Introduction Lore ~ Chapter 1 Memories

 

My earliest memories that I have are of my early childhood, growing up living on a homestead isolated from the nearest surrounding towns. I lived on that isolated homestead, tucked away in a dense forest with my mother, father, and little brother in order to be away from preying eyes. Even at the young age, of three, I knew we were different from the townsfolk we would pass by and interact with whenever Akio, my younger brother, and I went to town with mother to buy supplies. My father never went on shopping trips with us or came out of the home during the day. It was always only with mother. My father was a vampire. A vampire of noble descent. My mother was a daywalker. A rare species of half vampire and half human. She could walk in the sun, father couldn't. But even at three, I could sense that my brother and I were different. Different from mother and different from father. We could walk in the sun; we could go between being a vampire and being a human with ease. We could tolerate human food better than mother, but also drink blood like father. Mother could eat human food, but it wasn't uncommon for certain foods to be too much to handle, and she would have to avoid them all together. And while mother did have above human strength in general, she could not go into her vampire form without drinking human blood first. Akio and I were different. We were an unspoken and unheard-of existence of children born between a vampire of high nobility, and a mother who was a rarely seen daywalker. Father would describe us, as "true" daywalkers; beings that had abilities that any vampire would envy. My little brother and I had the abilities and strengths of a vampire, but none of the weaknesses; the ability to walk in the sun and immunity to holy objects. As one would expect, our existence was something to keep hidden. Market trips started with a lecture on "staying in human form" and to "never do anything vampire like" when around humans and out during the day. Akio and I always assumed that was why we lived on an isolated homestead, secluded from the surrounding villages; because we were different, because we were special. It wasn't until that fateful and tragic night, I learned that there was a darker reason why we lived the way we did. Growing up, we spend out evening, training with father, developing and honing our vampire skills. Father would aways say we needed to know how to protect ourselves and the only way to do that, meant embracing our vampiric side. Mother, on the other hand, although she agreed we needed to protect ourselves, would teach us the ways of stealth and disguise in order to blend into the human world during the day. We lived a peaceful and secluded life up until my vampiric age of nine, spending days and nights training with mother and father, while also bonding as a family in our simple secluded life. 

On the night of my little brother's sixth birthday, my life changed forever. It was late, maybe sometime after two a.m., as we sat around the fireplace, telling funny stories as Aiko excitedly played with his new toys. It was natural for us to stay up late, as to spend time with father, and wake in the early afternoon. As I pranced around, mimicking different animal sounds and movements, in an effort to elicit laughs from my family, the warm and happy faces of laughter on my parents faces, quickly turned stone cold and serious. 

"Grab the children and head towards the tunnel" Father said in a sudden and serious whisper to Mother.

Mother grabbed both of our hands and began to towards the cellar door. Akio began to whine as his new toys dropped to the floor as we were dragged away quickly and franticly by Mother. Worried that his cries would get too loud, Mother scooped Akio up in one arm and held him close to her chest as she dragged me along with her other hand. Frightened by the sudden change of Mother and Father's actions I timidly asked: "What's going on, mother?".

"We need to head down into the cellar and into the hidden tunnel we have there." Mother shortly replied as she led us down the cellar stairs, father close behind.

"But why?" I asked.

"The bad vampire Mommy told you about has seemed to have found us. But don't worry, Daddy will set off the trap I have spent years developing and that should allow us to get away." Mother replied as she slid open an inconspicuous door that had looked to be an ordinary wall.

And then we heard it. A bone chilling voice that sent shivers down my spine. "It took almost a century to hunt you down, my backstabbing son. This night I will have my revenge on you and take what was rightfully mine. I know she is here, there will be no more hiding!" Count Zaros shouted from outside.

"This is between you and me father! It was wrong how you used blood slaves then, and I won't allow for it to happen again!" Father yelled.

Mother placed Akio and I on the other side of the tunnel doorway, which was metal coated from our side. She then ran to the corner of the room and grabbed a controller of sorts and dropped a purple handkerchief on the floor as she headed back towards us. 

"He's toying with us. Get behind that doorway and close it before he heads down here." Father said to Mother as he stepped towards the spot where she had dropped the purple handkerchief. 

From behind the iron door, I could hear a crash, as Count Zaros, grandfather, had kicked open and cellar door. My body trembled from the sheer vampire power and presence he had as he headed down towards the cellar.

"Don't worry little ones." Mother said with a worried smile on her face. "Your father and I knew this day would come. I have spent decades creating a trap that should end this fear that has been looming over your father and I all these years. When I press this button, father should drop down to a safe spot while a explosion of holy water, silver fragments will render that bad man helpless. The artificial lights that mimic the sun that I was able to create will turn on and burn him just as if he were in the sun. Even if he doesn't die from the attack since he is an ancient vampire, he should be rendered so weak that he won't escape sun as it rises soon."

As soon as mother had explained her plan, we heard the sound of a foot tapping the floor three times. Immediately mother pressed the button.....

But nothing happened. We didn't hear the sound of an explosion or the sounds of a vampire in agony. The trap mechanism didn't spring.

"Now that I have seen you after so many decades, what a pathetic vampire you have become. You look weak and lowly. Not fitting for someone who was meant to take over the title of Count of the House of Kieran. You have betrayed me and the vampire society you grew up in. I shall end you here. And even if you think that woman can escape, I have my men checking every inch of this pathetic excuse of a home." Count Zaros extorted to father.

While I didn't know at the time that Father had spoken telepathically directly to Mother, later on I had found out this is what he had said:

"I'm going to detonate you device manually. It's the only way. You and I both know, with his rage and strength along with this henchmen, there is no way we are getting out of this. We cannot....I cannot let those children face the same thing you did when I met you. I love you Yuna. Misa and Akio...let them know that I have always be proud of them, and Father will always live on in their memories.." 

While they were speaking, all I could do was wait in fear and terror wondering what would happen. As I glanced over at Akio, I noticed his expression of fear shifted to shock and then anger. I looked up and Mother, wondering what was going on. Tears were streaming down her face. She then grabbed both of our arms and started leading Akio and I down the dark tunnel. 

"Let me GO!" Akio yelled as Mother tried to lead us towards safety. "I'm not letting Father do that!"

Confused and in anguish, mother tried to pull Akio along. "We need to get out of here before more vampires come!" She mustered the strength to say.

Maybe because of the heartbreak of knowing what was to unfold, Mother must have let her grip on Akio slip just a little, and it was enough for him to break away. He bolted backwards towards the stone side of the sliding door.

"Akio! NO!" Mother screamed as she turned to run towards him.

*Kaboom!* *Rumble* The trap had exploded, a strong light flooded the cave before being covered in rubble.

"AKIO!" Mother screamed as she ran towards the aftermath of the explosion.

It was blocked. She tried desperately to move the rubble and debris out of the way. Through her tears and the sound of moving rubble, she cried out for her son. There was no answer.

"M...mother...someone's coming from the other way!" I sobbed as I noticed a presence coming towards us from the exit.

Before I could pick myself up to move towards mother. Two vampires appeared, looming over me. I crouched down in fear as the overwhelming feeling of emotions had left my limbs feeling weak. Mother lunged out through the smoke, a silver knife in in hand and and stabbed one of the vampires in the neck. She withdrew the knife and bit down on the vampire where she had pierced it and began to feed. As the vampire began to grow limp, the other lunged at mother. With her vampiric side now activated she began to spar with the vampire. She had the upper hand now that she had fed, and these were merely turned vampire henchmen. She was able to quickly take out the two Vampires before grabbing my hand and leading me towards the exit. To my surprise, we did not go out the exit, but there was a secret drop to below that we took prior to the tunnel exit. It was a drop below to a tunneled earthen bunker. Like the previous one on the outside, it looked like it's surrounding, a dirt path, but on the other a metal covering, that could also be securely latched. Mother lit some candles that were placed around the hideaway. Within minutes the area was filled with the smell of peppermint, clove, and rosemary; all scents that vampires detest. In the corner of the room was what looked to be a large coffin. It could easily fit three to four people in it.

"Get inside" Mother solemnly said as she stepped inside of it.

Before she closed the top. I noticed in the corner an item that looked like a gas mask. Mother and I cried ourselves to sleep, knowing that mask was meant for father, to withstand the vampire repelling herbs....

When the sun had risen and we could hear the distant sound of birds chirping, we got out of the coffin and cautiously exited the earthen bunker. We traveled back to the rubble of the explosion and Mother, and I spent all day removing the rubble until we reached the blocked door to the cellar. There was no sign of Akio. The explosion must have been so large that it caught the attention of one of the villages. Mother decided, since villagers had shown up to dig through the rubble to investigate, we would take advantage and wait to see what they find during the day.  Eventually, after humans going through the rubble during the day and Mother and I during the night, some discoveries were found. All that was found were two skeletal remains, which were identified to be vampire remains. We never found Akio or any trace of him. We left what we had known as home and set out towards one of the nearby villages. Mother was convinced that Akio was alive somewhere, and if we looked hard enough, we would find him one day. "Maybe he ran away because he was scared." she would say "Maybe someone found him and is taking care of him." "We looked through every inch of that place and there were no remains, there is no way he perished there, we just need to find him."

We traveled to different villages and then towns as just the two of us. Looking for clues and living the best we could through our sorrow. By the time I was the vampiric age of seventeen, another tragedy began to loom. Mothers mental condition had deteriorated over the years as she frantically tried to find any clue or information that might lead to finding Akio. One day out of the blue, one of the information brokers had dropped off a letter for mother.

"He is alive and fine" -was the only thing written on the letter.

This drove Mother deeper into a frenzy to find Akio. She tried desperately to get the information out of the information broker. Her insistence and pleading eventually lead to the broker breaking their broker code and giving information about the person who sent the letter. It was an anonymous letter, but he was able to find out that the person who sent it planned on attending a secret vampire soirée that was to take place that evening. Mother insisted that I stay at home and that she would only go to gather information. She refused to let me know what she learned or where she was going and managed to slip out undetected unbeknownst to me. All I could do was wait and hope.  

In the morning there was a soft knock on the door. I rushed to the door opening it and began to say "Welcome.." but cut myself off when I realized it was the information broker and not Mother.

With a solemn look on his face he said "You're Mother....she's gone....I should have never broke the information brokers code and gave her that information. It's all my fault. I knew she was unstable, but I didn't think she would barge in there and blow her cover demanding to see Akio. There was no way one vampire would survive against a soirée full of vampires.."

Before I could respond in disbelief and say it was all a lie, he stretched out his arm and opened his hand. It was Mother's hairpin. A hairpin in the shape of a silver cross hidden behind a pretty pink and black ribbon. Tears began to well in my eyes as I took the pin from the information broker.

"Sorry..." The information broker said as he disappeared into the alleyway. 

After many days and nights of sorrow and feeling alone. I decided I had to continue what Mother started. I tried to get information out of the broker, but he was insistent in saying nothing. He wanted nothing to do with any more of his clients dying. He spent time showing me how to access my mother's assets and the ins and outs of surviving on my own. After he figured I was knowledgeable enough to live on my own, the information broker disappeared from the town. 

Since that time, I have spent decades blending into human society while on my quest to find Akio. I'm sure he is out there somewhere, and I know it's a difficult task because we were both raised to hide our identities and to blend into society. Which makes it difficult to find someone who was born special and sets them apart....

~End Introduction Lore: Memories~

sketch of Akio and Misa