Fi ouy nac daer siht, ouy daer sdrawkcab. I wonk, a etsaw fo emit.
Faith of Beasts
Rouge strolled down the long corridors of the manor constantly. She had done this so many times in the last hour that she felt she had seen everything this mansion had to offer.
There was an exquisite dining room with a forty-foot long table, courtyards of lovely shrubberies and hedges carved into brilliant animal topiaries, and countless halls of dorm rooms for the girls but only one hall shared by the men.
The first room belonged to Vedrix, who she knew, the second belonged to a Cerulean bat named Marius who liked to talk, and the third room was owned by a very small, scared olive colored bat named Boleslaus.
Rouge was furious. She was tired of this castle. She wanted to get home and take a rest in her own bed. Fredrick had been kind enough to give her some extra sets of clothing, some scarlet dresses of what seemed to have been from the Victorian era. They were beautiful but Rouge just didn't feel comfortable in them.
The obstacle keeping her from getting home was the rain. It was raining so hard that she would not be able to fly, and she would probably catch a severe cold if she walked.
An even more bothersome fact was that she was very uncomfortable around every one else. When ever she passed a group of girls in one of the many halls she looked at the ground and held her breath.
One night ago Vedrix had left. He had said something about "uncertainty in the bloodstream" whatever that meant. The vampire was the only one Rouge had felt safe around. He didn't talk much or seem to care about anything, but there was that sense of protection every time she was near him.
"Just like Shadow…" Memories of the hedgehog soon flooded her mind. She did not understand why she was thinking about him and…missing him, but her train of thought was interrupted when she almost walked right into a large door.
The door was monstrous and reinforced wit bolts made of black steel. Rouge turned around and realized she had gotten lost. No lanterns or torches were lit in her area and she was at some dead end. She sighed and entered the door.
The bat was in a large library. It was filled with thousands, no, tens of thousands of books. 40 foot high shelves lined the walls and touched the ceiling. Large windows, open windows, lined the back walls. Curtains hung from the top and blew inwards because of the wind from the storm. It was very dark in the room and a little spooky.
Rouge walked towards the center of the room where a table and chair sat. A large open book was on the table, its pages flipping over with every slight breeze.
"It's strange…" A voice echoed in the room and Rouge spun around but no one was there. She turned again and as she did lightning flickered revealing the echidna she had seen a couple of nights ago.
"It's strange the way fate is set, that you would find this little room, my room" Rico stood grinning.
"Little is hardly the word I would use to describe it" Rouge said folding her arms. "Who are you really and what do you want?"
"Me? Oh, well… to be quite honest…I am a blind warlock who is one thousand-one hundred-and seventy three years old. Vedrix, whom you have met, is my apprentice. I prefer to eat fish and I like my wine red" Rico said ending with a chuckle.
Rouge was a little speechless with her mouth hanging open, "No…no way…I have seen ghosts, robots, vampires, skeletons, artificially created life forms, and demons, but a 1173 year old warlock is pushing it buddy!"
"Oh I assure you my age is an understatement of how old I really am, but I must keep up the ruse so the vampires here do not suspect who I really am. I may be blind but I can smell the fabric of the scarlet dress you're wearing" The echidna said with a more serious face, but then smiled at the end of his statement.
Rouge was still a little dumbfounded, but realized it probably was true. "So, aren't you a Vampire?"
"Actually no, I just teach them. Vedrix is actually quite young being only 103 years old. But such a tormenting life he has had" Rico turned and walked to the open book on the table. "I can tell you want to hear the story, yes?" The echidna flipped through some pages.
"Whatever, as long as its killing time." Rouge took a seat in a large chair and crossed her legs.
"Very well…" Rico put his hand over one of the pages and began to speak…
-------
It was a cool night in the middle of October of 1905. It was raining very hard and it had been going on for several days now.
Scientists had been saying if it rained anymore it could flood the town and raise the sea level at least two inches. It was the perfect night for blood.
It was probably Vedrix's first night fending for himself. All Vampires are given at least a year before they have to find blood for themselves.
He was a little intimidated by the vastness of the city, but was confident he could do it. He was so small. And so, the bats flew off, one by one, breaking off from the central group.
Vedrix had a good friend, who was the son of the head elder. He was the prince of Vampires, and his name was Altair. Altair was at least a year older then Vedrix, and was the leader of the duo. Those two would get into so much trouble.
Vedrix was not exactly fond of following the Clan's code. His clan was the Nosferatu, or Creatures of Shadow as indicated in the Book of Nod. The young bat had earlier agreed to meet with Altair at a secret place instead of feed. That was when it happened. A cry echoed through the night sky.
Vedrix became frightened and hurried to the spot.
Upon arriving at the secluded park Vedrix saw his friend, only he was kneeling before a Hedgehog robed in black. Around the two were the bodies of his Vampire brethren.
On the ground in front of them was the clan's matriarch, Vedrix's mother. She was barely alive and bleeding immensely.
Then the hedgehog told Altair "Kill this female, and your initiation shall be complete". Without hesitation, the young Vampire turned around and cut off the females head with his sword.
Soon after, they both vanished. Vedrix rushed to his dead mother's side, weeping masked by the heavy rain. From that day forth he is one of the only surviving Nosferatu and he blamed himself for not helping his mother and the death of his clan.
From that day he swore he would kill the God Orion…
Fuck that was short...Oh and the phrase at the top...try reading the words backwards if you did not already.