“But they outnumber us at least a thousand to one. Shouldn’t the strength in numbers be enough for them?”
“No, I don’t think so. I think it runs deeper than that.”
“Explain yourself, Desiree.”
“I think they aren’t just content with outnumbering you. I believe they, the O types, feel it’s their right to exterminate your types.”
Clayton looked at Desiree, his most trusted ally. “Do you feel any tension or hatred from me since you are an O negative and aren’t in my blood type family?”
“No, sir. You’ve never given me a reason to.”
Clayton nodded. He retrieved the tote bag and handed it to Desiree. “I need you to take this over to our lab in McCordsville, Indiana. I want our technicians to take the serum and modify it to the way we discussed it. Please do this right away. My blood type's very survival depends upon it!”
“Right away, sir,” Desiree said as she quickly departed the room.
After Desiree left, Clayton went to his desk, sat down, and contemplated his next move. He looked on the floor to his right. He picked up the green tote bag that had Doctor Leadstone’s serum. Desiree had made a foolish blunder. She should have taken more time coming into his office to tell him about the watch. She knew all about the various functions and had explained it to him in great detail while Stephen was waiting. Only someone high up in the O type blood vampires would have access to that knowledge. So, Desiree Maholmes was exploiting their friendship and reporting everything to Maryl Rosser, the seeker?
When he initially asked Stephen what kind of bag he was going to put the serum in, Clayton bought two green tote bags as a precaution. Never in his wildest dream did he think Desiree would be a traitor, especially since he was fond of her.
He wondered what other valuable information Desiree had told Maryl for the past three hundred years. Clayton sighed as he waited for the call he expected.
A half an hour later, his cellphone rang.
“Hello, Maryl.”
“When did you find out?”
“That Desiree Maholmes was a traitor? Not until half an hour ago. She knew way too much about the functions of the watch Stephen Ward was wearing. I couldn’t dismiss such an obvious mistake. And let’s not forget about you! You’re outstanding at deception, Maryl Rosser.”
“And so are you, Clayton, by getting Stephen Ward to do your dirty work right under my nose, something I will speak to Desiree about. And let’s not forget stealing the serum from Doctor Leadstone and making up the façade of being Max. Brilliant. I imagine Stephen Ward is dead?”
“Yes, I had Desiree do it. What do you want, Maryl Rosser?”
“I need the serum. What you plan on doing with the serum is wrong! Surely, you must understand the plight of being an O negative in a world…”
“Maryl, spare me your sermon!”
“Then I will get to the point. Look outside your window where you are presently standing.”
Curious, Clayton went to the window and slightly parted the blinds.
“You realize Desiree told me what you are truly planning on doing with the serum. I can’t allow that.”
Clayton scanned fifteen O negative vampires, including Desiree, who did not seem pleased she was duped. However, he sniffed five more in the back of the safehouse.
“I am on neutral territory, Maryl. You can’t touch me,” Clayton said as he approached the nearest closet door.
“Your vile quest to steal the serum trumps the neutral territories. They are no more!” Maryl said in anger.
“Be reasonable, Maryl!”
“I am. I could have sent many more vampires. You could take maybe five or six of them, but not all of them,” Maryl said confidently.
“This is a breach of our alliance, which constitutes war, Maryl Rosser! Is that what you want?” Clayton demanded. He walked to the closet door and opened it. He pushed a small coat hook downward. A darkened slender walkway loomed ahead. He closed the closet door and rushed down the small passageway.
Maryl started to say something, but Clayton ended the call.
He scanned the perimeter as he heard the horde of vampires trying to break inside the safehouse. Despite the dwelling made from thick hardened oak wood, he knew it wouldn’t take them long to break in and trace his unique AB positive blood.
The narrow corridor gave way to a widened area. Clayton ran to a large workstation that had a computer and several servers that monitored all of the neutral sectors in a three hundred-mile radius. He pressed several keys on the keyboard, found the pre-loaded virus, and hit the enter button. He heard them up above. They were less than a minute away.
He rushed to a nearby covered vehicle. He quickly threw off the blue tarp, jumped in, turned on the ignition, and peeled away as the door broke from the hinges.
Clayton slammed on the accelerator and watched the vampires recede. He pressed a button on the steering wheel, and a large opening in the wall allowed him passage.
As Clayton drove, he thought about Maryl Rosser’s continued interference. Her intrusion didn’t start recently. Oh, no. It began with the great yeomen purge of 1751, where most of his family were exterminated.
Chapter Seven
The Great Yeomen Purge of 1751
Part One
Clayton was fed up with London and England as a whole. He had made a promise to the council over two hundred years ago to stay in England for his family’s sake, and he regrettably abided by that decision.
But how London had changed in the ensuing two centuries! The city was filthy and filled with poor sickly people. Beggars loitered at every street corner. Garbage littered the streets, and the citizenry urinated into the roads as the horses trotted idly by.
There was so much horse dung in the streets it looked like mud, thought Clayton. His hyper eyesight caught the sight of several beautiful large homes in the outskirts that were in stark contrast to the living conditions nearby.
The street vendors were the only thing Clayton looked forward
