Episode 48: Blood Treason

Crash landing on Earth long ago, Elizabeth, when she was still just Ezath, wanted nothing to do with the endless feud between Rah and Anu. Fighting over mankind’s future, one preaching cultivation, the other domination. She stood apart, uninterested in playing creator or conqueror to a fragile, flickering species whose fate she didn’t care to understand.

Being the youngest, she thought such debates to be pointless. Let Rah and Anu squabble over mortals. To her, life was an endless night with no consequence, and humans were passing sparks against the dark. But time has a way of reshaping even the undying. Experience, like erosion, wears indifference into something sharper. And somewhere between the struggles, the lessons, witness to empires, and the rise of mankind, she realized that apathy was its own kind of dereliction.

Watching man’s philosophies ignite the fire of action was inspiring. For the first time, she envied humans. Not their light, but their order. For all their flaws, mankind had discovered a powerful alchemy of belonging, of many acting as one towards an idea. Her own kind had never known such a thing. They were parasites, devourers, dependent on bleeding unending worlds dry. The three of them on Earth were scattered hunters, lone predators feeding in isolation, servants only to their own instinct and hunger.  

Elizabeth ready for a revolution - © 2025 Headless Horseman Productions, LLC

But Elizabeth wasn’t seeking democracy for her kind, what she sought was direction. They owned the dark, and she wanted a kingdom of eternal night that moved as one. To achieve that, wouldn’t it be better if all knew how to hunt, to stay hidden, to own themselves in the cruel world.

She had alone blazed her own trail, but heard tales of other vampires, that were not of her direct lineage. She'd spread her blood and assumed Rah and Anu had as well. She hadn’t always controlled what her Underlings or their Minions did, or if they made others. Broods were packs of vampires that traveled together. But by nature the parasites were solitary.  

By 1801, as America continued to grow and rise, at the same time, Elizabeth felt a shift. New vampires were appearing, at first a trickle, then a wave. She could sense them, hear them, feel them pulsate against her mind. Few were civilized. Fewer still were discreet. Most were feral, uncontrolled. They would feed freely and openly at night, without fear of being caught or of the aftermath. Mankind didn’t like monsters in their midst. Known vampires were hunted, and killed by frightened locals. Such creatures brought swift human retaliation, and nothing endangered their species more than that. 

Feral vampire feeding in the open - © 2025 Headless Horseman Productions, LLC

The creatures she was encountering were the offshoots of Victor Monfret’s Brood, those who had escaped the Hive in South Carolina. They’d been locked away so long, feeding on rats or each other, and it devolved them in a way. Now they created Minions freely, churning out wildlings that tore across the colonies, a chaotic plague destabilizing the delicate balance of secrecy...Elizabeth had no knowledge of Victor or the Hive. Discovering these vampires was deeply troubling.

To counter this growing problem, she and Seamus set out straight away, to create a Brood. Loyal to them and their belief in uniting the species. Intellects and sensibilities were different than they were when Elizabeth first struck out on her own. In the beginning, humans weren’t far removed from their primitive forms. But centuries of religion and the control of civilization had bred the animal out of them. So the one’s she made would quickly fall in line and follow her instructions. 

One certainty the population surge brought to Elizabeth, was news regarding the other two. Anu, though no one knew of any offspring, his legend had been carried through myth and stories throughout the ages. He was a dark veil that had endured in the Far East for centuries. She also received word of the passing of Rah. Though none of the vampires she encountered had met him personally, he was known fondly to their makers. But information of the ending of his life was spotty at best. She was only able to ascertain that it was at the hand of another vampire, somewhere in the Caribbean, some hundred and fifty years prior. The grief hit her harder than she expected. Rah meant much to her. Seamus felt it too, their minds linked by blood.

Not every encounter with the new vampire population was peaceful. The ferals grew bolder, more violent. Elizabeth could easily overpower them. Centuries of experience made her a lethal force. But Seamus often struggled. The wildlings attacked with pack-like ferocity, a challenge he was not always prepared for.

In 1817 in Philadelphia, Seamus was feeding in an alleyway when three ferals descended on him, drawn by the scent of blood. They nearly tore him apart, until a stranger intervened, carving through the attackers with precise, brutal efficiency -- Victor Monfret. He had tracked the ferals north, hunting the creatures born of his own escaped Underlings.

Seamus cornered in an alley - © 2025 Headless Horseman Productions, LLC

Upon learning Seamus was the creation of Elizabeth, a European vampire, Victor was eager to meet her. Grateful for Seamus’ rescue, Elizabeth welcomed him openly. They shared stories of their past, and that’s when Victor learned of Elizabeth’s history as an original and her connection to Rah.

The ever confident Victor was rattled and his mind slipped. Elizabeth “read” a flash, a memory, a truth -- Rah’s death, at Victor’s hand...He abruptly fled their meeting, barely escaping with his life into the still dark night. Elizabeth was consumed by rage. Rah was like a father to her, and she wouldn’t let Victor get away with the murder. And from his fleeing mind she saw another truth, the ferals were his, born from his negligence and ambition. 

Elizabeth reading Victor’s treachery - © 2025 Headless Horseman Productions, LLC

Elizabeth began creating more Underlings immediately. She needed strength. Numbers. Power. Her Brood would not only defend her against Victor’s spawns, they would form the beginnings of a unified, disciplined vampire order. A force with purpose.

Victor himself, had escaped Philadelphia. He was unsure of what Elizabeth may have seen in his thoughts. But from her he felt a looming threat. But he was also able to see a sliver from her mind, a whisper that upset her greatly. A name...Royce.

Back in Charleston, Victor stewed over his encounter with Elizabeth. She was the eldest and highest-ranking member of the vampire family that he knew of, making her the closest thing to royalty. He had long envisioned himself to one day be the king of their species, but with her around it could never happen...and so he plotted. She knew what he’d done. She was a threat to his way of life. The authority he’d built. And so in his mind he had but one option, eliminate her from the picture. But she was one of the originals, powerful beyond measure. He couldn’t go it alone...so he sent his most trusted Underling, Noah, to find out anything he could of the one called Royce.

Royce the Regal - © 2025 Headless Horseman Productions, LLC

Across the ocean in Europe, Royce lived in decadent splendor. The eldest vampire on that continent, surrounded by Underlings and Minions spread through cities and courts. He lacked nothing. Status, wealth, influence, he wore them like fine silk. Within exclusive circles in high-society he was “out” as a vampire. Even paid by some to demonstrate his fangs upon street filth for entertainment. It was an easy living...no predator and prey, just spectacle and indulgence.

He would hang his hat on being the basis for John William Polidori’s short story “The Vampyre”, and claim to all he met, to be the oldest creature in existence. Royce carried himself as a princely-sort, a legend in his own mind...His true origins, however, were hidden, locked deep in his mind. Born poor, the con-man, Otho. Accidentally made a vampire as he was trying to blackmail an ancient one. His maker, supreme and powerful, rejecting him.

Royce secretly lived in Ezath’s long shadow. He knew she would never sink to what he’d become. Never be a sideshow. She was a true huntress, a true ruler of the dark. Never burdened with the wants and wills of a human. He’d lost track of her long ago, after she severed the mental tie between them. But he suspected she was out there, somewhere, owning the night.

Though her name was a curse on his lips, when his mind drifted to thoughts of her, envy consumed him. The high-life he lived became hollow. He was better than his setting. A creature meant to be feared. An apex predator. Royce desired for a legend, not leisure.  

When Noah located him, bringing a dispatch from a vampire from the distant shores of America, it became the answer Royce was searching for. Victor inviting him to come and address the problem of Elizabeth Jovan... 

ROYCE: Ah, she lives. And in America no less...Your clock is ticking ever closer to the end, my dear Ezath…

He chartered a ship that very night, making his way to the New World. For Royce, he knew a simple truth -- the only way to escape another’s shadow, was to bury them beneath your own.

TO BE CONTINUED…