Darkness.
Luciel spun in circles, his eyes darting frantically left and right, up and down. He couldn't see a thing. It felt like he was stuck in a complete void. He could not hear anything, he could not see anything and he could not smell anything.
"Where am I?!" Luciel tried to scream, but no sound escaped his lips.
Suddenly, the black void that robbed him of his senses started to shift, showing random colors that were rotating around Luciel until he found himself on the same battlefield where he defeated the vampire king Alukah, with no living soul to be seen.
Luciel gulped, cold sweat appearing on his forehead. He didn't want to go back, he didn't want to remember, so why was he back in this place that he was so desperately trying to forget...
He took a step forward, looking around while feeling like he was going to vomit.
There was the stench of rotting human bodies all around and every single one of them seemed to be completely dry with two puncture wounds on their necks.
Continuing to walk, he stumbled, almost tripping.
"Alex…" He whispered, with a trembling voice when he saw who was beneath his feet.
He stared at his dead friend's agonizing expression. Seeing this, Luciel covered his mouth with his hands as he started to walk back, trying not to scream so he wouldn't draw any attention to himself.
While walking back, he stumbled on another dead body and fell down. It was at that moment when his gaze fell towards a mountain of carcasses where he fought with Alukah, but instead of seeing an epic battle, he could see himself standing on top in all of his vampiric body.
Taking a good look at who was his other self holding, having his fangs in her neck, Luciel's world crumbled in an instant.
"Helen!" He cried at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking. He quickly got up and started to run towards the two. His heart was beating like crazy with fear running rampant inside his body. He didn't know why he was here and what he was supposed to do, he only wanted to save the one he loved.
No matter how fast Luciel was trying to run, he couldn't reach them. It seemed like he was stuck in one place.
All of sudden, Luciel stopped running when one second felt like an eternity. He fell to his knees, wailing in despair when he saw his evil side with blood all over, releasing Helen and letting her lifeless body fall on the pile of dead bodies.
For who knows how long, he was like a deer, standing in the middle of the road, refusing to move. It felt like his mind had been paralyzed. He couldn't say anything, let alone move. He didn't even know what to think and after what seemed like forever, he started to bawl his eyes out.
"This can't be real…" He finally managed to mutter some words as the last scene he had seen was going through his head, not being able to accept it. "I would do anything if we could change places…" He sobbed, trying to grasp some air.
He can't forget the monster he saw, a monster that took the love of his life, just like that. Those vibrant red eyes as it fed, fangs and lips covered in blood with a pleasant smile on its face as it enjoyed the meal. To make things worse, the figure he was seeing was unmistakably him.
"This is not me…" He kept denying, not wanting to face the truth.
"Oh, but it is." Luciel heard his voice, being smug as much as it could. He glanced forward and saw that the demon he swore to kill was no longer on the top of the corpse hill, but instead, it was standing a few meters away from him.
"Accept me." The beast demanded, raising its hand, making the blood from the battlefield rise up, forming a black and red scythe with a skull.
"No! I am not like you!" Luciel shouted, growling and baring his fangs, wondering how could he ever accept this monster in front of him that had no problems with killing, not even its loved ones.
"How cute!" The monster laughed, disappearing in an obsidian black mist mixed with a deep red hue.
Just as it disappeared, it appeared in the same manner in front of Luciel. "Don't worry little one," It smiled, showing its fangs and licking its lips, "Sooner or later, you'll become like me."
The terror disappeared and reappeared again, now behind Luciel. "Because you are me."
Luciel looked over his shoulder and could see himself staring right back at him and before being able to say anything, the beast already opened its mouth and bit his neck. Making the scene go completely dark once more.
At that moment, Luciel's eyes snapped open and he quickly sat up, breathing heavily and shaking as he was looking around. He was back in reality, with Alex sleeping soundly in the armchair.
He put his hand where his heart was, it was beating so fast that it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest.
"Helen…" He called out, hugging his knees as a single tear rolled down his face. It was a tear filled with anger, fear, grief, sadness, and many more emotions that words can't describe.
Luciel started to sob quietly, dropping the mask he held all this time, acting like he was fine. What are the people he fought for supposed to think if they saw their hero fall to the ground?
"For what did I fight for…" He asked himself, wiping the tears from his eyes. Vampires killed his mother and almost killed his siblings and him as well, he saw it happen in front of his eyes. That night, they would lose their lives if they hadn't been rescued by their dad and the rest of the vampire hunters.
After witnessing so many deaths by vampires, he was destined to walk a different path, opposite of the one he believed was right.
All of this commotion and sobbing made Alex open his eyes. He blinked a few times to clear his blurry vision and he did have a surprise to see.
"Luciel…" He asked with a drowsy voice, "What's wrong…"
Alex stared at his friend who seemed like he was locked in some kind of trance. He was about to ask again until Luciel finally spoke: "Helen… I watched her being killed, I killed her… Just how many more will I-"
Luciel stopped talking and looked up at Alex with his red eyes and pinkish hue around them, indicating that he had been crying for quite some time.
"What are you?" Luciel sobbed as he watched Alex pick up his phone and start to dial someone before putting it on speaker.
Seeing who Alex was calling, Luciel's eyes widened and he quickly got up, wanting to hang up, but Alex stopped him, and not soon after, Helen's voice could be heard.
"Alex?" She asked after some time since when she answered the call, nothing could be heard for a moment.
"Helen!" Alex started, sounding cheerful as ever, acting like nothing was going on while Luciel was still trying to press a red button on his phone.
"Sorry for disturbing you, just calling to see how you are doing." The two of them continued to exchange a few words before saying goodbye to each other with Alex promising that he would come and visit later during the day or tomorrow morning.
As one could have expected, she didn't feel fine, having to deal with the death of her husband, now roaming around as a bloodthirsty beast took hold of her, but at least she was safe and sound.
"See, there is nothing to worry about, she's still with us. Alive and safe." Alex glared at his friend. He thought that they finally went past this depressed state, but he couldn't take his eye off him even for a moment. If he waited a little bit longer, he might have witnessed Luciel wishing that he had never been born.
Luciel threw himself on the sofa, placing his hand on his heart and slowly closing his eyes as he finally started to calm down, getting back to reality.
"We need to talk." Alex glared at Luciel, taking the last blood pack he had in his bag.
"What is there to even talk about?" Luciel sighed, not bothering to open his eyes to even look at his friend.
"You!" Alex raised his voice.
He had enough of this, especially because ever since he met up with Luciel, he barely got a chance to sleep for three hours before waking up.
He felt jealous because Luciel now had a perfect-looking body without a single bit of fat on it, not only that, but all of his previous scars were gone as well while Alex, to maintain his beauty, had to treat his face with all kinds of stuff and the scar he has, ruining his picture of perfection, will never disappear. That's why he wore this armor, even if it was limiting his movements, but at least the chances of getting a new scar have decreased.
On one hand, Alex couldn't help but see his friend as a disgusting vampire. He looked just the same as the rest of them and while vampires didn't take anyone dear to him, for his whole life he observed how vampires hunted down humans and wanted to put a stop to it.
But on the other hand, Alex felt envious as well. He knew that the chances of actually turning into a vampire and staying sane were extremely slim. Not only that, but his friend now holds a flawless body and a natural level of strength that no human can match, yet he is just wasting away here on some old couch.
"Ever since you became this thing, you've been acting weird. You're always brooding, acting sad, and don't even get me started on this! Not to mention that your anger is all over the place as well! Where did the cold and harsh Luciel that I knew for go to?"
Luciel finally opened his eyes once he heard Alex speak his mind. He didn't know what was Alex talking about since he had always felt like this. After moving his eyes left and right rapidly, he suddenly widened them in surprise once he finally realized something.
"I…" Alex was right. All those feelings he would usually have, he would never bother to show them since he had to maintain a cool head and a strong impression, but ever since Alukah turned him, his emotions were bursting out like crazy.
"Now listen to me, vampire," Alex continued, not letting Luciel to finish his sentence, deliberately refusing to call Luciel by his name and put an emphasis on his species, "The longer you deny the truth, the more you will suffer and then you really will kill someone else because you were too busy crying."
Alex poked at his chest before going to give him one good punch in the face, but he couldn't do much damage with his ordinary human strength. "The sooner you accept this reality, the sooner you will be able to get back to work."
"Humans see you as better off dead. While we might have had luck with running into Nosferatu, there will be vampires that will want to kill you." Alex pointed out, getting ready for his question of the day. He was curious how Luciel would answer, especially now after they got saved by vampires which both of them very much despised.