Among Vampires 1 - Love / Deception ✔

Prologue

Dear readers,

A very dear friend of mine, pointed out to me that this book is nice so far, but somehow it is missing the kick. What can I say, she's right, but only because she doesn't know where the journey is headed. That's because at the beginning of every book a writer should make a promise about where the journey is going and I've missed that so far.

That's why I'm now adding a prologue that makes up for what I've missed so far. Dear Vi..., thank you for your honest criticism. :-*

Have fun reading :).

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The rain beat down mercilessly on the white roof of the Inter-City Express. The vehicle relentlessly made its way through the Swiss mountains until it entered the 'Gotthard tunnel'. As soon as it entered the tunnel, the steady, loud patter of raindrops on the metal roof of the train stopped and Raymond Christopher breathed a sigh of relief.

This background noise, barely perceptible to human hearing, could drive a vampire mad and give him a hell of a headache.

The day had already started badly. The technician who was usually responsible for the train's safety check could not be found, so a replacement had to be brought in. This meant that the train could not start on time and that threw Raymond's schedule into disarray and caused extra costs.

Annoyed, he turned to Matt Savoy, the vampire hunter who had been assigned by the vampire ministry for today's delivery.

"Do you think we can buy some time by speeding up a little for the next few miles? Our cargo needs to be delivered to the EAS-College in Italy, as soon as possible. Because of the attacks by the vampire traffickers, the dhampires' attempts to transition into a vampire have been brought forward and now there is no blood for the security forces. Every minute counts."

Matt nodded and left the Christopher family's private compartment to exchange a few words with the train conductor. Fortunately, the private cabin was directly behind the driver's cabin in the control wagon of the train.

He was tense. Something was going on here. In the many years he had been in charge of military operations, he had seen a lot of things - things that were difficult to stomach, even for a trained vampire hunter, a special unit of the Vampire Ministry.

Neither Raymond Christopher's private security guards, nor the emissaries of the vampire military knew what to expect at the EAS-College in Italy. Contact had broken off a few hours ago. Perhaps it already no longer existed.

What they didn't know was that most of the travellers on that train would never know what had happened at their destination.

~

Barely 300 metres before the end of the tunnel, Raymond Christopher could already make out the first rays of light. They promised an end to the rain and thus to the ordeal of his ears. Obviously the clouds on the other side of the mountain had cleared.

His senses never deceived him. With a slight grin around the corners of his mouth, because the sun was indeed shining after they had exited the tunnel, Raymond was leaning against the back of the blue-covered sofa of his private compartment when a bomb detonated underneath the train's control wagon. It completely destroyed the driver's cabin as well as the private compartment of the influential vampire family.

As a vampire, Raymond Christopher was able to escape this flaming hell. Matt Savoy, who had just left the conductor's cabin and was standing in the corridor, was thrown off the train by the force of the explosion and got seriously injured.

When he regained consciousness, he was presented with a scene of horror. Raymond Christopher was kneeling with his hands up in front of a dhampir who was all too familiar to Matt: Daniel Morinelli, head of the German vampire trafficking ring and most wanted person by the Vampire Ministry. He kept his pistol pointed at Raymond.

A smile appeared on Morinelli's face that did not reach his cold eyes. Then he pressed the trigger twice in quick succession and Raymond Christopher slumped lifelessly with two holes in his head, to the ground.

His mobile phone slipped out of his hand, the display of which still showed that he had dialled the number of Eduardo Christopher, his younger son and head of the Vampire Military.

Morinelli reached for the mobile and hung up. "Now there is no need for you to call your son and his military task force for help anymore." He threw the mobile phone on the floor and stomped on it stoutly. Then he turned to his followers.

"Draw his blood. Afterwards, we'll get out of here. That way the old man at least made a positive contribution before he died. It's a shame he has too many powerful allies. This way we can't risk keeping him as a living blood bank for vampire blood, as we usually do, until he gives up completely."

Now, Morinelli's eyes moved over to Matt. Slowly, pistol drawn, he walked towards the dhampir lying on the ground. "Who do we have here, a witness? Today's your lucky day, because you get to tell the Vampire Ministry about who killed the old Christopher."

He put the gun in its holster on his waistband and kicked Matt in the head with his heavy boot full force, knocking him out completely.

It was the loud sirens of the arriving fire brigade and ambulance, that woke Matt from his unconsciousness again.

~

Late that evening, Edmond Christopher's the phone rang, Raymond's elder son. Annoyed, he looked at the display of his mobile phone and saw a suppressed number.

What was it now? Wasn't this day bad enough? Yes, he had really fucked up because he couldn't keep his hands off his sister-in-law Mercedes and his little brother Eduardo had caught him in flagrante delicto with her. He had taken a good beating for that - he deserved it.

Besides, Eduardo, who had made a name for himself very early on in the military of the Vampire Ministry and now ran said bureau, was physically superior to him. He was still holding a cold pack to his black eye and the bleeding crack in his lower lip hurt, as he sullenly accepted the call, "What's up?"

"Am I speaking to Edmond Christopher?" asked a male voice he didn't recognise.

"Yes. How can I help you?"

"Mr Christopher, I'm calling from the special military wing of the Vampire Ministry. There has been an incident with the transport of vampire blood to the EAS-College in Italy and we cannot reach your brother Eduardo."

"What incident?" asked Edmond, who's interest was roused.

"I am sorry, Mr Christopher, to have to give you bad news, but there has been an attack on your father's train in which he has been killed. I ask you to come to the Vampire Ministry, immediately. Perhaps you can reach your brother. He seems to have dropped off the face of the earth..."

Edmond rose from his sofa with a groan. Apparently Eduardo had gotten him good on the ribs, too. "I'll be on my way immediately."

As if in a trance, he hung up, put the mobile phone in his trouser pocket and left his bachelor's apartment.

~

At the same time, Eduardo Christopher was lying drunk as a skunk in the back stall next to the toilet of a bar, not far from his and Mercedes' flat.

After catching his big brother, his role model, in bed with his wife, whom he loved more than anything, he got drunk to the point of unconsciousness. As a result, he missed what was probably the most important call of his life: the last call his father made before he died.

~

After this unfortunate event, Daniel Morinelli went into hiding and it became very quiet around the vampire traffickers for a long time.

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And now, the story starts.

Best regards and have fun reading,

Your MJ