I finally got my hands on Bloodborne, and I have to say... This idea will be damn right dark for you guys. Hope you enjoy. Also, credits go for the author of the story "A True Zero" for the inspiration needed to write this story.
Now, let me be the first to welcome you... to Yarnham. *cackles*
Familiar of Zero X Bloodborne
Blood Tells All
Opening Act: Absolute Zero
Yarnham.
The Forgotten City.
The City of Blood Miracles.
The Bloody City of Healing.
It has been known by many names in the past, and each name has always been referred to by it's specialty. Yarnham has been known for it's quality expertise in blood ministration. In fact, according to a rumor, there is even a remedy capable of curing any illness, even diseases that cannot be cured. Would it be possible for such a remedy to exist? Can it truly heal all wounds?
Many have sought out this fabled remedy... but none have returned.
Be warned, traveler, for this fabled city of hope... is now a hollow den of nightmares. The people are ravaged by a plague, turning them into maddening beasts. Should they discover you, you shall be slaughtered, and killed, and perhaps, if fate is cruel to you, join their numbers.
Should you enter this world, you should best remember... This is no mere nightmare.
This is the world that we exist in.
Turn back now... or abandon all hope.
This is your only warning.
"Oh, yes... Paleblood..." A voice echoed off the walls of a room cloaked in deep shadows; the only source of light coming from torches attached to the stone surface. In the center of the room was a hunched figure, seated on an ornate chair. "Well, you've come to the right place." His tone held amusement. "Yarnham is the home of ministration. You need only unravel its mystery. But where's an outsider like yourself to begin?" He slowly rose from his seat and made his way over. His face was slowly being illuminated by the burning torches. "The answer's simple... with a bit of Yarnham blood of your own."
he one he was staring at was a young girl, who looked around the age of fifteen or sixteen, despite her height making her look as if she were much younger. Her eyes were of the same color as her hair, a very light shade of strawberry red that came down past her shoulders and stopping above the midsection of her back. Her eyes were completely blank, as if she were not fully there, and her clothes were stained with murk and mud.
The man was old looking, his eyes hidden by bandages, and a tophat obscuring most of him. His clothes were old and worn. "Well, before we get started..." the old man said as he wheeled himself over to the girl. "Let's start with a contract, shall we?"
"..." The girl remained silent, unsure how to answer. But her body moved on its own and completed the piece of binding the man had given her.
"Good. All signed and sealed. Now let's being the transfusion."
The girl's eyes looked up at the ceiling, her eyes staring at the single burning lamp. "Now, whatever happens..." the man told her as he began the transfusion. "You may think it all one bad dream..."
After that, the darkness took her. Her body felt weighted, sleepiness consuming her before she felt her eyes beginning to open once again. The room was now dark, the creeping shadows dancing all around her like a quiet symphony. She still felt her body unable to move, her eyes being the only one to search as she turned her head.
There was a pool of blood on the floor. That alone would be cause for concern... but there was something even worse than that. Something was emerging from the pool, something large and foul. It had beastial features, resembling a wolf of some sort, it's fur soaked in red, and its claws sharp and deadly.
It's eyes found her, and it began to pull itself out from the bloody pool.
It stalked towards her. SHe was unable to move. Only remain still as the decaying beast approached. It crawled up the bed and slowly reached toward her head, its claws inching closer. But it threw its arm up and jumped back as a ball of fire struck its form setting it ablaze.
The beast the slumped down onto the floor, its body charred and blackened. But hte horrors did not cease after that. At the foot of the bed, a white, ghastly, skeletal like figure with a thin, disfigured head crawled up and moved towards her. She turned to her right and saw another one, this time, much closer. All around her, more of these beings crawled up and around her. Their hands reaching down to her face.
The darkness was beginning to lull her away once again. Her eyes fell closed once more. As the darkness swept her away, she heard a voice call out to her, a calm, soothing voice that seemed to bring her at ease... yet she felt some sort of meaningless tone, a feeling that was artificial. It was so cold, so... lifeless.
"Ah... You've found yourself a new hunter..." the voice said softly once she was finally embraced by the darkness. "And the child of the origin at that..."
Her eyes snapped open, scanning her surroundings once more. She was still in the same room as before. She wiggled her fingers and toes, testing their movement. She then slowly propped herself upright on the bed she laid in.
"What..." the girl muttered as she placed a hand to her forehead. "...was that...?"
She tried to recall the events prior to waking up. The last thing she remembered was meeting that old man, but there was something else... something she was missing.
"My name..." she whispered as her hands gingerly touched her face, as if trying to search for a memory that was not there. "I don't... recall it..."
She desperately tired to search the deep recesses of her mind for any indication of her identity, but was unable to find anything. In its place was nothing. A mere blank. Emptiness. As if it were removed without any trace of remnants.
A truly lost situation.
Sighing, the girl lifted herself from the bed and onto the floor. The blood was gone, as if it were never there. Her clothes were a simple white shirt with a red fine vest, an overturned collar with a black, along with a black laced tie. A black cloak hung on her body, reaching down to her small, thin forearms, and a hood covering her head. A black blouse reached down to her calves, along with black riding boots.
"This place..." she murmured, almost listlessly, as she looked around, slowly descending down the stairs. The floorboards creaked beneath each step, the echoes of her boots clapping against the wood being the only sounds she could hear. The girl looked around, the world around her being nothing but a wooden clinic, steel beams being the only support. It had seen better days, without a doubt. The wood was rotten, the beams eroding, and the tapistry that could be seen was torn apart. The furniture was overturn, and blood sprayed everywhere as if a massacre had taken place.
She then noticed a moving shape at the far end of the room. SHe slowly crept closer to get a better look. It was a wolf-like creature, its flesh decomposing. It was not unlike the beast from before. It was circling around a single spot in the room, not doubt waiting for prey to appear.
he girl hid behind the wall, peering out to see it devouring a corpse. Though she was unable to make it out fully, she could see a wheelchair tossed at the far end of the room. It appeared to be one of the patients, or perhaps the man she met earlier. She did a quick double check around her surroundings, but found nothing she could use as a weapon. All she had was a pointed stick, shaped like a wand or a pointer or of something akin to it.
Against a beast like that, it was just practically useless. Perhaps she could find another way around it?
"No, impossible..." the girl muttered as she looked around the room the wolf-like creature was in. She saw no exist, all save for one... directly in front of the damned monster.
She had only one option.
Breathing deep to calm her nerves, she steeled her resolve. She left her hiding spot to try and sneak around the monster while it was preoccupied with its meal, hoping that it wouldn't take notice.
Tiptoing her way, she ducked underneath the chairs and tables whenever the creature looked up after swallowing large chunks of meat. Her heart was pounding against her chest, thumping loudly as she moved from hiding place to hiding place.
However, as she moved towards the door, a loud, unsettling 'creak' came about from her feat.
Almost immediately, the creature stopped eating, and slowly turned to see her, her petite small frame frozen in place. In nearly a split second, she threw herself to the ground, barely evading being torn apart by razor sharp fangs.
She rolled to the side to avoid the beast's claw from crashing down on her cranium. She pulled herself up flee from the beast, which leapt after her and crashed into the wooden tables.
"Too fast!" she scowled as she tried to evade the beast's attacks, its eyes bearing into her own. She leaped back to avoid being torn apart, and then rolled away when it leaped toward her, it's body crashing into the wall. "Che..."
The girl was about to move away when her foot suddenly caught itself on something, forcing her body to the ground. She could have sworn she heard something crack and twist as she fell to the ground. The beast took this opportunity, shrugging off it's warped senses before focusing its attention back to her, and growled deeply.
It leaped, it's large body pouncing atop her own. She gasped for when she felt it's claws slamming her weak arms to the floor, it's decaying face staring right back at her. It's hot breath, foul and almost gagging, entered her nostrils, and drool falling down to her face.
She could only watch as it opened it's mouth, revealing rows of jagged, sharp, and bloody red teeth.
The last thing she saw was it's mouth clamping down, and the rest was only darkness.
She had died... hadn't she?
SHe felt disembodied for a moment. Her senses did not quite match up with what was racing in her mind. Her memories of the beast seemingly devouring her. The fear she felt. The adrenaline that pumped in her veins. But now, she sensed nothing.
Slowly, she felt her senses slowly returning to her. Her slender digits began to twitch, her shoulders shuffling, her toes wiggling, and her legs beginning to move. A small groan escaped her, quiet as a mouse, and her eyes fluttered open. Slowly, her body rose until she was on all fours, and looked up.
A gasp escaped her. "What...?"
SHe was alive. But how? She was so close to death but a mere few moments ago. She then turned to scan her surroundings. SHe was still in the same spot from before. But there were a few significant changes to the setting.
The scenery was no longer a room of an old, decaying building. Now, rather, it was a beautiful graveyard, tombstones leading up to what appeared to be a church, evident by the cross atop the roof. Lit candles were lined up on the steps, leading up to the crimson doorway, and beautiful white flowers were everywhere.
What caught her eye was a figure sitting near the steps, their face absolutely lifeless, and their body without movement.
"Where..." the girl muttered as she looked around. "...is this...?"
"This, my dear young Lorelei..." an old voice spoke behind her. "Is a refuge for those like you, those who wish to transcend the hunt."
Turning sharply around, the girl faced yet another old man, except this one had more finer features. His clothes were old and worn, but granted him the appearance of a caretaker of sorts, calm and wise with an old, aged face, along with a hat sitting atop his head.
"Lorelei...?" the girl repeated, tilting his head. "Is that... my name...?"
"Do you wish to be called something else, child?" the old man asked gently.
"No...it's not that." The girl shook her head. "It's just...is that my real name? I have no memory of my previous identity."
"Ah, I see." The elderly man nodded in understanding. "The name Lorelei has no significance... but it can be a blessing, given to the correct person." the old man explained. "I am Gerhman... a caretaker of this place, you could say."
"Caretaker?"
"The Dream Refuge," Gerhman began as he pushed his wheelchair towards the church. "It is a safe haven for those wishing to escape the nightmare of Yarnham... Tell me, child, do you know the story of this city, which had been once famed for it's miracles made of blood?"
"...No...no I don't." Lorelei shook her head. SHe possessed no knowledge of her past. So this information sounded foreign to her.
"Yarnham was once a beautiful city, a place of healing..." Gerhman told her. "It was also the home of blood ministration. If one was to learn it's secrets, they would need a bit of Yarnham blood of their own." A meeting with the old man from earlier sparked a memory in Lorelei, recalling those same words. "However, do take heed, dear girl... The city, once known as a place of miracles, is now a den of nightmares, some beyond even your darkest imagination and creation. A plague had struck, and now... there is hardly anyone that is not touched by insanity here."
The old man turned to the church. "Tonight is the night of the hunt, Lorelei... You had best slay a few beasts for your own good."
"Hunt? What hunt?" SHe asked, wanting clarification for the term.
"For Blood Echoes..." The man said no more as he wheeled himself away. Lorelei was left alone, with more questions than answers. Blood Echoes? What are those? And what tools would she have to hunt with?
As if to answer her question, a dark circle appeared on the steps, catching the girl off guard. To her shock, the small creatures from before were crawling their way up, stopping when their upper bodies were fully exposed. Even more surprising, they were carrying weapons. "For me?" she asked in surprise. The creatures didn't say anything, they just held out the weapons. The first weapon appeared to be some kind of cane with a sharp, bladed edge. It truly appeared fearsome, despite it's form, but the same could be said about the other two. They were simple thin handles with a large, jagged blade, the first in the shape of a cleaver, and the second, a more straight, finer edge in the form of a spear. Alongside them were two guns, both of them handguns.
Lorelei took only two weapons: the cleaver, and the large pistol. The creatures nodded in understanding of her choice, and delved back into the dark hole from which they crawled out of.
"So..." Lorelei looked at her weapons. "These are my tools?"
She then noticed that there were more of the strange creatures touching what appeared to be a tombstone, their hands gliding over the marble. It almost looked as if they were in mourning. "The hunt, eh...?" Lorelei muttered as she walked toward the grave, kneeling before it. "Well then... I suppose I should get started then, shouldn't I?"
Her vision soon blacked out.
When she regained consciousness, she was back at the clinic. She got back up and felt the weight of her weapons in hand. Then she recalled the savage beast in the torn room. Before, she had been killed. But now, it's an entirely new story.
Slowly, she walked inside the room. She found the wolf-like creature, it's body hanging over the mangled corpse it had been feeding on from before she had interfered with it's meal.
This time, she did not bother hiding or avoiding it. Raising her pistol, she steadied her aim, and pulled the trigger back.
The bullet shot out and impacted with the beast's skull. Using this moment of weakness, she lunged forward and swung her arm, the blade of her weapon tearing through its neck.
Blood splattered across her face, the feeling unpleasant. The creature did not even have a chance to howl in pain or cry out in agony, as it's head fell to the ground, rolling away, it's eyes still wide in shock from having been shot. The body was limp, hanging for a second, then two, then three.
Four seconds was all that was needed for it to fall to it's knees, and then down to the ground.
It lay there dead. But from its corpse, pale, blue wisps rose from it and melded into her own form. She felt a form of...fulfillment from this experience. As if it were a meal that satisfied her hunger. But it was more than that. It was almost as it she gained a new form of energy.
"Was this what he was referring to...?" Lorelei wondered before she looked at the door. She holstered her gun, and the grip on her blade tightened.
"Alright then..." she whispered to herself as she placed her hand against the door, pushing it open and allowing the light of the sun to break away the darkness. "Let the hung begin."
And so the child of the origin walked into the nightmare, not knowing the blood she will be stained with.
Tonight is the night of the hunt.
Tonight, no one is safe.
There is no place to run.
There is no place to hide.
Dear traveler, take heed...
Tonight is the night of the hunt.
Tonight... blood shall be spilled.