petals of blood

Prologue

250 years past,

Disaster loomed like a shadow...

Those we deemed kinfolk revealed their true visage. We realized then, we were not solitary denizens of this earth.

I recollect the days of yore when we, the fugitives, sought sanctuary within the decrepit, mildewed confines of a forest-bound temple, shrouded in secrecy, away from those abominable fiends.

My sire and the elders among our band of wanderers would regale us with tales of the cataclysm: the gore, the strife, the peril, the blood feud.

They'd illustrate the genesis of it all, and we, the young, unscathed by encounters with such horrors, would listen with trepidation clutching at our hearts and shivers coursing through our spines.

But they are no more...

"Eloisa!"

I stood transfixed, the world around me a haze as I gazed upon the lifeless form of my father.

He, along with all others, fell victim to the savage bloodsuckers before my very eyes. My being succumbed to a toxic paralysis, gripped by trauma.

For a mere child of seven to witness such carnage was petrifying.

I could not avert my gaze, nor shield my eyes, for the impact had wrought havoc upon my psyche. Alone amidst the rubble, unnoticed in my secluded corner, knees drawn tightly to my chest, I remained in a state of stupefaction.

"It appears our task here is accomplished, sire. No more wretched, malodorous miscreants."

A corpulent figure, clad in dark attire and heavy boots, strode amidst the ruins, surveying their handiwork. His eyes glimmered in the dimness, sated from the crimson feast.

Satisfied with the outcome, he returned to a taller, more menacing figure.

The figure who slew my father...

Clawed fingers caked in gore, eyes ablaze with the darkest hues of blood... It was folly to ever consider these beings as human. The beast licked its bloodied fangs, a sardonic grin twisting its lips.

"I still detect a heartbeat..."