VOLUME 1

Prologue

Solus Brittanica

1918 A.V

"Hide."

Heeding her mother's words, she ran as quickly as she could, dragging her younger brother with her. He was still confused, crying and asking her to take them back to their parents, but she knew she couldn’t.

 The banging on the door got louder and louder. The wood splintered and cracked with each blow. 

Hide. I need to hide. Come on, Camilla. 

The little girl huffed, her stumpy legs running as fast as they would carry her. She dragged her brother into their parents' room and went inside the closet, closing its door. She wrapped her arms around her terrified sibling and placed her hand on his mouth, as well as her own. “Shh, you need to be quiet, Rem.”

She could hear her father yelling, telling their mother to get the arqer from the rack, a long barrel with a wooden finish. She saw her mother through the closet's blinds, watching her grab the firearm from the rack on the wall and toss it to their father. She watched as their parents braced for whatever was on the other side. 

The monsters. The ones her mother had always told her about. The stories. They were real.

"Light a torch! They hate fire!" her father commanded, pointing toward the kitchen. The door was about to break. He shouldered the arqer and pulled the hammer back, keeping his aim steady and trained at the door. 

Her mother quickly ran into the kitchen and grabbed a mop. She reached into the cabinets and snatched a few bottles of alcohol, smashing it on the mop and soaking it before grabbing a lighter, the flame flickering to life. She lit the mop head aflame. 

The heavy wood door broke. A pale arm with talon-like nails clawed out from the hole.

Her father fired twice, eliciting pained shrieks from the intruder. 

"Sol, help us… It's getting through!" he cried out, turning the arqer to its side. His fingers shook as he struggled to reload it, slipping in new rounds into its hatch.  

The little girl's mother made it in time, standing by her father's side with the mop-torch at the ready. 

The door burst open as the pale monster broke inside their house.  

"I need it. I need it!" the creature growled. Pale skin. Red eyes. Pointed ears. Sharp fangs and talon-like nails. The creature looked like a deranged man, snarling and clawing at itself. 

Camilla watched as the creature snarled and growled like an animal, bracing to attack her parents. It dove for her father first, but her mother was quick. She slammed the flaming mop like a bat and smacked the monster a few meters back, setting its clothes on fire. It reeled and screeched as the flames quickly spread throughout its entire body within seconds, crying out with hellish shrieks of pain. 

It looked like a demon with the fire licking its skin and covering its body. It got up again, seemingly not caring anymore that it was slowly burning alive. It dove for her mother this time.  

Her mother tried to defend with the torch again, but the creature slapped it away from her arms. It landed on the living room carpet, quickly setting it ablaze.  

The creature swiped at her mother's neck, tearing it open. 

Blood sputtered and showered the creature like a fountain, flowing freely from the mother’s open throat. She gurgled, her hand immediately flying to the gaping slash on her neck as she fell to the ground. 

"Lily!" Camilla’s father screamed, firing another shell as soon as he reloaded. The slug hit the monster's shoulder, blowing away a chunk of flesh out the other side. But it only made it stumble as it dove for him next. Her father struggled as he was tackled to the floor. The flames spread from the monster to him. 

"Blood! I need blood!" The creature growled, snapping its jaws. 

It was too strong. Her father couldn't stop it. 

The monster leaned in and closed its maw around her father's throat. A pained scream escaped his mouth before it slowly faded. The monster fed on him, greedily lapping up the blood from her father's neck.

The little girl gasped, shaking in the closet. She hugged her younger brother tight.

The monster's ears twitched, glancing up to the open door of their parent's room. The fire was spreading through the living room now too.

"Children?" the creature spoke. "Don't be scared... I just need a taste. Blood. Young blood." 

It walked inside the room, sniffing around as the fire continued to cook its body.  It didn't seem to care anymore as burning pieces of its flesh fell off and landed on the floor, spreading the flames. Her younger brother was sobbing now. Drawing the monster's attention. 

Camilla saw the monster visibly smile, a wicked grin spreading from whatever pieces of burnt flesh still hung from its face, turning its head toward the closet. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. The heavy thuds of its footsteps—getting closer by the second. 

“Sol… please…” 

Bang. 

She suddenly opened her eyes, clutching her chest. She looked through the cracks, seeing the monster's head blown to pieces, falling to the floor. 

Heavy footsteps stomped into the room as three large men entered, scanning around. “Target is down. Male strigoi of lean build, body is heavily burned but it matches the description of the reported criminal from Dante,” one of them said.

Another sighed heavily, kicking the body. “We came too late. Fuckin’ addict.” 

“No time to gawk and talk shit. This room is clear!" one of them called. "Leave the bodies! Get out of here, this place is burning down!"

As the men turned to leave, Camilla gathered her courage, shaking her head as she forced her body to move, her lips still quivering after witnessing such a scene. 

"W-wait!" she called out, opening the closet door.

The men turned back, surprised. "We have two survivors! Get them to safety, now!"

The men scooped her and her brother up quickly, and ran out of the burning house. The smoke was already rising up high into the sky. 

"Take these children away from here," one of the men commanded. He looked back at the house as it slowly broke apart. Charred wood toppling down to fuel the fire. Everything the children knew disappeared in a single night. 

There was nothing left to save.