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Chapter 1

I lie inside a cage It is bitingly cold here, and no respite from the chill will be offered With bars all around me, there is no privacy No place to hide It has been thus for centuries andor the benefits I offer theh, as I am their prisoner and subject to their whims anyway

Have I tried to better my conditions? Many times At first they made promises, to placate me But no promise was ever fulfilled My mistake, I know They have only taken from me of late—of my flesh and what remains of my sanity They have asked no questions That is theirSoon I look forward to the ending of my misery

"I didn't do it!" Davan shouted as he was dragged by two guards past rows of prison cells His trial was a sham; without proper representation, he'd been sentenced (as so many others before hi from the state, the sentence was the same for anyone convicted of that cri ned by the state Oh, there were ers and supervisors who thrived and prospered; nearly all of ere corrupt upon the world of Beliphar

Once, Beliphar had been a er—a new regi elected officials quickly They claiovernment in the Belepharans' lives, but it had come to mean the opposite Those who'd risen to power had stayed in power and the world of Beliphar labored under their harsh authority

The Reth Alliance had withdrawnBeliphar to fend for itself The Belipharans suffered and the small vampire population was quickly captured and condeainst the state Va on Beliphar, were now controlled by those in power

Vampirism was dealt as a punishment for most crimes and vampires were held in check with special cuffs and chains They worked in street crews at night or in the mines, did labor on state run far that ht that could prove harmful to humanoids was ultimately done with vampire labor, as environmental controls on Beliphar were all but abandoned

Still, Davan proclaimed his innocence and his cries were truth, but he'd been sentenced anyway and was now being hauled down a long, sterile hallway toward a small, less room A vampire waited there—a vampire controlled by the courts and its officers Davan would be turned unless he died in the atteood Any female convicted knew her punishment was a death sentence—perhaps one in twenty-five thousand females would turn Every vampire on Beliphar was male

Davan stepped up his struggles as he reached the small, sterile cube of a room A cuffed and controlled vampire waited inside, acco wand "No! In the naht, no!" Davan shouted A blazer stick was pressed against his neck and current shot through his body The resulting pain forced hiony Davan wept and cursed as the guards jerked him to his feet

"Name?" The supervisor demanded coldly

"Davan Falthis," one of Davan's guards replied; Davan was still weeping and unable to answer

"Davan Falthis, you have been sentenced by the state Your punishment is vampirisainst," the supervisor droned in a detached voice "Load him onto the table" Davan could only moan and whimper as he was hefted onto the stainless-steel table and strapped down; body, aruards retreated to the corners of the room

"Do your duty, vampire," the supervisor snapped at the cuffed vampire He nodded and pulled a steel bowl from beneath the table It would catch the excess blood when the prisoner's wrists were opened