Page 101 of The Monster and the Last Blood Match

The mayor waited for the immense crowd to quiet down again before speaking.

“Welcome.” His voice boomed. “It is both sad and troubling, the circumstances in which I stand before you today. Our city has endured a great tragedy this weekend. I’ve spent my time meeting with the family of the victims of the underground fires, my daughter among them. It is with a heavy heart that your city government and I have had to come up with a drastic solution in these trying times.”

He paused for effect to let his words sink in. Reyna held her breath as she waited to find out where he was going with this.

“Henceforth, all illicit activity will be severely cracked down upon for both humans and vampires. Many have let the animosity between our races drive them to violence. No matter the measures we have already put in place, more death and destruction befall the people of our city than ever before. The fires are the tipping point to a horrible plague. My own daughter was burned.”

Reyna clutched Beckham’s hand tighter at the mention of Penelope. His face was drawn, and she wished she could make his worries go away.

“Your brothers and sisters dead. We need to come together as one and stamp out the evil in this world. That should be our ultimate goal, and it was the goal in crafting this legislation. Today, I bring you a new plan to remedy the rising crime. The government must take responsibility for what has gone on, and today is the beginning of a new era!”

Beckham and Reyna glanced at each other. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking behind his dark eyes, but hastily drawn legislation couldn’t have been well thought out. Nor did she assume that meant it was truly benefiting everyone.

“Your legislators have passed a sweeping anti-crime bill that I have signed into law in response to the rapid increase in deaths within our city limits. As a result, we are immediately initiating these measures:

“First, our city has decided to commence the Blood Census starting tomorrow morning at locations all over the city, including city hall.”

“What?” Reyna said. “I thought that wasn’t supposed to happen for a few months.”

“Looks like they’re in a hurry to get it started,” Beckham responded stiffly.

“Our city is thrilled to be the first in the country to herald in this new program. Each of you will be assigned a location to register in the city, and everyone must be tested for their blood type within a month. We want this to happen as quickly and seamlessly as possible, so we can report back all test results to the federal government and complete the national crisis database. Anyone who fails to complete the test will be heavily fined.”

The crowd rumbled with speculation. Some were outraged that they were being forced to participate in this. Others were frustrated that a blood type database was even necessary. Many of them mirrored Reyna’s own sentiment about the existence of a Blood Census. It could mean only one thing: Visage was in the government.

“Additionally, all Census sites will be equipped with these.” The mayor held up a small band in his hand. “They are bracelets issued by the city, programmed with your identification information. All officers will be issued band scanners to verify your identity.”

The rumble turned into a roar. It was enough that everyone had an ID card, but it definitely wasn’t mandatory. And now they were taking it a step forward with these mandatory ID bands. What else would the government force on them?

“These must be worn at all times as proof that you are registered with the state and have passed your blood test. Anyone caught after the deadline for the Census without an ID band will be arrested and fined. We hope these new identifiers will help check crime in the city. After all, our mission is to make your city and the city where your family and friends live a safer place.”

Reyna realized she was shaking. How dare they do this? Who the hell did they think they were that they could pass sweeping legislation like this without hearing what the citizens thought? She wasn’t a prisoner to the system. She believed in change, but she didn’t believe that they were going about it the right way at all.

The mayor continued despite the growing unease. “Finally, we are enforcing a mandatory curfew within the city limits.”

“What?” she cried along with everyone else. “Curfew.”

“Reyna,” Beckham growled, pulling her closer. “We need to get out of here. This doesn’t look good.”

“We can’t leave. We have to voice our opinion. We have to tell them that this is wrong. They can’t do this.”

“They can and they are. We don’t need to get caught in the middle of it.”

“Maybe if more people were willing to get caught in the middle, something would have been donelongbefore they enacted these rules.”

“I agree,” he said. “But right now, my thought is for getting you out of here before everyone gets crushed under a stampede.”

“Fine.” She couldn’t change his mind, and even less so the government’s mind. But she wanted to. She desperately wanted to.

The mayor droned on as Beckham clutched her hand and veered through the crowd pressing in on all sides.

“Only night workers will be able to go out after curfew, and they must have a permit that allows it. I hate the thought of shutting down our city after midnight, but we feel at this time it’s necessary for peace.”

“Freedom. Freedom. Freedom!”

The chant started up in the crowd. The people heaved forward toward the podium, and Reyna’s hand was wrenched from Beckham’s.

“Beckham!” she screamed over the crowd.

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