Flashback..
1677
Patham town, Indian region.
Asia.
The sun descended to the west and casted down its orange rays.
Goats bleated and shook their butts along as they loitered around. As the arid air blew, dust swirled and did the great job of coating every single structure and existence around, in a thick layer of dirt.
Caius trudged across the dirt road that was lined on the sides by local shops. He was clothed in a red one piece, long sleeved mantua, a beaver hat was donned on his head and his feets, tucked in knee-length black boots, thumped the dust-thick road. His face was well shaved, leaving just a mustache that had the shape of a bowtie.
His supernatural eyes, gazed from under the hat he wore, riddling through the dust stirred by the wind, kicked up by the horses rushing past and the carriages skittering along the road, and scrutinized wares and goods displayed in the local shops.
He had come to a nearby city for a meeting with a person of high profile and had decided to branch in this town to get something. Something he can't get in Sicily without being noticed. Something of crucial importance to creatures like him, vampire.
Things are a lot more tighter in the West for the supernaturals. So he decided to get it here instead of getting himself caught by hunters in Sicily.
He sidled past shops.
His glittering eyes scanned around for what he's looking for and soon he found it. It wasn't displayed outside like every other item, but he scented it. Without further ado, he swerved towards the shop and ducked under the items hung by the entrance for display.
An Indian man emerged from within the shop. "Tuhānū kī cāhīdā hai, misaṭara? (What do you need, mister?)" The man asked.
"Phīnikasa phula. (Phoenix flower.)" Caius said in a fluent tone that even surprised the local man, because he could guess that Caius is not from anywhere near considering the way he dressed. It's easy to know that he's a Westerner.
The man's eyes glinted with peculiar light. Of course he knows what it is and what it's used for.
Phoenix flower is just like it's called. It's a flower, a fiery red flower that could help a supernatural being in so many ways. It's utilized by supernatural beings to meditate, to heighten their power, to cloak their existence from Hunters' detections, to gain control of themselves and many other uses.
It doesn't grow anywhere, anyhow. It's rare and very uncommon.
The man looked around, past Caius to check if there was anyone coming or listening. Then he asked. "Kī tusīṁ kīmata tōṁ jāṇū hō? (Are you aware of the price?)"
"Hāṁ maiṁ karadā hāṁ. (Yes I do.)" Caius replied with a grin and pulled out a bar of silver.
The man's eyes glittered with satisfaction and he withdrew into the inner room to get what Caius requested.
Caius waited. His right black boots tapped the floor in anticipation.
All of the sudden, someone raced past, screaming, "Monster! Monster!! A monster is in the town. It's coming from the palace."
People ran for their lives. Not wanting to hear all the stories because waiting a second longer could cost their lives.
Around this region, things have been happening lately. There are disappearances. There are victims with bites on the neck and their bodies drained of blood. Some writers in the town have written in their novels and some artists even made a clear picture of what people thought might be the cause…. Vampire.
Vampires try hard to keep their secrets and the sweepers help them clear their tracks, but some of them are careless and the natives know that things aren't normal, at all.
Afterall, humans are creatures of imagination. Though, no one has really witnessed it, still they fantasized about it.
Things are happening and they knew how unsafe everywhere is lately, so they believed, easily.
Caius was confused as within a few seconds, the marketplace was dry.
He became anxious. Has a vampire been exposed? What the hell?
He doubted it. But then he thought about it, 'this is not the West, where there's law, strict and extremely effective, among the supernaturals. Violate it and you'll be hunted and brought down by the hunters'.
Even though there should be hunters here too, things can't be as strict as it's in the West, for the supernaturals. So there might be a slack.
He became alarmed. That person might be right about seeing a monster and that monster might be supernatural.
He took to his heels, running towards the king's palace.
His figure flashed with inhumane speed and soon he was on the graveled road that led straight to the palace when he halted his steps and his eyes went wide with what he's seeing.
Right in front of him were countless dead bodies, hung on pikes and long stakes. The blood dripping from their mauled bodies formed a large pool of blood underneath the stakes that held them up.
The scene was horrific and terrifying. Caius couldn't contain his shock and disbelief. He has never seen something like this before. Never.
As he stared at the pool of blood, he could feel his throat burn and began to lose control of himself. His eyes turned red and his fangs sprouted. But he gritted and with great difficulty, restrained himself from rushing to the pool to feed.
He's never seen this much blood before.
It wasn't hard to know that the bodies belonged to some residents of the village.
Caius was standing still, shocked to the bone, and completely unaware when a wooden arrow with a very sharp head, flew towards him from behind and pierced the left side of his back.
He yelled out in agony and fell on his knee. His eyes flashed red with rage and he snapped his neck back to look at whoever threw the spear.
Five men, which he sensed were humans, approached him with stakes and bows and wooden arrows. They were all clad in trench coats and skin caps.
'Western hunters?' Caius' eyes trembled when he saw them. 'They can be a pain in the ass if they corner a vampire well. I need to get out of here.'
He growled and sprang to his feet but his vision blurred and he fell on his knee.
Slowly but steadily, he began to feel his strength fade away quickly.
"Shit! Vervain." He cursed as he fell on his butts. The wooden arrow is laced in vervain.
Vervain is a plant that, when consumed or taken in, in any form by vampires, could weaken them and if it gets to the heart could kill them no matter if it's a born vampire or a turned one.
It's definitely a nightmare for vampires.
"You have bitten more than you can chew this time monster." One of the hunters cursed. He aimed another wooden arrow at him.
"It wasn't me!" Caius tried to plead. He doesn't want to die. No one wants to die for what they didn't do!
Though his vision isn't clear, he can still make out the outline of them as the one with a bow released the wood, which is laced with vervain too.
Caius screamed out in pain as another arrow pierced his abdomen. It was so unbearable. He couldn't hold himself from screaming. Veins bulge on his head and the gleam of life in his eyes dimmed by the second.
"Let's finish him off, quickly." One of them said and approached Caius, readying the wooden stake in his hand.
"Don't."
A voice, calm, almost silent, said.
The man stopped and turned to look at who had talked. Then they saw him.
He was drenched in blood. His hands dripped with it. His face was painted in it. He was so covered to the extent that one would think he was just emerging from within a pool of blood.
His hair was silver but the red that tainted it made it quite a difficult job to know it is silver.
Caius grimaced in pain and tried to fight for his life as the toxin of the vervain in his body was beginning to spread.
The hunters turned to face the red covered man. Even though they are somewhat terrified by the man whose every existence is drenched in blood, they still stood their ground. They are hunters anyway. They are never afraid.
What creature the bloody man is, they do not know and it confused them. It shakes their knowledge of the supernatural and makes it cringe.
But they've killed werewolves, vampires, witches, wendigos and many other supernaturals so whatever this new creature is, he's going down.
"What are you?" One of the hunters asked.
"That should have been, who are you?" The man replied.
"We'll kill you! Monster!" The hunter yelled.
"Then let him go. I did all this so take me." The man stretched forth his hands.
"The two of you, none of you leaves here alive. You're all monsters." The hunter said and the others aimed their weapons, ready to fire at any time.
The man was quiet for a while then he said. "Then you give me no other choice."
That was all Caius heard and the next second, bones breaking sounds and loud yelps of agony followed.
Moments later, silence had descended like there was never a sound.
Caius felt someone stop in front of him. A hand pulled out the arrow in his abdomen. The hand pulled him up a bit, then the arrow in his back was removed too. A yelp left his throat and he grimaced but his vision was still out of work. All he could see was blurry images.
Even his sense of smell wasn't much of help as he couldn't even scent the blood that smeared the entire body of the person.
But he could sense the mixed emotions of the person. Anger, hatred, remorse. It was complicated. And he felt the man was a vampire.
"You need to leave as soon as you can because more hunters are still coming."
Caius could hear the vampire say.
There was a pause for a couple of seconds then the vampire continued. "And I might not be able to save you from my trouble next time."
After that, he heard nothing more. Everywhere became silent like a graveyard as he grimaced in pain caused by the aftereffects of the vervain in his blood.
Soon the effects of the vervain began to wear off and his vision returned. His wounds healed and his senses came into full strength.
The vampire that saved him was gone, nowhere to be seen.
He stood to his feet and staggered, but he was able to maintain his stance.
A sigh of relief left him, knowing that the vervain was gone and he gazed around. He was shocked to see the bodies of the hunters sprawled a few meters away, and unmoving. They aren't dead yet as he could hear their heartbeats thudding but it's weak and tired.
The reason was vivid when he saw the broken bones of the hunters. That mysterious man, or vampire rather, broke their bones and made them unconscious. He left them alive.
That's merciful, and completely opposite to the horrific scene the vampire had created with the hung bodies.
He couldn't help but be terrified again as he stared at the bodies. He couldn't help it.
How come a vampire did this? He was confused.
But then he remembered what the vampire had said about more hunters coming.
"I need to get out of here." He muttered and turned to race off but stopped.
His neck flashed downward and he looked at the ground, just where he was lying earlier.
He went back to the spot and squatted. His eyes narrowed as he gazed at the pale red blood on the ground, and the black spots in it. His forehead creased and confusion flashed in his eyes.
'Who owns this blood?' he pondered. He knew he couldn't have bled this kind of blood. And the only one who came close to him was the vampire that massacred the villagers, but saved his life.
"What kind of vampire is this thing?" He soliloquized as he watched the black spots.
But then, he heard foot thuds approaching from afar. With the sound, he estimated the foot thuds are over five hundred meters away but they are approaching fast.
Horse.
He stood up, to his feet and took a last look at the bodies. His eyes flashed with a complicated emotion, then he took off, melting away from the place with a high speed.
*******
Present day..
Heald groaned as he sat up on the bed. He palmed his forehead and grunted.
The slight migraine seemed to stop and he dropped his hand. His eyes flashed around. He was in a room, a spacious one and there was a large sliding iron door which he could see from where his bed is and there was a ceiling to floor window right beside him.
The window was covered by a silk curtain and he could see clearly that it's night time.
"You're awake."
He snapped his neck to the right and saw Benzo who had a broad smile on his face. In his right hand was a white mug filled with a steaming deep brown latte, that's quite out of diet considering the late time and approaching daybreak.
Heald frowned deeply. How did he get here? He remembered fighting the vampire army Adrian bought and- his eyes went wide as he pressed his hand against his chest.
But to his surprise, his pierced chest had healed. Then he became shocked. Had he just healed from a torn chest. He could have sworn his heart was crushed when that hand pierced through his chest from the back.
His eyes flashed to Benzo as it took a shade of red. Benzo quickly held his hands up. "Woah! Woah!! Hey, you need to turn that back to normal! I think." He exclaimed.
Heald seemed to get what he meant and his eyes went back to its normal glittering form. But then he sprang from the bed.
"Where are we?" Confusion and concern was his face as he walked up to Benzo and grabbed the hot coffee from his hand. "Where is Kylian?"
Benzo watched as Heald gulped his coffee as he replied. "We are somewhere and Kylian's somewhere else with Sarai."
The mug dropped to the ground and shattered. "What do you mean by that?"
Benzo's face twitched with displeasure as he gazed at the shattered mug. Then he said with a creasing forehead. "I mean we don't know where Kylian is right now?"
"Don't worry, Heald. We'll soon know." A voice said. It was coming from the direction of the sliding iron door of the apartment.
Heald and Benzo turned to the door. It slid open and Mei Li emerged.
"Hey, sword girl. Where is he?" Heald advanced towards her as he asked.
"Someone wants to see you." Mei Li announced to Heald.
Heald stopped on his track as he heard that. His face held confusion as he wondered who it could be.
"Like she said. You'll soon know where he is." A voice said and then a body wrapped in black cloak was revealed after Mei Li.
Heald's eyes widened when he saw the figure. A black as night eyes stared back at him.
"Leader Caius." Heald greeted and bowed slightly.
"How well are you, now, Heald?"
*********