《Voltaire: Dusk By Dawn》


 Prologue - DUSK

    <h2 style="text-align: center">Prologue</h2>


    ¡°Blood is ¡®lives¡¯.¡± -Count Dracula


    <h3 style="text-align: center">DUSK


    Recently, it¡¯s been quite a mess, really. A vampire with a compulsion to have delusional thoughts, caused by too much psychic power. Psychic powers that include hypnosis, telepathy, mind-reading, clairvoyance, seeing the future, knowing people¡¯s karmic personalities, reading people like a book with a glance, invading one¡¯s mind and turn them insane, glaring into someone¡¯s soul into infecting them with my own insanity. Such overpowered abilities as a psi-vamp, which they call energy vampires, broke my psyche, which is of course, my mind, corrupting it into utter lunacy.


    Having my own mind to be plagued with such psychosis. Into utter confusion, the mind¡¯s impulse to think vampires do not exist, even though I am one, at the same time, thinking they do, and being aware enough of my own madness, I somehow think I am a vampire who has a delusion that vampires do not exist but they actually do, and the spiralling loophole continues on and on without cease. Seizing my own thoughts, running rampant and wild, like a savage river down to a waterfall, behind it having the treasure, which is the cure to the agony of my own insanity. It is none but my inevitable end, if I wish to end my suffering now.


    Thus, having my own thoughts and emotions puzzled, utterly, they are none of my own but the compulsion of the mind. Such powers to control people¡¯s thoughts, thinking it is their own. Clearly, I¡¯ve mastered it enough in order to get myself the absolute freedom I¡¯ve wished for. It was just hope. In the end, it was a wish, a dream that came true.


    Now walking in the streets of Downtown, occurring in San Fernando City. To which are located in the higher regions of the Philippines in Southeast-Asia. I may or may not be convinced by such of the horrors of the rebellious group of vampires I¡¯ve been a part of, signed a contract with the oath of my own blood. I once remember that my master gutted my stomach up to my chest, where I bathed in my own blood as part of the ceremony.


    Some say¡­, it is a cult of some sort. I¡¯d say it is a society, a society where I can belong, but the only tenet I do not agree with, secretly, is to reject my humanity.


    As a vampire, once you have died, turned into one, your soul is gone, where your humanity is no more. According to their tenet, in explanation, of course, is that as a vampire, once alive as a human, now an undead creature, your humanity is but a stain to your new unlife. As a vampire, you are more than human, probably more than beast, the higher aristocrat of human society. Human emotions that are left in your now a vampiric brain, that are not even considered alive anymore, as everyone that once loved you as you were alive are no more than burdens in your vampiric life. You are higher than human, not equal, nor lower just because you are more than a beast.


    Having to embrace your inner monster is the way to be powerful as a vampire, and not to linger the past life you had as a human. Having such touchstones such as your human loved ones that no longer believes you are alive will just ruin your ultimate goals you never achieved once you were human.


    As a vampire, you can do anything you want, you have power, wealth, women, anything you have ever wished for. What more can you have?


    Only if you accept the beast within, and not seen as a separate entity, but accept it as your true self, and learn how to tame it and control it with proper discipline and sheer willpower with the right amount of determination. You know you are in for a treat.


    But myself? I don¡¯t have any wishes at all. My only wish is to gain my ultimate freedom. That¡¯s about it. As for freedom, I was locked up in a mental ward. I was given a choice if I wanted to be free. Join the undead, leave the past, and continue to my everlasting future of every wish I desire, but I have to leave my humanity away.


    It happened on a dark night. I could still hear the echoing voices of mentally insane patients screaming, laughing, and muttering in the asylum to this day. Having to vividly remember that same night, a man had come to visit me during the early night before everyone was heading to bed.


    Peculiar, yet so curious, also idiotic of me to come and see such a visitor that was none of my loved ones, but a stranger. He claims to be my ¡°father¡±, which I¡¯ve never met in my life. As my father had been fed up with my madness, he left me in this asylum to rot, instead of planning to get me temporarily rehabilitated here. I could understand why, if he pays, I can get out of here and stay with him. If he didn¡¯t, I would stay here for the rest of my life.


    One Caucasian man came wearing a dark, yet crimson suit that was red as blood, having him to have black leather gloves that shined by the lights of the asylum, as every patient else was already coming back to their cell rooms. While me? I was told to stay here, out in the open soccer field in the asylum. To be truthful, I¡¯ve never seen a Filipino play soccer before, as we do not have such a sport here, unless it is an international school for Americans to come here and study, as well as for every other foreigner.


    The man was mysteriously tall, having an evil energy coming from him, a dark aura that channels his energy to everyone surrounding him as he comes to walk up towards me, as he looks down. I see his eyes were blue, blonde dyed hair that is slicked back, and stubs on his chin and under his nose. He wasn¡¯t the best looking, if I were, to be honest. Even if I am pansexual, I still have my standards high for a mentally handicapped person as myself.


    But the thing is, no matter how terrible he looks, well he is decent but not the most handsome. At first glance I just didn¡¯t like looking at his face. But something caught my eye, and it was the pair of his own. I felt enthralled for some reason. He looked at me as if he was staring into my soul and felt my heart pumping, my mind hazy, and my head dizzy. I could not look away for a single moment at all.


    That¡¯s when he spoke and said, ¡°You are mine.¡±


    That¡¯s when my mentally non-existent composure and resolve fired back at him. I laughed like a complete lunatic. I was expecting he¡¯d be surprised because I felt like I knew what he was trying to do. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t, as if he was used to such a behaviour, or an expected comeback.


    ¡°You¡¯re a vampire too, I know it.¡± I danced like a jester. ¡°It¡¯s because I could sense it, well not really, more like¡­ um¡­ reading your mind?¡±


    ¡°Child, I wasn¡¯t even trying.¡± He replied to my francing, ¡°That was just my usual appeal.¡±


    ¡°Your appeal is coming up to a random, mentally disabled person and flirting with them out of nowhere?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Okay, and? Who cares?¡±


    His calm demeanour seemed patient. ¡°If you would act like this, I suppose I will not give you the freedom you want out of here. Think of the things you could do. This was a waste of my time.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡±


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    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡±


    ¡°You just gave the worst first impression, is all. What¡¯s the catch? Join your little after-school club?¡±


    ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°And you came here to be my vampire daddy? Like, literally, not in a sexual way.¡±


    ¡°It could be both. I know what you want.¡±


    ¡°So, how did you find me, anyway?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know. What matters is if you join me, I¡¯ll take care of you, your expenses, and everything else. As well as for blood.¡±


    ¡°Will there also be caffeine juice?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely. I¡¯ll give you an unlimited supply of coffee.¡±


    ¡°Deal, but wait-, I need to know if you were the one in my dream last night.¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t a dream.¡±


    ¡°I KNEW IT!¡±


    ¡°That dream-¡±


    ¡°So, so, so! You''re telling me that I already was a vampire, but extremely weak? You turned me into a more powerful vampire boy, and I have no other choice but to join you because a vampire daddy is hard to disobey from his vampire kid, right, right, right?!¡±


    ¡°You seem excited, which is very cute, I must say. And yes, correct.¡±


    ¡°I FUCKIN¡¯ KNEW IT!¡±


    ¡°The discharge papers are already signed, and I have your clothes in the limo.¡±


    ¡°Why would you risk something you aren¡¯t sure of?¡±


    ¡°Because I am confident in my well-thought plans. Once I confirm it, I know it will never fail.¡±


    ¡°Pfft! So, you are a Pride vampire.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we have seven deadly types of vampires. I am Pride.¡±


    ¡°So, basically turning me into a vampire as a Pride will turn me into a Pride type?¡±


    ¡°You were already a vampire before I had to drain you and replace that with my own blood to give you more power. That sort of act is illegal.¡±


    ¡°Drinking blood or killing anyone and forcing someone to drink your blood is already considered illegal.¡±


    ¡°In the human world.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re telling me the voices are right, there is this called ¡®The Council¡¯ which is a vampiric government like The Illuminati from the Avengers in that Doctor Strange movie?¡±


    ¡°Correct.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so smart, you know, reading your mind is so fun for a ¡®so-called¡¯ vampire overlord like yourself, which, of course, I already know, I just read your mind.¡±


    ¡°Mmm, yes. You could be useful to me, since you are special.¡±


    ¡°Nope, you chose me because I can walk in the sun and eat food. I haven¡¯t aged a bit since. Plus, I don¡¯t go crazy if I don¡¯t drink blood. I only take some if I feel like it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the reason why you are weak. It is because you didn¡¯t find your potential. My blood can only help you figure it out faster and master it with more precision and easier.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re telling me that¡­ the mind reading power and the other psychic ability such as hypnotising that one hot nurse so I can fuck her really good wasn¡¯t a delusion, then? It actually worked more than it¡¯s meant to be hard as usual?¡±


    ¡°Correct.¡±


    ¡°I love how you¡¯re so patient and let me talk while I ask questions and answer them by reading it off your head.¡±


    ¡°I only let you read my mind for my amusement, as you think you can overpower my mind. That gift I gave you, you can abuse it as much as you want. But I will never let you overpower me; it must always be done the other way around¡­ you understand me?¡±


    ¡°Hmph! No!¡±


    ¡°Look at me.¡±


    I looked up at him.


    ¡°You will obey me¡­¡±


    ¡°NO! I SHAN¡¯T!¡±


    ¡°Then I will not help you. I can always hypnotise the nurse to take you back to that padded cell.¡±


    ¡°No, wait! I¡¯m sorry!¡±


    ¡°Then obey me.¡±


    ¡°Fine¡­¡±


    ¡°Say, ¡®Yes, Master.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ master¡­¡± I murmured.


    ¡°Good¡­¡±


    ¡°Can we go now? I fuckin¡¯ hate this fuckin¡¯ place. I want to burn it.¡±


    ¡°I can burn it for you, if that is what you wish.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding?! Killing those innocent people?! Let¡¯s do it!¡±


    Sooner, a few weeks have passed, I am becoming more and more stable, well not mentally, it¡¯s been worse, yet my demeanour has been keeping its composure very easily and my appeal doesn¡¯t seem to break loose out of madness as usual. This blood is helping me control my psychic powers that are no longer controlling my mind.

 Chapter 1 - Mad Dog

    <h2 style="text-align: center">ACT I


    Nosferatu</h2>


    ¡°From the seed of Belial sprang the vampire Nosferatu who liveth and feedeth on human bloode.¡± -Dudley Wright, ¡°The Book of Vampires''''


    <h3 style="text-align: center">Chapter 1


    Mad Dog


    I woke up in the night at Guagua town, still here in the urban province of Pampanga. Some other places, such as the deserted roads in the middle of nowhere that lead to other smaller cities and towns, are usually just grass plains, or small villages we call ¡°Barangays¡±. Whilst we call subdivisions where the villas are usually called ¡°Villages¡±. Poor people live in Barangays, and rich people live in villages. Sounds confusing? I hope not.


    I spent my new nightlife doing the best of fun. I only reject my humanity only if humans are terrible towards me. But what keeps my humanity still lingering in my non-existent soul are the good friends who are kind to me, which aren¡¯t even the little after-school club full of goths and edgy emos who hate all of mankind.


    But I do have one task. Since I am a ¡°hidden one¡±, which is a vampire turned into a vampire again by a more powerful vampire will make them beyond overpowered will have extraordinary gifts that is beyond comprehension, even for those vampires who dare not to hunt down and kill by themselves, thus, hunting down every hidden ones that are yet still alive has to be driven by a stake into the heart if it doesn¡¯t kill them enough by just a single decapitation and burning as unconscious, that has to be guarded by the vampire council.


    It is forbidden by the vampire council not to make a vampire reborn from its current state, making them too powerful to be left alive. Even the vampire council wouldn¡¯t do such a thing to themselves.


    The vampire council is something you¡¯d see in North Korea or China in the mundane society. They are monitored and are told what to do instead of giving them free will. A bunch of rules and such.


    But we, The Darkened Path, are vampires who don¡¯t like the rules and are fed up with such. Because whoever messes up a single errand, or assignment, as well as breaking one rule, would cause undeath to the vampires.


    But I don¡¯t care about the bloodsucking politics, or whatever war they have. I am only here to get my absolute freedom, which is everyone¡¯s goal in this little community we have.


    Although, I was tasked with one optional objective. As a hidden one, I can always accept one assignment any time I wish. There is no deadline or any of sorts. Once accepted, there is no turning back. That is to free Vlad III Tepes Draculea from his tomb and bring him back into this community. Yet, some rumoured he isn¡¯t even a part of our after-school club, some say he was the former leader of this entire thing.


    He is being guarded at Corvin Castle in his stone grave that shows over the ground instead of under the soil inside the very main hall of the castle in Hunedoara, Romania and probably not in Bran Castle in Transylvania, close to Budapest, formerly called Bucharest, or vice versa, I never did my research on this. I¡¯ll know once I accept the mission.


    That being said, my current objective is to practise the mastery of my new abilities, and train myself while breeding more vampire children by the power of my blood and recruiting them into our ¡°community¡±, like a pyramid scheme. We have no rules in this community, yet there is hierarchy. The tenet is the only thing we have here, which I haven¡¯t got into much yet. All I know is that I was taught a lot of things and you¡¯ll know them as the story progresses.


    I can¡¯t wait to see you, Daddy Drac.


    I remember when I used to talk to my friend Ren. She is a transgender woman who had an accepting attitude the first time I met them in a virtual reality world where I socialise with everyone. Sadly, I can¡¯t have the time online anymore. Plus, I had to leave everything from my ¡°life¡± behind, even as an almost human vampire back then. Since I became a pureblood and whatnot, I somehow have to leave this province once and for all, before someone finds out I¡¯m still alive, walking, since my master bribed the people in the asylum to announce me as dead, and have to cremate me as everyone attends my funeral. I was there that same cloudy day as it rained as soon as it was over. I know, it¡¯s very cliche, but that is what literally happened.


    I still remember what we talked about on the 12th of July, just a few more weeks before my birthday. I am now twenty-two years old, apparently, but how I looked is as if I never aged at the start of fourteen years old. Despite that, I turned into a vampire at the age of eleven. I just age slowly. But after I turned 22, I looked as if I¡¯m sixteen to seventeen years ¡®young¡¯.


    I listened to ¡°credits song for my death (canned)¡± on YouTube, reminiscing of the days I was still ¡®alive¡¯, well, barely. Now that I am a pure-blooded vampire and not some weaker vampire, that was turned by some madman that I never knew. Damn¡­ he really went¡¯ turn me into a vampire and he is my vampire daddy.'' and went out to get some blood bags and never came back.


    But I¡¯m glad someone did stay. For now, well, technically he is here forever, with me. He may not be the best looking, but he¡¯s the best father I could ever have.


    Before finally departing from Pampanga, after seeing my loved one''s one last time, without showing myself to them, of course, I left for Metro Manila City.


    My mission here for now is to keep recruiting more vampires, I was given the credit card I needed, a fake ID, a condo to stay in which is all covered by my master, and take over the entire city of Manila full of vampires as the shepherd under the control of the herd, which are humans. It¡¯s like a farm. We let them procreate, we nourish and take care of them, and we eat the others, but not technically killing them. At least that is what other vampires wanted, which is to kill them, of course. For me, personally? Killing them is not necessary unless he¡¯s done wrong to you.


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    If they have the potential, we turn them into our kind and have them do the rest of our work for us. We just have to be careful who we choose here. For now, I am alone, and must spread the plague of vampirism. Technically, biting someone is not considered spreading the contagious ¡°disease¡± they call the foul evilness of vampirism. Biting them is our way of feeding because our fangs secrete an anaesthetic and a hypnotic in order for them to pass out and fall asleep as soon as we bite them. As for my weak self from the previous form, I had baby fangs, but now they are gradually growing sharp and slightly longer. Having myself to turn anyone I wish and do my bidding by giving my blood to any human I desire. As for a snake, the venom we give to the humans will make them forget we had bitten them. But it¡¯s not effective on vampires, sure you can bite vampires. You can even drain their blood if you are willing to sacrifice your sanity for such a power.


    Only the vampire blood can give the powers of a vampire, thus, turning them into one. But on occasion only if they don¡¯t have human blood left in their body, that is when you have to sacrifice most of your own blood to turn them, which can be tiresome. That is why vampires are known to be ¡°already dead¡±. Then they wake up as if nothing happened, yet confused, and are yearning to see their master at all costs. Imagine if that were to happen to you, like a lost puppy looking for their owner in this lost, vast, cruel world. That is how I felt the first night I was turned. He never came back to me. I was left to rot in a ditch and have to rely on my own instinct in order to survive as a weaker kind.


    But I somehow managed to make it. I accepted to be in their little cult and I instantly earned the crown of being a vampire, a prince. The highest is the emperor, which is the one that governs all the entire clan I am in, which is a name I¡¯ve forgotten, and forgot if I even mentioned it once already. The King is the one that is responsible for every Prince¡¯s action regarding their behalf. A Duke is the main bodyguard of the prince that is taking over a current place, as of course, the prince¡¯s job is to spread their influence towards other cities from their current location until the entire country is taken over, but the Vampire Council does not let that happen as they are doing the exact same, except they do evil pretending it is for a good cause, a sacrifice that is disguised as necessary for their own personal gain.


    And that is where the duke, stronger than the prince, is to give an oath to protect him/her/them for the rest of eternity, in any circumstance, loyal to the person even if they were exiled by the clan itself. Then we have the Marquees, the advisor of the prince, giving the best recommendations and answers to any of the prince¡¯s questions once there are no more options left. They are the weakest vampires but they are the smartest kinds. Usually these types often focus on witchcraft and other occult things to gain knowledge and intellectual power as their assets to dispose of any terrible situation, especially on the verge of being killed.


    Now moving on to the Count. The Count is the one reinforcing vampires in case of emergencies, which those of are the Viscounts, who provide safety to the rest of the higher-ranking vampires. And now, lastly, the Baron is the General of the commanding front line of vampires in case of war between the clan and the opposing clan they call ¡°The Council¡±, which is, of course, the Vampire Council itself. The rest are just what we call pawns.


    We all have the same similar goals, we refuse to take orders from tyrants and fascists, that¡¯s it. We want a free life, have our own free will, and our freedom. But we were stained by The Council convincing everyone that we are an antagonising clan which are completely evil, not because of our philosophy of accepting your inner devil as yourself and not a separate entity to feed to keep yourself alive, but it is because of The Council¡¯s propaganda making us look evil just because we are their enemies at these centuries of war that had been waged for too long, which that dates back to the time of Draculea. Draculea is actually The Emperor himself. He had similar plans against the tyrants. That is why he moved to London after signing papers to stay there, in order to spread his influence and take down The Council.


    Somehow, he was driven a stake to his heart, pinned onto the soil of his chambers, inside a mighty cemented stoned casket that shows his presence in the main hall of his castle. He was not able to be decapitated or burned because he was too powerful, too powerful to be left alive.


    That is when I refused to take the offer to find him and free him and wait until my powers grow stronger. But somehow, someone already did before I could. I was not disappointed; my vampiric premonition saw it coming. I¡¯ve grown smarter and smarter, less and less insane every day.


    But there was a problem¡­ Draculea was not found in his tomb! Where did he go?! This was bad news for all of us. That is when one of the Viscounts went flying off from the country to sneak through the main headquarters of The Council, which was extremely heavily guarded. But their main leader, [REDACTED], was panicking as well, because he didn¡¯t even know where he went either. That is when the two waged a war between the two clans, even way worse than their current state of Cold War.


    I was tasked to sneak pass through and take down the main leader, of a name that I must not even mention. Having myself to finally sneak in after killing every pathetic vampire in the entire headquarters, I went to the leader and instead of facing me, he was terrified, and he was just a child! He called the guards, but no one came.


    ¡°I killed them.¡± I spoke, as I stared down at his little pathetic weak body.


    ¡°You may be a vampire, but I am older than you and probably more powerful!¡± He shrieked in a husky, yet squeaky voice.


    ¡°Stand down.¡± I spoke, as I looked at him with menacing eyes. Then, his willpower was so weak, he bent to his knees and begged for mercy. ¡°I am not here to kill you. I never meant to kill your guards or any other of our own kind. I was caught, and they tried to kill me. It was self-defence, but it went too far. I am here to settle the differences between this long centuries war. It¡¯s never going to be over.¡±


    ¡°I was so young, and I was an abandoned child. My parents never came back as I looked for them. I had to find a way to survive as I was left there to rot in a ditch.¡± He spoke softly, almost breaking down with his voice cracking.


    ¡°...¡±


    He continues, ¡°Then, this man found me. He was a vampire and promised me power and eternal life. And happiness, and the freedom I wanted. The freedom of not being able to be anxious about adult matters and worries. Which is the main reason why my parents abandoned me. He was the father I¡¯ve always wanted. Then, your stupid clan killed them and I was entitled to be the new leader of this organisation. The Council!¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be like that. Look, I¡¯ve been through the same.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯ll never understand! I¡¯ve been worse than you have ever gone through!¡±


    ¡°Listen, kiddo. I can¡¯t judge if yours or mine had been worse. What we have is something in common. I¡¯ve been through the exact same. I was left in a mental asylum for seven years because my father thought I was crazy. He abandoned me, got fed up with my own shit. Then, I met my master. He treated me like his own son. I saw him as a father as well. That¡¯s when I grew an attachment to him. All this war, all for nothing. I am here to settle our differences between two clans that have been fighting non-stop and it never will until you both try to at least talk it out. Now come on.¡± I patted all the dust and blood from his clothes and slowly got him up with my hands and lent my hand to him as a formal handshake.


    I smiled down at him, and he smiled back. He reached for my hand and shook it firmly. But that¡¯s when someone left standing from his dying wound shouted and he shot a crossbow arrow, which was a long stake that was directed to my heart. That¡¯s when I passed out.

 Chapter 2 - The Impaler

    <h3 style="text-align: center">Chapter 2


    The Impaler


    ¡°Who-where am I?¡± I questioned, as I woke up with a wound on my chest, not knowing what happened.


    ¡°Good evening, Prince Klei.¡±


    ¡°Klei¡­ how did you know my real name? My name now is Voltaire. Wait¡­ you look familiar!¡± I said as my vision slightly adjusted to the pale man reflecting the firepit, ¡°You look like someone from that one painting in a Romanian Museum. My good friend took a photo when he went to find¡­ Draculea?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is I, Dracul.¡±


    ¡°From the Dracul Clan!¡±


    ¡°For real? On God? Dead ass?!¡±


    ¡°I am familiar with your sense of humour, Prince Klei. It must mean you are thirsty, my friend.¡±


    When my vision finally went clear, I saw his face. It was the same face as the painting of Vlad the Impaler. That moustache, his cape, his ring, and his glorious hat and long black hair. Glorious! But no, history¡¯s painting got his face wrong, and he doesn¡¯t seem to look like the ones from the movies. He literally looks extremely handsome!


    He pointed the stick that he was using to make the firepit brighter towards the tied-up woman. ¡°You seem to be craving for it, my friend. Go, have supper.¡±


    I could not help myself, after a long night, wasting all of my energy, just to be almost killed and lose a lot of blood from such, I had to bite that precious neck of that young virgin woman, a thick rope tied around her body and mouth like a gag-ball and a bondage kink, her salty sweat dripped down her neck, my eyes glow bright red, then I sank my fangs into her neck, drained her dry, and killed her.


    After snapping back to reality after finally feeding, I took a step back, and felt guilty for what I¡¯ve done. I was shaking and it was the first time I ever killed someone in my life. As a vampire, I¡¯ve only taken a bit of blood from my human victims, but not this far!


    Draculea reacted to what I did. ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad for your victims, my friend. Once you are ¡®beast¡¯, you are no longer human. The humanity that is stained in your non-existent soul is none but a burden to you, my friend. It will only haunt you for the rest of your eternity if you do not throw that away. Accept your inner beast, and become beyond just beast, and be a god. You are an immortal being that only other more powerful vampires can kill, perhaps the witty daylight assassins, to which we call them..., ¡®humans.¡±.


    He continued to tend the fire with the stick.


    I tried to keep my composure. To which I easily did because I¡¯ve fed enough blood to keep my hidden one curse ¡®sane¡¯. Then, I spoke to Draculea and said, ¡°What are you doing here? And how did I get here?¡±


    Despite seeing the real deal, the emperor himself in the flesh, I was too panicked to show my etiquette skills of formality. That is when he replied with, ¡°My friend, you don¡¯t need to be so formal, despite you aren¡¯t, I know you will try to be.¡±


    ¡°How did you-¡±


    ¡°Let me tell you a story about Ambrogio and Selena. Sit down.¡±


    ¡°My Emperor, I do not think this is quite the time for that-¡±


    ¡°Sit. Down, my friend.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­ alright¡­ I sincerely apologise.¡±


    ¡°No need to be so formal. You are a guest here, as we all are vampires from the golden age. We are hospitable to our guests, and we must not come into an abode without an invitation. Free spirited youths do not understand such ethics to do so nowadays in the modern world, it is full of filth and disrespect. That is how I managed to keep my appeal as a humble host to any of the youth, vampire or human. Even werewolves and other creatures of the undead.¡±


    I sat down beside him. That¡¯s when he told the tale of Ambrogio.


    Ambrogio was an Italian painter who left his work to be an adventurer, as he went to Greece to find his fortune, which was advised by an oracle named Delphi. He arrived in Greece in confidence, arriving at his final destination which was the temple of Apollo, the God of The Sun. There, he met an oracle of Apollo who can see the future named Pythia, where she gave cryptic words, ¡°The Curse, The Moon, The Blood will Run...¡±.


    Which, of course, it made him not able to get some sleep for the entire night, trying to decipher those words. As the dawn made the sun rise over the horizon, he met a beautiful maiden of the temple, which was named Selena. Selena was the one that was taking care of her sister Pythia during her spiritual states where she is vulnerable as she tries to seek the secrets of the universe through deep meditation. For the next few days,


    Ambrogio would visit Selena every day as they both fell in love sooner after.


    Ambrogio asked Selena to marry him and come to Italy with him. As she said yes to her proposal, he promised to prepare for everything as promised to come to meet her outside the temple at dawn tomorrow morning.


    Apollo was enraged by such an act, as Apollo was in love with Selena and should he try to take away one of Apollo¡¯s maidens will be cursed. So, Apollo cursed Ambrogio for burning into the sunlight so he can never meet Selena in the morning. He had no other place to go, so he went into hiding in a cave where he stumbled upon Hades, The God of The Underworld. Hades listened to Ambrogio about his story, so he made a deal by gambling with him. If Ambrogio managed to steal Artemis¡¯s bow and give it to Hades, if done so, he promised to protect both Ambrogio and Selena. So, Hades gave him an enchanted bow with eleven arrows for him to win a hunting trophy as an offer to Artemis, so he could win her favour, deceive her into stealing her bow. But in exchange, he has to leave his soul to Hades as he goes off to steal the bow, if he fails this, he has to be in the Underworld for all eternity, if done well, his soul is granted back as well as for both of their protection, he and Selena.


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    All Ambrogio did to at least get in touch with Selene was to write in parchments and leave them where Selena is meant to wait for him. So, he went to hunt. He took down a duck with an arrow, then used the blood as ink, and used the feather as a pen. Then, he wrote down a message for Selena about everything that happened and left the parchment there.


    It has been forty-four days, Ambrogio could not get to contact Selena personally but kept leaving love poems in bloody parchments for Selena to read until he finds a way to meet her as he is hiding from the sunlight.


    That¡¯s when Ambrogio won Artemis¡¯s favour after Ambrogio offered the dead swan as a tribute to her. Artemis, The God of The Hunt and The Moon, Apollo¡¯s sister, finally appeared to him. It seemed impossible for Ambrogio to steal Artemis¡¯s bow. He thought she would be honoured to help Ambrogio with his current situation and convince Apollo to remove the curse. On the forty-fiftieth night, he had one last arrow to kill a swan as the final tribute if he would to finally get Artemis to convince Apollo. Sadly, he missed and cried in devastation.


    Artemis saw his dedication to her. She lent her silver bow and was given a chance to kill that one last swan and leave the final note to Selena before he finally marries her.


    Ambrogio took the pity, but he ran off, stealing her bow to come to Hades to finalise the deal. Artemis realised she was being deceived this whole time. She felt infuriated and cast a curse upon him to make him burned by silver.


    Ambrogio fell onto the ground, yielding in pain because of the silver bow he was holding. Yet, he begged for mercy and asked for forgiveness. As Artemis was about to finally end his suffering, he explained that he had no other choice because Hades made him do it. That¡¯s when Artemis pitied him once more, and in exchange for his efforts, she made him as strong and fast of a hunter as she is. So, he can write more love poems using the beasts of every animal he finds using his fangs. Making him the apex predator and the alpha of the entire food chain of the animal kingdom. She made him immortal, so he didn¡¯t have to die to be with Hades for all eternity. That¡¯s when he thanked her, went to escape with Selena and fled to Italy. But in one condition, they have to swear to worship Artemis in exchange, and her, for eternity. Another catch was that her being a virgin goddess, they can¡¯t have sex nor do anything sexually related, since now they are her followers.


    The final note he made with the swan he killed was to meet with Selena at the dock to escape and finally be free together forever.


    Which, of course, explains why vampires only feed on virgins.


    ***


    ¡°Wow¡­¡± I expressed.


    ¡°Indeed so, my friend.¡± Draculea responded, ¡°Indeed so¡­¡±


    ¡°How is this related to the current situation?¡±


    ¡°You already fixed the situation. Now all vampires can live in peace.¡±


    ¡°If you disappeared in that castle, what did you do all this time?¡±


    ¡°I fled, stayed hidden until a special someone that had been given the legacy, enthroned to do what I wanted. Which was to settle the differences between the two clans. An Emperor¡­, what an absolute jest! I gave my crown to your master, but he was too much of a coward to do so, so he ran to you, who had all the potential to do the job right. I knew he could do it, but he was too afraid to get killed, as everyone behind the front lines. I was already done being emperor.¡±


    ¡°So, who is the King?¡±


    ¡°The emperor was pronounced dead, which was a conspiracy everyone was meant to believe, so it would turn into a cold war instead of an ongoing raging one. Savages! The truthful reason for this is to find someone who can do the job if your master can¡¯t. Now I can come out.¡±


    ¡°How about the person that nearly killed me?¡±


    ¡°A stake driven into the heart is not enough to kill you. They tried burning you, decapitating you, but they couldn¡¯t do so, until I appeared to them. And oh boy! The look on their faces when the legend returns! HAHAHA!¡±


    ¡°That is not the laugh I expected from THE Dracula.¡±


    He glared at me for a moment and I went from giggling to quiet.


    ¡°HAHAHA!¡± He laughs again, ¡°That was just merely, but a jest, my friend. Such tomfoolery has got you!¡±


    ¡°Ha¡­ ha¡­ nowadays we just call it trolling.¡±


    ¡°Trolls? Those have disappeared a long time ago. Legend says they are still around in these very woods.¡±


    I looked around me and this was the first time I realised we were in the middle of the woods. My perception is extremely bad, after what just happened earlier.


    ¡°Earlier?¡± He spoke.


    ¡°How did you-¡±


    ¡°Now you know how it feels like for someone to read your thoughts, quite privacy intrusive. Am I correct, Klei?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ but I can¡¯t help myself. I don¡¯t do it on purpose. It just happens.¡±


    ¡°So, tell me, how did your premonition fail to let you know you are about to be killed?¡±


    ¡°Except I didn¡¯t, because you said I¡¯m somewhat beyond immortal.¡±


    ¡°That was a jest, friend¡­ anyone can die. Even gods. A mere stake can¡¯t kill you, remember that.¡±


    ¡°How long have I been out?¡±


    ¡°A hundred years now¡­¡±


    ¡°H-Huh¡­?!¡± I started to hyperventilate out of panic. ¡°You¡¯re not joking this time, are you?!¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, not anymore¡­ you¡¯ve been out for too long. A hundred years feels like five hours for you now, since we are all vampires.¡±


    ¡°Like how I¡¯m about to write this entire legacy of mine in a book that no one will believe within a span of five hours and an entire chapter took a hundred years.¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes! The prodigy of all writers at a young age, since you were first bred to be a vampire by an unknown vampire. What if I told you that was me?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean¡­?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know that for now. This might seem to be like a dream all to you, but I can assure you, this really happened. Not in an alternate timeline, but here in this very reality, while you are writing this very chapter in that very book on your little electricity-driven typewriter, it actually happened by your dream walking form. You wouldn¡¯t dare come back to such a reality until you meet your master again, now, would you?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    ¡°Go, there is nothing left to do here. I will come call you to your portal of your dream walking self into that¡­ what you youngsters call a ¡®computer¡¯ once you meet your master.¡±

 Chapter 3 - Impulsive Compulsion

    <h3 style="text-align: center">Chapter 3


    Impulsive Compulsion


    Back in the cruel, terrible world, the reality we all live in together, if there was such to begin with, having psychosis mixed with paranoia. I couldn¡¯t be so sure at all. Still, I would love to have a big chance at freedom, but all I have for now is to live in constant shame from the rest of not just society itself, but from the entire world, from being a literal menace to society.


    That¡¯s when I was locked up inside my own house for the rest of my life, living in constant fear that my parents are too old to support me, and what I can do with myself, knowing the fact that my older brother has his own family to take care of now, and has no time and money for me. As well as for my big sister who refuses to see any of us in the family, after what my father secretly done to her out or drunken rage, finding out she was a lesbian. She was ¡°abused¡± in that very same room when she was around at the age of 16, and I was at least 8 years old at the time. Where she was disowned and kicked out of the house for being a lesbian.


    Having myself wondering where she went all this time, I might suffer the same fate just for being pansexual. As well as seeing my father beat my own mother almost to death right in front of my eyes. She was at the verge of death until she was taken care of, and must be kept as a family secret. Having my eyes about to tear up at that very moment, I knew I was a man, and such a man must never cry. I never cried to it to this day, but I¡¯ve cried for my own selfish and immature issues regarding my own mental health problems.


    I¡¯ll never be the same from trauma after trauma from childhood until I eventually became an unstable adult who started from being the wildest delinquent into a completely psychopathic lunatic of a mad dog I am. I promised to them I¡¯d change, but how many times have I broken their trust? Only to never be believed again, thinking I will just manipulate them for my selfish gains again.


    I was young, wild, and free. But now that I''ve matured, they don¡¯t understand my crisis as a premature adult, with worries for my future and the responsibilities I have to practise before taking care of myself properly, yet they never let me. They even refuse to teach me how to cook or do the laundry for myself, having the mindset for an everlasting parent to their deaths, quite literally, as all a parent wants is to never let their child mature and grow, having them be manipulated into thinking of having dependency on their parents. That is the delusion they live in, both of my parents, and the delusion I live in is just a mere coping mechanism from the shitty reality I live in, if there was one to begin with, with such paranoid schizophrenic hallucinations. I can no longer trust myself.


    It is the dread of night at the date of July the 12th in the year 2022. As an adult, I am not even allowed to drink alcohol, and they limit my caffeine, and even my bedtime. Especially my cigarette count. Not to mention the fact that I am forced to eat no matter how depressed I am three times a day, skip that and you¡¯re forced to nicotine withdrawals. They check your mouth every time you take your pills, in case you refuse to take them because they make you feel worse than you already feel, and those pills never helped them one bit, despite the fact that I am at maximum dose.


    I just feel all the side effects, and not even the positive ones that are meant to help me. I¡¯ve gotten worse. I¡¯ve hit rock bottom, and people keep encouraging me. I don¡¯t need their pitiful encouragement. I keep moving forward into keeping myself positive and staying on the bright side of life no matter how horrendous I go through. I¡¯ve been in this house for seven years since I dropped out, probably secretly expelled because of how fucking crazy I was. But people never give me a chance to change.


    What people refuse to understand is that people can change, and I am human too. What if the roles were switched here, and I would look like a crazy tyrant? But when it is me who is locked up for a lifetime without any human rights, or privacy, I am still the villain because I am the one with the mental illness. It is never fair. And I have no one online to support me. I act too excited and childish on the internet because I never get to meet real people to socialise with in real life. Especially how manic I get once people get to know me, and how I get to know people better.


    Society says just be yourself, but once you do, you are hated for it. Having myself to be stuck as a people-pleaser to the co-point of beyond no return that I will lose my real identity, eventually.


    I had friends who stayed true to me, but they all left because they have their own life rather than the internet, and people refuse to understand why I can¡¯t have my own. Perhaps, I refuse to make them understand, by hiding the shameful part of myself that I can¡¯t have a life no matter what I do.


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    I¡¯ve done all I can, but I don¡¯t want people to pity me for the things I¡¯ve gone through. Crashing from so much caffeine, my dopamine levels have dropped below normal. Now I can see reality better, without the delusions, and such hallucinations. By tomorrow morning, my dopamine levels spike up as the usual level of any schizophrenic, and I will turn delusional again.


    It could turn worse if I drank more than one cup of coffee, with extraordinary gifts running rampant, making me unstable.


    ***


    It¡¯s been the morning, from last night that a witch helped me learn that the succubus that had inhabited my body that took control over my life, there goes by the name Vayne, which I¡¯ve named her before since the first day of my unlife, was in fact my inner devil. I learned that every vampire has an inner devil, which takes over their bodies once they go hungry, go on a frenzy, berserk out for blood to the point the human host can no longer control of themselves that could potentially kill people regardless of the illusionary state of their previous human nature that lingered onto their dead souls.


    It is but the ¡°vampire¡± itself that makes the dead body alive by the gift of the blood of the human master, as the vampire is born as Satan¡¯s spawn into the incarnation of evil. Thus, creating a soul that inhabits the dead, having the previous life¡¯s memories only to be certain, to keep their humanity, but the vampire does not acknowledge the previous life. Until the vampire is recognised by the illusionary human host, it is either they fight to the death for the sake of either humanity or beast, good versus evil, or they could settle their differences and work together.


    Thus, and for that... that is what happened. All this time, I thought Vayne was just a hallucination of mine for a decade and a year, since the embrace of death took over my soul, became devoured by the unknown sire that had gifted me the blessing of the blood, within a curse that spawned the vampire, Vayne.


    Vayne is foremost my comfort character. She was in love with me, only to be filled with jealousy and wrath once I denied her existence after the psychiatrists took care of my mind. Her existence still persisted. A lot of occultists thought of her as a malicious spirit for the things she did to my life, out of jealousy and mad and obsessive love, maybe just because of the attention she needed from her master, which is her human form that is supposedly myself.


    I tried all the banishing spells, but she kept popping up. No matter what I did, none mattered in the end. Until, recently, the witch, named Ren, an exile of the society of witches after refusing to take the offer to be given the legacy of some sort, which is something we had in common, that one transgender woman from the first chapter aided me by teaching me how to trap her soul into a sigil, then use a spell to bring out her true self.


    I was not certain, also unready to do such an act. I was afraid, because I did love her in the end, no matter how much she ruined my healthy relationships, attacking my friends in her spirit form, and giving nightmares to everyone close to me. As Ren was certain that Vayne is just a malicious succubus that is somewhat of a toxic ex-girlfriend that is bat shit insane, but not the ¡°cutesy yandere giggly¡± type. But more of an extremely possessive and obsessive girlfriend, that is the type to write diaries about you after breaking up.


    I did what I had to do, which was to trap her soul into a sigil, and asked for forgiveness, because she was the only one there for me in my darkest times. That is, until I finally activated my trap card to let out her true nature, only just to see that she is¡­ me, and I am here. We are two peas in a pod in the same plant. As for every other pod in the plant are every other vampires in the same bloodline.


    She is the one that had been killing those people during my sleep, only to wake up not remembering what happened, only just for her to help me get fed enough so I won¡¯t die from hunger. As for her, she never told me anything about herself because she cares about me and didn¡¯t want me to hate her for it. She only disguised herself as someone ¡°I created¡±, but that was the actual case. I did create her but not in the way I think. But the way my blood spawned her was my servant. She is my beast, and I am her beauty.


    She was only doing all this to protect me. The only reason why she went madly in love out of pure insanity was because I stopped caring about her and kept denying her existence no matter how much she pops up to me as an intrusive thought, only because of those psychiatrists that ruined my mind.


    She was withdrawing from the attention from her master, which is me. I needed to feed her with attention, care, and concern, while she fed me the blood that I needed in order to survive, causing a mental dilemma that could potentially ruin my own mind.


    This was the cause of my ¡°Bipolar Disorder¡±.


    We live in the same skin, so we can¡¯t really destroy each other, and we love each other, despite she is me, and I am here, we¡¯re the exact same person, my soul is gone, I am but the illusion of humanity I had before I died and awakened as a vampire, and herself being the soul that inhabited my body in order to keep me going. I offered her a truce and decided to work together as she accepted and agreed.


    Now I am here, happy with my life. And no matter what, we stick to each other¡¯s side.

 Chapter 4 - Obsessive Intrusive

    <h3 style="text-align: center">Chapter 4


    Obsessive Intrusive


    I¡¯ve been playing a virtual reality game where people can socialise, which is called Virtual Universe. It is just like real life, but virtually. If you mix the internet and reality, you get the Virtual Universe. Recently, Ren and her boyfriend, and other friends of ours had been hanging out. Ren had a terrible week recently, and somehow I knew how to make her day better, only if I am highly caffeinated.


    Having myself usually depressed during a caffeine withdrawal, either that I am just easily irritated with anger issues. I have myself joking around friends, going crazy and shouting, but that was after I had my coffee.


    You see, I work as a full-time author without any community nor an audience. Because of the cliche tropes we have nowadays, most readers around the world are not my type, and they are repetitive copy-pastes with no creativity with shitty grammar and they get paid to write it by huge companies in web fiction sites. All because it is an overrated trope, no matter how terrible your grammar is, no matter how many plot holes, as long as the setting is the same as any other ¡°famous¡± books on their website is what they will promote.


    These websites are scummy and scammy. They don¡¯t care about your efforts, your creativity, or your passion. They hate new ideas, unique plots that no one ever thought of before, or anything actually good unlike those same old reincarnation genres or alpha werewolf CEO billionaire abusive kidnapping psychopathic boyfriend that is sadistic and uses women for pleasure and not love. I don¡¯t get the point, why would anyone want someone like that. If the billionaire was just your average joe, it would turn into a Black Mirror Episode.


    Having my good friends, the only ones that actually keep me going, somehow¡­ I knew my premonition was right, but they keep denying it and comfort me about my future worries until it happens and sever their friendship from me. I¡¯m usually a calm, charismatic, and appealing person with the best composure. But once people get to know me better, I slowly get out of my comfort zone and start acting like myself instead of being a people-pleaser.  That I would act hyperactive, fun, and too outgoing to the point of mania and absolutely no self-control the more comfortable I feel with the good friends around me. Until the day they get fed up with me, or either that, it would be the opposite that they¡¯d get fed up with my venting, such issues that they forced me to tell about to them, thinking they can help me, but I vent once, I can never stop because my first impression is my permanent personality towards that person.


    I know how to read people. I observe from afar, read their body language, the way they behave and their words. I match the patterns into a musical sheet and dance to the rhythm once I walk up to them and talk to them. However, it usually either ends with friends that sever me off and hate me forever because they¡¯re too uncomfortable once I finally feel like I belong to such a friendly family, or they¡¯re the ones that are patient and understanding enough to let me stay with them but they leave the internet forever the earliest without telling me anything.


    But sometimes, it¡¯s because certain people who are friends from the former would make me leave to a new internet life with a new alternate account being that one friend on the latter.


    I bet they¡¯re talking about how fuckin¡¯ annoying I was when I had a caffeine overdose. When caffeine is the only drug that helps better than Lexapro and Prozac combined at their highest dose, and those are not even the only meds I have, they¡¯re for depression. Usually antidepressants are just one brand, but I got two, and much more others for other comorbidities.


    Especially my obsessive behaviour on certain things that easily inspire me to write a book about, I never stop talking about it and it is something I cannot control, and they think I literally can just because they¡¯re normal and I am not. That is like telling a blind man to see, and no, I am not ableist, because my comorbid mental illnesses are considered a disability. So, I have the right to compare my suicidal depression being told to man the fuck up and stop being sad, to telling a homeless man to just get a fuckin¡¯ house!


    They must be talking about how fuckin¡¯ hyper I was and how annoying I became towards them, and plotting to either stop seeing me and avoiding me, or they would tell it to me right to my face so they don¡¯t have to feel bad with the guilt in their hearts for ghosting me, with the self-righteous thought of ¡°being not fake¡±. You¡¯re just guilty! Any sociopath can just ignore people they hate, because they are not afraid to tell the truth, how ironic, isn¡¯t it?


    I knew this would happen, that friends will hate me right before I even start the first impression or speak up the first word from my mind outta my damned mouth! Still, my loneliness is extremely chronic and I can¡¯t deal with being away from people. Otherwise I would go crazy! That is why I am here, online, not able to take a break from the toxic society we live in who hides their true intentions behind a screen.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    That is until¡­ My master went online! Yet, he did not accept any of my invites yet. He must have probably known about me taking down the Vampire Council from last night and came online to congratulate me. It¡¯s been the entire afternoon and the entire night for him since midnight to this morning for him, and night for me. That he hasn¡¯t talked to me yet, not even changed his character appearance like he usually does with other people, and stuck in his home server without me in it. As soon as I came back after writing for a while, and waiting for too long, he went offline and never accepted any invites or requests for me to come into his world.


    He usually does his weekly small visits until he is called for duty in the clan. Now I am here, just listening to GHOST with her Vocaloid songs in my playlist on repeat. Writing and writhing.


    No clue what to do, I still deny the belief of Daddy Drac telling me that I was asleep for a hundred years, he¡¯s the type to tell jokes to mock me.


    I opened the spiritual portal where only creatures and spirits from the other side can see, projecting my astral body into the astral plane to travel across dimensions as my mundane body is unconscious but is auto-writing everything that is happening in my perception. I see the beginning and the end, and beyond between and either, through the infinity of the timespace of the cosmos, where karma is balanced between all universes and not just the earth. I travel into the world of darkness, and it is almost night here in Guagua, 5:35 PM. Sparked a cigarette in the same form as my mundane body, staying in physical form now at 5:42 PM.


    I have so much to do here, since I¡¯ve already done my job, I wanted to report back to the King, my master of course, and the people I¡¯ve bred into more spawns of the devil, myself, the Prince of Darkness, which is an additional to my reports to him, I have nothing else to do but to reward myself and cut some slack for the hard work I¡¯ve done recently.


    It is about sunrise in New York right now. 5:44 AM for my master, and 5:44 PM for me. Since my vampire doppelganger that I control, only if I am unconscious in my mundane form, I can at least feel everything that my doppleganger does and feel into my own mundane form.


    Quite an extraordinary feat, I must say. I¡¯ve done this before, but I was in just an astral form, but I usually keep myself invisible to the eyes of mortals who know about me in this part of town to avoid suspicion of my nighttime activities. Usually, I can only do this by using an item I enchanted with so much creativity and my psychic abilities mixed together that created such, let¡¯s say not so extraordinary novels but some of my whereabouts that took a wild turn.


    The best thing about my doppelganger is that no matter how many this body dies, I can just reform it a new one from my own mundane self, but it could be a bit traumatising to feel my own death, over and over again, and it could cost a lot of my blood to make a new astral self that is physical in the material world of mankind.


    The only way to kill me and stop reforming more new vampiric doubles of myself is to kill the host itself, which is the weak mundane host that is my main body. However, no one can easily figure out where I am, I am very isolated with the shittiest internet signal.


    The fact that my house is covered around my pet bats that could turn into gargoyles could easily protect me, and since I am a prince, of course, I have a lot of connections that I could rely on. But usually I would just do everything myself instead of sacrificing more pawns, unlike the cowards of the political bloodsuckers that used to be the Vampire Council that forces everyone to do their dirty work to gain more power, promising this and that, even if they do, they only do it out of pity because of your efforts, so they will not be convinced to move to the other side of the war. But that was before, I¡¯ve only learned these through visions and never experienced such.


    My mundane body may be weak, and more fragile than a human, literally, but my vampiric doubles are where my sources of power are, but once they die, they come back to me, but at the price of my own blood in order to recreate them again.


    So as a prince, I am that one piece that must be protected at all costs, having the rest of my doubles to be my pawns on the frontline to do all the work, while the rest of the vampires in our clan just do what they are told by other princes and I am here, doing my solo work to save time for the others. Not because I am generous, but also because I am flexible to my capabilities that I could do such things, so they can do the rest of the jobs they are assigned to do.


    ¡°The Vampire Council is gone, what happens now?¡± you may ask?


    That¡¯s a simple answer, we rebuild what the war destroyed. That is none of my concern now, I am only a prince of this country¡¯s vampiric society. But the others hold grudges because of the people who were sacrificed during the cold war between clans, and there are plenty of other clans that work like organised factions that deal with their own problems, and their own wars with other covens. Having our main issue resolved by a simple job by me, because of my persuasion skills, and not to be arrogant¡­ my charisma.


    But the thing is, I feel like the Pride bloodline that courses through my veins is replacing The Hidden One bloodline I used to be. I was told I was a hybrid of the two bloodlines.


    Let me break it down for you. There are 7 archetypes of vampires and 7 prototypes. The 7 archetypes are the seven deadly sins that incarnated as vampires from different mythologies.

 Chapter 5 - Stains Of Time

    <h3 style="text-align: center">Chapter 5


    Stains of Time


    The first archetype is Lust. Lust vampires came from the womb of Lilith, the mother of all demons, which was a succubus, the bride and whore of Satan himself. Lust vampires are the most beautiful and seductive, their advantage is easily seducing people into doing their bidding and cannot be easily resisted. Their disadvantages are being narcissists who obsess over their own beauty. They have urges to rape humans if they hunger for blood for too long, especially in their dreams. Their prototypes have the main disadvantage of lusting for power, literally, and they know how to get it if they put a bit more effort into it. Their weaknesses are holy water and the cross.


    Pride vampires who came from Ambrogio¡¯s blood are the archetypes who have an inferiority/superiority complex, and are manipulative, and think anyone below them as lower pawns who can just be sacrificed for the ¡°greater good¡± in their perspective with their god complex denying their accountability for their mistakes. Their advantage is the way they can easily influence people with their charisma and appeal and get people to submit to them their bidding. Their prototypes being ¡°Luciferians¡±, which are the enlightened versions of Pride vampires, who are the complete 0pposite. However, their disadvantage is being aloof to society and being anti-social. They are the edgy teen-like vampires who think they know too much about the world and are against the world for how society treated them before their awakening, so they are likely to snap at any moment and cause an atrocity. Just like a psychopath = archetype, sociopath = prototype. I don¡¯t need time to explain the differences, google it. Their weaknesses are silver, and the sun. They have no reflection in the mirror, because mirrors are made in silver. The rest of the types don¡¯t burn in the sun. Although they have the compulsion to not be able to enter an abode without an invitation.


    The Wrath who were Satan¡¯s spawn since the fall of Adam and Eve that rebelled against God, are vampires are rebels who are hard to reason with, they only can be reasoned if it seems lawfully good or chaotic good, but if it¡¯s lawful evil or sacrificing anything or anyone that could result in their selfish devastation for the better cause for everyone, they go rampant wild. But they are the most potent, strongest, and deadliest types of vampires. Their prototypes are the chaotic good who do anything unlawful for the betterment of other people, human or vampire, like stealing from the rich to give to the poor, but they will do anything that is good even if it breaks their current clan¡¯s rules or portraying disobedience and are not afraid to speak up for the truth. Both of these types have anger issues I must say. Their weaknesses are holy grounds such as the church, or any area that is blessed. But they can¡¯t be repelled by people who use the cross for protection if they are hypocrites unless they are true to their religion.


    Gluttony vampires are those who came from Strigoi Vii, one of them was the vampire ¡°Count Orlock¡± from the movie Nosferatu are the ones who have an addiction to blood rather than taking it for sustenance and for their survival. These types would be the ones that take any drugged or intoxicated human and drain them without self control and are likely to kill anyone they drink from. But they make the best assassins that are patient enough to go for contract missions that go in for the kill for the price of blood, literally. They would refuse any other payment other than blood, they are the quietest and stealthiest. They are likely to have tons of blood bags in their fridge. Their prototypes are younger and weaker versions of them that are hungry-power for vampire blood instead of just human blood. Human blood doesn¡¯t satisfy them enough until they get to drink vampire blood that gives them more power. Their weakness is garlic, if they accidentally drink blood that has garlic in their bodies that hasn¡¯t left yet, they will start vomiting and cause vertigo onto themselves.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Greed vampires who are cursed from the opening of Pandora¡¯s box by Zeus¡¯s curse that caused disease and evil when they used to be in harmony, are those who are extremely wealthy, the aristocrats, ¡°human¡± politicians that govern places in the human world and are very good with business and persuasion. They can convince literally anyone to be on their side to do their bidding in exchange for payment, and most likely their servants are just humans that protect, serve, feed, and do anything for them in exchange for high payment in cash. Their prototypes are those who started poor and are thieves, very good at pickpocketing, breaking in, and have the mindset of a criminal, once the prototype gets good in crime, they can be drug lords or high ranking members of the mafia. But their weakness is being unable to break an oath or any promise they make to people they care about, vampire or human. Their weakness are people who are truly good and pure, and they¡¯re not able to feed from such.


    Sloth vampires are unknown from their origin, but legend says that they sold their soul to the devil for knowledge and power and passed down their gifts to their vampire children, are the ones who refuse to do orders or anything, but they are the smartest of the entire kind, they may be lazy, but they know how to get everything done if they put their mind into it just once and it would give a hundred percent succession rate. The prototypes are the ones who refuse to do anything at all, but anything that interests them or a hobby that they enjoy would make them extremely hyper-focused on the subject or task if only it interests them. Their weakness is somewhat an attention deficiency all the time but they have no other weaknesses, which are weak in combat, to vampires and especially hunters.


    Envy vampires are unknown from their origin, but some rumour that they were the ones who had their vampiric parental figure disappeared or broke up with them by the same influence and never knew what they can do without their vampire parent. They could be any of these archetypes but they never knew their parental figure. They are the types who are lovers and hopeless romantics who would do anything for love without the idea of sexual actions, but the thought of a serious relationship is their very own idea of what blood is. Their disadvantage is never feeding on anyone they do not like or people they hate. They are charismatic, swayful, seductive, and extremely passionate and romantic. However, they are emotionally dependent vampires, if they are lonely without a lover, they die faster, but they can always find a way to find a human lover until they marry by turning the person into a vampire. Their prototypes are easily-jealous, overprotective, and possessive vampires who abuse their lover in all levels, but they still have the same advantage as the archetype. Their weaknesses are humans exclusively who have all the wealth, power, or even a loved one. Anyone who has valuable materials would cause them a breakdown and could trigger them to let out their inner demons and not be able to show sentience.


    The Archetypes are the powerful vampires who came first in the olden days, while the prototypes are the ones who were turned into the modern days, depending on the age of the vampire that turned them and how long they have been around.


    And now we have The Hidden Ones, which are supposed to be killed on sight by the Vampire Council, which have all traits of every archetype and prototype that is too powerful for them to bear, they go absolutely insane. Some rumour in the vampire society they develop multiple personalities regarding different archetypes, but some say they are still the same person, yet they just seemed like different people each and every day. It would take years or decades for them to finally master their vampiric abilities until they finally become sane enough to be mentally stable.


    And I am a Hidden One, but I was reborn as a vampire again by my master, who is a Pride vampire that is slowly turning me more of a psychopathic than a psychotic.

 Chapter 6 - I See Humans But No Humanity

    <h3 style="text-align: center">Chapter 6


    I See Humans But No Humanity


    Day after day, after day. So many ignorant, arrogant, narcissistic, toxic, close-minded buffoons who go around thinking the world revolves around them. Narcissists and liars who refuse to take accountability of their actions. Men pressuring women to do things they can¡¯t even speak up about to defend themselves, women who do the same but when women do it, it¡¯s not a bad thing. Liars who act all obnoxious when they get all excited to get some pussy, acting like a nice guy at first and start projecting in the most offensive and aggressive way possible if they don¡¯t get bitches, I bet they¡¯ve never see a woman before in real life, because all they do is sit in their mom¡¯s basement (how ironic) all day and expect they¡¯d get pussy. And a lot of people, really. People are terrible. I¡¯ve written most of what I know about humanity¡¯s utter selfish stupidity within 200,000 pages in a separate book already, and this is not meant to be a figure of speech but literal.


    Because I¡¯ve seen more than enough about humanity¡¯s arrogance and ignorance, thinking they are better than everyone, when they get their ego killed, they either flee or deny as much as they need to, refusing to give themselves the insight of their wrongdoings. Because they have this complexity thinking they are smarter and better than people, when the true smart people never brag and think they are dumber than everyone else because they crave for more knowledge, no matter how much intelligence they have. And these types are those who are open-minded to anything without having to be obnoxious. That is why the Philippines¡¯s average IQ is 50.


    ¡°People who brag about their IQ are losers.¡± -Stephen Hawking


    This makes my blood boil and makes me want to hate humans even more, making me feel like throwing away my humanity, and never let it stain my dark soul again. But somehow, I keep reminding myself that there are truly good people in this world, and they are the reason why I am still human deep inside and they are the reason why I help people, indiscriminately. I can¡¯t say no to a person when they need help, no matter what, and I¡¯d do it for charity¡¯s sake. Because I know, deep inside I am still a good person that hasn¡¯t fallen to the same path as the clan I am in, which now I remember the name, ¡°The Darkened Path¡±.


    ***


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    My father is gone at the moment, my only caretaker as I spent hours online, trying to socialise. To find friends who could understand and be open-minded to anything. But I have found none, but the same assholes but different people with the exact same mindset to talk shit at me for absolutely no reason. I bet they¡¯re too afraid to speak such morbid words to people in real life, they are lucky they are behind a screen and refuse to show their true identity before acting offensive and absolutely horrendous towards me.


    Why is it only me? Why not other people? Why is it I, the one that attracts toxic people the most when clearly I am the one who needs open-minded people to talk to, and as I write, there are people who literally hacked and crashed most of my apps, sparing this one application where I usually type in the words from my mind, the thoughts from my mouth that murmurs silently without speech.


    I was just doing my own thing, minding my own business, and they keep piling up and once I fight back, I am the one seen as the enemy because I go as far as they did. As everyone in society thinks I am in the wrong for standing up for myself.


    Why can¡¯t just people mind their own business? It has been like this for two decades now! I am almost 23 years old and I am at that one era of my life where I am anxious about my future. Being mentally unstable to the point I was locked up in that godforsaken asylum for seven years just to be locked up inside my house for a lifetime.


    I spent my time ranting all about such nonsense. This is the time where I had enough and began a metamorphosis. I threw away all of my humanity and had become a misanthropist vampire. I shouted a mighty demonic roar, as my sanity drains all of my entire body as my nails grew into talons, my pale skin turned greyish blue, my ears grew long and pointy like elves¡¯, my eyes turned completely red without an iris, my back grew gigantic bat wings with claws on each corner, my teeth were sharp as scissors but my fangs grew longer.


    I was not taking it anymore but I tried to control myself, and luckily I did. I slowly reverted back to normal gradually, the same way as I drastically shifted into a monstrous, lovecraftian form. And then I began to writhe onto the floor in pain, not physically but mentally and emotionally. I bottled them all up inside me, unable to cry because I grew up taught that men are not allowed to cry. But I could take it no longer, and shrieked a sobbing weep, as my eyes formed tears beside them and the salty drops dripped down my cheeks, I cried. Vampire or human, even a devil may cry.


    All the pain I¡¯ve gone through, I¡¯ve been badly discriminated against all because of my mental illness, every day of my life, but so many people not just online, but outside as well since I began to develop psychotic symptoms that I could not control. Now I see why they see me as a potential victim, because I am weak¡­ but not anymore.

 Chapter 7 Sleepwalker, Dreamwalker

    <h3 style="text-align: center">Chapter 7


    Sleepwalker, Dreamwalker


    My dreams have been more vivid and realistic and reality has been more dissociative and faker. Then, I had a sign that connected to a pattern. It is 1:53 PM and my father took me outside to buy me some coffee which he promised to if I come with him to go to the doctor. As I walked outside, and went to town with him, I saw and felt everything was just a dream. And last night, I vividly remember every single detail of it rather than having to perceive this reality. I used to write 282,000 words worth of content for this one novel about my dream walking episodes. As where dreamwalking is something I found in an occultic book, meant to teach fledglings of this new age of vampires how to at least use their weak powers and master it. It had none of what I already learned throughout my decade and a year of being a vampire. However, it did have some content that I never knew about, which helped me a lot as an experienced vampire to gain more knowledge and abilities.


    Dreamwalking is simply to have your mundane form which is your physical human body to be put to the alpha stage of deep sleep as your soul travels across places with a certain limit of how far and how long depending on your mastery of it. Then you do the next step which gives you the awareness of your astral surroundings but lets go of the fact you left your body, as your body is completely vulnerable. That is why vampires who sleep in the day are likely to get killed easily and are hard to wake up.


    It is like astral projecting, except your body is asleep rather than having to be at the theta stage of meditative trance. Then, I managed to master dreamwalking to the point that I can be barely conscious of my surroundings to protect myself while my astral body has its own physical form that is my doppelganger.


    I¡¯ve done so much of that while I was auto-writing books whilst highly, if not, extremely (not exaggerated) caffeinated in order to help me focus on my astral self to keep moving forward. This was back a year ago starting two years ago in November and managed to keep myself half conscious during February of 2021. Then, it made me dissociate to the point that it is 24/7, and I have more vivid dreams that are more realistic than reality itself. Then, I finally gained the sign. I was playing ¡®osu!¡¯ in the daytime, right? And what happened was I had a song that I never knew it¡¯d been there before. As a rhythm game player, I would love to beat every song and their levels.


    As I started to play halfway through, it started the echoing lyrics, ¡°This is a dream¡­¡± then I started shredding the keyboard and drifting my mouse all over the desktop until I finally got to achieve an SS rank, which is the highest, and it was modded with silver.


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    I had a revelation¡­ that this daytime reality is none but a vampire¡¯s dream yearning for human life and sunlight where I used to be happy, as if I was trapped in a house because it matches being trapped inside a coffin during the nighttime sleep of the true reality. Thus, having my ¡°dreams¡± in the nighttime where I go around vamping out, feeding, socialising with other humanoid and non-humanoid creatures of the dark, going to places and terrorising people who wronged me. That is until I realise now that I am or may just be dreaming this daytime reality, and the true reality are the dreams of nighttime. Which makes sense because all of my dreams are nighttime, that is when I am truly awake.


    No wonder why dreams are longer than the fast travelling pace of daytime. It is 6 AM then by a glimpse turns to 5 PM and I have to go do the chores and go to bed after doing my mundane things.


    So, none of the hours of daytime that I¡¯ve spent suffering from depression and other comorbid mental disorders never happened at all, and they never mattered to begin with. I just¡­


    I don¡¯t know anymore, to be truthful with you.


    ***


    My current desires are just caffeine and nicotine. I got both of them. I keep getting more sales for my books. So, I indulge in them, yet, even if they may fill the empty void in my soul, nothing truly makes me happy. It¡¯s what all I ever wanted, nothing more if I were to be honest. I don¡¯t want riches, women, alcohol, or anything else. I don¡¯t want luxurious cars, or a dream home. I just want coffee and cigarettes, that¡¯s it. And I still feel empty inside, all hallowed up inside, thinking to myself¡­ is this what life really has all to offer? I thought to myself for a moment, and thought to myself that my undead life is everlasting, immortal and eternal. I don¡¯t want to get bored for the rest of my life. Now with this mindset, I was gluttonous for more things, even though I have no other desire, other than the ones hidden in my mind.


    No matter how satisfied I am with overindulgence, nothing truly makes me happy. Especially when I had too much of everything I wanted within a day, finally resting at night, and waking up to the nightly reality, where I jump from rooftop to rooftops, lurking in the shadows, and preying on the weak.


    My new desires with the non-content life I have makes me gluttonous to things that aren¡¯t even in the material world, and are hidden away from my mind that even I don¡¯t know them. But I have this feeling that I must have such a thing. Whatever desire that I don¡¯t even know what it is to myself, I must have it! I will do what it takes, no matter what or who I sacrifice, I would never be happy but to have it.


    That is until I realised it was blood all I ever needed. It is life, I want more of that crimson nectar that runs through the veins of the innocents. And I want to overindulge into drinking so much of it, like a drug, my sweet, bittersweet dopamine drug¡­!


    I just couldn¡¯t get enough of it! I want more! MORE BLOOD!

 Chapter 8 - Upirs Cold Embrace

    <h3 style="text-align: center">Chapter 8


    Upir¡¯s Cold Embrace


    It is 8:26 AM. The date today is the sixteenth of July. Thirteen days left until it is my birthday. My father goes out to the clinic for his check up every two weeks on Fridays. I hope I will at least get some good coffee instead of the usual doo-doo dog water at the convenience stores¡¯ coffee machines that are too cheap for my taste. Well, that has always been the usual coffee I get, which is rare actually, only if my father takes me outside with him on some such errands. I had another sleepwalking episode that I vaguely remember as I was confident I could lucidly do that while remembering it only as a dream. But I had no luck, such again for another attempted failure.


    It is always travelling across air and sea, in a ship or through the aeroplane, and sometimes even through trains or vehicles on land. They are always at night, and the only dawns I¡¯ve seen are the times before the dream ends, that is where I almost can see the sunrise, painting the pitch-black sky with its cool hues of greenish blue across the purple sky. Such a beautiful art that God created every morning, and once the sun finally rises over the horizon, I know it¡¯s already time for me to leave, have myself be brought back to my bed, and have myself awakening from such a beautiful dream.


    Are they sleepwalking episodes? Because for one thing, vampires in the Philippines are known to sleepwalk, remember not a single thing, but I¡¯ve mastered enough ascendance through spiritual practice between life and death, mixing it together making the concept of the undead. To the point of having to remember my sleepwalks to be remembered as hallucinations of deep sleep.


    However, such things could happen because of dreamwalking, as I¡¯ve already mentioned. Back then, I was always being witnessed sneaking out through the night¡¯s cold air that embraces the living in their sleep, as people see me running on rooftops, and sprinting at the speed beyond light. Amazed, shocked, confused, and probably given the impending sense of doom, they knew they had to tell my family. And it happens in the daily as soon as I wake up in the morning, being asked by my family of such deeds of why would I do such a thing at night, especially the fact that I¡¯ve always been seen to bring a knife. But I tell them that I swore I do not remember such a thing.


    But already more than five of my coterie, where a group of vampire friends back in highschool swore they experienced the similar phenomenon, making them question their reality. That is until I told them it¡¯s about the vampirism that has infected the core of their minds, thus controlling the body to have them feed in the night.


    ***


    It is 10:18 in the morning, currently at the date of the seventeenth of July in the same year as the usual, as you expect it is still 2022. Last night, I thought I could still at least give humanity a chance, but no. Because a group of people asked me to open up about my mental issues just so they could mock me, make fun of me, bully me, discriminate me with their ¡°He watched too much Joker¡±, ¡°He¡¯s so edgy¡±, and laughing hysterically about my traumas, and told me ¡°No one asked, no one cares.¡± when they are the ones who kept pressuring me to talk about personal matters when I am already uncomfortable about it and what I did was to cast a vampiric hypnosis through the speech of trickery, that I didn¡¯t have to use my eyes, only just the mouth and the mind. First I read their minds, then exposed them. As they felt guilty, I used my trickery (an old ability, the first one I had since the first night I turned into a vampire), in order to increase their current emotional state to let it all out, exposing their true nature. That is until they got banned for shouting at me to go kill myself and they meant it as they go mental and bat shit insanely angry. That happened inside a video call on a social gaming platform, in a server full of Filipinos, as you would have expect from a casual behaviour for such types of people in this country full of arrogant fools who thinks beating up old people and robbing mentally handicapped people is the coolest thing in high school and they brag about how many people they stabbed until someone full of charisma proves he¡¯s done such things, they will envy such.


    I am disliked mostly by these types of people, and they are everywhere mostly in the Philippines, to the point I am not even exaggerating, which brings my father the best reason to lock me up. It¡¯s not that I am mentally ill, it¡¯s just that people outside here in the country of the Philippines are crazier than I am that takes advantage of anyone disabled, or disadvantaged in any way. No one cares at all, they are selfish and they love taking advantage of kind people. You may think this type of behaviour is also in your country, whether you¡¯re in America, Europe, Australia, etcetera. But the thing is, the majority, I mean, MAJORITY of the people here have that behaviour, that even adults over 25 don¡¯t have such maturity. I may sound I exaggerate, especially with Bipolar Disorder, but I am not the type to have a histrionic personality to convince you all about the behaviours and the mindsets here.


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    Especially that I attract to these types because of my appeal and presence towards people around me. I just have this effect on people, a vampiric effect that lingers into their heart, soul and mind that they can¡¯t put a finger around it. I have a passive psychic ability as a vampire I call Trickery, as I¡¯ve mentioned before, it induces any current emotion they have, but I¡¯ve mastered it more than enough that I could change or manipulate anyone¡¯s emotion. It is the subtype of vampiric hypnosis where you can manipulate people¡¯s thoughts from compelling them into doing what you want to control the masses.


    The best and worst part of this ability, Trickery, is that it has an after effect that anyone that has been affected will fall into a mental illness that is either temporary or permanent damage depending on the person¡¯s willpower and how long it will last for them. It depends, and it varies. Although this is somewhat just like subjugate, which is another term I call vampiric hypnosis, which is Dracula¡¯s mesmerise since he turned Mister Renfield bat shit crazy for blood and everlasting life in the famous movie since Valentine¡¯s day of 1931, just to get Jonathan Harker¡¯s bitch stolen by an old man from a long-distant relationship before e-dating even existed to begin with. Daddy Drac did it before it was cool, it was never cool to begin with.


    I¡¯m getting off-track, forgive me, it¡¯s the caffeine.


    Anyway, subjugation, or the vampiric hypnosis, has an after effect that lingers into people¡¯s hearts and minds for a long time, but it is not permanent until they find a way to get rid of it or eventually go away on its own. The after effect of the vampiric hypnosis is somewhat craving and yearning for the effects during the hypnosis, it makes them feel like they had a nicotine withdrawal, but it could feel worse than that depending on how powerful the master vampire uses it on the human servant.


    ***


    ¡°What will you have in five-hundred years?!¡± -Vayne


    ¡­


    I realised that I can¡¯t keep the people who are close to me for all eternity, and if I were to turn them into a vampire, they would suffer the same agony as I already am and will forever. Having Vayne, my soulmate, which is literally inside my body controlling me only during my sleepwalking phases, is always that one voice in my head that is madly in love with me. Ever since I turned into a vampire, she appeared as a Gothic Lolita with a fashionable black dress with purple lining from the Victorian era. She had sharp long fangs from top to bottom, crimson red eyes that has other warmer colours that spirals around her eyes that makes me feel entranced that glows no matter how powerful the sunlight is, her skin was pale, literally white as snow, and her hair is a very long wolf cut that reaches down to her feet, and short heeled strong leather black shoes.


    We were having so much fun with our romantic lives together. That is until my brother took me to the psychiatrist and was diagnosed with schizophrenia with a split personality type delusion. That is when I took the pills, as I was forced to, to the point that I realised that Vayne never existed to begin with. And I realised I was never a vampire to begin with, that is until more and more traumas happened almost every day because of such a horrid life. I spent my time writing to relieve stress and emotions.


    That is until Vayne came back, my belief in my vampirism came back because I was hungry for blood until I killed someone just for blood, which is a secret I take to my grave. I lost a part of myself ever since that happened. I could not control myself at the time, and I felt guilty in the aftermath.*


    I can¡¯t keep dating real life people if I already have Vayne¡­


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to die alone.¡± I murmured to myself.


    ¡°When you die, we¡¯ll finally be together, Master.¡± Vayne responds.


    I took the pill, and she dissipated from the existence of my reality. My mind finally went quiet for the first time, and my brain was peaceful¡­ goodnight¡­

 Chapter 9 - Light Hidden By Drapes

    <h2 style="text-align: center">ACT II


    Lord of The Flies</h2>


    ¡°Where there are Flies, there is Flesh. They are man¡¯s companions from death and beyond.¡± -Count Dracula, ¡°Dracula¡± (Netflix)


    <h3 style="text-align: center">Chapter 9


    Light Hidden By Drapes


    I woke up in the morning, realising all the eldritch horrors that I¡¯ve experienced in the daytime. Having to be delusional about vampires, humanity, killing people, all everything that had happened were all false memories created by the figment of my imagination in the fragment of my disabled mind. Now that it is enabled, I can finally have a quiet life, which is something I¡¯ve always wanted. Having the thoughts that I¡¯ve been manipulated into believing such things in order for the people who did so just for their selfish and personal gain. I thought the daytime were dreams because it¡¯s always been a nightmare, refusing to believe I live in such a reality, if there was a reality existing to begin with. Thus, my wish is to have everyone to have world peace, and be nice to everyone, because the people I¡¯ve spent time with are mostly what I¡¯ve already mentioned before in the previous chapters, wanting a dream that will never come true just to stay as a nightmare. That I wish every bad person can turn into open-minded and understanding people.


    But how can I let such wishes happen if I never give anyone a second chance? Is it because I cannot get the second chance I deserve? Was it because every time I give such opportunities for my enemies to change for the better will just manipulate me again, refusing to change for their own betterment and for society? I had an edgy dream with the slogan, ¡°If I were to be a villain to change society for their betterment, so be it.¡± in such a lawful evil way.


    That is why wishes stay as wishes, and hopes become false in the end.


    But my personal wish for my birthday is not just a complete recovery, but also for my personal and absolute freedom. My mother is too old to work for our finances, she is too weak, and has many comorbid illnesses that include both physical and mental. My brother has his own family such as his wife and daughter to take care of and he doesn¡¯t even have a job with lots of debt in his hands. To the point that he can no longer give me a birthday gift.


    That is until¡­ It is the 29th of July.


    ***


    ¡°What?! R-Really?! You¡¯re joking. No, wait! I must be dreaming then!¡± I shouted in excitement.


    ¡°It¡¯s true, Klei. But I have a few rules that you must follow. No bringing knives outside, don¡¯t stir trouble, come home by 5, and don¡¯t ever drink, you hear me?¡±


    That is until I rolled for persuasion and got NAT20 in my head, ¡°What if I come home by 8? I take my pills at 8 and that is the time when you sleep, right? I promise I won¡¯t be late!¡±


    ¡°Fine-¡±


    I ran outside but he stopped me.


    ¡°But another thing!¡±


    ¡°Yes, father?¡±


    ¡°You disobey one of those rules¡­ you will never go outside, ever again. I swear to you, this is your only chance.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, thank you, thank you! I will not let you down! I swear on me¡¯ mum.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­ go.¡±


    I ran to the outside world while putting on my favourite black facemask with a skull¡¯s mouth printed over it. I know that one thing I must do¡­


    ***


    ¡°Is that the Malkavian symbol from ¡®Vampire: The Masquerade¡¯?¡± the lady from the same bench I was sitting on asked me in a calm tone, yet excited internally.


    ¡°Oh, this? I just got this tattoo on the back of my right hand just a while back. It¡¯s still new so it¡¯s a bit shiny, for now.¡± I replied, with pure charisma as if I rolled NAT20 for seduction.


    ¡°Is it authentic?¡± she asked in the most mistress-like tone of her voice.


    ¡°Why yes, it is indeed. How do you know about the game? It is rare to find someone with the same interest as I do about ¡®Vampire: The Masquerade¡¯ in such a country.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, I¡¯ve played the tabletop once. Ever since, I played the Bloodlines game on the computer. Plenty of bugs and it crashes too much, so I never got to finish it until I finally reached Chinatown.¡±


    ¡°My dear, there is an unofficial patch regarding that. Also, would you mind telling me about yourself? You seem interesting.¡±


    ¡°The feeling is mutual. My name is Ashley.¡±


    ¡°The name¡¯s Klei, people used to call me Voltaire.¡±


    ¡°Voltaire, interesting. I should call you that instead, if you don¡¯t mind me. I do not mean to put pressure into such, just because it ¡®used to be¡¯ your alias.¡±


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    ¡°Of course! No sweat, love. It¡¯s an infamous and famous name among the people I¡¯ve been with around for a while. Now they are gone.¡±


    ¡°What happened to them?¡±


    ¡°They¡­ disappeared, let¡¯s just say that.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see. But where did you get the tattoo?¡±


    ¡°I got it from my nephew, he¡¯s almost the same age as me though. Filipino families are quite weird, ain¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Indeed it is¡­ I couldn¡¯t agree more than that.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re telling me you don¡¯t come from here?¡±


    ¡°I was raised in America, then in Yorkshire in London, then when I went here to visit my grandmother where she taught me Tagalog.¡±


    ¡°But you were born Filipina?¡±


    ¡°Pure-blooded yes, both bloodlines from my parents.¡±


    ¡°Quite interesting. Do you happen to read books?¡±


    ¡°I do love books, they¡¯re fantastic.¡±


    ¡°What do you think of gothic-horror novels? Perhaps, Lovecraftian fiction, or poetry books?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of H.P. Lovecraft.¡±


    ¡°And his cat?¡±


    She giggled, ¡°You¡¯re funny.¡±


    ¡°I feel like you and I are going to get along, despite my indifferences with other people, I could only distance myself just to get along with the others.¡±


    She looked at me, observing from head to toe, ¡°Hey, if you ever need someone to talk to, or if you¡¯re lonely. Just text me.


    Here¡¯s my number.¡± She lent me her business card.


    I looked down at it after taking it, reading it, expecting to be some psychiatrist, but no, it says ¡°Close Friend Card¡±, and under it was her number and name, plated in gold, and her address, just in case.


    ¡°Thank you¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, I have to go now. I¡¯ll catch up with you later, okay?¡±


    ¡°Alright, farewell.¡±


    She walked away, then stopped, ¡°By the way, I¡¯ve been looking for you, for a while now. Good bye, Voltaire.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± I halted.


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Madam Ashley Gwenuivere.¡±


    ¡°The pleasure is mine, Mister Voltaire Robillos, my lord¡­¡±


    ***


    Now you may be wondering, how did we know each other¡¯s surnames? She and I may be one of a kind, quite literally I must say so.


    I spent the time walking around the streets of Guagua, only to find someone familiar.


    ¡°Well if it isn¡¯t Klei, the Vampire Prince of all Guagua.¡± says the ugly pale man with a slightly chubby build, glaring with a smirk towards my direction.


    ¡°Fritz,¡± I spoke in utter hatred for this abominable man, ¡°I remember when we first met, we were so close, we were the best of friends. But what happened?¡±


    ¡°We are still lovers.¡±


    ¡°We never were, you¡¯re delusional, and arrogantly narcissistic.¡±


    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon, Klei.¡±


    My heart grew bigger, but not in a romantic way, more quiet of the opposite, as my spite for this person gives me the hunger for flesh and not just blood, almost driving me into a frenzied state, ¡°We were best friends. Then, Angela and I became lovers back in 7th grade.¡±


    ¡°And you still look as if you¡¯re in 7th grade, you never aged.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m done with the vampire delusion-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a delusion, Klei. I saw you that night, roaming around the streets, I was a witness of one of your murders, out for blood.¡±


    ¡°Shut up! What matters to this day is that you broke Angela and I apart when we were in love, now I have a split personality that manifests as the same person as Angela, named Vayne. All because you felt jealous, then raped me!¡±


    ¡°Raped you? Surely you enjoyed it.¡±


    I almost went catatonic, emotions numbed, and my eyes twitching into the glaring stare of oblivion into his eyes. I spoke¡­


    ¡°Kill yourself.¡±


    And thus, his willpower was so weak, he took his hands and clawed his own throat until he bled to death, until of course, there is no more of his throat left to the point his head was severed off from the rest of his torso. Everyone was terrified, and I laughed maniacally. Until I calmed down a bit more after laughing so hard, I just walked away with emotions all numbed. Even after everything vampire-related that happened to my reality, I still refuse to believe they exist. That is until the next night, Fritz¡¯s group of vampire friends came to avenge him.


    I did the same ability, except this time, I just made them kill each other by a glance of an eye with a few words, ¡°Kill each other, now.¡±


    Ever since, the entire vampire society of Guagua feared me. That is until I thought I could grow my empire of vampires to take over other places and make my own establishment that governs all vampires to do my bidding and for more power. I felt as if I was the best of all here as everyone was just weaker prototypes that are younger generations. Myself thinking, ¡°I couldn¡¯t do such a thing, even if I wanted to. Why? Is it because of my humanity? No, absolutely not! I found the difference that there is no difference between a vampire and a human, everyone who sin against their neighbour must be perished, and every0ne who does good for the betterment of society and to themselves are rewarded. But what is stopping me from my evil plan? All because I think these are none but delusions.¡±


    So, I had to make sure they exist, by seeing them with my own eyes while sane. But how do I know if I¡¯m sane? What if the things I see and experience are real or not? I¡¯m not sure anymore. But I had to do what my master told me. But no, I shouldn¡¯t. I don¡¯t want any trouble or any particular political bullshit in my life. I just want to be free, and everyone to be free, where everyone will fight for their own wars and not be forced into some bureaucratic shit. But I feel like soon enough, I have to change my mind.


    Until the illusion is broken, it turns out I killed someone who I thought was Fritz, who never even existed, and the mass murder at the bar who I thought were vampires out to kill me.