EXTRACT FOR
Thirst
(Darren G. Burton)

His name was Roman and he was more than three hundred years old. He'd seen a hell of a lot of changes in that time. It was all quite remarkable; particularly the last century or so. Humans had advanced so much it was mind-blowing. When Roman came to be the Spanish were still in the midst of pillaging gold and silver from Central and South America. There were no cars, no planes, none of this modern techno wizardry. What a different world it was in the twenty-first century.

Roman loved being eternal. Some of his kind back in the motherland despised what they were. But not Roman. He welcomed the transformation at the time, desired it and had relished it ever since. Being immortal was power, it was freedom. He didn't age, didn't need to sleep, wasn't required to eat. The only thing he really craved and needed to stay alive was blood; preferably human.

He hadn't had any fresh blood for weeks. To keep himself going throughout the voyage he'd managed to sneak aboard a small suitcase full of plasma bags, which he kept refrigerated in the tiny bar fridge in his cabin below decks. He'd deliberately chosen a berth with no windows and stayed below decks until night had fallen. Only then would he emerge and roam the upper decks of the cruise ship.

He was en route from England to Australia. He needed a fresh stomping ground. London was becoming overrun with vampires now and things were getting very territorial and heated. As far as he was aware there were none of his kind down under. It would all be virgin territory, and all his. He planned to have some fun first, then start to reproduce and form a new coven.

Roman couldn't wait to get started.