Prologue
Italy a city of love, wine, finesse, and all the pleasures of life, went to shit in a blink. It was overrun by vampires almost 7 years ago. Things have changed since then. The Vatican is to blame for all this chaos. Keeping secrets, prisoners, and also experimenting with dark arts. Some say they were doing God's work, others say otherwise. What we all know is that a revolution began with an escapee. His name, Alorre. Cursed with eternal life, cursed as a vampire.
Blood and revenge brought more blood. And so the vampire invasion began. Soon after, Italy was lost. Those who survived went to hiding, others to safe points like holy places. They were safe, but not for long. Like humans, nature evolve and so did the vampires. They became wiser and somehow immune to holy things. We found out the hard way.
The night our monastery burnt down to cinders and rubble, we had more than we could bargain for. Many lives were lost, children, elderly, nuns, priests, all except for four. Two nuns, Olivia a young blonde still in her teenage days and Jess the trouble making mother like nun. A soldier who we had grown to love and see towards to, Onzo. And me, Alanzo a newly turned vampire, set out to Firenze so Onzo could train me to be a hunter. Six years have passed since that night. All in a blink we remembered that with a new passing day, a new night came to be.
CH. 1 The Chase
Nightfall was almost upon the city of Florence. Along with nightfall came curfew. Once the city gates closed down, they will stay closed until sun rise. Anyone outside the gates after nightfall will be shot on sight with crossbows.
Many stayed outside the gates for the thrill of seeing a vampire up close. Those who did rarely had the chance to tell the tale. Others who stayed outside after curfew were the hunters, who set in search of nearby vampires or carry out contracts.
Hunters work by contracts, some have to kill certain vampires and others just bring back certain supplies. Hunters knew better to come to the gate after curfew, so instead they stayed in small safe houses scattered around the forest that has become Florence.
Having delayed on other things, Alanzo only had a few hours left to finish a contract and return to the safe house. His contract was simple, find a Vatican checkpoint who supposedly had been infiltrating the nearby camps, sending vampires to ravage everything.
Along the way to the checkpoint he saw a patrol. Judging by the colors of their outfits, Vatican's royal guards. Heavily armored and well trained, but still no match for a vampire. Alanzo kept running at full speed, kicking a tree ripping it out of the ground and using it as a surf board running over two of guards in the middle. Before the other two had a chance to react one was decapitated and the other had a hand squishing his heart.
"That was simple enough" – Said Alanzo while using the dead guard's clothing to clean his hand and sword.
Having wasted more time, he hurried through the forest at full speed. Upon the arrival of what he believed was the checkpoint he saw no one there. Maybe the patrol was the one that should have been here instead, and he had just killed them. He gave this thought some time and then saw someone approach from the far end of an open road.
A man wearing leather boots, brown trousers and a red shirt sat down on a stone that was in the corner under a tree. Alanzo using his speed he climbed a tree opposite to the one the man was sitting. From there he could see and hear thanks to his vampire abilities. Sudden footsteps were heard by both Alanzo and the mystery man. Another patrol, royals again. This time there was someone else in the middle there was a fifth guard.
"It's a little late to meet like this don't you think?" – asked the man sitting on the stone.
"His holiness does not care about time, he wants what he wants when he wants it, simple enough" – Replied the fifth guard while grabbing an envelope from his back pocket.
"Right, his holiness" – Replied the man taking the envelope and verifying that the seal was unbroken.
Alanzo saw the exchange of the envelope from above. Thinking on his plan of action he had to act fast if he were to get back in time before curfew.
Nightfall approached faster than he thought.
"Fuck" "About two more hours until night falls" – whispered Alanzo to himself not taking his eyes from the group of people ahead.
"His holiness expects this letter to be delivered on time. Payment will be given upon delivery" – Added the guard while looking around suspicious like he knew someone might be watching.
"Very well, I will deliver this right now" – Replied the man standing up and shaking the guard's hand.
Alanzo realized that the meeting was almost over and he had to act. He had to interfere the letter and find about its content. Like a deadly shadow, silent as a whisper he leaped from his cover and landed in front of the guards and the man.
"Scuzi, I am so sorry that I am late for the meeting. I heard that they were giving some letters" – Said Alanzo bowing low in sarcastic reverence to the royal guards.
All guards drew weapons, including the man. Two guards stepped forward ready to charge. Leaping as fast as lightning, Alanzo hit one of the guards on his nose with his knee, cracking his skull instantly sending the poor soul to the afterlife and his sword flying. Before the body of the guard even hit the floor, Alanzo swiftly with the same movement and momentum, grabbed the sword in midair and slashed behind him, splitting the other guard's face in two.
"Run you fool, deliver that package!" – Shouted the one of the guards while the other two charged at Alanzo.
Head on, Alanzo charged all three guards. One came swinging high with a heavy battle axe while the other guard swung low with his claymore. Dodging right through the middle of the attack, Alanzo grabbed two knives from the guard's belts lunging with them straight to the third guard.
Front flipping from the impaled guard's body, he threw the knives, one hitting the back of the neck of one guard, the other knife hitting home in the eye of the other.
"Bull's eye!" … "Now to find the…" "Fuck, he ran. I hate when they run." – Said Alanzo chasing after the currier with the letter.
Running at top speed, following the currier's scent Alanzo chased him. Finally catching up to him he leaped, grabbing the currier's hair landing on top of him.
"Only a fool tries to outrun a vampire" – Said Alanzo letting go of the currier's hair.
The man rose to his knees and started laughing. Alanzo stared at him, feeling mocked, he grimed back and his fangs showed.
"Only a dumbass tries to outrun a vampire and then mocks him…especially if the vampire is hungry" – Added Alanzo nearing the downed currier.
Alanzo grabbed the currier by his shirt and asked him about the letter he was supposed to deliver.
The currier smiled and spat in Alanzo's face. Alanzo getting ticked off with the currier's attitude, went straight to impale him through the heart with his hand. Right before he dug in too deep, he stopped.
He realized the currier had a type of injection in his hand and that he had used it on himself. The currier laughed louder and louder with each passing second. His eyes were dilated and his mouth bleeding.
"What the…?" – Asked Alanzo himself back-stepping a little.
The currier stood completely, his chest healed instantly. He waved at Alanzo and vaulted off with a speed that equal to Alanzo's. In confusion, Alanzo followed the currier at top speed.
Toe to toe they stayed for hours, even the night fell on them. The currier seemed like a full blood vampire, such that sometimes Alanzo thought he would lose him in a blink.
Jumping from branch to branch, rolling, gliding, wall running, every step was matched by the currier. So much they had they ran, that a few times Alanzo felt out of breath.
"What vampire runs out of breath!?" – Alanzo thought getting angrier by the minute.
The forest seemed endless, not even the moon light brightened it. Alanzo threw some throwing knives aiming for the currier's legs. The speed of the currier was such that the knives fell short at a distance.
Below the tree line, Alanzo saw a glimpse of a woman running. Not much of an age difference maybe twenty years old at most while Alanzo is twenty two. Behind the girl was a group of vampires chasing after her, until they had her cornered.
"Damn…I can't leave her like this" – Said Alanzo falling from the trees above, landing between the vampires and the cornered woman.
Alanzo drew his sword and tried waving the vampires off. "Leave her be and you shall walk away with your damned lives" – Added Alanzo walking towards the group of vampires.
There were five of them. One abnormally bigger than the others. The smaller four grimed and charged without hesitation. In a hurry to save the woman and catch up with the currier he charged and slashed open the first vampire, turning into red glass and shattering with a kick. The other three hesitated and tried to run. Alanzo threw his two remaining knives hitting one straight in the back and the other in his head killing this one instantly.
He impaled the wounded vampire to the ground with his sword, making him shatter into a million pieces, he turned his attention to the huge vampire that was just standing.
Removing his sword from the ground he walked towards the remaining vampire. In a blink the giant was in front of Alanzo, introducing his fist in Alanzo's face. Having been sent flying, Alanzo broke some tress with his back. When he stood he felt something run down his nose.
"Blood?"… "That asshole!" – Said Alanzo wiping blood from his nose.
Being angry at the sight of his own blood, he lost control and turned into a dark mist. The mist swiftly went through every tree shattering them at the touch. With the giant on his sight, the mist pushed the giant towards a stone wall opposite to him.
The collision ended in a loud shout of pain. The mist cleared and Alanzo was standing in front of a giant, impaled with hundreds of splintered stakes.
"Now impaled with a few sticks, let's see you move as fast as before you piece of shit!" – Said Alanzo biting the giant's neck and draining him in a flash.
After the giant was dealt with, Alanzo looked around to see if he could see the woman, but she was nowhere to be seen. Realizing that the currier had an advantage, he turned into a dark mist again and began the pursuit once more.
The forest came to a clearing. Straight land meant more speed to be gained, no obstacles to dodge. The currier was up ahead. Alanzo thought the injection he had taken might have worn off. He stepped up his pace, finally catching up to the currier.