult, jammed in a corner.

"Swear him in," the judge said and the bailiff complied.

"Tell me in your own words Bohdan, exactly what occurred when the girl and her mother were killed in the cabin."

"Didn't we go over this already?" Bohdan asked.

"I need to hear it again."

"I told you I didn't do it."

"That's right, I remember, the girl and her mother died on their own. The girl was torn up and the mother tossed in a fireplace to burn to death."

"I have nothing else to add."

The judge didn't get the information he was looking for and had no way to corroborate the two stories. His decision would have to be based on his gut feelings on who was telling the truth and who was lying to him. He didn't have much to go on, but felt he was being lied to by both parties with different motives. "I've made my decision, I don't believe either one of you. I find you not guilty of murdering Sara Rockwell and will have to dispatch from the train in St. Louis when we arrive."

"No! You can't!" Cara cried out. "You have to find me guilty!"

"I'm sorry, there is no evidence supporting your claim. Not even your boyfriend here would back you up. I have no choice."

Cara had to scramble for another plan. St. Louis was a few hours away and the thought of being separated from Bohdan was overwhelming. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down as an idea came to her. Taking a moment to regain her composure, she slipped off the right shoulder of her dress and pulled it down as far as it would go. She then slipped off the left and pulled it down exposing her breasts to the judge. She then quickly tugged the dress over her breasts and let it fall to the ground. She now stood naked before the judge and everyone else in the train car.

"What are you doing?" the judge asked.

"I will buy my guilty verdict," Cara replied.

"Buy? With what?" the judge asked. He knew exactly what she was doing, but he felt he had to ask anyway.

"I will let you fuck me, in exchange for a guilty verdict."

The judge looked upon Cara's naked body and laughed. "Are you kidding? Do you think you can buy me with sex?"

Cara slowly spun around giving the judge a good look at her body. She held her breasts up and squeezed them slowly seeing what kind of reaction she would get from him. She could see he was interested and proceed to move her legs apart giving the judge a good look at her pussy. It was hairy, not like she liked to keep it, but she hadn't had access to a razor in a week or more. "I can see you want me," Cara said. "You can have me for a price."

"Do you think I'm going to fuck you here? Now? In front of all these witnesses?" the judge asked. "That's absurd."

"All I'm asking for is a guilty verdict. It won't harm you to rule in my favor, and you get me in exchange."

"You are a foolish woman," the judge said. "If you wanted a favor from me, you should have asked in private. Now that God and everyone has seen you naked there is no way I can help you. I'm not losing my judgeship over a romp with you."

Cara stepped in closer, turned and bent over grabbing her ankles giving the judge a long close look at her backside. She turned and looked at his face seeing his eyes glued to her pussy. It was like he was holding back his drool. "Take me, you know you want too," Cara said. She could see the judge rubbing the bulge in his crotch under the table.

"Out, take her out of here," the judge said.

Cara stood up and stepped in closer. She leaned over and put her hands on the judge's table and let her large breasts hang down for him to see. She grabbed one and held it out to him, presenting him her large, round pink nipple. "Go on, touch it," she said.

The judge squirmed back in his seat trying not to obviously look at the breast staring him in the face. Cara was making him very uncomfortable as the rest of the men in the car watched. "I said take her out of here!" the judge yelled.

As the bailiff approached Cara, she reached over to the judge's dinner plate and grabbed a steak knife, plunging it into the bailiff's neck. She pulled as hard as she could ripping into his flesh and tearing a gash the width of her hand. Shocked, the bailiff put his hands to his throat to try to stay off the deluge of blood that was pouring out onto his chest. It was no use, he would be dead soon.

"Security! Stop her!" the judge yelled.

Cara backed off and watched the bailiff try to stop the bleeding. The guards grabbed her bloody body and pulled her back away from the judge and bailiff. She smiled as she watched the bailiff struggle to stop the bleeding and eventually fall to the ground and die.

Seeing the bailiff motionless and his blood no longer draining onto the floor Cara said, "Now you have to put me in the Vampire Zoo, you all saw what I did."

The judge stood and looked down upon the dead man on the floor of the train car. He looked at Cara and said, "You got what you wanted you stupid cunt. Now get her out of here."

The security guards led Cara and Bohdan back out into their train car and locked the doors. Normally the guards would stay in the car with them, but they had no one else to clean the mess they left behind and tend to the body of the bailiff.

Cara took her seat across from Bohdan, she was still nude and covered in blood. Her dress tossed on the floor next to her.

"Are you going to get dressed?" Bohdan asked.

"Not until I get cleaned up, I don't want to get blood all over my dress," Cara replied.

"We won't see Chicago until after dark. By that time the blood will have dried."

"They don't have a bath on the train," Cara replied. "I can wait. What's the problem? You never seen a naked woman before?"

"I've seen many naked women before, I usually kill them afterwards," Bohdan said.

"You won't be killing me, I'm immortal now too, like you."

"Don't believe that for a second, you know you can die."

"Yeah, but it's a lot harder now."

"I think you will eventually regret all of your decisions, being a vampire is not what you think it is. There is no romance, just a life of pain and sorrow."

"As long as I have you, I don't care," Cara said.

"What makes you think you have me?" Bohdan asked. "You are my pet that is all. When I find a new pet, you will be tossed by the wayside. I'm loyal to no one."

# Chapter 37

# Vampire Zoo

The train pulled into Burr Ridge Illinois at three in the morning, two miles from the Illinois state correctional facility for the undead, otherwise known as the Vampire Zoo. Built in eighteen sixty five, it was created to house the worst of the worst vampire killers in the United States. The facility was carved out of the ground creating a pit thirty feet deep with brick paved sides that would deter any vampires from scaling out. From the longest side it was five hundred feet end to end, and three hundred feet wide with a tower in the center that rose seventy feet from the bottom of the pit. A bridge connected the tower to the edge of the pit where staff and prisoners could enter the facility. The bridge was the only way in or out and was heavily guarded.

Inside the pit were three housing units surrounded by gravel and dirt with a few trees and shrubs growing wild throughout. The trees were kept trimmed low to keep the vampires from scaling the walls and were eventually cut down if they became a threat to the facility. Lining the top of the pit was a wrought iron fence that ran the entire circumference with sharpened tips that gave an extra level of security. No vampire had ever scaled the wall in twenty years, but the public felt better with the fence in place.

Bohdan and Cara were transferred from the train to a secure carriage and transported to the facility stopping at the administration office. Once their legal papers were filed, they were led to the guard tower and escorted across the bridge to the tower where they were met by a different set of armed guards. From there the group descended down the staircase to the ground level and led out the door into the pit.

"You're on your own now," one of the guards said. "Good luck, you're going to need it."

"What's he talking about?" Cara asked. She was able to clean up at the guard station and find a different dress, but still looked like hell.

Bohdan asked, "Are there guards down here? You're not just going to leave us are you?"

"We don't put guards in the pit once it gets dark, too dangerous," the guard replied.

"What are we supposed to do?"

"If you're lucky, you'll be killed soon. That's the best you can hope for."

Cara pulled in close to Bohdan and grabbed his arm. "I don't like this place."

"You wanted to be a vampire, and you killed the bailiff, what did you expect?" Bohdan replied.

The guards left and closed the door behind them. Bohdan and Cara stood near the door looking around and listening. With his heightened senses, Bohdan could make out the sounds of vampires moving about and hear the shuffling of feet. He knew some were near and heading his way. "We need to find shelter," Bohdan said.

For the first time, Cara noticed the sound of fear in his voice. "Why? What's going on?" she asked.

"They're coming, can you hear them?"

Cara listened but heard nothing. She hadn't been a vampire long enough to intensify her hearing. "I don't hear anything, where are they?"

Bohdan put up his hand to silence Cara. He listened again and the sounds subsided.

Then a voice called out from the dark, "Look, it's a woman," the male voice said. It was if he was speaking to another vampire.

"We haven't had a woman in years," another voice spoke out. It was now obvious the two were carrying on a conversation.

"I want her first," a voice called out.

"You will ruin her, let me have her first," the second voice replied.

Bohdan spoke out, "Neither of you can have her, not until I know who the hell you are."

From the dark, the two beings stepped out of the shadows and into the light from the torches that lined the top of the pit. What Bohdan and Cara saw were two sickly looking thin bald vampires hobbling over towards them. They both looked like they had scoliosis and were as pale as flower. "Give us your woman," the first vampire said. His name was Dorek, a former Polish farmer turned vampire.

"She's not mine to give," Bohdan replied.

"Then we will take her," Dorek said.

Cara pulled in tighter to Bohdan. "Don't you let them take me."

"If I don't, they may try to kill me, I don't want to die tonight."

"Neither do I!" Cara snapped.

"I'm not responsible for your welfare, go with them willingly and maybe they will spare your life."

"You bastard, how can you say that? What kind of a man are you?"

"I'm known as Bohdan the Vampire Ripper, does that tell you anything?"

Dorek cocked his head when he heard Bohdan say his name. "Did you say Bohdan?" Dorek asked.

"Yes, Bohdan Malko."

"It can't be, how can the great Bohdan be here, in my midst?" Dorek asked. "You are a legend."

"A legend?" Bohdan asked. "You've heard of me?"

"Yes, the great Bohdan the Vampire Ripper, you are famous across the land."

"How can that be? I'm not from around here. I'm not sure this is even real."

"You are well known for your savage murders. For the way you leave your victims torn up and displayed. It is said you've killed a hundred women, and kept their hearts as a reward. Is that true? Do you keep their hearts?"

"I have kept a few, but the stories you've heard are greatly exaggerated. I've only killed maybe a few dozen women since I was turned. Not a hundred."

"A few dozen? That's still impressive. No other vampire I know leaves their victims like you do, it is said you eat from their flesh once you are finished."

"I drink of their blood, isn't that the same? We all do it," Bohdan replied.

"But you revel in the dismemberment. You create art in what you do. You have made a name for yourself and a celebrity amongst the undead," Dorek said.

Bohdan shook his head when he heard the word "celebrity." He hated being on display back at the prison he escaped from, and now he was doomed to repeat the same fate. To be on display, and attract tourists. All he wanted to do was fade into the population and disappear. Now he would be the main attraction at the Vampire Zoo.

"Why do they call this place a zoo?" Bohdan asked.

"They call it the Vampire Zoo because people come from all over the country to look at us. We are like animals on display, and they charge a fee to see us. If you want to get up close to the fence, it's twenty five cents. If you want to get on the bridge, it's fifty. Only the richest people pay for the bridge."

"Do any of the tourists ever come down here into the pit?" Bohdan asked.

"Not very often, but sometimes a rich industrialist will come and pay to have an armed escort down here. It's usually a huge deal when they do and they have lots of armed guards. Now that you're here, I'm sure we'll have a lot more of them showing up. I bet they give you a room of your own."

"What do you mean a room of my own?" Bohdan asked.

"There are three building here, one is filled with the Mormons, the other with miners. The third is torn to pieces and is filled with rats and shit. Most of the vampires use it as a toilet."

"Mormons and miners? That's an odd combination."

"Infected slaves attacked the Mormons on their trip to Utah. Same with the miners heading to California. Both created huge pockets of vampires and many of them ended up here."

"It's not illegal to be a vampire as far as I know," Bohdan said.

"No it's not, you have to be a killer to be put in here, and as far as I know, all vampires are killers. Have you ever drank from a human and not killed them?" Dorek asked.

"Plenty of times," Bohdan replied.

"So you made lots of little vampires along the way, good for you," Dorek replied. He was being sarcastic. It was vampire ethics that said kill who you drink from so you don't create more competition for yourself down the line.

"I was new, I didn't know any better. Later on, I killed them all and tore them up. That's how I got my name and reputation. Now how about this room you're talking about?"

"Once they know you're here, one of the groups will try to get you on their side and use your fame to gain power. Whoever leads that group gets their own room. Nobody else here gets a room to themselves, there just aren't a lot of them."

Bohdan remembered when he was being recruited to lead the skinheads back home. He didn't want to lead then, and he didn't want to lead now. But things were different now, he didn't have a locked cell and if he didn't assimilate with one of the groups he might be targeted by both. "What group are you with?" Bohdan asked.

"I'm a miner," Dorek replied.

"And your friend here is as well?"

"Yes, his name is Valeska. We were both heading to California when we were attacked. We and a three more escaped before they could kill us, and we turned. The rest of our wagon group were killed."

"How long were you on the run before they rounded you up?" Bohdan asked.

"Not long, maybe three years. They housed us in a jail but couldn't keep us there forever, so they put us on a work farm. We were there for maybe ten years before they transferred us to a state prison. Then they built this place and sent us here."

"How many vampires live here?" Bohdan asked.

"Fifty maybe," Dorek replied.

Cara asked, "Any women?"

"Yes, I don't know how many, fifteen maybe."

"Why are there so many male vampires?" Cara asked. "I'd think women would be the more popular and easy targets."

"Yes, but most of the male vampires kill them once they are done. It's harder to kill the males, that's why there are more."

"Are they as evil as you?"

"If you're looking for friends, you're looking in the wrong place. This place is much divided. Almost to the point of war. You have to watch where you go and what you do or you will find yourself in pieces tossed in the shit pile," Dorek said. "If I were you, I'd go with us tonight before the Mormon's find you. They aren't as kind as we are. They would have torn you up first and left you to rot."

"I don't think we have much of a choice now do we? How far is it to your building?" Bohdan asked.

"It's not far, this pit isn't as big as it looks from the outside. Come with us," Dorek said.

Bohdan and Cara followed Dorek and Veleska away from the tower, across the gravel and dirt to a brick building on the north side of the pit. The building was unkempt and looked far older than it actually was. There was rock and brick strewn all across the gravel that surrounded the building and a smell of death and decay drifted out the windows.

"Why does it smell like that?" Cara asked.

"It's the smell of rotting slaves," Valeska replied.

"What do you mean? Rotting slaves."

"That's how they feed us, they send down slaves and criminals. The ones destined for the gallows they send here. The slaves that try to escape get sent here as well."

"And you let the bodies rot in the place you live? Why not toss them in the building with the rats?"

"Even dead bodies have a worth here, we don't give them up to our enemy," Valeska replied.

"What possible value would a dead body have?"

"We keep their souls as well as their bodies. We use them like we use our fists or our fangs. They give us power."

"This sounds like voodoo to me," Cara said.

"That's how we learned of the power, from the black slaves. They taught us of the power and now we use it."

"Do the Mormons do the same thing?"

"No, their religion won't allow it, that is our advantage over them," Valeska replied.

"I'm not sure if either one of you have the advantage," Bohdan said. "But if it makes you think so, so be it."

# Chapter 38

# Preacher Jack

Dorek and Valeska led Bohdan and Cara back to their building and let them inside. Neither Bohdan nor Cara knew if this was a setup to get them killed, but they knew eventually they'd be found by someone in the confined area of the pit. They had to have faith they'd survive another day.

"This place is a disaster," Cara said. "How can you live here? Don't they fix this place up once and awhile?"

"No, they don't care about us, there have been no repairs since the building was built."

"They don't treat animals in a zoo this badly."

"They think we should take care of the building ourselves, but they don't give us any materials or tools."

"If this place falls apart, will the tourists still come?" Cara asked.

"They come every day, look down on us, yell at us, throw things into the pit," Dorek replied.

"What kinds of things?"

"Rocks mostly, they try to hit us when we're out."

"And the guards put up with this?"

"The guards bring rocks to sell to the tourists, they pick them up later and resell them again and again."

"That's pathetic, and inhuman."

"Obviously they don't consider us human," Dorek replied. "I want you to meet our leader, Preacher Jack."

"Preacher? Is he a minister?"

"No, he just likes to tell us what to do, that's how he became our leader. It's almost sunrise, he should be up by now."

Dorek walked through the shattered halls of the miners building to where Preacher Jack's private room was located. There was no door, just a sheet that hung covering the open door. Dorek announced himself and no one answered, then a voice called out from behind telling him that Preacher Jack was outside with the rest of the vampires, it was feeding day.

"What's feeding day?" Cara asked.

"Let me show you," Dorek said. He and Valeska led Bohdan and Cara back out the front door and saw that a large crowd of vampires had gathered by the north wall. At the top of the wall, part of the iron fence was opened to allow a large wood carriage to back up to the edge. There was no room on either side of the carriage to allow anyone in or out, it seemed odd that the opening fit perfectly, but that would become clear soon enough.

Surrounding the carriage was a group of prison guards, and surrounding them for as far as the eye could see were tourists pressed up against the fence watching what was about to happen. As the sun rose above the horizon, the sky lit up a pale blue with a bit of red mixed in. Just enough light to see a body drop from the back of the carriage into the pit. Bohdan didn't see the body hit the ground behind the crowd of vampires, but he did see them pounce on it as soon as it hit.

"What the fuck?" Bohdan asked. "What are they doing?"

"You heard what I said, it's feeding time."

"Who are they dropping? Are they dead?"

"Those are convicted criminals, death row inmates and escaped slaves. And no, they are not dead. Vampires don't feed on the dead, they are the dead."

Another body dropped from the carriage and again the vampires pounced on it like savage animals. Bohdan was a good hundred yards away but could easily hear the screams of the victim and the cheers of the crowd watching from above.

"I'm a vampire, and I find that a bit barbaric," Bohdan said. "Where's the sport in that?"

"Coming from someone famous for raping and killing young women, I don't think you have a leg to stand on," Dorek said. "What sport is there in killing girls?"

"Touché'," Bohdan replied. "But they were never handed to me like this. From what I can see, they tied them up, I can see straps wrapped around them as they fall."

"They are tied up, they don't want the vampires injured as they feed. They would do the same for a tiger in the zoo."

Another body dropped, then another and the crowd went wild.

"How many humans do they drop on feeding day? And how often do they feed?"

"It depends, they try to feed at least twice a month, and I've seen as many as twenty dropped in a day and as few as three. It can get very hungry around here on those days. The vampires tend to get very testy and I've seen lots of fights break out. We don't feed on each other obviously, but starve a vampire and you will piss him off."

"Where is this Preacher Jack?" Bohdan asked.

"He's probably in the crowd," Dorek replied.

"You make him fend for himself? I thought he was your leader? Isn't there any perks to being the boss?"

"Not around here, if he didn't get his own he'd be starving like the rest of us."

"Speaking of which, why aren't you out there getting some of that good slave blood?" Bohdan asked.

"It's not worth it, the big ones feed first, we get the seconds, and sometimes thirds."

"How big are the big ones?"

"You'll find out soon enough, it's best to stay back here for a day or so after feeding time. Once they get their strength back, they can be either very complacent, or very aggressive. It depends on their mood."

Bohdan and Cara continued to watch as they dropped another five bodies from the back of the carriage onto the pit floor. The vampires below savaged the living humans and drank from their bodies as soon as they came to a rest. Bohdan could see vampires vying for good spots and wrestling with other vampires pushing and shoving to get what they could.

When the last body was dropped, the carriage pulled away and the gate was closed. The guards stepped back and the crowd filled in the spot where the carriage once was parked to get a better look at what was going on below. This seemed to be the prime spot for the tourists and they seemed to be as agitated and aggressive as the vampires below feeding in the pit.

"There he is," Valeska said pointing to the crowd. "I see Preacher Jack coming this way."

Bohdan strained to pick out this Preacher Jack from all the other vampires. "I thought you said the Mormons and the miners didn't get along. Do they feed them separate?"

"No, they're all mixed up now, but they will soon separate. There are no factions when it comes to feeding time, a starving vampire is a starving vampire," Valeska replied.

Bohdan could now see a single figure walking back to the miners building surrounded by two other vampires. Preacher Jack was a large vampire, with a big grey burly beard and miner's hat. He wore suspenders and denim jeans that went well with his button down shirt. He was exactly what Bohdan thought a miner would look like.

As Preacher Jack approached, Dorek stepped up and greeted him. "Jack, I want you to meet someone," Dorek said.

Preacher Jack stopped and looked at Bohdan and Cara. He was taken aback for a moment, as if he recognized Bohdan from somewhere. "Who are you?" Preacher Jack asked.

"His name is Bohdan, Bohdan the Vampire Ripper."

Preacher Jack didn't move for a moment, then he shook his head. "I've heard of a vampire ripper, I wasn't impressed then, and I'm not impressed now. I think all vampires are evil scumbags to an extent, what makes him any different?"

"He has a reputation all across the nation. Everyone knows of Bohdan the Vampire Ripper. He's been in the papers, books have been written about him. There is no vampire as famous as him," Dorek replied.

"Books? Bullshit, I don't believe it for a second. Is that true?" Preacher Jack asked Bohdan.

"I don't know, I've never been to a bookstore," Bohdan replied with a grin.

"Even if it was true, why should I care? We are all the same here."

"Maybe to us he's the same, but not to the tourists, and definitely not to the prison. Once they realize who he is, things will change."

"Change how?"

"They will use him to make money, they will charge more to see the vampire ripper. His fame will bring in more tourist and more money."

"I still don't see how this affects me," Preacher Jack said.

"Bohdan will end up running this place. He will get special protections. We will all bow down to him," Dorek replied.

"I bow down to no one," Preacher Jack said.

"Money talks, the administration will make changes, I grant you that. This place will not be the same once they figure out who they have living here now."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying we need to make Bohdan the leader of the miners before the Mormons do. Having Bohdan in charge will bring us great power by default."

Preacher Jack stood dumbfounded. He had just heard that he needed to step aside and let Bohdan take over as leader. "I've been running the miners for ten years, and you want me to give that all up to this guy? Are you nuts?"

"If you don't, you may find yourself dead," Dorek replied.

"Is that a threat?"

"Not from me, I'm just telling you like it is. The other vampires will realize that they can have a better life if they have a celebrity vampire as their leader. Bohdan can provide far more than you ever could. If you don't step down, they will see it as a threat and will take you out themselves. It wouldn't be the first time a vampire uprising took out a rival around here. Fuck, that's how your rose to power. You had Matthew murdered."

"Let's say you're right, if I step down I'm dead either way. I will be seen as weak and killed for my spot," Preacher Jack said.

"Not if you play it right, you can be Bohdan's assistant, his second in command. The other vampires will respect you if you play this right."

"I see your point, but how do I know this is the real vampire ripper? It's his word and his word only. Where's your proof?"

Bohdan shrugged his shoulders as to say he had none.

"See, even he has no evidence."

Cara spoke up, "He's who he says he is, I know."

"And who are you?"

"I'm his woman, Cara."

"Bohdan the Vampire Ripper brought along his woman? That's hilarious," Preacher Jack said. "Where are your kids?"

"Don't mock Bohdan, he will be running this place soon enough and you'll be sorry you didn't bow down to him sooner," Cara said.

"Shut up woman," Preacher Jack said. "I bow down to no one."

"Then you will die, and sooner the better."

"I'm going to call a gathering to discuss this, I want to get to the bottom and find out who this clown really is. If there is such a thing as a vampire ripper, I'm sure he's not him. There must be someone here who would recognize him if he were. And if he is who he says he is, we will find the best way to use him. I agree we can't let the Mormons have him, but I don't need him if he's lying. The first thing I'd do as a new inmate would be to lie to gain power. This guy is smart to claim to be the ripper. Maybe too smart for his own good."

"You will see," Cara said. She pulled up close to Bohdan and put her arms around him for protection.

"What are you scared of?" Preacher Jack asked.

"You, you ugly bastard," Cara replied.

Preacher Jack laughed and shook his head at Cara. "You should be scared of me. I'm one bad motherfucker."

"You need a bath, and wash your clothes. How can you like being a disgusting pig?"

"Look around, do you see a bathhouse? This isn't a luxury hotel. Maybe where you come from, with your fancy dresses and perfume you can be a princess, but around here it's a hog pen. Get used to it missy, you'll be looking and smelling like me sooner than you think. And that dress? It will be rags within a week. You'll be looking like you stepped out of a jungle."

"I can take care of myself," Cara said.

"Then let go of your protector and prove it," Preacher Jack replied.

# Chapter 39

# Warden Oden

Word of the vampire ripper spread like wildfire throughout the pit and to the prison administration outside. Bohdan was awaken from a deep sleep by two prison guards who bravely traversed their way into the miners building to find him. Leaving Cara behind in protest, Bohdan was led out of the building and up the tower to the administration office on the outside. Groggy, but awake, Bohdan was brought into the warden's office and presented like a prize catch from a fishing pond. The warden, a tough asshole with no compassion for anyone looked upon Bohdan and scratched his face. "Who the fuck are you?" the warden asked, his name was Gary Oden.

"My name is Bohdan Malko," Bohdan replied. He was tired of explaining who he was to people.

"Are you this vampire ripper I keep getting told about?"

"I'm just a vampire," Bohdan replied.

"Then why do I keep hearing you're something special? There must be a reason for all this nonsense."

"I don't know, I can't help you."

The warden shuffled some papers and read from the top sheet. "I have something here from the U.S. Marshals office about someone with your name being on a list of most wanted killers. There's no picture but you fit the description. And you have the same name, why do you think they say you're a killer?"

"All vampires are killers," Bohdan replied.

"No shit, I've been warden here for a long time, you don't think I know that?"

"I'm just saying, I don't know why the marshals are singling out one vampire over the rest."

The warden read more of the report. "Says here that Bohdan Malko, otherwise known as Bohdan the Vampire Ripper raped and killed over fifty young women and girls. Also says there is a huge reward for your capture. Is this you or not?"

"It's not me," Bohdan replied.

"You have the same fucking name, what's the odds of two vampires with that name Bohdan Malko?"

"I don't know," Bohdan replied.

"I have a feeling this is you, and if it is, damn if I'm giving you up to the marshals. You are a cash cow if I ever saw one," the warden said.

Bohdan had been down this route before being put on display for tourists. He didn't want to be the celebrity vampire anymore and wanted nothing more than to fade into the crowd and disappear. "Do what you want, you will anyway."

"I know, but I need some proof before I put you on display and charge admission. And I need to work something out with the feds so they don't take you away. This is the best facility in the country to house vampires."

Bohdan looked down on the desk and tried to read the papers upside down. What he read had nothing to do with housing vampires. It said penalty of death in bold letters on the third line from the top. "I think they want to kill your cash cow," Bohdan said.

"I read that too, but I think I can work something out," the warden said. "We don't have the death penalty for vampires in Illinois. Since you're here already, I can argue that you can't be killed in this jurisdiction. Unless they can extradite you somehow I think I can make a killing on you."

"Isn't this a federal prison?" Bohdan asked.

"No, it's a state run prison."

"They allow you to charge a fee to look at the inmates? Is that legal?" Bohdan asked.

"Nobody's stopped me yet," the warden replied with a grin.

"What do you do with the money you make?"

"That's none of your fucking business now is it vampire ripper?"

"I'm not the vampire ripper," Bohdan replied.

"You are until I can prove otherwise. I'm making arrangements right now for a special display, so get used to the idea of being our number one attraction."

Bohdan thought back to the time he was chained to the metal rack and put on display before the tourists on the tram line. For hours he faced the crowd behind the Plexiglas and the thought of doing something similar here angered him to no end. "I'll commit suicide before I let you put me on display. I'm not an animal."

"You do realize they call this place the Vampire Zoo for a reason. You're all on display. The fact they decided to put you into a pit instead of building a wall or fence made this place a perfect way to display you."

"Why was that decision made?" Bohdan asked.

"Some science fuck wanted to study vampires and decided it would be easier to do it from above. They had no idea that crowds would come to see the vampires, then wham, I got this brilliant idea to charge a fee. Next thing you know we're flush with cash. We're the only prison in the state that is self-sufficient."

"Does any of that money make its way into your pockets?"

"Like I said before, that's none of your fucking business, but I will say that I'm thinking about building a new house and the extra cash you bring in will help immensely."

"You corrupt bastard, and I'm the one in prison."

"Well, from what I read here, you like to fuck and murder little girls, and tear them up and leave them for people to find later. I think you're getting exactly what you deserve if you ask me," the warden said.

"I do like to fuck and murder little girls, I miss it greatly," Bohdan said.

"You are a piece of shit," the warden replied. "I'm going to take out a full page ad in the paper as soon as I confirm who you are. I'm going to have a cage built that can hang from the bridge so you can be seen from anywhere behind the fence. I'll have you on display from sun up to sunset. Fuck, I'll charge extra at feeding time so they can watch you do what you sick fucks do best. But I won't be bringing in any little girls for you. Not even a slave deserves that."

"Do you have a daughter?" Bohdan asked.

The warden paused for a moment. "Why do you give a shit?"

"How old is she?"

"Old enough that I can let her watch you rot in that cage. Do you know what it will be like to sit out in the hot sun all day? And in the rain? Fuck, it gets pretty cold in the winter too, you'll be an ice cube vampire. But they will come from all over to pay to see you," the warden said.

"You know why I like to fuck and kill little girls?" Bohdan asked. He was trying his best to get to the warden. "They're easy, and they turn me on."

"I bet, sick fucks like you are a dime a dozen, I'm surprised they're not more of you in prison. How you got a reputation is beyond me."

"I'm not who you think I am, but I do share in this rippers desire for girls. Maybe he is a copycat, maybe I inspired him," Bohdan said.

"It shouldn't take too long to identify you. I'll wire the marshal's office today and get someone down here to check you out. In the meantime, I'm ordering the cage be built and I want you isolated so the other vampires don't try to kill you. They are some jealous fucks."

"You don't have to isolate me, the miners have taken me in," Bohdan said. Bohdan knew that Preacher Jack wasn't willing to give up his power, and that a meeting hadn't been called yet, but he would rather live in a group than be put in a cell by himself. Back at New Systems Corrections Inc., he knew he had some protections from the other inmates. Here, he could be attacked by the Mormon's at any time and by the guards in his cell. He felt he had some protection with the miners. Not much, but at least he wasn't caged.

"I don't trust either group, you are worth too much to me."

"If you isolate me, I'll kill myself," Bohdan said. "Then your cash cow will be gone."

"I'll have the guards tie you up so you can't," the warden said. "You'll be spending a lot of time in the cage and I can't let you die, not that easily."

"I don't need my arms to end my life, I have other ways," Bohdan said.

"You're bluffing," the warden replied. He looked out his window towards the pit. He could see the fence surrounding the hole and all the spectators standing up close to the bars looking down at the inmates. "Tell you what, you can go back into the pit, that's fine with me for now. But when I get my permission, you will be hung up on display. You should think of this differently, you will be fed regularly, not like the other animals. You will have privileges no other inmate will have. I need to think on this, but as a celebrity, you will have a life the other vampires will envy."

"Envy leads to jealousy, and then to anger and revenge," Bohdan said. "I need to be among the crowd to survive. Don't treat me any different than anyone else."

"It's too late for that. I got word you were here less than a day after you arrived. Nobody put two and two together at the state level, but the inmates figured you out very fast. I will guess by this time tomorrow, I will have more of a crowd than my guards can handle. I'm going to need to hire more staff." The warden looked back at Bohdan and to the guards behind him. "Get him back in the pit, keep a guard on him at all times," the warden said.

Bohdan was led back out of the administration office and back into the pit. He was escorted to the miners building and a guard stayed behind to watch him. Cara met Bohdan at the door and led him inside. "You're just in time, they're holding a meeting."

Bohdan stepped into the largest room in the miners building. He saw Preacher Jack standing on a raised slab of concrete addressing the crowd of vampires who were gathered for the meeting. As soon as Bohdan entered the room, Preacher Jack stopped talking, it was as if they were talking about Bohdan and didn't want him to hear what they were saying.

"Don't stop on my account," Bohdan said.

"What did the warden want?" Preacher Jack asked.

Bohdan looked at the guard that was standing next to him. The guard was shaking nervously but standing in attention like the warden expected. Bohdan turned and replied, "He wants to put me on display."

"I assumed he would. Why did he let you come back?"

"I told him I'd kill myself if he didn't," Bohdan replied.

"Why? You prefer to live among us?"

"I'd rather live here than be locked up in a cell by myself."

"You'd be protected in a cell."

"I'd go crazy," Bohdan replied. "What are you discussing? Me?"

"Yes, we were talking about where you'd fit in our clan. We didn't know if you were coming back or not so we were about to dismiss the meeting, but now that you're back, we can continue. Now that you seem to have some freedom, what does the clan want?"

There was some rumbling among the vampires present, but no single vampire spoke out.

"There has been an idea put forth that Bohdan be my second in command, how do you feel about that?" Preacher Jack asked the crowd.

"If he's on display, what good he will be to us?" a voice called out.

Preacher Jack asked, Bohdan, "How often will you be on display?"

"He said all fucking day, locked up in a cage suspended from the bridge," Bohdan replied. "I don't think I'll do you much good as a second in command."

"Locked up in a cage hanging from the bridge? That's cruel even for this place," Preacher Jack said.

"You're warden seems to be quite the asshole."

"He's here for a paycheck and he's managed to increase his paycheck quite a bit. Illegally."

"Why don't you guys do something about that?" Bohdan asked.

"Like what? If you haven't noticed, we live in a hole in the ground. To him we are nothing but a bunch of blood sucking moles."

"Moles dig tunnels, you ever thought of that?"

"The walls are lined with brick, beyond the brick is clay so hard it might as well be stone."

"How did they manage to dig this out if it was so hard?" Bohdan asked.

"I don't know, I wasn't here. I was busy killing innocent people and drinking their blood."

"You're a miner and you don't know how they dug out a hole in the ground?"

"I used to dig tunnels into mountains. To find gold, not dig out clay to make a zoo. Don't confuse the two," Preacher Jack replied.

"Maybe you should put your skills to good use and find a way. Unless you like living in this hell hole."

"Maybe you can lead us in digging a tunnel, with all your experience, it should only take a hundred years," Preacher Jack replied.

# Chapter 40

# Show time

For two weeks straight the warden had Bohdan suspended twenty feet above the ground trapped in a cage. The cage hung from the bridge that connected the tower to the guard post on edge of the pit. Spectators came from far and wide to see Bohdan as word got out he was now a prisoner at the Vampire Zoo. His reputation caused overcrowding that choked the prison grounds and made life more difficult for the guards and other inmates. The guards were pissed their workload had increased and the other inmates were jealous of the attention Bohdan received.

From his cage, Bohdan could see the three buildings and watch the other vampires as they carried on with their lives. They often stopped in groups to look up at him and jeer. Many times they threw rocks and stones and tried to hit him, often hitting the sides of the steel cage with a clank. Bohdan was hit a few times, but was never injured

Then the day came when the warden called him back into his office with some news. It was an idea he had hatched for a one day event to make a shit load of cash for the prison and himself. Bohdan was given the details and the next day was transported to an open field next to the administration building where a huge crowd had gathered for the event. As his wagon approached, the crowd split allowing the horse and buggy to enter and was quickly swallowed up as they made the trip to a clearing inside the group of curious onlookers.

In the clearing, Bohdan could see out his window how the ground had turned from lush grass to sand and gravel. The crowd had formed an almost perfect circle with additional guards posted to keep them at bay. From his vantage point, he couldn't yet see what was coming up, but he knew already what he was supposed to do when he got there and had no choice but to comply.

As the buggy pulled up to its final destination, Bohdan felt the carriage come to a halt and the buggy shook for a moment. Then a guard opened his door allowing Bohdan to exit to loud applause and cheering from the crowd surrounding him. He didn't feel like he deserved the attention, but was used to it by now. The guard led Bohdan around the carriage, past the horses to where he was expected to perform.

Standing nude and chained to a six foot wooden post stood Ashley, the woman from V Control LLC. The same women whom he had left in Seneca along with Isaac when he was convicted of murder and put on the train. Bohdan knew he was to kill and mutilate a prisoner today before the crowd but he had no idea it would be her.

"Ashley?" Bohdan asked. He approached her and the crowd grew quiet. The horse and buggy pulled away so the crowd could see from all directions leaving the two alone in the center of a fifty foot circle.

"Yes Bohdan, it's me," Ashley replied.

"What are you doing here? They were supposed to bring a death row inmate or a slave for me."

"I am a death row inmate, in Kansas."

"But how? When I left you were a free woman."

"Yes, but they decided to try me and Isaac for accessory to murder. We were both found guilty and sentenced to death."

"But why send you all the way from Kansas?"

"I think they wanted a woman for you to kill, because of your reputation," Ashley replied. "There aren't many women on death row in the country, they were lucky to find me."

"So they brought you all the way here for me to kill?"

"Yes," Ashley replied.

"Where's Isaac?"

"He's being transferred here now, they brought him with me. Since he was convicted of murder, they had to send him here. It's the only prison in the country for convicted vampires."

"I didn't see him, when did you arrive?"

"This morning," Ashley replied.

"I was in the warden's office most of the morning, that's why I didn't see him," Bohdan said. "How's he doing?"

"I don't know, He doesn't speak much. They almost burned him at the stake after you left. You're lucky you left when you did."

"Lucky? You don't know what this place is like. I spent the last two weeks in a cage hanging off the ground like a bird in a zoo," Bohdan said. As he spoke to Ashley, Bohdan noticed at the edge of the crowd, a large wooden platform built with a roof to keep the sun out. On the platform were rows of people, sitting and watching from above. Bohdan could see there were servants as well as spectators and assumed the platform was for the rich who could afford better seating. "I wonder who they are?" Bohdan asked.

Ashley looked over at the platform and saw that a few of the ladies were using opera glasses to get a better view. "I heard the governor was going to be here, and that they invited the president."

"Cleveland?" Bohdan asked. He looked at the platform closer and tried to make out anyone he could see. "I don't know what he looks like, and I'd think they'd have a platform just for him if he were here."

"How many people do you think are here today?" Ashley asked.

Bohdan looked around at the restless crowd and couldn't start to make a good guess. "Hundreds I suppose," he replied. "They seem to be antsy."

"You're not going to kill me are you?" Ashley asked. She had been avoiding the question until now.

"Yes, I am going to kill you," Bohdan replied.

"How can you say it like that?"

"I'm telling the truth without sugar coating it. You'll be dead in twenty minutes anyway - you won't care then anyway."

Ashley began to panic and pull away from Bohdan until the chain that attached her to the pole became taut. The crowd picked up on what was happening and began to cheer. It was like ancient Rome at the coliseum. "I don't want to hurt," Ashley said.

Bohdan noticed several tools on the ground lying on the sand just outside Ashley's reach. He bent over and picked up a butcher's knife and a long steak knife with serrated edges. It was obvious they were put there for Bohdan to use. He looked at the stainless steel shine and admired how they reflected the sunlight and blue sky from above. "This is out of my control," Bohdan said. He paused for a moment and smiled. "This will hurt, very badly." Again he paused and gauged Ashley's reaction. "First I will rape you, then I will cut you to pieces and take out your heart. I don't know what I'll do with it once I have it, but that's my plan."

Ashley pulled away as far as the chain would allow. "But you know me, we worked together. We were part of a team!"

"We escaped from the prison before it blew up. That was out of my control. Otherwise we did spend time together, but that wasn't because I had any fondness for you. I probably would have eventually killed you anyway. You were lucky I was sent away when I was. I like women, and there weren't a lot of them around Seneca."

"But you like girls, little girls, I'm twenty nine years old. Way too old for you!" Ashley yelled. The crowd again picked up on hearing Ashley yell and responded with a communal yell of their own.

"I know what you're doing and it won't work. Yes, I like my girls young, but you'll do fine for now. I can't always get what I want, so sometimes I have to take what I can get."

Then Bohdan saw a couple guards pull away from the crowd with the warden between them heading their way. "Looks like I'm in trouble," Bohdan said. He wasn't in the mood to deal with the warden.

"What's taking so long?" the warden asked. He tried not to speak to loud so that the dignitaries wouldn't know what was going on. "I didn't bring you out here to have a conversation with her, I brought you out here to kill her. The crowd expects it!"

"I know this woman," Bohdan replied.

"That's nice, if you're done catching up on old times, I'd appreciate it if you'd start raping her. If you need some help, I can get some guards to hold her legs apart for you," the warden said. He was trying to be intimidating and sarcastic at the same time.

"I was about ready to start when you interrupted me," Bohdan replied. "And no, I don't need your help to rape, I'm an expert."

"Fine, now get to it!" the warden snapped and turned and walked away.

"What an asshole," Bohdan said.

"You don't have to do this," Ashley said. "Don't let that asshole tell you what to do."

Bohdan stepped over to the wood pole and grabbed the chain that held Ashley to it. He use the chain as a guide to make his way to her and stopped when he got face to face with her. He dropped the knives on the sand and put his hand out to touch Ashley's face. She looked at Bohdan with the fear of the devil in her eyes and awaited her fate.

"I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not. I will enjoy this more than you will ever know," Bohdan said. He pulled the chain and brought Ashley into his grip. For the next ten minutes, Bohdan viciously raped Ashley to the point of unconsciousness and then cut her open with the butcher's knife. The crowd screamed and yelled, cheering Bohdan on as he ravaged Ashley and left her for dead on the sand. Once her heart was located, he cut it loose and pulled it out for the crowd to see. He put the organ in his mouth and sucked the blood from the large veins that dangled from it. Bohdan was in vampire heaven, and today, he didn't mind being a celebrity. He was starving and now he fed, fed on his favorite meal.

When he was finished, Bohdan dropped the heart onto Ashley's body and looked around at the crowd. He expected them to disperse but they seemed to be waiting for round two. Then the warden walked back out with his guards.

"What now warden? I put on your show," Bohdan said.

"I'm getting three slaves, the crowd wants more, and the governor demands it," the warden replied.

"What kind of sick fuck governor shows up to a killing?"

"The kind that signs my paycheck, and looks the other way when I pocket all the profits from this hell hole."

"How long is this going to take?"

"Why do you care? You have all fucking day. Would you rather spend it hanging from your cage?"

Bohdan looked past the warden at the crowd and then up to the raised platform. "Who else is up there besides the governor?"

"None of your business, you're here to put on a show. I bring the crowd."

"We seem to have some time, your slaves aren't here yet. Why do you have to be such a prick all the time?" Bohdan asked.

"If you must know, the lieutenant governor, the governor's aids and most of the prison board."

"I heard you invited the president."

"I did," the warden replied.

"He didn't show?"

"He didn't feel it was his place to be here. He said it was uncouth and below his office to attend. He's just kissing butt to get reelected."

"So what you're saying is that these people here today are nothing but a bunch of low lives?"

"This is a circus, people like to be entertained. This might not be the most highbrow form of entertainment, but people like it all the same."

"It's one step above a cock fight," Bohdan said. "Or below, depends if you're the cock or not. I can see why the president didn't show. But the governor, he must be a real shit bag if he showed up."

"The governor brought the girl. Without him, you'd be dining on slaves only."

"Tell him thanks, I like white girls, they taste the best."

"You're not getting girls this time, they're bringing in some black men. Don't worry, we'll tie them up so you won't get injured. I can't have my best money maker out of commission."

"I hate feeding on men, they're so disgusting. Their meat is tough, the blood is thick and tastes like rotten eggs," Bohdan said.

"Sorry, we ran out of female slaves. Can't always have what you want," the warden said with a grin. "But I will say you put on a good show. The governor is very happy and when he's happy, I'm happy. I might make it up to you later."

"I'd like to go on a trip, into the city," Bohdan said.

"I'll think about it," the warden replied.

# Chapter 41

# Deck of cards

Bohdan returned to the pit after his meeting with the warden. It was late afternoon and he was covered in Ashley's dried blood. The other vampires kept a distance as they were warned by the warden to keep away from his prize. Bohdan had a love/hate relationship with his fame. He got what he wanted, but he wasn't always happy about it. He liked his isolation, to a point. Like any social animal, he needed someone to interact with and Cara was the only person she could stand.

"How did your show go?" Cara asked. She met him at the front door of the miners building.

"The warden was happy, the governor was too from what I heard."

"What did they make you do?"

"I had to rape and murder Ashley," Bohdan replied.

"Who?"

"Ashley, remember her?"

"You've got to be fucking kidding me, you killed her? Last I knew she was still back in Seneca with Isaac."

"They charged her with accessory to murder, along with Isaac."

"Where's he?"

"Ashley said they were transferring him here today. I haven't seen him. If he gets the same welcome we got, he might be dead by now."

"I can't believe you killed Ashley, she was our friend."

"Maybe your friend," Bohdan replied.

"You knew her, we were a team!"

"We used each other to survive, that's all. I still needed her to survive, unfortunately for her, she didn't."

"They made you do this in front of the governor?"

"Yes, and about two hundred spectators."

"That's insane."

"They charged admission, they made a killing as well."

"I'm in shock," Cara said.

"Get over it, I might be getting a trip to town because of it."

"What do you mean?"

"The warden was so happy with the show I put on, he might let me go into town for a day."

"Take me with you," Cara said.

"I'll have to ask, I don't' think it should be a problem. They will have plenty of guards watching."

"You should get cleaned up, you're a mess," Cara said.

Bohdan looked at his clothes and wiped blood from his shirt. Some of the blood had dried, but most was still wet and dripping from his shirt tails.

"What was it like killing her?" Cara asked. She didn't know if she wanted to hear the answer.

"Incredible, I thought she'd be too old to get me off, but it was like fucking a virgin," Bohdan replied.

"I didn't ask about raping her, I asked about killing her."

"You want the details?"

Cara wanted to know some, but not the gruesome parts. "Yes, what was it like to kill her in front of a crowd?"

"They provided me with two knives. After I had raped her, I pinned her arms down with my knees and slit her from belly to her breastbone. I pulled her belly apart and cut in from the sides making an X. From there it was easy to pull out her bowels and lay them on the sand. Every Time I made a cut, the crowd yelled. It was fantastic. The best killing I've ever done."

"You sound like you want to do it again," Cara said.

"That would be more than I could ask for. I hope the warden is planning on it."

"But you hate being in the spotlight, you said yourself you hated being a celebrity vampire."

"There is a huge difference between being put on display and putting on a show. When I was raping her the crowd loved me. When I was tearing her apart, I was on fire. It was such a rush!"

"How are they going to find you young white women to kill? Sounds like they had to bring Ashley all the way from Kansas. You'll end up killing slaves eventually."

"I know, they brought in two black males for me to kill after Ashley. I left with a bad taste in my mouth."

Cara shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "You need a bath."

"There are no baths in the pit, you know that."

"I can get you a bucket of clean water from the well."

"That's fine," Bohdan replied.

"Don't say thanks, fucker," Cara said. She turned and walked away to get the bucket. Bohdan never said anything nice to her, or appreciated how she looked after him.

"I'll talk to the warden soon," Bohdan said. "I'll try to take you with me to town." Normally Bohdan wouldn't give a shit about Cara, but for some reason he felt guilty today and felt he should say something reassuring to her. He wasn't sure she heard him, and made his way into the miner's building, to the room he shared with Preacher Jack.

Preacher Jack lay on an old mattress looking out the window when Bohdan walked into the room. Noticing Bohdan, Preacher Jack said, "I heard you put on quite a show today."

"I did what I had to," Bohdan replied.

"We need to talk," Preacher Jack said.

"About what?"

"About you and me, we both can't be running this place. I think it's time you go."

"Go? Go where?"

"To the Mormons, or maybe you can get a private room next to the warden's office."

"You sound jealous."

"Maybe I am, I ran this place for years and then you show up. The other miners don't respect me anymore. All I hear is Bohdan this and Bohdan that. They act like you're some sort of vampire god."

"That's not my fault, I didn't do anything to bring that on."

"Doesn't matter, if you don't go, they will get rid of me and I'm not going anywhere."

"Maybe you should go live with the Mormons, ever think of that?" Bohdan asked.

"Fuck no, those are crazy bastards. They make us look like the sane ones. Do you know what those Mormons did before they came here?"

"I have no idea," Bohdan replied.

"Half of them were trapped in a mountain pass and ate the other half. And that was before they were turned into vampires. They're a bunch of fucking cannibals."

"What did you expect them to do? Starve to death?" Bohdan asked.

"I would have, you'd never catch me eating another person."

"I ate a woman's heart today, part of it at least," Bohdan said.

"You're not human anymore, that's normal."

"You're splitting hairs. I suggest you pack your shit and leave."

"I'm not going anywhere asshole. I have five guys that are willing to kick your ass out of here the second I tell them. I'm giving you a courtesy notice now. You have until the end of the day to be gone."

Bohdan stepped in closer to Preacher Jack and looked down on him. "Where are your friends now?"

Preacher Jack looked up at Bohdan and saw the intimidation in his eyes. "Don't even try it, if I come up dead, they'll come after you."

"If you're dead, they will join me," Bohdan replied. And Preacher Jack knew it. "You have an hour to get the fuck out," Bohdan said.

Preacher Jack stood up and faced Bohdan. He was beyond pissed. "You may be a vampire, but so am I. Don't think for a second I'm backing down and letting you run me out of here. I'm just as strong as you, maybe stronger. I was a miner, I know hard work. I have no fucking idea what rock you crawled out from under."

Bohdan glared at Preacher Jack, he was still high from the last killing and he had a short fuse. The only thing holding him back was the thought that some Preacher Jack's friends may actually come after him if he killed him. Alone, Bohdan had a fighting chance, against a group, he was fucked. "Let's let the group decide," Bohdan said.

"What? Some contest?" Preacher Jack asked.

"Yes, and the loser has to leave."

"You spend all your time up in the cage, why do you want to run this house anyway?"

"I won't always live in the cage," Bohdan replied.

"Fine, how do you propose we do this?'

"We call a meeting, let them decide how our fate. Maybe put it up for a vote."

"A vote? I'd rather fight for my spot."

"Why? You know you'd lose," Bohdan replied with a grin. "You're not as popular around here as you make it out to be. Maybe the miners want a celebrity to run the house. That would give them more power and credibility."

That was exactly what Preacher Jack was worried about. That the miners would see Bohdan as powerful due to his celebrity and the attention the administration and fans admonished upon him. Compared with Bohdan's notoriety, Preacher Jack was doomed to be kicked out of the clan.

"What kind of contest do you propose then?" Bohdan asked.

"A contest is what you said first, don't act like I'm trying to manipulate anything," Preacher Jack said.

"Give me your idea and I'll decide if I agree."

Preacher Jack thought for a moment. He needed something he could win easily. "Poker," he replied.

"Poker? Do you have cards down here?"

"I can get a deck from the guards," Preacher Jack replied.

Bohdan wasn't good at cards. He didn't even know how to play poker, but he didn't want to come off as ignorant. He also didn't want to live with the Mormons. "Blackjack," Bohdan replied.

"Blackjack is for pussies. It's all luck of the draw," Preacher Jack said.

"So is poker," Bohdan replied.

"Poker requires skill. I can bluff my way into a win every time. You can't bluff your way into a blackjack."

"Touché', but that's the game I choose, take it or leave it."

Preacher Jack hesitated because he had no choice but to give in. "Fine, Blackjack it is."

"Get the cards and we'll play. How soon can you get a deck?"

"I'll need something to trade," Preacher Jack replied.

"What's worth a deck of cards down here?"

"Heroin, cocaine if we have it," Preacher Jack replied.

"Where do you get heroin down here?' Bohdan asked.

"The tourists toss it down to their family members. They pretend to be throwing rocks at us, but they hide packets of drugs wrapped around the rocks instead. Sometimes the guards bring it in."

"Why would the guards do that?"

"They like to fuck the female inmates, they trade drugs for sex," Preacher Jack replied.

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Oh fuck yeah, they lost a guard two weeks before you showed up. He was killed and tossed under the shit house. The rats had him down to bone before they found him. Guess he pissed off the wrong bitch."

"Anyway, I don't have any heroin to trade for cards so ask around or get the fuck out. I'll give you until tomorrow to find a deck."

"And what if I don't?"

"I have connections now, I'll have the warden kick your sorry ass out of here," Bohdan said. He hoped his idle threat would be taken seriously as he had no real connection to the warden other than the warden using him to make money. But it sounded good and gave Bohdan the edge he needed at this time.

"Fine, I'll have a deck by tomorrow. But you're not sleeping in my room tonight, you're sleeping in the hall."

# 

# Chapter 42

# Lucy Jo

The sound of a rock hitting Bohdan's cage woke him up and let him know the tourists that came today weren't happy. He had fallen asleep in the midday sun and ignored the very people who had paid to see him spin in the wind. He raised his hand and gave the crowd the finger in defiance. He knew it was a hollow gesture and that the crowd would take any interaction they could get from him. Then he felt the cage start to lower. Usually he stayed elevated until sunset, but for some reason, was being let down.

When the cage came to rest on the ground below, two guards unlocked the door and let Bohdan out. A rumbling came from the crowd as they didn't know what was going on and didn't want the star attraction leaving. The tickets were expensive enough.

"You're going to the warden's office," a guard said.

"Now what?" Bohdan asked.

"You'll see when you get there," the guard replied and the two escorted Bohdan up the tower, across the bridge and to the administration building. As he passed by the crowd of onlookers, he tried to avoid eye contact and ignore the crowd. It did no good as he was greeted like a king.

At the administration building, Bohdan was led into the warden's office where he was met by a young woman with a notepad. She was dressed like a dime store prostitute but otherwise looked like a professional. The warden, sitting behind his desk introduced the woman to Bohdan. Her name was Lucy Jo, she was a reporter from the Chicago Tribune sent to the prison to do a feature story on Bohdan.

Bohdan looked at the woman and shook his head. She was wearing a short skirt with her legs spread far enough apart that he could see she hadn't shaved recently. He wondered what kind of message she was sending him dressed like that. "Are you sure you're not a prostitute?" Bohdan asked.

"Why do you ask that?" Lucy Jo asked.

"I've never seen a proper woman dressed as such, is that the fashion in the city?"

"Yes it is, we run a fashion section in the paper, I'm good friends with the editor and I write a guest column."

"I've never seen your paper, do many people read it?" Bohdan asked.

"It's been in publication since eighteen forty seven, it's the largest paper in the Midwest," Lucy Jo replied.

"So what does your paper want to know about me?"

"Everything, now that you've been captured the whole world wants to know your story."

"The whole world eh? I'm not sure I want the world to know that much about me."

"For a famous killer, you certainly are modest. Most of the killers I've spoken to can't wait to tell their story. They want their picture on top and a huge headline with their name on it. Why are you so shy?"

"I'm not shy, I'm private, there's a difference," Bohdan replied. "I'll talk to anyone about most anything, but myself."

"I hope we can change that today, I came a long way to interview you."

"Chicago is two miles away, you didn't come that far."

"The city limits are two miles away, the office is twelve miles into the city. That's a long way by carriage."

"I hope you're not too put out, I don't really feel like doing this today," Bohdan said.

Then the warden interrupted. "You will do the interview and answer her questions."

"Looking for free advertising?" Bohdan asked.

"I want the paper to know that we were willing to cooperate, that's all," the warden replied.

"How many papers do you sell a day?" Bohdan asked.

"I think well over ten thousand by now," Lucy Jo replied. She didn't really know, but didn't want to come off as ignorant.

"Ten thousand, I don't know about this," Bohdan said.

"Let me ask you a question, you can decide if you want to answer or not, alright?" Lucy Jo asked.

"Fine, go ahead," Bohdan replied.

"Where are you from originally?"

"My family came from Romania, I was born in Texas."

"Did you live in Texas long?"

"I did till I was ten, then we moved around working at different ranches."

"Your family were ranchers?"

"Ranch hands, my father was. Then I was."

"You're an only child?"

"Yes."

"Are your parents still alive?"

Bohdan had to think. Now that they came through the tunnel, he had no idea if they were in the time or place he thought he was. "I don't know for sure. I haven't seen them in a long time."

"How and when did you become a vampire?"

"It was eighteen sixty one, I was turned by a slave."

"And when did you start raping and killing young women?" Lucy Jo asked.

Bohdan had to think for a moment. "That same year I think."

"Do you know how many women you've raped and killed? They say it's over a hundred."

"No, it's way less than that. Maybe twenty. You know how rumors grow over time," Bohdan replied.

"Are you sure? Because if that's all, your reputation would be greatly exaggerated."

The warden became nervous realizing his cash cow may become bankrupt if word got out that Bohdan wasn't the killer he was advertising. The warden said, "Twenty is nothing to scoff at. That would still make him one of the most prolific vampire serial killers in captivity."

"One of? Are there more you know of?" Lucy Jo asked.

The warden was talking out his ass now trying to fix a potential problem. He didn't want to come off as stupid so he tried to cover it up. "I'm not sure of all the figures, I'd have to contact Washington to find out for sure."

Lucy again addressed Bohdan, "Why do you prefer young women and girls?"

"Because they're easy," Bohdan replied. "They don't put up much of a fight, and they don't taste like rotten eggs. Plus I can fuck them first. I'm no queer, I don't fuck men."

"There was a rumor that you were a homosexual and that you killed women because you thought they were disposable."

"How do you explain me raping them first? If I were gay, I'd have a very hard time getting hard, if you know what I mean," Bohdan said with a grin.

"Another rumor squashed," Lucy Jo said. "How did you pick your victims?"

"By chance mostly."

"You didn't seek out certain types of women?"

"I was lucky to find the ones I did. I didn't have the luxury of picking and choosing. When you live out in the country, you take what you can."

"I see, but with such a limited number of women, didn't that play to your disadvantage? I would think they would have figured you out quickly."

"And they did quite often. I lived on the run for most of my life, up until they captured me. I'm actually glad in a way they did. I'm so sick of running."

"So you like the Vampire Zoo," Lucy Jo stated.

Bohdan paused for a long time before answering. "Actually no, this place is a shit hole. They toss the vampires in a pit and let them fend for themselves. Then they charge admission to watch them. It's very vile."

"From what I understand, you don't spend much time in the pit," Lucy Jo said.

"That's right, they hang me from the bridge in a cage on display."

"At least you're not with the general population."

"I'm pelted with rocks twelve hours a day. I can't sleep, I'm starving half the time, and I'm sunburned on one side from the light coming through the cage. I'd rather be on the ground, then at least I could get some shade and some sleep."

"The warden tells me he's planning another special event soon. He says they're bringing up another girl from Texas for you to rape and kill."

Bohdan looked at the warden and didn't know if he should smile or scream. Although he would enjoy the girl and the attention, he was fed up with the circus atmosphere. "When is this going to happen?" Bohdan asked.

"Saturday, this time the president is coming," the warden said with a smile.

"Chester Arthur is coming?" Bohdan asked.

"Yes, and some of his cabinet and a few from congress." The warden could barely hold in his enthusiasm.

"When were you going to tell me?" Bohdan asked.

"I wasn't going to at all, she let out the surprise."

"I'm so sorry," Lucy Jo said.

"That's alright, he'd of found out one way or another." The warden was pissed, he didn't want Bohdan to know anything. As long as he was locked in the cage, nobody could tell him anything. But then he was allowed back in the pit during the night. Either way, the president was coming.

"Is the interview over?" Bohdan asked.

"Yes, but I need to get a picture," Lucy Jo said. She brought a photographer with her who was set up in the main office of the administration building.

"Can I be in the picture too?" the warden asked.

"Of course," Lucy Jo replied.

Bohdan stood up and was led to the lobby where the camera was set up. He stood against the wall and the warden stood next to him with a guard on the other side. The picture was shot and Bohdan was led back out into daylight.

"Can I see where he lives?" Lucy Jo asked as she followed behind the guards.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," the warden replied. "There are a lot of dangerous vampires down in the pit, and they'd love nothing more than to get a hold of a fine looking woman like yourself."

"I appreciate the compliment warden, but I think I can handle myself with these two guards.

The warden chewed on her idea for a moment. He didn't want to do anything that would cause her to write a bad story about him or the prison, so he agreed. "I want you within an arm's length of the guards at all times. If one of those bastards grabs ahold of you, that might be the end. It only takes a second for them to bite you, then you're one of them. Forever."

"I understand," Lucy Jo replied.

The trip to the bottom of the pit was quick and Lucy Jo found herself walking along the north wall with Bohdan, the warden and two armed guards. She immediately noticed the smell and began to gag. "What's that smell?" she asked.

"It was feeding day two days ago, that's what's left over," the warden replied

Lucy Jo looked in the direction where the smell was coming from and saw a pile of bones and flesh covered with flies and maggots. "Do we have to go that way?" she asked.

"Not unless you want to walk by the Mormon house, its best we stay to this path," one of the guards said.

"What's wrong with the Mormon house?" Lucy Jo asked.

"You want to steer clear of the Mormon house, and the miner house as well. Stay on the beaten path between them both," the warden replied. "Trust me, that's no place for a woman."

"I told you I could handle myself," Lucy Jo said.

"Did you see that pile of bodies back there? That's what they do to non-vampire humans. When they get hungry, they eat. I'm not going to be responsible if your eaten alive down here. As a matter of fact, I want you out now. Story or no story, if you die down here they may shut me down. Take her out of here!" the warden said.

"Yes sir," one of the guards said and motioned for the reporter to change direction and follow.

Bohdan stepped in closer to the warden to whisper in his ear. "I'm surprised you had the balls to bring her down here."

"Why? Do you think I'm scared of her?"

"No, I think you're scared of me." With that said, Bohdan grabbed the warden by the neck and pulled him into the bushes before the guards knew what happened. In an instant, Bohdan had swept the warden away into the darkness out of the view of the guard's altogether.

# Chapter 43

# Mormons

"Bohdan, is that you?" a voice called out. Bohdan instantly recognized the voice as Isaac. Bohdan looked around in the dark and saw Isaac standing alone in a wooded area near the Mormon house.

"Yes, it's me," Bohdan replied.

Isaac rushed over and met Bohdan, noticing right away he had the warden in his grasp. "What are you doing with the warden?" Isaac asked. He still had his familiar British accent.

"I took him when they weren't looking," Bohdan replied.

"When who wasn't looking?"

"The guards," Bohdan replied. "Where have you been all this time?"

"I've been living with the Mormons."

"The Mormons? I heard they're a bunch of killers."

"No, not at all, you should meet them, Brother Adam is a very nice man."

"Brother Adam?"

"That's what they call themselves," Isaac explained. "Come with me, I'll show you."

Bohdan didn't have much choice, his options were very limited in the pit and it would be a short time before the guards came looking for the warden.

"Let him go," Isaac said.

Bohdan let go of the warden's neck but kept a grip on his belt. "If I let him go, he'll lead the guards straight to the Mormon house. I'm taking him with us."

"You talk like I'm not here," the warden said. "I have a say in this."

"I have the strength of three men, you can try to run, but you won't get far. If you make a sound, I'll snap your neck," Bohdan said. "I'm keeping you until I no longer need you, do you understand me?"

The warden pulled away to test Bohdan's grip. Bohdan pulled back hard enough to whip the warden's neck with a crack.

"Try that again and I'll make sure your neck breaks."

The warden slumped his shoulders in a submissive pose letting Bohdan know he was in charge. "How far is it to the Mormon house?"

"Fifty feet beyond these trees," Isaac replied. It was getting dark and Bohdan wasn't familiar with this part of the pit.

"Let's go then," Bohdan said and the three headed off to the Mormon house. Fifty feet plus or minus a few yards didn't take long to traverse and once they were beyond the trees, they could see the house easily. The first thing Bohdan noticed was how well the house was kept. Unlike the miner's house, the Mormon's house was clean on the outside, without cracks or damage. All the bricks that had fallen over the years had been patched back into place, and it looked like the outside had been painted in the last few years.

"This place looks a lot different from where I've been living, or should I say sleeping."

"The Mormons are very tidy, industrious people. To them being dirty is against God."

"You sure learned a lot in a week," Bohdan said.

"I've been reading the book of Mormon, they've been teaching me. What's it like where you've been living?" Isaac asked.

"Think of a smelly shit hole, now multiply that by ten," Bohdan replied.

"Why do they live like that?"

"Don't ask me, maybe miners like living in squalor."

Isaac led Bohdan and the warden up the steps to the front landing and then to the front door. Without knocking, he opened the door and led the two men inside. They were shocked at how clean and nice it was. From the kitchen, the men could hear the voices of women talking and smell food cooking on the stove.

"What are they making?" Bohdan asked.

"You've seen what they feed us haven't you?" Isaac asked.

"Yes, the prisoners and the slaves they dump from above."

"Yes, they store the bodies they collect under the house where it is cool. Then we prepare them by drying the meat and salting it."

"You make jerky out of them?" the warden asked. "That's why you keep asking for salt?"

"Yes, that way the meat lasts until the next feeding," Isaac explained. "Brother Adam told me all about it."

"This Brother Adam, where is he?" Bohdan asked.

"Probably in the bedroom with his wives."

"Wives?"

"These are Mormons, they have many wives," Isaac said.

"I hear women's voices in the kitchen, how many women live here?"

"Twelve," Isaac replied.

"And how many men?"

"Brother Adam, Brother Paul and Brother Mark."

"Three men and twelve women, that's four women each," Bohdan said. "That's fucking awesome."

"No, Brother Adam has eight wives, Brother Paul and Brother Mark both have two."

"Are you telling me that Brother Adam is getting laid by eight women right now?"

"I wouldn't put it that way," Isaac said.

"Since when did you become such a prude? The Isaac I remember would be peeking through the door."

"I obviously can't do that and live here," Isaac said.

"But you want to, I know it," Bohdan said with a smile.

"Maybe you should meet the brothers." Isaac turned and stepped over to the kitchen doorway. He spoke to the women cooking and then turned back to Bohdan. "Brother Paul and Brother Mark will be out soon."

"Do you have to keep calling them brother all the time? Paul and Mark will do fine."

"It's their custom, I think we should honor it."

Bohdan took a seat and sat the warden next to him to keep an eye on him. He gave him the look that said if he moved, he'd be dead. The warden got the message and sat quiet waiting for the two Mormon brothers to show. Instead, Brother Adam stepped out of the bedroom fully dressed, clean and neat.

"Brother Adam," Isaac said. He stood up to show respect. "I have someone I want you to meet. This is Bohdan, he's an acquaintance from my past, and I think you've met the warden."

Brother Adam stepped forward and shook Bohdan's hand, then the wardens. "Glad to meet you, my name is Adam. I'll introduce you to Brother Paul and Brother Mark when they arrive."

"What about the women?" Bohdan asked.

Isaac gave a look to Bohdan telling him to be quiet. It seemed it was out of place to discuss the women.

"What can I do for you?" Brother Adam asked.

"I need a place to stay for a while," Bohdan replied. "And the warden as well."

"Doesn't the warden have a house?"

"He does, but he's going to be staying with me for a while."

"Is that right?" Brother Adam asked as he looked at the warden. "Is this some sort of new prison program you're trying out? Live like a prisoner?"

"No, he's holding me against my will, are you that fucking stupid you can't see that?" the warden snapped.

"There's no need for such language, we have women present," Brother Adam said.

"I don't give a shit about your women, or your fucked up way of life, just let me go," the warden said.

"My way of life is none of your concern warden," Brother Adam said.

"You know what? I'd have you locked up down here whether you were vampires or not, I think you're sick religion should be outlawed and you should all be in jail."

Bohdan spoke up, "You know what I don't understand? You have to be a killer to be locked up in here. You don't seem like the murdering type, what did you do to get sentenced to the zoo?"

"We don't like to speak of that," Brother Adam replied.

"They killed three families off a wagon train and ate them all. They were on a fourth when then got caught," the warden explained.

"Really?" Bohdan asked flat. He was shocked that such a well-mannered man could be so cruel. "Tell me about it."

"I will do no such thing," Brother Adam said.

"Why not? You ate them, you should be proud of it."

"We were starving, we had no choice."

"That's not so bad, did you tell that to the judge?"

"Of course we did."

"He didn't believe you?"

"He hated Mormon's, it didn't matter what we did, it was who we were," Brother Adam explained.

The warden spoke up, "That's bullshit, the judge tossed you in here because you killed five kids. You didn't need to kill the kids, you had plenty to feed on. Hell, you could have killed some fucking Indians and never seen the inside of this place."

"You killed kids?" Bohdan asked.

"Don't act so high and mighty Bohdan the Vampire Ripper, you killed plenty of kids yourself," the warden replied.

"I never killed anyone under twelve years old," Bohdan said.

"Like that makes a difference, twelve is still a kid."

"How old were the kids you killed?" Bohdan asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Brother Adam said.

"Were they big enough to fit in a soup pot?"

"Is that some sort of a joke?"

"I noticed your women are boiling something on the stove, made me think. Hell, how do you have a stove? There was no gas at the miner's house!"

"There was at one time," the warden said. "They ripped it out."

"Why?"

"Who knows? Stupid hole diggers, too stupid to maintain their own house," the warden said

"So anyway, we'll be sleeping here for a while," Bohdan said.

"I don't think so," Brother Adam said. "We have no extra rooms."

"We can stay in Isaac's room, he won't mind."

"Isaac has no room, he sleeps outside."

"Is that right?" Bohdan asked. He looked to Isaac who was nodding his head. "You made it sound like you were living under the roof."

"I didn't mean to make it sound like that. I meant that I had become friends with the Mormon's and I chose to live nearby."

"That's not going to work for me, or the warden, we need a room," Bohdan said.

"You're out of luck, sorry," Brother Adam replied.

"How many rooms do you have here?"

"Three bedrooms, a kitchen and this living space."

"You keep eight wives and you in one room?"

"It's a large room, yes, that doesn't matter to you, and you'll be leaving soon."

"Do you know who I am?" Bohdan asked.

"Yes, they call you the Vampire Ripper."

"That's right, and I might start in on your wives if you don't make room for me."

"We are vampires as well, you can't kill us like you would a human."

"A vampire woman is still a woman, and I'm an expert on killing women. If you want to test me go ahead and try."

"There are fifteen of us and one of you, I don't think you have a chance in hell," Brother Adam said.

Bohdan smiled and stood up. He stepped over to Brother Adam and looked him in the eye. "You may know how to kill little kids and babies, but I've killed grown men. More than you can imagine. I don't just kill little girls like you do."

"How do you know? You don't know me," Brother Adam said.

Bohdan shoved Brother Adam back just enough to intimidate him. Bohdan expected a fight, but nothing happened. Not yet anyway.

# Chapter 44

# Cara

"Did you hear that?" Isaac asked.

"Hear what?" the warden asked. "I didn't hear anything."

"Sounded like dogs."

"I heard it too," Bohdan said. He raised a finger to silence everyone in the room. "There it is again."

"They have the bloodhounds out looking for me," the warden said. "I knew you couldn't keep me for long."

"Fuck, now what are you going to do?" Isaac asked.

"Is there a basement?"

Brother Adam replied, "No, the ground is almost solid clay."

"There has to be a way out, when it rains, how do they drain the pit?" Bohdan asked.

The warden was silent, but everyone knew he was keeping something from them.

"What are you talking about?" Isaac asked. "Why do you give a shit about rain?"

"It's not the rain I'm concerned about, if the ground is solid clay, the rain that comes down would fill the pit and drown everyone in it. There must have been a drainage system put in place to remove the excess water. Where is it?" Bohdan looked at the warden, the one person in the room who should know where the rain sewer was located.

"I don't know," the warden replied.

"Don't lie to me warden, your life depends on it."

"You heard what he said, it's solid clay, it took years to dig this pit, do you think they had the time and ability to dig out a drainage system?"

"I not only think so, I know it's so. Unless they haul the water out in buckets, there has to be a tunnel that leads from the floor of the pit to an underground aquifer, or river outlet at a lower elevation. From the sounds of the dogs, I don't think we have much time. Where is the entrance to the tunnel?" Bohdan asked.

"You remember the last time we went through a tunnel," Isaac said.

"I remember," Bohdan replied. Hearing the dogs bark outside, Bohdan began to fume waiting for the warden to answer his question. He stepped in closer to intimidate the warden and grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close. "I'll give you ten seconds to answer me."

The warden looked up at Bohdan and swallowed hard. He knew he had no choice but to tell Bohdan what he wanted to hear. "There are four outlets, one at each corner. But they are small, too small for a man to get through. Maybe two feet wide at most."

"Fuck," Bohdan said. "If that were the case, why didn't you say so before?"

"Because he's lying," Brother Adam replied. "The outlets are large enough for a man to get through, they couldn't have dug them out otherwise."

"How far is it to the nearest outlet?" Bohdan asked.

"This building is centered between two outlets, one on the north and one on the south side. The one on the south has a clearer path."

"But the one to the north will hide us until we can get to it?" Bohdan asked.

"There is a lot of brush and trees yes, but the tunnel entrance is harder to see, especially in the dark," Brother Adam replied.

"How far do the tunnels go? And where do they drain?"

"I'd say five hundred feet, but they are blocked with an iron mesh cover. No vampire has been able to break into the tunnels so far, I don't think you will be able to either."

"Where there's a will there's a way, and I need a way out of here," Bohdan said. "Maybe the warden knows something we don't"

"There is no magic key if that's what you're looking for," the warden explained. "Maybe a construction crew with a crane and a full day to work could open the cover, not two of you in the dark with nothing but your hands."

The barking suddenly stopped and everyone took notice. "What's going on? What happened to the dogs?" Isaac asked.

"They know where we are, they probably took the dogs back out of the pit," Bohdan replied. "We don't have much time."

"You heard what the warden said, there's no way we can get the cover off without a crew and some tools."

"I still think he's lying, we need to look for ourselves."

"And go outside? Where the guards are waiting for us?"

"If we stay here, they'll eventually break in and take us, we have no choice. Do you want to live in this zoo forever?" Bohdan asked.

"No, but where will we go? We can't live on the run, we tried that, and look where it got us?"

"Fine, you can stay, I'm leaving," Bohdan said. "Is there a back door?" Bohdan asked.

"Right through the kitchen," Brother Adam replied.

Bohdan took off into the kitchen and found the back door. He didn't hesitate to step out and leave Isaac and the warden behind. Before he could get down the steps, he was tackled and laid to the ground by three guards who were positioned at the back door. Bohdan was captured, and soon Isaac would be as well and the warden would be free.

Cara stood on the front landing of the miner's house and looked across the pit at the Mormon's house. She heard the dogs barking and knew something was up, but she didn't know what. Then Preacher Jack approached and stood next to her. "Maybe that's where Bohdan is, he never showed up for our card game."

"You think the dogs have something to do with Bohdan?"

"Rumor is he tried to escape and they sent the dogs looking for him. They said he took the warden hostage."

"Where do you hear this stuff?" Cara asked.

"The pit is a small place, word gets around fast."

"If what you say is true, what will they do to him?"

"Who knows? He's still the wardens golden ticket, I doubt they do anything to him. If he got away, it would probably add to his reputation and bring more tourists. I'd bet they did this as a publicity stunt."

"I can't stand being away from him, I wish I knew what's going on."

"Why are you so obsessed with that guy? He doesn't seem to give a shit about you at all," Preacher Jack said.

"You don't understand Bohdan like I do. He loves me, he just has a hard time showing it. It's not that he's shy, it's just the way he is. I can't explain it, but I can feel it," Cara said.

"I have the feeling that he'd kill you in a second if it benefited him."

"And I would gladly die for him if that's what he wanted."

Preacher Jack shook his head in disgust. He heard what Cara was saying, but he knew she was too screwed up in the head to realize she had a sick unhealthy obsession with Bohdan. There was no way he was going to help her, she was too far gone by now. "What if they send him somewhere else and he doesn't come back?"

"Don't say that, I don't want to hear..." Cara couldn't finish her sentence.

"You can live here as long as you want. We don't have many women around here, we could use a new one," Preacher Jack said.

"If he doesn't come back, I'll escape, I'll find him."

"No vampire that I know of has ever escaped this prison. You'd be the first."

"I'm not like the rest of you, I'm special, this zoo can't hold me," Cara said. She looked up into the stars above and took a deep breath. "I will pray that he returns by morning, if my prayers are not answered, I will find a way to leave."

Preacher Jack watched Cara turn and walk into the house. He didn't say anything to her and listened to the cold dark night to see if he could get anymore insight as to what happened across the pit. Then he heard the sounds of voices and footsteps and recognized Bohdan's voice. With only the light from the moon and a few torches at the top of the pit, Preacher Jack watched Bohdan as he was escorted to the tower and led inside. Now he knew where Bohdan was, but he didn't know his fate or what really happened. He decided not to tell Cara for now and let her sleep.

The next morning Cara awoke to the sounds of the winch that raised Bohdan's cage cranking, shaking the house like it always did. She was used to the sound and immediately thought of Bohdan. She got up and rushed outside in time to see the cage stop rising still swinging in the breeze. From her view, she couldn't see if anyone was inside.

"He's in there," Preacher Jack said. "I saw them load him into the cage."

Cara was ecstatic, she knew Bohdan was safe, and she knew exactly where he was.

"Looks like you don't have to leave after all."

"I knew he'd be back, I knew Bohdan would never leave me."

"Yeah, he has another event tomorrow and the president is on his way. They're having a girl transported special from Texas just for the occasion."

"Bohdan likes girls, I'm happy for him," Cara said.

"What?" Preacher Jack asked. "You want him to rape and murder another woman?"

"They wouldn't bring her unless she was on death row, she deserves what she gets," Cara said.

"They say she's eighteen, killed her husband. Eighteen is awfully young to die."

"I'm sure her husband felt the same way before she killed him."

The sun moved across the sky and the day was coming to an end when Cara found herself waiting for the cage to be lowered back to the ground. After a long day of being on display and being pelted with stones, Bohdan was tired and ready to crawl into a hole and sleep. During the day the drainage hole covers were re enforced so no man or vampire could remove them. Content that the pit was again safe, the warden allowed Bohdan to stay in the pit while he planned the big event for Saturday. The president of the United States was on the way and the female prisoner from Texas was locked securely in the holding cell in the administration building.

A guard unlocked Bohdan's cage door and swung it open. Bohdan crawled out and stood slowly, working the kinks out of his back as he stood.

"Bohdan?" Cara asked. Her voice startled him.

"Cara, I didn't see you there."

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, except for a few cuts. Some of the stones hit me in the head today."

"Let me see," Cara said.

"No, I'm fine," Bohdan replied. "They bled for a while, but I'm alright."

"What if they get infected?" Cara asked.

"What if they do? I can't do anything about that now can I?"

Cara knew Bohdan was right, there was nothing to do for an infection except let it run its course and hope for the best. "Are you hungry?" Cara asked.

"I'm always starving at the end of the day."

"I saved some meat for you, it's in the house."

"Why are you so good to me?" Bohdan asked. "When I treat you so bad."

"I love you Bohdan, you know that. I'd do anything for you. When I heard you tried to escape without me, I was torn apart. You'd never leave without me would you? You were going to come back for me, right?"

"I can't say what I would have done. I may have, I may not, I can't make any promises," Bohdan replied. His words cut her deep.

"You have a girl to kill tomorrow, you need to get some sleep."

"I'm thinking about letting her live actually. I want to show that the warden has no power over me. He won't kill me if I don't, I'm worth too much to him."

"He may not kill you, but he will make you suffer somehow, if you embarrass him in front of the president, he will make you pay," Cara said.

"That's exactly why I want to do it tomorrow, I want the president to see that the warden is a pathetic corrupt power hungry maniac. The best way to do that is to defy him and make him look like a fool."

"What if he flies into a rage and decides to make an example of you? He could pour kerosene on you and set you on fire, or have his guards cut you into pieces."

"If that were the case, I'd welcome death. I can't go on living like this forever. I have no dignity, no life whatsoever. I'd rather be dead than continue to live in this cage like a rat."

"I understand, I would feel the same way. I don't know how you've managed to live like this for so long. You are stronger than me, stronger than most."

# Chapter 45

# Power

Saturday arrived and the tension in the pit was off the charts. Everyone knew the president was coming and the guards as well as the inmates were excited for the crowds and attention this would bring. The warden was up early checking to make sure all the arrangements were made and being followed through. The last time he set up an event like this, things went very well. He was hoping this one would turn out the same or better.

Leaving his office, the warden asked his secretary if she had heard if the governor had arrived, his secretary hadn't heard anything yet and told him she'd let him know as soon as she found out. Anxious, the warden left the administration building and looked out onto the sandy area set aside for the event. Three new raised platforms had been constructed for today, with the president's tower set up with the best view.

From where the warden stood outside his office, the platforms looked impressive and that's what he wanted to convey. The look of power and control. He expected the president's train to arrive by ten in the morning which gave him two hours to prepare. The killing was scheduled for two in the afternoon and the weather was cooperating for now. The sky was overcast and a cool breeze blew by. It looked like it might rain today, but if he was lucky, it would hold off until evening.

Satisfied the day was on track, the warden walked to the guard post at the edge of the pit to get a report on the overnight activities. "How are the inmates doing?" the warden asked a guard. "Anything to report?"

"No sir, the pit was quiet all night," the guard stated.

"That's what I want to hear, any sign of Bohdan?"

"Yes sir, he's in the miner's house. Has been all night."

"I need him up here by one, ready to go, you understand?"

"Yes sir," the guard replied.

The warden stepped through the guard house onto the bridge and surveyed the pit like he did every morning. He saw Bohdan's cage resting on the ground below and a few vampires walking along the pathways. It was getting late in the vampire's feeding cycle with a new shipment of slaves arriving on Monday, so the warden knew they would be hungry and more agitated than usual. The last thing he needed was a fight breaking out due to hunger issues. The vampires didn't feed on themselves, but they had been known to be very testy towards the end of the cycle.

Bohdan woke with Cara lying next to him with her arm across his chest. It had been months since he had a bath and didn't understand how she could stand to be so close to him. Somehow she managed to find enough clean water to wash up in, but Bohdan didn't care about bathing, he didn't care about much at all besides feeding and finding a place to sleep at night.

Cara woke when she felt Bohdan stir. "Good morning Bohdan," She said. "Are you ready for your big day?"

"I'll have to admit I'm a bit nervous, the president will be here," Bohdan replied.

"I wonder if they'll let you meet him before you kill the girl?"

"Like a boxer before a match?" Bohdan asked. He was giddy. He felt powerful and was eating it up.

"I thought you didn't like the attention," Cara asked. "You complain about being worshiped, and look at you now, it's like it's your birthday."

"This is different, the most important person in our country is traveling halfway across the country to see me. He's not some asshole with a rock trying to crack my skull while I'm caged up and hanging from a bridge," Bohdan replied.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you. When you're happy, I'm happy," Cara said with a smile. "I wish I could be there to watch."

"You wouldn't see much anyway, the last time the crowd was so thick, you couldn't see past the first row of people. They should build bleachers, like at a ballfield."

"They just might if they keep this up. You'll be Chicago's first and only gladiator."

"I like that, it has a more romantic feeling to it. Better than vampire rapist and killer," Bohdan said.

"Are you going to wash up today?" Cara asked. "I can wash your clothes so you look good for the president."

"I'm guessing they'll give me something to wear."

"Did they last time?"

"No, but Arthur wasn't coming last time."

Cara smiled seeing the glow in Bohdan's eyes. "I'm so happy for you."

Bohdan heard the sounds of footsteps and the unmistakable jingle of keys. He knew the guards had entered the house and were looking for him. From the doorway two guards entered and stopped. "You need to be ready to go by one," a guard said.

"That's fine," Bohdan replied, "Are you giving me something special to wear?"

The guards looked at each other and back at Bohdan, "Nobody said anything about that to me. Unless I find out anything different, wash up what you have on. I'll talk to the warden."

"Do you know anything about this girl from Texas?" Cara asked.

"She killed her husband, that's all we know," the guard replied.

"I hear she's young."

"I don't know anything about that," the guard said. "One o'clock, you got me?" the guard asked again.

"Yes, we understand," Cara snapped back.

The guards left the room and again Bohdan and Cara were alone. "Are you still planning on letting the girl live?" Cara asked.

"I've thought about it, I'm not sure it's worth pissing off the warden over. And I don't think I'd be able to stop myself if I tried. There's something about women that I can't explain. When I killed Ashley they had her chained to a pole and stripped naked. I'd never seen her naked before, but the second I saw her, I knew I was going to fuck the shit out of her and open her up. It was like an addiction. I couldn't stop myself."

"You think the same thing will happen today?" Cara asked.

"If the girl is naked and chained to a pole? Yes, I won't be able to stop. And when I hear the crowd cheering, forget it. I could finish off a dozen women in that state. It's such a rush," Bohdan explained. Now I know how athletes feel when the crowd is behind them. Feels like I could do anything."

Then Bohdan heard the sounds of footsteps in the hall again, this time without the keys jingling. From the doorway the warden entered the room to Bohdan and Cara's surprise.

"What are you doing here warden?" Bohdan asked. "The guard said I had till one."

"I have good news to tell you, I managed to find two more women for you to kill today. I got word from the governor of Wisconsin this morning and he's willing to send them. The only problem is that they won't arrive until five. The president is willing to stay late but I want to make sure we put on a great show since we're making him wait."

"Three is a lot for one day, I'd rather do one well than three average," Bohdan replied.

"No, you will do all three, and I want you to make the audience happy. You did a great job the last time, but this time I want theatre," the warden said. "I want the headlines to read that Rome has come to Chicago."

"You have a Caesar complex," Bohdan said.

"Say what you will, when this is said and done, everyone will know this place and what went on. Bohdan the Vampire Ripper slays three convicted killers and the president is there to watch. I'll be even more rich and famous than I imagined."

"And what's in it for me?"

"You will be a superstar, what else could you ever want? With the funds I generate today, I could build you a house just for yourself. Our star attraction deserves his own castle."

The offer the warden was making sounded very attractive to Bohdan. His own place, private and secure is what Bohdan craved from the start and now he was very motivated to do what the warden wanted and make him happy. "I want my own place, can you promise me that?" Bohdan asked.

"I will tell you this, if you make the president happy, I will make you happy. That's just good business."

"Fine, I will rape the shit out of all three women, tear them apart, eat their hearts out and make the crowd love me. I will put on a show Lincoln would have loved. You draw up plans for my castle because I will be what everyone wants me to be. Bohdan the Vampire Ripper!"

For the first time, Bohdan embraced the label he had been given. He reveled in his reputation and fame feeling the adrenaline build up inside. He was hungry, very hungry, not having any fresh blood in weeks. He was ready to kill, to drink warm fresh blood and wow the crowd, whipping them up in a fury.

The warden looked at Bohdan and smiled, he knew he had him motivated and where he wanted him. Nothing could go wrong now, and he would gain more power and wealth than he could want or need. Then he noticed his clothes. "I'm sending you something clean to wear, something worthy of a presidential visit," the warden said, and left the room.

"Holy shit Bohdan," Cara said. "Now you have three girls to kill." Cara was jealous, she didn't want Bohdan having sex with any other women, not that she had ever had sex with him. "I think maybe you should cut the rape short and just kill them. You'll be too tired to do all three if you fuck them all."

"Stop being a cunt," Bohdan said. "I enjoy raping as much as killing, more sometimes. You don't own me, nobody owns me."

"I'm just looking out for you, you don't want to put on a bad show in front of the president. By the third girl, you might be too tired to finish."

"By the third girl, I'll be so energized that I'll be looking into the crowd for a fourth. The guards will have to stop me. I could rape and kill all day and night and not sweat a drop from my brow," Bohdan said.

"You say that now because the warden got you excited, but wait until you're on the field, in front of the crowd. The third girl will become a chore, and the warden will be pissed when you fail to kill her and impress the president. All I'm saying is spend your time cutting them up, and less time inside them. People love blood, the rest is perverted and sick."

"Don't worry about me, I won't tell you what I did when I come back. You can pretend I did what you want me to do."

Cara got little comfort in Bohdan's idea. She knew he'd do what he wanted regardless of what she asked. She was jealous, they had never had sex, not all the way, and she didn't want another woman to have Bohdan, even if he intended to kill her afterwards. She didn't realize it, but having sex with Bohdan may be the last thing she ever did. If he followed his pattern, he'd have no choice but to cut her open and eat her heart, vampire or not. When Bohdan was in a feeding frenzy, he was unstoppable.

One o'clock arrived and the president was escorted into the administration building along with his secret service attachment. A crowd had already started to form in the sandy area where the killings were scheduled to take place. Extra staff had been brought in for crowd control and Bohdan had received new clean clothes to wear.

The girls from Wisconsin weren't due to arrive for four more hours, but the girl from Texas was locked up and ready to go. The warden thought about starting early, with the Texas girl and hoping the other two would arrive by the time Bohdan was finished. It only took Bohdan thirty minutes to rape and murder Ashley, but the warden was hoping to stretch out the Texas girl for at least an hour and a half. That would put the new starting time at three thirty.

Looking out at the crowd from his window, the warden estimated there were at least two hundred people there already. In an hour and a half there would be five hundred, far more than the area was suited for and more than would be able to see the action anyway. The only people the warden cared that saw the event was the president and his staff, and they were in another office down the hall.

The warden heard a knock on his door and his secretary popped her head inside his office. "The president would like to see you," she said.

The warden was waiting for this, the president wasn't allowed to greet anyone at the prison, including the warden until the area could be cleared by his secret service detail. Now the warden had his chance to shake hands and impress President Chester A. Arthur in the flesh. Upon hearing his secretary state the president wanted to see him, the warden practically jumped out of his seat and out the door towards the office the president was located. An armed guard stepped aside and let the warden through the door and into the office where he saw a burly man with a large beard sitting behind a desk. He was slumped over holding his side in pain closing his eyes, He didn't see the warden enter the room, but heard him as he made his greeting.

#

# 

# Chapter 46

# Main event

The warden wanted today to stand out, stand out so much that he brought in a brass band to play for the crowd as they waited for Bohdan to arrive. Over five hundred people paid to see today's show and although the vast majority couldn't see from where they were standing, were still excited to be there, and maybe get a glimpse of the president.

The sky was grey and a nice breeze blew over the crowd like a cool fall day. As one o'clock approached, Bohdan pumped himself up by visualizing what he was going to do the girl from Texas. He ran his actions over and over in his mind until he was satisfied he knew what he was going to do. He planned on her putting up a fight, and made adjustments accordingly.

Back at the killing field, the girl from Texas was brought to the same place Ashley was, stripped nude and shackled to the wooden pole. The warden considered either bringing her out later or covering her up until the reveal, but thought maybe he'd get a bigger bang for his buck if he let the crowd see her in advance. Then reveal Bohdan later, dressed in all black as he stepped out of the carriage that brought him through the crowd.

The warden checked to make sure the raised platform for the president had food and water, and a set of spy glasses so President Arthur could see the action. The warden planned to sit next to the president, associating himself with the ultimate power in the country. He had a local photographer lined up for pictures and a special place set up for the Tribune.

As the event began just before three in the afternoon, the president's carriage stopped near his raised platform and he got out. With the assistance of the prison personnel and the secret service, President Arthur climbed the steps to his viewing platform and took his seat. He was joined by two congressmen and the governor of Illinois, Richard James Oglesby.

The warden checked his pocket watch incessantly, nervously anticipating the day's events. The crowd was ready, the president was in place and the girl was ready to be raped and die. All that was left was for Bohdan to be escorted into the circle and put on a show worthy of all the pomp and circumstance. The band played popular music that gave the event a festive feel, and in a way the killing felt more like a traveling carnival than capital punishment.

Three o'clock came and Bohdan was transported through the crowd in a special carriage brought in just for today's event. The carriage was owned by a wealthy local banker who loved nothing more than showing off the fine wood and leather that made up his ride. The horses that pulled the carriage were the finest Clydesdales that could be found in the region and were transported in at a high cost. But a cost the warden could afford today.

Bohdan rode in luxury, the interior of the carriage had fine black leather seats and dark walnut throughout. Sitting across from him was a single guard, more of a token for show, so the crowd would feel he was dangerous. Bohdan was going nowhere today, but the guard made him look like he might try to escape.

As the carriage broke through the crowd and entered the sandy inner ring, it stopped and the door swung open. A guard from the crowd stepped in and let Bohdan step down onto the sandy ground escorting him around the horses towards the naked girl bound to the stake. The crowd applauded and Bohdan raised a hand to greet the crowd like a gladiator ready for a fight. Only Bohdan carried no sword or armor, just a long coat, black denim shirt, pants and leather boots with matching gloves. He looked badass; like the warden wanted him to look.

From his vantage point next to the president, the warden could see the entire crowd as they hushed and closed in to get a better look at the action below. The warden looked to make sure his guests were engaged in what was going on below and was satisfied when he saw President Arthur using his spy glass to get a close up look at the action. "Would you prefer Opera glasses Mr. President?" the warden asked. "The spy glass might be too powerful this close."

The president handed the warden his spy glass in exchange for a pair of opera glasses and continued to look down at Bohdan. "This is much better," the president said.

"Always glad to be of assistance," the warden said. He was such an ass kisser.

"Will this be bloody?" the president asked.

The warden didn't know how to answer. If the president preferred blood or not. He needed more information to gauge his reply. "It can be," the warden said. He felt this was as ambiguous as he could be.

"I'm sure it can be, what was it like that last time he killed a girl here?"

"It was quite the mess," the warden explained. "I hope that won't offend you."

"No, that's fine, I was just curious. I can handle blood," the president replied.

Bohdan approached the girl and turned his attention from the crowd to her. He immediately noticed there was something odd about her. She didn't shy away, or really notice him at all. He was expecting her to pull away to the excitement of the crowd, and was disappointed when she basically ignored him. "You, girl, what is your name?" Bohdan asked.

The girl looked in Bohdan's general direction, but failed to make eye contact with him.

"I asked you a question, what is your name?"

The girl opened her mouth and drooled on herself. She didn't answer.

"Are you deaf or stupid, what is your name?"

This time the girl looked Bohdan in the eye and he saw nothing there. She seemed to be dead inside yet alive on the outside. She continued to drool and not answer Bohdan.

"I'm about to rape and murder you, does this not concern you?" Bohdan asked.

The girl made a growling sound, then seemed to hum to herself, like a child.

Bohdan stepped in closer to take a better look at the girl. He noticed her skin looked mottled, grey in spots, pasty and wet. Like she had been sweating. "It's a cool breezy day, why do you perspire so?" Bohdan asked.

The girl looked around into the crowd not focusing on any one person or area. She seemed confused, yet unconcerned at the same time. Bohdan looked up to the tower where the warden sat watching, as if looking for a prompt of some kind. Bohdan was out of his element and not sure what to do. Without the screams and horror he expected from the girl, he felt helpless and out of place.

The crowd began to grumble, anticipating Bohdan raping the girl and Bohdan could feel the tension. The problem was that Bohdan didn't think he could rape her, she didn't seem human. It would be like raping a dead person, not what the crowd wanted. Frustrated, Bohdan stepped in close enough to the girl to touch her. He reached out and put a finger on her chest just below her chin. She felt cool, moist and clammy. Not what he expected at all.

"Are you ill?" Bohdan asked.

The girl didn't respond.

"Fuck her!" a voice yelled out from the crowd. Bohdan could feel the tension building all around him but couldn't comply with what they wanted.

"Stop wasting time! Bend her over and give her what she deserves!" another voice yelled out.

Then a chanting of "Kill her, kill her, kill her," rocked back and forth from the crowd. Bohdan wanted so bad to do what the crowd wanted, but they had no idea what he was up against. This girl was not normal, cold and clammy, with a distant look in her eye. She was like a zombie come back from the dead.

Then Bohdan saw the warden emerge from the crowd and scurry over towards him. Out of breath, he asked, "What's going on?"

"She's not right," Bohdan replied.

"What do you mean she's not right? Rape her and kill her, that's what you do, that's all you do."

"I don't think she's human."

The warden stepped over to the girl and took a quick look. "She's human, now get on with it, I have the president of the United States and the governor of Illinois watching. Don't make me look like a fool!"

"I can try, but I don't think you will be satisfied. It is like she's under a spell, a voodoo spell," Bohdan replied. "And her skin is like ice."

The warden stepped over and touched the girl's back. He felt the cold wet skin and shivers went up his spine. He now realized Bohdan was right about this girl. There was something wrong with her. "She has the flu, make it quick, the president is waiting."

"Fine," Bohdan said. He watched the warden head back through the crowd and up the raised platform taking his seat between the president and the governor. When he saw the warden take his seat and shake his arm in frustration, he turned his attention to the girl. The girl who was now chewing on her wrist where the metal cuff attached to her and the chain.

"What are you doing?" Bohdan asked. The girl raised her head and Bohdan could see blood dripping from her mouth. Her wrists had chew marks on them that bled onto the sand below. "You can't chew those off, are you fucking insane?"

The girl ignored Bohdan and returned to chewing on her wrist.

"I can't do this," Bohdan said to himself. He looked back up at the tower and shrugged his shoulders. It was obvious to the warden that Bohdan wasn't going to try.

"Give me your gun," the warden said to one of his guards. "I'm going to shoot the bastard myself."

The guard handed the warden his rifle and the warden took aim at Bohdan. He pulled the trigger and shot him in the chest, just to the right of his heart. Bohdan felt the sting of the bullet and stepped back. He tugged on his new shirt and opened it far enough to see the hole the bullet made. He was more annoyed than anything trying to fish the bullet out of his chest, until he heard another shot and felt the sting hit his neck.

By now the crowd had figured out that someone was shooting the main attraction and were getting nervous. A stray bullet could hit anyone of them at any time.

The president turned to the warden and asked, "What the fuck are you doing?"

"I'm trying to motivate that son of a bitch vampire!"

"By shooting him? You'll kill him!"

"You can't kill a vampire with a bullet you dumb fuck," the warden said. He was too pissed to care that he had just called the president a name.

"How dare you call me that?" the president said.

Then the governor chimed in. "You apologize immediately or I'll find someone else to run this prison!"

"Are you kidding me?" the warden asked. "You'll never find anyone that can run this place like I do. Who else would want to run the Vampire Zoo?"

"I have two other men who would take over in a second," the governor said. "They ask me ten times a day to fire you so they can run this place. Everyone knows you skim from the treasury. Don't think you're irreplaceable."

"I give you thirty percent of that money governor, don't act so high and mighty. I'm here because I make you money as well as me. Nobody else is going to do that for you and you know it!"

"Is that true?" the president asked. "How are you making money in the first place?"

"I sell tickets to see the vampires, why else do you think they call this place the Vampire Zoo? It's a prison you dumb fuck, I turned it into a money making venture."

"I had no idea they called this place a zoo."

"Maybe you should pull your head out of your ass once and awhile," the warden snapped back.

"I will have you shut down by the end of the day!"

"And let these vampire's loose? Good luck with that."

"I'll bring in the National Guard," the president said.

"That will take two weeks if you're lucky, what're you going to do in the meantime? I'm the only person who knows how this place runs."

"You're fired!" the president said.

"Fired? You can't fire me! Only the governor can fire me."

"Fine, you're fired!" the governor said.

"Bullshit," the warden said and pulled a percussion pistol from his vest and shot the governor in the head. The president tried to stand and leave when he saw the governor slump over and fall off the platform to the ground below. "Don't move asshole," the warden said.

The president waited for his security to stop the warden from turning his pistol towards him but no one did anything. The secret service was gone, patrolling the crowd leaving the president to fend for himself. The warden tossed his pistol down into the crowd landing next to the governor's body. The pistol was a one shot only and the warden didn't have the time or supplies to reload it. So he pulled out a Bowie knife and attacked the president, stabbing him repeatedly in the neck and chest until he lost his balance and fell from the platform landing next to the governor.

The crowd below parted when they felt the bodies hit the ground and now they were looking up at the warden who was wielding a bloody knife in his hand like a madman. It didn't take long for the attention to focus on the raised platform from Bohdan and this gave him the perfect chance to blend into the crowd and escape. Before anyone knew different, Bohdan was lost in the crowd and heading as far away from the Vampire Zoo as he could.

In the distance, Bohdan could hear the yells from the crowd as everyone figured out that the president had just been assassinated by the warden of the prison. That alone was a better show than Bohdan could ever have put on, and he was glad to be gone.

# Chapter 47

# Meat wagon

Bohdan didn't want to take the chance of just walking out the gate with the rest of the crowd, his chances were good he'd make it, but this was his best opportunity to leave this hell hole zoo for good. The area where the killings were to take place were still within the fenced in perimeter of the zoo and he couldn't just fade away like he wanted. Then he spied something in the distance that gave him an idea. It was the meat wagon that brought the slaves the vampires feed on parked next to the stable. The horses were eating as the workers checked on the slaves to sort out the dead ones from the lives ones.

Bohdan slipped off his fine leather coat and tossed it on the ground acting like nothing happened. He quickly looked around to see if anyone noticed and darted into the stable. From his vantage point, he could see about a dozen live slaves sitting, tied up in the back of the wagon. If he waited until they unloaded the slaves into the pit, he could jump inside and ride away hidden inside.

"What are you doing in here?" a voice called out.

Startled, Bohdan turned to see a stable boy with a pitchfork in his hand. "If you're looking for the killing, it's that way," the boy said pointing back towards where Bohdan came.

"No, I'm looking for the outhouse," Bohdan lied.

"Outhouse is way across on the other side, by the pit," the boy said.

"Alright," Bohdan replied. He was well aware where the outhouse was. It stunk up the pit most warm days as the smell filtered down. "I'm looking for a place to stay for a while, my ride left me," Bohdan said. "He said he'd be back by dark. Do you have a place here I can hang out, out of the wind?"

"You can stay here, if you don't mind the smell of horse shit," the boy said. "Was your friend sick or something?"

"No, he didn't say. I think he didn't want to see the show they were putting on. He's a bit squeamish."

"I don't blame him, I saw what was left of the last girl he killed. My pa had to help bury her. What a bloody mess. When I get older, I'm going to join the Marshal's office and hunt these sick bastards."

"You realize not all vampires chose to be vampires," Bohdan said. "Some of them were turned against their will."

The boy looked closely at Bohdan. Like he was examining him. Bohdan took notice and closed his mouth so the boy couldn't see his teeth, he had probably said more than he should have. "No offence, but if I didn't know better, I'd swear you were a vampire."

Bohdan didn't reply, he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Cat got your tongue?" the boy asked.

Bohdan turned away and replied, "I need to find the outhouse, I'm going to explode."

"Go to the guardhouse by the pit, you can't miss it," the boy said.

Leaving the stable meant walking out of the fenced in gated area and past the guards. That was exactly what Bohdan wanted to avoid. He preferred to stay hiding in the stable, but the boy almost figured him out. He needed to grow some balls and head out the gate and hope nobody recognized him. Bohdan waved to the boy and left the stable heading towards the gate. There were plenty of people heading out so he found his way into the middle of the group, put his head down and walked right out into the open area.

No longer was he in the fenced in area and nothing prevented him from leaving the prison. His goal now was to wait until the slave wagon was unloaded and sneak inside. But that wouldn't be for a couple of hours. Feeding time alternated between morning and evening depending on which day of the month is was. This time it was late and Bohdan had no choice but to wait and find a place to hide. For now, he hid behind the guard barracks, inside the cellar.

Hours passed and Bohdan watched from the outside of the pit as the slaves were dumped over the wall to the hungry crowd below. He had often seen the same event play out from below, and it was strange seeing it from this angle. The sounds of the eager crowd of vampires was muffled outside the pit, and he could hear the screams of the slaves before they were shoved out the back of the wagon to meet their fate below.

By now it was getting dark with the sun falling in the west. The meat wagon had pulled away from the edge of the pit and a cloth curtain was pulled across the opening. The cloth allowed fresh air into the wagon, keeping the slaves cool and alive. The crowd that had gathered to see Bohdan rape and kill the girl had long dispersed leaving the area he had to traverse open and visible to the guards that were working. To Bohdan's advantage, the guards kept their attention inside the pit, not to the area surrounding it. He was confident he could walk the hundred feet from where he was hiding to the meat wagon without being seen. So he took off and made his way inside, hopping up over the edge and pulling the curtain closed.

The trip away from the prison was uneventful and calming. Except for the constant rattle and bouncing on the hard clay path as they left the Vampire zoo behind. In the dark, Bohdan decided to sleep, if he could. As long as the wagon kept rolling, he could take advantage of his solitude to rest. He knew there were two men driving the wagon, one armed on the lookout for bandits and Indians.

Bohdan woke the next morning to the smell of bacon and the sting of cold steel on his chest. It wasn't the bullets that had shot him, but the barrel of a gun jabbing him to wake him up.

"Who are you?" the man with the gun asked.

Groggy, Bohdan looked up at the man and closed his eyes, His plan was fucked and now he'd be driving back to the prison. So he needed to lie. "Alex Penner," Bohdan replied.

"What are you doing in the back of my wagon Alex Penner?" the gunman asked.

"I needed a ride back home, my ride left me," Bohdan replied.

"This isn't the pony express, we don't give rides."

"Neither does the pony express from what I understand."

"Are you some sort of smartass?" the gunman asked.

"No, I just happened to know that the pony express delivers mail. I think you're thinking of a taxi."

"I don't give a shit what you call it, unless you plan to pay me, your ride is over."

"Where are we? How far from the prison?"

"Fifteen miles, maybe," the gunman replied.

Fifteen miles was a long way back in eighteen eighty five. Far enough away that Bohdan felt confident that no one from the prison would be able to find him. "I'll leave," Bohdan said.

"What about the fifteen miles I took you? I think you owe me for that."

"I don't have any money," Bohdan replied.

"I can take it in trade."

"All I have is the clothes on my back, I have nothing to trade."

The gunman looked at Bohdan and smiled. "You have one thing I want."

"What's that?"

"Take your clothes off," the gunman said with a grin.

"You're not fucking serious are you?"

"I'm dead serious, I haven't been laid for a long time."

"Laid? You fucking queer, I'm not some whore you can screw on demand."

"Let me get Johnny, he'll help me."

"Is Johnny cooking your bacon?" Bohdan asked. He thought this guy was a joke.

"I like to use the grease fat, makes it slide in easier," the gunman said.

The irony was that Bohdan raped without emotion more times than he could remember, but now that he was faced with the same fate, couldn't stand the idea. He would never allow anyone to rape him, especially a queer. But Bohdan had no choice, although he had the strength of three men, Johnny and the gunman managed to hold Bohdan down long enough for the gunman to rape Bohdan and leave him for dead on the road.

By the afternoon, Bohdan had recovered and was up walking towards Kansas. He had no transportation, and for the next three days walked the roads back towards Abilene to catch a train back down to Texas where he came from. By the third day he found the train tracks that connected Chicago to St. Louis and managed to jump aboard. He stowed away in a luggage bin and hid until the train pulled into Abilene two days later.

In need of food, Bohdan left the train and walked into town. He was starving but felt he was well on his way back to his former life. His life in Texas. What he needed now was a girl to feed on, and he only knew of one place where he could find one in any town. It was dark and Abilene was vaguely familiar to him. Too familiar for his comfort, with a sense of Deja vu he walked the dirt streets until he found what he was looking for.

He stepped up onto the wood walkway and looked into the saloon window. He could see men playing cards and nude dancers begging for tips. On the wood platform below, Bohdan spied a woman's coin purse and picked it up. Tonight was Bohdan's lucky night, as he jingled the purse and heard the tinkling of money. He opened the purse and poured out several dollars in change. A lot of money to be left on the ground; must have belonged to a prostitute.

Tossing the change in his pocket, Bohdan dropped the purse back on the walkway and entered the saloon. He hadn't felt this free in a long time, and in a way it scared him. But he remembered he was Bohdan the Vampire Ripper, and he felt confident again.

# Chapter 48

# Abilene Kansas, 1875

The bartender watched the stranger avoiding a lap dance from a nude saloon dancer named Penny. She was one of a group of dancers that put on a show each weekend for the local men who spent their days on the range, working long hours under the hot sun. The stranger entered the saloon less than an hour ago and seemed disinterested in the woman who was now grinding her backside into his chest. She was looking for a tip and was getting pissed that she wasn't getting any response at all.

"What's wrong buddy? You don't like girls?" Penny asked.

The stranger raised his hat brim just enough to make eye contact with the woman. "You need to shave," the stranger replied.

"What the fuck?" Penny asked. "You look like you haven't had a bath or shave in a month."

"I haven't," Bohdan replied. "Now get me a drink."

"I'm not a barmaid. If you want a drink, get it yourself," the woman replied. Frustrated, she spotted another lonely man across the bar, and zeroed in on him.

Bohdan then stood up and walked to the bar; dressed in clean clothes, he looked like someone out of place for such a remote backwards village. "What can I get you?" the bartender asked.

"Beer," the Bohdan replied. The bartender popped open a bottle of beer and poured it into a tall glass stopping before the head spilled over. Bohdan tossed a coin on the counter and took his beer to his lips for a drink. At room temperature, it had a bite. "I need a girl," he stated looking over at the nearest nude dancer.

"A girl?" the bartender asked.

"You know, to fuck, not that dog."

"Oh, those girls are strictly for dancing, they aren't working girls, those girls are upstairs," the bartender replied pointing to the rooms that lined the upper floor of the building. "You can get there from the stairs over there," he added pointing towards the entrance door to the saloon.

"Do I pay you?" the Bohdan asked.

"No, stop at room number three, knock and talk to the madam that lives there, she'll hook you up."

"Thanks," Bohdan replied and took a long chug of his beer finishing it off in three swallows. He set the mug on the counter and walked over to the stairs. As he crossed the room, all eyes were on him watching to see what he would do. No one had ever seen this man before and strangers were often bad news for whoever they met. It didn't take long for the stranger to climb the stairs to the balcony above and find room three. He knocked on the door and waited for the madam to respond.

The door opened and a woman answered the door. Bohdan expected to see an old woman with no teeth and an angry disposition, but what he met looked more like a school teacher.

"What can I do for you?" the madam asked. She knew the answer, but was being polite.

"I need a woman," Bohdan replied.

"I see, step inside so we can talk."

Bohdan stepped inside the room and closed the door behind him. He took a quick look around at the room and noticed a very feminine touch. Lots of frilly decorations filled the space and dolls sat like they were waiting for a party.

"What kind of girl are you looking for?" the madam asked.

"Don't matter, I need to get laid," Bohdan replied.

"I have several girls I can set you up with, do you like a large girl? Or maybe a petite one? I have a set of twins if you like, you have to pay double, but it's worth it."

"How much?"

"Depends on the girl, if you want a white girl, it's one dollar, if you want a Mexican, or black, its twenty five cents. The twins are expensive, they get a dollar and a half each."

Bohdan stood and thought for a moment. He looked around again at the decorations that filled the room and felt his money bag. "I'll take a Mexican," he replied.

"I have three, Maria, Anna and Claudia. Would you like to take a look?"

"Yes," Bohdan replied. He was getting frustrated and felt like he was getting the run around.

"Follow me," the madam said and walked to the door. As she passed the stranger, she brushed up against his money bag to try to feel how much he was carrying. She led Bohdan down the balcony to room five and entered the room. Sitting on the bed was a Hispanic woman, dressed only in a long shirt, two others were lying on the bed talking when they noticed the stranger and madam enter and stood up in attention. "These are my Mexican girls," the madam stated holding out her hand as to offer them up.

"Which one is the best one?"

"They all do a very good job," the madam replied.

"They look like they're twelve years old."

"I think Maria is fourteen, right Maria?" the madam asked.

"Yes ma'am" Maria replied.

Bohdan smiled and rubbed his crotch. "I'll take Maria," he said. "And her as well," he added pointing to Claudia.

"That will be fifty cents," the madam said.

Bohdan stood for a moment, like he was lost in thought. "I changed my mind, I'll take Maria, that's all."

"I can make you a deal, I can give you all three girls for fifty cents."

"No, I just want the one," Bohdan replied.

"Alright, I need twenty five cents then," the madam stated holding out her hand.

Bohdan fished into his money bag and pulled out a coin. He placed it in the madam's hand and waited for the other women to leave.

"You have one hour," the madam said and motioned for Claudia and Anna to follow her outside.

Once the door was shut, Bohdan stood staring at Maria like she was the last meal to a starving man. He didn't move, he just seemed to be thinking and this scared Maria.

"What's wrong?" Maria asked in her thick Hispanic accent.

"Strip," Bohdan said. Like he was talking to a slave.

Maria pulled her long shirt over her head and tossed it on the bed. She stood naked across the room, nervously trying not to shake.

"Are you scared of me?" he asked.

"You make me nervous, yes," Maria asked.

"Why?"

"You're so quiet, I don't understand you."

"I paid to fuck you, what's there to understand?"

"Most of the men who come here don't look at me like you do. They do their business and leave."

"Don't worry, I'll do my business and leave as well. I just like to take a look at what I'm paying for before I start. I have an hour, and it won't take me that long to do what I came for."

"Fine, you look then, let me know when you want to get started."

"Do you usually have long conversations with the men you fuck? I mean really, you are just a slab of meat to most of them. Do you really think they want to talk to a dirty Mexican whore?"

"I've only talked to you. None of the others ever say anything, they just crawl on top of me and do what they paid to do," Maria replied.

"Dirty Mexican whore," Bohdan repeated, as if he was trying to get a rise of her.

"I do this so I can feed my family, I am no whore," Maria replied.

"Can't you get a job washing clothes? Or cooking? Why be a dog for any man that will pay?"

"It's hard finding work, especially work that pays. I have to help support my family."

"Were those other two girls your family?"

"Yes, Claudia is my sister, Anna is my cousin."

"Fuck, if I'd of known that, I'd of kept Claudia here. I'd love to watch two sisters go at each other. You ever fuck your sister?"

"Please, can we get on with this?"

Bohdan was getting aroused, teasing Maria about having sex with her sister. He was having more fun taunting her than he would ever having sex with her. "What's the best thing about your sister?"

"What do you mean?" Maria asked.

"I didn't get a good look at her, does she have nice tits?"

"I'm not interested in women, especially my own sister."

"I think I'll pay a little extra so I can watch you two on the bed, what do you think about that?"

"I won't do it," Maria replied.

"No?" Bohdan asked. He expected this answer, but used it to taunt Maria some more. "Maybe you'd like to watch me fuck your sister, would you like that?"

"No, this is a job to me. I don't enjoy this at all."

Bohdan stepped over to Maria and came in close, close enough to touch her. He put out his hand and caressed her right breast with his dirty hand. He made circles around her nipples and then looked up into her eyes. "What do you do best?" he asked.

"I lay on my back and let the man do what he wants, that's all," Maria replied.

"You don't suck dick? Or give hand jobs or anything?" Bohdan asked, still taunting Maria.

Maria didn't reply.

"What? Did I hit a nerve? I guess you do more than lie on your back and take it. I want something extra," the stranger said. "Ever take it in the ass?"

Maria looked at the stranger with horror in her eyes. She knew if she didn't do what he wanted, the madam would punish her, or put her out of work. But the idea of taking him that way scared her, she had never done it that way before. "No, I haven't," she replied.

"Good, there's a first time for everything," the stranger said as he pushed Maria back onto the bed. "Up on all fours," he demanded.

Maria crawled up onto the bed and assumed the position. She put her head down and offered up her rear to the stranger who was now undressing. She closed her eyes and waited for the man to enter her when she felt his hand grab her by her hips. He was now in position behind her and felt him try to enter her dry. The pain was incredible, and with every thrust the man cursed her for being a dirty filthy Mexican whore who would let him take her this way for pay.

"Stop!" Maria cried out. "It hurts!"

Bohdan continued to push, trying to enter Maria from behind until he finally gave up and sat back on his heels. Maria was relieved that the man had given up and was hoping he'd do like the other men and turn her over and fuck her and get it over. Instead, she felt him grab her by the neck and pull her upright. He wrapped his arm around her chest and thrust his fangs into her neck while covering her mouth with his other hand. For the next few minutes, the stranger, a vampire sucked the blood from Maria's neck and let her limp body drop down onto the bed in a heap.

He stood up and pulled up his pants fixing his belt and readjusting himself. He wasn't done with her, he pulled a knife from his pants and walked over to Maria's dying body. He flipped her over on her back and mounted her with a leg on each side of her hips. He looked down at her vacant stare and pressed the tip of his knife below her sternum. With a quick thrust, he shoved the knife into her belly and sliced down until he hit her pelvis bone.

Then with his left hand, he reached into her bowels and pulled out her intestines and laid them on the bed. Once he had them out as far as they would go, he used the knife to cut them free and pushed them onto the floor. He now had access to her ribcage and once again reached inside to find her heart. Once he had hold of the organ, he brought in the knife with the other hand and cut the vessels until he was able to remove her heart and place it on the bed next to the dead prostitute.

Bohdan was back to where he started but déjà vu hadn't kicked in. He was too much into his element to figure out his life was repeating. Maybe in a while he might figure it out and change his fate, but for now he was back in his element, raping and killing women at his discretion. Life was good for now, as he drank from the dead prostitute's heart.

The End

