«Io possiedo... cosa?».
In one of the Bronx's narrowest and bleakest alleys, illuminated only by a distant streetlamp, a man dressed in white suits and a black fedora lies on the ground in a pool of dark, fresh blood. His body has been pierced by six gunshots in the chest, but despite this, he is still breathing. He is Vincenzo Carbone, known as 'Vinny,' one of Little Italy's most notorious bosses, a middle-aged man, tall and stout, bald and with a long, curly moustache. Not far from them are three other corpses dressed in the same way as Vinny.
Surrounding Vinny's body are three men: two of them are dressed in elegant dark grey suits, typical of the gangsters of this period in history, the 1960s. The third man, visibly more muscular than the other two, wears clothes quite different from those of his two companions; a long black cape completely covers his body, and a hood obscures his face. Under the hood one can see a very peculiar and frightening mask; the mask is red, with a mouth showing sharp teeth and two horns, also red. There are only two small slits for eyes.
The man in the black cape and mask waves to the two men, a gesture that needs no words and which they immediately understand. The two move away from there, positioning themselves at the beginning of that narrow and gloomy alley to make sure that the masked man and Vincenzo Carbone are not seen or disturbed.
«Bastard... who are you?» Vinny asks in a voice choked with blood spilling profusely from his mouth.
The masked man does not answer.
«You are from the Santoro family... COFF... COFF...» Vinny's words are interrupted by a violent cough and a red, grisly vomit. «...Or maybe from the Moretti family? How much did they pay you? COFF... COFF...I can give you double if you let me live. I'm the most influential and important boss in all of New York!»
«That's exactly why I have to kill you» the hooded individual replied . It's not the first time Vinny hears his voice. A voice that sounds familiar, but which he cannot associate with any face.
The camouflaged man has long studied the movements of Vincenzo Carbone; a boss as powerful and famous as Vinny is never alone and is always protected by numerous bodyguards, except for the second Sunday of the month, the day he secretly goes to his mother's house—in the Bronx—for the family dinner, where there are only three men accompanying him.
«Your voice... such a warm, deep voice is not easily forgotten, and yet, even though I'm sure I've heard it before, I can't figure out who you are...» Vinny's words are spoken with increasing difficulty because of the blood that fills his throat and has stained his teeth red.
«Fear not, Vinny. I will not let you die with this doubt». The cloaked man rests his hand on the mask and pulls it off. Beneath that frightening red, horned mask hides a charming man of about forty, with black hair combed back, a pronounced jawline, and a shaved beard. A face Vincenzo recognises immediately.
«I can't believe it...» Vinny murmurs with great disbelief. «One of the men I trusted most in the world.... Knowing that your face is hidden behind that mask has brought me an even more excruciating pain than the shots from your gun».
The mysterious man lets out an evil, silent laugh. «That pain is nothing compared to what I will make you feel in a moment». He opens his mouth wide, showing long, sharp canines like the ones in the mask he was wearing until just now.
Vinny's disbelief grows further, and his wounded and bleeding body begins to tremble with fear. «What... what the hell are you?»
The man crouches beside Vinny's body, then whispers to him in a cold, unforgiving voice. «What the hell am I? I am the hell!» After saying this, he pounces fiercely on Vinny's neck. Sharp, razor-sharp teeth rip into Vinny's flesh, and the asphalt beneath their feet becomes even more scarlet while blood gushes like a fountain from the jugular of the unfortunate man. The grip of that bite is so tight that Vinny's screams of pain remain stuck in his throat, unable to escape into the air of that cold December night.
The last thing Vinny saw before he died were two glittering, blood-red eyes and fangs as white as ivory and sharp as pins: the face of a vampire.
The demonic creature's meal is interrupted by a sudden noise: the thud of bodies falling to the ground. Immediately, the vampire puts on his red mask again and turns in the direction he heard that sound coming from, namely the beginning of the street, where his two men are stationed.
A silhouette with contours lit by the dim light of a streetlamp and the pale ray of the moon stands at the beginning of the street. It is a slender, long-limbed silhouette. Thanks to its highly developed night vision - a characteristic typical of vampires - the creature can distinguish in detail the physiognomy of that silhouette. It is a woman wearing a tight-fitting black jumpsuit that covers her entire body. Beneath that black jumpsuit, the shapes of her large breasts and perfectly shaped hips stand out. A black balaclava obscures her face, leaving only her eyes uncovered and restraining her hair. The woman wields two long, silver-bladed swords—one in each hand—and soaked in blood. The vampire immediately realises that it is the blood of his two henchmen, so he abandons his prey.
«You don't look like you belong to the Carbone family» he begins. His voice is different from the one used to speak to Vinny. It is darker, deeper, almost demonic. A voice a human could never emit.
The woman does not reply.
«I did not hear you coming, yet my hearing is very fine» the vampire continues. «Such a light, imperceptible step must surely belong to some professional assassin, or perhaps...». With slow, heavy steps, he walks towards the woman. «Those silver blades... you're a vampire hunter. Interesting»
Again, the woman says nothing, but pounces on the vampire with impressive speed, unleashing a rapid series of slashes, which the man manages to dodge, but not without difficulty.
«I didn't think humans could achieve such strength». The demonic creature says in astonishment, as with agile movements he avoided being wounded by the silver blades. For vampires, silver represents an extremely toxic poison, and a simple flesh wound could prove fatal. «You really impressed me. It's not easy to impress me, you know? As a reward, I will kill you without making you suffer!». The vampire's nails begin to glisten red, stretching into claws almost twenty centimetres long.
The duel continues for several minutes in an extremely even situation. The clash of the claws against the silver blades causes metallic clinks that resound in the stillness of the night, as if they too were made of metal. And yet, despite the ferocity of the two contenders, not a single voice escapes their mouths.
Suddenly, taking advantage of an imprecise movement by the vampire, the woman manages to land a direct lunge to the face. The vampire manages to dodge at the last just enough to avoid being pierced, but the blade strikes the red mask point-blank, partially shattering it at the bottom and revealing from the nose down the human face of the infernal creature.
The vampire lets out an exclamation of frustration. «Shit!». However, due to the thick darkness and the distance of about two meters, the woman is unable to clearly make out the features of the individual, obscured by the hood. She would only have to take a step forward, however, to make out the features of the vampire's face, and he knows it. He stepped back with quick jerks, and, before the woman could reach him, the masked individual camouflaged himself in the shadows to such an extent that he was invisible, then vanished into thin air.
The huntress was left alone in that dark and gloomy alley in the Bronx. Under her feet is a red carpet on which lie the corpses of Vinny - torn to the point of being almost unrecognisable - his three henchmen and the two men who accompanied the vampire.