"We've got them," Rayshawn said aloud, and the tall, dark-skinned African American vampire raked his tongue over his fangs, seemingly aglow with anticipation. For ages now he'd been on the trail of Lady Nadia, the African vampire matriarch who turned him into one of the undead. Rayshawn wanted nothing more than to kill the bitch and watch her turn to dust. The fate of mankind and the fate of the vampire species meant nothing to Rayshawn. The once-brilliant and now half-maddened vampire only had one thing to live for, ice-cold revenge.
Rayshawn had gone far in pursuit of his goal, and he'd made deals with devils of many sort left and right. This was the only thing which drove him forward. He wanted to destroy Lady Nadia. He'd even gone to the City of Accra, Ghana, to consult the Elders of the vampire race in an attempt to marshal efforts to stop the human armies rising up against them. In the end, revenge proved to be an irresistible motivator, and Rayshawn intended to destroy the lady who cursed him for all eternity...
Lady Nadia fancied herself a queen among the undead, and the ancient Arabian vampire overlord Hiram was her husband and protector. The fearsome African vampire warrior Erebus was raised as the pair's raging son, and he would do anything to protect them. Together they ruled a vast enclave made up of thousands of humans and hundreds of vampires. The largest remaining enclave in the continental United States, and a prime target for U.S. Army Colonel Amelia McGrath and her growing army of militiamen and militiawomen, who seemed hellbent on wiping out the undead.
At a time like this, the vampires were supposed to wise up and put aside their differences and unite against the human horde. This was the only thing left to do since the humans were close to wiping out the vampires in America. If only the undead followed the rules of logic. As a preternatural race of apex predators, the vampires have never really feared humanity, and they've grown bolder since the nuclear war blotted out the sun, creating semi-permanent darkness over the United States and turning it into a vampire's idea of paradise.
For a time, the vampires got to live like kings and queens, and the humans were either slaves or cattle for them. Vampire overlords established fiefdoms where humans were farmed for their blood. Hiram ran a very large and profitable enclave, and he was considered benign by vampire standards. He treated his human subjects like the vassals of a Medieval lord, rather than farm animals. Hiram fancied himself a benevolent undead dictator, and Lady Nadia was his queen, eternally by his side. Rayshawn wanted them both dead.
"At last, I will have my revenge," Rayshawn said loudly, and he was practically salivating at the thought of tearing Lady Nadia and her brood to pieces. In his secret underground bunker in the town of Harmony, Maine, the vampire plotted and schemed against his immortal enemies. He hoped to get to them before that female Colonel and her soldiers did. No sense letting the human soldiers have all the fun. When a powerful vampire needs to be killed, the best solution is usually another vampire. Of course, the humans would be a pesky threat to deal with once Rayshawn had his revenge, but it might just be worth the hassle...
