Chapter 1
She was beautiful. There were no other words to describe her. I had never seen anything in my life as beautiful as her, and I had seen many beautiful things. I loved her, I really did. And she loved me. I could tell, anytime she made a sound, anytime she came into contact with me, I could feel her love for me light across my skin. I tried to touch her, but she moved out of my reach, laughing all the while. God, her laughter was like an angel’s song. She darted in, trying to make me join in her embrace, but I avoided her as well, smiling as we played.
Or at least, that’s how it felt to me in the moment, and how I will relate the story to any who wish to hear it. The outside observer would most likely see something completely different if they were watching.
What the average person would see, no, what any sane being would witness would be a bloody battle, between a madman who never stopped smiling maniacally not matter how much blood he seemed to lose, or how many limbs were removed before regenerating. The “her” was no less unusual, a woman of slightly less than average beauty, laughing with madness, wielding the most beautiful katana they had ever laid their eyes on. These two were locked in mortal combat, one attempting to kill, the other, disarm.
Now, I’m sure you’re wondering what the heck is going on. Well to explain that, we shall have to go back a week and a half earlier.
Three vampires, a human corpse and a pink teddy bear were having a tea party. And how do I wish this was the beginning of a joke. Unfortunately, for me this was simply an average Thursday afternoon. “I must say, Ms. Fluffles, while it is most certainly distressing to hear about how your husband has been cheating on you, I do believe you should allow Elisabeth and Mr. Scumpelfield a chance to speak as well, don’t you think?” The first of the vampires spoke, directing his sentence to the aforementioned pink teddy bear, Ms. Fluffles.
This vampire’s’ name was Saif Karim, a hundred-fifty something Middle Eastern male, the second most powerful vampire alive. He hates humans with a passion, and loves killing. This made him talking to the stuffed bear in all seriousness rather unnerving.
“Thank you Saif. Now, Mr. Scumpelfield, please do tell me all about your most recent trip to China, it sounds like you had the most fascinating time there.” That was the second vampire, speaking to Mr. Scumpelfield, the human corpse. She had the appearance of a teenage girl with brown hair, wearing a pink and red dress. Her name was Elizabeth Barthony, The Bloody Countess, Queen of the Night, and most powerful vampire alive.
“Yes Mr. Scumpefield, please do tell. Oh, and can I have another cup of blood, please?” And that was me, Mark Yates, a teen with black, straight hair. And third most powerful vampire on the planet.
The three of us were holding a tea party for one simple reason. Elisabeth was bored. That was a bad thing. A VERY bad thing. She is the oldest vampire alive, and the most powerful as well. This means she gets bored very easily. And when she gets bored she entertains herself, usually by kidnapping an entire village and committing unspeakable horrors upon its inhabitants.
While Saif may harbor a hatred for humanity, even he agrees that what we’ve seen her do is something that must never happen again. Fortunately, Elisabeth is very easily distracted by other sources of amusement. Hence the tea party.
“So Mark, have you ever been to Asia?” Elisabeth asked. “No, I’m afraid I haven’t. I’ve always wanted to visit though. It sounds so fascinating.” I replied. “Well, how would you like to visit Japan? They have all sorts of interesting stories there.”
That sounded like she was baiting me into something. Elisabeth often has Saif and I run various errands for her, and they are always trouble. Not like we can refuse however, considering that she could kill either of us in a heartbeat.
“What kind of stories have you heard?” I asked, hoping that it was some common story instead of some hint to my next task.
“Well, one that I’ve always enjoyed is the Tale of Three Blades.” Elisabeth replied.
“Oh? I don’t believe I’ve heard this one. Would you care to tell it?” Saif interjected.
“Of course! A long time ago in Japan, there was a blacksmith who poured all his heart and soul into making three blades. This smith was so skilled, that the blades gained sentience. Three different men came to his shop and purchased a blade each.”
“The first man was a peace-loving ruler, and he never used the blade to draw blood. Instead, he gave it as a symbol of friendship to a neighboring ruler. This became a tradition, with the owner of the blade passing it along to another, with it never being drawn. This blade grew to love peace and friendship.”
“The second man was a rich, arrogant man, who believed that with a strong blade, he could defeat any who opposed him. He challenged one of the strongest warriors in the land, and was cut down. The warrior gave the blade to his only son. He was also slain in battle. As such, the second blade became known as cursed, and only knew the tragedy of his wielders being killed.”
“The third man was a blood-thirsty warrior. Hundreds fell to the blade, and it grew to love killing. This love was so strong, it would overpower anyone who would hold it, and would force them to go on a murderous rampage until the wielder was defeated, afterwhich it would wait for a new wielder to begin it’s rampage anew.”
“Over time, the three blades were passed down from hand to hand, eventually dissipating all over the world, and vanishing into history. Pretty interesting, huh?” Elisabeth finished, awaiting our response.
“Living blades, how interesting. I’ve seen a European blade that was alive before, but never a blade from Japan” Saif replied, gaining a thoughtful look on his face.
“That story was rather interesting, but what does that have to do with anything?” I asked, wondering where she was going with this.
She turned and glared at me, which isn’t a good sign. “Well, since you are so insistent, one of the blades has shown up in Japan, and I want you to go get it for me.”
“Do you know which one of the blades it is?” I asked, hoping to somehow worm out of it.
“Yep! It’s the third one. Don’t you think a blood-thirsty sword would be a great addition to a vampire’s collection?” She replied.
“Didn’t you just say that the blade would possess anyone who tries to hold it? How do you expect me to bring it back?”
“That’s simple. While the sword can easily overpower a normal human’s will, a vampire of your mental strength should have no problems overpowering it’s own. Or have you forgotten how you were capable of willing disobeying your birther’s direct commands and led the Church right to her?” She directed her question towards me, glaring as though she was challenging me to disobey her.
I flinched at that reminder of how I became the third most powerful vampire. Vampires gain power through three different ways. The first is simply by growing old, the older a vampire is, the more powerful it becomes. The second is how powerful the vampire who turned you, the birther’s, power. The stronger he or she was, the more powerful you are. The final way to gain power is by drinking blood. The more you drink, and the more power is in that blood, the more strength you gain.
I didn’t become a vampire on purpose, I was turned by force. Because of that, my birther had to use the bond between birthers and their fledglings to force me to kill many people. Eventually, I got lucky and was able to strike a deal with the Church while she wasn’t looking. They gave me claws made of blessed steel and let me drink her blood once she was dead, and in return, I led them to her nest and assist them in various jobs when possible. As such, I’m not too popular among my fellow vampires, working with the Church to hunt down and kill my own kind, along with helping humans when I can.
“Fine, fine. I’ll go to Japan and get this blade of yours. Anything else I should keep in mind or do before I go?” I say with a sigh, reluctantly agreeing to the job.
“Well, I hear some magicians are after the sword as well, so there’s that. Also, take that fledgling of your’s with you too. She irritates me.” Elisabeth says, frowning at the thought of my fledgling.
“Well, I’ll be going then.” I replied, standing up from the table and walking away. I begin wandering through the castle, heading to my fledgling, Sarah’s, room. Sarah is a teenaged girl who happens to have a love for vampire romance novels and tends to act as though they are reality. Which is why Elisabeth and other vampires find her irritating. You would think that she would have learned better, seeing how she would be dead by now if it weren’t for my intervention.
I reach Sarah’s room, and knock. “Sarah, we need to talk. Let me in.” I say, making sure she can hear me. I hear her voice from the other side of the door, “Coming master!”. Wait, master? Where did she get that from?
The door opens and Sarah comes into view. I sigh and say “Sarah, why are you wearing a maid outfit?”
She gives a sly smile and replies “What are you talking about, master? Does something displease you? Or do you desire something else?”
“Again, why the outfit? And where did you get it from?” I ask, wondering what idea had caught my fledgling’s attention.
“Well, I was reading this story where this vampire saves a girl from death, and in order to repay her debt to him, he has her become his maid and they fall in love and was just so romantic that I couldn’t help myself!” She replies, with a dreamy smile on her face.
Really? I got rid of all her books! How did she get a new one? We are in a castle miles from civilization! There’s no way she could have gotten a new book unless…
“Sarah, who gave you the book?” I ask, feeling the horror begin to claw its way through my soul.
“ Mr. Saif gave it to me! He said it would help you realize your true feelings for me!” She responded.
No, no no no no nononono. This could not be happening. I knew Saif was looking too smug this morning, but I thought he just had a really satisfying meal. To think he has begun using my own fledgling against me!
“Sarah,” I say, grabbing her shoulders and looking straight into her eyes. “Ye..yes master?” She stutters, a blush lighting up her face.
“Saif is a dirty liar who should never be trusted. He sleeps to the sound of the tears and broken hearts of young girls.” I tell her, hoping that she would listen to me.
“Oh, ok.” She responds, probably disappointed that her newest source of romance novels has been cut off.
“Anyways,” I start, hoping to change the subject to something less awkward, “ We are going to Japan. Get changed and gather your belongings! We leave immediately!”
“But wouldn’t Hawaii be a better place for a romantic honeymoon?” She asks, a glow on her face.
“One, we can’t have a honeymoon, because we aren’t married. Two, we are going to Japan because Elisabeth gave us a mission,” I respond with a sigh as I was unsuccessful in my effort to get her mind off romance.
“Elisabeth, huh? I don’t like that woman. She’s always getting in between you and me. Why do you even bother working for that hussy anyways? The two of us should just run away and live our eternal lives together without any care or worry.” Sarah grumbles.
I glared sharply at her, showing her exactly what I thought of what she just said. “Sarah, I would watch your words very carefully in the future. If you let an insult like that fly in front of Elisabeth, your life is forfeit, and there is nothing I can do about it. Elisabeth is known as the “Queen of the Night” for a reason. She is undisputedly the most powerful vampire to ever live. She has lived for centuries, and has killed thousands of humans and other beings during that life. If me and Saif were to work together to try and usurp her, we would be batted aside in a blink of an eye. What chance do the two of us have? Now hurry up and get ready to go.”
She shrinks in the face of my glare and rant, tears in her eyes. “Ok Master, I’ll go get ready.” she says, closing her door in my face.
I lean against the wall and sigh. I didn’t mean to be so harsh with her, but she needs learn that this world she is now a part of is not a happy one. I’m already on thin ice with Elisabeth as it is for working with the Church, and Sarah’s behavior is liable to get us both killed if we aren’t careful.
Then again, I suppose I can’t blame her for wanting to be the heroine of some generic vampire romance novel. While my introduction to mystic world was abrupt and shocking, dying to the hands of a being I had thought only existed in fiction, hers was infinitely more traumatizing.
The vampire that had nearly killed her had used her own love of romance stories against her, acting as the male romantic interest in one such novel, making her believe he loved her. She fell for the act and grew to love him back. Then he struck, attacking her while they were on a walk in the woods. I found her, unable to comprehend that his love was a farce, on the verge of death. I took pity on her, and saved her life by making her my fledgling, before killing the vampire that did it.
Afterwards, Sarah shifted what blind love she had for him onto me. I’ve tried to dissuade her before, getting rid of all her books and trying to make her understand I feel love for her, but the trauma is just seated too deep in her mind.
“Master, I’m ready to leave.” Sarah says, walking out of her room with a bag of equipment and clothes on her back. “You said we should be leaving immediately, so I only packed the basics. Is that ok?”
“Yes, that is fine.” I say, hoping that what I say next won’t backfire on me, “Tell you what, once we get off the plane, how about we get something together at a restaurant as a reward for the hard work you’ve done for me over the past few months?”
“Really? You mean like a date?” She says, a hopeful look appearing on her face.
“You know what? Sure. Why not” I respond, hoping that she’ll forget about me yelling at her earlier and return to her normal, peppy self.
“Yes! I knew that you would eventually see that we were meant to be together!”
“Yeah, yeah, now come on. We have to go soon, cause if we don’t make it, we’ll be too late for dinner.” “Okey dokey. Let’s go!”
