Deal with the Devil - Fear the devils series book 1

Chapter 51

Germany; 1850, Göttingen

The air in Göttingen was thick with the remnants of fear and superstition. The witch burnings might have faded into a grim memory, but now, whispers of something even darker were spreading like wildfire—vampires. Their killings weren't as common as those of witches, but they were enough to send shivers down the spines of the townsfolk. Most spoke of them with venomous hatred, others with a palpable sense of dread. All shared tips on how to ward off the creatures, though Celine remained unconvinced.

Celine had lived for millennia, witnessing the existence of witches firsthand. But vampires? To her, they were nothing more than the stuff of folktales.

"Their eyes are as red as freshly spilled blood, and their speed... faster than sunlight itself," an old man croaked, attempting to spook the children passing his decrepit house. Celine rolled her eyes at the absurdity.

"They come when you least expect it," he continued, "drain you of every last drop of blood, and toss your corpse into the woods for the wild beasts to feast upon!"

Celine watched as the children trembled, their innocent eyes wide with fear. She couldn't help but feel a pang of pity. Stepping forward, she interrupted the old man's tale. "There are no vampires, boys. Don't let Wolfgang scare you. Go home."

The boys hesitated, glancing between the man and Celine, uncertain whom to believe.

"Oh, but they do exist!" Wolfgang retorted, his voice tinged with something darker than fear. "Let me guess, you've never seen one with your own eyes?" Celine asked, which was more of a statement. 

One of the boys giggled nervously at her skeptical expression.

"No, otherwise I wouldn't be here. But my son did. When he was just a lad, he stayed at a friend's house near the woods. That night, strange noises woke him. He crept to the window and saw them—people, or what looked like people, with glowing red eyes."

Celine stifled a smirk. Blade's demons, she mused silently.

"One of them approached the house while the others lingered in the shadows," Wolfgang continued. "Terrified, my son woke his friend, and they hid in the closet, clutching crucifixes. They listened as the parents screamed, and then... silence."

"What happened then?" one of the boys asked, his voice quivering.

"The parents were never seen again. My son's friend became an orphan in one night," Wolfgang said, his voice heavy with grim finality.

A chill ran down Celine's spine despite herself. "What makes you think these were vampires and not something else?" she asked, her tone challenging but her curiosity piqued.

Wolfgang's eyes bore into hers, his expression a twisted mix of fear and something far more unsettling—dread. Leaning in close to the boys, his voice dropped to a whisper, as if speaking louder might summon the creatures he described.

"They found the parents, eventually... but what was left of them was no longer human. Their bodies were drained of blood, yes, but that wasn't the worst of it. Their skin... it had been peeled away, not by a blade, but by their own nails, as if they were trying to claw something out from underneath. And their faces... twisted into expressions of such unimaginable terror, you could almost hear their final screams."

Wolfgang's gaze locked onto Celine's, cold and unwavering. "They say that's what happens when you see a vampire's true face—when you realize they don't just hunger for blood but for the very essence of who you are. They devour everything, leaving behind only an empty husk, twisted by the horrors you've witnessed. That's why the bodies disappeared, Celine... because what remained wasn't something anyone could recognize as human."