Covenant of Blood

How many were there?  Enough.  Over the centuries they had evolved to satisfy their needs with a more passive source of the nutrients they required; after all, blood was blood.  But not for all.  Some could not resist the ancient urge to satisfy their blood lust with the warm, flowing liquid of a living being.  In those instances, errant members of the Network were tracked by the death squad known as the Shield, from whom there was no escape.  Jordan lived within the guidelines of the Network, as did most of his kind, in present day Baltimore.  But his friend, Cam, could not resist the stirrings that drove him to unspeakable acts and attracted the attention of the Shield.   When he turned up on Jordan's doorstep asking for help--would he get it?  Would Jordan, warned that he himself was under surveillance by the enforcement arm of the Network, dare violate the rules by which his kind had managed to secretly co-exist with the Others?  Or would he abandon his friend to his fate?  He didn't know, and time was running out.

5,500 words