A drop of water falls on his forehead and trickles down his face. He seems relatively unbothered by it because of the profuse midnight black fur that covers his entire body. His ears twitch as they detect a distant sound. A sound of a little, white creature hopping around in the woods. He smirks as his bright yellow eyes pop open.
Looks like it's dinner time.
He gets up and stretches his gigantic claws out. You can hear clouds roaring with thunder near the mountains, rain seems to be approaching. In the spur of the moment, like a thunder bolt, Marcelo bolts towards the soon-to-be helpless rabbit looking for shelter. The rabbit is now overpowered by the great Marcelo Logan, who stands above him in all his glory and grandeur, his shiny black fur shining with raindrops on it and his yellow eyes piercing into the rabbit's soul. With one effortless leap, Marcelo digs his teeth into the rabbit and crunches on any bone that comes in his way, draining all the blood out of the rabbit and taking it all in in one big gulp.
Just like that, in a whirl, Marcelo appears in the same spot he was in before; under his favorite apple tree that camouflages the entrance of the cave where he likes to seek refuge, sometimes from the world and sometimes, from his own thoughts. Marcelo has now shape shifted to his other form, something that resembles closely with humans. He stands there wiping the blood from his mouth on the back of his sleeve.
"All you'll ever hunt is rabbits".
"Marcelo is a sissy".
"Such an outcaste".
"He's not one of us".
The thoughts from the past possess Marcelo's mind like ghosts possess an old, haunted building. Marcelo spits out at the bushes in anger with his fists clenched. He looks at the bushes that are now spray-painted red with the blood, he traces his fingers against the leaves.
"The sissy can't hunt humans; he will starve to death".
The harsh words echoed in his head no matter how hard he tried to bury them. It reminded him of his first assignment at the Underworld School. The question was 'What do we hunt?' to which he had answered 'Rabbits' very proudly unlike the other children who had answered 'Humans'.
Marcelo Logan had been an outcast since as far as he could remember. His parents had disappeared when he was a child leaving him at the mercy of an asylum. He was told since then that he would never amount to much, he did not even have a hint of who he was. The only thing his guardian; Kai, told him was his mother Isabelle Joseph, was a vampire and father, Magnus Logan, a werewolf and he was the product of their sin which led him to be an outcaste who couldn't tap any of his powers fully, nor that of a vampire nor those of a werewolf. So, he was to suffer the cost of the transgression his parents were responsible for, for the rest of his life.
The underworld comprised of just two beings. The majestic vampires, whose families ruled the kingdoms. They were diplomats and classy businessmen who walked the lands with great arrogance and pride. Their built was slender and dainty, but teeth that could drain their prey in seconds. They said if anything could destroy a vampire, it would be the arrogance that held their noses up high. Second, were the hard-working werewolves, who had to work most of their lives to make some name in the market. Werewolves were humble and modest beings, although, very fierce-looking, they had warm hearts and welcomed anybody who came knocking on their doors.
Isabelle Joseph was the only daughter of her parents. She had long lustrous black hair that ran till her pencil thin waist, deep blue eyes that looked like the ocean, skin as white as snow with lips that she would paint red to compliment her hair. Unlike any vampire she had had enough of the luxuries that were granted to her by her family. She wanted to go out and be on her own. She did not like setting her finger on something and then getting it right away. She liked to work for what she wanted to have. The walls of her grand mansion had begun to suffocate her and she yearned for a simpler life. Her beauty and brains were like a double-edged sword and her father was acutely aware of that. She started sneaking out in the middle of the night when her father would be out hunting. It was one of those nights where her eyes set on Magnus Logan.
Magnus Logan, was a man of a strong and hard built but he was the owner of a soft and malleable heart. He wore his brown hair back and would always be seen carrying large boxes in and out of his store; Sword 'n Shield where he made and sold swords. As mighty as that may sound, Magnus wore his heart on his sleeve and gave it away the day he locked eyes with Isabelle. His honey brown eyes twinkled when he saw Isabelle. He had seen her standing at a distance and eying him keenly. Her ocean blue eyes had captivated him even from that distance and her perfectly carved lips couldn't keep him from coming up and talking to her.
Isabelle and Magnus had love at first sight. Soon after that, they would meet every alternate night and when they couldn't they both spent the night counting the stars away wishing to meet soon. They were both young and even though the law was strict and they were both aware of it, they still decided to take a leap of fate. They say the moon turns blood red the night the sin of consummation is done. The sky becomes dark and the stars lose their light. Nobody was supposed to know what happened on the night of 6th of August 2021.
Isabelle and Magnus were relieved to know that the strict laws were based on myths and the punishment may now become obsolete until Isabelle fell sick. Her vampire body couldn't tolerate the high-grade fever it was running and something inside her made her nauseous. Little did she know that the seed of evil had been planted in her and it was now nurturing inside her. Magnus on the other hand, had fallen ill due to the absence of his lover. He yearned for Isabelle and not knowing where she was added to his misery.
Days passed by, although Isabelle was ailing, she seemed to be gaining weight. Isabelle's father arranged for the best doctor in his kingdom. After a thorough examination the doctor announced to the family that Isabelle was pregnant and the fetus seemed to be showing activity unlike that of a vampire fetus. Isabelle was too scared to take Magnus's name but little did she know that her father was already aware of who was responsible for this. It was strange for her as her parents didn't ask any questions that she was already too scared of answering. They remained silent and so did she. Later that night, her father paid a visit to the sword shop around the corner.
Nine months down the line, Isabelle's pregnancy was in full bloom and she was due any day. She hadn't been able to see Magnus in the last nine months and she couldn't tell what was making her feel worse; her pregnancy or the separation from her lover. A million questions flooded her mind. How would Magnus react when he finds out that they now have a child? How and what would he be doing right now? Where was he? How was he? Little did she know that the Sword 'n Shield Shop had been closed down after a fire that had burnt down everything nine months earlier.
It was the first week of May when Isabelle screamed because something inside her turned and it felt like it broke some of her ribs. She screamed some more when blood started to pour down from between her legs. Nurses and midwives rushed in to help her deliver her baby. While Isabelle delivered her child, the moon outside turned red and that night, the sky bled. The dark clouds came and embraced the moon and covered the stars and poured blood on the streets.
Meanwhile, the nurses and midwives gasped in horror when they saw what Isabelle had given birth to. Isabelle lay there, too weak to acknowledge the mist of horror and aghast in her room.
On the 2nd of May 2022, Logan Magnus was born out of wedlock and out of caste. He was a beautiful boy who had his mum's teeth and black lustrous hair. The reason why the nurses and midwives were astonished was because the boy could shapeshift to his normal self and then grow hair was so thick it looked like fur on his entire body and pull-out claws from his little hands just like a baby werewolf could. Now, everybody knew that the sin had been done.
Isabelle lay there, with tears rolling down her eyes. She pictured Magnus's beautiful face in front of her and her eyes welled up with grief knowing that she will now, never see him again. Isabelle's father came in with a syringe filled with purple bubbling liquid in his hand. He glared at the nurses and midwives with his piercing blue eyes and said "You will not utter a word!" and injected the purple liquid in Isabelle's arm slowly.
The law said that the wicked deed of consummating the intercaste marriage was so great that the two people involved were tracked down and banished from the underworld. Isabelle and Magnus had never been seen after this and nobody knew where they went or what happened to them.
Sometimes, Marcelo felt strong waves of anger which he wanted to direct towards his parents. But then he thought they already suffered enough misery till the time they were alive. Why wasn't he killed or banished with them? Why was he kept in the asylum? They all knew he was an outcaste, so why not just kill him?
Marcelo sat down with his back against the call wall, tears rolled down his eyes and he looked up at the dark sky. This is when his bright yellow eyes caught the moon. It was full and red, just like when he was born.