The Vampire's Harvest

30

You remove the cord of rope from around your waist and you...you do what? You just look at it, wondering how this could fend off the swarm of drones descending upon you. You can't slow them with this, they're practically invincible. They're humans brought to the edge of death, kept alive with sheer dedication and loyalty to a vamp. But, if you can't fight, the only other option is to flee and perhaps, there is still hope for you yet.

Working quickly, you make a lariat loop that you've seen done hundreds of times before during your years working on the farm. You've made your way around a few stations at the farm, which meant you had some experience with herding cattle and catching a wayward cow with a lasso. It wasn't the best rope to use for the job, but it's what you had. Looking up, you find a chandelier composed of several ornate arms that are ripe for getting tangled with rope. All you have to do is get the lasso up high enough to snag it. Without a second's thought, you toss the hastily made knot up to the light fixture and your heart jumps when you feel resistance as you try to tug it back down.

You don't know if it can hold your weight, but you do know the drones will tear you to pieces within the next two minutes if you don't get moving. You spring up, grabbing hold of the dangling cord and pulling yourself up with all the strength pulsing through your adrenaline filled muscles. After you manage to lurch your body a meter up, you stop to pull the dangling cord up with you so that the snarling drones are unable to follow.

You've managed to escape, but you won't be able to hold on forever. You try to quell your panic and think through your next steps when you see Ferris and the coven running out into the hall to investigate just how effective their spell was.

"Ferris," you call, as your grip strains beneath your sweaty palms, "help!"

You're uncertain he heard you, as you look over the heads of the drones to find the coven back in a circle and chanting a fresh spell. You grit your teeth, your position slipping downward as the drones snatch at your ankles. Blood pumps in your ears and your head is growing light. You aren't certain you can keep your hold when the throbbing mass of bodies below you suddenly quiets as the drones fall to the floor like discarded marionettes.

"What happened?" you ask, your words and arms shaking in unison.

"We released them," answers Ferris in a somber tone.

"What do you mean released?" asks Ailisa, who looks grim standing in a herd of humans surrounded by vampire ash and collapsed drones.

"It means," starts Ferris, but he stops short and looks to his coven. Most of them hide their faces and some eye the door out with longing. Finally, he turns back to answer, "it means we released the vamp's hold. Without it, they are nothing more than corpses."

You realize you are over the epicenter of death and you wish for some sort of bright light to warm the chill around your heart. That's when you remember, Kinley.

"Ferris!" you shout.

"Right," answers Ferris, without giving you a chance to share your news. "Hawthorne, San, help Micah down." Two of the burlier mages trudges through the ring of extinguished drones to assist you with your descent. Your palms, raw and red, throb, but you pay them little notice as you make your way over to Ferris.

"Come with me," you whisper to him. Not that you need to be secretive. Most of the humans are making their way out the door, while the coven follows behind, though they make sure to keep their distance from the potentially disappointed townsfolk.

"What's going on?" asks Ferris, but you ignore him. Instead you motion for him to follow you back into the corridor and towards the direction you found Kinley. You hope beyond hope that your ward worked, or else this may prove to be a rather gruesome surprise for Ferris.

"Micah, will you stop and..." Ferris comes to a halt when he sees a beautiful young woman flanked by a pair of drones that must have been outside of the reach of the coven's spell.

"Hello Ferris. I've missed you so much." Tears well up in Kinley's eyes and you take a step back, not knowing if you should be the audience to their reunion.

"How? Why?" stutters Ferris.

"I don't know how I'm still here," she answers. "I heard the death cries of my brethren, but yet I stand here thanks to a ward."

Ferris looks to you and you give him a nod.

"Thank you," Kinley says, acknowledging your role. "I knew Ferris must be up to something since I couldn't find him in the ball. I was worried I wouldn't find him in time. I'm glad you at least found me."

"Why?" asks Ferris, still incapable of forming complete sentences. "They stole you."

"No, Ferris," says Kinley with a shake of her head. "I realized the night of my ball that I couldn't bear the thought of being forced to be with other men, even if you were my primary partner. It wasn't what I wanted and it shouldn't be something people are forced to do. So I decided I had to change things and I knew I couldn't do that unless I broke into vamp society."

You look over Kinley, dressed in white velvet embroidered with golden thread and accented with intricate black lace. She wore large, tear drop diamonds around her neck and dangling from her ears. Diamonds so clear and artfully cut that no matter how the light hit them, they sparkled endlessly. Somehow in a mere three years, Kinley climbed a very tall ladder and you wondered how much blood should be staining her white dress.

"I came back for you, Ferris. This would be for nothing if you don't join me. I want to live with you for eternity. If that's not what you want, then please kill me now. My drones will not pursue you."

"Kinley, I..." You see Ferris is running the same analysis through his head. Kinley had done a lot to get here. Ferris, however, just massacred all the top echelons of vamp society, so really, they were actually quite on even footing in that regards. "Kinley, I will always love you. That's all I ever wanted to do."

With that Kinley runs into his open arms and you take it upon yourself to make an exit.

Upon Ferris's request, he was not made a vampire right away. With Kinley's allies slaughtered during the massacre, she had to rebuild some prestige to gain claim of the town. Until then, Ferris did what he could to unite the people and protect the town from ever becoming a farm again. Years down the road, Kinley landed her claim and Ferris became a vamp so he could ever remain by her side. Under their watch, no one imposed their will on the town again. Those wishing to enter vampire society of their own free will were still welcomed as feeders, but Ferris refused to make drones, for he would not take anyone's right to choose how they live away.

***

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