Skull And The Fangs

Flowing blood, hunters call to duty.

Somewhere around Caucasian sea.

Centuries ago.

The villagers roared music into the air.

They rejoiced that the war ended in their victory.

The chief laughed good-naturedly as he addressed his warriors. They had all worked hard and we're able to stop the bandits disturbing them.

The bandits that their empirical government couldn't get rid off.

But the chief knew for sure who the honor belonged to. 

It's none other than Eleodore, son of Marcus.

Everybody rejoiced and hopped around bonfires and heavily beat drums.

It's a good day.

Eleodore, the man in question, was away from the village square. Away from the loud yells of excitement and the bangs of drums.

His chest was bare and his sword dangled at the waist of his armor pants.

Gazing at the full silvery moon, the color of his ponytailed hair, he slowly settled his butts under the green olive tree.

Alone, he appraised the glimmering moon, the green terrain around and the pine forest far in the west.

Then all of the sudden, he heard loud creaks from afar, to the west and his gaze snapped back there.

From under the tree, he could see clearly, with the help of the moon, how the middle section of the pines bent as though a large boulder had swept through the place.

His danger instincts kicked and he sprang to his feet.

Before he could even draw out his sword, a fast body collided with him, knocking him over a dozen meters away.

He skidded for a while before stopping.

(Written and composed by Bright Theophilus)

Instinctively, he rolled further away and sprung to his feet, adeptly.

Even before he could stand fully, the spot he was on a moment ago shattered and cracked as if it were a glass hitted by a hard object.

Eleodore balanced himself and briefly glimpsed a body before it disappeared in front of him.

He felt shock like no other, but that shock didn't last long.

His hand moved and unleashed his sword, and in a snap, held the blade in front of him.

Bang!

The blade cut into two as he felt something impact him. He felt the bones in his right hand crush at impact too.

He was sent backwards but his movement was stalled when a sturdy hand gripped his neck.

His eyes blurred as a huge pang of pain hitted his brain. His voice failed him and he couldn't even scream.

Eleodore felt what he has never felt all his life. 

Helplessness.

He had always been a brave and great warrior, one that his people could rely on.

But now he felt great fear and helplessness amidst the overwhelming wave of pains that shot through his veins from his shattered bones.

The pulverised hand dangled freely, just like his legs in the air as he gasped.

His blurred eyes cleared a bit and he saw who or what had caused him this much pain.

Black strands of hair scattered across the face, but not covering the bloody teeths of the creature.

Teeths? Hell no.

About six were longer than a teeth and were fangs. Just like from the fables Eleodore must have read in his childhood.

However, he could only gaze at the scene for a few seconds.

In the next second, he felt hot burning fangs pierce his neck.

Eleodore yelped in pains as he felt his life slip away while another, deadly and dark as night, replaced it.

A life he would have never thought exist talkless of living it. 

A life of the immortal yet painful.

******

Present.

Kylian stood, his gaze solely on the portrait on the wall as he reminisced the history it held.

In the portrait was the sketch. 

An olive tree, a silver haired man clad in leather pants only, his silver eyes gazing up at the silvery full moon.

His face went down and he shrugged again as he walked away from the library.

He freshened up and a moment later, he's already in a black suit. 

He trotted to the wall and eased an ID from it.

It was an ID that identify him as a lecturer at a college down the city.

Shacock College.

Should do a lot in covering him up he guessed.

(Written and composed by Bright Theophilus)

Heald has embarked on a journey leaving him alone now.

Even though it's cool, because he would have pressed Kylian on how he knew about the hunter, Aro.

But now he's gone. Which also means, he needs to be extra careful now that he's alone.

And that's what he hopes for when he went for a job at the college.

His silver eyes turned and landed on a steel ring that had rune lines all over it on the table then sighed.

With a screech, his brown Nissan Altima revved outta the garage.

As he drove past, his gaze cut to the duplex neighboring his.

A middle aged man and a lanky boy in pinafore uniform emerged from the inside.

Surprisingly, the boy waved at him.

His feet subconsciously struck the brake.

His confused gaze lingered on the kid, then he waved back.

The middle aged man didn't even see this as he was busy with getting the boy's things in the car.

Kylian felt so amused by the boy.

But soon, the boy left his mind.

He really hopes this covers helps him keep away this hunter. He had survived this long and wouldn't just die.

*****

..Shacock College..

The atmosphere is warm and felt so youthful.

Intelligence hung in the air and danced all around as scholars trouped into the institution.

It's early morning and they are here again, hoping to continue their studies.

Students poured. Walking in twos and in different groups. Chatting and conversing warmly.

A brown Nissan Altima drove into the packing rows and halted.

The driver's door opened and an average looking man with silver hair alighted.

Dark spectacled, a cross bag slung on his shoulder, Kylian treaded through the students, easily attracting attentions.

He's hot but he won't know. His white body slightly gleaming under the morning sun, his squared jaws and his taut muscles visible even under his suit blazer.

And finally his youthfulness. It's transcendental.

The lady students couldn't take their eyes off him.

But all that isn't his worries right now.

Amidst the filing students, he could sense several supernaturals. 

Especially vampires.

He's not the only vampire looking for a safe harbor.

*

*

In a moment, they were already in the class as he stood in front of the attentive students.

"There have been a lot of history, some neglected and some kept and taught to our offsprings," Kylian continued.

"Some neglected like the record of the existence of supernatural creatures," an Auburn haired lady suddenly said from the middle line.

Kylian furrowed his brows as his silver eyes scrutinized the lady's emerald eyes.

His eyes lingered for a while before he asked, "name?"

"Christa Richardson."

"The issue of extraterrestrial creatures existences have been brought up by many scholars over the centuries but trust me, it ain't a cool subject to talk about," Kylian calmly said.

"And why is it like that?" The lady, Christa said as she stood up. Then continued. "In the 1600s up till the mid of the 1700s, several cases of the fabled creatures called vampires occurred in the East."

"Evidence?," Kylian asked, trying to cut the argument off, but seems the lady had come prepared for this.

"Were all recorded and tendered to a Chinese king by the renowned historian Chang Wei."

"Years later, Chang Wei's claims on his tour around the East were classified as jargons of a madman by emperor Qing. There's never been concrete evidence of the existence of these creatures," Kylian grunted in retort.

Christa wanted to talk but stopped. 

Kylian quickly shot, "And I should tell you this, miss Christa, in no case can you bring up such a failed topic."

Christa bit her lower lip as she murmured, "I'm sorry, sir."

"This is the end of the class for today, we shall continue next time."

"Good day sir." They chorused in farewell and he melted away from the class.

Through the corridors, past students roaming, past classes silent as the lecturer talked on, Kylian sped, insanely.

He kept following the strong scent of iron he had caught when he was in the class.

It was the reason he ended the class faster.

He hoped it's not what he thinks.

If it's, then it's already dangerous here.

A slight sense of blood could drive a young vampire crazy. And these so called young vampires aren't less in town, because an old vampire is revered in the coven.

Not just about experience, but also about the more control old Vampires possess.

So Kylian knows what a young vampire could do if not monitored. 

And it's already the wrong time now that a deadly hunter is in town.

In a snap, he's already in the male restroom.

(Written and composed by Bright Theophilus)

His eyes switched around and he found it. From underneath the door of one of the rooms, red liquid streamed.

His dead heart banged and with a slam of his strong fist, bashed the door.

A head snapped back to him. Fangs protruded from the mouth. But not yet bloody.

Kylian snarled at the young vampire and he shrank.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He deadpanned.

The Vampire's fang retracted as he struggled to regain himself from the urge to drink every last drop of blood that flow.

"It ain't no news that a hunter is in town."

"I'm sorry," the young vampire apologized.

Kylian looked down at the source of the stream and he couldn't help but gasp.

Sprawled beside the WC was a young guy, mauled and his internal organs were missing.

"What the hell is this?" He gritted.

"I don't know, I only followed the scent of the blood," the vampire boy quickly defended himself.

"Of course I know a vampire can't do this, but who could have done this?"

The kid only stared, scared of what ruse this could cause.

"We need to leave here now," Kylian said and with a sway, they melted from the scene.

*****

Meanwhile, inside a room so dark one would think it's an underground tunnel, a man with a dark green cloak with the symbol of a crossbow on the back, sat before a table.

On the table was a candle that illuminated the paper as an ink brush danced on it.

After a while of drawing with closed eyes, the man opened his eyes.

Before him, on the paper was the sketch of a mauled human on the ground, two pale creatures eloping from the place, one was a black haired thin looking boy while the other had an average structure with a shoulder length silver hair.

The man stood gently and stretched his hand. Like when a master calls his pet, a crossbow flew out of nowhere and landed on his hand.

His eyes simmered green and he disappeared from the spot.

*******