Hunger is a very sadistic driving force for my kind. Without an intake of mortal blood on a frequent basis, our immortal way of life would still be possible but would be an excruciatingly tedious existence. An existence that even the lower classes would not settle for. I for one would rather be dead. Oh! I mean deader than dead. If you get my gist.

And so to make my death worth living, I prey on those very classes. I feed upon them happily, they are my staple food, so to say! My meal now complete, I dropped the garish woman in a heap onto the floor and left behind the squalid alley.

With inhuman speed, I walked in and around the milling crowds of fishermen and dock workers without being noticed. I did not need witnesses to my presence when the dead girl was found.

With perseverance, I soon found what I was looking for. The main business office of Dellebare and Son Ltd. A ruined old building standing at the corner of the block. This was the company that dealt with the upkeep of Vladimir's warehouse. Even after fifty years, I hoped all was well and that the eight crates would still be there. I admit that I had hoped to find something else other than just my home soil. Possibly Vladimir himself! If not, then at least a lead to his where about.

It was now the early hours, so I couldn't expect the office to be open but then I did not need it to be. With my hand placed just above the door's keyhole, I gently tapped and tapped again. I continued to tap with vampiric speed. The door vibrated in its frame so fast that it made a quiet hum. At last, there was a metallic snap and the door swung open for me.

Once inside I searched for their file room. I rifled through rows of cabinets and their records. Either numeric, alphabetical or sequential, it did not matter, I found the location of Vladimir's lock up easily. Back outside, among the throng, I reached out with my mind and commanded the nearest fisherman.

"Come to me!"

A short raggedly clothed man with dirty hair, chapped and cracked skin stopped repairing his nets and walked over to me with a frightened and bewildered look in his eyes.

I thrust the sheet of paper I had retrieved from the office into his face and commanded,

"Take me to this place"

I watched as a look of confusion spread across his face. Then it struck me, the man could not read.

"Take me to Tenby road, lock up 4. NOW!"

After several wrong turns and a long and useless walk, I finally succumbed to the knowledge that my guide was as lost as I and that if I had randomly searched by myself I would undoubtedly have found Vladimir's lockup much sooner.

Releasing the ragged man from my power, I watched as he ran with fear in his eyes into the dark. Beneath a black fog of my own making, I appeared in front of the fleeing man and before he could scream in terror, I snapped his neck. I will not have my time wasted! With an upward shake of my head, I groaned with annoyance. I noted the street sign beside the dead man's body. Tenby Road!

"Oh, for Satan's sake!"

Within seconds I had located Vlad's lockup and made short order of the old rusted padlock that had not seen a key or a drop of oil for over half a century. With more than a mortal man's strength, I slid open the large doors. The dry rollers in the iron groove of the track screamed in agony but with my unnatural strength, there was no real contest.

I walked into the dank smelling interior, its rotten stench would have been overpowering to most but not to me, it was a perfume of all things foul, corrupt and death like. Undisturbed Cobwebs assailed me as I stepped further in, as did small flitsome bats with velvet bodies and leathery wings. With a wave of a hand, I brought the creatures of the night to my shoulders. As I would a long-lost pet, I caressed them with words of love. They gladly listened to my will, and with another wave of my hand, I sent them out into the night. My drones would fly above and report any approaching menace.

Casting my attention back to the job at hand, I threw aside a Guano covered tarp to reveal familiar iron-bound crates. There were only six, so Vladimir must have returned here at least one more time. At last, I had them in my possession. They were padlocked, but with a little drumming of my fingers on each crate, they fell to the floor, broken. I opened them to find wonderful Romanian dirt, all except for the last one. In that crate, I was shocked, amazed and saddened to find an emaciated dead body. Not Vladimir's, which obviously I had hoped to find, but instead it was the body of a man I and Vladimir both loved from so many, many years ago. Satan knows what led him to be entombed here, dead, staked and crated?

With a sad and steady hand, I reached out to the stake protruding from his chest and stroked it with a single finger. I quelled the urge to pull the shard of wood free and with the blood of a passing dock worker, wake the dead. Instead, I slammed the lid shut, sealing the crate.

I shook my head and with a reminiscent sad smile, I stepped out into the cold night air. I commanded the nearest dock worker to me. I instructed him to secure the lockup and once his task was complete he was to step off of the edge of the dock and simply allow himself to sink without a struggle to a watery grave.

In contemplation, I stood silently staring up at the night sky. It was as black as coal and clear. Stars sparkled in the velvet curtain like diamonds.

With that in mind, I transformed myself into a cloud of night creatures and beckoned for my newly found drones to join with me. On the flight back to my townhouse all I could think of was the name of my rediscovered loved one.

"Dear Abe, my son, it is good to find you at long last"

For many years I searched for my absent son. We did not part on good terms. I followed many leads that led me around the known world but to no avail. One day I heard a rumor of him and his glorious death in battle. Still, I could not find where this rumor originated or where his body lay. In the end, I gave up my search and made peace with his memory. The last person I ever expected to find as I searched for Vladimir, was my son.