Hell Rising

Prologue

I struggled as I was dragged through the bar, my wrists held tightly by the two men forcing him out of the bar. The light of the outside suddenly hit my face as they swung the back door open, tossing me into the alleyway. I sucked in my breath as my body slammed into the pavement. My long blonde hair pooling around me as I glared up at the two men. "You sons of-" I started to get up as I cursed the men, their chuckles made me pause.

"Come back when it's legal to drown your sorrows, freak." The smaller of the two sneered. I hated the look on his face. I hated that damned word. Freak. I hate it. I jumped up, my arm bloody from hitting the pavement. I'll show them both! I swooped down, grabbing a half-full beer bottle, flinging my arm back as I chucked it at their faces. Shut up and just die!

The men saw it coming and the smaller one ducked, the bottle smashing against the door where his head once was. The smaller scowled while the bigger one made his way towards me. My hand reached towards my pocket, where the thick bladed knife was, my savior. My lifeline. I tensed up, my eyes narrowing at the two men. I was so screwed.

Behind the two men, I spotted a familiar face, and my body relaxed on its own. The black-haired man stumbled out the door, frowning as the two extremely peeved men turned to look at him. "What ya do, Kifuu?" His words were slurred, but that didn't matter. No matter how drunk the giant buffoon was, he was still intimidating as hell. The men after a few seconds of staring at my companion, they retreated back into the bar.

After a few seconds, the dark-haired man wobbled trying to walk over to me. "You's busted again, Kifooo?" I hurried to steady the giant moron before he fell, feeling a tug of irritation at the mispronunciation of my name, but let it slide. He was drunk.

" I now understand why no one wants to drink with you. You have a problem, Jones." I rolled my eyes, feeling a smirk tug at my lips. The look on Jone's face has me regretting my words. Oh no, what have I done?

"THAS NOT TRUUU!" The dark hired man whined like a child. I only shook my head as I lead him out of the alleyway smiling to myself.

We both walked for a while in silence, before Jones broke it. "Is no true." He mumbled.

"Hmm?" I looked up in question.
"You...you's not a freak..." He said in a mumble.

"Yes...yes I am," I replied quietly. I was. I regretted arguing though, as Jones started whining again. He always turned into a blubbering toddler when he drank, which was somewhat amusing.

I wasn't normal. I didn't grow up normal. My mother is most likely at home, tearing up the apartment apart, angry I wasn't home and couldn't find my money. I always kept anything valuable on me. She had problems, worse than Jones. She was an alcoholic and druggie. I have bruises all over m body, from either providing for her or from her herself. My father was not in the picture. He's dead, died when I was ten, and my mother lost all touch on reality. I was jumped into the gang life when I was 15 when money was tight, I and my mother had no food and were homeless. I stepped up, worked my butt off, and I was at the top by nineteen. I met Jones at eighteen when I first became the leader's dog. He said jump, and I already knew how high. I and Jones kept people in line and kept the group from tearing itself apart.

We were on their way out of the alley when a sudden booming sound shook the ground. I jumped, making Jones stumble and fall to the ground with a slurred curse. "Shit! What was that?!" I hissed as another explosion sounded off. The screams didn't start until the third explosion. The screams were filled with so much terror. I looked at Jones who was now on his feet, the fear making him sober up quickly.

What were they running from? Except for the giant explosions, of course. Oh dear god, were they getting bombed? I looked up as a man ran in front of the alleyway, a woman caught up to him quickly. "Hey what-" The words seemed to die in Jones' throat as the woman tackled the man to the ground. We both stiffened when she bit into the man's throat, and the sound of tearing flesh echoed in the alley. She tore his throat open like she was tearing tissue paper. Both of us were frozen in fear of making a noise until I gulped as the woman ate, making her look up. I flinched before jumping into action. I grabbed Jone by the wrist, my grip as tight as I could make it as I dragged the gaping fool and took off, dragging the comically larger man behind me. Jones stumbled, nearly falling right beside the hissing woman, making me stumble as well. "Fuck-SHIT! Jones, RUN YOU DUMBASS!" My screeching was what brought the dark haired man back to reality. Jones jumped up and started running. Now I was the one being dragged.

Both of us were off, not glancing back to see if the woman was following after us. I doubt it. I looked up when I saw one of those things hurrying towards a woman and child. I stopped dead in my tracks, yanking on Jones' arm in the process. "Hey! What the-" Jones turned around to yell at me, but he was cut off by the scream the woman made. God, that scream was horrible. It showed all of her fear and heartbreak. Jones released his grip on my arm and turned to run. I couldn't move as I watched the monster, no vampire feed as the child watched, sprawled out on the ground sobbing, crying out for her mother. I have watched many things in my young life, from young teenagers to children being jumped into a gang, murder, and torture. But nothing compares to watching a sacred bond between a mother and child being severed brutally.

The vampire suddenly looked up at me, baring its teeth. I could see the protruding fangs glimmer in the fading daylight, the blood of its meal staining its teeth a pale pink. I could faintly hear the little girl screaming from behind the creature. I looked past the vampire to the crying girl, then back to the vampire growling fiercely at me. I took in a quiet breath as put together what courage I had and glared down at the crouched supernatural. I stepped forward, baring my own teeth in response. The vampire let out a soft hissing noise, leaning back slightly in confusion. I took that as my only chance, darting past the confused creature and scooping the child into my arms.

I heard the vampire snarl when it realized I was stealing the little girl. It quickly stood and turned, lunging towards me. I spun back around, dropping to the ground as I used my back as a shield to the crying girl that clung to my shirt. I closed my eyes tightly and tighten my hold on the girl, waiting for my life to end slowly. I waited for a few seconds but nothing came except a loud thump. I whipped around, staring wide-eyed at Jones. He was standing over the vampire as it cowered on the ground, holding it's bruised, but pale cheek. I shielded the little girl's eyes as I watched Jones beat the vampire to death.

I could hear the screams continue and get louder, some were from fear, others were a final death call that was cut short by their deaths. We needed to leave. NOW. I walked forward, grabbing the dark haired man by the shoulder. "Come on, we got to go!" With a final nod, Jones got up and lead the way, sparing the girl cowering in my arms a glance. We headed off, heading out of the city. Behind us, I could still hear the screams and explosions, but a loud chorus of cackles now filled the air, raising the hairs on the back of my neck. I guess hell has finally caught up with us fucking humans.

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Hi, thanks for reading the prologue, and I hope you've enjoyed yourselves so far!

See you guys with the next chapter soon! ^.^