Chapter 10: Death at his Hand

[POV: Silver Davis]

The vampire hesitated for a second but quickly spoke. “You have to understand. I had no choice. We are by the order of…” The vampire made a choking noise as if he was trying to form a word, but it was stuck in his throat.

Silver thought it was just an act to distract him, but then he felt something brewing in the other man’s neck. Something that chilled his spine. His primal instinct took over and Silver jumped back, pulling on as much as Grace as could. Silver was not sure what was going on, but the energy was building up in the vampire’s throat.

Is this some kind of attack the vampires have?

The vampire’s neck exploded in the torrent of red energy, his head spinning high-high into the air. Silver put up a wall of water in front of him in the nick of time. The force of the explosion was strong. His wall of water barely protected him. Just as the wall of water dropped, something round crashed into the debris of the demolished house. It was the head of the vampire. It had landed perfectly neck first.

Those hollow eyes of the vampire filled with horror stared back at Silver, its mouth agape, frozen in a soundless scream. The vampire’s body was crushed under the debris, the splatter of blood painting the ground.

What happened!

Did someone put a curse on him to prevent the beans from spilling? That is so sick. Silver wasn’t sure of it, but how else could you explain what had just happened? Silver’s entire body shook, and it wasn’t the dead body. It was the fact how these people treated their own, whoever they were.

As for the dead bodies; Silver had seen a fair share of them. More than he should have for his age. And some of them were more gruesome than this one. He was the physician’s apprentice, after all. When he realised what he was doing, he snapped out of it.

What am I doing staring at the corpse, like a madman?

That explosion was like a beacon to reveal his position. He had to get away from here. Silver dashed away from the scene, ducking under the shadows after shadows. He ran toward the castle as silently as he could.

Please, everyone! Please be safe!

Silver felt tears running down his cheeks. Why was he crying? They could be alive. He had seen no dead body so far. That was a good sign, wasn’t it? Deep down, he knew… he knew it wasn’t.

Silver crossed another ally; he was almost there to the castle. So far, he had been lucky; he hadn’t run into anyone else. Just as the thought crossed his mind, he stopped a few feet behind two vampires. They were wearing the same clothes as the last vampire.

“I smell food,” one of them said. Both of their head jerked towards him so fast, Silver jumped on his tiptoes. The vampires made a growling sound, releasing their razor-sharp fangs, and dashed towards him like a pair of snakes.

He would not die by their hands. Besides, he was far stronger. Silver swiped his hand as fast as he could. A long and thin diagonal blade of water shot out of his hand. The trick was to make it dense and as thin as possible. The blade moved incredibly fast. The blade sliced vampires in half before they knew what hit them. Both of them dropped like a shack of meat, blood and insides spilling out of them.

I… I just killed them.

Silver felt a lump in his throat. His entire body was trembling. He may have seen death before, but he was never responsible for it. Like a shack of meat, Silver laughed. It was not because he was happy. Once someone died, they were really just a shack of meat and blood, weren’t they?

He may have killed someone, but he didn’t have time to gloss over it. He had to reach his family. Make sure they were safe. Silver ran towards the castle once again. He didn’t stop laughing as tears flowed through his cheeks. Or was he crying?

When he finally reached the castle gate, his eyes widened. He was gasping for air when he saw the villagers. Their dead remains were piled together. Their bodies were totally riddled with cuts and bruises, and they were completely drained of blood. They looked as if they were some sort of garbage about to be thrown away. Silver saw nearly fifty vampires around the piles of bodies. 

His mind was completely blank. He couldn’t focus his thoughts. Suddenly, he recalled his mother. She was the leader of the village, so they might have taken her as a prisoner. So, maybe, just she was alive. Silver wanted to scream and howl, but he managed to hold on. He was not going to get caught; he was the only one who could save his mother.

Silver slowly moved into the castle, hiding among the shadows. He followed the trail of blood. There wasn’t much blood, but he could still see the trail, which was obviously leading to the funeral hall. Silver moved up to the funeral hall as silently as he could. 

All his levelheadedness left him when he saw the sight before him.

Silver screamed as if someone had just hacked off his limbs. Hundreds of victims were hanged upside down in the hall with cuts all over their bodies. Their bodies, too, were absolutely pumped clean of blood, just like those people outside. The floor was red with blood.

The royal families were piled up at one of the corners of the hall. Some of them didn’t have their heads, others had their throat ripped out. Even the little children had suffered the same fate. He roared, he screamed out his lungs, and he gasped at such a sight, unable to breathe. He emptied his stomach. Silver couldn’t hang on to himself, and he went numb, not being able to find out what to do. His body shook uncontrollably.

His eyes were always looking for his beloved mother. He turned around. And saw a coffin. He instantly realised who it was. He screamed and his stomach heaved again seeing the horrible state of his father.

Father. No!

He lingered there for a while, silent tears rushing from his eyes. Memories of his father teasing him with what he no longer can have.

Silver’s mind went back to his mother, so he went up to the raised platform in search of her. There she was, sprawled on the floor next to Sir Thomas. He rushed right next to his mum. She was drenched in her own blood.

“Mum. Tell me you are not dead. Mother, please talk to me. Mum.”

Physicians’ impulse taking over Silver immediately tested for her pulse, and she was already dead. His mother was dead. His father was dead. All of them were dead, and he was not there to help them. Why was he never there when he was needed? It happened the last time, and it was happening again. It was all his fault.

He wept, holding his mother in his arms. He trembled with anger, terror, and sorrow and hate, all at once. His emotions were distorted. He couldn’t understand what he was feeling. Even the skies were furious, and the sky wept for the lost, as black clouds filled the horizon and began to rain with thunderstorms.

“Mother, Father, and every single one of you. I will kill them all.” He bit his lower lips and blood ran down his chin. He wiped his eyes and made an oath to get revenge for what he had suffered today. Silver would have his justice.

Someone struck him hard on the back of his neck. His vision distorted, and he eventually passed out.

“Foolish boy! You should have remained hidden. Bring the boy to the wagon.”