The constant ringing of an alarm blared through the room, only being met with grumbling, "Chase, hurry up! That's the sixth alarm in the last two hours," a voice complained, only to once again be met with groans. After a few more minutes of the alarm ringing, all that could be heard was the splashing of water and an almost girlish shriek."Ok ok, I'm up!!" The voice shouted as a messy blue haired boy popped out from under the blankets, his body visibly shivering, "Christ Jason, do you wanna mess up my hair?""Well if you didn't waste money on that fake dye, you wouldn't have to worry about that, would you?" Jason would argue with a large, almost dramatic sigh, "Why did you even buy that stuff. What sort of vampire has blue hair?""Well I thought it would look cooler than just wearing some generic costume and fake fangs," Chase answered as he changed out of his standard sleepwear into a tuxedo and dark black cloak with was blood red on the inside, "See? Much better than another Dracula" he insisted with a dramatic swish of his hair.Jason just sighed, shaking his head as his lips contorted into a grin against his will. He changed into a costume of his own, a football outfit with a zombie mask, "Alright! Who's ready for Graham Stoker University's very first Twenty-Four Hour Halloween Party!""We are!" Chase cheered, seeming more cheerful now that he was fully awake. Now that they were dressed and ready to go, they rushed out of the dorm room, down several flights of stairs and out to the wide campus. Students in a variety of costumes wandered around, talking, watching movies in front of the statue in the courtyard's center "Have I ever expressed how badass it is that we go to a school completely dedicated to all things horror?""Only every day for the past year," Jason teased, jokingly punching his arm as they navigated through the crowd. It was almost like a maze of bodies. Navigation without hitting someone was nearly impossible. Still the two skillfully managed to dodge with the exception of one, a significantly older man in brown coat, a hat covering a sizeable portion of his upper head and an almost cartoonish handlebar mustache being his most defining feature, "W-Woah! Sorry old man! Are you ok?" Despite their concern, the man didn't budge. He was like a brick wall with the exception of the folder he dropped. Immediately, Chase dropped down to pick up the pictures, passing them to him. Upon doing so, his abnormalities became more apparent. His palms were rather hairy and his nails were sharpened, almost like claws, "Thank you, young man. Here I thought respect for one's elders was a dead art," the man praised, his gruff to contrasting his appearance which was at least somewhat sophisticated. He took the files and looked around, "I am still not familiar with the campus. Which way is the faculty office?""Huh? You're going the wrong way for that" Chase answered, pointing to a large building, "The faculty office is in the main building. Go up the stairs across from the entrance and it should be across from the library."The older man seemed surprised but simply nodded and with a slight tip of the hat, made his way in that direction, "Who do you think that is, a new teacher? He sure does dress weird" Jason asked, scratching his head."A good question, for when we're not about to party our asses off" Chase answered as they proceeded over to another dorm building. Waiting for them outside was a girl, tinkering with her phone, constantly having to push up her glasses to keep them from slipping off her face. Unlike everyone else she wasn't wearing a costume, opting instead for a light blue tank top and work pants filled with a variety of tools. Chase felt his heartbeat race as he rushed to her like an excited puppy, leaving his friend in the dust, "Hey Sarah! Waiting for me, huh?""Of course! I'm not going to the party without you guys" She answered, grinning ear to ear "Ah, so that's why you took so long. Blue haired vampire is certainly an interesting choice."His once beating heart felt like a sinking ship upon hearing the phrase 'you guys'. Somehow that phrase hurt worse than simply shooting down his flirtatious attempts. Jason finally caught up, nervously chuckling as he noticed her attire, "You know this is meant to be a costume party right?" he asked, wiping off any dirt he could have got on him while tripping through the crowd."Oh trust me, what I'm making right now is way more impressive than a stupid costume. " Sarah answered with a grin as she turned her phone to them, "Watch for a sec. Just a simple horror movie right? Not even a good one at that.""Dawn of the Bread? Isn't that the movie the second years made?" Chase groaned as he tried to walk in, dreading the poor production quality of the film. However, Sarah pushed him back, refusing to let him pass."C'mon it's only the first few minutes in the movie," She insisted, forcing him to watch the movie. It was utterly ridiculous, a movie about sentient pieces of bread causing havoc in a small town. While there was absolutely nothing terrifying about it, the boys couldn't help but feel their skin crawl as they watched it, "Pretty terrifying yeah? That's my newest project. A transmitter in my phone can emit a signal that makes the brain simulate fear. With this sort of tech, even slop like this can be terrifying.""Has anyone ever told you you're a mad genius?" Jason asked, resulting in a giggle from Sarah."It couldn't hurt for you to say it a few more times" She joked as she put her phone away and entered the dorm. Sure enough, it was flooded with students in a variety of costumes from superheroes, monsters and even some original designs. Music and cheers filled the building."Wow! I feel like I'm about to go deaf!" Chase exclaimed, covering his ears. Despite it sounding like a complaint, he was tingling with excitement. With that, the trio danced the night away, enjoying food and drinks galore. Eventually though, his flow was disrupted by Jason tapping his shoulder."Hey man, can you go get us a refill?" Jason asked, holding out two red plastic cups, which Chase took with a simple nod. With that, Jason made his way to the balcony, grabbing Sarah by her wrist "There, finally we can get some alone time."Without a second thought, Sarah's lips pressed against Jason's and he happily embraced her. They held the kiss for quite some time before pulling away. Despite seeming happy at first, her face contorted into a look of worry, "You haven't told him yet, have you?"Jason was silent but the somber look on his face made it clear. Eventually, he shook his head and finally spoke "I want to. It doesn't feel right leading him on like this. But the guy's like a brother to me. I don't want to hurt him.""You're only hurting him more by doing this behind his back," She insisted, grabbing his hand. Knowing how tough this conversation would be for him, she wanted to comfort him as best she could.Jason sighed, "I was hoping he'd talk to other people, maybe meet someone so that it wouldn't hurt as bad. You're right though, probably best to rip off the band aid," he admitted, going to give one last kiss. When he turned to leave though, he saw two red cups, each with their names on them. His eyes widening with realization, he rushed back inside, muttering the same word over and over, "Damn it, damn it, damn it."Just outside, Chase was already walking home, hanging his head. Having heard the conversation, his feelings mixed into something he had never felt before, joy for his friend but sadness for himself. His thoughts and emotions swarmed around in his head, only to be snapped out by a sudden shiver up his spine. A gasp erupt from his throat as he stumbled back. He was expecting to see Sarah or Jason but instead, it was a vaguely familiar figure. Beautiful was an understatement, he perfect figure, her hair as black as night and blood red eyes, "Chase. What's wrong? Shouldn't you be back there having fun?" she asked, her tone chillingly confident as if she had already known."Oh...Hey Vicky. I'm fine,' He tried to lie but she slowly approached, raising an eyebrow as with an intense glare that demanded him to tell the truth, "I...just saw something I shouldn't have seen.""I see. Let's head to your dorm. We can take your mind off it," She offered, holding out her hand. While he didn't accept, he did nod , turning to head back to his dorm and Vicky followed, "Like the costume by the way. It suits you."Seemingly caught of guard, he froze for a moment before his face made the first smile since he left, "Thanks. I was worried the blue hair was a bit much after Jason said something.""Really? I thought it looked better than some generic Dracula costume" She assured, a wide grin that showed her perfect white teeth. The two would continue to talk and laugh together. The conversation was enough to practically wash away all worries. Eventually they arrived to Chase's room, "Wow, it's a lot cleaner than I expected. My roommate always talk about how guys are so messy.""Seriously? Guess screenwriters are just natural clean freaks" he joked and immediately sat down at his desk. Without another word, he got to writing. Some time went by before Vicky tried to break the ice."Sooooo, you wanna talk about what happened?""Nothing special, just caught Jason and Sarah kissing" He answered, his voice monotone as he continued writing. It was obvious what he was trying to do but it wasn't working as droplets of water stained the paper and the sound of the eraser could be heard almost every other second, "Damn it. I'm sorry, must be boring you to tears just sitting there while I work," he apologized, turning around to face her, giving her a good view of his tear stained face.Vicky sighed and approached him, placing a hand on his cheek as she wiped the tears "It's fine. What do you like to do for fun?" she asked, flashing a smile that would warm anyone's heart. Upon asking that question, he stood up and began rummaging through his collection of movies."How about a bad movie night?" He suggested. After a moment of silence, Vicky couldn't help but break into laughter before picking one out. Placing the DVD into the player, the two just sat down and watched, laughing at the poor visual effects and taking a shot out of the whisky the boys had smuggled in every time they found a plot hole. There were too many. He began to feel woozy as his eyes started to close, hearing a few final words, "I'm sorry but..."When Chase came to, his head was pounding as he sat up in...a bed? Not just that but the entire room was one that he had never seen before. Looking around, the pristine walls and fancy curtains over the walls definitely made it feel entirely different from the dorms. As he inspected his new environment, a voice finally spoke "Ah! You're finally awake". Upon turning to the source of the voice, his eyes widened. There stood a man in a suit with a bandaged face and hands, "The boss will be happy to hear that. We didn't know if we were harboring a guest or a corpse.""Who...are you?" He asked as he cautiously stood up from the bed, approaching the bandaged man."Ah, well Egyptian names are quite hard to say according to the boss so he just calls me Phil. You may do the same" He answered as Chase slowly started piecing it together and started to laugh "Ok, what sorta prank is this? I gotta admit you had me convinced but come on! You can't be a-""A mummy?" Phil finished, confident in the assertion, "Very well. If you don't believe me, give me a good hard look with your other eyes."While still not believing it, Phil's serious tone seemed to make him rather nervous. The crazy talk about 'other eyes' didn't help either. Stumbling back a bit at first, he then grit his teeth and charged, slamming into fill and launching him into the wall across behind them. He then fell onto the stairs below before rolling down, "What the hell..?" Chase muttered out in shock before panicking and running past the unconscious Phil through the mansion halls, aimlessly twisting and turning before finding himself in a kitchen with a blonde haired woman, wearing a black apron with a spider web design on it. She seemed to be peacefully working until she saw him to which she let out a gasp, "Hey please don't be scared, I'm just trying to find my way out" he tried to explain but almost immediately she slid over the bar between them, kicking him to the ground and putting him into an arm lock."My apologies but I cannot allow that" She explained, her voice cold as ice. While trying to struggle, he heard a noise, some sort of growling. As the growling got closer, Chase got a good view of the beast, a black misty monster in the shape of a canine approached with fire in its eyes. Panic began to overtake Chase once again but not only was he scared he. More than anything, he was absolutely famished. Not only that but he began to see something on the woman, red dots all over her body, connected by lines and the biggest dot was right on her neck. Overcome by hunger, his teeth began to to grow and sharpen as he grabbed and twisted her arm, hearing the cracking of bones. He stood up with ease as his eyes narrowed on her neck and slowly eased in before suddenly being sent flying back into the fridge."Are you ok, Marie?" The attacker asked before tossing a blood bag at Chase, "Here. Drink up. But if you ever hurt her like that, I'll put you down without a second thought.""I-I'm ok boss, but he's certainly strong. Your prediction was right" Marie answered, rubbing her wrist as it healed with ease. Chase meanwhile has already squeezed the blood pack until it popped and began guzzling it down. Feeling fully recovered and when the bliss wore off, he turned to them in shock."Th-That was blood right...? But it shouldn't feel so...so""Good?" He asked, stepping closer to reveal the man he had met on the way to the party, playing with his beard as he crouched down, "That's because you my boy, are now a vampire.""A vampire? No no no, that can't be possible!" He shouted standing up as he held his head, the overflow of knowledge making his hangover even worse.""That's what you get for playing a drinking game with a stranger," Marie answered "If we didn't save you, you could've been in a much worse position.""Our help isn't free though, and I'm not talking about money," The man continued, "You see I hate vampires. More than anything else in the world. As such, I have resolved to kill them all.""But...aren't you a vampire too?""True, as such vampires call me the Kin Slayer. However, I cannot keep this going for much longer. So, you will be my apprentice or I can kill you now. Make your choice, blood sucker."If he could get any more pale, Chase would have in that moment. The choice was clear though. Swallowing his fear, he finally answered, "I guess I don't have a choice."The man smirked, "Very well. You may call me boss. Your training starts tomorrow. Until then, go outside, enjoy the fresh air. Just be careful and get Marie if you want to leave the mansion's grounds.""Huh? But I saw daylight outside...""I said your training begins tomorrow. For now, just trust me when I say it won't kill you," Boss answered and walked away. Chase reluctantly nods and looks at the three remaining."So, sorry for the rough introduction.""It's alright. You should have seen Marie's reaction when she first came" Phil joked, earning a punch from the blonde, "Ow!""Anyway, time for proper introductions," Marie said, pointing to each of them "That's Phil, he's a mummy, the mutt is Spot the Chupacabra and I'm Marie, a ghoul. Basically I'm just a slightly stronger human.""Nice to meet you" Chase said before walking off, "Do you guys have a library or something? I wanna get a head start.""He's eager" Phil noted, "Go to the third floor, it's at the end of the hall. If you need help finding what you're looking for, ask the ghosts.""Ghosts huh? Never mind, just accept it" Chase muttered before following the directions given.The next morning, Boss would make his way to Chase's room, ready to wake him. He had expected the young man to still act like a human, trying to sleep at night like normal, "Wake up. It's time to train" he said, knocking on the door to no response. Banging a little louder, he tried again "I said wake up!" but again, there was no response. Growing impatient, Boss kicked the door clean off its hinges. Scanning the room, it looked nearly identical to how it was when Chase first arrived."Can you please not do that? I'm a butler but even I can only do so much" Phil insisted with an exasperated sigh, walking by as the scene unfolded."Have you seen him anywhere?" Boss asked, snarling at the thought that he may have tried to escape and gotten killed ."Did you check the library? He asked if we had one and that's the last I saw of him" Phil suggested, cocking an eye beneath the bandage, "He seems very intrigued by this new world of monsters and mysticism. Does that sound familiar?""Keep mocking me and I'll throw you back in the pyramids" Boss teased back, making Phil rush to work with a shiver running up his entire body. He then made his way to the library and sure enough, there was the fledgling vampire in a pile of books, reading nonstop, "Did you finish all of these?""Yeah, I considered going to sleep but when the sun dropped, I just didn't feel like it anymore.""One of the few perks of being a blood sucker," He admitted "There was a time when Vampires would die in the sun. However, we've since evolved. It is still draining though, so most insist on sleeping through the day.""Really? I didn't see that when I was reading.""Well they are all rather outdated," He admitted "I haven't used this library in over a hundred years, since I was first turned."Chase sighed, able to hear the underlying sadness in his voice, "Well, why not?""My whole reason for this library was twofold, to better understand and kill vampires and to cure my own affliction" Boss answered, picking up one of the books, gently caressing the spine, "Eventually I gave up on that dream. Once I learned all I could, I had no use for it," feeling his weakness showing, he stiffened up, turning cold and emotionless, "Now about your training.""Right. What's the plan?" Chase asked, straightening up."I need to know if you can survive an encounter with a vampire. You'll stay one night in the forest surrounding the mansion" Boss explained, casually putting up the books as he explained this. Chase meanwhile stood dumbstruck. So it's either decline his offer and die or accept his offer and still potentially die? Ignoring how inherently rigged nature of the situation, Boss turned to him "The forest is loaded with Vampires. If you can survive in there, you're certainly worth teaching."Seeing no use in arguing, Chase grumbled as he stepped outside. Sure enough, when he felt the sun against his pale skin, he immediately felt a wave of exhaustion. A low hiss escaping his lips, he hurried to the edge. The closer he got the more nervous he felt, as if a weights were being placed on his shoulders. Despite this, he made his way inside. The shade blocked out almost all sunlight, instantly rejuvenating the fledgling, "Wow, boss really wasn't kidding. All I need is a little shade and I feel more alive than ever. Alright, let's get to surviving! Water isn't a concern anymore so I guess shelter is a higher priority," he spoke aloud, wandering deeper into the forest in hopes of finding a cave. The forest itself was maddening . Everything looked so similar it was borderline identical. He walked for hours until he eventually decided to take a break. With a tree sigh, he leaned against a tree, slowly sliding down until he's fully sitting. While he laid there, a ruffling noise could be heard in the trees. Looking around, Chase's guard was slow to rise, resulting him in being caught by surprise when the branches of the trees wrap around him. Like a scared cat, he leapt away. Looking at his arms, he noticed puncture wounds.Laughter began to fill the forest as the tree's faces contorted into wicked grins, "Jubokko... So this is what he meant by the forest is filled with vampires. The forest is made of vampires. That sneaky bastard!" Chase shouted, enraged by his circumstances. Luckily Jubokko cannot move. Meaning it was pretty easy to knock one down with a strong enough punch. It was with that punch, that inspiration struck. One, two, three, four punches, each one knocking down a tree monster. With his materials in hand, he further broke them down as needed. He then began placing large pieces of wood into the ground as pillars with a massive sheet of wood and leaves over them acting as a shelter, "There we go... Not the best but it does the trick," he muttered to himself, laying down on the cold ground and closing his eyes "Just one night, yeah? Let's sleep the day away then..." Sure enough, the strategy seemed to work. He slept for quite some time. While not comfortable, it was very peaceful, until suddenly the wind picks up, the ground could no longer be felt underneath and heard the sound of flapping leather. Chase's eyes slowly open as he looks around to find himself in the sky "Whoa! What the-!?" He exclaimed before feeling iron hooks dig into his shoulders, causing him to scream in pain."Be silent, fledgling!!" His captor ordered, the moonlight revealing a hideous face, large bat-like eyes with fangs larger than any vampire he had seen up to that point, "Used blood isn't quite tasty but I can't afford to be picky.""Sorry, but I don't have any plans on being eaten," Chase stated and with what mobility he had, pulled his cell phone out and shined the flashlight in its fans. The Asanbosam roared in pain, accidentally dropping him as it rushed to cover its sensitive eyes. Panicking at the idea of losing his meal, the Asanbosam chased him down. He tried to hook into him again but this time, Chase managed to punch the hooks, shattering them and stunning the beast. Chase slammed into the ground, creating a massive splatter of blood in the resulting crater. He had at least one broken arm and leg each stabbing through his skin, a shattered rib poking at his lung and a variety of other broken bones that made the process beyond uncomfortable."Well that was stupid! Now how are you gonna run?" The Asanbosam mocked, slowly hovering down on its wings. It was a good question, one with just one answer. He couldn't run. He had to fight if he wanted to live. But how? Remembering what he read in the library, he ripped of branches from a nearby Jubokko and ripped out an exposed vein from his arm. He then tied it around the branches like a rope and held it out. He could feel the burn as the makeshift cross worked its magic, warding the Asanbosam back before using his one still functioning leg to leap at the monster and knock it to the ground. Finally, he slammed the cross onto its face. The Asanbosam wailed in pain as its skin grew charred. It kicked Chase off, prepared to fly away before suddenly, a bang could be heard. The beast dropped dead, turning to ash. Before Chase could even question it, he felt himself starting to black out. He had lost too much blood during the exchange. As he dropped, a firm hand caught him."That's enough. You passed" were the final words he heard before fading from consciousness.