Lethal Beauty

XXXII - Shadows

For thousands of years, vampires thrived in the shadows and before then few humans knew they existed. Stories that have been told of them were not precisely true. For instance, they do not turn into ashes when hit by the scorching light of the sun. Nor do they recoil at the sight of a crucifix. Some of them even wore a cross to enhance their aesthetically pleasing fashion. Contrary to popular belief, they cannot command a multitude of animals, although the wild could recognize their beastly appearance. In some cases, like the purebloods, who could turn into beasts, animals could sense them as another type of predator.

The House of Elders, technically known as the purebloods and the originals were the first known vampires in the world. They were not made as one---they were born as such. It was told that the Demon Queen Lilith gave birth to them by sleeping with the Nine Princes of Hell. In the beginning, each clan was focused on pleasing their mother and would often destroy each other, using humans as their pawns.

Each of the nine clans was dedicated to flourishing their bloodline and campaign and would create armies by infecting the humans with their blood, turning them undead. Some by force. Some were consumed with the promise of immortality. While the leaders of the world wanted power and would do what it took to have a powerful immortal by their side. To win a war against another at the expense of the innocent people. To each their own.

Thus, the creation of the lower class of vampires. In time, these vampires started to discover other abilities they didn't know they had. The longer they were alive, the wiser they became. They began to retaliate from their creators and they realized that creating undead children who could almost rival the Elders by strength could be beneficial in their own pursuit of freedom.

Some would argue that the creation of shtriga was by accident, out of the sheer loneliness they felt of once being a mortal and having a family in a natural way. No one could deny that once the power of the undead children became known to them, it had become their weapon against the members of the House of Elders. By the time they discovered how dangerous they were, it was too late. Their population outnumbered even the Elders themselves. Out of desperation, both the World Government and the House of Elders decided to unite and conspire to get rid of the shtriga, once and for all. Each claiming that it was for the benefit of mankind...

"Was it really?" Raviel asked this as he drove quietly, heading to a place only known by the man sitting beside him. "Was it for the benefit of mankind?"

Gavril looked outside the window. "It was. For me."

Raviel wasn't satisfied with the answer but it would do. For now. "Tell me, why couldn't Jessen tell us anything?"

"Because he didn't know," Gavril was beyond frustrated at this point. "I didn't know."

"But you were the one who introduced the project."

"I did but I backed out when I found out that they wanted to force Eve to conceive. Look, that time, I thought we all had the same goals. I was like---finally! Humans and vampires were now striving together to coexist. Until..."

Raviel sighed. "We all signed up for that. All nine clans."

Gavril looked at him. "We didn't know. We all signed up for it. But our goals were different." A moment of silence. They were a long way from Saint Constantine. In fact, they weren't even in Romania. He asked, "Do you trust me?"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't," Raviel answered. "So, who are we meeting and why Kent?"

"There's a person here that used to work for my father as a spy. She's a geneticist and a parapsychologist."

Raviel snorted when he heard this. "She's an expert with genes and studies the extrasensory perception. I'm guessing, psychokinesis, telepathy, and ESP. She sounds fun."