for decades you've been the thing we've feared the most. but there's something else loose on the streets now --
something worse than you.
they tell bedtime stories about you. blade the big, bad boogie-man. frankly, i'm disappointed. that you were willing to come along so easily, i mean. without any assurances.
the house of erebus you encountered before were nothing but feudal lords. the true power of the vampire nation lies here --
father --
survival.
as you may know, vampirism is an arbovirus, one that's spread through the saliva of parasitic organisms -- in this case, vampires are the vector. the virus replicates within the human bloodstream, evolving its host into an entirely new life-form. unfortunately, viruses evolve too --
we've dubbed this new virus the reaper strain. and like any good pathogen, it appears to have found a carrier -- a "patient zero".
his name is jared nomak.
you're missing the point. their vampire victims don't die. they turn. they become carriers. if the reapers continue unchecked, there could be thousands of them before the month is over. do the math.
two years.
no. they've been training to hunt you.
what the hell are you doing, blade?
the house of pain.
from what we can gather, the reapers hunt in packs, targeting places where vampires congregate. so far, they've attacked bloodbanks, safehouses, underground clubs like this --
look closer. because of your efforts, we've had to re-think our habits, tighten our security.
this is our world you're entering. you may see things -- feeding. just remember why you're here.
we need it. sensations are addictive and pain cuts the deepest. tattoos, piercings, tribal scarring -- because we regenerate, none of it's permanent. so we have to take it to the next level. to remind us we're alive.
what was that?
you're hurt.
what about nomak?
i didn't know.
minutes.
his blood cells aren't producing oxygen anymore. his own body is suffocating him. these things are like crack addicts. if they don't feed every few hours, they'll feed on themselves.
everything okay?
from the surveillance footage in the bloodbank. he was one of the guard's nomak attacked.
right. so why is he dying? he doesn't appear to have any broken bones, no entry wounds of any kind -- what's killing him?
if that's true, what about nomak? he's been alive longer than the others.
they appear to have a nictating membrane here, like you'd see on a crocodile or camel. shields the eyes from sunlight.
a bifurcated mandible. more developed masseter muscles and zygomatic bones around the mouth allowing for a much larger, stronger bite --
epidermal layers are thicker, tougher --
i've never seen anything like this. the reapers are as different from us as we are from you. it's almost as if the virus is re-wiring their bodies, creating new, parasitic organs which consume the old ones.
exactly. look at the digestive system. it's been drastically simplified. super charged. and this --
the heart is completely encased in bone.
do it and you die. you heard asad. until this is over, these people are our allies.
he's right about one thing. we do have to survive.
really? what are we supposed to do, then? starve ourselves because we fee on others in order to live? what about that scumbag you just let off the hook? a nothing. a drug-dealer. how do you justify saving people like that?
you know the thirst better than any of us. you're barely managing to tread water yourself. living in a constant state of pain, having to shoot up that serum of yours. that's not what i call surviving, blade.
what are these?
they're pheromones. i infused them from that reaper's adrenal glands. all mammals use them to mark their territory. even vampires.
trust me, the reapers will key to it. if we use this, we'll draw them out.
blade. we've got six reapers. they're all dead.
jesus, they were playing possum!
where's chupa?
blade.
bleeding and horribly burned despite asad's sacrifice. blade crouches, scooping her up into his arms.
each day is a little life.
"each day is a little life. every waking and rising a little birth, every fresh morning a little youth, every going to rest and sleep a little death."
anyone else make it?
thank you.
it would've been easy for you to let me die back there today, but you didn't.
why?
it doesn't have to be like that. we don't have to be enemies.
if that's true, then why'd you save me?
why do you hate us so much?
well it's in mine, too. i'm a pureblood. i wasn't turned. i was born this way. just like you. am i evil because i want to survive? what about a wolf? what about any predator?
the only difference between you and me is that i made peace with who i was a long time ago. i'm not ashamed of what i am. you haven't been hunting us all these years. you've been hunting yourself.
you're hurting me.
i don't understand.
i don't know what he's talking about.
no, that's not possible. they wouldn't keep something like this from me.
blade!
nomak said something to blade in greek. athelfiki singenia ex amato. where did he learn that?
you experimented on your own, son?
i overrode the security codes.
we're locked in.
maybe it's better that way.
how does it look?
it won't be long now. i can already feel it burning inside me --
i don't want to become what nomak was -- i can't. i want to die while i'm still vampire.
i want to see the sun rise.
each day is a little life. remember?