Bloodstained Souls

Prologue

Life is full of witty little sayings that are constantly repeated in everyday life. However, because of the repetition, they are often said without much meaning behind them and their meanings become lost. Examples of such sayings include "Expect the unexpected.", "Life isn't fair", and "Life goes on". All three of these examples can be applied to my life. I suppose that when you think about it, they can be applied to anyone's life, but I believe they apply to mine more heavily because horrible things happened to me and my life was changed rather dramatically. Think I'm being biased? Who cares if I'm being biased? Just wait until you hear my story.

I'm not going to give away my story in this chapter-that-isn't-actually-a-chapter. What is the fun of reading a story when everything is given away at the very start? However, I will give an introduction that shall remove any confusion that you might have upon starting the story. But only if you pay attention. Have patience readers. The best story is one where events progress slowly and facts are revealed over time.

Within the basement of society, things keep themselves hidden, feeding from those who are unaware. Please keep in mind that this basement is literally made up of humans' worst nightmares. There are many horrific tales of these things, these creatures, that were created and then labeled as fiction and myths.

The terrifying truth is that these creatures are as real as the chair you're sitting in, as real as the clouds in the sky, as real as you and me. Vampires, werewolves, sirens, fallen angels...All of them are real. Fairies are real, too. I'm not talking about the magical and adorable Tinker Bell fairies, either. These fairies are magical assholes that are extremely attractive (Well. Some of them anyway) on the outside but their motives and intentions are as dark as an abandoned alley with no streetlights. Did that description give you the creeps? Good, because fairies are creepy.

The creatures that I've mentioned are incredibly good at hiding themselves away. Most of them prefer to limit their contact with humans, but some prefer to feed from them. Vampires are perhaps the most notorious. They enjoy not only our blood, but also messing with our minds. They're very good at keeping themselves hidden but slip up on purpose so they can lure a curious mind to the same death that eventually befell the poor cat. Like many of the fey, vampires are naturally talented at playing mind games and being alluring. Vampires also have their own set of laws that they follow, as well as their own nobility. Some of these laws include not turning another creature against his or her will or against the will of the council.

A long time ago, humans discovered vampires and this discovery led to organized massacres of vampires. This almost lead to a bloody war between vampires and humans. Fortunately, the humans that had discovered the vampires were intelligent enough to realize that this war would only cause a terrible and devastating bloodbath for both sides. To compromise, the Council of Vampires and a few humans formed an alliance. The alliance is what formed some of the laws forbidding changing any creature against his or her will, murdering humans, etc. And it was also agreed that any vampires that broke the rules could be hunted down and killed from specific humans, rightfully. To form a stronger agreement, the vampires opened our eyes to the existence of the other creatures as well. 

So, more meetings were arranged and alliances were formed between every creature that had societies of their own. The rule that allowed killing vampires who broke the rules expanded to include werewolves and to some extent, the Fey. The Fey have different courts. They're also very tricky so forming a strong alliance with them was impossible. Also, according to the history books, the Seelie Queen was cold and contemptuous, which simply means she was a cheeky bitch. Thus, the society of Hunters was formed.

Sometimes, when changed forcefully or while under traumatic circumstances, humans lose their minds in the process and lose everything that had once made them human. Their instincts become survival and they attack mindlessly, driven by their thirst or hunger. Later, the alliance expanded, allowing Hunters to kill these creatures as well. 

Most Hunter assignments involved these rogues. I grew up experienced in hunting them. In my city, and most others, rogues were the majority of assignments. Hunting down the sane (or insane, depends on how you look at it really) vampires who were responsible for changing them was difficult due to their natural stealth and abilities. Vampires had kept themselves hidden for many years and most were still very decent at it. 

My name is Mystery Blakhart. My family became Hunters in the 18th century, when a member of my family, Julius Blakhart, witnessed a vampire murder his neighbor's daughter outside one late afternoon. Although, he had witnessed the murder with his own eyes, people refused to accept his claims that a vampire had been the cause. 

Fortunately for him, his cries had caught the attention of local vampire hunters and Julius became the first Hunter in our family. He married one of the hunters that introduced him to hunting and together, they formed another family of hunters. Clearly, it's been spread down our generation for several centuries.

There are many things I wish that I could change about my story. Like for one, I have always hated being a hunter. Sometimes, after I would complete an assignment, I would spend hours in my room switching between curling into a ball on my bed and hurling up my guts into the toilet. Every kill I made would chip away something good inside of me that I desperately wanted to hold onto. 

To my family, the creatures we hunted down were nothing but enemies or wild animals, and it was a blessing to remove their scum from this earth. The older I got, the more I realized that it was easier to pretend with them, than to follow their morals. I would pretend that killing vampires was something I enjoyed doing. If I ever allowed myself to enjoy stealing a creature's last breath and ending its life, then wouldn't I be the monster I'm claiming to kill? My family was full of monsters. And I was the black sheep with wolves clothing.

***

This is my new story, obviously. I do warn any readers that this story is much darker than the first one that I wrote. I hope this story allows my fans and new readers to see how much my writing has matured over the years!  The story is also slower, but if you guys stick with it, I think you'll enjoy Mystery's story. Also, this IS a romance, but that isn't the only theme.  Please vote and let me know what you guys think! I'm posting the first chapter as soon as I get finished editing it.  =)