To Ray’s disappointment, he groggily woke up only a couple hours into the Day. The guy he had brought back last Night seemed to be awake as he resumed that kneeling posture, almost touching Ray. The room was really small. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Ray sat up, yawning. He opened his mouth to start questioning the man, but then he froze, his words stuck in his throat.
His insides were squeezing and twisting, knotting and tearing. Ray knew it was ridiculous, but his anxiety suddenly punched him in the stomach with full force, and then just kept beating him up. It made no sense. Ray already took some of the guy’s blood, almost killing him, why was he suddenly so anxious about talking to him? How was he too scared to talk to him? The man was also way too close for comfort, why on earth hadn’t he dug another room to keep the guy in? Or at least make this one bigger?
At least the guy wasn’t looking at him. Right, the man couldn’t see in the dark, he couldn’t see him. Ray found that thought somewhat comforting. Yes, he was still hidden, he wouldn’t be looked at. Everything was fine. It was fine. So just talk to him already!
But the more Ray tried to overcome his irrational fear and anxiety, and make himself start questioning the guy, the more time passed. As the silence stretched, it became harder and harder to break it. His anxiety mounting to the point of him shaking, on the verge of tears, he decided to give up in defeat.
Giving up the struggle, his anxiety retreated right away, but his mood plummeted under the bedrock. He didn’t even dare to sigh loudly. Quietly, he hugged his knees tightly, trying to comfort himself, but he just felt worse and worse. Another battle was lost to his anxiety. He sucked. He couldn’t even do this much, how pathetic. He would never become anything, let alone a fucking dragon. All he was capable of was lurking in the dark like a wretched vermin, avoiding everything and everyone.
“Pfft,” came Vorm’s expected ridiculing snort.
Just leave me be, I know I’m pathetic.
“How do you expect to change if you keep running away?”
It’s not like not running away helps anything at all. Already tried that too. Back in my old world, my anxiety just kept getting worse and worse each time I overcame it, as if coming back with vengeance. For fuck’s sake, it even crept up on me when I was hanging out with my old friends I had known for over a decade, and always felt safe with them before. But even with them, I started feeling uncomfortable, like an outsider, so I just stopped meeting them. Of course, the more I pulled back, the worse it got. It reached the point where I couldn’t even leave the house alone. There is no escape.
“Yes, yes, but that wasn’t even the main reason you ditched your friends, have you already forgot? Anyway, so you are just going to curl up and do nothing?”
Exactly. I’ll just wait for the Night to come.
“Funny that you have developed a superiority-complex recently, yet now you are shaking in fear just from the thought of talking to a slave you already fed on.”
Shut up…
“Weren’t you above lowly humans?”
…I’ve just got carried away a bit during the Night.
“A bit? Isn’t the guy just mere prey to you?”
Ray cringed, Don’t remind me…
Snickering, Vorm added, “You are scared of your own helpless food.”
Shut up already!
Truly annoyed, Ray forgot his fears for a split second, and before he could realize what he was doing, he reached out with a leg to kick the cause of his current struggling, while snapping at him, “Sit. Stop bowing.”
The guy hurriedly straightened up.
Ray was horrified. But now that the silence was broken, he found it much easier to continue, despite his tortuously twisting and knotting insides.
“What’s your name?” he wanted to face-palm. Why would he want to know the name of someone he planned to feed on? But it was too late as the guy answered.
“Kei, my Lord.”
Well, whatever. “Do you know who am I?”
“The Bloodnight Tyrant.”
Ray froze as panic gripped and squeezed his heart, then quickly blurted out, “How do you know that?”
“Everyone in the Blood City knows of, and celebrated the joyous birth of the Bloodnight Tyrant, who is second only to the revered Patriarch himself.” Kei bowed low, “I am honored beyond belief to be in the presence of the Bloodnight Tyrant, and it is a great privilege for this unworthy slave’s blood to be used as sustenance.”
Ray recoiled as his skin crawled, his wretched insides turning. He found this situation extremely uncomfortable and awkward. “Stop bowing. What exactly do you know of me besides that?”
Straightening up again, Kei continued, “A decade ago a Directive came down to increase our reproduction rate in preparation of the Grand-Blood Ritual that would birth the Bloodnight Tyrant, who would bring a new age to all of us and to Paradise.”
Ray couldn’t understand even half of that, and he didn’t even notice his anxiety retreating as he tried to make sense of the new information. Directive? Reproduction rate? Paradise? One step at a time. “What is this Paradise?”
“Another world, a land of wonders and joy. The bloodstones that sustain the city grow on bloodtrees in Paradise. For some reason, babies cannot be born over there ,and the time-flow is faster. That is why we need to send the majority of our 1-year-olds over. The honored Bloodborn are tirelessly working to solve all issues that prevent us all from moving over.”
Bloodstones, bloodtrees, Blood City…. Why was this city so blood-themed? Ray also thought of those underground lakes—
A shiver ran through his spine. No… no, that couldn’t be. He didn’t want to ask, but against his better judgment, he did, “How are the 1-year-olds are sent to Paradise?”
“Once each year, on Paradise Day, the Left Inner Gate is opened. This is the only time anyone escorting a 1-year-old is allowed to step foot into the Inner City. The gate opens to Paradise Square, and on the other side of it is the Door of Paradise. Walking through it, there is a grand staircase leading down to the transportation rituals. We leave the kids there, and the rituals transport them to Paradise.”
Ray’s blood grew increasingly cold as he listened to the description, and found it familiar. Before he could stop himself, he asked, “How many… 1-year-olds are sent to… Paradise?”
“Most of the males are. Since to keep up our population, fewer of us needed. Females, a bit over half of them. I don’t know big numbers my Lord, it’s many many thousands and thousands.”
Ray’s Blood stopped cold. Just how extensive that underground lake system was? The… things he saw, although barely resembled humans, were clearly the size of adults. Or… maybe that Paradise really existed and those lakes were something else? Yeah, that could be possible… he deeply wished it was like that.
He knew he shouldn’t ask. Wouldn’t willful ignorance be better? But he couldn’t help himself and turned to Vorm, Do you think this so called Paradise really exists?
“Of course not, what are you talking about? I thought even you had realized it was just a load of crap they were fed with.”
His wishes crushed, Ray’s shoulders slumped…yeah… I just hoped it was true…
“Why are you so disturbed? Humans are just livestock to you, aren’t they?”
No! What the hell? They are little kids…
“I guess you need to grow into your powers some more.”
No, I’ll never see them as mere livestock. Sure, I might take one-or two, but I won’t breed and farm them on a scale like this. What is wrong with you?
“You wouldn’t care if it was Night. Hm, something is wrong.”
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Everything is wrong in this world, what do you mean?
“No, with you.” That was all Vorm said, then it kept quiet no matter how Ray nagged it to explain.
He gave up and sat there silently, staring at Kei soullessly, but asking nothing more. He couldn’t even imagine the sheer scale of it. He had thought he had seen the worst in AZ’s world… Shit, how wrong he was. He wondered what the bloodstones were for, but he couldn’t bear to ask. As the silence stretched it became difficult to say anything more.
The Day slowly passed, and as Night descended, Ray was stirred out of his daze. For a split second, he was confused, not sure about who he was.
But the Night’s cold was comforting, and he became who he was supposed to be. Everything was so much simpler. He heaved a sigh of relief as he relaxed and enjoyed the embrace of the Night.
Then he clicked his tongue in annoyance. It was frustrating how weak he was during the Day. Who cared about what those humans did among themselves? If anything, he admired their efficiency in blood-collecting, even if he found those lakes way too disgusting for his taste.
Finally feeling like himself again, it was time to get things done.
He looked at the human who was still sitting there docilely, but was now uncomfortably fidgeting. He grimaced, realizing something. He guessed he could make a hole and have the human relieve itself in that and just turn it to Ashes, but the thought disgusted him. Still, he needed to figure out something, because he did not want his room to smell like shit and urine. He wondered how the people in this city solved this issue. Luckily, he had someone to ask.
“Where do you relieve yourselves? Do you have toilets or something?”
The human seemed taken aback by the question, but answered it nevertheless, if a bit hesitant, “We have communal bathrooms... There is a ritual enclosed by a wooden structure with holes on top of it. We either stand or crouch above a hole and relieve ourselves into it. The ritual slowly takes care of it…”
Ray considered that. Vorm, can I make a ritual like that?
“With what? Your Blood isn’t for making shitty permanent rituals.”
Right… Ray asked the human again, “How are these rituals powered?”
“With bloodstones.”
That also seemed to answer some of Ray’s other questions. His current theory was that they threw the 1-year-old kids into the lakes and collected their blood over a long period of time, or something like that, turning it into these bloodstones. And apparently, these bloodstones were used to run the city. Maybe he was wrong, but so far this theory made the most sense.
“Where can I get bloodstones from?”
The human seemed confused by the question, “The Bloodnight Tyrant could just demand them and piles upon piles would be offered.”
That wasn’t the answer Ray was looking for. Irritated, he asked, “Where are the bloodstones stored? Are there any in the outer part of the city?”
“There aren’t any in the Outer City. All the rituals in the Outer City are connected into the Inner City and powered via bloodstones from there.”
In conclusion, Ray couldn’t replicate the ritual these humans used.
Vorm, can’t I just create a cleansing ritual or something like the healing ritual?
“Sure. Here.”
A ritual circle appeared in Ray’s mind. He found that extremely suspicious. Why are you just giving it to me without any fuss?
“Don’t tell me you are now complaining about me not making things difficult? Oh, my bad, I hadn’t realized how much you enjoyed it.”
No, no. I didn’t mean it like that. I appreciate it like this more, thank you. That’s what Ray said, but thought there had to be a trap somewhere.
Either way, he couldn’t just not try it. Worst case, he’d just dig a long tunnel, and a hole with a lid for the human if this didn’t work. Actually, he’d have to do it either way even if it worked.
Ray cut himself and focused on his Blood, wanting it to create the cleansing ritual Vorm had showed him. He considered trying it out on himself first, he felt quite dirty by now, but it was better to use the human as a guinea pig after all.
The ritual formed around the human, glowing with a subdued dark red shimmer. The human squinted from the sudden light, however faint it was, but watched the ritual lines crawling around its body in awe.
As Ray observed if the ritual was working, it seemed to him that the human became cleaner, but he wasn’t entirely sure. He was still waiting for Vorm’s trap.
Wanting to really test it, he ordered the human, “Relieve yourself.”
The human did so, and Ray was pleased to see the ritual really did work, wondering why Vorm just gave it to him without a fuss. There was nothing left, the human was clean. Satisfied, he recalled his Blood. A simple ritual like this didn’t seem to take much out of him, but hunger still lurked around. The human had not replenished its blood yet, he’d need to get another one. Food for the humans as well.
But before he could head out again, there was something he wanted to make sure of. “Have you lied to me?”
“No, my Lord” the human answered, bowing to the ground humbly. But Ray’s anger flared. He could tell right away the human was lying. How did he know? Was it a slight change in the heartbeat? A subtle, barely visible shift on the human’s face? Ray didn’t know how, he just knew. He was sure of it.
Narrowing his eyes, closely observing the human, he coldly said, “I know you are lying. Tell me the truth.”
But the human kept insisting, “My Lord, this lowly slave does not dare to lie.”
Crouching down in front of the bowing human, Ray lightly placed a hand on its neck, feeling for an artery. “If you lie to me one more time, I’ll kill you.”
The human shivered, but after a brief pause he firmly said, “This lowly slave does not dare to lie.”
Ray stood up, intrigued. The human would rather die than reveal his secrets. The room was small, but it was enough for Ray to start pacing a few steps around, thinking.
He should be able to command a slave, really command, shouldn’t he? Or only blood relatives? Weren’t vampires able to command lesser beings with their eyes or something? Maybe he could do that?
“Get up and look straight ahead.” The human did so.
Ray wondered how to go about this. Did the human need to be able to see? He paused as he looked into those unfocused, blind eyes in the dark. There was something vaguely familiar in them. He couldn’t quite grasp it, but there was more in their depths beyond the inability to see…
He shook his head, it was just a human, it didn’t matter. Instead, he concentrated on wanting to compel the human, to make him do what Ray wanted, to order it around.
He wasn’t sure how long he stood there, trying, but he felt he was on the cusp of grasping something. “Have you lied to me?”
“This lowly slave does not dare to lie.”
What was he missing? “Obey me.”
“This lowly slave obeys.”
“Have you lied to me?”
A pause, but the answer at the end remained the same, “This lowly slave does not dare to lie.”
Ray wasn’t deterred. He felt as if something was slowly shifting in his eyes… He asked again.
“Have you lied to me?”
This time the human haltingly answered, as if struggling with something, “…This… lowly slave does… not… dare to lie,” with that, the human turned, and with full force tried to bash its head into the rock.
Ray was faster, and grabbed the human’s head in both hands, forcefully turning it to look at him. The human’s eyes were tightly closed, but it didn’t deter Ray as he tried to command, “Open your eyes.”
The human’s eyelids trembled, but remained shut.
Ray tried again, “Open your eyes.”
The human did not obey, instead, it futilely struggled.
Did he even need the human’s eyes to be open? Maybe it was about more than just eyes… As he considered that, even though they were still closed, he seemed to see the human’s eyes look straight into his own eyes. No. Not eyes, he was more, he had Eyes.
Something shifted into its rightful place as new, but familiar words echoed in Ray’s mind. Eyes that see through, Eyes that bewitch, Eyes that compel.
As if the human felt the shift as well, it stopped struggling, its eyes opened, but were void of any emotion.
Pleased, Ray knew he would be obeyed, “So, what have you lied about?”
The human answered in a monotone, flat tone, “I know exactly how many innocent kids are sent to the blood-farms. Around 95% of the male kids, which is usually around 85 thousand and around 65% of the female kids, a bit less than 60 thousand annually. The numbers fluctuate, but not in a wide range.”
Well, that certainly confirmed Ray’s suspicions. “How do you know that?”
“I don’t know… I have always known. The Bloodborn tell us a cover story of Paradise, but they don’t make much of an effort to hide the truth to begin with. We are just livestock in their eyes. Anyone who dares to face the unfaceable knows the truth. Which is not many... ”
“Why do you go along with it, if you know the truth?”
“There were rebellions before… they always failed… Most willingly ignore the truth and delude themselves with pretty lies of Paradise.”
“Why don’t you all just die instead?”
“We can’t… It’s been over a hundred years since the last rebellion where everyone in the Outer City tried to die to stop this madness. Many succeeded, but ultimately they failed. This city is a prison, there are hidden rituals and systems in place that activate in certain situations… we cannot escape, cannot stop reproducing, cannot even die…”
Ray could hear the hidden pain, despair and helplessness in the human’s flat tone.
“If we rebel we will be closely managed… we are branded by Blood and cannot disobey the Bloodborn. They let us be as long as we provide enough children… if we fall short, they come to directly control us…”
Ray watched a single drop of tear run down the emotionless face of the human. What a terrible way to live, he thought. Ray wondered if he could use this somehow. Maybe he could mess with these constricting rituals letting the slaves wreck havoc? Or at least inconvenience these so called Bloodborn?
“Who are the Bloodborn?”
“The direct descendants of The Founder.”
“Where did you slaves come from?”
“We were the natives of this land until The Founder enslaved us all.”
Ray grabbed and pulled at his hair in irritation, scratching his head. Each answer spawned half a dozen new questions. It was never-ending.
“Who is this Founder?”
“I don’t know. He just came one day.”
Ray had dozens upon dozens of questions, but his patience was running low. He decided to snatch another human before asking more.
He turned to leave, but stopped, and looked back to add, “Don’t die while I’m away.” With that, he left. He wondered if the compulsion stayed even if he was away, or he would find the human dead.