Dark Hearts

Part I (Chapters 1 & 2)

The Warlock

His smoke was almost out when they parked in front of the club, they all exited the car, the vampire Sam, the Warlock Jason and his demon Krumar, who took the form of a little child as all imps did to mingle and stay hidden, Krumar has been Jason's faithful imp for more than a decade now, even before his wife and daughter died, for Imps are bound by an unholy and unbreakable bond to their warlocks, they amplify their demonic energies and help their bodies avoid deterioration, without an Imp the demonic energies will consume the warlock, rendering their body weak and most might even perish, an imp acts as a source of power for a warlock, its spy and its protector and its loyalty is unquestionable.

The sun was at its peak; the sweat didn't bother him as much as the heat pounding at his already aching head; he stood there in his black shirt and black trench coat; he looked at his vampire companion, who protected himself with black shades and a fedora hat, unlike popular fiction works and movies, vampires are not vulnerable to the sun, at least not to the degree depicted in the novels or movies, long exposure to a sun can cause them irritated skin or some form of rash and their eyes are more sensitive to it than most humans, other than those symptoms, vampires don't show any form of dying or turning to ash once exposed to the sun, however they still do not go out in daylight unless it's absolutely necessary and Mary was an absolute necessity.

The story of Mary began years ago before Jason was even born, Mary was known back then by the name of Bloody Mary, a ghost that has been haunting men and women for centuries, a famous horror story back in the day, once her name is called three times in front of a mirror she is summoned to hunt down the person who called her name and then she kills him or her, unlike most ghosts who are invisible to the eye and can travel anywhere, Mary could only travel through mirrors and like many ghosts, the Templars have hunted her put her down for good, or they thought they did, no one knows exactly what happened that day she was presumably killed, but it seemed that it did not go as planned, for instead of being destroyed, Mary gained conscious and became more human than the vengeful, angry spirit she once was, when someone called her name three times after her "smiting" she found out that she could ignore him or her, that she could control herself, that she was no longer bounded to this endless cycle of hatred and death.

Mary soon after, possessed a body and left for America where she discovered that other creatures exist, that she was not the only supernatural being In this world and she also found out that those beings, those Creatures of the Night are being hunted by the same men who tried to kill her in the past, the Templars. Mary decided to act on that, she decided to give those Creatures something she never had, a safe place, some sort of haven for them, so they can live without fear of the possibility that every man walking by could be a Templar and that's how she founded the Bloody Hotels and clubs, Hotels that look as normal as any hotel can be, but instead of having human residents, all of its residents were Creatures of the Nights, Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies and others, hidden in these Hotels right underneath the Templars' noses, as her series of hotels and nightclubs grew, so did her reputation in the Hidden World and with it, the residents of the Hotels, some paid Mary money, others, like Jason, paid her favors, by the time the Templars have found out about them, they have already spread all over America and even a coordinated attack on them will cause countless civilians' lives for Mary chose her hotels' locations to be in lively places; the Templars saw another opportunity however and swayed themselves to cut a deal with Mary, they will leave her hotels and nightclubs be, but on the condition of that none of her residents is to ever harm a human, Mary had to agree for a war with the Templars could turn all she had built into rubble and ash. And thus, the first and only treaty between a Templar and a Creature of the Night was sealed.

Out of all her hotels and clubs in America, the main Bloody Mary club in New York was her favorite, she dwelled there most of her time, protected by her henchmen and her "treaty" some say it was the first club built and for that it had a sentimental value to her and so she spent most of her days there, others say that she just loved New York more than any other city, whatever the truth was, Mary made and ruled a powerful empire in the Hidden World and she was not to be trifled with.