Kings of Awakening Vampires and Purebloods

by Arantes

  “Tell your men nothing, I will handle this swiftly,” said the Reaper rapidly.

  Lou’s hands begin to tighten; his face was full with anger and he said, “You expect me not to say a word?” When he looked up the Reaper was gone.

  ***

  Albedo awakened feeling uneasy, the bright smile he had yesterday from the cherry blossoms was now gone.

  “It’s morning already,” he mumbles.

  Whenever he has that nightmares it always traumatizes him, his parents usually let him decide if he wants to go to school that day. He decided to stay home. He looked under his bed and grabbed his favorite book and started reading. He had long forgotten what happened at school. His father had left early for work; his dad was the head of the Humans’ Special Division. His father was a very respectable man throughout the town. Everyone admired him. Not too many people had met Albedo; his routine was to go to school and straight home. Rarely would he go to the market and if he did people would not recognize that he was Joshua’s son.

  As he was reading his favorite book, the smell of delicious cooking kissed his nose. He closed the book and headed to the kitchen, his mother had made his favorite meal. Whenever he would have this nightmare, the next morning his mother’s cooking would always bring a smile to his face.

  “I made all of your favorites. Eat up!”

  It always pleased his mom when he ate; Albedo could eat for five men. She had always wondered how could he eat this much food and remained this skinny.

  “Your school teacher sent me a letter,” said his mother Cecelia.

  Albedo kept on eating, stuffing more meat into his mouth.

  “I’ll write them back and tell them to stop treating you unfairly,” she said with a smile.

  She poured more juice into his cup. She did not like to bother him too much after he had one of those nightmares; food was always his only friend. “I know! Since you’re not going to school today, how about going to your father’s job and giving him his lunch for me.”

  Albedo knew this was an attempt for her to make him feel better, but her food had already.

  He nodded his head saying he would. He took a bath and changed his clothes; after he was done he took the food and headed out. The incident with the bear had shaken him a bit, but not enough for him not to be able to walk in the forest. As he got further down the hill, he could smell the rich smell of the cherry blossoms.

  I’d love to stay and take a nap but I can’t, he thought to himself.

  The town was a different world than the mountain. Men were riding on their horses, sellers selling on each corner of the street. The smell was different. There were too many people for his taste. He passed by the market and arrived at the Humans’ Special Division. The guards were outside with their uniform, proud to be a human. Albedo had always wanted to become one of them, not specifically a guard. He wanted to protect people, help the weak when they needed him.

  He walked in and a man stopped in his way.

  “Sorry but children aren’t allowed to be here,” he was a very tall man, and the man kneeled to match Albedo’s height. “You have to either work here or have special permission, and besides that you should be in school.”

  Albedo felt insulted, this man had the nerve to call him a child. Albedo felt a deep anger rising within him. Doesn’t he know my father is the head of this place?

  “That’s enough Todd. I’ll take it from here.”

  Albedo looked to the side to see Lou coming towards him.

  “Albedo it’s been a while. Haven’t seen you here at all,” said Lou.

  For some reason Albedo wasn’t too fond of Lou, there was something about the guy he didn’t like too much.

  “Albedo is special Todd, so he’s welcome here anytime, he’s Joshua’s son.”

  Todd apologized and told Albedo he looks forward to seeing him again.

  “Oh, Lou it’s you,” said Albedo with a dull voice.

  Lou took out another one of his pipes, ready to light up.

  Albedo gave him a fast look. “Do you mind not smoking around me?”

  Lou pauses for a second or two and slid he pipe back into his pocket. “You have to forgive me; it’s a habit that I’m working on.”

  Albedo continued on following him, not even bothering to acknowledge the other people around him.

  “So tell me Albedo, how’s your mother doing? I haven’t seen her in such a long time now!” said Lou with a bit excitement on his face.

  “She’s fine I guess,” replied Albedo carelessly.

  Lou started speaking sarcastically, “I would come and visit you guys more often, but the mountain is such a dangerous place. Wouldn’t you say?”

  If Albedo had a list of people he hated, Lou would be up there with Mrs. Marty. Why is he talking to me so much? He moves just as slow as Mrs. Marty does. “The mountain is for people like me and my family, there’s a reason other people can’t survive there.”

  Lou now felt insulted, but of course he kept his cool. “Yes, I suppose you’re right about that.”

  Albedo followed him to his father’s office; he gave him his lunch and headed for the door. His father asked him to stay and have lunch with him. He declined. He walked out the door and heard two men talking among themselves.

  “I wonder if anyone is crazy enough to go to the abandon castle. You know the one people say is haunted.”

  Albedo thought this was a ridiculous conversation. His classmate had once dared him to spend a night at the front gate of the castle. He did and when he told his fellow students the next day, no one had believed him.

  He walked out the door and started walking home; he could see the school on the other side of town. “I wonder if I should go in.”

  The wind picked up a bit, sending a chill down his back. There was an uneasy felling he could not describe; suddenly he felt something behind him. That’s that same feeling with the bear. He looked back quickly with an expression upon his face; the wind around him had shifted once again. I could have sworn I felt someone behind me, did I also see someone else with a black cloak on top of that roof?

  This was the same feeling he felt when the bear came unexpectedly behind him.

  Albedo felt something getting closer to him, he looked back but there was no one behind him.

  This feeling felt the same way the invisible wind runs through your skin, you can’t see it

  but you can feel it.

  He felt the presence getting closer and closer. What should I do? I felt the bear and it was there trying to kill me, now I feel something else but there’s no one there. He felt perplexed. He made up his mind. He started running as fast as he could; the presence chased after him. What’s going on? What is this feeling? My eyes saw no one but somehow I felt someone, am I going crazy?

  As Albedo ran he could feel the wind guiding him, his heart racing faster. He had never run this fast before, as he ran by the people they thought he was crazy. It was out of the ordinary for someone to run in the middle of the street, too many people in crowding your way. Albedo dodged as many as he can. He looked back to see if he could see the person. Unexpectedly—an old lady appeared in front of him; he had no time to avoid hitting her. Where did she come from? His instinct rushed through his brain; he jumped over her as if it was natural. How did I jump this high? He had no time to think, jumping just felt natural, he was running faster than he could ever imagine. How can I run this fast and have this much stamina? He pondered.

  He made a decision, no more running, he stopped at a corridor in a fighting stance. He had more energy to run; he wasn’t even out of breath. He felt the presence getting closer to him, it stopped.

  A man appeared before him out of thin air, not much older than him.

  What’s--- going on, thought Albedo, this guy appeared out of nowhere, as if he was--- no impossible.

  He had on a white outfit; his long blue hair matched his blue eyes staring into Albedo’s eyes. This man was average size, but Albedo’s skinny body wou
ld not stand a chance against him. Still he was not afraid; of course Albedo had realized this man was not human. A vampire perhaps? Albedo started to wonder the same question about himself; the bear incident was a small fragment of evidence. Those dreams felt too real, this sense he just felt, able to pinpoint this man’s location, that’s impossible. If he was looking for an answer this was it.

  “Who… who are you?” asked Albedo with a fuming face.

  The man walked a little closer. “My name is Vincent,” he said with a vicious smile.

  Albedo’s heart had gone back to normal rate.

  “Your name is Albedo right? I heard the other guy call you by that,” said Vincent. Or should you prefer I call you Dawson?

  Albedo’s hands were now in his pocket; fear had gone from his eyes. “Yea, so what of it,” he replied casually.

  Vincent laughed a bit. “My my, you’re a bold one aren’t you? A man appears out of thin air before your eyes, and yet your voice is still calm.” Vincent put a hand on his chin. “I would like to have a word with you, so be nice and come along would you?”

  Albedo’s blood started to boil. This was a chance for him to let out all that anger he has been holding onto all morning. “No thanks.” He must be mad if he thinks I’m going anywhere with him.

  Vincent replied, “This is not a choice, it’s a command. You see, my accomplice would like to meet with you. He has been looking you for a long time now, his very interested in your abilities.”

  “What abilities?” Albedo thought about his nightmares and wondered if that had a connection. “Does this accomplice have a name?” What is this guy talking about?

  “He likes to remain anonymous.”

  Vincent offered his hand to Albedo, unaware that the Reaper was right behind him.

  Before he could look back the Reaper wrapped a chain around his neck. Vincent struggled for air. He ran toward the Reaper to try and make a touch, to use his ability. The Reaper was smart and knew his ability as it moved back away from him.

  “I have you now,” said the Reaper as it moved further away from Vincent.

  Albedo now knew he did see a person with a black cloak and a red mask. He didn’t know which one was the good guy and which one was the bad guy, what can he do? He was only a human.

  “I won’t let you make contact with me, as long as I have you chained up there’s nothing you can do,” said the Reaper.

  Vincent smiled, he grabbed the chain with both hands, and the Reaper could feel Vincent’s ability through the chain.

  Vincent proceeded to explain, “That’s where you’re wrong; I must applaud you for understanding my ability. You’re right, as long as our skin is touching, I can drain your energy, but you see the same law applies to metal. If you and I are touching a metal simultaneously, I can drain as much as I want.”

  The Reaper realized that and quickly let go of the chain. The Reaper dropped to its knees for a second and quickly got back up. Vincent took the chain off of his neck and turned himself invisible once again. Albedo could sense him running. Vincent’s blood was on the ground. The chain had tiny sharps around the edges that cut through his neck. The Reaper looked at Albedo.

  Still unable to understand what just happened, Albedo shouted. “Who are you people?!”

  The Reaper jumped back to the roof and followed the blood trail.

  Albedo put his hand over his face in anguish. “What the hell am I?” He knew the answer lie on following Vincent and this mysterious person with the red mask.

  Chapter 3

  Enter the Purebloods

  The Reaper followed Vincent inside the abandoned castle. The castle was very old. Known as the “castle of ruin” no humans dared to enter. The creepiest creatures lurked in the darkness. Vincent’s blood spilled on the ground, making it easy for the Reaper to follow him. Outside was Albedo, he caught the Reaper going inside the castle. He went after it, if they decided to fight once again what could he do? Ever since he could remember, he knew he was different than everyone else. His nightmares had started a few years back; at first he thought nothing of it. Now they were more frequent and scary. This was no longer a coincidence, he was different.

  Albedo made his way inside the narrow gate; he sneak inside the smallest hole he could find. I never did like this place. He walked through the large, double doors that have a deep red color. He stepped into the eerie castle. From the hard marble floors, he could see blood that had dropped from Vincent. He looked around to see beautiful statues all around the room. There was a set of double staircases. He continued to follow the blood stains, to his left, there was a grand metal door that led to the practice room. He saw the Reaper make its way inside and he followed it.

  Vincent couldn’t be seen as he had turned himself invisible. The Reaper knew it had to be diligent, one wrong move and Vincent could drain all its energy. The trail of blood had stopped; he must have closed the womb around his neck. A piece of his clothing was on the ground. The room was illuminating.

  Albedo hid himself and watched from a far behind the pillar.

  “I know you’re here,” said the Reaper. ”

  “Then come and find me,” responded Vincent friskily.

  Albedo continued on watching, steadily holding his breath to keep quite. He wanted to jump in there and ask who they were.

  He heard Vincent say, “I must say, I’m honored King Victor sent one of the Black Reapers after me. You guys are pretty famous throughout Nacune.”

  As the Reaper diligently searched for him, Vincent unexpectedly grabbed the Reaper around its neck. He began draining its energy; there was nothing that the Reaper could do. One touch from Vincent and his opponents’ body goes numb.

  Albedo was in a dilemma on how to tackle this situation, he was getting nervous again. He had never seen anything like this before in his life. He’d only heard of vampires outside of the walls. He had heard that there were two types of vampires, vampires and Purebloods. The Purebloods had special abilities that vampires cannot achieve.

  He started thinking, black cloak and a red mask; I think I heard stories about them before, from my father. The Black Reapers, so they must be the good guys. I feel like I have to help, what to do what to do…

  He came to the conclusion to help Reaper, but there was nothing he could do.

  A strange feeling arose in his heart; he could feel the Reaper’s soul crying out to him. This was a gentle soul, a soul of a person who protects people and not hurt them.

  “What is this feeling, it’s as if I can hear a heart beat calling out to me.” He felt that sense again. He looked at the Reaper a second time; he could feel Vincent’s presence even better. Vincent was still invisible, but somehow Albedo could see him now, the way he saw him was

  different from flesh and blood. Vincent was a spherical mass of energy floating in the air.

  “They should have sent the two of you after me, instead of you by yourself,” said Vincent.

  As the Reaper started losing consciousness, Albedo snuck behind Vincent and hit him as hard as he could. He felt different! His body feels a bit faster and stronger than before. Vincent was caught off guard by Albedo as he flew to the other side and hit the wall.

  Albedo could feel him on the other side catching his breath. “Are you all right?” He asked the Reaper.

  The Reaper glared at him, thinking how brave he was. It was very dangerous what he had done.

  Albedo put both hands in his pocket and looked calm, his confidence was now richer. “I can see him, and I can be your eyes if you let me.”

  “Who are you?” asked the Reaper. How can he see him? Does he have the… no impossible. “How are you able to see me?”

  Vincent ran toward the Reaper, Albedo could feel it.

  He shouted, “He’s coming now!”

  The Reaper grabbed him and got out the way.

  “Above you!” shouted Albedo.

  The Reaper looked up waiting for Albedo’s command.

  “Hit him now!” said Albe
do.

  The Reaper struck Vincent with a powerful blow; a blow so strong that Albedo began to understand the strength of their kind. He could actually hear bones being cracked. Their physical ability surpassed humans. The Reaper was strong and at that moment Albedo wished he were this strong.

  Vincent got up and was preparing to strike.

  “Look out, he’s getting up!” shouted Albedo.

  The Reaper was fast and strong; Albedo became its eyes and ears, telling it when to strike and where to move.

  “Do you know who I am? You will die for what you did!” said Vincent angrily.

  “Jump to your left!” shouted Albedo.

  The Reaper jumped and turned to its left, while in the air it struck a powerful kick, the blow was enough to stop Vincent. The Reaper was now able to see him; his ability had worn off.

  “You can see me now,” said Vincent with blood dripping from his mouth.

  The Reaper answered, “You need blood to sustain your invisibility. When I cut you with my chain, it was coated with poison that will attack your physical energy. I didn’t need his help for this final blow. ”

  Vincent felt weak now; his vision was weak and blurry, barely able to hear.

  The Reaper walked toward Albedo.

  Albedo said nervously, “Just so you know, I know how to fight.” His hands were up ready for the Reaper, in case it tries something unpleasant.

  The Reaper stopped in front of him, took the hood of its head, and then the mask came off. Albedo looked at her; and she, the Reaper, smiled at him and said.

  “Sorry for all the trouble.”

  Lost by her beauty Albedo said, “It is ok,” in a very timid voice since his heart jumped straight into his throat when he looked into her eyes.

  It was red; her beautiful long black hair reached her back. This was truly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. Her smile was the sun after the night that lights up everything in sight.