Wrentham, Massachusetts: 1813
He crouched among the shrubbery, as still as the stone pillars of the building he had once known to be his home. The darkness loomed overhead, his nostrils filled with the sickly pungent scent of charing human flesh, burned embers and- not as detering as the rest- blood of every kind. Animal and human alike. The town was in ruins, the sky reflected the reddish complection cast by the city of flames. "It's just like hell," Herophus thought to himself. Nearby, he could hear the paws of hell hounds- was it two or three? Coming to take him to the place hence his father had come. He picked up almost instantly on their scent and before they could reach him, he had scaled the building and stood atop it. Down below, the wretched beasts barked and grunted in frustration. Herophus would have snickered at their lack of speed and competence, had the situation not been so dreadful. The hell hounds were the very least of his troubles, for the minion of Lucifer himself had set the town aflame.
He could hear him now, dragging his double bladed scimitars against the sides of fiery buildings, scaring what few survivors remained and finding whatever life he could to rip apart and make a meal of as he wished. As much as he enjoyed the blood of those who meant no good or had no purpose here in Massachusetts, Herophus had grown fond of the city, of the people and their oblivious state of mind. He had even made friends... human friends. Most of all, he enjoyed watching the children prance about in the streets of Wrentham. The blood of a child was something he had forbidden himself to lust for, no matter how intense his hunger pangs grew. Children were innocent of all wrongs, unlike adults, and were the life of Wrentham.
"Herophus," Malphenius called. Herophus had never known fear, for he was a demon- vampire hybrid and was the most fearful living being on Earth, if the humans had known of what he truly was. But now his blood rushed through his veins, unease rising in his chest as he took in the full fact that the demon that had enslaved and battered his father was now hunting him. "Herophus, join me in my feast. Isn't the town lovely?" Malphenius called out once more. Herophus could hear all the hell hounds within a half mile radius let out a sound that was unfamiliar to him- maybe their form of laughter. Then he heard it- amidst the "laughing" of the demons- a human cry. A child's cry. Coming from right below his feet. He quickly climbed down to the balcony closest to where he had heard the cry, turned to his mist form and glid beneath the door to the inside.
After returning to his human form, he noticed how hot the inside was, due to the fire from the lower levels of the building. The small living area was a wreck. Things were strewn about and chairs were all knocked over, papers covered the floor. Someone maybe had tried to find what was most important to them and then fled. But how could that explain the child he heard? To his left he heard the cry again- a soft, yet heart wrenching cry that sparked a twinge of sympathy within him. He scoped out the child using sense of smell, which led him to the bare bed. Lifting the bed slowly, he uncovered the little girl. Immediately she screamed and kicked at him, but to no avail. "What in God's name am I supposed to do with this?" Herophus could sense Malphenius coming closer, drawn by the screaming child. He was conflicted between killing a child who was barely old enough to walk to hush her or knocking her unconscious, for long enough that he could at least begin to fight Malphenius. Remembering his hatred of killing the innocent, Herophus searched for anything that he could that would even remotely help shush her. He came up empty handed, and with very little time to spare, he decided to quickly slit the child's wrist to drain her of enough blood to make her fall unconscious. Then, as carefully as he could, he scorched the wound he'd made to staunch the blood flow. Guilt rippled through him as he hefted the child onto the bed. Maybe she'll live. But who would want to amidst these ruins? What would happen to her if Herophus was killed by the demon, Malphenius? "One more loss. Not quite a deal, compared to the gruesome death of the whole town. She'll go rather peacefully."
