Gabriel
I knew this day would come.
From the moment we touched the weapons of our parents, it was only a matter of time before we no longer belonged here.
The monastery had taken us in as children. It had fed us, sheltered us, taught us that God loved us. But it had also kept us imprisoned. The nuns always told us to be grateful. That it was God's will that we lived here.
But God had not saved us.
Our parents had. And now?
Now we were no longer wards of the church.
We were hunters.
"They will never accept us."
"This isn't going to work, Gabriel."
Raphael sat on one of the old church pews, his arms crossed over his chest. The flickering candlelight cast dancing shadows across the cathedral walls.
Michael stood next to me. The short swords were strapped to his waist with leather bindings, as if they were already a part of him.
"We tried," he said quietly. "But you heard them. The church won't accept us. They think we're… cursed."
My fingers tightened around the hilt of my sword. I didn't want to believe it. I wanted them to help us. To guide us.
But Raphael was right.
I had spoken to the priests. To the few men of God who protected the monastery. I had tried to convince them that we had a purpose. That our parents had left these weapons to us for a reason.
Their answer?
"This is not God's will."
They said only the church could decide who could become hunters. Only the "chosen" were allowed to wield these weapons.
And us?
We were just orphans.
"The Betrayer Among Us"
Our decision was already made.
We would disappear that night. Leave the monastery behind and begin our own mission.
But we had not been careful enough.
We didn't realize we were being watched.
Sister Miriam—one of the oldest nuns, a woman Raphael particularly despised—had overheard our conversation. She had seen us training in secret. And she was afraid.
So, she did what people always do when they're afraid.
She called the church.
And with it, she called death.
"The Night of Betrayal"
It began with the ringing of the bells.
A low, ominous sound in the middle of the night. Normally, the bell only rang for special occasions—a mass or a death.
My eyes flew open. I was lying in my chamber, the sword beside me. Sleep still clung to my thoughts, but something felt wrong.
Then I heard the voices.
"Open the gates!"
I leapt to my feet. The door to our room burst open, and Raphael stormed in. Barefoot, the lance gripped tightly in his hand.
"We have a problem."
Michael appeared behind him. His eyes were wide.
"The priests aren't alone."
"The Attack"
We had expected a fight. But not here. Not so soon.
Outside in the courtyard, torches flickered. Dark silhouettes of priests and church men moved through the shadows. But they were not alone.
Among them, shapes slithered. Eyes glowed in the darkness. Movements so swift they seemed impossible to follow.
Vampires.
"Damn it," Raphael whispered. "The church didn't just betray us. They let them in."
Michael grabbed my arm. "We have to go."
I nodded. There was nothing left to say.
Our time here was over.
"Escape to the Forgotten Church"
The fight was brief.
We had our weapons, but we were not warriors. Not yet. We were three boys who had only just learned how to fight.
But we were fast.
The first vampires to attack us were pierced by Raphael's lance. The Light of Judgment burned them from the inside out. My sword cleaved through their shadows as though they were flesh. And Michael…
Michael moved faster than I had ever seen.
We didn't fight to win. We fought to survive.
When we left the monastery walls behind and ran through the dark streets of London, we knew only one thing:
There was no going back.
"Our New Sanctuary"
The old church was abandoned.
Dust covered the pews like a funeral shroud. Cobwebs stretched across the shattered windows. And yet, it was still a holy place. Here, among the crumbling walls and forgotten altars, we found something we thought we had lost long ago.
A home.
I sank onto one of the pews, my breath burning in my chest.
Michael sat on the steps leading to the altar, his swords resting at his side.
Raphael looked around.
"So, this is it?"
I nodded. "For now."
Out there, the vampires hunted us. The church wanted us dead.
But here?
Here, we were safe.