The Mark of the Beast
The last vial rolled off the production line at 11:47 PM on October 29th, exactly on schedule. Elliott stood in the observation deck overlooking HemaTech’s primary manufacturing facility, watching as the 20,000th dose of modified SCRT was carefully packaged and prepared for distribution. Six months of relentless work, billions of dollars in resources, and the combined efforts of three hundred scientists and technicians had led to this moment.
“Final batch is ready for quality control,” Dr. Patrick Chang, the production manager, reported through the intercom. “We did it, Mr. Grahame. Twenty thousand doses, all within the specified parameters.”
Elliott nodded, though he felt little sense of triumph. Each vial represented a chain, a golden shackle that would bind humanity’s leaders to their new vampire masters. The formula had been perfected according to Medici’s specifications—it would extend the average human life by 15 to 20 years, exactly as advertised, if the necessary boosters were provided. The treatment was no guarantee of the recipients’ future loyalty, but their need for the boosters, as well as the fact that they’d received it early, at no charge, and ahead of the official release would provide the vampires with considerable leverage if a recipient later proved recalcitrant about serving them.
“Have the distribution teams confirmed pickup schedules?” Elliott asked.
“Yes, sir. First shipments go out at dawn. Priority recipients in D.C., London, Moscow, Beijing, and Tokyo are already being gathered and will receive their initial doses within 24 hours.”
Forty-eight hours. Halloween night. The significance of the date wasn’t lost on Elliott. The night when monsters traditionally revealed themselves would now mark humanity’s last hours of blissful ignorance.
“Excellent work, Pat. Give the whole team my congratulations and let them know I’ve authorized the completion bonuses.”
“Thanks, Elliott. Everyone will be really happy to hear that!”
He left the observation deck and made his way back to his office, his vampire-enhanced senses picking up the exhausted celebrations of the production team below. They had no idea what they’d actually accomplished, what they’d helped unleash upon the world. Elliott envied them their ignorance.
His office was dark, the lights off, though his transformed vision rendered the darkness irrelevant. He stood at the window, looking out at the Bay Area’s glittering lights, and placed three calls.
“Immy, I need you in my office. Now.”
“Natalie, please come to the executive floor immediately.”
“Chiara, it’s time.”
While he waited, Elliott poured four glasses of wine—a 1947 Château d’Yquem from Medici’s personal collection, sent as a congratulatory gift for meeting the production deadline. The irony of the vintage wasn’t lost on him; the wine was older than most humans ever lived to be.
Natalie arrived first, as always. She moved with her characteristic efficiency, though Elliott could hear her elevated heartbeat—she’d been with him long enough to know he had something significant to tell them. She settled into one of the leather chairs with an expression of wary curiosity.
“Impromptu meeting?” she asked carefully. “Something up?”
“It is,” Elliott confirmed, but said nothing more until the others arrived.
Chiara entered next and she was stunning, as always. She wore a simple black dress that emphasized her Italianate figure, but she carried herself with a modest sense of ceremony, almost as if she was in a church or at a funeral. She took the chair next to Natalie, giving the other woman a reassuring smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
Immy arrived last, clearly irritated at being summoned so late in the evening. His tie was loosened, his suit was rumpled, his thinning grey hair was disheveled, and he carried the tablet he was never seen without these days. The stress of the past six months showed in new lines around his eyes and a certain tightness to his jaw.
“This had better be important, Elliott,” he said, dropping into the remaining chair. “I’ve got the Singapore distribution team calling in thirty minutes, and the European logistics are a tangled nightmare!”
“I’m afraid this is more important,” Elliott cut him off. He remained standing, facing them, trying to find the words he’d rehearsed a hundred times in his mind. “It’s a conversation that we can’t put off any longer.”
Something in his tone made Immy look up sharply, his irritation suddenly replaced by wariness. “What’s going on?”
Elliott took a deep breath he didn’t actually need. “The night after tomorrow night, everything changes. The world as we know it will end, and something new will begin. A new world order, literally. And I need you all to understand what’s about to happen, as well as what your choices are.”
“Elliott,” Immy said slowly, “this sounds a little crazy, even for you. Has something gone wrong with the shipments? What are you talking about?”
Instead of answering directly, Elliott moved with vampire speed—not fully, just enough to clearly demonstrate his inhumanity. One moment he was by the window, the next he was beside Immy’s chair. His CFO jerked back, eyes wide with shock.
“What the—”
“I’m not human anymore, Immy.” Elliott’s voice was quiet, matter-of-fact. “I haven’t been for months. I’m a vampire.”
The word hung in the air. Vampire. Immy’s face cycled through expressions—disbelief, confusion, fear, and finally a kind of horrified understanding. Natalie nodded slowly, as though she’d long suspected it. Only Chiara remained entirely unmoved, but then, it wasn’t news to her.
“That’s… that’s not possible,” Immy said, but his voice lacked conviction. Too many pieces were falling into place for him—Elliott’s nocturnal schedule, his strange new associates, the mysterious investors, the impossible deadlines they’d somehow met. “I mean, I know I said… but it was a joke!”
“Not only is it possible,” Elliott continued, returning to his position by the window, “but it’s absolutely true. Vampires have lived alongside humanity for millennia. In hiding, in secret, occasionally pulling strings from the shadows. But in two days, their existence won’t be a secret any longer.”
Out of the Shadows is available in Kindle, KU, audibook, and hardcover editions.