𝑻𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄'𝐒 𝐇𝐔𝐒𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕺𝖓𝖊

'•.¸¸.•''¯'••._.• . •._.••'¯''•.¸¸.•'

. . .

' A vampire is in his castle,
his gaze is hypnotizing,
his touch poisonous,
and his words lies.
Don't search for him little one
for you'll be dragged away
from your home and die. '

. . .

Every child had heard those words in some shape or form from their parents and the story within them was no lie, either. The stories of the creatures of the night weren't false, and it wasn't unusual to see people hanging bells and garlic above their front doors, or nailing crosses around their home.

Because, there are indeed, vampires to be fearful of.

A particular vampire lived deep within the woods, past the suffocating woods of thick trees and through a mountainous area of land where most travelers would avoid, was a castle- it was high up on the top of a moutain near the dangerous edge- and it looked down upon the rocky hill below it. The castle was dark, large and grey; it had tall, crooked towers with sharp pointed roofs; it was covered in dust-stained windows; gargoyles and angels watched over each ledge of the place; nothing grew at the castle, but wild bats and vultures often flew the skies; carnivorous animals as well enjoyed to feast upon the dead that would injure themself trying to get up or down the mountain. People who tried to sneak in to save their prisoned loved ones from the treacherous claws of the vampire who lived up in the castle, or perhaps they were the prisoners themselves and died trying to escape.

They say the vampire was powerful; he was stronger than most, and had lived for a long time. Though no one alive today has seen him. The legend is if he is not fed, he will come down and devour all the villagers. And over the course of time he lived on the top of the mountain, he brought terror to the people who feared of him every time the sun set.

Down below, down at the base of the mountain was the village. It had been there for generations now, though over the years the light in the home to so many became extinguished; the village was filled with a deathly silence. Everyone spoke in a very hushed manner, the people were poor and often scarce of most resources except maybe spring and summer when the little bits of garden and crops would grow. That is, if the villagers were lucky and didn't have drought and or animals or insects eating away at the crops the people so desperately tried to nurture.

The lack of sun helped bring down the negative emotions the people of the village often felt. The skies were dark red or midnight black. Clouds blocked the starlight and the moon, so semi to complete darkness was something only natural. And even if the villagers wanted to leave, the woods around their town were dangerous, full of monsters, and no many dared to venture outside the safety of their village walls.

The hunger was seen as natural by now; the loneliness, the feeling of being trapped in the mountains with no one new ever coming and nobody ever leaving; everything was simply something one must accustom themself to. Either the people of the village learn to adapt or .. they die.

.
.
.

"I want to leave this place."

Shuichi paused. His almost golden colored eyes drifted from the hazy, barely visible sunset to the girl about his age standing beside him.