Reverence. That made a little light come on in the back of my head. Spending my teens and most of my 20's hanging out with Vampires had taught me a little thing about reverence. And that was Ghouls. Ghouls had loyalty to spare and what better way to make a cult than to have a caste of “ascended” followers that the others could aspire to be?

“You say reverence.” I stood up too, glancing down the road that led towards the old part of town, the old docks and warehouses that had now been turned into dozens of pubs and clubs. “What would you say to unconditional reverence?”

Grey raised a single eyebrow without saying anything.

“Vampire trick.” I said casually, though in truth I wasn't sure it would work. “You ever heard of a Ghoul?”

Grey's eyes lit up and a devious smile spread across his face, I could see him suddenly figuring out my plan.

“C'mon, let's get a drink.”

I picked a nightclub that was a little off the beaten path, down a road that hooked back on itself off the main road. A little place by the name of “Strangles”. It used to be a bank, back in the day, so it was sporting a classical-style frontage with tall, narrow panelled windows separated by flat limestone pillars. The windows were covered by huge plastic decals, plain black on the outside and the occasional poster for the various drinks on offer. That kept any street-light from disturbing with the “mood lighting” indoors, as well as keep any prying eyes away.

Step one was the bouncer, yet another addition to the growing list of Ross Kemp lookalikes. He wasn't tall, but he was square and blocky with a bald head and an angular jaw. The street was nice and quiet, most of the big clubs would be absorbing most of the traffic.

I formed a little trickle of blood in the palm of my hand solidified it into a thin needle about as long as a dressing pin. Here goes nothing.

“Can I see some ID-” He began automatically, suddenly stopping when I put my hand on his forearm. He looked at me, confused for a few seconds before I started applying a little bit of push, injecting him with my blood. After that, his eyes became noticeably blearier and less focussed, he swayed for a few seconds before recovering.

I didn't need to test to see if it was working, I could feel it. I couldn't exactly see through his eyes but I knew exactly what he was seeing and was constantly aware of where he was standing in relation to me.

“Lock the doors once I'm inside.” I instructed him, pulling my hand away. His eyes had turned from the previous grey colour to a dark, rusty red. “We're closed.”

The new Ghoul nodded slowly, unblinking and pulling a ring of keys from his belt. I heard a little trill of admiration from Grey as we headed in.

The inside was a single wide-open room packed densely with chairs and tables, private booths around the edges and a huge U-shaped bar in the middle. The upper section was a wide open balcony that circled around the entire upper half, complete with a secondary bar.

Now came the I had seen in every horror B-movie ever. Isolate, pick off, repeat. I approached the bar, looking all concerned and flagged down the first bartender I could get the attention of and leaned over.

“I need to talk to your boss, it's an emergency.” The bartender looked at me strangely, putting their hands on the bartop and leaning forward slightly. That was all I really needed.

I reached a hand over the bar, the same trick again, I grabbed his wrist before he could react. That was two down, thirty-something to go. “Go upstairs, get your boss.” I instructed the bartender, and without a word they did so, leaving a group of frustrated customers behind.

I kept repeating that cycle, find somebody who wasn't in a group, get their attention somehow and take them to one side.

“Humberside police, please state the nature of your emergency.”

“I'm outside Strangles, there's a guy inside, I think he's injecting people with something.”

I approached Grey with a winning smile and arms outstretched, in just under an hour most of the clientele and staff of the club were now under my command, those that weren't had been politely but firmly encouraged to leave.

“I think you'll make quite the first impression.” Grey and me took a seat at one of the booths around the edges of the main room. “Well done.”

“Yeah, I think I can safely say that I'm interested in your cause.” I took the seat opposite One of the Ghouls provided us with a pint each, which I raised in a small toast.

“So tell me about your boss.” I pushed, leaning forward as I drank.

“My Queen knows that human civilization cannot survive. In the next two hundred years, it will more than likely wipe itself out.” Grey set down his drink and laced his fingers together on the table. “And so she has decreed that we Dragons have a responsibility to ensure that what comes after that can survive long enough to thrive.”

Well, that sounded all very noble. I don't have a great knowledge of history but the last century alone was a very compelling point in his favour. But more importantly, that meant my new squad of minions had a much more practical application. Ghouls could come back from a lot so long as their master kept them well supplied. Who better to rebuild society from the ground up?

“Well in that case. How about you take my guys and girls here to your Queen. With my compliments.” I smiled politely and raised my glass again. Grey blinked at me.

“You aren't coming?”

“It's 3am, I don't have long before daylight hits.” I shrugged. “But these guys can move just fine in the light. I'll bunker down here and you can come pick me up once the sun goes down.”

Grey nodded, finished his drink and stood up from the booth, offering me his hand. “I look forward to it.” I shook his hand with a smile and mentally instructed all the ghouls excluding the bouncer outside to follow Grey step for step. With one more chuckle and a polite nod of his head, Grey and the surrounding Ghouls vanished from sight, leaving me alone in the bar.