"Looking for something?" The General's voice came from a shadow.

Edrick turned toward the voice drawing his gun and there was his Annabelle in the hands of his terrible General. His lovely, sweet Annabelle with her face contorted in fear and covered in tears.

"Let her go!" Edrick demanded.

The General bared his fangs in a wicked grin. Edrick grew cold.

"Let her go," Edrick pleaded. "I'd do anything for her!"

"Anything?" The General leered.

"Yes," Edrick nearly whispered.

The General moved quickly and Annabelle screamed as she tumbled to the ground.

"Foolish mortal..." The General's voice came from behind as Eldrick felt teeth sink into the flesh of his neck. His fingers went numb and his gun tumbled to the ground unused as the life drained from his body.

"Tonight you will become a vampire. You will never get to see your family or friends again. Your galant sacrifice is nothing." The General gloated as Eldrick's world sank into darkness, yet another victim to the night.

Eldrick awoke starving. He tried to sate the hunger with bread, mutton, grapes, wine. No, blood was the only thing that satisfied his hunger and sustained his unnatural life. He adapted to his need for blood, but never lost his longing for human food which now tasted like ash in his mouth. Dreams of again falling in love haunt his days, but seem as hopeless as tasting food again. For now, revenge will have to do. Days are spent dreaming of killing his maker, but how to really do it? At least the fantasy of revenge and a hope for someday having love again keep Eldrick from going cold inside. Keep him from being like the General and his ilk.

It has been 100 years since his master released him from servitude, now only dropping by for the occasional favor. Eldrick questioned why his maker hadn't just killed him. There used to be light. There used to be love. Day by day he sits like a clock that has stopped ticking, long forgotten and dusty. He tried to remain human. He let Annabelle go and fall in love with another. He watched over her family for generations as they aged and died along with all he knew and loved. The years showed Eldrick one of the reasons why his fellow vampires might be so cold and robotic. Loss after loss, kill after kill became numbing, but he held onto the memory of teeth on the flesh of Annabelle and the passionate love they shared. Even though alone, that spark of remembered humanity kept him from the soulless fate of his fellow vampires. He cared.

A chilling neigh broke into Eldrick's contemplations. His only friend had returned. Knocking over a brass oil lamp in his haste Eldrick threw open the door.

"Where have you been for the last 50 years? I missed you."

A black stallion with blazing red eyes stood before him, lowered his head and rested his nose in Eldrick's hand. Bonded by blood and battle the horse had passed through this strange afterlife along with his rider. With that simple touch the horse withdrew nickering and faded back into the night. Alone again Eldrick knew that at least he had one friend. His horse had felt the chill closing in on Eldrick's heart and come to save him once again.

TOLARA Sailors have plied these waters since man discovered a way to float. Pirates followed as soon as man discovered that they could sail goods. Tolara is one of the few female captains on this ocean. A love for adventure, freedom, treasure, and living her own life lead her to the conclusion that only piracy could give her her heart's desires. A life at sea isn't easy, neither is keeping the loyalty and obedience of a diverse bunch of men and women who live outside the laws of society, but it's much easier than life on land in the 1700s for a strong willed, intelligent woman.

Born to a well-heeled man and his servant in Ireland, Tolara was brought mainly by herself until puberty when boys started to notice her. The looks of serving boys, neighbors, and her father's cronies led her mother and father to take her in hand and try to punish the wild freedom from her and make her conform to corsets and servitude. "Knowing her place" was not for Tolara and by 15 she had disguised herself as a young man and got a berth on a westward sailing ship as a cabin boy. The ruse didn't last long in the close quarters of a boat at sea, but Tolara was lucky the captain had a soft spot for mischief and a protective streak. On the voyage her willingness to learn and her wild nature were appreciated in a way she never knew. Knots, fighting, cursing, climbing Tolara drank it all in thirstily.

When the ship docked in America Tolara disembarked enchanted with the stories of a new life in the new world, but it was more of the same there. Only at sea had she had what she wanted. At sea she was her own person.

Getting a job as a woman on a ship was almost impossible, though. First she needed a reputation. One night she went out to the dockside pub dressed as she had on ship, in trousers and vest slamming open the door.

"I am Tolara and I am the best sailor on the sea. Only a fool and a coward would not hire me for their ship. I can fight, shoot, curse, navigate, sail, and drink with the best of you. Just try to stop me."

That night many tried to prove her brags false, but she stuck it out. A captain hired her the next day as Tolara was nursing her bruises and hangover. He wasn't the most trustworthy looking of men, but he would do.

Over the next few years Tolara earned the respect of the pirates and fear of the gentry. Gaining loyalty and stashing money earned her the captaincy of her own boat. Tolara had all she ever dreamed of, but civilization was closing in. Many pirates were facing cages and the noose. There was no way Captain Tolara would give up. The sea would be her grave.