Prologue

It was quiet tonight in London town. The shops have closed, children are sleeping, and the streets are empty. Only the howls of dogs could be heard on these subtle streets of London town. The moon is full tonight, round and bright. It complimented the stars around it. What a wonderful sight to see except the moon tonight is dyed in crimson red for unknown reason.

At the very end of an alley lay a man with his clothes covered in blood. Rodents appeared out of the sewage, running towards the man, and climbing up his body. The man shows no sign of reaction, still like as if he is a doll. Two rodents followed suit. Out of nowhere, a large bat as big as appeared suddenly. Flying towards the man, the bat bit the man on his neck and disappeared into thin air.

On the following morning, in the house of an Earl, a maid entered her lord's room and pulled aside the curtains. The humble lord of the house woke up upon the brightness of the sunlight.

"Good morning my Lord Dantes" greeted the maid to her lord. The humble lord replied politely to his maid while trying to get up from his bed. "What time is it now, Vel?" inquired the lord. The maid answered her lord's inquiry diligently stating it is now nearly time for tea break and the lord has been asleep for an awful long time. She soon asked why the lord returned late at night, nearly daybreak and with all his clothes dirty and bedraggled. The lord stared at his maid in confusion, he couldn't remember much what happened the night before and only remember he was dancing with his fiancée Claudia.

There's another full moon tonight, the same as the previous night but tonight the moon glows brighter in red. Dantes and Ms. Claudia are having a dinner together in a prestigious restaurant at the corner of the streets of London town. For some odd reason, Dantes felt thirsty no matter how many glasses of wine he had. He felt his body getting hotter, his heart beating faster, and his head hurts as if it was being hammered.

"Are you alright my dear?" asked Claudia. Dantes assure her he's fine by Claudia couldn't help but worry about the pale look on Dantes's face. She immediately stood up and walked towards Dantes.

"Perhaps it is wise for us to retire for the night?"

"Do not worry my dear, it must be the effect of this wine"

"Do you want some water? I could ask for the waiter"

"It's alright Claudia, I'll be fine"

He smiled at his lovely fiancée to reassure her he is fine. As he lifts his head to face his fiancée, his heart skipped a beat, his thirst grows immensely, and his pupil enlarges as it turns red. His eyes were drawn to the attention of his fiancée's neck. It is weird but he could see the veins on her neck clearly. He was tempted to get closer to her.

As he pulls Claudia closer towards him, Claudia greatly blushes and tried to push him away. Unfortunately, she couldn't escape her fiancée's strong arms being a petite lady she is. "Stop it Dantes, it is indecent to act as such in this public site. People are watching us" whispered Claudia as she starts to panic. Dantes completely ignored Claudia's plea as he was too fixated at the sight of her neck. He felt the pain of his headache magnifying and lost control of his mind.

Unknowingly, he grabs Claudia closer until his lip touches her bare neck and bit her on the spot. Dantes indulged himself with Claudia's blood as if it was satisfying and delicious. Blood could be seen flowing down to her evening gown. Claudia was utterly petrified by his actions, terrified by what Dantes had done. She couldn't move a single muscle on her body. Claudia then struggled hard to speak and she shouted for help but nobody emerges to her aid as they fled out of panic upon seeing Dantes's beastly act. The pain was unbearable for Claudia. As she loses massive amount of blood, she fainted in Dantes's arm.

Dantes's suddenly gain his consciousness and saw Claudia lying in his arm with blood on her. He saw two punctured holes on her neck and he could feel the taste of blood on his tongue. Panicked, he stood up quickly holding Claudia in his arm. He repeatedly calls Claudia's name as he try hard to wake her up. "Please, wake up Claudia. " He was on the verge of tears as he saw he beloved fiancé were without response. He finally broke down and tears fell down his cheek as he said to himself "No….what have I done? This can't be happening, my dear sweet Claudia. Without holding back his emotions, he lead out a loud cry, "NO!..."

A beeping sound suddenly rang. A young boy opened his eyes and stretched his arm to off the annoying beeping alarm clock. He laid still in his bed thinking about the dream he had last night. "What was that? It felt so real…" he thought to himself.

"Kiro, it's time to get up or you'll be late for school….."

-To be continue-

Hidden Diablo (Prototype) Page 2 of 2