Blood Song

It was our turn to pause as we considered the implications of this. Fergus' eyebrows had migrated right up his forehead, and Oliver looked stunned. I was probably more accepting of the situation, because to me it seemed very plausible. I did have a few questions, though. To be honest, I actually had a lot more than a few.

"Hugo. No offense, but we've seen some of your brothers. They look a little different from you."

Hugo seemed to find the statement amusing. "They are bizarre, aren't they? Jack decided that after my betrayal, all future sons would be fed blood from the age of ten. It does something to them, makes them rot from the inside out, but keeps them alive and strong enough to be useful to him. An army that runs on blood, and desires little else. One that won't try to seduce any of Jack's harem."

We said nothing, just watched him with fascination.

"That was my error, you see. I fell in love with one of the girls Jack had acquired on his travels. I had only ever known my sisters - we all were raised in a large house just north of here. Isolated. In those days there was no interference from government agencies, as there would be nowadays. Another reason why Jack took everything underground recently, so to speak. But back then we were able to have a fairly carefree childhood, my three sisters and I. Jack was absent for most of the time, scouring the rest of Europe for other vampires. Anne still hated him back then, so she was more of an ally and a friend to us than a mother. And then Jack brought fourteen year old Amelie back from a small village in the south of France."

He paused then, and his eyes held a distant expression, as is he were reliving a bittersweet past.

"She was a lovely little thing. She had dark eyes, and golden curls, and she hid her fear of Jack behind a mischievous grin. She was the most beautiful creature this fifteen year old boy had ever seen. I had changed by then, and, like every other teenager that has ever lived, I believed myself invincible. I was strong and fast. Then one day I realised what Jack was doing to my sisters, and what he was planning to do to Amelie when she came of age."

Hugo's eyes darkened.

"Rage howled through my soul, and bolstered by a sense of incredible righteousness, I sought him out and confronted him. I was the avenging knight, the crusader defending the helpless." He smiled bitterly. "He laughed at me, and the proceeded to show me exactly how it felt to be helpless. He systematically and effortlessly broke every single bone in my body that night. It took him hours, and I remember the moonlight through the trees and him jeering me throughout. And as I lay there in unbelievable agony, awaiting death with anticipation of relief, he dragged Amelie from her child's bed and started on her that night, right next to me."