Vamp!

Vamp! I - Prologue

Don't worry if you can't keep up with this part. It will become clearer later.

The story begins for real in "Vamp! I - Chapter 1".

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The clouds hung low in the sky, looking as though prepared to drag away the children walking down the streets. With a great red eye they looked down upon the earth, discussing which one of the children they should steal away.

With a cough, they scattered snow over the streets.

In the end, this is what Devils are--so said God.

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Prologue 1: The Boy and the Girl Before the Coffin

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Drip drip they drop

A rain of blood drip drip plop

May 2003. The Chapel of Waldstein Castle, on the Island of Growerth, Germany.

"Viscount Waldstein, sir?"

It was a word that could not exist in this country.

With the Proclamation of the Weimar Republic in 1919, the nobility had indeed lost all their power and privilege. But setting even that matter aside, the title of 'viscount' could not possibly have existed in this country at all. Instead of the title of 'viscount', the Germans used words like 'Wildgrave', 'Palsgrave', 'Burgrave', 'Markgrave', or 'Raugrave' to indicate all sorts of positions between the ranks of baron and count.

And in this ancient castle of the country that bore this history, the foreign word was repeated once more.

"Viscount Waldstein, please tell us."

In the majestic chapel, two children stood before the altar. They were children by legality, but physically they were teenagers--both around fifteen years of age.

As the boy looked on nervously, the girl continued to address the great container before them with the word that could not exist.

"Viscount Waldstein, when are Relic and Ferret going to return to this island?"

Although her tone in addressing an aristocrat was somewhat lacking in refinement, the girl's voice showed unmistakeable respect. This courtesy was not borne of any sort of class differences. It was a sense of respect forged from a bond of trust.

Before the girl, however, was nothing but a still white coffin and the altar before it.

A ray of sunlight hit the coffin through the skylight. The children narrowed their eyes as the light reflected off the white surface and into their eyes.

No voice answered the girl's question. The chapel was enveloped in silence.

"I see... So you don't know, then... But they will come back one day. Right, sir?"

The girl continued her seemingly one-sided conversation. The boy next to her also watched the coffin fixedly, as though there was nothing strange about the girl's discussion.

"I'm so glad to hear that. I was so scared that I'd never see them again..." The girl said, replying to a silent answer once more. The boy, who was about a year or two older than the girl, suddenly spoke up excitedly.

"Uh, sir! Um, well, uh... Once Ferret comes back, you see, I, uh... Would you allow Ferret-I mean, your daughter and I to start dati-"

Splash.

There was something like the sound of water. At that very moment, the boy fell to the chapel floor as though he had been thrown by an invisible force. He had flown in a graceful arc and fallen to the floor.