Secrets. They were a nasty thing that had the chance to ruin so much. A secret was the demise of the “son” of God. A secret was the demise of the great Julius Caesar and the death of the brave Spartans against those Persian foes. Once a secret is in the world it is inevitable that it will come to light. There is no way around it. Those with the secret may want to hide and lie for as long as possible, but they are delaying what must come to pass.<br/><br/>For centuries Vampires hid amongst humans. Preyed on them, fed from them and culled them like any common herd animal. Plagues began to eliminate their numbers, rules and laws put in place to prevent inbreeding. So, much done to create the perfect food source, they did not even know that they also created the perfect predator. Sure, the humans were their food, but smart food was never a good idea. It only took for them to stop believing in the myths and legends for them to discover the truth.<br/><br/>That is when the burnings started. Whole city blocks,<span style="font-style: italic">priceless</span>structures from human history were destroyed to snuff out the ones that decided to dwell within them for safety. Hunted down like rats, driven to the brink of extinction, it was not much for the humans to gain the upper hand. After all, they had been bred into near perfection and now sought to turn what their<span style="font-style: italic">Masters</span>gave them against them. Chemical warfare, bioengineered weapons were launched and put into place. Vampirism, a virus, a genetic mistake was sniffed out in the labs, sliced under a microscope and used against them.<br/><br/>Who would have thought that a simple inoculation could be made? A simple injection that made human blood not only immune to the virus, but also undrinkable by those who needed it most; the perfect weapon against an enemy that was superior in so many ways.<br/><br/>Mandatory infection checks became routine. Every child born was immediately inoculated at birth and every citizen was issued a tag to show the date of their inoculation. A simple chip that was planted beneath the skin and read with a scanner, anyone found without a chip was killed on the spot. There was no way they could risk exposure to the Vampire plague.<br/><br/>Now, fifty years since the first purge and the world is a different place. Humans still live in fear of the Vampire menace. Fear in their uprising. Fear in the return to the days of being cattle. However, within the fear progress has been made and humans thrive in a highly technically advanced world. Money is still wasted on the same meaningless forms of entertainment, i.e sports, movies, music, etc. What few, if any vampires, are left live below the smog and pollution. To dwell in the darkness that is their only means of salvation from the harsh rays of the sun.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs29/i/2008/062/3/e/Battles_City_by_dIeGoHc.jpg"><img alt="Image" src="http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs29/i/2008/062/3/e/Battles_City_by_dIeGoHc.jpg" style="max-width:700px; max-height; 700px;"/></a><br/>(art credit:<a class="postlink" href="http://diegohc.deviantart.com/art/Battles-City-78967007">Battles City</a>, by <a class="postlink" href="http://diegohc.deviantart.com/">dIeGoHc)</a></div><br/><br/>Desperation got to even the best of them, which caused them to take a risk they might not have otherwise taken. Such as a mad dash into a crowded shopping center in hopes of getting their hands on much needed supplies.