Predictably most undead decided to go off alone and hunt the remaining humans for food and sport without thought of the future. It was a chaotic time as you may remember.” He gave her a meaningful look.
“Looting and carnage ruled the streets for weeks afterward, eviscerating the already dwindling human population. Some of my scientists, the ones who had been working at an off-the-books underground location researching alternative food sources for the undead, 125
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survived when the gray miasma arrived. We salvaged the accumulated data and brought the files to this library. I moved the scientists here, and I have extended them my protection ever since. They and a few others have continued the research.” He cleared his throat, letting his words sink in.
“Vampires have existed for thousands of years, so I’ve been told. Many delight in creating minions by boring holes through a victim’s skull and pouring vampire blood onto the exposed brain or by repeated bites within days of each other. I had to do something about the steadily disappearing humans and the growing number of new vampires created each night. It didn’t take a genius to do the math.”
Poe sneered, “So you set up the operation, imprisoning humans against their will and turning them into a bunch of miserable cows to be bloodmilked.”
Sainvire’s gaze found hers. “I’m not going to deny anything, Poe. I am the mastermind of the whole sordid business. I deserve everyone’s contempt for what I have done.”
As if his guilt is going to right his wrongs! “Your life story is really interesting, but I’m too tired and vampire-prejudiced to care,” Poe sniffed, disgusted at the presumptuousness of this Mengele. “How is this connected to Sister Ann and Goss?”
Sainvire hardly blamed Poe for her animosity. He felt the same way about himself.
“Sister Ann used to be a leech. She fed the cattle, prayed over them, and collected their blood for a certain master.” The look on Poe’s face stopped him.
“Look, Poe. She wasn’t a leech by choice. No one wanted to drink her blood because superstitious undead declared they would self-combust if they did. And no one dared to kill her, as some still believed in the idea of an afterlife and the wrath of God for harming a nun.
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And despite the topsy-turvy times, Sister and I developed camaraderie. I managed to negotiate her release from the vampire she worked under and brought her here.”
He sighed, remembering the sweet, lined face of the nun on the brink of madness. If Catholicism was dying when the world was normal, it was dead now.
“We became good friends, believe it or not. She encouraged me to persevere in trying to find a new food source, and she commended me for not milking any of the cattle I maintained. Strictly volunteer blood donation or animal blood for me and my people.” He smiled and said, “Joseph treated her like a second mother. He even taught her some jujitsu when she was up for it.”
Poe couldn’t help herself. She was entranced.
Sister Ann had always been close-lipped about her previous life. What she did know of the nun, she had learned from Goss.
“One day Sister Ann asked me to grant her freedom.” Sainvire pressed the palm of his hands to his forehead. “I was petrified for her. Without my protection, anything could happen, habit or no habit.
The streets still crawled with rogue vampires who refused to stop hunting humans. They believed it beneath them to drink refrigerated blood. I tried to convince her that leaving wasn’t a good idea, but she was adamant, telling me that she was going to rescue the poor cattle she had helped bleed. I’m sure you know how hardheaded Sister Ann could get.”
Poe nodded. She certainly knew. The nun was unstoppable when it came to preaching against particular movies in her bunker.
“I knew I couldn’t stop her. She would find a way to escape. So we made a deal. She had to train with Joseph and ammunition experts living here for a year.
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Then she could go. Good thing she agreed because I thought I’d have to hog-tie the woman.” He beamed at the memory. “After the year had passed, I introduced her to Morales and Megan who were experienced traffickers in the underground by then. Her task was to rescue cattle and bring them to the runners.”
“Soon after, she met up with a very emotionally battered Goss who had just escaped from one of Trench’s facilities. Sister comforted