The Midnight Breed Series Companion Read Free Page A

razing peaceful settlements, but they also craved sex. Rapes were commonplace in the raids and attacks. Human females didn't always survive the brutality of their alien conquerors, but some did. And some—a rare few—actually proved fertile to the alien seed. These women were the first Breedmates, and would become the unwilling mothers of a new race of vampire on Earth…a hybrid race that would come to be known as the Breed.
     
    The Ancients’ demise on Earth
     
    Those Ancients who didn't perish in the first few centuries after they arrived were later brought down (Post-Black Death era, so mid-1300s) by their own descendants--those who would become the first Breed warriors of the Order--who joined forces under Lucan's leadership to rise up to overthrow the remaining Ancients for the good of mankind and the entire Breed nation around the world.
    None of the original eight Ancients are known to have survived Lucan’s war on them, however, rumors persist about one Ancient who escaped and now hibernates in a hidden location. It’s likely that Rogues have information about this slumbering Ancient that the Order could pursue. [ Author’s note: I later decided to keep the hibernating Ancient a secret, not a rumor, and put the alien under the charge of one individual, Dragos, rather than involving Rogues .]
     
    Methods for killing a vampire
     
    -   Sunlight exposure (typically within minutes)
    -   Starvation (slow death)
    -   Decapitation (instant)
    -   Complete or massive body trauma (effectiveness depends on damage)
    -   Severe injuries inflicted with weaponry or explosives (less effective)
     
     

 
     
     
    The Breed
     
     
    The Breed are the hybrid offspring, and subsequent direct descendants, of an Ancient and a Breedmate. Through the genetic dominance of their Ancient fathers, Breed infants are born exclusively male. Breed males share the huge size and strength of their alien fathers, and when agitated (either by hunger, anger, or lust—any extreme emotion) their eyes take on an alien, amber glow and their pupils turn thin like a cat’s eye.
    The most powerful of the Breed are those born of the first generation (Gen One), however with their physical/mental strength comes fiercer hungers and an added vulnerability to the things that can kill one of the Breed, such as sunlight exposure and blood addiction. Later generations of the Breed must deal with these issues too, but Gen Ones bear the hardest burdens.
    All vampires need to drink blood from a fresh, flowing human (or Breedmate) vein in order to live. No blood bags, transfusions, animals or synthetics. Blood is essential, but where their Ancient sires have no limits on how much their systems can absorb, for all members of the Breed, there is a dangerous tipping point where survival and excess meet. If a Breed consumes too much, or too frequently, he risks developing Bloodlust, an addiction to blood.
    Much like a human addiction to a powerful narcotic, Bloodlust is destructive and lethal. The addict swirls deeper and deeper into the void, until all that was good in him is gone. For one of the Breed, once Bloodlust claims him, he is very often a lost cause. Without intervention, his blood system will corrupt and his sanity will soon follow, turning him into a killing machine with no hope of recovery. At that point, he is considered Rogue, the closest a human/vampire can get to his savage alien roots.
     
    How the Breed compares to classic vampires
     
    Likenesses include: Must consume blood in order to survive; long lifespans of many centuries, but not true immortality in that they can be killed by various methods (see Ancients); photosensitivity, both the eyes and the skin; ability to move at great speeds, beyond the detection of human senses; mind control in varying degrees; telekinesis in varying degrees.
    Differences include: No aversion to garlic or holy water; no need to be invited into a place before entering; no problems with sacred ground or