BLOOD AWAKENING CHAPTER 1: DEVIL IN THE DARK

A sprinkle of stars lingered in the night sky for the first few hours of darkness. There seemed no sign of an upcoming rain. Busy as before, the road owns a hundred and more people probably going home. Old street lights flicker along the road, barely illuminating the streets.

The clock swings its hands and the lingering stars hide behind the dark clouds. A drizzle had managed to empty the street as fast as a bullet train. Few of the passersby had taken shelter. They went to the nearby stores dreaming of wet-free coats and paper bags. But, emerging on the street corner, a lady of fair complexion, brown hair, and tired eyes continued walking. She likes a little of the heavenly teardrops; it doesn’t matter if she gets soaked sooner. The thoughts of a warm embrace of her comfortable bed ready to ease the aches of all day work run on her head.

“Mari!” shouted Louisiana or Lou as she loves to call her.

To Mari, she is the most loving forty-year-old seller at a bake shop where she always buys herself good bread rolls.

“Aren’t you taking shelter?” Lou screamed. “Come here or you'll get colds!”

Mari rushed towards her. It was the aroma of bread rolls that tickled her senses as the vicinity between her and the bakeshop dwindled.

“No, I’m fine with my jacket. This will keep me warm ‘til I reach my apartment,” Mari replied as she neared Louisiana.

“There you go again. I’ll go with you. I’m closing the shop. Just a few sec,” Lou said as she entered the bakeshop.

Her hands roamed on her growling stomach. The aromatic bread rolls just got her senses even deeper. “I want to eat those bread,” she thought to herself.

Mari continued sniffing the air to catch the bread's aroma.

“Here, this is gonna be weather-perfect, and it’s my treat.” Louisiana handed her a paper bag with fluffy warm bread. “I know you love those.”

“Thank you so much! I love you, Lou,” she exclaimed, eyes brightened while receiving the paper bag. She could already feel the taste of the bread partnered with a hot chocolate drink her Aunt would always prepare for her. “This is perfect!”

Both of them proceeded to walk fast-paced along the dim light of the streetlights. Usually, the light is adequate in this area but the rain has its way of dimming the lights.

“You shouldn’t be walking alone. I bet you haven’t heard about the vampires,” Louisiana started the conversation not to feel the coldness slowly creeping in.

“What about them?” Mari replied, her hands covering the paper bag with bread.

“Rumors are spreading fast. Some say the vampires are breaking the pact.”

Long ago, the wolves, humans, and vampires signed an agreement to stop the feud. It was a relief for everyone. An almost never-ending battle had tarnished the joy among children, brought the smell of death to almost every city, and everything back then was shrouded with fear. However, everyone knew the vampires were just compelled to agree with the pact. If it wasn’t their old king doting on too much for their prince, the pact wouldn’t be made. No one exactly knew how it happened. No backstory was told. If ever there was, surely it had faded along the passing of ages.

“Impossible, their king’s been loyal to it…or maybe those are the rebel vampires.”

“No, Mari, some say it’s all about the pact. You better be careful.”

Louisiana’s voice was filled with worry. She’s just human and if ever a new war commences, she is scared to death by the mere thought of her children to experience what their ancestors had been through.

“This is gonna be my way. Careful,” she reminded Mari again, afterwards she dashed towards the right direction of the road.

“Thank you again for the bread! Be careful too!” screamed Mari before Louisiana’s profile vanished in the dark leaving her alone.

“We have the government and the wolves,” Mari confidently uttered to herself.

That should be her assurance. Though there’s an existing truce, it’s an enduring hearsay that humans and the wolves never trusted the vampires and the vampires are just waiting for a perfect comeback, to rule. How true that is, no one knows.

She’s been living a peaceful life because of the pact. It had made everybody, especially her, think everything would go smoothly. But the vampires, if they wanted, can dominate both humans and wolves. The thought of it made Mari fret, but the three races have been living in harmony. A war is in a deep mist.

Her jacket is completely drenched faster than she anticipated. Soon enough, the water will seep making her shirt wet. Still, it would take a few more blocks to reach her apartment. Treading on the water-filled pathway, the water sloshed filling her shoes.

The rain poured heavily. It had forced her to find shelter in the nearest establishment she could first see. She cannot count the times she cussed over again. But just a few more blocks and she’ll be fine. She’s dreaming of sprawling in the comfort of her own bed. Or maybe a good hot chocolate drink partnered with the warm bread she’s carrying.

“What does a pretty young lady doing out here?”

Mari jerked, almost losing her grip on the paper bag. Her heart pounded fast.

It was an old man around his fifties that had halted and shocked her. He is wearing a black suit with a black hat. On his right hand is a cane made of wood.

“This is my way home, mister,” answered her, raindrops pattering on her face. Her heart has regained a normal rhythm.

“I have to go. You better get going too, mister. It’s not good to get in the rain for too long.”

With full concern, Mari uttered those words. She knew such concerns very well. As a nurse, she’s seen elders admitted to hospitals because of the rain.

“Should I?” the old man said, grinning. He didn’t look like he had any concern for his health at all.

Slowly as the old man raises his chin, a pair of glowing ruby eyes glimmer on a dark night.

Sebastian was amused. Certainly, humans had their unique way of humor, perhaps a good sense of it. He could sense every thread of concern affixed to her words, but then, everything about the rain making him sick is just nonsense—at all. Vampires don’t catch colds or fever.

“Y-you're…”

Mari’s voice trembled not because of the downpour but because of what she had realized. She remained calm. The truce will keep her safe. She believed. She tried. But, instinct got the best of her. Her legs sprinted in the direction only God knows.

Quickly, he pulled her arm as she tried to trace her direction back. “You’re ain’t going anywhere.”

Fifth victim for tonight. He’s been roaming around the city to find as clean blood as possible. He needed it for his self-benefit. The pact had made their race feast on animals which to his knowledge had never equaled the nutrition they can get from fresh human blood.

Sebastian’s instinct started to get its appetite. His fangs started to grow. Sooner, it penetrated Mari’s neck. Her blood tastes so sweet. Sebastian wanted to drain all her blood.

Mari screamed in pain, but to no avail; the rain had made her voice like nothing. Soon enough, Sebastian felt her blood in his veins. Beholding his victim unconscious in his arms, without any considerations, he dropped her—literally.

He felt a sudden jerk. His hands suddenly became uncontrollable, his legs shaking wild; eyes dilating and then shrinking and dilating again. His vision blurred to the extent he couldn't almost see the things around him. His ears seemed to amplify even the sound of raindrops hitting the street; it’s so loud that his resort would cover his ears.

“What have you done to me?!” he shrieked in pain while getting extremely confused.

Shit! He repeatedly cussed. His head is aching like a thousand mallets striking him all at once. He’s dying to steady his breath. One hand massaging his temple, the other on his knee to have support. But it's weak.

“What have you done?!”

Perplexed, he asked Mari as if her unconscious rain-soaked body on the street would answer. The pain has quickly subsided. This had never happened before, to him, to no one. Decades of consuming human blood, acquiring for himself, had made sure of this claim. No account had at least been heard of such phenomena. This got to be different, something…something extremely incredible.

“Shit! Somebody’s here.”

For one final glance, Sebastian studied her. Afterwards, he left her unsure if the faint heartbeat will make her lifeless or not. One thing for sure, he’ll marvel at tonight's circumstance.