Chapter 1
Chapter One: Born of the Night The night Zeno Woods was born, the hospital lost power. Not because of a storm. Not because of an accident. Because something in the sky above the city reacted to him. Lightning crawled across the clouds like veins of white fire. The air hummed with a strange pressure that made every machine in the building flicker. Doctors panicked. Nurses rushed down hallways. And inside delivery room seven, a child entered the world. He didn’t cry. He opened his eyes. Crimson. Not the bright red of blood. Not the dull red of irritation. But something deeper. Ancient. Predatory. The nurse holding him froze. “…Doctor?” The doctor stepped closer, confused. “What is it?” The nurse slowly tilted the baby toward the overhead light. Two tiny fangs glinted. The doctor’s face drained of color. “That’s… not possible.” The baby blinked. Then he smiled.
Twenty-Two Years Later The city of Ashridge looked beautiful at night. From the ground it felt chaotic—sirens, traffic, people moving in every direction like ants in a broken colony. But from above? It looked peaceful. Zeno Woods sat on the edge of a twenty-story rooftop, his boots dangling over empty air. Wind pushed through his dark messy hair. The skyline burned orange with the last light of sunset. Below him, the city buzzed with life. Above him, the sky stretched endlessly. Zeno exhaled slowly. “You know,” he muttered to himself, “normal people probably don’t spend their evenings sitting on rooftops like this.” He pulled a small metal flask from his jacket. The liquid inside wasn’t alcohol. It was blood. He took a casual sip. Warm. Metallic. Comforting. Most people would have gagged. For Zeno it tasted like energy. Like plugging himself into a charger. His muscles subtly tightened as the blood flowed through his system. His strength sharpened. His senses heightened. His body hummed. Because Zeno Woods wasn’t human. He had never been human. He was born a vampire. Not turned. Not infected. Not cursed. Born. And that single difference made him something the hidden world feared more than anything else. A pureblood anomaly. A vampire with no weaknesses. No sunlight allergy. No silver sensitivity. No religious limitations. No stake-through-the-heart weakness. Zeno was simply… stronger. Stronger than humans. Stronger than most supernatural beings. And unfortunately for the criminals of Ashridge— he liked punching things.
A Quiet Night Zeno cracked his neck. “Alright Ashridge,” he said casually. “Let’s see what stupidity you got for me tonight.” His super senses expanded across the city. Heartbeats. Engines. Footsteps. Gun safeties clicking. Fear. Anger. Lies. It all blended into a massive web of sound and movement inside his mind. He could hear conversations from blocks away. Detect lies in heartbeats. Smell gunpowder drifting through the air. For most vampires this level of sensory input would be overwhelming. For Zeno? It was just Tuesday. Then something caught his attention. Gunshots. Three blocks east. Zeno sighed. “Seriously? I just sat down.” He stood up slowly. Rolled his shoulders. His muscles flexed beneath his white shirt and red flannel. “Alright.” He stepped off the roof. And fell. For about half a second. Then— BOOM. The air exploded beneath him as his body shot forward. Zeno didn’t fly like a superhero. He flew like a missile. His strength literally punched against gravity, launching him across the skyline. Wind tore past his face. Buildings blurred. Three blocks vanished in less than a second.
Alleyway Trouble Zeno landed silently in the shadow of a brick building. Voices echoed down the alley. “Don’t move!” “Wallet! Now!” A terrified man pressed against the wall raised his hands. Two criminals held guns on him. Zeno leaned casually against the corner of the building. “Man,” he said aloud, “you guys picked the worst alley.” The criminals turned. “…Who the hell are you?” Zeno stepped into the dim streetlight. “Local night security.” The first criminal aimed his gun. “Get lost.” Zeno sighed. “You know,” he said, “statistically speaking this part of the conversation always ends with you guys shooting.” The criminal pulled the trigger. BANG. The bullet struck Zeno in the forehead. And flattened. The two criminals froze. Zeno blinked. He picked the bullet out of his hair. “…Yeah,” he said. “That happens a lot.” The second criminal screamed. “WHAT ARE YOU?!” Zeno’s eyes glowed crimson. Something ancient flashed behind them. “Hungry.” He disappeared.
The Fight The alley exploded with motion. Zeno moved faster than human eyes could track. CRACK. One criminal slammed into the brick wall hard enough to crack it. The second swung his gun wildly. Zeno caught his wrist. “…Relax.” He squeezed. The gun crushed into scrap metal. The criminal trembled. “Please man… please…” Zeno stared at him. For a moment something darker moved behind his calm expression. A predator. His fangs slid slightly into view. The man noticed. And screamed. Zeno sighed. “…Relax. I’m not eating you.” He knocked the man out with a light tap to the forehead. Both criminals lay unconscious. The terrified civilian stared in shock. “…What… are you?” Zeno stretched his shoulders. “Just a guy who hates bullies.” The man looked at the flattened bullet. “…That’s not normal.” Zeno grinned. “Neither is Ashridge.” He stepped toward the alley exit. Then paused. Because suddenly— his senses exploded with warning. Something massive just happened. Downtown. A shockwave thundered across the city. Windows shattered. Sirens erupted everywhere. Zeno slowly turned toward the skyline. Flames were rising between the skyscrapers. “Ah,” he sighed. “There it is.” The civilian blinked. “…What?” Zeno cracked his knuckles. “Tonight’s problem.” Blue and white flames suddenly ignited around his fists. Not normal fire. Not supernatural hellfire. Something unique. Bloodfire. The flames danced across his knuckles like living energy. Zeno smirked. Then vanished into the sky.
Somewhere Above the Earth Inside a classified orbital satellite, multiple screens displayed footage of the explosion. One screen zoomed in on a single figure flying toward the disaster. Zeno Woods. A woman in a black suit watched carefully. Her eyes narrowed. “So he’s finally active.” A man beside her folded his arms. “The anomaly is evolving faster than expected.” Another figure leaned forward. “If the predictions are correct…” He tapped the screen. “…Zeno Woods will eventually become the strongest being on Earth.” The woman smiled slightly. “Then it’s a good thing we’re not planning to kill him.” The room went quiet. She continued calmly. “We’re going to recruit him.” The man beside her frowned. “And if he refuses?” The woman’s smile faded. “Then we remind him.” The screen zoomed in closer. On Zeno’s glowing red eyes. “…why monsters don’t belong in the world of heroes.” End of Chapter One
