2. Military Men

As Antonio made his way over the muddy hills that were his home he reminded himself of why his life was so unreal, why he could never truly understand the meaning of his existence.

The nightmare began in the year of 1940, in the beginning of the Second World War. Antonio was as old as he was now in human years. He'd been sent out to battle like most men in his town. He was trained and given a gun at 18 years of age. He was stationed in London city centre, his command officer was Jared. He was strict and wouldn't take any nonsense and he had sworn that nobody in his command would die in battle. Jared was big, really big. His muscle looked like cannons placed on his arms and shoulders; he had a strong square jaw and a perfect set of teeth. His eyes were glowing blue merging into his big black pupils. He was wearing the same as the rest of us, a camouflage soldier out fit with big black boots and several pockets to carry essentials. He had a badge with command officer written in big bold letters. He was busy barking orders at the soldiers, telling them they would be working nonstop to keep London safe. Antonio just kept looking into space, thinking of how he might not come back alive. Despite Jared's promise he couldn't help but thinking that he might die today, or tomorrow. He might not even last the next five minutes with captain talks a lot! A smile appeared on Antonio's face, but it was cut short when Jared walked up to him and scowled.

"What's so funny solider? I hope it's something you'd like to share with the rest of us, and even with the head office!" Jared spat.

"I...i... nothing Sir, i was just... umm." Antonio stuttered.

"You were just what? Just smiling about the war? Laughing at your command officer who is trying to give orders to you bunch of mindless retards!" Jared was getting closer and closer to Antonio's face.

"No Sir, it wasn't like that." Antonio felt a bit stronger with that sentence.

"Yeah well if you die in battle, i will make sure this conversation is engraved into your small gravestone. Do you copy?" now that, Antonio would love to see. Seeing as Jared couldn't remember the day of the week let alone a whole conversation.

"Yes Sir" Antonio raised his hand to his head in a sign of salute and stood straight, as Jared backed off.

"Now you all get a goodnights rest. We are leaving for battle tomorrow at 14 hundred, company dismissed!" That was it, all the soldiers left and went to their allocated rooms and slept until morning. Except Antonio who stayed up until early hours of the morning, writing his memoires. He thought that one day someone important would find it and his life would have meaning. That one day he would finally feel important. He eventually got too tired, so shut his journal and went to bed.

"One, two, three, four. Hup to hup to. Come on soldiers move it move it." Were the words of Commander Jared as the soldiers made their way out of the truck towards the battle field. All around was the smell of rotting flesh, burnt hair and toxic bombs. Piles of dead soldiers as far as the eye could see. It was a nasty site; Antonio could only harbour enough strength not to hurl. As they walked through the toxic waste land that was London, they were each give a gun, some bullets and some advice, which was just telling them what they already knew. After that they were on their own. They were divided into two sectors the navy team and the land team. Antonio was the leader of the land team, he lead his 15 soldiers to the battlefield, keeping his eyes open for the enemy. As he reached the shelter he turned to his men.

"Now we know our objective gentlemen, to kill off all signs of enemy life. Also to retrieve our hostage Mr Day, we will do whatever it takes to retrieve Mr Day, and you all will work as a team to achieve our objective. Now are there any questions before we begin?" Antonio said this as stern as he could, he was even taking the stance Commander Jared took. As he looked around the soldiers faces he knew at least half of them would never return to camp, never see their loved ones again. There was a moment of silence and Antonio moved on.

"This way lads." Antonio took his troop to the battle ground, stepping over hundreds of familiar faces. As Antonio called his orders he said a prayer, he wished everyone good luck in the battle and he prayed that his loved ones would be safe without him.

The battle lasted for days, hundreds injured and many more dead. Antonio only had 5 of his 15 men remaining. He didn't know their names and nor did he want to. Getting to attached was too dangerous. For now they were just his soldiers. Antonio had to search the grounds for any hidden bombs before the others could proceed. He took careful steps across the muddy ground searching for anything dangerous. He was in deep concentration when he heard the most deafening noise. A sound so sinister it made any grown man fall to his knees, a noise of pure hatred. The sound of a trap being released. Antonio was quick to react and started running back to his troops but it was too late bombs and nuclear gas was released in front of him. As he turned to run the other way he was met with fire. It hurt; the pain was so unbearable it still haunts him to this day. Antonio crippled to his knees until finally he was lying on the floor in the middle of a forest fire. He couldn't hear or see anything; the only thing that reminded him that he was still alive was the pain of being burnt alive. The pain lasted several minutes but it seemed longer to Antonio, who was now huddled in a ball as he prepared to meet the end. The only things going through Antonio's mind were the words of Jared.

"I will make sure this conversation is engraved into your small gravestone!" As Antonio slipped into darkness the last thing he heard where footsteps approaching him through the blaze.

Antonio awoke suddenly, thinking he was dead. Thinking there was no way he could have survived the trap. His hands groped the sheets that surrounded him. He found nothing. His eyes flew open as he looked across the room he was in. It was a cave, a very old miners cave. It was furnished with an armchair, a table and some chairs. The wood burner was producing the only light he could see. As he looked around he saw that he was sat on an old oak bed, with white sheets and a small pillow laid on top of it. His hands when straight to his face as Antonio felt no scars on his face. As he looked himself over he realised that he was not injured at all. He was dressing in a muddy brown tank top and blue jeans. He looked around the room once more and saw a figure lurking in the far corner of the cave. Antonio felt a shiver of terror as the figure approached him.

"You're awake, at last" The figure chuckled "I was wondering how long it would take. I'm so sorry, I'm being rude. My name is Joseph." He offered his hand. But Antonio just looked at him with a confused expression on his face.

"You probably want an explanation about how your still alive don't you?" Joseph said as he lowered his hand. Antonio just nodded, still unsure of his situation.

"Well when i saw you getting burnt to death, i had to try and save you, but by the time i got to you, you were already passed out. So i picked you up and took you here, where i turned you into a Sapphire!" he exclaimed.

"A what?" Antonio said with a dry voice.

"Sapphires are a type of Vampire silly! Don't you do your history; vampires have been around for centuries. Don't tell me you've never heard of Dracula!" Joseph sat down in his arm chair and sat staring at Antonio intently.

"Of course I've heard of Dracula! But vampires are not real! They were made up by some random guy in the 1800's!" Antonio felt angry; he was being tricked by one of his soldiers! Wait till i tell Jared he thought.

"How do you know they are not real? What proof do you have? Just because you haven't come across one before doesn't mean they don't exist!" Joseph was at the edge of his seat, determined not to give in.

"Well i... i mean... they just don't exist ok?" Antonio didn't know how to answer that question, it was true he had no proof; he only had what other people told him. His face dropped as he realised Joseph was smiling at him.

"You see, you have no proof they are not real. I'm a vampire! And so are you Antonio!" Antonio looked up shocked.

"How do you know my name?" Joseph just smiled; he went to the mini fridge next to the arm chair and got out a bottle of red liquid.

"Here, drink this. You'll feel stronger in no time." He said as he offered the bottle. Antonio hesitated, but then decided to listen to him, and took the bottle in his hands. Joseph smiled encouragingly, as Antonio unscrewed the top and put it to his lips. The red liquid flowed into Antonio's mouth like a river. He was so thirsty he drunk it all. It wasn't until he had finished and looked back at Joseph that he realised what it was. Blood. He had drunk blood. Antonio threw the bottle to one side as a shooting pain went through his chest. He grabbed at his throat as it burned with power. An ache appeared in his gums, as Antonio let out a blood retching scream which echoed throughout the cave. Antonio looked over at Joseph to see him sat there smiling at him just before everything went black once again.

Antonio sighed as his memory stopped there, the next thing he remembered he was laying in the middle of the street. He had to fend for himself and that's how he ended up here, with his clan of other Sapphires, getting ready to battle our only enemy. The bloodsuckers of the north. The Scarlet's. As Antonio walked up the steep hill to his home, he prepared his speech about why he had left. As the sun appeared once more in the sky he was ready to face off his family.