《Dracula: Patient zero》 Chapter 0 - Stone age childhood Dracula: Patient zero Chapter: 0 Stone age childhood ---- In a snowy valley surrounded by dense winter forests, a group of 15 men wearing animal hides simply wrapped around their body to keep them warm are stalking their preys. These men are the best hunters in the tribe and are now desperate to bring meat home since two women gave birth not long ago and need sustenance in order to produce milk. They have had a harsh winter this year and had to go further and further away to find preys for them to hunt. They had finally spotted a group of elk heading south and tracked them for many days before catching up. The elks were grazing in a valley surrounded by forest, so the men divided themselves in two groups. One on the left, the other on the right. The plan was simple, one of the group scare away the elks toward the second group laying in ambush in the forest on the opposite side. The men were wielding highly advanced stone spears, so advanced that only their best flintknappers could reproduce more than one of them. Those spearheads were so sharp that spears often went right through the prey''s body if they didn''t hit bones. They also used fire to make their wooden shafts harder, straighter. They truly were the more advanced tribe when it came to weaponry and it had always brought jealousy from the other tribes. But now, like them they were having a hard time surviving these especially harsh winters and had better things to do other than tribal warfare. With everyone in position, one of the two groups slowly started crawling toward the small herd of elks. When they were around 60 meters away, the leader gave the signal. ?Leader? NOW! YAHAAAAAAAaaaaaaaa!!!!!!! The group suddenly got up and rushed toward the surprised animals while yelling as loud as they can to scare them in the direction the second group is waiting at. Usually elks will avoids forests when they wish to run away but they had made sure to block all the alternative paths, forcing them where they wanted them to be. As the group of around 10 elks started fleeing away from them, the loud thundering sound of their hoofs made the ground shake under their weight, they were slowed down by the snow but not as much as the group of hunters. There was no way for them to keep up with the beasts so they simply stayed there, making as much noises as possible. As soon as the animals disappeared in the forest sound of them meeting with the second group could be heard. The sound of men putting all their strength into their arm to throw spears at the creatures. Sounds of elk screaming in pain after being impaled by one or more spears. By the sounds of things, the hunt seemed successful. After a while, both groups finally reunited to assess the situation. Some men were still finishing up some of the elk while others were already gutting and skinning the dead ones. This hunt was a successful one, 4 elk had been killed, securing enough meat to last their tribe 2 weeks. ?Leader? Good job everyone! With this we can head back home and feed our families. Under the hunter''s celebratory shouts the chief turned his attention toward the young hunter by his side. ?Leader? You see Valdrislav, this is how we hunt! I will be counting on you in the future to become a worthy hunter like us. A hunter blessed by the Goddess J?tunn. ?Valdr? Yes father! Valdrislav is the chief''s first son. At 15 years old he was now expected to take part in the hunts, and any other ''adults'' occupations. With most of the men in the tribe dying before reaching their forties, childhood was a luxury they could now afford. Valdr has blue eyes, dark brown hair, almost black. At 172 cm (5''8), Valdr is already quite tall compared to the other tribe members. Muscular, athletic and quite handsome, Valdr was a promising looking young man in the eyes of the other tribe members. Valdr''s father, F¨¢lki the chief, was a ruthless man who had reached his current position by killing the previous chief during a bloody duel. F¨¢lki was ruthless, but not a cruel man. He had not challenged the previous chief out of a thirst for power but because of his mother, Halld¨®ra. A prisoner of war captured from a neighboring tribe, she was the most beautiful woman in the tribe. F¨¢lki immediately fell for her but the most beautiful woman is always destined to be the chief''s wife. So F¨¢lki challenged the previous chief with Halld¨®ra as the victor price. Eleven months later, Valdr was born. Everybody in their tribe has blue eyes but the color of their hair vary between blond and brown, some having straight, other curvy hair... By looking at them it was obvious that they were related in some way or another. To prevent their blood from becoming too incestuous, upon reaching their 16th birthday, the men from the tribe would go out and capture rival tribe''s women. In a year, Valdr also would have to venture out into enemies territory and capture himself a wife to bear his children. This theoretically was his last year as a boy before finally becoming a man. As the chief heir, Valdr was expected to get as many wives as possible since infantile mortality was at least 80%. Out of 10 babies, 8 were expected to die... This is just how harsh their living conditions were. Valdr then quickly walked up to the men who were hard working on skinning the animals and started helping in preparing the meat to be transported back to the cave. They didn''t have to waste days smoking the meat during winters. Temperatures being colder than inside a modern day freezer, they just needed to gut and skin them then transport the carcasses as a group using long wooden poles that the men carried on their shoulders. They still had 5 days of walking before reaching back the ''village'' so they sat up camp for the night a few hundred meters away from today''s ''kill zone''. The livers, kidneys, hearts and other organs were eaten on the spot, the best pieces given to the hunters who made the kills and the chief. F¨¢lki then took the big liver from one of the prey and gave a piece to Valdr who wolfed it all down under the displeased eyes of his fellow hunters. ?Guemundr? Tsss this young frostrar''s* getting the best parts even though he didn''t do anything during the hunt? *Frostrar Any child from their 13th birthday up to their 16th birthday. They can now begin serious training as warriors and may go to battle with the warriors to fetch and carry, take water to the thirsty and tend the wounded. Some of the men showed faces that supported what Guemundr, the strongest warrior after the chief had just said. ?F¨¢lki? Are you defying me as your leader, Guemundr? Said F¨¢lki, glaring at the big warrior while placing a hand on his stone axe. ?Guemundr? Tssss.. No objections as long as the young frostrar prove himself in the next hunts... Said Guemundr while spitting on the floor with a furious look before stomping his way toward the forest to go take a piss. ?Valdr? You will see! I will become the fiercest warrior the world ever known! I will work hard to bring pride to our tribe! Said Valdr showing a resolute look that calmed down the others. ?F¨¢lki? I know you will! You''re my blood after all Valdrislav! PWAHAHAHA! Said F¨¢lki, still glaring at the others while patting Valdr''s head. It was surprising that Guemundr had never challenged F¨¢lki for the title of chief since he physically was a titan. Shaped like a tank, a long braided beard, long blond hair reaching the middle of his back, blue eyes and a ferocious temper, he was feared by all the neighboring tribes as the fiercest of all Hersir*. *Hersir The rank of Hersir is held by those that have proven themselves capable of leading warriors in battle. The group then hastily put together four ''tee-pee'' type of shelter. Made by placing a bunch of tall branches in a cone shape, then covering that frame with evergreens and fir trees branches for isolation with a fire-pit in the middle. Life was really harsh and there was always hard work to be done. Valdr spend the rest of the day gathering firewood for the night. Even with a fire nearby, the nights in these parts were frigid cold, frost bite was frequent so most of the men were missing a toe or more... [Few days later] After walking for 5 days on rugged forest trails, the group finally arrived to the river bordering the village. After crossing it they only had 15 more minutes of walk before reaching the warmth of their families. The men took the opportunity to wash themselves in the river, getting their monthly bath out of the way. One bath a month is necessary to get rid of the cheese! As they say. It was obviously in preparation to their lustful reunions with their loved one. Upon arrival, the rest of the small hundred people tribe greeted us with smiles and joy seeing that the hunt had been successful. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ?Halld¨®ra? Valdrislav!!! My baby boy!!! Said the small, young, brown haired, blue-eyed woman seizing Valdr in her arms. ?Valdr? Mommm.... I''m not a kid anymore! You are putting me to shame in front of the other warriors. Said Valdr embarrassingly trying to free himself from her grasp. ?F¨¢lki? Pwahahaha! What Valdr say is true, you should avoid those displays of affection in front of the other men, my wife. Said F¨¢lki, giving a gentle smile to his beloved. ?Guemundr? Bwahahaha happy? Finally getting back to your mommy... bawahahaha Said Guemundr in a mocking tone. Slap!* ?Halld¨®ra? How dare you mock my boy, you big brute! Said Halld¨®ra who needed to jump in the air to slap the giant''s cheek. ?Guemundr? A..a..Apologies milady. Said Guemundr while showing a complicated expression. He then glared at Valdr before leaving to his wife. ?Valdr? Why does he hate me so much? ?F¨¢lki? That''s not hatred my son, but high expectations. Said F¨¢lki, while patting a pouting Valdr''s head. The village is made of 26 wooden huts huddled together and surrounded by a palisade made by sticking tree trunks vertically in the ground next to each other all around the village. The palisade is made out of hundreds of trees and is 10 meters high. The entire village doesn''t cover more than 250 square meters but is still the biggest one in the region. Not only is F¨¢lki''s tribe well known for their revolutionary spearheads but also for being the biggest tribe around. A hundred-person tribe is rarely seen since it takes so much food to feed everyone, that the surrounding lands would eventually get depleted of resources. F¨¢lki''s tribe though had found a solution to this problem by gathering knowledge from the other tribes about fishing, primitive agriculture, and trapping so the village resources were highly diversified giving them options on which to prioritize. Guemundr words still fresh in his mind, Valdr spent the next day making arrows with the idea of going hunting for small preys like rabbits, birds, squirrels, even bats are on the menu. If he kept bringing enough to make a meal everyday, surely Guemundr and the others couldn''t ridicule him anymore. His arrows weren''t the straightest... Nor were they the prettiest, but at close enough range they would surely be lethal. What was most important was the bow, and Valdr''s father had given him a very good one for his 13th birthday. Now fully armed, Valdrislav left the village after promising his mother not to get to far away on his own. He knew very well that some part of the forest were to be avoided if he didn''t want to get killed by rival tribes members. As long as he remained in their territories, Valdr was now judged old enough to go out and hunt on his own. After walking for a few hours he finally reached a denser part of the forest where he could see rabbit tracks here and there. He climbed a tree next to an area where three of these trails crossed each other. That way he was maximizing his chances of coming across a prey sooner. He positioned himself comfortably, bow and arrow in hands ready to shoot at any passing creatures. Around half an hour later, a brown creature hopping around approached and suddenly stopped at the intersection, sniffing with his nose high in the air analyzing any unknown smell. Then out of nowhere, struck!* an arrow pierced right through his body killing it on the spot. ?Valdr? YAYyyyyyyyyyy!!!! WoooHoooo!!! Who''s the best hunter in the world ?! MEEE!!! Yayyyy! Valdr was jumping and singing around while holding the dead creature by the ears. He then ran toward the village at high speed to boast of his success. At his arrival he got unimpressed looks from the other hunters, Guemundr even told him that he himself could eat 3 of these a day and that boasting about such a small creature was laughable. A bit demoralized he brought his catch to his parents for them to eat. ?Halld¨®ra? Look F¨¢lki! Our son is already an accomplished hunter even being so young! She said while hugging Valdr out of pride. ?F¨¢lki? Pwahahaha nothing less expected from my son ! Said F¨¢lki, while pumping his chest as a proud father. ?Valdr? The others said it was not something to be proud of... That is was just a small rabbit not worth being mentioned... To that Halld¨®ra showed a displeased expression, as for F¨¢lki, it was a bit more like compassion for what his son must be feeling. ?F¨¢lki? The solution is simple isn''t it? He said while giving a serious look to Valdr. After thinking for a few minutes Valdr then answered: ?Valdr? I just need to bring something bigger, or more of them. He said with a determined look in his eyes. ?F¨¢lki? Pwahahahaha that''s my son! Just keep getting better at it, i already taught you all i know, now there''s only practice. He said while giving a paternal look to Valdr. ?Valdr? Yes! ?Halld¨®ra? Don''t go and hunt dangerous animals! You don''t need to stupidly get yourself killed just because these brutes are jealous of you. She said with a worried and angered expression. ?F¨¢lki? Wife, our son is old enough to take his decision. I believe him smart enough not to go after things he can''t kill. He told her in a reassuring tone. ?Halld¨®ra? Sighhhh My babies grow so fast... She said while caressing the hairs of Valdr younger brother, Frode. His younger brother, ''Frode'' almost one year old was his only sibling. Halld¨®ra had many more, but many died as babies or infants never reaching over 5 years old. She also had many miscarriage probably caused by the harsh environment or even malnutrition. Any other tribe¡¯s chief would have taken in more wives to multiply their chances of having an heir but Valdr''s father love for his mother was uncommon for this time period. He had refused any other women all his life only reserving himself to her. The next day, Valdr left in the same direction. This time going deeper, laying in ambush near larger game trails. After an entire day without any movement, Valdr finally spotted movements up in the trees. First he thought it was some kind of birds... But after taking a closer look to it he realized this was no bird, but instead it was a bat. A very weird white bat. As for Valdr, he had never heard of bat growing this big, and also never heard about bats being white. As the sun was slowly going down, the creature was slowly starting to wake up from a long day of sleep, hanging under a large branch high in the air. Valdr took aim, and then launched an arrow hitting the bat through a wing. The creature fell to the ground still struggling to fly away. Valdr jumped from the tree he was on to the ground and grabbed the creature. ?Valdr? Ouch! The bat bit his hand as he was holding it. Valdr then flung it onto a tree killing the creature painlessly. He looked at the bat still twitching in his hand, it was big for a bat but no bigger than a rabbit... He was sure to be teased again if he brought it with him. As he had spent an entire day up in a tree he was also very hungry so he simply gutted it and ate it raw on his way back home as the sun was slowly setting down. At the river, he took time to wash the blood off of his body and went home while trying to avoid talking about his unsuccessful day. --- Many thanks to gcman01 for proofreading this chapter! --- Chapter 1 - Sealing the deal Dracula: Patient zero Chapter: 1 Sealing the deal ---- The day after, Valdr woke up early and went to the neighbors¡¯ shelters. His aim was to bring as many young frostrar to team with him as possible. The more they were, the more prey they could bring back for the tribe. After going around the village, Valdr succeeded in gathering two more frostrar. The first one, Gjafvarer, a timid 14 years old boy already among the best archers in the tribe even at his young age. The second one, V¨ªgbj?rn, a brutish 15 years old quite talented at throwing axes and setting traps. Annoyingly enough, he is also the son of Guemundr. They all gathered their stuff and left the village still early in the morning. Valdr could feel it, today was going to be a successful day. Once arrive at his chosen hunting ground it was time to explain his plan to the others. ?Valdr? Gjafvarer, V¨ªgbj?rn. The plan for today is to try and bring as many prey as possible. The aim is to kill enough small animals to make it difficult to bring back to the village on our own. That much should be enough to earn ourselves the respect of the older hunters. ?Gjafvarer? Are you sure this is wise? We should just hunt what we need and get back as quickly as possible... ?Valdr? Show a bit more pride in yourself! We frostrar, are always mocked and ridiculed by the adults. This is a chance to show we are as talented as them! ?Gjafvarer? B..b..b..But we''re not even svein''s* yet... What''s the point...? *Svein: Any child from their 16th birthday up to their 18th birthday. Young warriors who can take their place in the battle line next to a family member or mentor. ?V¨ªgbj?rn? Enough of this shit! Pussies need to go back home! Come on Valdr! Said V¨ªgbj?rn with an irritated look in his eyes. Sadly V¨ªgbj?rn had inherited his father temper... But anyone could tell he was destined to become a splendid warrior. He was among the rare ones in the tribe to be taller and stronger than Valdr. Obviously being the chief''s son gave Valdr access to better food, thus aiding his growth, but V¨ªgbj?rn had inherited his giant stature from his father. Being fed the same food as Valdr, he would have become a titan. After V¨ªgbj?rn''s words Valdr and him left together with Gjafvarer hesitantly following behind them. They spend the morning setting traps, and then climbed trees waiting to ambush anything in sight. The forest was mainly covered with cold-hardy pine, spruce, larch, poplar, fir and birch trees. Spring was slowly showing itself making the days warmer, more hospitable. The migratory birds had started reappearing, and many other animals were getting actives again. It was the perfect time for hunting. The forest was silent, yet noisy. All around were noises, the wind, squirrels, birds, crickets and other insects. The sun was piercing the tree canopy from place to place giving an enchanted look to the forest. The noisier it got, the better it was. It meant that animals and insects had forgotten or failed to notice their presence there. They had been waiting for an hours when suddenly a sound broke the silence. Thump! Quickly directing their attention to where the sound came from the boys saw Valdr on the ground. He had visibly fallen from the tree and was contorting in pain. ?Valdr? ARRRGGGGGGGGGgggg!!!!! HAAAaaaaaaaa! It Hurttt!!!!! He said, holding his stomach while rolling on the ground. Quickly running to where Valdr was, V¨ªgbj?rn crouched next to Valdr trying to help him. ?V¨ªgbj?rn? What is it? Did you hurt yourself by falling from the tree? It isn''t that high, it shouldn''t be to bad right? He said not knowing what to do or what was happening. ?Gjafvarer? I..i.I''m going to go get an adult ! said Gjafvarer visibly panicking at this point. ?Valdr? Don''t you dare you coward! Arggggg! I.... I''m ok!... I just.. URGgggg! Need a minute or two... Said Valdr who at this point was as pale as a corpse. ?V¨ªgbj?rn? Gjafvarer! Let''s give it a few minutes and if he doesn''t get better you go! Gjafvarer nodded repetitively to that. They stayed next to Valdr who started vomiting blood and growling like a dying animal. But after a few minutes, as quickly as it had started the pain and agony were gone. Valdr got up again and took his breath while leaning on a tree. ?Valdr? pant* pant* I.....I''m alright now... I believe... pant* pant* pant* ?V¨ªgbj?rn? You sure look a lot better now... ?Gjafvarer? Are we sure he is going to be alright? ?Valdr? I said i''m alright! Now let''s resume what we were doing before that... Sorry for the hindrance. Can you avoid speaking about this to the adults please? I probably ate something bad, that''s all... ?V¨ªgbj?rn? Yhea! Father got something similar a few years back... He was puking and shitting himself for a few days, quite the gross sight. ?Valdr? Hahahah! Guemundr did? hahahaha ?V¨ªgbj?rn? Humm... Don''t tell him i told you that... He said while showing a threatening glare. He was visibly regretting having said that. ?Gjafvarer? Alright then... If you say it''s not dangerous... ?Valdr? Of course! Stop worrying for nothing! We are great warriors! A small tummy ache won''t bring me down you hear me! The young men then went back to the trees and resumed their hunt. Five rabbits and eight small birds later the trio then went to check on their trap seeing the day quickly coming to an end. They had eaten enough organs that they were not hungry but creatures of the night were best avoided. There was sabertooth tigers, ferocious wild pigs, wolfs and other nasty creatures. They rapidly finished the task and gather their spoil together. Eight rabbits, eight small birds, and six more ¡°various small creatures¡±. The 3 young men looked at each other for a while with grins on their faces. It was a hunt worth bragging about even for adults and they knew it. They quickly enveloped everything in animal skins, strapped it to their back and headed back home. On their way back Valdr suddenly stopped in his track, hand signaling the other two to stay quiet. There was movement up ahead in some brushes. A familiar noise could be heard. The familiar sound of a wild pig grunting while rummaging for food. Valdr threw a look at V¨ªgbj?rn that he quickly understood and responded by taking his spear and stone axe in hand. ?Gjafvarer? You''re not really considering this are you??... [...] The silence said everything. Gjafvarer started panicking once again. ?Gjafvarer? You realize these things can easily kill us all with his sharp tusk right? ?V¨ªgbj?rn? Just go fucking hide in a tree if you want but shut the fuck up! Gjafvarer instead readied his bow for action. The three young men then encircled the beast while avoiding to be upwind from it, which would have alerted it of their presences. Valdr and V¨ªgbj?rn crawled as close as possible without alerting it then signaled Gjafvarer. Gjafvarer Immediately launched an arrow that hit straight on target. Simultaneously Valdr and V¨ªgbj?rn rushed spears in hand stabbing his vitals in a flash. The giant beast easily fell to the ground, his heart and lungs pierced, the creature took two last breaths before dying. ?Valdr? WAAAAAAA YEEEHAAAAAAAA!!!!!! The three young men were jumping up and down delighted by their luck. They quickly gutted the beast and realized they couldn''t carry it back to the village like that... Valdr then broke a thick branch and did what he had seen the adults do during the last hunt. Tying the beast''s legs to the pole then hoisting it on their shoulders. It was incredibly heavy but they were lucky enough that Valdr and V¨ªgbj?rn were both very strong for being only 15? years old. Actually Valdr and V¨ªgbj?rn were both born the same spring 15 years ago and Valdr was only a few weeks older than V¨ªgbj?rn. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Delayed by their extra charge, the trio arrived to the village an hour after the sun had set down. When they arrived their parents were already looking all around the village for them. The first one to spot the trio was none other than V¨ªgbj?rn''s father, the fierce Guemundr himself. ?Guemundr? EVERYONE! THE FROSTRARS ARE HERE! I FOUND THEM! He yelled to everyone busy looking for them. Together they entered the village walls and before they could start unpacking anything Valdr''s parent came rushing toward them. ?Halld¨®ra? Valdrislav!!!!! My Baby is safe !!!!! Wannnnnn!* Valdr''s father furiously approached and punched the shit out of Valdr. ?F¨¢lki? What did we say about getting back before sundown ???? ?Valdr? Sniff* Sniff* Sorry... But the wild pig was so heavy that it took us longer to come back than expected... Hearing these words everyone''s attention turned toward the huge pig laid on the ground. This was no joke, that pig must have weight at least 300-350lbs. F¨¢lki''s eyes grew big when the young men started unpacking the other animals they had hunted. Eight rabbits, eight small birds, six various small creatures and finally, this huge wild boar... ?F¨¢lki? You three hunted all these just today? The trio nodded in unison. The adults all around where speechless and hesitating between being happy or shocked. ?Halld¨®ra? Valdrislav... You went after this dangerous beast after I told you not to hunt anything that can kill you!? ?Valdr? B..b..But mommm.. It was really easy, we attacked it simultaneously and it died almost effortlessly... ?V¨ªgbj?rn? I have to support what he''s saying... This pig was quite an easy prey... ?Gjafvarer? I just shot an arrow, then they stabbed it with their spear and it died immediatly... ?Guemundr? Pwahahahaha! Nothing less expected from my powerful son! Pwahahah! ?F¨¢lki? .....I am proud of you son! EVERYONE! TONIGHT''S FEAST IS THANK TO THESE THREE YOUNG FROSTRAR!!! Said F¨¢lki still shocked by how successful the young trio had been. ?Halld¨®ra? My young man is the best! I''m soo proudddd! She said still clinging to Valdr, covering him in kisses. Later that night, it was celebration''s time! Everybody was filling their stomach and dancing around a giant bonfire signing and drinking alcohol made with fruits fermented with saliva by partially chewing them, then spitting it into a bowl repeatedly. No one knows when or who discovered this method but all the surrounding tribes are drinking the stuff. Valdr was eating like a pig and enjoying himself but suddenly felt ill. He ran to a calm area and started vomiting his meal out. Once his stomach was empty he kept vomiting but this time it was blood, black blood. Valdr didn''t know what was happening, but didn''t want to show weakness so he simple went to bed hoping tomorrow everything would be back in order. Obviously he spent the night puking and screaming in pain so not only his parents, but also the entire tribe realized something was wrong. His mother was panicking, remembering all her other child who died from various sicknesses, she was already imagining loosing him as well and was inconsolable. His father, F¨¢lki immediately started holding religious ceremonies begging the Gods to help him. Sacrifices, tributes... He did them all but Valdr wasn''t getting any better. Everyday he seemed to become weaker, paler. The white of his eyes were turning red, his skin turning white with small red veins appearing all around his eyes and mouth. It really looked like Valdr only had a few days left at best but miraculously he stayed alive that way for two full years. He now looked more like a corpse than a human, he looked dried up like an old raisin and was barely able to move anymore. His mother was always by his side nursing him but she and his father had now started keeping many secrets about Valdr''s condition from the tribe. He was either vomiting everything he ate or shat it back exactly the way it looked going in. He had basically survived 2 entire years without eating anything... This was simply impossible for a human to do. Also his skin seemed to burn in contact with the sun, so they had to put more branches on the shelter, making it hermetic to sunlight. F¨¢lki and Halld¨®ra knew their boy was changing but kept it secret from the tribe. The shaman of the tribe had never seen anything comparable so he resorted to go out and find a man he had heard about. He was from a line of shamans living in solitude far in the mountains. This was a fathers ¨C sons tradition that had went on for generations. They were men doing nothing else since childbirth and renown as the best. It had taken a long time but the man recommended by the village''s shaman finally arrived one day. He was a bizarre looking man with strangely shaped scars all over his body looking almost like drawings. One of his eyes was totally white with a ''©¼'' shaped scar going across it. He had an arched back making him look smaller than he was and was using a very old looking walking stick to support himself. He wore a wolf pelt over his head, a tiger pelt covering his body and many ornaments (Necklaces, bracelets) made of bones and teeth. The man entered Valdr''s hut, where he had stayed for the last two years. His father and mother followed behind him and observed as the man stood there, looking at Valdr for a few minutes. Then he said. ?Hagst?inn? Hello young man. My name is Hagst?inn, i am here to see if i can help you get better. ?Valdr? Cough!* Cough!* I am afraid, what I may need now is a miracle... Cough!* Cough!* Cough!* ?Halld¨®ra? Don''t say such things! This man will heal you! You will right? She threw an interrogative glance at the man. ?Hagst?inn? I first need to examine him. Some sicknesses can''t be cured so i need to first know what it is your son is suffering from. ?Halld¨®ra? Pleaseee... sob* sob* sob* ?F¨¢lki? Please sir we will give you anything you want! ?Hagst?inn? Enough! Now leave the hut! I need to concentrate. F¨¢lki and Halld¨®ra immediately obeyed and left the hut, leaving the shaman to do his work. Hagst?inn the shaman then examined Valdr''s body from every angle. After that he gave an intrigued look that slowly turned into a determined one. He then started pulling out pouches from his bag he had brought with him. The man took a wooden bowl that he started to fill with a few powders, liquids and weird looking ingredients. He then crushed everything into a paste like substance. The man then started removing his upper body clothing exposing his chest filled with strangely shaped scars all over it. Valdr then understood where the scars came from as the shaman started cutting himself all over with the obsidian blade while chanting some weird incantations. ?Valdr? Sniff* sniff*... What is this smell...? Sniff* sniff*... Small but numerous black veins started to appear around Valdr mouth and eyes overlapping with the red ones making those area look dark burgundy. He looked like a corpse having drunk dark blood and cried tears of the same color. Then all of a sudden Valdr''s eyes turned entirely black, darker than darkness itself. At the same instant Valdr who had been laying down on his bed and hadn''t move in two years suddenly stood up on his bed so fast it looked like a blur. This made the shaman jump back in surprise making him cut himself a bit deeper than normal. Valdr slowly turned his head toward Hagst?inn, tilted his head slightly to the left while sniffing in the air. In the shaman''s eyes, terror could be seen, as he was completely petrified in place. ?Valdr? You... Smell... ... ... Delicioussssss.... He said while giving a smile showing his two top jaw canines growing longer and sharper like daggers. [Blurrrrr] ?Hagst?inn? HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!aaA aaa gurgle* gurgle* gurgle*.................... After hearing the scream F¨¢lki and Halld¨®ra quickly came back in the hut in panic but were not prepared to see what they saw at that instant. This scene would haunt them for the rest of their lives. --- Many thanks to gcman01 for proofreading this chapter! --- Chapter 2 - Worst than heroin Dracula: Patient zero Chapter: 2 Worst than heroin ---- What F¨¢lki and Halld¨®ra saw when they entered the hut was a sight out of a nightmare, Valdr was slurping on the shaman''s headless body''s neck as if he was emptying a juice box. He was delightfully digging his fingers in the shaman''s flesh ripping pieces with a look of ecstasy on his face. ?Halld¨®ra? HIiiiiiiiiiiiii..*muffled sound* F¨¢lki also terrified quickly muffled his wife''s mouth, silencing her while still staring at this thing he used to call son. They stood there, staring at the scene with agape mouth. In the stone ages, cannibalism wasn''t something rare to witness, but what petrified them was Valdr''s appearance. The dried up corpse their son had became was slowly healing, getting back to normal... The muscles once atrophied were reverting back to their healthy appearance, his skin slowly getting back it''s healthy pink color... F¨¢lki observed everything with his wife in his arms, both not knowing what to do or what to think. Then Valdr lifted his head up to look at the two statues staring at him. His eyes were still jet black, black veins all around his face. This was the face of a monster and they knew it. F¨¢lki slowly placed his hand on his stone axe ready to defend himself but something unexpected happened. Valdr''s eyes reverted back to their human appearance, the black and red veins all over his face quickly disappearing. What was left in front of them was a healthy looking man, around 18 to 20 years old in appearance, looking back at them with a panicking expression. ?Valdr? Mom... Dad... Sob*sob* what have I done?.... What.... am I...? sob*sob* ?F¨¢lki? Is that really you son? He said still holding his axe ready to strike. Nod* nod* nod* Valdr nodded with a regretful look in his eyes. F¨¢lki could see Valdr had no idea what was happening either. ?Halld¨®ra? Valdrislav? My son, are you... What is happening to you? Valdr simply shook his head to that not knowing what to answer, when all of a sudden. ??yd¨ªs? I heard a scream is everything alright? Said the approaching voice. ?yd¨ªs was Guemundr''s wife and V¨ªgbj?rn mother. She was Valdr''s mother best friend and their relationship was most likely the reason why Guemundr never challenged F¨¢lki for the title of chief. In appearance this village looked very patriarchal, but the truth was that those two women were the one ruling from the shadows. They had a say in everything and knew everyone''s secrets. With ?yd¨ªs now approaching the situation was dire. Without saying anything Halld¨®ra quickly got out of the hut intercepting her before she could enter. ??yd¨ªs? Are you alright? What happened? She said with a worried look as she knew her friend well enough to read her complex facial expression. ?Halld¨®ra? It...It''s ok... A powerful shaman is currently treating Valdr... He is... Eccentric.. He is chanting and yelling. Everything''s alright we just need to give them space and time. She said with her thoughts still muddied. ??yd¨ªs? I can tell by looking at you... Are things that bad? ?Halld¨®ra? No! No!... Actually he said there was a good chance for him to be cured. But it''s a painful process and I¡¯m a little sad for my baby boy. D...d.. Do you mind leaving us alone for a bit? I want to speak with my husband. ??yd¨ªs? No problem.. Are you sure you are all right? Do you need anything.... ?Halld¨®ra? I''m telling you... I''m alright.. Thank you for worrying. She said as she was getting slightly irritated by her insistence. ?yd¨ªs then went away, chasing the other curious onlookers as she left. Halld¨®ra then turned around to go back in the hut, but froze there for a while. She was staring at the entry with terror in her heart. After a few minutes her love for her child won over her terror and entered. Valdr was knelled on the ground confused, while F¨¢lki slowly inspected his body trying to understand a little bit more. He was doing small cuts on his arms, and watched them instantly heal. When Halld¨®ra saw that she fell on her knees and started praying. She then turned around to look at her husband. ?Halld¨®ra? F¨¢lki... Such powers... It cannot be anything other than the Gods doing... ?F¨¢lki? I thought the same wife... But is it a blessing? Or a curse. He said with a serious expression. ?Valdr? I...I can hear ?yd¨ªs talking with Guemundr... She know something''s wrong. ?Halld¨®ra? What? But they are on the other side of the village... She said with a puzzled expression. ?Valdr? She''s saying that she know you well enough to know that you have been hiding something from her for a while now... Guemundr''s heading this way. ?F¨¢lki? Ho crap crap crap what do we do now? ?Valdr? Mother. ?Halld¨®ra? Don''t worry honey mom will take ca...* ?Valdr? Has the sun set yet? ?Halld¨®ra? ....... yes... but why.. ?Valdr? I have an idea of what we can do. [A minute later] ?Guemundr? F¨¢lki! Get out here! He said in an angered voice. F¨¢lki walked out of the hut with a giant smile on his face that took Guemundr by surprise. ?F¨¢lki? What is it old friend? ?Guemundr? We have the right to know what''s going on! We know you are hiding stuff from us. After a few seconds of silence F¨¢lki answered. ?F¨¢lki? You are right my friend, but we didn''t hide anything out of bad intentions. We needed to make sure of what it was first. But the shaman that came earlier confirmed what we suspected all along. Guemundr threw a interrogative look. ?Guemundr? Speak now! ?F¨¢lki? Our son, Valdr wasn''t sick... He has been blessed by the Gods but we failed to notice what blessing it was, which almost killed him. But thanks to the great shaman we now know how to heal him. ?Guemundr? ....You trying to fuck with me F¨¢lki??? Blessed? Out of the way I need to see for myself! He said pushing F¨¢lki aside and entered Valdr''s hut. What he saw was Valdr laying on his bed, looking perfectly healthy with his mother by his side. She was caressing his hairs like a loving mother would. There was no trace of the shaman''s corpse, and every spot of blood had been wiped out. There was nothing to show what had just happened in this hut a few minutes ago. ?Guemundr? H...h.h..How is this possible? This young svein was dying and looked like a corpse just a few days ago... How can he look so healthy now? He said with a puzzle expression. F¨¢lki entering the hut behind him and simply placed his hand on Guemundr''s shoulder before saying: ?F¨¢lki? Like I said, the Gods bestowed their blessing upon him. He has been blessed for the good of our tribe. ?Guemundr? What blessing are you talking about? And where is this shaman I have a lot of question for him to answer. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ?F¨¢lki? Hmmm... ?Halld¨®ra? He left a few minutes ago... Suddenly gone like a puff of smoke. Most likely by the Gods doing again. ?Guemundr? Are you taking me for a fucking idiot?! Where is he? ?Valdr? Great warrior Guemundr. Valdr slowly started getting up from his bed while looking at Guemundr. ?Valdr? Would you agree to say that for me to win at arm-wrestle against you would mean that I am being helped by the Gods? ?Guemundr? Pwahahaha for a young svein like you to win at arm wrestle against me? Pwahahaha indeed it is impossible unless the Gods help you. ?Valdr? Then isn''t it simple? Are you accepting my challenge? Guemundr looked at Valdr determined expression a few seconds before accepting the duel sure of his victory. They both walked out of the hut, at this point almost everybody in the tribe had gathered around trying to know what the commotion was about. Valdr explained everything to the tribe, also that he intended to challenge Guemundr to a arm-wrestle match to prove that he was blessed by the Gods which made a few laugh, other gasp in astonishment. Valdr threw a look at his father that he quickly understood as him and Guemundr both started walking toward a big flat rock in the village for their duel. While the entire village walked away to see the duel, F¨¢lki quickly went back in the hut and cleared Valdr''s bedding to the side. Under the bedding, roughly buried were the shaman''s bloody pieces of body. F¨¢lki quickly proceeded in dragging the torso away from the village, dumping it into the river. He repeated the process until no pieces were left. Meanwhile on the other side of the village, Valdr and Guemundr took position on each side of the flat rock, ready for their duel with the entire village spectating. Guemundr placed his arm ready for Valdr to grasp it. ?Guemundr? Don''t go crying after I destroy that little arm of your. HahAHAhAhahHah* (Crowd) Valdr simply gave him a small grin and took hold of the giant''s hand with his. Guemundr immediately tried to crush Valdr hand by simply crushing it with his but Valdr didn''t flinch... The giant was using all his strength trying to tighten his grip but the young Valdr didn''t seemed phased by it. Another tribe member came next to them, and gave the countdown. Three, two, one, GO! For a few second Guemundr gave everything he had, his face slowly turning red. But Valdr''s arm wasn''t moving... As immobile as the mountains created by the Gods, Valdr didn''t even seem to be using any strength at all. With Guemundr now having veins popping out on his forehead Valdr gave a devilish grin to the giant before saying. ?Valdr? So.... When do we start? Guemundr exploded in anger to that and suddenly used both his arms and body weight trying to make Valdr''s arm move. It was useless. Valdr simply finished it by throwing Guemundr ten meters the other way crushing someone''s hut in the process. The entire tribe was silent, mouths agape, unsure whether they should be afraid of amazed. Guemundr stood back up holding his arm in pain and looking intensely at Valdr. Valdr was unsure what to think, did he show too much? Would his plan backfire? ?Guemundr? Everyone! What you just saw is undeniable proof of him being blessed by the Gods! How could this young svein who was still dying until a few days ago beat me! Guemundr to a duel of strength if not aided the Gods... The crowd started to get rowdy but after a while started shouting in celebration! Some giving prayers to the Gods. The tribe then spent the entire night talking about the Gods, and about Valdr''s blessing. He explained them that he was vulnerable to the sun so he could only go out at night. He spoke of his regeneration ability, which totally captivated the tribe as he showed them how quickly the cut he inflicted himself on his body were healing. Some of them grew worried and scared of Valdr after he told them he could only drink human blood to survive now as a price to pay for his strength. But the biggest surprise was when some of them started cutting their palms, filling a wooden bowl with their blood, giving it to him as an offering. Valdr felt a bit weirded out by the situation couldn''t resist the delicious aroma of the blood and drank it all up. Meanwhile Valdr''s father, F¨¢lki joined back his wife who had witnessed the duel between her son and Guemundr. She immediately told him everything that had happened, not hesitating to show pride in her son''s prowess. Valdr glanced at his father, who responded by nodding, which mean that all evidence had been cleared out. Finally able to relax Valdr got up and asked for everyone attention. ?Valdr? By blessing me, the Gods intention seem clear... Our tribe is the chosen one, destined to rule over all the others !!!! YHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!* (Crowd) ?Valdr? From now on, every-night I will go out and prey upon those who dare call themselves our enemies. They will feel the wrath of the Gods ! YHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!* (Crowd) Valdr had just found himself a way to feed himself with the support of his tribe, which was an ideal situation. Valdr felt it was obvious that he had now became a creature of the night since he could see in pitch darkness like it was in broad daylight, the fact the sun burned his skin sucking away his powers. He would now have to avoid sunlight, which was a curse in itself. With the sun slowly rising up again Valdr and the other tribe members went to bed, trying to catch up with the missed hours of sleep. Valdr''s thoughts were fixated on a single thing at this point. Hunger... He was so hungry, he was still fantasizing about his last meal, the warm sticky blood flowing down his throat, giving him much needed sustenance. It was even stronger than sexual pleasure, while he was emptying the shaman''s body Valdr saw some of the man''s memories, and emotions. So he could learn someone''s thoughts by consuming their blood. He didn''t see everything, what he seemed able to see while drinking him was what seemed to be his strongest, most vivid memories. He saw the shaman at a young age, being left in a deep pit filled with corpse for weeks. Those shamans truly were a fucked up bunch. Valdr understood that what had made the man''s blood so delicious was the terror he felt at that instant. Could different emotions give different taste to blood? How would arousal taste? Betrayal? Anger? Are there some people out there with different tasting blood? Valdr couldn''t wait, he wanted to drink all the blood in the world, taste all the different flavors and textures. He was getting an erection as simply imagining himself digging his canine into the tender flesh of a baby''s neck. At this point Valdr was going crazy, blood was having a weird effect on him, clouding his judgment and morals. All his emotions were amplified, while others like empathy were simply suppressed. What Valdr didn''t know is that blood acted on him like a drug, and at that moment Valdr was high on it turning him into a cruel monster with only one thought in mind. FEEDING! Moreee!!! ALWAYS MORE BLOOD! Valdr was knelled, digging his claws like fingers into the ground, his eyes pitch black and veins all over his face. What he felt at this instant were signs of withdrawal. His body was screaming at him to feed again but luckily for the other tribe members, he was prisoner of his hut, incapable of getting out because of the sunny day outside. If not for that, in his current condition Valdr would have slaughtered everyone in sight. It was his first experience at feeding as a vampire and it was one hell of a ride. You could compare him to a heroin addict, who''s trying to sober up but can survive only by consuming heroin. So it simply was the biggest mind fuck one can imagine. He kept looking through the door as the sun was slowly going down, and down and down... ?Valdr? A few more minutes... A few more minutes... A few more minutes... A few more minutes... A few more minutes... A few more minutes... He kept repeating as he clenched his fist so hard blood was pouring out of his palms. The tribe members started gathering in front of the hut as the sun slowly started disappearing on the horizon, totally unaware of the danger they were putting themselves in. At the exact second when the sun disappeared, a blurry figure got out from the hut''s blowing everyone out of his way as if they were weightless puppets. The figure went out of the village so fast, he looked like a blur, a Godly spirit. Nobody was really certain what had just happened but after looking inside the hut understood that Valdr was gone. It was most likely him who disappeared in a blur a minute ago. The village remained silent for a while. Chills going down their spines, some pissing themselves. It is then that they understood that if Valdr had went away this fast, that he definitely was in a hurry to feed... That he could have slaughtered them all if they hadn''t been from the same village. The same feeling you get when you see your pet dog that you always adored and considered docile, excitingly ripping a cat in pieces. Yes your dog is a gentle one, yes he would never hurt you, but he is still a wild creature functioning out of natural instincts. The entire tribe concluded that it was better to never anger him in the future, other even thought about running away to other tribes but doing this would place them in Valdr''s menu... As terrifying as it was, this tribe was the safest place to be. ---- Many thanks to gcman01 for proofreading this chapter! ---- Chapter 3 - Stone age dating Dracula: Patient zero Chapter: 3 Stone age dating ---- Valdr was running through the forest like the wind. It looked as if time was slowing down as he could watch water drops falling in slow motion all around as he ran by. He was running by animals that reacted to him only after he was long gone. All around, the forest appeared to him as black and white with sometime bright red spots visible from afar. What he could see brightly was warm blood, the brightest point was the heart which was pumping the delicious fluid all around the bodies of warm blooded creatures. But by experience Valdr knew that animal blood was like offering a glass of water to an alcoholic so he simply ignored them. What he wanted was to reach a rival tribe''s village, eat then come back before dawn. Normally doing the round trip in a night would be impossible but Valdr''s speed couldn''t be compared to anything else living on this planet. As he was running by all types of animals, Valdr thought to himself that it would be a good idea to bring back some of them on his way back for his fellow tribe members to eat. After a while he started to feel it, there was hearts pumping the coveted liquid straight ahead of his position. He furtively closed in until he saw the lights of campfires. There, he could hear people sleeping, others patrolling. Even if he was far away he could clearly see bright red spot glowing against the dark surroundings even through the walls of their ''village''. Valdr simply positioned himself at a vantage point and waited for something in particular, which happened soon after. One of the guards suddenly distanced himself a little from the village. Valdr knew that eventually someone would want to take a shit, and even in the stone ages men knew not to shit where they sleep. Valdr immediately disappeared from where he was standing, quickly moving in a blur toward the lone guard. The guard was squatting in the bushes with a half-log pushed out of his rectum when Valdr suddenly appeared in front of him. It had happened to fast that in the eyes of ''squatting man'' it looked as if he had appeared out of thin air. Valdr was looking down at the ''squatting man'', who was looking up at Valdr. Then suddenly, ''squatting man'' stood up ready to scream but at the same instant Valdr''s eyes turned jet black. In less than a fraction of a second, Valdr''s hand was high in the air. As fast as lightning he swung his hand down, slapping the man on the side of his head. But it was no ordinary back handed slap... It was a ''starving Valdr''s slap'' that didn''t rip the man head''s off sending it flying. Not it was more like a watermelon being hit by a cannon ball. Pouf!* The head was gone in millions of tiny juicy bits. His teeth growing longer and veins appearing all over his face Valdr dug in ferociously, ripping the man to shreds as he was draining the body directly from the arteries. After a while Valdr let go of the body, knelled on the ground with his hands palm up on each side as he was looking toward the sky still euphoric from the blood. His sight was so accentuated that he could see a hundred times more stars as with normal human sight. He could see beautiful star formations as if he was peering into the God''s domain. Then he stood up and looked all around him. There was a pile of shit, covered with guts and shredded pieces of his last meal. But to his left, were more prey... Should he simply go back home... Or give in to gluttony. ?Guard? ?rn¨®lfr!!? ?rn¨®lfr?!! How long does it take to take a shit?!! ?Valdr? Muwehehehe Dessert is served.... [A while later] Valdr ended up ''eating'' all the guards on post that night... Surely the other tribe members will panic when they wake up into a guard-less village in the morning. Actually Valdr felt marvelous... Overflowing with energy, after his last five ''snacks'' he felt like he could conquer the world as he was completely high on blood. Now on his way back home, he eventually stopped to look at the sky. The moon was still high, so Valdr decided to do a little bit of hunting before going back home. He saw a few elks... Easy prey... Almost boring... A bit further away he heard something that got him exited. Two saber tooth tigers close to each other, which almost always means a male and a female. It was very likely since spring is their mating season. Valdr ran toward the two animals which were ranging between 490 to 880 lb... These creature could not be compared to modern tigers when it came to size and strength. In a flash, Valdr appeared in range of the biggest one of the two from up above. Valdr had jumped ten meters high in the air taking the creature by surprise as it didn''t expect an attack to come from above. Valdr tightened his fist and struck on top of the animal''s head. His fist went right through the tiger''s skull, plowing through like it was butter and finally emerging underneath in the neck region in a bloody gush. Then as quickly as he had appeared, Valdr pulled his fist out and appeared in front of the second one before it even had time to notice what had just happened and twisted its neck in a loud crunch. Proud of his catch he took both over his shoulders and kept running toward his village before the sunrise. He arrived as the sun was about to peer out, he walked in the village and dumped the beasts next to the fire-pit in the center of the village under the incredulous eyes of the night guards. Valdr was totally covered in blood at this point and not a centimeter of his skin was left unsoiled. Not having time to go to the river to wash he brought a bowl of water with him in his hut and did a bit of cleaning before going to sleep. When the villagers woke up, they were met with the sight of two of humanity''s nemesis... Every year thousands of humans were eaten by those big cats and Valdr had effortlessly taken on two of them on his own as if he had hunted rabbits... The villager spent the entire day talking about Valdr''s prowess and how unbelievably powerful he was. They spent many hours praying to the Gods and leaving offerings in front of Valdr''s hut almost leaving no place to get out by the door. In his sleep, Valdr dreamed of dismembered corpses, bloody massacres and endless oceans of blood. Any normal person would have called it a nightmare but to Valdr it was the most pleasant of dreams. Actually when he woke up at dusk, he realized after seeing the dried up substance all over his belly that he had came in his sleep. Now an 18 year old adult, Valdr realize it was more than time for him to get himself a wife to bear his children. Would his children be like him? Would they be normal humans? With his feelings and emotions heightened by vampirism, Valdr felt the urge to copulate to be stronger than ever before. ?Halld¨®ra? Valdrislav! Honey are you awake? ?Valdr? Yes mother you can come in. He said quickly using some animal skins to cover his still erected manhood. Halld¨®ra entered Valdr''s ''lair'' and twitched after seeing Valdr entirely covered in dried up blood excepted over his face, arms and chest area. After composing herself she quickly grabbed a bowl of water and started to affectionately wash his body. Suddenly she grabbed the animal skins and pulled them away exposing Valdr''s erection. Her eyes grew big, her cheeks getting red in embarrassment. Valdr was the most embarrassed of the two as he quickly grabbed the skin back to hide his virility. ?Halld¨®ra? Sorry son... But you know... There''s nothing to be embarrassed about, I saw it your entire life....... Of course... not... like that... She said while looking away, getting even redder. ?Halld¨®ra? My son... Grew big... She then muttered to herself. ?Valdr? Actually I wanted to talk to you about that... He said trying to break the awkwardness, but instead his mother became even more embarrassed and started stuttering. ?Halld¨®ra? Y..yy.y.you see... Ww.w..when a man love a woman... very much... The man... If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ?Valdr? Hahahaha* not that mother! Father already told me everything about that... particular subject... Hahahaha* ?Halld¨®ra? Ha! Ho!... I.. see hihihii* sorry... She laughed while rubbing the back of her head. ?Valdr? No.. What I wanted to ask is if it was alright for me to get myself a wife..? After hearing that Halld¨®ra grew exited. ?Halld¨®ra? Ha! Yes! Since you have been sick for two years we never got around that subject. Actually your two friends got themselves wives now. ?Valdr? V¨ªgbj?rn and Gjafvarer did? ?Halld¨®ra? Yes in the raid from a year ago. I will go ask your father to organize another raid on a neighboring village to get you a wife soon. ?Valdr? Ha! No need mother... To me, even alone it is an easy thing to do... I thought of getting one tonight. Halld¨®ra gave a complicated expression after hearing that. ?Halld¨®ra? Of course honey, you have my and your dad''s approval. She said while giving a warm smile to Valdr. ?Valdr? Thank you mom!! I''m going now! He then disappeared in a flash for his nightly ''hunt''. That night, Valdr went back to the village he had went to the night before. It was an obvious choice as he knew that the village was now mostly defenseless. All that was left there now was mostly women and children... Obviously a few men would still be there but nothing that Valdr couldn''t handle on his own. When he arrived at the village he went to his previously used vantage point and concentrated on his heightened senses. There was no guards outside of town and the exit had been barricaded. Almost the entire village seemed awake and huddled together in the center of town around a big bonfire. Then concentrating on his earring he listened to what was happening in the village. ?Adult male voice? Do you think that monster will come here again tonight? --- ?Young girl''s voice? Mommy is the monster that killed daddy going to eat us too? --- ?Adult female voice? Sob*sob*sob* --- ?Adult male voice? You saw the corpses right? Whatever killed them is not something we can deal with!!! We need to get the fuck away from here as soon as possible! --- ?Young girl''s voice? I''m sleepy mommy... --- ?Adult female voice? Sob*sob*sob* --- ?Adult male voice? I don''t want to die... I don''t want to die... I don''t want to die... I don''t want to die... Well it was nothing Valdr didn''t expect... But he thought he may had overdone it seeing they didn''t even went for isolated area to defecate and simply did it where everyone could see them. This goes to show just how terrified they truly were. Valdr knew he didn''t have time to go to another village if he wanted to be back home before sunrise, and to hunt in this village meant... Slaughtering them all! He placed an animal skin to cover his head like a hoodie and ran toward the village palisade. In a quick blur almost unnoticeable to the human eye he jumped over the palisade and sat down next to the fire, stealthily mixing himself into the crowd. He then calmly observed them, looking to find the prettiest girl of reproductive age among them all. Immediately he noticed a young blue eyes, blond haired girl who looked very young but smelled of delicious blood making him salivate. The girl was unmistakably on her period and Valdr could smell it from tens of meters away. The smell of her warm and sweet menstrual blood was slowly making Valdr escalate into a feeding frenzy. There was no stopping it anymore, Valdr was the unstoppable fist of the Gods. An unwavering force of nature, the apocalypse itself bringing the village to its inevitable doom. The familiar black veins started covering his face announcing an imminent slaughter. His fingers slowly turning into clawed ''shredding appendices''. Then finally, as his eyes finally became black Valdr was already gone in a blur. Ripping a throat here, ripping a heart and a head there... In a flash he went from one village to the other as fast as he could, killing them in the most effective ways he knew about. Since his senses are so sharp, to Valdr it felt like a few minutes but he had in fact annihilated the entire village (35 people) in less than 20 seconds. Then, in one of his most intense feeding frenzy so far he gorged himself with blood until he couldn''t anymore. His belly was so swelled up he looked like he was pregnant of an eight month old baby. This time Valdr was even more satisfied by what he had done. The bodies of the people were place on top of the palisade as if they were clothes placed there to dry. The blood flowing down from their corpses, slowly covering the palisade like paint was a sight of beauty. This time Valdr had made art! Most of all his good mood was helped by the soundtrack playing in the background. It sounded like a rapid drum beat. Ba-dum* Ba-dum* Ba-dum* Ba-dum* Ba-dum* Valdr knew very well what he was listening at, it was the heartbeat of the girl who struck his fancy earlier. He saw her run away as he was slaughtering the other and didn''t do anything about it. He could catch up to her easily after finishing what he was doing but surprisingly the girl hadn''t left the village. She hid herself behind a pile of firewood hoping not to be noticed, but Valdr could see and hear her through anything, this pile of wood was no exception. Like a white and red dot on a black background, there was absolutely no way for him not to know where she was. Normally walking without a sound, Valdr started making his steps heavy for her to hear as he was approaching. Her heart was going crazy the closer he got and to be honest, it was making Valdr ecstatic. He stopped in front of the woodpile and stayed there a while listening to her panicky breathing, filling his lungs with the smell of the blood flowing out of her private part. Without a single sound he then disappeared, then reappeared again on the other side of the woodpile next to the girl who still hadn''t noticed him. Noticing a shadow next to her the girl slowly turned her head to see. What she saw was Valdr, in his normal human appearance but entirely covered in blood from head to toe. ?Young girl? HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!! Valdr a bit annoyed by the loud noise grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up high toward the sky as if she was made out of air. He strangled her until she lost consciousness, then threw her over his shoulder and went back toward his home village. ?Valdr? You''re mine now. All in all a very successful day once again. ---- Many thanks to gcman01 for proofreading this chapter! ---- Chapter 4 - Curse in disguise Dracula: Patient zero Chapter: 4 Curse in disguise ---- Later after that when the girl finally woke up, she was laid on round polished rocks next to what sounded like a riverbed. Yes, ''sounded'' since it was still night and the girl could see nothing in the pitch darkness on the forest. ?Young girl? YHIIIIPPPP!* She jumped backward after feeling a warm breath blowing between her legs. After squinting her eyes to make out what it was, she saw a dark silhouette looking at her without moving or making a sound. It appear this person had been sniffing her private parts while she was unconscious... The feeling or terror was indescribable, she couldn''t move or make a sound. After a short staring contest the dark silhouette spoke to her. ?Valdr? Hmm... Sorry for scaring you... Sometimes... I ... kinda lose control... A little... ?Young girl? ............................... ?Valdr? ........ What is your name? ?Young girl? ............................... ?Valdr? ..... Awww come on, a wife should answer her husband¡¯s questions right? ?Young girl? WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTT????? W..w...w..Wife??????? She said quickly crawling away and hugging her knees close to her chest. ?Valdr? Sighhhh... humm... I saw father hit mother when she was disobedient maybe I should try it.... ?M?va? HIiiiii!!! M?va!!!! My name is M?va!! ?Valdr? Ho! Good good!... My name is Valdrislav! But most call me Valdr....... Would you.... Call me... hubby? He asked in the most awkward way possible. ?M?va? Sob*sob*sob Aaa.A..Are you the monster who killed everyone in my village?... She asked with terror in her eyes. ?Valdr? Of course not !.... hum.. I..f..if I was... Would it hinder my chances at making you like me? She then looked at him with one of the most bizarre facial expression a human can do. By his answer she knew... She knew deep down inside of her that he was the one responsible for the carnage... The one who killed her entire family... Angered she grabbed a big rock near her and threw it will all her strength at Valdr''s head. The shock cracked Valdr''s skull open, making him loose consciousness. Immediately M?va took off running! It was so dark she couldn''t see where she went but the furthest away from this monster was everything she wanted at this point. Back at the river, Valdr regained consciousness after his injury had quickly healed since he was still gorged with blood. One would have expected him to be angry but in fact he was exited. Valdr never expected getting a wife could be a challenge. All his life Valdr only knew physical challenges and now he was confronted with a psychological one. Quickly following her trail, Valdr rapidly caught up to her appearing in front of her in a blur. At first after seeing him she screamed in surprise, not every day do you get to see a dead man coming back to life... Then she simply resigned herself... She had no family, no tribe. She was doomed to die anyway... It was either being a monster''s wife, or dying... Having a strong survival instinct, M?va stopped fighting him from that moment onward. As horrifying as it was, he was all she had now. ?Valdr? ..... mmmm did a say something to anger you? Confused by his question she simply kept quiet. ?Valdr? I''m still not sure if I can be a good husband but I swear not to hurt you anymore... Happy now? ?M?va? Go to hell! She then spat in his face while glaring at him. ?Valdr? What the hell...? Is she broken or are all women that way? He muttered to himself. Seeing as the sun was about to rise he grabbed her, threw her over his shoulder once again and started running toward the village. M?va was completely captivated... They were moving through these dense bushes and forest at a speed that made everything look blurry... Just what was this man...? This man calling himself her husband... From the time she was born, she knew that she was likely to be exchanged or kidnapped by another tribe to become someone''s wife in the future, but Valdr was way too much for her to handle at this point. Certainly he looked human... But everything he did was... inhuman... Certainly he hadn''t show aggression toward her but how long would this last? Was he bringing her home for his next meal? After a while they finally arrived to the biggest village she had ever seen. She immediately knew where she was... She had never came here before but had heard about it. The biggest tribe in the region, everyone knew them. The entire tribe then gathered around Valdr and M?va and started to shout celebratory songs. Everything seemed to happen like her mother had told her... A woman pretending being Valdr''s mother appeared and dragged her to her hut for a long talk where she would explain her everything she needed to know to integrate the tribe. She included explanation about Valdr''s condition and how he was blessed by the gods and everything... Valdr had left to his hut to sleep but instead listened to his mother and wife conversations thank to his superior hearing. The fact was that Valdr was literally at a lost when it came to women... He was expecting her to be happy to get such a powerful husband, and not being pounded in the head with a rock... He needed her to accept him if he wanted to play ''baby making'' with her... If he forced himself on her he was sure to receive a huge scolding from his mother... Still completely confused by the situation he drifted asleep after taking the resolution of asking his mother for advice when he woke up at dusk. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Eventually thank to his mother, M?va warmed up to him and ended up accepting him as her husband and seemed to quickly integrate herself to the tribe. It was a bit awkward since Valdr was living in an opposite schedule from the other tribe members but they ended up finding compromises. She would join him in his hut when he came back from his nightly hunts and do her wife''s duties, and spend some time talking with Valdr. She would then sleep a few hours with him before waking up around midday. It was as if she was working a late shift job. Eventually routine installed itself and two years went by in a flash. Valdr''s father F¨¢lki and younger brother Frode ended up passing away during a hunting accident that killed 8 of their best hunters. Mammoth hunting was well known to be dangerous but it was the first time such a catastrophe had happened. After the loss of her husband and youngest child, his mother Halld¨®ra fell into depression. Refusing to feed herself, Halld¨®ra weakened to the point where she ended up falling sick and died a few month later. With the last member of his family dead, Valdr went through tough times. It had been two years since he had taken wife and she still wasn''t pregnant... Thinking that she was most likely barren, Valdr started getting more and more wives. At some point Valdr had ten wives but none of them was getting pregnant no matter how many times they did it. At this point Valdr understood that is was he, who could not have children. Most likely another price he had to pay for his powers. Five more years passed, Valdr was falling into a deep pit of despair. He was becoming more and more savage and cruel. He ended up ''accidentally'' killing many of his wives during sex and the other tribe members were slowly estranging themselves from him. His two ''once'' best friends Gjafvarer and V¨ªgbj?rn were avoiding him. Valdr even overheard them calling him a monster once. Their mother quickly silenced them by saying that Valdr could hear them from anywhere which scared them to death. He had no family anymore... No friends... His wives hated him, his tribe avoided him and there seemed to be no hope for him to ever create a family of his own in the future. What good is immortality if you have no reasons to live for...? One day without a word, Valdr was gone. He had left the village at night as usual but never returned. There was no way for the tribe members to know what had happened to him but honestly, they were relieved. They didn''t have an immortal monster living among them anymore. [A hundred kilometers away] Valdr was standing at the entry of a cave he had called home the days before. He had spent the last two days trying to end his life. Stabbing every part of his body, drowning, lit on fire, jumping from the highest cliffs, hanging himself... Exposing himself to the sun was the same as starving himself... It dried him up but this couldn''t be considered death. At the first drop of blood touching his corpse he would come back to life sending him back to point A once again... ?Valdr? Great Gods!! Up there in your godly domain. Why did you make me the way I am? What is the purpose of my life? I can''t have a family, can''t feel the warm rays of sun on my skin without suffering... Enslaved by this thirst pushing me to kill those I once considered my kin. Now you would even denies me death? He felt anger invading his body, his eyes turning black and his skin bursting with black and red veins he looked at the setting sun. ?Valdr? You made me a monster... You want me to be a monster... I WILL FUCKING GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT!!!!!!! ARRGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!! Slaughter being the only thing left for him to enjoy in this world, he intended to play his role as humanity''s plague with all his might. From then on, Valdr renounced his humanity and went on slaughtering for the next five centuries. Like the black death of his time, Valdr made human populations dwindles as he swept through the land like a natural disaster. He became well known and feared by all as he slowly made his way south in search of more and more prey. The further south he went, the more human there was... Denser populations and bigger villages. He terrorized the region for a few more decades, sleeping in caves during the day, killing during the night. He was now north of the region known today as Italy. It had totally different vegetation, totally different landscapes. That day Valdr had built a simple shelter to protect himself against the sun as he couldn''t manage to find a cave. One of the inconvenient of not knowing the land around you. He was sound asleep when something suddenly brought him back from his slumber. He could feel and hear thousands of heartbeats coming from all around him... ?Valdr? Shit... I''ve been had! He had fallen into a trap, they had found him and quickly laid an ambush taking advantage of daylight. The attackers then threw torches at his shelter forcing him out in the sunlight. Valdr''s skin started emitting vapor, his strength slowly being eaten away. ?Valdr? I don''t have much time but I¡¯ll make sure to bring as many of you bastard with me before going down ARRRRRRR!!!! In what looked like a movie playing in fast forward, Valdr went from one warrior to the other, dispatching them as efficiently as possible. The light brown sand they were on slowly getting dyed red by the corpses laid all over its surface. An hour later, Valdr didn''t look like a monster anymore... He looked more like a pin cushion... He had spears stuck through every part of his body. As his body was slowly losing the little blood he had left, Valdr fell to his knees... He could feel it... Sweet death was finally coming to liberate him from his sufferings. He felt thankful toward his attackers for ambushing him. Not only was he going to die, but he was granted the honor of dying in combat like a true warrior. As he fell to the ground, the remaining warriors rushed at him with axes and knives and started butchering him. Valdr bit and scratched at every ankles he could get his hand onto but his struggle was hopeless. The warriors then ate and drank Valdr''s flesh and blood hoping to obtain his power for themselves. Like a horde of zombies on a corpse, they ate Valdr''s entire body leaving only bones behind. After their feast, the warriors still worried of seeing Valdr come back to life, crushed his bones into a fine powder and buried the remain on sacred ground. Later, over the area where Valdr''s remain were buried, they built a religious stone formation called a henge. Most of them were made of wood but the most important ones were made out of stones. The most well-known in the ¡°modern days¡± is called Stone henge. Fact is, back then they were everywhere and now, one was used as Valdr''s tomb. For generations after that, legend would be told about this specific henge. Blood shall never be spilled upon these sacred grounds for it would bring back to life the harbinger of death, the immortal man-eating demon, allowing him to once again bring apocalypse to this world. ---- Many thanks to gcman01 for proofreading this chapter! ---- Chapter 5 - A new world Dracula: Patient zero Chapter: 5 A new world ---- [1000 BC] In the city of Felsina near what would become (in modern days) the city of Bologna, North of Italy. In a temple made of a giant stone base and stone columns with luxurious drapery between them serving as a wall and room divider, a man approach a group of elders sitting at a long table at the end of a corridor facing the entry. Once arrived a few meters away from the elders, the man kneeled and bows to show his respect to the visibly important figures sitting ahead of him. The bowing man''s name was Velthur Tlesnasa, an important political figure in the Etruscan civilization. In 1000bc, Rome was still a small colony that territories included no more than 1/10 of Italy. The true rulers of these lands in those days were the Etruscans. Their territory expanded from north to south surrounding the small city of Rome. While the rest of the world was mostly forging bronze, the Etruscans were already mass-producing iron and were master seafarers. They built massive ships capable of transporting twenty tons of cargo across the Mediterranean Sea. Truly a remarkable civilization but let''s go back to Velthur Tlesnasa for now. ?Elder #1? Velthur, what is your reason for visiting us here today? ?Velthur? Great elders, I have most displeasing news to transmit to you... He said showing a serious expression. ?Elder #2? And what bad news may that be? ?Velthur? Some of my men reported discovering a group of individual who worship the Egyptian God of chaos ''Set'' ?Elder #1? Sacrilegious! ?Elder #2? More and more of these pagans keep appearing... ?Velthur? I have knowledge of the location they gather at, to worship under the cover of night. ?Elder #1? Thank you for reporting this to us... We shall take actions aimed at sending a message to those who which to worship those ''foreign Gods''... [Later that day] Velthur is walking through a dark hallway lightened by oil burning torches. Velthur is walking down a set of stairs, then another long hallway. Under the dim light Velthur''s steps are echoing throughout the entire underground complex. After a few minute he finally reach a dark room with a luxurious bed and what looked like a throne carved in wood. Velthur is quickly walking in front of the ''throne'', kneeled and start addressing a dark figure sitting on it. ?Velthur? Master, I have accomplished what you have asked of me. He said still staring at the ground, not daring to look at the dark figure in the eyes. ?Dark figure? Excellent my dear Velthur, you did well. Pack our things! I assume you made preparation for my ship to depart tonight. ?Velthur? Yes master, may I ask where we are heading to? ?Dark figure? We shall take my ship and cross the sea heading south. We need to get as far away as possible from here... ?Velthur? Yes master! Velthur then left in a hurry to execute his orders. The dark figure then reached for a book place on an altar to his left. The incredibly old looking book had pages made out of dried human skin, and written with blood as ink. This book would be known later under the name ''Necronomicon'' the book of the dead. The dark figure then delicately opened the book to a page marked with a golden marker and started reading it out loud, his words echoing inside the deep and dark underground complex. ?Dark figure? ¡±His coming shall be drenched in the blood of men. With chaos and destruction as his mistresses, he shall bring forth dominion to creatures of the night over men.¡± ?Dark figure? You called me an heretic... Someone believing in fantasy, plagued by wishful thinking... We shall now see who was in the wrong. Mwahahahahahaha!* [A few days later] In the dead of night, a group of dark cloaked figures wearing bronze ceremonial masks were slowly gathering in the middle of an ancient stone formation hidden deep in the forest. The figures carrying torches are humming what sounded like religious chant while taking position around a stone altar in the middle. Many bronze bowls holding wine, fruits and different offerings were presented while they were reciting prayers their eyes toward the sky. One of them, wearing a mask representing an animal called a ''Sha*'' approached the altar a chicken in his hand. Sha: It is approximately the size of a fox or a dog. Its ears are squared at the ends, and its stiff, nearly-always upright tail may either be forked, or tipped like the tail of a lion. Its snout slightly curves downward. The deity ''Set'' is often represented with the head of such an animal, and so it is unknown if the creature is truly fictional, or a beast that existed, but is now long extinct. More likely, the animal simply doesn''t exist on this planet, in this dimension, or on this plane of existence anymore, but otherwise, it is a thriving species (as is the case with many supposedly extinct animals). The ''Sha'' masked man then brings the chicken to the altar holding it by the neck, drew out a dagger and stab the chicken through the heart, filling a bronze bowl with it''s blood. Then as the man readied himself for his monologue, Etruscan soldiers started appearing from every direction circling them. These soldiers wore leather and bronze armor and wielded bronze swords and spears. In their left hands, they held a 20kg bronze shield depicting scary figures with tantalizing white eyes. Etruscans excelled at adorning their shields with a convincingly ferocious-looking god. It was used to signal to the opponent that the gods were on the side of the Etruscans. Perhaps the God-On-Shield also served as psychological reinforcement for them. The masked men immediately started panicking and drew daggers while facing toward the soldiers. Then one of the soldiers wearing a luxurious engraved bronze chest plate and helmet coiffed of beautiful red hairs called a ''crest'' stepped forward. Crest*: There are several helmet designs found at Etruscan sites, the most distinctively Etruscan being the so-called ¡°crested helm¡± variety. The crest is fashioned by joining two embossed plates (or laminae) into a high peak pointed crest. The high crest is frequently embossed with decorations. In addition to the Crested Helm a number of other varieties of helms have been found in Etruscan tombs. Often the design is a semi-spherical cap, with no decoration or with appliqu¨¦s. Another variation to the common semi-spherical cap is cheek guards attached by hinges. (Romans will later inspire themselves from these helmet to design their famous Galea (helmets) The important looking soldier then addressed the surrounded cultists who were still in panic. ?Soldier''s leader? In the name of imperium ''Larce Vipinas'', currently elected ruler under this year''s ''Fanum Voltumna*'', I hereby condemn you heretics to death! Fanum Voltumna*: Each Etruscan city state was under the command of important representatives of the city oligarchy. As each city sent delegates once a year to Fanum Voltumna to elect a common leader, this could indicate in times of war when joint operations with other Etruscan cities was planned, a supreme commander (imperium) was elected, but the literary evidence seems to suggest the election of a common leader at Fanum Voltumna was more likely a religious function as Voltumna was the Etruscan chief god. The title of the president of the League is not known and there is no recorded instant of a federal Etruscan army. From the literary evidence it appears an Etruscan army consisting of various city-states did not have an overall unified hierarchical command structure. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ?Soldiers? KILL THE HERETICS!!!! Roared the soldiers. Carnage then occurred, the cultists being outnumbered and competing against armored and armed soldiers couldn''t offer any proper resistance and got annihilated in a few minutes. Having been decimated, the cultists were left lying on the ground, their blood dyeing the dry earth red. Their blood drenched the ground making it turn into a stinky dark brown mud. The soldiers then started gathering the corpses into a pile after looting them of any valuables. They then started pouring oil on them, lighting them on fire preventing the corpses from rotting and transmitting diseases. As the soldiers were gathered around looking at the burning corpses, they failed to notice what was happening behind them under the cover of darkness. The blood drenched soil started swelling, slowly moving up and down. As if the ground itself was alive, movements were perceptible. After a few minutes, as the moon was theatrically starting to emit a reddish hue, a skinless arm suddenly appeared coming out of the ground. Then a head, and a torso... Like a zombie crawling out of his grave, Valdr was digging himself out of the blood soaked ground. He had been brought back to life... Reborn under a crimson moon, Valdr was confused and slowly gathering his thoughts... What was happening? He wondered... Then a soldier who happened to finally look behind him saw a skinless corpse, slowly rising up from his previous crouching position. ?Soldier? Wh..W..wh..w.What is that?.... MONSTER!!!!! All the other soldiers immediately reacted by unsheathing their weapons and turning around to face the menace. As he was suffering the worst pain imaginable from being skinless, Valdr was looking at them in silence. Then opening his mouth wide as his canines were growing and his eyes turning black, Valdr made his move. In a flash Valdr appeared in front of the nearest soldier and thrusted his fist through the man bronze chest plate and rib cage, crushing his heart before finally coming out through the back layer of his bronze plate. The other soldiers awestruck were frozen in place for a few seconds as Valdr quickly moved to the next one shredding heads and limbs to pieces in his path. The soldiers finally composing themselves fought back as hard as they could. After a few minutes of fighting and at the price of many serious injuries, Valdr manages to kill the 30 soldiers. He kept two of them alive since he knew that feeding on live prey would give him more of their memories and knowledge. The weird animal skins they wore to protect themselves had immediately intrigued Valdr. What animal could shine this brightly and be as hard as stone? They also wore strange clothing that seemed to come from a different world. He didn''t recognize anything, the people looked alien to him... There was only confusion in his heart so he hoped to understand a bit more after feeding on his prisoners, which he did quite brutally soon after. Immediately inundated by to many information to quickly understand, Valdr was amazed. The world was not what he once knew... These people had memories and knowledge unimaginable to him back in his days... Mathematics, science, biology, star reading, etiquette, reading, writing, history and more and more.... He only had factional information but was none the less awe struck.... As his body finalized his reconstruction leaving him bald, Valdr was still analyzing his new gained knowledge... Yes Valdr was bald... The body reconstructs itself but hairs need to grow at their normal speed... He was naked, covered in blood and mud, looking delirious as he laughed and showed various confusing facial expressions. Valdr was amazed, the world was now a much more interesting place to be. He had memories of past and present civilizations, major wars and religious/superstitious beliefs. He remembered clearly dying as someone with no desire to live on but in this new world... Power wasn''t only through the body but also through politics, money, celebrity, status, and through the mind of geniuses and revolutionary men.... Valdr was now hooked... Knowledge... Is something he wanted. He wanted to know everything, all the mysteries of this world he wanted to conquer. But then another feeling went through his mind. While Valdr had been dead he could remember being conscious in some other page of existence. He was there, yet nowhere. He was conscious, yet unconscious... It felt like eternity but he had a lot of time to think about his life... His biggest regret was to throw away his humanity and let himself being manipulated by the Gods. His most vivid memory was of him taking the resolution to never let himself be manipulation in any way. He was going to sober up, take control of his destiny and if possible regain his humanity. And from what he knew so far, this was the world to do just that. Valdr looked around, the moon was high up¡­ He only has a few hours... In a flash he disappeared, running south looking for a shelter before sunrise. He ran and ran, then suddenly stopped... Up ahead he could feel the highest concentration of human he had ever felt in his life. A town on a scale unimaginable back in his days... As he wanted to control his blood urges, it probably was best for him to stay away from such a place... Even though he felt a powerful attraction to it... Curiosity? Or simply thirst... His entire soul wanted him to go there. Luckily, Valdr was well fed at this moment so he mustered his courage and circled around the town. (Which truly was a city) As the sun was soon to raise Valdr started to panic a little... In this new world, there was nowhere to hide... Humans were everywhere. Having failed to find a ''lair'' he was now worry about his chances of survival. He then turned his attention to a relatively big house on the outskirt of town, isolated in a swampy area. Valdr quickly ran there and felt the presence of one human sleeping inside. He needed to simply kill the person and sleep there for a day but he now wanted to avoid acting too harshly... The door was locked, so Valdr circled the house looking for an entry point that he found almost immediately. There was an opening up in the corner of the roof leading to an attic. Valdr crawled in and took in his surrounding... The attic was dusty, many weird contraptions were stacked everywhere. There were bales of hay, chests filled with clotting and other miscellaneous items. Looking through the wood plank, Valdr could see an old bearded man sleeping in a hammock down below. The house was filled with strange sculptures, potteries, manuscripts and other weird contraptions. Everything Valdr looked at was a mystery... Something he had never seen had no idea what it was or what it was used for. Seeing as the sun was going up, Valdr scattered a bit of hay around making himself a bed and went to sleep still overflowed by his new found partial knowledge. His brain still on overdrive, Valdr couldn''t find sleep... The man eventually got up, and started crafting intricate potteries made out of clay. Valdr who couldn''t find sleep, observed the man craftsmanship attentively instead. Observing everything through the cracks of the wooden planked ceiling, Valdr was mesmerized by the man finesse and abilities. Then later that day, the man placed his potteries into a big furnace and seemed to be preparing for something. A while later, a young boy came running and entered without knocking as if he owned the place. ?Young boy? Teacher Quintus! Teacher Quintus! ?Quintus? There you are Sethre!! Quickly take your place... Today I will teach you the basics of mathematics. ?Sethre? Awwwwww Said the young boy looking disapointed. ?Quintus? Hahaha if you still can''t see the necessity for mathematics, then that means that you are still immature young man. Hearing that the young Sethre quickly took a seat while pouting. Valdr''s interest was piqued, if he listened to the old man, he could apparently learn many things... Obviously Valdr spoke only a broken version of the language thanks to what he had learned from his last meals memories but was still lacking when it came to normal conversations. Doing the best he could, Valdr listened to the old man teaching from the attic, absorbing every bit of information he could understand. While the young boy, Sethre, could barely keep his eyes opened at the old man teachings, Valdr was glued to his words. This old man, Quintus would become Valdr''s second teacher after his deceased father. ---- Many thanks to gcman01 for proofreading this chapter! ---- Chapter 6 - Vladus Tlesnasa rebirth Dracula: Patient zero Chapter: 6 Vladus Tlesnasa rebirth ---- Quintus Tlesnasa was a 54 years old man living in the outskirts of the city named Felsina. Originally from Rome, Quintus ended up moving into Etruscan territories to avoid execution. The Romans judged his work on human anatomy as the work of a heretic. He had been living a simple life, making a living out of his potteries and artworks. Recently he even supplemented his revenue by teaching the neighbor¡¯s son. Their family was not rich, but for a little fee, Quintus was more than happy to teach the young man. Having no family, no children... Life was lonely to say the least, so the young boy¡¯s presence once a day was more than welcomed. That day was like the others, pottert making, then while the pottery is cooking in the kiln, teach the young lad writing, reading, mathematics and other various subject. Quintus was more than a simple scholar, he had been thirsty for knowledge all his life. He had read most of the books in existence, learned many languages, and studied every subject as if they were essential to his life. When the young boy left, Quintus took his pottery out of the oven and placed them on a table. He grabbed his painting material and started painting magnificent designs on them. Some were scenes depicting banquets, other were scenes of victory in battles. The old man truly was a magnificent artist. After that, the old men took a clay tablet and inscribed a few mathematical problems for his young student to complete the next day. Once he was finished, the old man crawled into his hammock and went to sleep. Another uneventful day, but being uneventful didn''t mean bad... It was better if nothing happened than having Romans coming for your head. The following morning Quintus got up, and as usual went to start making pottery. He was presently working on a beautiful amphora*. Amphora*: An amphora (English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container of a characteristic shape and size, descending from at least as early as the Neolithic Period. Amphorae were used in vast numbers for the transport and storage of various products, both liquid and dry, but mostly for wine. It is most often ceramic, but examples in metals and other materials have been found. As he was working on the handles, he saw something from the corner of his eyes that didn''t belong there. It was a small drinking cup made out of clay... Very poorly made but it had an original shape to it... Quintus having never made such a shaped cup knew it wasn''t his, nor anyone he could thing of. Immediately Quintus went to check if he had forgotten to lock the door, but it was properly locked... A bit puzzled he ended up shrugging it off, as there was no time to ponder about such an unimportant matter. Then as usual, he made pottery, placed them in the furnace and waited for Sethre to arrive. ?Sethre? Teacher Quintus! I''m here!!! ?Quintus? Good. Come I have a little test for you today. Saying that, Quintus grabbed the clay tablet on his desk intending to give it to Sethre for him to complete but he immediately stopped in his tracks as he was looking at the tablet. Someone had completed it... The answers were not all correct, and the handwriting was horrendous but the one who had completed it had definitely thought carefully about the problems. Quintus doubted that even Sethre could give such interesting answers. Why would someone enter his home at night to make pottery, answer mathematics questions and simply leave without stealing anything..? Quintus noted the problems that the mysterious person had gotten wrong on another clay tablet, and then erased the answer before giving it to Sethre to complete. Suddenly as Sethre was completing the test, there seemed to be a commotion outside. Quintus went outside to see what it was about and saw two of his neighbor having a heated conversation. Apparently one of them had found some of his livestock horrifyingly mutilated in the morning. A wild predatory animal was visibly on the loose and needed to be taken care of. Apparently the animals were so violently shredded to pieces that it seemed more likely to be the work of a bear rather than a wolf or a big cat. Better make sure to be inside before sundown, thought Quintus to himself as he walked back to his house. Eventually Sethre finished the test, so Quintus went on to teach him a bit more on how to read certain characters. After the young boy left, Quintus went to his furnace to get his pottery out as usual. Without knowing why, Quintus had cooked the foreign cup as well and placed it on the table opposite to the one holding his own potteries. As usual he painted them and placed them on a drying rack for the night. The entire day, Quintus had been puzzled by the mysterious intruder actions so he decided to make another test, but this time about what had been learned today. Then he went to bed trying to subtlety staying awake and catch the intruder on the act. After a few hours there was still nothing happening and it was becoming difficult for Quintus to stay awake. A few hours later as the sun was getting up, Quintus woke up. ?Quintus? Crap! I fell asleep... Quintus then quickly ran to his work-area and had a look around. The new test was perfectly completed with almost no mistake in the answers, and even more surprising was the big amphora laid on a table. It was not the work of a professional but was surprisingly well done. Actually it was an almost exact replica of the one he had made the day before. Then, the day went as usual but Quintus thoughts were now exclusively turned toward the ghost living in his house. When the young Sethre left, Quintus went to get the pottery out of the furnace as usual and once again placed the ghost¡¯s pottery together on another table. He stayed there, looking at them with questioning eyes. From that day onward, Quintus started acting strangely. He was speaking out loud as if he was talking to the ghost, teaching him about his mistakes and how to fix them. One day he took the clay tablet, and corrected the answers while giving explanations out loud. He then wrote new questions about various subjects he had talked about so far and placed it on his desk. Then the weirdest part began. ?Quintus? Ho. no.! I. Forgot. to. Buy. Some. Important... stuff.... I. Will. Need. To. go. out. And. Buy some... of. that. stuff... This. Will. Probably. Take. me. at. Least. an. hour. Haa. Well. Gotta. do. What. You. Gotta. do... He awkwardly said in a loud voice before leaving the house. Valdr who was still in the attic waited until Quintus was far enough before opening the hatch leading to the main floor. He was learning at a very fast pace and was already ahead of the young boy coming there everyday. Valdr took the stick used to write and quickly completed the test. This time it was mathematics and words spelling. Then Valdr could hear foot step rapidly approaching, so he quickly jumped through the hatch and closed it behind him. There was no ladder leading to the hatch but that wasn''t an obstacle to Valdr. Quintus quickly entered the house and ran to get the clay tablet. It was already completed... He had been gone only 15 minutes... Not only that but the way the answer were written showed that the person who did it had learned from him. Now convince that there was someone hiding in or around his house, Quintus started turning everything upside down looking for the stranger living with him. He looked under, around the house and in every possible hiding spots but couldn''t find anything. Then Quintus slowly lifted his head up and looked at the ceiling. ?Valdr? Ho crap! Thought Valdr. Quintus rapidly brought a ladder to climb to the attic. He opened the hatch and peered all around with only his head through the hole. Not seeing anything he got up and started looking around. There was straw scattered all around but except that, no sign of anything being disturbed. After looking everywhere, Quintus was unable to find anything to answer his questions about the strange ghost living with him. What Quintus didn''t know was that Valdr was in the attic with him at that moment, but moving at high speed without making a sound. He simply kept running around making sure to always be out of his line of sight by staying behind him. Valdr was surprised at how easy it was, he didn''t remember being this fast before... Also those last nights during his hunts, Valdr felt more powerful than ever as if there was nothing he couldn''t do. Even without human blood he was overflowing with power. Little did he know, Valdr being born in 10,000BC was now over 9000 years old. Also, with vampires growing stronger as they get older, Valdr was not the same vampire he once was. His current powers couldn''t be compared to when he was only a few hundred years old. Because of that he could feel many thing he didn''t understood. For example, he could feel some presence that seemed incredibly far away. As if they were part of him, or people closely related to him. At first he thought that maybe it was some other part of his body having been scattered across the earth but the more he pondered about it the more he considered these presences to be something more significant. He had also discovered that he could see through the eyes of some nocturnal creatures if he concentrated hard enough. He still wasn''t sure how it worked exactly, but last night he had seen through the eyes of a bat flying through the sky in a giant flock of them. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Valdr felt as if he could somehow control them, having them spy for him if needed. But he still needed a lot of practice to understand how it all worked. Being so much more powerful was also one of the reasons as to how he had managed to resist his urges for blood. He had fed exclusively on animals blood for a few days and was slowly getting accustomed to it... Ok to be perfectly honest, Valdr had relapse a few time... But killing five humans in three days was very little compared to the millions he once killed, so he was still proud of his progresses. Turning his attention back to the old Quintus who was visibly at a lost, Valdr wondered if he should show himself to him. If it wasn''t for him being unable to go out in the sunlight, he would have pretended to be a normal human, but with his condition it was a lot more complicated to pull off. ?Quintus? I know you can hear me!....... Who are you?..... What is the reason pushing you to hide from me?........ You know whatever you are, Illyrian, Carthaginian, Celt, Germanic, Goth, Slav, Roman, Greek.... I don''t care. Whoever you are, if you don''t wish me harm you shouldn''t have a reason to hide from me... [...] Then giving a long sigh, Quintus turned around to head toward the furnace. ?Quintus? HAAAA!!!!!! Quintus almost fell on his ass as he saw Valdr standing right behind him. He had approached him without a single sound and was standing there without moving staring at him. Valdr was naked and incredibly dirty, covered with mud, blood and everything else you can imagine. The two men stayed perfectly silent and stared at each other for what seemed like hours. ?Quintus? Are you the one I have been looking for all this time? Valdr simply tilted his head to the question. ?Quintus? Is that blood? Are you all right? Why aren''t you wearing clothes? ?Valdr? .................. ?Quintus? What is your name? ?Valdr? ..................Valdr. Finally hearing an answer, Quintus suddenly became exited. ?Quintus? Vla.. Varl... Vral... Vlard... hum... Never heard such a name... Where are you from? To that, Valdr simply pointed north. ?Quintus? Hoo! Are you Celt?? Valdr who didn''t know what Celts were simply shrugged his shoulder. ?Quintus? Never-mind... It doesn''t matter. Wait for me I will warm you some water to wash yourself... You can''t be seen looking like this... Quintus then warmed up a bucket of water for Valdr to clean up, and even gave him new clothes to wear. It was a white garment called a tebenna, which is the most common male garment. Similar to the Greek chlamys, the tebenna was a long cloak that was draped over the left shoulder and then wrapped around the torso under the right arm. It was often decorated with clavi, stripes of color that indicated the wearer''s status or rank in society. The tebenna is thought to be the model for the Roman toga, and Romans also adopted the use of clavi. ?Quintus? Hoo this suits you quite well.. You look like a noble or something hahaha. ?Valdr? ....Noble? ?Quintus? Never-mind that... Are you hungry? I have some dried meat hanging over there. He said pointing at a big piece of dried mean hanging from the ceiling. ?Valdr? No need... I don''t eat solid food. Hearing this Quintus showed a puzzled expression but quickly brushed it off as someone having bad teeth. It wasn''t that rare to see people with so many cavities that they couldn''t chew solid food anymore. From that day, Valdr kept visiting the old man everyday, learning everything the old man had to teach him. How to act in society, mathematics, calligraphy, philosophy, sociology, physic, etiquette, biology and everything else you can thing off. Quintus always found strange Valdr ability to simply vanish when he looked away for more than two seconds, he also never found where he was hiding during the day. In exchange for teaching him, Valdr was doing some chores around the house but strangely he always did them at night. Quintus wasn''t sure whether he had a good reason for it, maybe he was hiding from some people looking for him. Quintus knew the feeling, Rome had wanted his head for a few years already so he wasn''t a stranger to the concept of hiding from pursuers. As strange of a relationship as it was, two years went by in a flash. Valdr was now fully adapted to this new world and was now confident in his ability to blend in as a normal Etruscan citizen. Quintus also told him many things about the world and about his home, Rome... To help him blend in, Quintus gave Valdr a new name fitting of his new environment. A name like Valdrislav would immediately be perceived as a foreign name and attract attention. So from now on, Valdr was to be called Vladus Tlesnasa. Giving him the same family name as him was a blatant sign of affection from the old man toward Vald*... I mean Vladus. [Carthaginians territories, South coast of the Mediterranean sea.] Velthur was walking at fast pace toward a dark room in a big villa* situated on the seashore. It was a beautiful villa* surrounded with palm trees and marble sculptures. Villa*: (especially in continental Europe) a large and luxurious country residence. A large country house of Roman times, having an estate and consisting of farm and residential buildings arranged around a courtyard. ?Velthur? Master, I have returned. ?Dark figure? Finally! Speak! What news do you bring? How many thousands, millions of death so far? mwahahahah* ?Velthur? ....... Hhmmm... Nothing of the sort seem to be happening... ?Dark figure? WHAT? THIS CAN''T BE POSSIBLE! I DEFINITIVELY DECIPHERED THE SACRED TEXT CORRECTLY!!!!! Filled with anger the man was throwing objects in all directions. ?Velthur? Hmm Master... I think you may have succeeded... ?Dark figure? How so!? If he had been resurrected, there would be corpses all over the country by now!!!!! ?Velthur? I have received information that the pagans as well as the soldiers sent to execute them had been brutally dismembered by what seemed to be a wild animal that night.... After hearing this the dark figure bad mood suddenly lightened up. ?Dark figure? Really? Huhuhuhuhuuhu* I see I see.... Then... Maybe he wasn''t a senseless killing machine after all??.... Even better... Could he be learning to live in this world? Could he be... Preparing for something? HeahahahaHHAhahaHAHah!* Velthur!!! ?Velthur? Yes master? ?Dark figure? Prepare my ship!!.... It may finally be time for me to meet with God... Mwahahahahaha* ---- Many thanks to gcman01 for proofreading this chapter! ---- Chapter 7 - Head for a head Dracula: Patient zero Chapter: 7 Head for a head ---- The old man Quintus was asleep, Vladus had finished cutting the fire wood and was now on his way to feed. Vladus had a large distance to cover as he was now feeding as far away as possible from Quintus'' home to avoid bringing him heat from the people tracking ''the bear''. This time he set his sights on a lone horse awaiting the return of its owner. Vladus quickly broke its neck and started sucking on a big and delicious artery. After drinking for five minutes, he was now full and since he could hear footsteps approaching, he decided it was enough for tonight. So he started running back to Quintus'' home, trying to catch a bit of sleep since he was now mostly up during the day. As long as he avoided sunlight, all was good. Even Quintus seemed to understand Vladus'' aversion to sunlight and didn''t question it. As he neared Quintus¡¯ home, the smell of smoke and blood came to his nose. Immediately worried Vladus accelerated his pace, and when he finally saw Quintus¡¯ house... It was ablaze... Burning intensely with flames reaching the roof. Vladus quickly ran inside alerted by the smell of blood but what he saw inside, was what he feared the most. Quintus was lying on the floor in a puddle of his own blood, headless. Now breathing heavily with his eyes turning pitch black, Vladus let out a roar that had nothing human about it. It would have frozen the blood in anyone''s veins. ?Vladus? ROOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!! As fast as lightning Vladus went outside and lifted his nose high up, sniffing... Trying to pick up his teacher''s sent. They took his head... This would become their downfall. Finally finding the direction they had gone toward Vladus disappeared in a blur. He entered the brain of all the bats living in the area, and sent swarms of them in all directions, looking for one or more people on horses. He quickly found what he was looking for. There were three horsemen riding away from Vladus¡¯ position at high speed. In the blink of an eye Vladus was already on an interception course. He sent swarms of bats at them making them fall from their horses. The horses panicked and left them behind alone in the woods with an angry and vengeful Vladus already there, looking at them. The forest was dark, lightened only by a few rays coming from the moon peering through the tree canopy. The warm soil reacting to the cold wind emitted a low hanging fog reaching up to the knees. The bats finally gone the three men were catching their breath. ?Vladus? Hello gentlemen.... ?Man #1? Who is it? Where are you? Said the man anxiously. ?Vladus? I know you killed him. This time the voice came from behind them making them jump and quickly turn around. ?Vladus? I came for his head. The voice had changed location once again. ?Man #2? Hahahahaha then why don''t you come here and try to get it. Thump!* Reacting the the sound Man #1 and man #2 quickly turned around. Man #3 was lying on the ground, headless. Now really panicking, the two remaining men positioned themselves back to back with their swords drawn. ?Vladus? Oops... Sorry about that, looks like I got the wrong one. You can have it back... Man #3''s head suddenly came flying at man #1 and #2 making both swivel in the same direction. Before the head even reached them Vladus was already behind them and knocked man #1 unconscious. Vladus then caught #3''s head with one hand as he broke man #2 arms rendering him incapable of holding onto his sword. ?Man #2? HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaa!!!!! He screamed in pain, his arms bent in a way they shouldn''t. ?Vladus? Now now... You see you are alive because I have very important questions that need answers... ?Man #2? HAAAAAAAaaaahhhhh! The man simply couldn''t bear the pain. What a weakling thought Vladus... ?Vladus? Well then, let''s do this the easy way then I guess... I need you to concentrate on who ordered you to kill Quintus. Vladus then grabbed #2''s face, digging his claws into his skull. He then opened his mouth as wide as he could, his fangs grew longer and his eyes turned black. Vladus ferociously ripped the man¡¯s throat to shreds and feasted upon his blood. Vladus could see the man''s recent memories, he saw everything. The imperium, Larce Vipinas... The great imperium himself had ordered Quintus'' murder? Vladus then did the same with man #1 and got more interesting information. A way to truly enact revenge. Vladus wanted ''the imperium'' to suffer to the point of wanting to kill himself, only then would he be satisfied. Quintus was his only family... Every-time he loved someone, he ended up losing them... There was a huge price to pay if he was to ever quench his anger, and man #1''s memories would help him do just that. Vladus was so shamelessly exited about his plan for revenge that he had almost forgotten about Quintus'' head. Thank to his sense of smell, he found it without looking around too much. He just followed his nose and had been led to a leather purse attached to one of the men¡¯s belt. Inside of it was Quintus''s head, still showing his last expression before dying. ?Vladus? ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRR Buhuhuuhsob*sob*sob* He stayed there a few minutes on his knees, mourning Quintus while holding his head in his arms. Since the sun was soon to rise, he would have to wait before burying it... But for now, he had a more urgent matter to attend to... He needed a new place to sleep. [A while later] On the outskirt of Felsina city, a young woman was riding her horse in the company of 8 mounted soldiers acting as bodyguards. Being like a bird in a golden cage, the young lady named Velia was confined to the walls of her father''s mansion and could only go out during her daily horse ride. Those rides were her only escape from this suffocating life she had been born into. Certainly she was rich, had everything she wished for, except the freedom to see the world. She was the stereotypical locked up princess born with a silver spoon in her mouth. They were soon to reach the city of Felsina when Velia stopped to admire the sunset under the watchful eyes of her guards. ?Guard? Milady, it''s already dark outside, we need to make haste before your father starts worrying. ?Velia? I know Aranth... But can you blame me for wanting to admire the sunset? ?Aranth? Of course not milady, I wish you could be more free to do as you like, but your father''s orders are a priority. We also need to cross a small forest before reaching Felsina and bandits may hide in there during the night. ?Velia? Sighhh... I understand... But I still got to ride a few minutes under the moonlight... I am pleased enough... Let us go back now! ?Aranth? Yes! Milady! The group then left in a hurry, riding like the wind and entered the dark forest bordering Felsina city. As they were hurrying through the forest, a flock of bats coming out of nowhere suddenly swarmed them making the horses panic. Lady Velia horse took off running with her on top of it while the guards¡¯ horses were rearing uncontrollably, trying to get rid of the bats. The guards being unable to control their horses could do nothing as they watched the lady they were meant to protect, disappearing into the darkness of the forest all alone. ?Velia? HIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!! Help!!!!!!!!!!! Someone help me!!! She yelled in panic, incapable of making her panicking horse stop. Her horse ran and ran deep into the forest before calming down and finally stopping in the middle of nowhere. Lady Velia was trying to make out her surroundings, trying to find her way back to her guards. ?Velia? Hello??? Someone??? Aranth??? I''m here!!! But nobody answered making the young lady panic as she was now totally lost and alone in a dark forest. GRROowwwwllllllll* Out of nowhere, a huge gray wolf appeared on top of a small hill. The horse immediately panicked and threw the young lady off of his back before disappearing in the darkness of the forest, running away for his life. ?Velia? Aouchhh! The young lady had sprained her ankle and was now face to face with the starving wolf, unable to run. ?Velia? Sniff* sniff*.. WannNNN!!!! I''m scared!! HELP SOMEONE!!!! Waaaaaannnnnnnnnnnn!* The gray wolf ran towards her and as he was about to sink it''s teeth into her, Slash!* The wolf''s head went flying up in the air, the body simply falling like a stone on the floor. Lady Velia was lying on the floor, her eyes closed awaiting death but nothing happened... She slowly opened her eyes and saw the wolf lay next to her, dead... Then quickly noticing a dark shadow to her left, she jumped back and looked at what it was. It was a young man around 20 years old, a bloody sword in hand, looking back at her. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ?Vladus? Ufff... That was a close call... Are you alright miss? ?Velia? WANNNNNNNNNNnnnnnnnnnnn!!!! I was so scaredddd sob*sob*sob* Vladus knelled next to her, and held her in his arms close to his chest. ?Vladus? Everything''s alright... I''m with you now you''re safe. ?Velia? Snif snif... T..t.thank you... sniff* sniff.*.. W..who are you? She asked while still trying to calm herself. ?Vladus? My name is Vulci Tlesnasa, a traveler that luckily happened to pass by and hear your call for help. And who are you? ?Velia? Velia Vipinas... Thank you again for saving my life. ?Vladus? Don''t mention it, it''s only natural for a man to save such a beautiful lady from danger. Velia slightly blushed at Vladus¡¯ words. ?Vladus? Are you from Felsina? She nodded to confirm Vladus assumption. ?Vladus? Alright, come with me, I will escort you back home. Said Vladus extending his hand for her to hold onto. ?Velia? I am most grateful to you but... I think I sprained my ankle. She embarrassingly said. ?Vladus? I see... Then there''s no helping it... Apologies for my boldness. Said Vladus as he lifted her in his arms like a princess. ?Velia? WA.w.awa.wa..What are you doing???!. She said in a panicky voice. ?Vladus? Don''t mind it, we just need to get you home safe and since you are very light this is the easiest way... She simply blushed and stayed silent. Vladus walked with her in his arms while making sure the guards could not reach them by using his bats to send them in all directions. After an hour of walking, Vladus finally reached the Vipinas'' estate with Velia safely in his arms. ?Guard? LADY VELIA!!!!! Are you alright??!! Who is this man!??? LET GO OF LADY VELIA YOU SCUM! ?Velia? SHUT UP! And drop that sword immediately!!!! This man saved my life and carried me all the way here since I sprained my ankle! I won''t allow you to disrespect him! ?Guard? S.s.S..Sorry lady Velia... The Imperium, your father was very worried you need to go see him right now. Some guards took her from Vladus arms and led her toward the mansion. ?Vladus? I shall leave then, be well lady Velia. Vladus then turned around ready to leave when lady Velia suddenly spoke to him. ?Velia? That won''t do... You saved my life, I shall have my father reward your courage. Come with us. ?Vladus? That won''t be necessary lady Ve- ?Velia? I won''t accept no for an answer.. Come with us sir Vulci ?Vladus? If...If you insist lady Velia, I shall go then... Hearing that, Lady Velia showed a satisfied smile. They entered through the giant double front door accompanied by many guards. The inside of the mansion was more than lavish... There were paintings, sculptures, and everything seemed to be inlaid in gold and silver. They walked down the long and poorly lit corridor before finally reaching a massive brass door with an intimidating face sculpted on it. Like on the warriors shields, this was the face of a God aimed a scaring their enemies at the sight of it. ?Guard? Imperium Larce Vipinas, Lady Velia as returned! They opened the door and behind it was a giant room. At the back of the room was a man sitting on a giant chair covered with gold. Seeing Lady Velia, the man got up and ran toward her. ?Imperium Larce Vipinas? Velia!!!!!! My baby girl!! They both hugged each other for a few seconds before the man''s attention turned toward Vladus. ?Imperium Larce Vipinas? Who is this? He said while throwing a suspicious look at Vladus. ?Velia? Father, this is sir Vulci Tlesnasa. He saved my life from a dangerous wolf earlier... He wanted to leave but I insisted for him to come and receive a reward. ?Imperium Larce Vipinas? Is that true? Sir Vulci Tlesnasa I owe you the life of my precious daughter... Ask what you want and I shall grant it to you. Said the Imperium while sitting back on his throne. Then thinking a little about something the Imperium asked: ?Imperium Larce Vipinas? Vulci Tlesnasa.... Why does this name sound familiar to me..? ?Vladus? Ho that''s because you knew my teacher, the man who gave me this name... You see he was my family, the man I cared for the most in this world. Sadly, he died not long ago... You must understand how I felt since you also have someone precious to you... Someone you call family... Said Vladus while looking at lady Velia. ?Imperium Larce Vipinas? Hummm... My condolence... This must have been hard on you... May I inquire on your teacher''s name? ?Vladus? ....... Tlesnasa.... Quintus Tlesnasa. The Imperium eyes grew big after hearing the familiar name. Vladus quickly moved next to Lady Velia, ripped her head off and threw it on the Imperium laps. ?Vladus? I came to return the favor. ?Imperium Larce Vipinas? NOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo!!!!!! GUARDSSS!!!!!!!!! When the guards finally reacted, Vladus was already long gone. He had disappeared out of thin air like magic immediately after finishing what he had came to do. ?Imperium Larce Vipinas? My...m...My baby girl... NOOoooo sob*sob*sob FIND HIM! WHOEVER HE IS! BRING ME HIS HEAD ON A SPIKE! The following days, thousands of guards roamed the country looking for a man fitting Vladus description, but Vladus was already long gone... This country had nothing to offer him anymore so he left with no regret after finally avenging his mentor, Quintus. Vladus was heading north, toward the lands that had been his birthplace long, long ago. Today it was Celts territories, Vladus¡¯ descendants... Not that he knew any of this but he was heading toward one of those presences he could feel all around the world... He still wondered what he had in common with them and his curiosity simply got the best of him. Were they cursed like him? Then could they feel his presence the same way he could sense them? Were they related to his past in any way? Guided by the stars and the felt ''presence'', Vladus moved at a fast pace during the nights, anxious of what he would encounter after finally reaching his target''s location. Around a month later, Vladus finally reached Gaul. In the Celt¡¯s territories the Gauls were among the fiercest warrior in the lands. (The Gauls are the French ancestors.) They were no better than barbarians in the eyes of the more civilized countries like Etruscany, Carthage and the likes. Simply take the way they honored their warriors fallen in battles. The way they honored them was by severing their heads, and keeping them on top of poles as if they were still alive. And instead of burying their bodies, they were building massive wooden frames on which they attached the headless bodies in a standing position with armors, weapons and shields equipped. By doing this they created what looked like an army of headless warriors in standing position ready to attack. (Don''t ask me what they were thinking... It''s pretty fucked up but it''s historical fact.) But there was one thing that immediately came to Vladus'' mind... Upon his arrival, he immediately felt at home there. ---- Many thanks to gcman01 & nf_zeta for proofreading this chapter! ---- Chapter 8 - Ultimate predator Dracula: Patient zero Chapter: 8 Ultimate predator ---- Upon arrival in Celt¡¯s territories, Vladus immediately felt familiar with what he could see... The climate and forest felt familiar and foreign at the same time. He was now close enough to notice that the presence he had felt wasn''t alone... Whatever they were, there were three of them. But one of them was visibly different since he was overshadowing the other two with his powerful aura. He was still far from the town but the presence seemed to be coming from near enough to see the town. The Celt¡¯s territory was a lot more archaic than the country he had just left... The streets were made out of dirt and mud, covered with horses¡¯ feces and God knows what else... There was a pungent smell of urine and rotting meat floating about that Vladus noticed even from a kilometer away... The houses were standard wooden homes with sloped roofs preventing snow from pilling up to high and destroying the roof under it''s weight. Farmlands and small farmer houses surrounded the town. This town counted around 5000 inhabitants, which even by those days¡¯ standards was quite small... Vladus thought to himself, there is no way three people ''like me'' can survive on such a small population... So what were they? They simply couldn''t be like him... Also, he was now only a kilometer away from the presence¡¯s location and he/she still hadn''t move in a way that showed they had noticed him... Did it mean that he was the only one capable of sensing their presence? Maybe they couldn''t sense him the way he could... Since the night was mostly over, Vladus decided to stay put in a nearby cave to wait for the next night before getting closer. He needed to make sure to have enough hours of darkness ahead of him before making a move. Always be prepared to the unexpected. [The night after] Vladus woke up after a somewhat good night of sleep since the cave he had chosen wasn''t too humid. He quickly ran to the top of the hill and analyzed the situation. The three presences still hadn''t moved, neither did they show any sigh of knowing Vladus presence there. So he quickly moved in and stopped just before entering the small town. The most imposing of the three presences immediately started moving in on his position, finally showing that he/she had sensed him coming. Vladus slowed down and started walking in the middle of the deserted street as if he owned the place. The presence suddenly stopped on top of a three-floor building near Vladus¡¯s position, visibly watching him. Vladus reaction was to turn and slowly walk toward a dark alley where they could talk in peace. Immediately after Vladus entered the alley, the presence jumped down the roof and onto the other side of the dark alley facing Vladus. [...] ?Vladus? How long to do intend to pretend as if didn''t know you''re there... ?Unknown man? ...... This is MY territory, allocated to me by the elder''s council! I have the law on my side and if you don''t want a stake in your heart you better walk the fuck away form here! ?Vladus? Council? Elders? Law? Stake in the heart?.... I have no clue what you are talking about but may I ask what you are? Do you perhaps drink blood as well? ?Unknown man? ........Da fuq? You don''t know anything? You don''t even know what we are? ?Vladus? What we areeee???? Said Vladus, his eyes filled with question marks. ?Unknown man? SIghhhhhh let me guess... An orphan? ?Vladus? ..... No.. I grew up with both my parents... ?Unknown man? Not those vulgar humans!!!! I am talking about your maker!!! Who is he? The one who turned you into a vampire? ?Vladus? Maker?.... Vampire???.... ?Unknown man? You gotta be fucking kidding me! Your maker has broken who know how many of our laws by turning, then abandoning you... I though the council had resolved this matter long ago... ?Vladus? Turning?..... ?Unknown man? Sighhhhh I can tell, you''re going to be a pain in the ass... I don''t want you here but if I let a baby vampire going around without any education then I would be no better than your deadbeat maker... sighhhhh ?Vladus? ....???.... ?Markus? My name is Markus, a 550 years old vampire. For a vampire, the older they are the stronger they get... Being as old as me is prideful and should deserve respect from babies like you... From now on, I will teach you all you need to know to live as a vampire... So you will call me teacher from now on. Once I finished teaching you everything I know, I want you the fuck out of my territories. ?Vladus? .......... Vladus simply remained silent. ?Markus? Sighhh look like I¡¯ll need to teach you how to respect your elders as well... If you don''t show respect to the elders you won''t live long as a vampire. ?Vladus? You keep calling us vampires... What is a vampire? ?Markus? Creatures of the night. Blessed with unimaginable powers, balanced by many curses preventing us from taking over the world. We also need blood to survive like leaches... I will keep teaching you all you need to know but let''s do this somewhere else... Here who know how many ears are listening... ?Vladus? None... Except us. ?Markus? .... It may seem that way but we never know... Come, follow me... He then started walking toward a large mansion on the border of town. Vladus was a bit puzzled, it was easy to sense the presence of anyone possibly listening in on them, but maybe there were more things he didn''t know about... Or maybe his sensing abilities were simply far superior to theirs. Whatever it was, it didn''t matter. Vladus and Markus reached the house in no time and as they were about to enter the house, Vladus felt the two other presences (He now knew to be vampires) inside the mansion but simply kept quiet about it. Why was he like ''MY territories'' and stuff, yet had two other friends with him... And how could the three of them survive in such a small town? They entered and Markus immediately walked down the hallway into a living room filled with wooden furniture. Nothing luxurious here... Markus then sat on a chair and offered a similar chair to Vladus. ?Markus? How long have you been a vampire for ? ?Vladus? Uhhh.... No idea.... ?Markus? I can''t blame you... The first days are really confusing and it''s hard to keep track of time... You must be around a few weeks old max from what you know about our kind... ?Vladus? ........ ?Markus? So... First things you should know... If your heart gets destroyed, you''re dead... If your head is severed, you''re dead... If you are exposed to sunlight for to long, you''re dead... ?Vladus? Da fuq? So weak... You mean if I rip your head off you''re truly going to die? Vlad wondered how this could be true since he couldn''t die those ways.... He knew well since he had tried in the past... Other vampires seemed to be quite weak compared to him... They were like him, yet different... (Other vampires were poor imitation of Vladus). ?Markus? Huhuhu it may sound simple but just try... A 550 years old vampire is not easily surprised and/or overpowered... Ok next, if you turn a human into a vampire, the ''newborn'' become your responsibility... You are obligated to teach him everything he may need to know to survive on his own without bringing too much attention to our species... ?Vladus? Hooo.. It''s basically like having children??? Also... Why avoiding attention? Vladus was exited at the idea of being able to make himself some ''children''. ?Markus? Throughout the centuries, human have became quite good at hunting us... A few millenniums ago we almost went extinct... Those who survived these terrible times have formed the elder council and have ruled over us vampire since then. If we want to survive we need to live in the shadows, hiding our existence to humans... ?Vladus? .... Lame ... Thought Vladus to himself. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ?Vladus? So... How do I make children? ?Markus? ....? Children? Sighhh I feel like I shouldn''t teach you this stuff... Whatever... To turn a human into vampire you need to have him drink your blood, then give him a bite. The virus in the blood and saliva of vampires are different and need to be combined to start the mutation process. The virus in the blood needs to be absorbed through the digestive system and the virus contained in the saliva need to be directly injected in the bloodstream. After hearing this, Vladus had a vivid flashback of the time he got eaten alive back in the days... He remembered clearly biting at their ankles and everything else he could reach in his desperate attempt at fighting back. He had created vampires back then, and they had created more vampires later on... This was the exact moment Vladus had stopped being alone, but he was unaware of all this for thousands of years. Markus also explained that a bond is created between the maker and his ''child'' allowing the maker to always know where his kids are. This explained why he could feel so many vampires all around the world since he basically was their ancestor... The father of all vampires. Markus spent hours explaining him everything. Vampires had gathered quite a bit of knowledge about themselves in those thousands of years. Also, the more powerful the maker, the more powerful a vampire will start his life at. What determines a vampire¡¯s strength is how powerful the maker is, how old the vampire is, and how much blood has been consumed in his lifetime. He spoke about the 12 originals vampires as generation one, and their children to be generation two, etc. As a generation goes by, the purity of vampire is being lost and a vampire made by a 4th generation would be stronger than a 10th generation even if the later were older... It''s all about bloodline purity. When I asked about the originals 12 Markus simply said no one knew what had happened to them... Most think them dead, other thing they are hibernating somewhere... Vladus took the resolution to have a ¡°little talk¡± with them if they happened to resurface one day. Vladus learned that powerful/old vampires often developed weird abilities known only to them. (Like his ability to control nocturnal creatures). Among the ability owned by all vampires was something very interesting. Markus taught Vladus how to ''spellbind''. A very useful ability allowing vampire to ''hypnotize'' humans to a certain degree. The stronger the vampire, the more effective it is, also the weak minded are the easiest to manipulate with spellbinding. It is quite simple, you look a human in the eyes and give them an order... The more powerful you are and the more you believe your orders to be absolute, the more effective it will be. This of course don''t work on other vampires... Markus explained how you could ask a human to jump off a bridge, and that if you were strong enough and/or the target weak minded enough that they would simply jump without hesitation. He also explained that most vampires had a human follower charge with taking care of his master during daytime... Also that a vampire should have a strong box to sleep in during the day since the darker is the place you sleep in, the less power is lost during the day. Vladus didn''t really understand this since he was quite all right with sunlight... As long as he avoided to be exposed to DIRECT sunlight... Reflective light wasn''t affecting him that much... Maybe one of the props of being as old as he was... The stronger you are, the more you can resist sunlight... Vladus couldn''t help but notice that everything that was lethal to vampires was at most a hindrance to Vladus... Vampire die if exposed more than a minute to sunlight... Yet Vladus had spend a lot longer that that in direct sunlight and had only dried up as a result... Then Markus spoke about the council more in details, the vampire laws and all the bullshit related to them that Vladus really couldn''t care less about. If those elders wanted him to follow their rules, they would have to come in person and force him to... If they didn''t end up dying first. They talked and talked until Vladus curiosity was satisfied. They then started talking about their favorite, blood. ?Markus? ..... No no no... Babies blood is the purest and by far the best! ?Vladus? Hurfm.. Babies don''t have any interesting knowledge or memories, and since they are mostly unaware of what''s going on around them they lack the taste of terror I enjoy so much... ?Markus? Hahaha what would a baby vampire like you know anyway... ?Vladus? I eaten countless babies, children, women, men... Even animals... ?Markus? Animals? Markus showed a disgusted expression. ?Markus? I find weird the way you talk as if you were older than myself... hahaha ?Vladus? .... Never-mind ... What about vampire blood? ?Markus? Ho!.. Yes we all tried at least once mwehehe Vampire blood contain so much more power! It is highly concentrated blood, to powerful to be absorbed... Every-time a vampire try to drink another vampire¡¯s blood they puke it all out immediately after. Vampire blood is simply to powerful even for the elders to drink... ?Vladus? Really??? ?Markus? Huhhuhu wanna to try it out? Said Markus before cutting his wrist and presenting it to Vladus. ?Vladus? Sniff* sniff* After smelling Markus blood, Vladus consciousness blacked out. Ha few seconds later he was woken up by Markus'' scream telling him to stop. Without realizing it, Vladus had ripped Markus''s arm and was sucking on the stomp like a big straw. ?Markus? STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!!??? ?Vladus? Sorry... I lost it for a minute there... This was simply to delicious.. Even better than human blood... He said while licking his fingers. [...] ?Markus? ........? How come you''re not sick? You should be puking your guts out by now.... ?Vladus? It would be weird to puke out such delicious blood... I feel a lot more pow- Thump! Hurggg.... Vladus fell to his knees... Holding his head with both hands, the pain was familiar... The same pain he had felt back then when he started to transform into a vampire... What was happening? ?Markus? Ha! There you go... It took you a while but like I said... We can''t drink from our own race... I hope you suffer a lot for ripping my arm off! Do you know how long this shit take to grow back? ?Vladus? HAARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!! Vladus eyes turned black, veins covering his face, Vladus was suffering like never before¡­ Something was happening to his body... He could feel his body rapidly changing. Being the virus host, Vladus was not like the other vampires... He was the patient zero... The virus had mutated inside him the first time... And was now in the process of mutating once again... Slowly adapting his host body to a better source of food. Vladus bottom jaw dislocated itself allowing him open his mouth wide enough to bite someone''s face off like a snake. In the middle of his black eyes, a glowing iris appeared, giving off a very creepy red light that showed immense power. Then in his monstrously wide opened mouth, two more sets of canines slowly grew. A set on his top jaw, and a set on his lower jaw. He was now a red glowing eyed, four fanged vampire. Markus stood there, incredulously watching the scene. Vladus had evolved into a vampire adapted to feed upon other vampires. Quickly coming to the same conclusion, Markus broke one of the table legs and in a flash, stuck the improvised wooden stake into Vladus heart. ?Markus? I don,t know what the fuck you are, but we can''t have a vampire capable of preying on us... That would be too much dangerous... Sorry pal. They stood there, looking at each other for a few seconds... Five seconds later, Markus realized something was wrong... Vladus had a stake in his heart, yet he wasn''t dying... Actually he hadn''t even flinched after being staked... ?Markus? ....How come you won''t die ??? What the fuck are you???????? ?Vladus? Hahahahahahaha* Thank you for everything you taught me... teacher... Said Vladus while showing the creepiest four fanged grin Markus had ever seen. As Markus was about to run away in panic, Vladus was already upon him, sinking his four fangs into Markus'' neck, furiously draining him to the last drop. Once empty, Markus simply fell to the ground before disintegrating into ashes. His eyes glowing brightly in the darkness of the living room, his mouth and chest covered in blood Vladus was ecstatic. He had just found the most powerful drug in the world. This was Vladus faith... Cursed to feed upon his own kind forever and ever and ever. ?Vladus? Now... Why are those two other weak vampires not reacting to the death of one of their own? They haven''t moved at all since I arrived here. ---- Many thanks to gcman01 for proofreading this chapter! ---- Chapter 9 - Troublesome harem Dracula: Patient zero Chapter: 9 Troublesome harem ---- Vladus looked around the house for a while and ended up finding a hidden trap door under a rug opening onto a staircase leading to the basement. Vladus kept walking toward the direction he could feel the two presences coming from. The basement was dug by hand and rocks had been strategically positioned to support the structure above. To walk in this basement, Vladus needed to duck since the ceilings were so low. His quick search led him to a wooden wall, visibly hiding something behind it. Vladus looked around a bit trying to find a mechanism or something to go through but couldn''t find anything... So he ended up simply punching a hole through the wall. He then crawled through the hole and emerged on the other side, in a dark, dusty and damp room. In this room were two box/coffins stacked on top of each other hidden under a tarp. Vladus immediately understood that the two vampire he could feel were inside and most likely ''hibernating'' if that''s even the proper word for it... Vladus considered it more as being dried up. Carefully, Vladus placed the two coffins side by side and opened them. Inside were what looked like two dried up girls looking more like mummies than anything else... Vladus first thought was that maybe it would better to leave them alone since the chances of Markus being their maker were very high. If he waked them up, they would eventually discover that Vladus is their maker''s murderer... They would most likely go after him and be a pain in the ass later. And what was the point of waking them up if it was to simply kill them afterward... He needed more time to think about it and consider his options before making a move... And anyway, he had spent too much time talking with Markus and now the sun was about to rise, so Vladus simply laid down next to the two mummies for the day. A couple of hours later, Vladus woke to the sound of someone unlocking the front door of the mansion. Was Markus expecting someone? ''What a pain in the ass'' thought Vladus. At first the foot steps were calm and regular, but after stopping around where should still be Markus ashes the foot steps started to show more energy. The person was visibly panicking and running around the house looking for something. Vladus got up, and positioned himself under the basement stairs and listened carefully. ?Man''s voice? No..no.no.no.no.no.no.... Master!? ..... Master!? ... Please don''t tell me..... The footsteps quickly approached to where the trap door was located, he opened the trapdoor and quickly ran downstairs. Vladus finally saw him, an old man looking to be in his 50''s who was looking all around and stopped in front of the now broken wooden wall. ?Old Man? Noo no no no no Crap crap ! The man quickly entered the hidden room and took a look around. ?Old Man? Sobsobsob* He would never have left you behind if he was gone to someplace else... Sniff* sniff*... Master... Must be dead... Sob*sob* Vladus sneaked behind the gray haired man who was wearing all black clothes and simply stood there. The old man was holding his face with both hands knelled on the floor, mourning the lost of his master. Vladus was intrigued... Why does a human mourn a vampire? He wanted to have a conversation with the man but his reaction was unlikely to be a positive one. A few minutes later the old man still hadn''t moved or noticed Vladus¡¯s presence right next to him, so Vladus cleared his throat to catch his attention. ?Old Man? HAAAAAAaaa! Surprised, the old man backed away the other side of the small room. ?Old Man? Ww.wWho are you???!! What happened to Markus? ?Vladus? Markus... You saw the pile of ash upstairs didn''t you? ?Old Man? D..d.d.Did you do it? He said his eyes full of anger. Vladus gave a devilish smile before answering. ?Vladus? I''m afraid I didn''t have any other choice considering he was trying to kill me. ?Old Man? How could this happen... buhuhuhu* sob*sob* ?Vladus? What a beautifully loyal servant... Huhuhuhu* The old man gave a look filled with hatred to Vladus. WANNNNNnnnnnnnnnnnnn*!!! WANnnnnnnnnnnnnn*! Suddenly the cries of a baby coming from upstairs caught Vladus attention. ?Vladus? A baby? Don''t tell me... ?Old Man? Master''s favorite meal... He would have been so happy.. sobsob* You can have it if you want... He then stood up and led Vladus upstairs to where the baby was. The young baby girl was laid in a basket, crying its eyes out. Vladus slowly approached the crying baby and stood next to her. The old man stayed away from Vladus, standing next to the front door. Luckily for the young baby, Vladus wasn''t hungry after eating a delicious meal earlier. ?Vladus? Are her parents still alive? ?Old Man? Yes... I stole her while her mother was distracted by something else. ?Vladus? Good... Bring her back to her parents. ?Old Man? ???? You won''t eat it? ?Vladus? Why should I? The old man visibly puzzled looked at Vladus with questioning eyes. ?Old Man? Can''t be... Are you human? ?Vladus? What do I look like?? Now truly confused, the old man quickly opened the curtains covering the big window next to him. The sunrays shone straight at Vladus face forcing him to lift his hand in front of his face to protect his eyes. Vladus was surprised for a few seconds, as he wasn''t burning like before... It was still very painful and not enjoyable at all but there was no smoke being emitted from his skin. Still high on 550 years old vampire blood, Vladus could feel his power overpowering the sunrays. This was most likely temporary but Vladus discovered that consuming vampire blood was making him a heck of a lot stronger... In fact it made him strong enough to go out in the sun for a short period of time. Vladus slowly walked to the window, closed the curtain and turned around to look at the old man. Before realizing what was happening the old man had already pulled out a blade and stabbed Vladus through the heart with it. Vladus eyes turned black, his irises glowing bright red, he grabbed the old man by the neck and lifted him 30cm off the ground. While the old man was pointlessly struggling to free himself from his grip, Vladus simply threw him across the room, sending him flying through a wall and landing into another room. ?Old Man? Cough! Cough! Cough! The old man was laying on a pile of debris, coughing and holding his neck. ?Vladus? Quite amazing... You are as stupid as your master... ?Old Man? FUck! FUCK! What is a lycan doing here??? And a fucking alpha??? Are you trying to start a war once again??? Hearing the word lycan for the first time, Vladus was now very interested by what the old man had to say... ?Vladus? Lycan? ?Old Man? .......??? You have red glowing eyes... If you''re not an alpha then what the fuck are you!!!! Then an idea came to Vladus mind. He walked up to the old man, crouched in front of him and stared at him in the eyes. It was his first time trying to spellbind someone but it didn''t sound to complicated when Markus explained it. ?Vladus? All the loyalty you ever felt for Markus, you will now feel toward me. (¡ã) ?Old Man? HOooo Nooo!!! Master!!!! Are you hurt???? I''m sorry for stabbing you! What the fuck was I thinking!!?? He said in panic, trying to remove the blade from Vladus chest. ?Vladus? It''s ok. It''s nothing more than a splinter to me. Now why don''t you tell me your name... A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ?¨®engus? My name is ¨®engus, Master. ?Vladus? Good... This seems to be working perfectly... Then, can you explain to me what is a lycan? ?¨®engus? With pleasure master! Lycans are also known as werewolves or wolfmen... They have been vampire''s enemies for centuries... We are now in a cease-fire type of situation with them... After a long war their number have diminished enough to force them into hiding. Young vampires don''t stand a chance against them and only 1000+ years old vampire can match them, so vampires also lost a lot of people. ?Vladus? ..... Interesting.... What do they look like? What are their powers? Are they like vampires? ?¨®engus? There are similarities, but the two can''t be compared... Lycans have super strenght and speed comparable to a thousand years old vampire. They also have supernatural vision/sight, smell, and hearing... But they need to transform to be able to show their true potential... Which is a weakness in itself since the transformation take around a minute or two during which they are vulnerable. They have ended up as vampires¡¯ enemies because their bite is poisonous to vampires and they can hunt them during the day since they are not affected by sunlight. Another one of their weaknesses is that they are forced to transform every full moon, but incapable to transform during new moons. Their most annoying trait is that they form and live in packs, finding even more strength in numbers... Their hierarchy is based of which one is the most powerful... The strongest have red glowing eyes, like you master... And are called Alphas... The other strong warriors obeying the alpha''s orders are called Betas and have orange glowing eyes, and finally the weaklings being pushed around by the others are called Omegas and have yellow glowing eyes. They usually live alone without a pack. ?Vladus? Wow this is veryyyy interesting... I can''t wait to meet one of those alphas mwehehehe. ?¨®engus? Is it really wise master? Lycan are really dangerous... I mean, once transformed, they truly are unstoppable... So when you take in consideration that they also hunt in packs... They are very bad news... ?Vladus? Huhuhu and that''s exactly why I want to meet one of them... I''m sure to be entertained... ?¨®engus? ....... Mhhh master? May I ask your name and... What you are? You don''t burn in the sun, so you are not a vampire... You have the eyes of an alpha yet you said you weren''t a lycan... I must admit to be a little confused by what might be your species... ?Vladus? That''s a complicated question... Even I am not really sure as to what I might be... But if I had to take a pick I would say that I am a... Peculiar vampire... And as for my name, it is also complicated... I am, Valdrislav Vladus Tlesnasa... But you can just call me Vladus. ¨®engus eyes grew big and he looked even more confused than before. ?¨®engus? ..........You are nothing like any other vampire I¡¯ve met before.... You don''t burn in the sun, you won''t eat this baby and your eyes are different... ?Vladus? Talking about that... I will ask you to keep the fact that I am different from the other vampires a secret... Also I want you to bring this baby back where you found it. ?¨®engus? Yes master!!! I''m going right now! ?Vladus? Wait!... Before you leave... Those two girl vampires downstairs... What''s their story? ?¨®engus? Ho those two! They were the two last addition to Mr Markus collection.... ?Vladus? Collection..??? Mind explaining more of this to me? ?¨®engus? With pleasure master... Markus loved young and beautiful women... Since he liked them quite young, he turned them into vampire so they would never age and always stay beautiful. He kept them in boxes like the ones downstairs, waking them up when he felt like ''playing'' with them, then forcing them back in the boxes after he had his fun with them for later uses... He must have a few hundred of them now. The two downstairs were his recent acquisitions... The rest of his collection is hidden in a lair far from here... We traveled the world together, looking for the most beautiful specimens from all races and countries... ?Vladus? Sighhh... What''s the point... We, vampires can''t reproduce... What''s the use for women then...? ?¨®engus? .... Master??... Certainly you can''t have children but... You can still enjoy sex can''t you?... ?Vladus? Sex is a mean to an end... Without an end there''s no point... ?¨®engus? You... are... a bit strange master.... ?Vladus? Am I? Whatever... Do you know where his lair is? ?¨®engus? Yes master. Interested in his collection? He said giving a lustful smile to Vladus. ?Vladus? Being dried up like that is no fun... It''s annoying to discover that there''s a few hundred of them since I now feel obligated to release them... ?¨®engus? That''s a very bad idea master.... ?Vladus? Well talk about this later... This baby is starting to annoy the heck out of me... Take it away now! ?¨®engus? Yes! Immediately master. Vladus then stood in place, lost in thought. Life was getting interesting, but was also becoming troublesome at the same time. More than a hundred baby vampires... How was he supposed to deal with that? The thought of leaving them in boxes disgusted him but releasing these inexperienced blood sucking monster wasn''t that much better... They would definitively attract attention on him and on the vampire as a species if left unchecked... This truly was an annoying dilemma and no solutions seemed to be a good one. Vladus wasn''t even their maker, making controlling them a lot more difficult... Vladus still didn''t have a lot of experience at interacting with vampires and the thought of swimming in uncharted territories annoyed him profoundly. A few minutes later while Vladus was still lost in thought, ¨®engus came back and brought up another annoying subject. ?¨®engus? Master, you can go to sleep while I prepare a few horses to transport the ladies. We need to leave as soon as we can. ?Vladus? Why do you seem in so much of a hurry? ?¨®engus? .....Master..... Didn''t you know who Markus'' maker was before killing him? He said visibly worried. ?Vladus? ......... Enlighten me. ?¨®engus? Markus'' maker is one of the vampire elders... He sensed his death as soon as you killed him... And trust me, we want to be as far away as possible before he arrive here.... ?Vladus? Motherf-! And I was trying to avoid attracting their attentions so soon... Shhhtt... All right... Have horses ready for tonight. ...........Fucking hell... ---- Many thanks to gcman01 for proofreading this chapter! ---- Chapter 10 - Vladus biggest fan Dracula: Patient zero Chapter: 10 Vladus'' biggest fan ---- Vladus and ¨®engus had been traveling west for a few weeks now and were soon to reach Markus¡¯s lair situated in a region that will later become ''Southern France''. They were on a platform type of carriage pulled by a horse. Some horse-carts found in Celtic graves show hints that their platforms were suspended elastically. Four-wheeled wagons were used in prehistoric Europe, and their form known from excavations suggests that the basic construction techniques of the wheel and undercarriage (that survived until the age of the motor car) were established then. On their carriage were three wooden boxes, two for the girls and another one for Vladus to travel during the day. At night Vladus would be the one driving while ¨®engus slept, and vice-versa during the day. Vladus wanted to move as fast as possible to avoid being followed but he couldn''t help but notice that a vampire had followed him since Felsina. Vladus didn''t know how he could so efficiently track him wherever he went and was starting to get profoundly annoyed by it. Not that Vladus feared the elders, or any other vampire for that matter but Vladus didn''t want his identity to be known. With celebrity come a lot of annoyance such as ''hunters'' relentlessly hunting him, or even a vampire stalking him wherever he went. Vladus simply wanted to keep his anonymity, allowing him to act freely as he wanted to. If he had waited for the elder to arrive, the elder would have attacked him, forcing Vladus to kill him... What father wishes to kill his children? Also killing an elder would have brought more and more vampires everyday trying to kill him. Who want to be in this kind of situation? That aside, the one following him was most likely not the elder in question since he had followed since before he had done anything significant... It was most likely since he had murdered the princess in front of the king... Vladus thought that maybe he had attracted unwanted attention by doing such a ''high profile'' murder. Whatever this vampire wanted, Vladus would most likely have to deal with him eventually... They kept moving a few more weeks with his pursuer steadily gaining ground on them. ?¨®engus? Master, we have arrived. Said ¨®engus as they arrived to a deserted part of the forest. ?Vladus? Here?... There''s noth- Vladus stopped after perceiving the presence of a few hundred vampires that seemed to be coming from underground. ?¨®engus? A good lair is a well hidden lair.. Hehehe ¨®engus then walked toward a big rock covered in moss and opened a heavy iron trap door hidden behind it. There was a stone staircase going down into the dark and damp hideout. Leaving the carriage with the two girls on board behind, Vladus and ¨®engus went down. They kept going down and down for a few hundred meters before finally reaching a long tunnel that seemed to be going on forever. ¨®engus lit a torch for him to see where he was walking and led Vladus down the ominous corridor. After a few minute Vladus and ¨®engus reached a giant circular underground room. ¨®engus went around and lit the torches on the walls lighting the entire room. It is then that Vladus finally saw hundreds of wooden boxes, stacked on top of each other all over the place. There must have been around 400 of them... Vladus was lost for words... There also were barrels filled with unknown products, weapons hanging from the walls with everything a vampire may need to stay hidden long enough to be forgotten. ?Vladus? ...... Markus was a very well prepared man... ?¨®engus? Indeed... This is where he stored all his most precious valuables... Look at all this... He said while fiddling with some of the weapons lying around. Vladus walked to the middle of the circular room, still trying to take it all in. What was he going to do with all these babies... Struck!* Suddenly Vladus got impaled by an arrow. Struck!* and another one. Pain surged trough his entire body, he grabbed one of the arrows to pull it out but it felt as if he was holding onto red-hot iron rods. It burned like a bitch and was even more dangerous than sunrays. His eyes turning black Vladus turned around to look at ¨®engus. He was holding a crossbow in his hand with a mischievous smile on his lips. He then threw what looked like an animal bladder filled with liquid that ruptured on contact with Vladus, completely soaking him with the strange liquid it held. Vladus entire body started emitting smoke, his skin was peeling off as if he had been sprayed with sulfuric acid. His strength being sucked away by the strange liquid, Vladus could barely move. ?¨®engus? Hahahahaha* Stupid monster, you don''t even know about the hawthorn bush do you? Hahahaha* Thank to your ignorance, this is Markus revenge! ¨®engus then quickly destroyed a barrel filled with oil, and then threw his torch setting the entire room to blaze. ?¨®engus? This lair will become your tomb for all eternity!! Have fun down there! hahahaha He then quickly destroyed some of the support at the entry making the tunnel collapse behind him. Vladus was now weakened, and sealed into the burning room with no way to get out... ¨®engus had already fled which pissed him off even more. ?Vladus? ROARRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!! Vladus didn''t know what had happened... All around him the coffins were burning with the girls inside of them acting as fuel to the inferno. Vladus wasn''t that badly injured but could barely move with those arrows inside of him. He mustered all of his strength and pulled them out while screaming his lungs out at the terrible pain it caused him. He was slowly recuperating but the smoke had filled the room making it more and more difficult to breath... If he died asphyxiated in there he would end up caught by the flames. If he were burned, he would become a dried up corpse once again for who know how many years since he was sealed inside this hidden lair... Vladus was pissed off... He shouldn''t have trusted these human. Humans should all die! Trying to calm down, Vladus concentrated his senses into finding a solution. After a few seconds, Vladus noticed some of the smoke disappearing through a crack on the wall. This could only mean one thing, an exit! Mustering all of his remaining strength, Vladus punched through the wall, making a hole just big enough for him to crawl into. He then used some mud and stones to patch the hole to prevent the smoke from coming through. Then he sat on the floor, trying to catch his breath. ?Vladus? Cough! Cough! Cough!... When I find you ¨®engus, I will have you beg me to kill you. Cough! Cough! Cough!.. As he was coughing his lungs out, waiting for the annoying juice to stop burning his skin, Vladus looked around the room he was now in. It was a small circular room with a door that led who knows where on the other side. But what was more interesting was what was in the middle of the room. An iron coffin... Back then, iron was really rare and expensive... Who could be ''hibernating'' in such a coffin..? The iron coffin was wrapped in iron chains, as if inside was the most powerful monster imaginable. Not only was this coffin made out of iron and chained up, but it also had been sealed in a secret room behind a stonewall... Certainly this was one of Markus biggest secret/treasure. Vladus destroyed the chains barehanded without hesitation and opened the iron box. Inside was another mummy... Another woman vampire kept by Markus as ''treasure''... But this one had to be special for him to keep her here... Curious, Vladus threw her over his shoulder and started walking toward the door. It was really awkward since the corpse was dry and rigid... It didn''t bend so it looked like Vladus was transporting a human shaped wooden plank over his shoulder. After walking for a few minutes Vladus suddenly stopped. The vampire that had been following them since Felsina was here. He could feel it, he was very near and had most likely made contact with ¨®engus by now... Vladus wasn''t sure if he was an enemy, an ally or neither... But meeting another vampire while being weakened like this was more than unlucky... Resigned to face whatever was waiting for him, Vladus kept marching on through the pitch-black corridor, a rigid cadaver on his shoulder. After dragging his weakened body for around an hour through tortuous tunnels, Vladus ended up faced with a dead end. Discouraged, Vladus dropped the woman''s body on the ground and sat beside her. His situation was dire, if he was in top shape he would have dug himself a tunnel to get out but he hadn''t enough energy left to do that. Vladus slowly closed his eyes, ready for a very long sleep unsure if he was ever going to wake up again. A few minutes later, Vladus opened his eyes as he could feel the presence of the ''stalking'' vampire nearby. It seemed to be coming from the other side of the dead end. Thump! Thump! Thump! The ''stalker'' had visibly felt Vladus¡¯s presence and seemed to be digging his way toward him. Ready to defend himself, Vladus stood up with his eyes dimly glowing in the darkness. Thump! Thump! Tumblebleble The light from a torch blinded him for a second, a dark figure was standing in front of the newly dug opening, looking at him. ?Dark figure? Finally we meet... My Lord. Said the dark figure before knelling on the floor. ?Vladus? ...Who are you? Asked Vladus, baffled by the turn of event. ?Magnus? My name is Magnus, your humble servant, hooo great vampire God. ?Vladus? ... Thank you for your help, but I ain''t no God... ?Magnus? .... You are the first vampire in history aren''t you? ?Vladus? How would I know...? ?Magnus? Then let me ask you differently my lord, do you have a maker? ?Vladus? Ha..! No... I don''t know how I became a vampire. ?Magnus? Marvelous!! It is such an honor to meet you, great vampire God. ?Vladus? Sighhh I don''t care anymore... Call me Vladus... I repeat, I am no God. I used to be human just like you. ?Magnus? Vampire God is the title reserved to the first one of our kind. The father of all vampires. And this is you my lord... ?Vladus? Never-mind that... Can I have some of your blood? ?Magnus? Of course... But for what reaso- As soon as he said ''Of course...'' Vladus was already munching on Magnus arm, drinking the deliciously overpowered fuel. Not wanting to drink too much of his savior''s blood, Vladus mustered all of his willpower and released him after a few sips. ?Vladus? Pant* Pant* Pant* Pant* Haaaa I feel a lot better now... Thank you Magnus. Vladus slowly looked toward Magnus to see his reaction but was surprised by what he saw. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Magnus was looking at his arm with big round eyes. ?Magnus? Four fangs?.... And those eyes.... mwhmwhwhwmm.......... MWAHAHWHAHAWHAwhhawhAWHAhahHH!!!! Magnus was ecstatically admiring the four holes on his arm. ?Magnus? Yess!!! Yess!!! No doubt! It truly is you... I finally found God mwahahahahahahahah!!!!! Please my lord drink more!!! ?Vladus? Vampire blood is my favorite meal... I suggest you to be careful as it took all of my willpower not to shred you to pieces. ?Magnus? Hummmm Hoo yessss I''m going to cum... Rip me to pieces!!! Bath in my blood!!! There would be no greater honor my lord! I''m getting hard just at the though of my blood flowing inside you as we speak uhhmmmm yessss! ?Vladus? ....... Great.... Just got myself a nutcase... First let''s get the fuck out of here... ?Magnus? Yes! My lord!........... Hmm... Who''s she? Said Magnus pointing at the dried up mummies next to Vladus. ?Vladus? No idea... But she''s mine now... ?Magnus? Hoo? Has God found himself a bride? ?Vladus? You fucking kidding me? I don''t even know her name and look at her... She looks more like a corpse than anything else... ?Magnus? Soo? Said Magnus expecting Vladus to be unaffected by outward appearance. ?Vladus? Anyway... Let''s get out now.. There''s a rat I want to catch before he gets to far away. Said Vladus as he threw the mummies back on his shoulder. ?Magnus? Rat? .... An old man dressed in black? ?Vladus? Growwwllll* You saw that fucking asshole? Anger surged back making Magnus tremble at Vladus'' voice. ?Magnus? That rat is already in my custody... ?Vladus? Mwuhuhuhuhu I''m starting to like you, my dear Magnus... Bring me to him.. NOW! ?Magnus? Yes!!! Thank you my lord! I won''t disappoint you!!! Magnus was filled with joy after being praised for the first time by his God. Magnus was a 70 years old vampire, who looked like 30. He was around the same height as Vladus and had a well-trimmed chin beard, short black hairs and brown eyes. He wasn''t good looking but wasn''t bad looking either... One would classify him as being very ordinary. As they walked back toward the exit, Vladus took the opportunity to ask a few questions to Magnus. ?Vladus? Magnus... What do you know about hawthorn bush??? ?Magnus? I know as much as any other vampire out there... Perhaps... Aren''t you aware of what it is? ?Vladus? The fact that I am asking you should be enough of a clue to answer that... I lived at a time when there was no other vampire... I still have a lot to learn about you all... And me at the same time. ?Magnus? Hawthorn is a small tree/bush... Humans have used its wood to make stakes, and it''s sap mixed with water to create a liquid that burn vampires like fire. It''s little red fruits are also very potent to us vampires but if a human eats them regularly, they become unaffected by our spellbinding ability... It also makes their blood taste like shit... Crataegus monogyna, known as common hawthorn or single-seeded hawthorn, is a species of hawthorn native to Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia. In Europe, it was the wood of the hawthorn tree was used for its anti-vampire powers, especially among the Slavs, so it was used to make stakes. There are loads of superstitions surrounding hawthorn from all over the world ¨C It is said to symbolize ''good hope'' because the plant signals that winter has ended and spring has begun. In ancient times women in Athens wore it on their wedding day and the Romans considered it a charm against witchcraft and sorcery. Over in England hawthorn was not to be brought in a house, especially if it has flowers. If someone were to bring it inside, they then had to throw it right back out the front door. ?Vladus? So if I understood correctly, it''s a bush that is poison to vampires. It''s also how ¨®engus resisted my spellbinding... Sighhh Fucking humans... ?Magnus? Yes!!! Yes!!! Fuck those humans!!! What about killing them all? For you it should be possible right? ?Vladus? Sighhh... If all humans are exterminated, what will you drink? Animal blood? Magnus immediately showed a disgusted expression and stayed silent. ?Vladus? Then about you tell me why you kept following me since Felsina city... And how come you knew who I was...? ?Magnus? Ho! It''s simple really... I am the one responsible for resuscitating you. He said showing a prideful expression. ?Vladus? How did you know about me in the first place? Why didn''t you resuscitate me earlier? How come y- Magnus interrupted him before saying: ?Magnus? There''s a lot to talk about. It will certainly be a very long discussion but it should wait, we have arrived. They finally reached the trap door Vladus had used to enter this underground lair earlier. Vladus quickly went up the stairs followed by Magnus. The moon was up high and shining brightly as the two men exited the dark underground. Vladus dropped the girl''s body on the ground as if it was a vulgar bag of potatoes and scrutinized the area. Like daggers his eyes stopped and stared at a man lying on the ground, bound with ropes. Beside him was another man... With blond hairs and green eyes the young man was a true Greek beauty. But Vladus didn''t notice him as he was already boiling with rage, the man bound by ropes was obviously ¨®engus. Vladus'' eyes turned pitch black, and started glowing brightly as black veins rapidly covered his entire visage. ¨®engus who saw him started screaming and struggling to free himself as terror took over his entire body. In the blink of an eye, Vladus was holding the man in the air and staring at him in the eyes. ?Vladus? In a minute you will beg for me to kill you, ¨®engus ?¨®engus? HAaaaaaaaaaa I''m begging you! Forgive me!!! I didn''t know what I was doing!!! Vladus violently threw ¨®engus on top of the horse carriage, using it as a table and began breaking every single bone in his body one by one, starting from the toes up to the neck. The entire Process lasted an hour during which ¨®engus lost consciousness many times but kept being woken up by Vladus who wanted him to be awake for every minute of it. ?¨®engus? AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! ¨®engus screams could be heard for kilometers around and some coyotes had even started howling from deep within the forest after hearing him. Once he was satisfied, Vladus tied ¨®engus¡¯s limbs into knots, being flexible like ropes after the bones had been broken in hundred of pieces. Then eventually, ¨®engus died... His heart stopped beating from the pain alone. Vladus proceeded in draining his body of every drop of blood before ripping him to pieces, leaving them for wild animals to eat. It was a gruesome spectacle to see, even for most vampires. His body entirely covered in blood, Vladus turned his attention toward his two spectators. One was white like a ghost, urine could be smelled coming from his pants. His heart was beating fast enough for his health to be badly affected by it. The other spectator was... Different... Magnus was exhibiting a expression of awe and boundless admiration. What troubled Vladus the most was that he seemed to be caressing himself with his hand buried deep in his pants. ?Velthur? Hhhhhmm mMmm.... mMmm.. mAsteR..... w.ww.w.wilL we reAllY be Ok? He said with a lot of difficulty as his voice kept cracking up. ?Magnus? Look at him!!!!! Isn''t he the purest?!! The most perfect being in existence??? Truly what I was hoping the vampire God to be!!! Mwwhauahhawuahu* ahaa ahaaa I''m cum....mIngggg!!! Vladus walked toward them while pinching his nose.. Sometime his supernatural sense of smell could be annoying... Gross even... One smelled like piss the other smelled like cock snot... ?Magnus? Master! We should go now. The sun will soon be rising. He said pointing toward his carriage. Magnus carriage was on a class of it''s own. It literally was a black box on wheels. In this they would be protected from the sun while Velthur, his human follower drove it. Vladus went to get in but stopped in his tracks after remembering something. He was about to forget the two remaining ''harem girls'' left on his previous carriage and the girl he had saved earlier. Vladus still didn''t know what was so special about her but was dying to find out. The two ''harem girls'' were tied on top of the carriage by Velthur while Vladus grabbed the ''special one'' and loaded her inside the carriage with him and Magnus. ?Magnus? Great lord, do you have a destination? ?Vladus? None... I need a safe place to conduct a few experiments on these women I just got... ?Magnus? Guhuhuhuhuhu* Yes my lord! I know the perfect place. The carriage then quickly disappeared in a cloud of dust under the moonlight. ---- Dracula ¨C Patient Zero just passed the ¡°30,000 words¡± mark. Hope you enjoy the longer chapters. ---- Many thanks to gcman01 for proofreading this chapter! ---- Chapter 11 - GODfather and savior Dracula: Patient zero Chapter: 11 GODfather and savior ---- Vladus and Magnus had been travelling for a few weeks now with nothing else to do than talk about various things. Even if he was young for a vampire, Magnus had a wealth of knowledge and Vladus had an insatiable thirst for it. Thanks to their time together, Vladus had learned many very important things like how memories transfer during feeding time. Magnus would think about something as he gave his blood to Vladus, and Vladus would see what he was thinking about as he drank it. That meant it was possible for someone to protect his or her memories from being seen by concentrating on something unrelated. For example, doing simple math in their head as they get drained of blood. It is very complex to understand but Magnus gave Vladus an example that was very easy to understand. He wrote something on a tablet, memorized it then gave his blood to Vladus. Since Magnus was concentrating on that precise memory while feeding him, Vladus could clearly see what was on the tablet. Then he did it again but this time while concentrating of another random memory. Vladus could see the memory he was thinking about but couldn''t find out what was on the tablet as he did so. Therefore it is a very limited means to gather information but it still has its utilities. The biggest advantage is that they cannot lie to you that way. What you see are only TRUE memories and thought. Then later, Magnus fed Vladus while thinking about how he had came to learn about Vladus existence. Vladus could see Magnus memories, his struggle at finding Vladus¡¯s last resting place. He learned about stories of a legendary first vampire that had been a plague to humanity. Magnus was still a young vampire so the vampire community had never taken his research seriously and he even became considered as a heretic by his peers. Magnus was still young, but having grown in the present ''time period'' had made him more adapted to how the world currently worked. He was highly knowledgeable, versed in politic and commerce. Simply said, Magnus was a 1000BC businessman with many lands and proprieties. He had used his wealth and influence to gather books and knowledge of various legends about the oldest vampires and the vampire god whom he had been obsessed with more and more throughout the years. Magnus had spent 40 years looking without finding much information until he learned about a book called ''necronomicon''. It was also called the book of the dead or the vampire bible and was locked in a vault belonging to the vampire council. Obviously they refused him access to the vault prompting him to cease his pointless search thinking that the first vampire was only a legend. The official story was that the Gods had created the first 12 original vampires and that there was no such thing as a vampire God. Magnus had ended up using some incredibly risky means to steal the ¡®necronomicon¡¯ and luckily succeeded without being caught. It was most likely that the council hadn''t even noticed the books disappearance, as they didn''t seem to see the importance of it. Magnus spent a year studying the book and what could be understood in between the lines. All these efforts had paid off as he finally located the area where Vladus had been buried. From what Magnus had read in the book, he expected Vladus to be a merciless killing machine destined to bring apocalypse on earth. For that reason, many had tried to stop him and had even placed him under surveillance. So Magnus used underhanded methods to get rid of all those who knew about his endeavor and used an indirect way to resuscitate Vladus hoping to observe him from afar. Magnus wanted the vampire God to come back to life but feared him at the same time. It is only after realizing that Vladus wasn''t only a wild beast but someone acting rationally that Magnus decided to go and meet with him. All this information was communicated to Vladus via blood transfer which made it impossible for lies to be mixed with them. The next really interesting piece of information was about something vampires called ''Maker command''. It allows a ''maker'' to somehow communicate with their ''children'' wherever they are in the world. Of course it''s far from being like telepathy as you can only communicate short ''intentions''. For example if you concentrate on trying to communicate ¡°Come to me¡± to one of your children, they would not hear these words but instead feel deep in the back of their mind that they needed to go see their makers. With experience, vampires would get better at understanding these messages and know what their maker want precisely. Vladus had tried this on Magnus as he was sleeping. He concentrated on Magnus, then thought ¡°I''m hungry!¡± and Magnus immediately woke up a bit confused at first, then extended his arm to Vladus saying, ¡°Are you hungry my lord?¡±... Normally only a maker could use it with their children but Vladus was able to use it on Magnus which demonstrated that he was able to use it with any vampire he wished to. Vladus was breaking all the rules normal vampires were bound to. Of course some of the elders were able to use the maker command on vampire up to four generations under them but Vladus seemed to have no limits. Vladus immediately saw usefulness into it as well as dangers. Using this would immediately give much information away to the one he is using it on. By receiving a maker command from Vladus, the target could immediately assume that Vladus was older than them, and that he was ''special'' since they should know who are the few vampires who normally would be able to use this on them. It would almost be like saying out loud, ¡°I am your maker''s maker!¡±... Which in reality was more like ¡°I am your maker''s maker''s maker''s maker''s maker''s maker''s maker''s maker''s etc. Maker!¡± Since he had killed Markus, Vladus had followed the movement of a vampire that seemed to be looking all around and killing other vampires in the process... So he took a risk and concentrated on this ''presence'' he assumed to be Markus'' maker. He then used a maker''s command on him that said: ¡°I killed Markus¡±. Anything longer was most likely to be misunderstood so he kept it short. This should have given much information to a vampire such as an elder. What Vladus hoped he understood was that someone older than an elder had killed him... Better not try to avenge him. Obviously, for an elder thought to be among the oldest vampires, receiving an elder command was highly significant. This meant that someone from the same bloodline, possibly his or her maker''s maker was roaming the Earth at that precise moment. Vladus understood that by doing so he was also giving away his position but was curious to see the elder''s reaction. And a reaction he rapidly got... Immediately the elder started to close in on their position at an amazing speed. If he kept up the speed he would reach them in less than a week. [A while later] ?Velthur? Masters, we have arrived. ?Magnus? Finally ! I haven''t been able to feel my ass for days now! He said as he rubbed his numb ass. ?Vladus? Comfort is an unnecessary commodity. Stoically said Vladus as he got out of the claustrophobic black box they had used as carriage. Vladus looked around but couldn''t see much... All he could see around were trees... A forest and nothing else. Velthur hid the carriage under some pine branches and vegetation, then the trio carrying the three vampires corpses walked down a small dirt path leading deeper in the forest. After a few minute they finally saw their destination. A big two-floor mansion built with cooked brick and stones on top of a hill. ?Vladus? What is such an amazing building doing in the middle of nowhere like that? ?Magnus? I own many lands and have built many houses all over the place... That way I¡¯m sure to never run out of hideout. ?Vladus? Smart... Said Vladus genuinely impressed by Magnus¡¯s preparedness. ?Magnus? You flatter me my lord but this is nothing much. Once they arrived in front of the mansion, Velthur entered ''butler mode'' and quickly ran inside to clean the house. He lit the oil lamps all around the house and scrubbed the floor. The windows were placarded to stop intruders from entering while the mansion wasn''t used but were also used to block the sun from entering. One could think, ''then why build windows in the first place''... But can you imagine what people would have thought of someone building a window-less house... The goal is to do things in a way that will attract as little suspicions as possible. Once inside the mansion, Magnus gave the most luxurious room to Vladus. Vladus dragged the three ''sleeping'' girls to his room, stacked the two boxes in a corner and placed the ''special one'' under his bed situated in the middle of the room. As strange as it sound, Vladus didn''t mind sleeping with corpses in his room. ?Magnus? My lord... Do you intend to wake them up? ?Vladus? Yes, since we now have a base of operation I wish to free them as soon as possible. ?Magnus? May I suggest Velthur as donor? He did it many time before and is good at communicating his memories. ?Vladus? Hmm you mean he could give them his memories of what happened since we found them... Humm yes¡­ Actually this would be a lot faster than having to explain them everything that have happened... ?Magnus? Yes they would immediately know what situation they are in and who you are... ?Vladus? Do you have a room solid enough to keep them temporarily locked in? ?Magnus? There''s the dungeon in the basement... ?Vladus? Perfect, lets start with the two harem girls. Vladus grabbed the two girls and followed Magnus downstairs accompanied by Velthur. They placed the two girls next to each other then Velthur approached with a knife in his hand. ?Magnus? We need to stay silent and let him concentrate while he''s doing this my lord. Velthur cut his hand with the blade and seemed to be highly concentrated as his blood trickled from his palm, down into the corpses mouth. He did this for around five minutes then quickly left with Magnus as the two girls slowly started regaining color. They closed the heavy reinforced door behind them leaving Vladus alone with the two awakening vampire girls. As they slowly started to look alive again, Vladus noticed something very interesting. The two girls were two beautiful twins sisters. They had brown hair and blue eyes. They were small, barely 165 cm tall and looked around 16-17 years old. The one on the left woke up first. She slowly got up and staggered left and right still weak after her long sleep. Vladus had already sent Magnus to fetch a few humans to feed them since to re-hydrate a dry vampire takes a minimum of five liters of blood. Velthur had already given them more blood than he should have and was now sleeping, trying to recuperate from blood loss. The volume of blood in a human body is approximately 7 percent of their body weight. An average adult body with a weight of 150 to 180 pounds will contain approximately 4.7 to 5.5 liters (1.2 to 1.5 gallons) of blood. So to wake up three vampires, they needed at least three human sacrifices. Magnus was simply looking along the road for travelers and merchants to spellbind them to come to their hideout by themselves. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. The young girl barely able to stand up silently looked around her, then her eyes stopped on Vladus who was sitting on the other-side of the room, looking at her. She then looked down to her twin sister who had yet to wake up when Vladus broke the silence. ?Vladus? Don''t worry, she will soon wake up as well. ?Twin1? Who are-... I dreamed about you... How... Where is the monster? ?Vladus? Monster...? I guess you are talking about the one who did this to you... Markus. After hearing that name, the young girl started swiveling her head in all directions. ?Twin1? I dreamed ab- ?Vladus? That wasn''t a dream.. Those visions were memories. I killed Markus myself. The girl seemed highly relieved after hearing Vladus say that. ?Vladus? Do you understand what you are and what situation you are in now? ?Twin1? I..I.... sniff sniff.. yes¡­ I... am...now a monster too aren''t I? sobsobsob* ?Vladus? I won''t sugarcoat it for you... Yes you are a monster just like the one who did this to you... Just like me. The girl quickly looked at Vladus with questioning eyes. ?Twin1? Are you truly the vampire God? ?Vladus? Sighh.. Obviously Velthur included that memory into the mix... I never accepted that title but yes I guess I am. ?Twin1? With me and my sister now being vampire that make you our God? ?Vladus? That sounds very weird... You can simply see me as a paternal figure, or just an acquaintance if you prefer. ?Twin2? HHHmmmm The second sister finally started waking up. ?Twin1? Marta!!! Are you ok? She said quickly kneeling next to her sister. ?Marta? Maria?.... SISTER!!!!! Wannnnnn!* The two of them held each other and cried for a few minutes. ?Maria? This man killed the monster and freed us sister. ?Marta? Are we really free? It look more like we are locked in here. ?Vladus? It is temporary. You are still newborn vampires, precaution need to be taken. You were dried corpses until a few minutes ago so you are most likely starving enough to slaughter anything and everything... I will make sure that you are well fed and well educated before leaving here. As long as you are good and obedient students, you should be allowed to leave here in less than 24 hours. ?Maria? W.w..w..Well fed??....... She immediately became pale. ?Vladus? Yes. Whether you like it or not you need blood to survive now... So I sent someone to bring you... A snack... ?Marta? NO WAY! NEVER! Vladus was a bit puzzled by that reaction but shrugged it off knowing they wouldn''t hold the same discourse once exposed to the smell of fresh blood. Instead, Vladus spoke with them about many things. Everything they needed to know how to live their new life and other random subjects. Vladus explained what Markus had done to them and why he did it. He also spoke a little about his past, how he learned to live as a vampire on his own back in the days. The two girls even shed a few tears at his tragic story. A few hours later Magnus came back with three humans, two girls and a man. ?Magnus? My lord. Our guets have arrived. He said through the door trap used to look inside the room. ?Vladus? Have the two women enter the room with us. The door opened and Magnus pushed the two girls inside before closing it back behind them. ?Vladus? Two of them... One for each of you. You need to drain them of every drop of blood for you to fully recuperate. ?Marta? FORGET IT! We aren''t monsters!!!! ?Snack #1? WWww.w..wWhat is going on? She said in a panicky voice. ?Snack #2? How did I end up here? Where are we? Vladus walked up to the two ''snacks'' and spellbound them to stay still and silent. Then he made small cuts on their neck, creating a slow trickle of blood that perfumed the entire room with the delicious smell of warm human blood. ?Marta? Awawa wawa.... Sniff¡­ Huwaaaa!!! ?Maria? What the hell! How can this smell so delicious!... I won''t I won''t!!! Right Marta? Let''s stay strong together!... Marta? When she looked where her sister was a second ago, she was gone. She quickly turned around and saw her sister sucking passionately on one of the woman''s neck. She was licking the wound with a delightful expression on her face. ?Maria? MARTA!!!! What are y-... Her sister slowly turned her head to look at her sister. Her eyes were pitch black and her face was covered in blood. ?Marta? Sister!!! You need to taste this!!! It''s so-...!!! Better than anything else in the world !!!! These words seemed to erode the last of Maria willpower as she immediately ran to the second snack girl and ripped her throat out with her teeth. Both of them were feeding nicely and Vladus was very satisfied. It felt like watching his newborn child sucking on their mother breast. They may have been twin sisters but the differences in their personalities were obvious when you watched them feed. Marta was licking a lot, making small incisions with her fangs then sucking and licking the cuts while Maria was more like Vladus, a true ripper. She had munched on the girl''s neck so much that only the spinal cord was holding the head in place. One was slowly eating its victim alive, while the other was enjoying ferociously digging her teeth into her prey, ripping pieces just for fun... Ending up devouring them while they were dead. Just like Vladus. A few minutes later, the two twins were in top condition having fed sufficiently. Then there was the long and annoying ¡°What have we done, what have we become¡± discussion, born from annoying residual feelings from their past human life but it couldn''t be helped... Only time would rid them of those weak emotions. Then Vladus opened the dungeon door. ?Vladus? You are free to go wherever you want now. Don''t get yourselves stupidly killed... I don''t want my efforts in saving you to be wasted by stupid decisions you may take in the future. As soon as he said that, the two girls were gone in a blur. Vladus could track their movement effortlessly if he wanted to, so it wasn''t a big deal... As long as they become good vampires and find a way to keep enjoying their life, it is all that Vladus wished for them... Now he just needed to do the same with the ''special'' vampire girl... But before that he needed to wait for Velthur to recuperate from his last blood lost which could take a few days... Until then, he would simply keep her under his bed. There was now something more important on Vladus'' mind... The elder was approaching very rapidly and at this speed, he would be there in five days. First, Vladus needed to make a few preparations to welcome properly this VIP. Since the sun was about to rise, Vladus went back to his room ready to catch on some sleep. He laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling while thinking about what''s to come. What type of person would that elder be? What did he look like?... Still not finding sleep, Vladus dragged the woman corpse from under his bed and laid her next to him. ?Vladus? What was so special to Markus about you?... His mom? First love? Why the chains around the coffin? Seem a bit aggressive... Deadly enemy maybe? She must have been in that coffin for quite a while since her dress was almost entirely rotten... The twins still had descent clothes... Vladus sat next to her and looked at her corpse from every angle. Nothing seemed different from a normal dried up vampire body... All of a sudden, the woman''s corpse made a quick movement and sank her teeth into Vladus'' arm. She was sucking his blood as if it was fresh ambrosia, forcing him to rip her bottom jaw out rendering her incapable to bite. The woman body started to quickly regenerate and was getting its healthy color back. ?Vladus? Want to bite me bitch? I can do that too! Vladus violently sank his four fangs into the woman''s neck, drinking back some of the blood she had stolen from him while being careful not to accidentally rip her head off. The regeneration process slowed down but it was only a matter of second before she wakes up. Vladus grabbed her and dashed downstairs toward the dungeon. Seeing him, Magnus couldn''t help but ask: ?Magnus? What is happening my lord? ?Vladus? I think I fucked up!!! Bring human snack #3 downstairs fast! ---- Many thanks to gcman01 for proofreading this chapter! ---- Chapter 12 - United against the sun Dracula: Patient zero Chapter: 12 United against the sun ---- Vladus quickly went down to the dungeon and threw the woman on the other side of the room. Magnus immediately appeared behind him with snack #3 in tow. ?Magnus? Mind explaining what''s happening my lord? ?Vladus? That woman... She''s going to be a handful... She drank at least three mouthful of my blood. After hearing these words Magnus became pale. Actually during their long travel together, Vladus and Magnus had tested a few things. They tried to see what would happen if Vladus did the turning process on Magnus by having him drink his blood then bite him. The results were not what they had expected. After drinking a few drops of Vladus blood, Magnus had almost immediately gone berserk. His eyes turned black and he seemingly lost his mind. (Like on a bad acid trip.) Vladus had ended up breaking his neck to prevent him from destroying the carriage. ?Magnus? Then why the hell did you ask me to bring snack #3 in here? As long as she''s weakened you can knock her down and wait until your blood gets out of her system... ?Vladus? Snack #3 isn''t for her.... He¡¯s for me. She''s a special one... Just like me... Thing is, she''s a lot better at it than me... And it''s not only her special talent I¡¯m worried about... She''s also older than those elders you talked about... She''s going to be hard to control. Said Vladus with a complicated smile on his face. ?Magnus? I''m not sure to understand but if she''s so dangerous... Why don''t we simply kill her? ?Vladus? No way... Guhuhuhuhu* We need each other. Magnus was very confused and didn''t understand much but he rapidly went upstairs to Velthur''s room. ?Magnus? My dear Velthur, I know you are still recuperating but we urgently need your help. ?Velthur? What is it master? ?Magnus? I need you to go in town and recruit as many ''workers'' as possible. He said before giving him a very big bag filled with gold coins. ?Velthur? This is enough to buy a lot of snacks... Are we having guests? ?Magnus? Just go as fast as possible... I need to go back downstairs. Magnus came back to the dungeon just in time to see the woman vampire starting to move. She was going to go berserk, and it would be a brutal fight... Magnus had no intention of missing a single minute of it. The woman slowly rose up, her dark black hair hiding her face gave off a chilling feeling. She had milky white skin and looked to be around the same age as Vladus. She then slowly lifted her head upward to look at Vladus in the eyes. Her eyes turned black but surprisingly, her irises were shining red just like Vladus''. She immediately pounced on Vladus like a wild animal, with her two fangs ready to bite into Vladus'' neck but Vladus hit her with a palm strike straight on her chest, breaking her rib-cage and piercing a few organs in the process. She ended up flying a few meters backward before being stopped by a massive stonewall. ''How come the turning process had worked on her when it had failed on Magnus???'' Vladus'' head was filled with questions but the woman still had some fight into her. She stood back up with little difficulty and pointed her right palm toward Vladus. ?Woman? *Veniat ad me volo fiat* Pain surged into Vladus'' chest area and his heart simply bursted out of it and flew into the woman''s open hand. Then with an evil grin she squished Vladus'' heart with her hand, sending blood everywhere. Vladus staggered a bit but rose back up with a furious look in his now brightly shining red eyes. ?Vladus? You''re going to need a lot more that this to bring me down, mad queen! The woman showed a shocked expression. ?Vladus? *Te semper a me!* As soon as he said these words, the woman flew straight back at the wall she had hit before. This time the impact shattered every single bone in her body. She staggered left and right a bit before finally loosing consciousness. ?Vladus? Pant* Pant* Pant* I hate doing that... It drains all the strength I have. Pant* Pant* Pant* ?Magnus? HhH..hh...How is that possible???? You said the mad queen?????? She''s that legendary vampire witch??? ?Vladus? You saw her right? A vampire capable of using magic... ?Magnus? BbB..But... How did you do it? I saw you use magic as well my lord!!! How is that even possible?? ?Vladus? I can use magic as well but I suck at it. I don''t have a lot of magic so I usually end up passing out from using it. But that woman... being this strong even though she should be highly weakened... She knows her stuff that''s for sure... Quick give me snack #3... Vladus ripped through his meal and healed his injuries while the woman was still lying unconscious on the ground. ?Magnus? ........ Vampires aren''t supposed to be able to use magic... What the hell am I missing here??? What''s up with you two? ?Vladus? Hooo.. Could it be that for once I am the one knowing something you don''t?? huhuhuhu ?Magnus? Not just me... Nobody knows anything about that... The mad queen has been the only vampire in history to be able to use magic... She was seen as an aberration of nature... A monstrous woman with a reputation almost as terrifying as yours my lord. ?Vladus? Huhuhu... As for me, I know how I gained my magic. I need to confirm if she got hers the same way I did... If she confirms my suspicions, we might be able to walk under the sunlight once again my dear Magnus Mwahahahahaha* ?Magnus? W.w.w...WHAT???? Are you serious my lord???? This is major news!!! ?Vladus? I saw bits and pieces of her memory, and she definitely found a way to do that but lacked power to do such a big spell on her own... From what I understood, she got sealed in the iron coffin before finishing her work... Additionally, if you add my knowledge and me to her spell, then all vampires on earth could become day-walkers. Mwehehehe. ?Magnus? Then what about the turning process? Her eyes were red like yours... How come it worked on her and not on me??? ?Vladus? I think it''s for the same reason that we both can use magic. I assume that the only vampires I can ''upgrade'' are vampires capable of using magic like us. ?Magnus? So... No one else basically. Since you are the only two like that and all... ?Vladus? We will soon be more numerous. It will be necessary in the future. Magnus simply stayed silent, totally overwhelmed by what was happening. A few minutes later the vampire-witch woke up again even thought most of her injuries still weren''t healed due to her weakened state. Her eyes shone bright red once again as she stared at Vladus ready to strike. ?Woman? GRRRRrrrrrrrrr* ?Vladus? I know you haven''t lost your mind... I''m sure you can tolerate my blood, you are not like most vampires. From the bits and pieces of memories you stole from me earlier you should know what we can do for each others. Then as Vladus'' eyes were shining brightly, he used a maker''s command on her that said: ¡°SUBMIT OR DIE¡±. The woman took a few steps back, surprised by what was happening. Never in her life had she met another being capable of making her feel such terror. She had always been the one making others feel that way in the past. She didn''t want to believe it at first but now had to admit it... Before her was standing the true vampire God. Her eyes suddenly turned from red to orange in color, then she lowered her head and knelt on the ground. Seeing this, Vladus couldn''t help but remember what he had learned about lycan''s hierarchy. He was the alpha, and she was a beta... No contest. ?Woman? This new found strength I''m feeling inside my body... Did you perhaps made me even stronger than I was before?.... I can hardly believe it... The Gods are definitely on my side. hihihihihi ?Vladus? Indeed... It was accidental but I learned many things from that... If we work together we can definitely succeed where you failed in the past... Mad queen. Guhuhuhu* ?Magdalena? Don''t call me like that.. I hate it... My name is Magdalena Worgihrem Deschreau... And my lord''s name is?? ?Vladus? Vladus...... Valdrislav Vladus Tlesnasa. How about a snack? We have a lot of work to do... ?Magdalena? Hihihihi Thank you very much my lord... I can''t wait to see you at work... But I am afraid that even if the two of us form a coven*, we would still be lacking in power for such a big spell... *Coven: In fantasy stories and popular culture, a coven is a gathering of witches/sorcerer to work spells in tandem. Such imagery can be traced back to Renaissance prints depicting witches and to the three "weird sisters" in Shakespeare''s Macbeth. Orgiastic meetings of witches are also depicted in the Robert Burns poem "Tam o'' Shanter" and in the Goethe play Faust. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ?Vladus? Then we simply need to make more vampires like us and add them to our coven right? Guhuhuhu!* ?Magdalena? Do you perhaps... Know how to create more vampire-witches/sorcerer like us? ?Vladus? Yes my dear.. In fact it is so simple that I am astonished that no one found out how it worked before... As soon as she heard that, Magdalena started radiating happiness. ?Vladus? Let me just ask you this... Was the first meal that finalized your transformation the leader of a coven by any chance? ?Magdalena? ..... Could it be... No way!!! That simple??? Hahahahaha!* Great lord, meeting you was definitely the best thing to happen in my long life. Hihihihi ?Vladus? We have a lot to prepare... Finding coven leaders won''t be easy... There''s also the fact that they are well capable of defending themselves. ?Magdalena? Hummm I can''t locate them unless they use magic... Any idea about that great lord? Vladus looked at Magdalena and gave her a giant grin. ?Vladus? uhuhuhu Seeing what our goal is, I can''t see why our vampires brethren wouldn''t want to help us. Guess what, one of the vampire elder is on his way here as we speak. Magdalena reaction was one filled with rage and blood lust. ?Magdalena? ROarrr! We don''t need them! I''ll kill them myself! ?Vladus? I saw in your memories... The elders are the one who sealed you away... But you''ve been asleep a lot longer than you imagine my dear Magdalena... The elders you knew are long dead. The actual elders are not the same ones you once knew... ?Magdalena? ...... How long was I asleep for? ?Vladus? Who knows... Long enough for all the people you once knew to be dead. So you can put your anger aside... Our goal is all that matter now darling. ?Magdalena? Sighh... I..I....I understand... She seemed disappointed. ?Magnus? My lord! There''s a group of snacks waiting upstairs. ?Vladus? Thank you Magnus... Let us feast!! That night ended up as one of the bloodiest in history. High on blood, the vampire trio ended up slaughtering an entire village nearby. Thousands of people ended up in pieces, stuck on spikes with their head forming a pile many meters high. Magdalena wasn''t called the ''mad queen'' for nothing, she was a sadistic killing machine. Magnus enjoyed having sex with the beheaded corpses, using all the holes even going as far as creating new ones. As for Vladus, this was just like back in the good old days. These three vampires were arguably the three most hellish creatures to ever roam the earth. Magdalena taught Vladus many interesting spells that could come in handy for vampires like them. She would also make the corpses move via what seemed like telekinesis to create a funny puppet show for Vladus and Magnus to enjoy. Through these nights out, the trio ended up bonding quite a bit and was now enjoying each other¡¯s company. For Vladus this was a first. These people were just like him.. Enjoying the same things and having the same sense of humor. ¡°Vampires may be worth calling family...¡± Thought Vladus to himself. Vladus and Magdalena ended up doing the coven ceremony under a full moon, linking their power together with Vladus as it''s center, allowing them to share their magic. Vladus and her now had doubled the amount of power at their disposition but it was still far too little. A proper witch coven needed at least 12 members, but finding coven leaders for baby vampires to feed upon wasn''t going to be easy. One, they are very rare and very good at hiding themselves. Two, a witch coven isn''t a group you can simply attack and hope to subdue... Witches and sorcerers were among the most dangerous enemies to vampires, but Vladus had thought of the perfect solution to this problem. [A few days later] It was a very dark night, the moon was hidden by dense clouds blocking it''s silvery light. The night was perfectly silent if not for some wolfs and coyotes howling at each other. In the middle of the forest, a young girl looking to be around 12 years old was walking all alone seemingly unafraid of her surrounding. She wore a cute frilly red dress with small black shiny shoes. Combined with her beautiful curly blond hairs and blue eyes, the young girl looked like a perfect French doll. The expression on her face wasn''t an expression one would expect to see on a 12 year old. She seemed angered, tense, and very serious in general. The young girl finally reached a clearing leading to a big hill hidden by a dense fog. The ground was littered with snakes from species that weren''t supposed to exist in this region. These snakes were among the most venomous in the world. Luckily for the young girl, the snakes didn''t seem to pay any attention to her. She started to climb the hill toward her destination when suddenly the moon pierced through the clouds making it possible for her to see through the fog. Before her, appeared a very intimidating two-story mansion made out of bricks and stones. The young girl approached the door but jumped back as the door suddenly opened on it''s own. A pungent smell of blood and death came rushing out from inside sending chill down the young girl''s spine. The little girl entered the dark mansion with a worried expression on her face. She looked around but couldn''t see anyone... But she definitely could feel the presence of three vampires nearby. ?Man''s voice? A little girl?.... ?Woman''s voice? Hihihihi I pity her... Eternity in a child''s body... Awww what a shame... ?Man''s voice? She definitely need a peculiar type of men to fuck her... Pwehehe ?Woman''s voice? What a vulgar man you are... So refreshing hihihihi Even with her perfect night vision, the elderly little girl couldn''t see anyone inside. Then out of nowhere a man appeared before her. It was a young looking man with dark brown hairs and blue eyes wearing a long black cape over an ominous looking black leather armor. ?Vladus? Welcome to our little vacation house... Miss elder. I am Valdrislav Vladus Tlesnasa.. But please call me Vladus. May I ask your name? ?Kiara? You don''t know me?? Pfff I guess it is only fitting since i don''t know who you are either... I am Kiaralyn Von Berthon... People call me Kiara. I assume you are the one I came here to see. ?Vladus? That assumption would be correct. Still angry at me for killing that child of yours? Kiara''s eyes turned black as she pounced on Vladus aiming at his heart. ?Woman''s voice? *Murus tetigerit omnes* A few centimeters before reaching Vladus, Kiara seemed to hit an invisible brick wall as she even broke her nose and finger-bones on what seemed like nothingness. Even with all her strength, the elder simply couldn''t get past the invisible shield surrounding Vladus. It is then that Vladus used a maker command saying, ¡°KNEEL!¡± The 12 year old looking elders immediately fell to her knee without realizing it. Finally understanding what had happened she stood back up but fell back to her knees after Vladus used the same command again and again. She was a 4700 years old elder... Respected and feared by all!!! Yet, for the first time in her life was being toyed with like a child. Being treated like a child was what she hated the most. She hated her eternal infantile appearance and she had made sure her entire life that everyone would respect her despite it. ?Kiara? GRRRRRRRRrrr WHO ARE YOU!?????? She said with her face covered in black veins. ?Vladus? Relax... I killed Markus because he tried to kill me first... Then Vladus snapped his fingers prompting Magnus appearance. ?Magnus? Well... hello elder Kiaralyn. Remember me? ?Kiara? You..? You are the one wh-... Seemingly realizing something, Kiara turned her eyes back to Vladus. ?Kiara? No way... Are you really...? Are you what I think you are??? ?Magnus? I present to you Vladus, our God. The father of all vampires. Kiara fell to her knees with her jaw hanging down. ?Kiara? Can''t be.............. What proof do you have? Vladus dug his hand into his chest, ripped his own heart and threw it at her. Kiara showed an utterly shocked expression as Vladus then made his eyes glow red and smiled in a way that exposed his four razor sharp fangs. He then raised his right index finger up to the sky making the elder float weightlessly into the air. He then made her do some aerial acrobatic maneuvers as if he was playing with a toy plane. After a few seconds, he brought her back down on the ground in front of him. ?Vladus? And what kind of proof may you be looking for? Kiara seemed to be panicking as she quickly lowered her head to the ground. ?Kiara? My most sincere apologies my lord. ?Vladus? It''s quite alright... No shame in wanting to protect your children... I may have something that will get your mind out of it. Kiara lifted her head and looked at Vladus with a curious expression. ?Vladus? Would you like to see the sun again? Vladus showed a devilish grin which announced an incoming change for the entire vampire race. ---- Many thanks to gcman01 for proofreading this chapter! --- Chapter 13 - The almost perfect plan Dracula: Patient zero Chapter: 13 The almost perfect plan ---- ?Kiara? See the sun?? Is that even possible? ?Vladus? Of course it is... Thanks to her. Vladus snapped his fingers once again which was the signal for Magdalena to make an appearance. From a dark corner of the room, she slowly walked forward toward Vladus. With her black hair, black eyes and small stature, she wasn''t ugly. Actually most would categorize her as a beauty but the entire atmosphere surrounding her was one of creepiness... There was no way to know her age for sure, but if it was to be estimated the number should be between 5000 to 7000 years old. A few centimeters shorter than Vladus, she looked to be in her mid-twenties. There was a dignified feeling about her that could also be translated as coldness. She was wearing a dark feathery black dress and had numerous venomous snakes crawling all over her. She walked up to Vladus and enveloped him in her arms before throwing a patronizing look to Kiara full of disdain. ?Magdalena? Hihihihi The little kitty became an elder I see... The look on Kiara''s face showed that they knew each othersvery well. ?Kiara? M.m.m.Magdalena ??? Urrg... Kiara took a few steps back fearing Magdalena reaction. ?Magdalena? I have been kept in a box for thousands of years... And since I was kept by one of your children, there''s no way you didn''t know where and who I was. ?Kiara? I.i..I was... .Just... ?Magdalena? Doing your job as an elder... I know... Don''t be so scared, you weren''t among those who forcefully bled and stuffed me in a box. Also, my lord needs you, so I won''t rip you to pieces... In the past, Magdalena was the queen of a small country. Her people and her husband, the king loved her. One night, a vampire had infiltrated the castle slaughtering his way through the guards and servants. It was only due to bad luck that Magdalena had ended up crossing his path. The vampire had immediately attacked her and sank his fangs into her neck. Magdalena had struggled as mush as she could and bit him as hard as she could resulting in her accidentally drinking a few drops of her assailant blood. The guards luckily arrived before he had the chance to finish her forcing him to flee through a window. A few days later, the queen had recuperated from her injuries but was still bedridden, struck by an unknown sickness. The king who loved her more than his own kingdom had summoned the best healers with no positive results... Eventually the king ended up summoning a powerful witch living in a nearby swamp, desperate to save his beloved wife. The decision was controversial and many of the kings followers questioned his ability to reign. The witch had accepted to help the king''s wife, but her price was very high. She would help only in exchange of a few newborn babies for her to use in order to extend her lifespan. The witch entered the queen''s chamber and began her treatment. The witch habit of using their own blood as catalyst to their spells was once again going to play against them. Like what had happened to Vladus, as soon as the witch cut her finger to collect a few drops of blood, Magdalena was gone in a feeding frenzy. The queen''s room had became a slaughterhouse and when the king entered, he was shocked by what he saw. His wife was holding the witch heart in her hands and was sucking on it as if it was a juice box. The king''s love was so strong that he covered for her, built her a windowless ''dungeon'' and directed all the prisoners sentenced to death into her room. Gradually the queen had stopped appearing in public prompting many rumors about her and the king. What happened later was only to be expected, the king''s men ended up assassinating him and then went to do the same with the queen. The men were apprehensive due to the many rumor of the queen being a crazy monster feeding on criminals. She had even earned the title of ''mad queen'' from the country citizens. When the soldiers entered her room, what they saw made some of them puke, and others faint. The room was filled with body parts, some skinned, other scorched... Some human skins were placed on drying racks that she used to make dresses and other leathers accessories. Teeth necklaces, fabrics made of women human hairs... What they saw couldn''t be unseen. Grieving her husband, Magdalena ended up slaughtering all the people involved in his betrayal and fled from the country never to be seen again. She would later discover her ability for magic and by practicing on her own ended up attracting an old witch¡¯s attention. The witch knew vampires very well and was very intrigued and curious about Magdalena who could use magic despite her being a vampire. She eventually ended up taking her under her wing, teaching her magic and even laying the anti-sun spell foundation with her. The spell demanded a mind-boggling amount of sacrifices and would work only on the caster''s bloodline. Meaning that only Magdalena, her child, and her child''s child would be immune to the sun. Obviously the elder council wasn¡¯t happy with the idea of having only a ''select few'' vampires immune to the sun while they remained vulnerable to it. Then ended up seeing her as a menace to their power and decided to set a trap to capture and imprison her. She was kept that way in the vampire council vault for thousands of years until somehow ending up in Markus possession. ?Vladus? Now now... Everyone relax... What about we calmly discuss my plan and what is expected of each of you. Since the spell affects the target bloodline, that means that if I am the target, all vampires without exception would be immune to sunlight. So even the elders should now be willing to partake into the project. ?Magdalena? This would place vampires as the supreme race. Even those wolfs wouldn''t stand a chance. ?Kiara? .... Indeed... The sun has been our biggest weakness throughout the ages... What do you need from me, my lord? ?Magnus? My biggest weakness is your beautiful little ass mwehaheh [...] ?Vladus? Cough cough!...... Very simple, the council must have many spies and human accomplices. I need you to use all the means in your disposition to locate covens and capture their leaders alive. To do that you shall use this. Vladus showed a flask of poison he was hiding behind his back. ?Vladus? A drop of this will put them to sleep for 48 hours. Don''t hesitate to give them a dose everyday to make sure they won''t wake up. Then you will transport them to our base of operation. ?Magnus? ..... I could easily find other uses for this poison... At this point everybody was already ignoring him. ?Kiara? Sounds feasible.. And where is that base of operation you speak of? ?Vladus? In a city called Daorsi. It is located in Illyria country southeast from here. For now I need you to locate these coven leaders and keep an eye on them. I will use that time to select a few humans worthy of becoming my children. When everything is ready, I will inform you via a maker''s command. Then you will capture and bring these coven leaders to me. ?Kiara? Understood. I will go relay these information immediately to the other elders. Kiara gave Vladus a bow before vanishing into the darkness. ?Magnus? Awww I already miss her sweet little prepubescent ass... ?Magdalena? Is that ok?... Such an old and big organization is bound to have traitors among them... ?Vladus? Guhuhuhu... I''m counting on it, my dear Magdalena. Let''s prepare ourselves for a long trip. [Six month later] Vladus and his acolytes had made their way to the city of Daorsi and with Magnus¡¯s money and influence had managed to purchase quite an expensive mansion in the middle of town. The mansion was maintained by 20 humans servant to avoid bringing suspicions. These 20 humans were slaves, criminals or simply people who Vladus had saved along the way there. Vladus didn''t care much for them, he just wanted their loyalty and simply have them know how much they owed him for everything they now had. They were the candidates to become Vladus''s children and needed to prove themselves worthy of such honor. After all Vladus was offering them power, immortality and even was going to get rid of the sun ''curse''. This was a gift from God not all deserved. With the perfect carrot dangling in front of their nose, the humans had become the most perfectly loyal little servants. Vladus was in the basement, sitting at a table with Magdalena and Magnus. Velthur was standing up behind Magnus like his shadow as usual. At the end of the room was an old white haired naked woman, tied up in the air upside down by her feet. Her wrists were cut open and blood was slowly dripping down into two wooden buckets. ?Vladus? Is the circle completed? ?Magnus? Hehehehe yes my lord! It is really big and will undoubtedly include most of the citizens. It cost me a shit load of money to get it dug this fast but I must admit, your plan is truly genius hehehehe. ?Magdalena? And as you can see my lord, my part has just been completed as well. She should be empty now don''t you think? ?Vladus? Guhuhuhu Then I guess it''s time... Are you ready to be reborn my children? Said Vladus while turning his head toward the other side of the room. Immediately, ten dark cloaked figures moved forward and bowed their heads. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ?Cloaked group? Yes Master! Vladus walked up to them and bit the right arm of each one of them. Then gave each one a few drops of his blood to drink and went back to sit in his chair. ?Vladus? Now go take a rest. When this room start smelling delicious to you, come back to me. ?Cloaked group? Yes Master! The group then left the room using a hidden tunnel leading to a deep underground room. Magdalena walked up to the dead old woman hanging from the ceiling and grabbed the buckets filled with her blood. She placed them on the table and started filling a few wooden cups. ?Magdalena? It won''t take long now... One month is enough to teach them the necessities. ?Vladus? Yes, I¡¯m contacting her right now. Vladus then used a maker''s command on Kiara that said ¡°BRING ME THE WITCHES¡±. Now it should take the vampires one month at least to capture ten coven leaders and bring them all the way to their hideout, so this was how much time they had to get ready for the ceremony. [One month later] Under the bright moonlight, a cortege of around a hundred humans and vampires was making its way toward Vladus''s mansion carrying ten coffins looking boxes with them. The group discretely made their way inside the mansion walls, moving in perfect silence to avoid anyone attention. Once inside the mansion, Velthur escorted the group to the courtyard situated in the middle of the residence. Kiara and three other elders were also among the group and upon arrival, sent most of the vampires to keep guard in the surrounding areas. In the courtyard were now only the three elders and a few humans organizing the boxes in a big circle. One elder was a silver haired man who looked to be in his 60''s and the other was a bearded ¡°baron¡± looking character who seemed to be constantly frowning. He looked to be around 40 of age. Then there was Kiara, still looking like a little doll and this time wearing a black frilly dress. It is then that Vladus made his appearance, wearing his black cape and badass leather armor. ?Kiara? I have returned my lord. ?Aldherin? It is an honor to make your acquaintance my lord. My name is Aldherin Berthel. ?Josher? I am also honored, my name is Josher Hyodhu. ?Vladus? Glad to see you here tonight. Today we are making history my children. Are these the ten coven leaders I asked of you? ?Kiara? Yes my lord. ?Josher? Many have died in the process but we succeeded in our mission. The elder seemed irritated. ?Vladus? These are the ten children I have selected to become my children. At that moment, ten of the twenty humans saved by Vladus entered the courtyard and walked toward the center of the circle formed by the coffins. The human servants brought by the elders then backed away on the outside of the circle. ?Vladus? These children have been turned and are now ready for their first meal. Let''s proceed... Open the boxes! Then suddenly, the boxes opened on their own and the ten witch coven leaders crawled out of them. At the same time, some of the human servants executed the other servants and started attacking Vladus''s children with magic. Vladus felt the vampires all around the city dying one by one. Vladus used a maker command on the three elders that said: ¡°FIVE MINUTES TO LEAVE THE CITY¡±. The infiltrated witches immediately murdered Vladus¡¯s children and before they even got to them, the elders were gone. As for the ten coven leaders, they were already prioritizing Vladus and had formed a circle around him, preventing him from running away. Vladus was all alone in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by witches and sorcerers. Eventually, more witches started appearing from everywhere, there must had been 200 of them coming from all directions slowly filling the courtyard and surrounding Vladus. Then all at the same time, the witches started chanting a spell destined to seal Vladus forever. ?Vladus? Is this all of you? Guhuhuhu that''s more than expected. He said with an arrogant smile on his lips. Then Vladus simply vanished into thin air. ?Sorcerer? What?? There''s no way he could have left the prison circle! ?Witch? GNAAaa!!! Illusion!!! It was an illusion created with magic!!! GNA! ?Witch? ....Trap?? IT''S A TRAP! Then all of a sudden the witches fell to the ground, incapable to move, completely drained of their strength. ?Sorcerer? GUWAaaaaaa Such powerr!!! ARGggggg Right under their feet in a 70-meter down underground room, a group of 11 cloaked figures with orange glowing eyes were chanting in a circle surrounding a man with red glowing eyes. The red-eyed cloaked figure was obviously Vladus, and the 11 figures surrounding him, his children and Magdalena. Vladus had Magnus dig a circular tunnel surrounding the entire city with this room as its center. Everyone above them and in the giant circle was going to be used as energy for the spell. It was in Vladus plan to let people think they needed ten coven leaders to create ten vampires with magic abilities, but the truth was they simply needed to drink a few mouthfuls of blood for it to work. He had Magdalena look out for any signs of magic, then tracked and captured the leader of the coven herself. They then had one coven leader and by using her blood economically, had turned ten loyal humans into witch vampires one month before the elders arrival. Magdalena used the one month time needed for them to arrive to teach the newborn vampires how to use their magic, and the knowledge they would need for the anti-sun spell they were currently doing. Magdalena and Vladus knew that even with the twelve of them, they would need even more magic. So Vladus used the other ten ''rejected'' humans as bait to attract as many witches as possible in the center of their giant spell circle. They would become the power-source used for the spell. After being completely drained of magic, the witches were condemned to die. Not only the witches, but the entire 500,000+ citizens living in the city as well would be used as sacrifices for it to work. The eleven Witch vampires were concentrating on the spell, draining every-bit of energy available to them and applying the anti-sun spell on Vladus. All of it lasted 15 minutes that felt like hours. They waited a few minutes, waiting to see if everything was in order. Nothing wrong seemed to be happening. The twelve of them then went back upstairs and inspected the aftermath. All the witches were dead and the city was perfectly silent. Eerily silent... Only the wind and cicada could be heard. Vladus then sent a maker command to Magnus and the elders saying that it was over. They now needed to wait for sunrise to confirm if it had worked. The witch vampires including Vladus slowly walked around the city and confirmed that everyone was definitely dead... Hundreds of thousands of humans, all that energy had been used, but was the spell correctly performed...? A few minutes later the three elders came back followed by Magnus, with a look of astonishment and a bit of anger on their faces. ?Josher? What the fuck was that?? It looked as if all had went to shit yet you say it has been successful? ?Kiara? Why did you hide stuff from us? Is it that you don''t trust us? ?Vladus? You have rats among your organization... By using so many humans it was obvious that you needed a hard lesson. Never, trust, humans. ?Kiara? Sighhhhh... Did it really work?? ?Vladus? Only one way to be sure. We just need to wait for the sun now. And they didn''t have to wait long, a few minutes later the sun rose and at first everybody was hiding indoor. Then, with resolve in each of his steps, Vladus walked outside. The sun violently shone upon him for the first time in thousands of years. He was there, his arms in the air and his head high up. Nothing was happening. Vladus wasn''t burning. Astonished, the rest of the group followed Vladus'' example and walked outside. ?Kiara? Sniff.. sniff... My lord... I..I..I..I am standing under the sunlight... And I am not burning.... sob*sob*sob.. Th. Thank you my lord!!! Every single one of them bowed and cried at Vladus''s feet. They were dancing, bathing in sunlight and showing expressions of joy they couldn''t remember showing since they had became vampires. [A few hundreds meters away, outside the city] ?Unknown man? Look like the witches have failed... ?Unknown woman? TTSssss Useless... Now these leaches can live under the sun... UNACCEPTABLE! ?Unknown man? Doesn''t matter... They haven''t become stronger. MEN! TIME TO CLEAN UP THIS TOWN! Thousands of men slowly started coming out of the forest, joining the two mysterious figures. Then screams of pain could be heard from them. They were contorting their body in strange ways, their eyes glowing of a bright orange. They all seemed in incredible pain. Then the two people who seemed to be the leaders started doing the same, except for the fact that their eyes were glowing crimson red. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLL!!!! ---- Many thanks to gcman01 for proofreading this chapter! --- Chapter 14 - Outnumbered Dracula: Patient zero Chapter: 14 Outnumbered ---- ?Magnus? This is the best fucking day of my life!!!!! He said while jumping all over the place. ?Magdalena? Sob*sob*sob. Who would have thought that I would get so emotional just because of this... Thank you my lord! She said while hugging Vladus. ?Aldherin? Thank you my lord. ?Josher? Thank you... Very much! I wasn''t convinced about you but... I owe you many apologies my lord. ?Vladus? It''s nothing... I did it as much for you as for me. Now vampires can choose how they want to live their lives without fear... After a few minute of celebration, the group started hearing what sounded like wolf howls on the distance, followed by the shaking of the earth. It was as if a pride of elephants was making its way toward them at incredible speed. The group immediately got into battle formation around Vladus. ?Kiara? Lycans!!!! RARRRRRrrrrrrrrr! Her words made everyone''s eyes turn black, some were glowing orange and veins were appearing all over their faces. They were preparing to fight their worst enemies. Vladus felt weird, the closer they got, the more he felt like the beast who were approaching were distant relative of his. It was a bit like with vampires but a lot fainter, he could barely notice them even if he concentrated solely on sensing their presences. Then a sudden realization came to him, there was thousands of them approaching... He and his acolytes had used all of their magic on the anti-sun spell and hadn''t had much time to recuperate. Even worst, they were immune to sunlight now but all of them could feel that they weren''t as powerful during the day as during the night. They basically had to fight thousands of lycans, each equivalent to a thousand years old vampire, while being at their weakest. Then suddenly, a giant monstrosity came from above after having jumped from roof to roof. They were moving as fast as young vampires, they were also four meters high and overflowing with power. The beast was aiming at Kiara but the young looking elder made a quick movement, avoiding the monster''s claws and ripped his heart out from his back. Instantly a giant wave of them came from all directions. Some came from above other from left and right. The elders rushed into action and meticulously started ripping lycan hearts out while moving like ghosts among them. As soon as they were killed, the giant monsters who looked like hairy humanoids with wolf heads rapidly reverted back to their naked human appearance. Vladus, followed closely by Magdalena quickly jumped into the fray and started ripping heads and hearts left and right, sending them flying in all directions. The oldest vampires were barely able to protect themselves so protecting the weakest was impossible. Vladus'' children started dying one after the others... Velthur being a human died first, pushing Magnus into a rage rarely seen coming from him. But Magnus was way to young... Only 71 years old, he didn''t stand chance against such a horde of lycans. After witnessing Magnus''s head fly into the sky, Vladus felt a rage he had rarely felt in his life. His face became so covered with black veins that he didn''t look human anymore. His four fangs fully grown, and his eyes shining like never before, Vladus let out a mighty roar filled with hatred and resentment. The feeling expressed by it was clear, they had pissed off the wrong person. ?Vladus? Groooowwllll ROAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!!! Seeing his brightly shining red eyes, the lycans stopped in their tracks. The alpha vampire in front of them had made them feel unimaginable terror deep down into the deepest part of their souls by simply roaring. Many immediately bailed and ran away for their lives. Then from the back came a blood-chilling roar that seemed to make the lycans regain their courage. The roar had come from a lycan standing in the back. He was half a meter taller than the others, had black fur instead of the usual gray one and had red glowing eyes. Vladus immediately recognized the sight of an alpha, the leader of this group. Behind him, Aldherin one of the elder had got his head ripped off and was now a pile of ashes on the ground. The others were slowly loosing the advantage... They were simply being outnumbered. But when he saw one of Magdalena''s arms being ripped off, Vladus made his decision. He couldn''t fight to his full potential while protecting them. They would all die in vain simply for wanting to stay by his side during this fight. So Vladus did the only thing he could think off to protect them. He used a maker''s command on all of them saying, ¡°RUN AWAY NOW¡±. ?Magdalena? NO! I''m not leaving you behind even if this mean my death! Vladus ran up to her, took a few mouthful of her blood which was spilling all over the place from her severed limb, instantly powering him up. Magdalena was the oldest in the group, her blood was like jet fuel making his inside burn with power. Then with his eyes shining brightly, Vladus made himself clear. ?Vladus? I can''t fight properly while you''re around! You''re all hindrances!!! GET THE FUCK AWAY THIS IS AN ORDER! Magdalena showed a complicated expression before disappearing with the others toward the forest. Many lycans went after them but Vladus had his hands way to full to do anything about it. Filled with fury, Vladus turned his sight back to the alpha leading the group. Like an unstoppable steam train, Vladus ran straight toward the alpha male while ripping everything daring to get close enough for him to grab. At lightning speed, Vladus had made his way up to the alpha. He then took a hold of the leader''s genitalia and ripped them off. The alpha male howled in pain allowing Vladus to stuff the severed organ into his gaping mouth. The alpha male went into berserker mode and slashed in all directions, killing some of his own men and ripping off one of Vladus''s arms in the process. Vladus'' next move what to rip the alpha''s heart out of his chest, killing him on the spot. At first, the other lycans stopped and hesitated a bit after seeing their leader die so horribly, but it ended up having the opposite effect to what Vladus was hoping for. The lycans suddenly went into a murderous frenzy, all competing for Vladus''s head. Now that their leader was dead, the one who would succeed in killing Vladus was almost certain to become the next alpha. Vladus took a look at his severed arm and realized something annoying. Under the sunlight his regenerative ability was slowed down quite a bit and he now needed to avoid injuries as much as possible. He had been careless, there was still over a thousands lycans left and he now had only one arm to deal with them. A bloody rampage ensued and Vladus was sending body parts flying in all directions. The entire city was littered with mangled corpse. There were severed limbs on the surrounding building roofs and severed heads flying in all directions. An hour later, Vladus had ended up retreating inside the city temple to avoid the sunrays. His body was covered in gashes and gaping holes. He had lost a lot of blood and could barely muster the strength to stand up on his feet. The remaining lycans were still relentlessly charging at him forcing Vladus to make a desperate move. Gathering every bit of magic he had left, Vladus destroyed the temple pillars that were holding the massive marble roof over their heads. In an apocalyptic rumble, the entire temple roof came crashing down on them, killing everyone on the spot. Witnessing this, the few remaining lycans who were standing outside gathered together. ?Beta Male? I can''t hear any heartbeat... They all died. ?Beta Male 2? I heard his regenerative ability is no joke... But certainly nothing can survive thousands of tons of rubble falling on them... The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ?Alpha Female? Clear the rubble! Bring me his corpse! I won''t be satisfied until I make sure- One of the male interrupted her before she could finish her sentence. ?Beta Male? Hey!... Who the fuck do you think you are...? He threw a menacing glare at the ''alpha'' female. In a lycan pack, the alpha male is elected by being the strongest but the selective criteria for the females to become alphas were quite different. The females who became alphas were elected not by strength, but only for being the alpha male¡¯s mating partner. Now with the alpha male dead, the previous female alpha was no more than a normal beta, therefore no one was going to take any orders from her anymore. Sensing that her life was now in danger, the ex-alpha female laid down naked on the floor exposing her belly in a submissive position with her eyes glowing orange. ?Beta Male? GGrowwwlll... How many warriors did we loose in this stupid battle.... The demon leach is dead! We''ve done enough! Come on men we''re leaving. There were now only 18 of them... With so many cadavers rotting all over the place, this city would soon become a Petri dish for viruses and sickness to thrive in. Certain of their victory, the group having lost 99% of their numbers left the city now filled with even more corpses than before. A few hours later, some rubble started to move and an arm emerged. After a few more minutes Vladus had extirpated himself from the ruins and was slowly dragging himself toward one of the human cadaver on the other side of the street. There was lycans blood everywhere but their blood smelled toxic to him. The last thing he needed right now was to drink blood making him weaker, so even if the human cadaver''s blood had started decaying and was now most likely ineffective, it was all Vladus had. Vladus had lost his lower body, his left arm and the right one arm was broken in a few places making it difficult for him to move. He was now only a torso slowly using his fingers to drag him across the street leaving a trail of blood behind him. He was almost there but as if faith itself was having a laugh at him, Vladus passed out only a few meters away from his target, dead. [A few hundred meters away] A rickety carriage pulled by a mule was making its way toward the city. The carriage was carrying a big muscular man, a small teenage girl and a lot of cabbages. The giant of a man had brown short hair, brown eyes and a dense beard giving him the look of a caveman. The young girl had dark dirty blond hairs, green eyes, and was very petite for her age most likely due to malnutrition. It was strange knowing they were father and daughter since one visibly wasn''t lacking food seeing just how big the man was. The girl was barefooted, wearing worn out clothes filled with patches. ?Giant man? Karianne! Move your ass! I want to be there before nightfall. Said the giant man riding the carriage to the little girl walking behind. ?Karianne? Yes! Sorry father... Pant* pant* The young girl had blisters and blood all over her feet but her father couldn''t care less about that. After a few more minutes, the giant man spotted something he wasn''t expecting to see. There were thousands of birds circling high in the air, most of them crows and vultures. The giant man knew very well that you could only see this phenomenon on battlefields with thousands of corpse lying around after a fight. ?Giant man? What the fuck? Did an enemy country attack the city? The duo made haste and reached the city 15 minutes later. What they saw chilled their blood in their veins. The scene of chaos before their eyes couldn''t normally be seen even on history''s worst battlefields. The corpses looked torn to pieces as if monsters had attacked the city. There were bodies and body parts scattered all over the place. Wild coyotes were feasting on the corpses, birds of all kind were poking the cadavers eyes out and eating their entrails. The entire city smelled of death making the young girl puke some green-yellowish fluid called bile, which was all she had in her mostly empty stomach. ?Giant man? Karianne! You disgusting little bitch! Instead of puking all over the place, help me looting everything of value from these corpses before anyone else arrive. This is the chance of a lifetime to get rich! HahahAhAH!* The two of them started pick pocketing those who had money bags, bracelets, rings... Everything of value... The duo slowly made their way from one corpse to the other when the giant man noticed something. There were bloody drag marks on the ground that lead them to the top half of a corpse. ?Giant man? WOaaa... That dude dragged himself all this way while he was missing his lower body and his left arm.... That guy was a fucking badass!!! ?Karianne? Urgggg Blehurrrr!!! The sight of Vladus entrails littering the floor was too much for the young girl to bear so she simply stayed a few meters away. The giant man quickly went up to Vladus'' corpse and started rummaging inside his pockets. Then suddenly! Acting on survival instinct alone, Vladus sank his teeth into the giant man''s ankle hard enough to shatter the bone and ripping the foot off. ?Giant man? HAAAAAAAAaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Suddenly regaining his senses, Vladus grabbed the man with his only arm and slowly dragged the panicking giant toward him, as his eyes were gradually turning black and faintly glowing red. ?Karianne? Kyaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!! ?Giant man? HAAaaa!!! Karianne!!! Help me!!!! Haaaaaaaa!! Mustering all her courage the young girl grabbed a big stone and threw it at Vladus but didn''t have any effect since it had missed the head. At this point Vladus had crawled over the giant man''s body and sank his teeth into his neck. Finally drinking some deliciously warm and energizing blood, Vladus was still confused but didn''t care anymore. This blood is what he needed to survive but Vladus couldn''t help but be disgusted by what he saw. The giant man''s memories were angering him and the more he saw the more he wanted the man to die. He could see how he repetitively raped the young girl every night, feeding his dogs better food than he was giving her... Calling her names, dehumanizing her in every way possible, even going as far as keeping her in a dark closet during the night and beating her with every reason he could think of. He was taking a sadistic pleasure in degrading her in every way possible. He burned, cut, whipped and raped her... He forced her to crawl on all fours for days, he shared her with unknown men in exchange of money that he would later use to drink and beat her again once he was drunk. Yet, this young girl was at this instant trying to protect him with all she got... Then as the man died, Vladus saw something even more infuriating. The giant man was dead, but Vladus was finally starting to heal. The young girl was yelling and crying her heart out which made Vladus want to tell her one thing. ?Vladus? This man.....Was an even... Worst monster.... Than me..... He.... Was not your real father...... With his body critically trying to concentrate all of his energy on healing, Vladus then passed out once again. ---- Many thanks to gcman01 for proofreading this chapter! ---- Chapter 15 - The nutcase whisperer Dracula: Patient zero Chapter: 15 The nutcase whisperer ---- When Vladus woke up it was already night. What he saw at first was the starry sky and the moon shining brightly up above, then felt the coldness of a blade held at his throat. Lifting his head to see around him, Vladus saw the young teenage girl intensely glaring at him sword in hand. So much rope bound him that he looked more like a mummy than anything else. His left arm was mostly regrown but he was still missing half of his legs. He was laid down on the girl''s carriage and seemed to be heading somewhere. ?Vladus? ..... Why did you capture me? ?Karianne? Don''t move!!! Or I''ll chop your head off! ?Vladus? Sighhhh... ridiculous... Where are you taking me? ?Karianne? I''m not taking you anywhere... Soldiers suddenly started appearing from all directions so I had to leave... But there''s no way I would have left without having you explain to me what you meant earlier!!! How do you know about my parents? How do you know me? ?Vladus? ..........Aren''t you afraid? Bringing with you the monster that just killed the man you used to call father... All alone at night in the forest... Guhuhuhu* Quite a courageous little girl we have here... ?Karianne? SHUT UP! Or I will slice your throat! You may be a monster but you are tied up! I am the one who ask questions now! She said while pushing the blade just enough to draw blood on Vladus neck. ?Vladus? GUWAhahaHAhahah! ?Karianne? What is wrong with you! Is your head not working properly!? What did you meant by ¡°he wasn''t your real father¡± ????!!! ?Vladus? Rahahahahahaaha... pant*pant* What an audacious little girl... hahahaha....... I meant what I said... That man was not your real father.... The little girl had distracted him quite a bit but at that moment, what had happened earlier came back to Vladus mind. He immediately looked for the presence of his acolytes but couldn''t sense them. ¡°They can''t be...¡± Thought Vladus to himself fearing the worst. Vladus immediately snapped the ropes binding him by simply opening his arms. It was as if the ropes were made out of vulgar toilet paper and offered no resistance to Vladus'' strength. Panicking, Karianne pressed the blade harder on Vladus neck. Annoyed, Vladus snapped the blade in half with the flick of a finger and grabbed the young girl by the neck. ?Karianne? Hiiiiiii hurrgggr Ww.w.w....What are... you...? ?Vladus? A monster!!!!.... A monster that has no time to play with little girls... Something happened to my companions, I need to leave. ?Karianne? URgrgg I.. I don''t know how your body works but.... How do you intend to go anywhere without feet? Vladus realized that what she had just said was indeed a problem. ?Vladus? Simple... I just need to eat someone... Even a little girl like you should be enough to grow back my feet... He said while showing her his four menacing fangs. ?Karianne? HIIIIIIIiiiiiiii!!! E.e.e.e..Eating me?!!!! I don''t bath very often!!! I taste bad I swear!!.... ?Vladus? Guhuhuhuhuhu* By compassion or more likely pity, Vladus then released her. She had lived such a shit life, that even Vladus felt pity for her. It didn''t matter, he could find another snack somewhere else. The young girl couldn''t hold it anymore and broke into tears. ?Karianne? Sob*sob*... I always knew deep down inside of me... That we looked nothing alike but... I am all alone now... sob*sob* Please!!! Sob*sob* Tell me... sniff* sniff* Who are my parents?? Where are they?? ?Vladus? ..........Sighhhhhhhh.......... Bring me something to eat... And I will tell you all I know. ?Karianne? Really?????? She said suddenly radiating with hope. She then grabbed some dried meat from a leather bag and gave it to him. ?Vladus? .................... Are you dumb? ?Karianne? W.w.w.w...what... You can''t eat normal food??? Y.y.....you want me to bring you someone to eat????? ?Vladus? You''re quite slow aren''t you..? ?Karianne? N..n.NnnnNO Way! Irritated, Vladus grabbed her by the neck once again and used his spellbinding technique on her. ?Vladus? BRING, ME, FOOD!!!!! ?Karianne? There''s a house over there... Wait here for me, I will go get someone for you! She then left running toward the house. ?Vladus? Sighhh.. Humans.... Are tiring... Vladus closed his eyes and concentrated on his supernatural hearing. *knock knock knock* ?Karianne? Hello?? Hello!!? I need help! Anyone home ? *Sound of door opening* ?Snack-Man? YawwwnnnN! Whut iz it? Ya no how late it iz? The man spoke in a terrible accent. ?Karianne? Sob*sob*sob M..m.m. My father is gravely injured... Please Help me! Wannnnnnnnn!!* ?Snack-Man? Alrite alrite... Wheyre iz he? Still in an horrible accent. ?Karianne? Sniff* sniff* On the carriage over there.. Please hurry sir!! Sob*sob* First of all, Vladus was genuinely impressed by the young girl acting skills... After all she was only ¡°spellbound¡± to bring someone to him, not to put such spirit into it... Answering the plea of a young girl in distress, the man who looked to be in his 30''s came running toward the carriage. ?Snack-Man? Ho my Gawwwdd ! Such Theurible injureezes !!! The man was horrified after seeing Vladus missing his two feet. ?Vladus? C..c.c..Come closer... I... need... to tell you.... pant*pant* something. He then threw a look at Karianne saying ¡°See... I can do that too¡±. Then the man approached Vladus, and got eaten... Karianne was observing the scene, horrified yet she wasn''t running away. It was mostly because she had realized that Vladus had chosen to eat someone else instead of her when it would have been easier for him. So far Vladus''s actions hadn''t shown any intentions of him wishing to kill her. Also her hope of learning more about her real parents was enough to give her the courage to face the devil himself. Vladus was satisfied with his meal, his feet had already started to regenerate and it was now only a matter of minutes before full recovery. ?Karianne? D..d..Dont......... You better respect our agreement!!! ?Vladus? Still haven''t run away? Guhuhuhu* Stupid child... I will tell you what I know. That giant bastard kidnapped you as an infant. Though I don''t know your parents names or how they look like, I clearly saw the house where you and your real parents used to live... Explained Vladus as he was undressing Snack Man with the intention of stealing the man''s clothes. Until now he had been pants-less and what was left of his previous clothes were now noting more than rags. ?Karianne? Where was it? Which country? ?Vladus? ............. Unsure, Vladus simply shrugged his shoulders. ?Karianne? ................................. THAT''S IT? ?Vladus? Isn''t it already more than you knew before... I kept my word, now I need to go. Farewell Young lady. ?Karianne? WAIT!!!!! Only you know what the house looked like... How am I supposed to find the place without you???? ?Vladus? Humans problems don''t concern me. ?Karianne? You killed the only adult who could feed me!! I''m no better than dead now that I am alone!!! Take responsibility and take me with you!!! In exchange... I..I..I.. will let you have my bb.b...body. She said while repressing her tears. ?Vladus? You lived with a monster, now that you are free you want to follow another one??... Why am I only attracting nutcases?..................... Ok... But only if you can keep up with me. Then Vladus disappeared in a blur, leaving the young Karianne behind and agape. Vladus was conflicted, why should he care for a human? Humans couldn''t be trusted. But the further away he ran the more annoyed he became. ¡°RAAAAA what the fuck is wrong with me!?¡± Vladus thought to himself. He couldn''t seem to be able to shake that feeling. That little girl was pitiful, she probably deserved better. Now she would most likely end up in a brothel somewhere... Vladus couldn''t help but see his mother angered expression in his head. ¡°A man should help a woman in distress¡± she would say. Even if he kept an eye on her with a few spy bats, it wouldn''t help her in any way. Actually Vladus almost regretted not killing her. If she were dead he wouldn''t need to worry about her. But on the other hand, everybody Vladus ever cared for always ended up dead one way or the other, so maybe it was better if he simply left her behind on her own. After a few hundred meters, Vladus stopped in his track and turned his head toward a bush on the right side of the road. He stood there and looked at it for a while, then seeing so sign of them wanting to reveal themselves, Vladus spoke first. ?Vladus? Keep an eye on the girl...... If anything happen or if you eat her I''ll eat you later. [...] ?Vladus? I also wanted to ask, did you see what happened to the people who were with me during the fight yesterday? Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ?Maria? No way... How did you know we were there??? ?Marta? I know right?! We had never been found before... But whats with ¡°keeping an eye on the small girl¡±? We ain''t babysitters... By the way, it''s thanks to you that we don''t burn under sun anymore isn''t it? ?Vladus? I can sense all vampire presences. You have been following me around since the day I freed you.... I never spoke to you since you were hiding. People who want to talk usually don''t hide in bushes... But now I need you. You will keep an eye on the girl until I come up with a solution for her.... Now! Tell me, did you see what happened after the fight? ?Marta? Woaaa.. Remember me to never play hide and seek with you... *pout* ?Maria? We saw! Right sister?! Vampires and humans attacked them with ropes and weapons that seemed to burn them.... It smelled like burnt pork. She said in an emotionless way. ?Marta? Bhouuu it was super scary!!! While big boss was fighting those stinky beasts in the city your companions ended up fighting more of these scary hairy monsters... They did well but then those vampires attacked them again and humans¡¯ sis spoke of. We were so scared that we hid in a cave nearby. ?Maria? Scared??? Speak about you... I wasn''t scared. ?Marta? Yes you were! Liar!!! BlehhH!!! ?Maria? YOU are the liar! ?Vladus? SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU!!!!! ROAAARRrrrr! The two twin sisters froze stiff after seeing Vladus in his full vampire appearance. Angry wasn''t the proper word for it, It was rage. The type of rage that could push someone to completely annihilate another species without remorse. Vladus was punching trees out of anger making them fall left and right. The twins had to keep avoiding the giant falling trees and at this point wouldn''t dare opening their mouths. These people had visibly used hawthorn sap soaked weapons and ropes to subdue them. In this case, they were either dead or dried up somewhere. After calming down, Vladus used his connection to the bats in the region to search in the surroundings of the previous battlefield. The entire city was flooded with soldiers disposing of the bodies and clearing the rubble. First, Vladus noticed that many vampires were infiltrated among the soldiers. Second, these vampires were paying special attention to the temple''s rubble that had crushed Vladus. This wasn''t proof, actually it was no better than circumstantial evidence but Vladus was convinced. A group of vampires were behind all of this. After all, it was weird that only three elders had came to meet with him earlier. They hadn''t said anything about it but Vladus had immediately found that suspicious. He had anticipated the possibility that one or more elders would feel their authority threatened by him. He had expected them to take actions against him, but allying themselves with witches, lycans and humans? Unacceptable! Suddenly! Something strange happened. Another vampire hiding in the nearby forest killed a vampire who had wandered a bit to far away from the others. Curious, Vladus then left the twins to take care of Karianne and resumed his fast travel toward these vampires. As he was running, Vladus used his bats to keep an eye on that vampire who seemed to be hunting the other fake soldier vampires. A few minutes later, the mysterious vampire kidnapped another one and brought him deeper in the forest. ?Unknown Vampire? You fucking disgusting piece of rotten rectum! You better tell me everything you fucking know before I fucking rip your fucking head off of your fucking body! I''ll fuck your skull through the fucking eye-holes!!!! ?Fake soldier? II..I...I... They didn''t tell us anything!!! They only told us to come and burn every little pieces of flesh we found... And to spray everything with hawthorn juice!.... We have no idea what happened here either! ?Unknown Vampire? Useless piece of fucking corn filled shit. WHO FUCKING KILLED MY FUCKING SON!?? The powerful vampire was holding the fake soldiers in the air with one arm while radiating killing intent. The angry vampire was trashing the fake soldier in the air like he was made out of paper-mach¨¦. Then the angry vampire ripped the fake soldier''s head, threw him on the ground and kicked his headless body repetitively while still swearing at him. ?Unknown Vampire? Speleoncus! Kick* Cockalorum! Kick* Smellfungus! Kick* Tosser! Kick* Wanker! Kick* Slag! Kick* Barmy! Kick* Chav! Kick* Fucking Git! Kick* Gormless! Kick* Manky! Kick* Plonker! Kick* Kick* Kick* ............ And kept going and going. The man visibly had a large repertoire of insults and knew how to use them. Hearing the man speak made almost made Vladus emotional. He couldn''t help but remember Magnus potty mouth as he listened to him. Magnus had resuscitated him, spent his fortune helping him and was simply a bundle of gory perverted fun to hand around. But then as soon as he thought about Magnus, Vladus realized who most likely was this vampire. Realizing the man''s identity, Vladus immediately changed his course and headed toward him. A few minutes later, Vladus was already back on the outskirt of Daorsi. As soon as he came at visible distance from him, the angry vampire noticed Vladus and latched at him with his sharp claws. He instantly dug his hand into Vladus chest and held his heart in his hand, ready to crush it. ?Unknown Vampire? If you fucking start coming to me on your own, it''s even fucking better! Now it''s your fucking turn you fucking Knob... I have some fucking questions I want answered! He was glaring at Vladus, his hand still holding his heart. ?Vladus? You''re in luck, I came to give you answers. ?Unknown Vampire? YEaaa you fuc- Hu? Wait what? The man wasn''t expecting this answer, he also didn''t expect a vampire to remain this calm after having his chest dug out and heart used as hostage... Vladus was eerily calm which made the man nervous. But then again, Vladus was a bit annoyed to have someone dirty hand in his chest so he gently... Ripped the man''s arm off and tossed it aside. ?Unknown Vampire? ARGGGGGggggggggg W.w...What the FUCK! FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK! Who the FUCK are you???? ?Vladus? It''s a pleasure to meet you Merclor. Merclor was a 1700-year-old vampire who looked to be in his 40''s. He wasn''t very pretty, actually the word ugly would immediately come to mind. He had dark skin with black hair and brown eyes and was apparently born down south in Egypt. Used to be general of an army, Merclor was smart and powerful. From what Vladus had heard, Magnus admired him deeply and had learned everything from him. With the both of them being relatively ugly, they had bonded over rapes and other sexual deviance. He was among those who didn''t believe in Vladus legend and had tried to get Magnus to stop his research, worried that the elders would order punishment upon him. This ended up making them drift apart and leave their own ways but Merclor was never very far away from him. By fear of his son getting into troubles, he managed to always stay close all these years without Magnus knowing. What he had feared most seemed to have happened since the elders seemed to be the ones responsible for Magnus'' death. ?Merclor? ..........Who the fuck are you? Ripping my goddamn arm so effortlessly... I thought I knew all the fucking vampires older than myself... RRrrrrr ?Vladus? Since you are Magnus''s maker I am pretty sure you did hear of me before, we simply never been presented. I am Vladus, an acquaintance of Magnus. We were together at the moment of his death. ?Merclor? A friend?... You were there!? Tell me!! Who''s the shithead who fucking killed him! ?Vladus? The answer to that isn''t simple. He was killed by a horde of lycans. I killed the one who murdered Magnus myself afterward. But to know who''s responsible for Magnus''s death, the real question should be: Who told the lycans we were there, and why attacking us with such numbers. ?Merclor? ..... If you know the answer stop jerking my chain and speak the fuck up! ?Vladus? Sighhhhh... No doubt this is where Magnus got his potty mouth from..... Don''t you have an idea of who could have set up a trap helped by the lycans... And by the way, witches were involved as well... Look around you and think of the information you gathered from these dead vampires. ?Merclor? .......To me it look fucking normal... Various vampire organizations trying to cover their fag ends ¡±asses¡± by destroying fucking evidences... The only part I don''t fucking get is why soaking everything with that fucking Hawthorn shit... ?Vladus? Would it help if you knew Magnus had succeeded in his long and arduous endeavor he had gone through these last years? ?Merclor? ............... So what if he finally succeeded in achieving the legendary multiple male orgasm? ?Vladus? Ho for fuck sake!... Why am I not even surprised by that answer... Not that endeavor, the other one... And by the way, did you recently tried to expose yourself to sunlight? ?Merclor? ..................................... Why in the fucking world would I do that? All right stop fucking with me! There''s no fucking way... But if he had managed to bring back the fucking legendary ¡°generation zero¡±, then the hawthorn shit would be fo-...... Wait a fucking minute.... No fucking way.... Then it would mean...... The elders did.... Then did they succeed in killi-.... (Merclor slowly turned his head and looked at Vladus) Don''t tell me you fucking are.... The more Merclor thought about it, the whiter he became. ?Vladus? Valdrislav Vladus Tlesnasa. First and oldest vampire on earth, resuscitated not long ago by your son Magnus. I am in his debt and also indirectly responsible for his death. I am still unsure whether one or more of the elders are responsible but I will find and kill all of those who were. Right now everything seem to incriminate the elders, of course I also intend to track and slaughter the lycans who escaped but for now some of my and Magnus companions are either dead or have been captured. So I will ask you this, want to go hunting some elders with me? ---- Many thanks to gcman01 for proofreading this chapter! ----