text: The night is cold, dark and starless. The only light other than the candle Mama clutches in her hand comes from the moon, whose once bright, white, inviting and warm light is now deep red, like it's been splattered with blood. You're curled up with your two sisters, Ivana and Lilia, with Mama sitting over you, her candle in one hand and a wooden crucifix in the other. Papa is nailing boards to keep the door shut, hastily trying to give you some extra protection.
  
  It's the Night of the Blood Moon. You've never been through one, the last happening less than a year before your birth, but now, after another twelve years, it had arrived. Your eldest brother, Dornan, told stories about it, stories that chilled you to the bone, that kept you from sleep, that gave birth to the horrors of your nightmares. If even a fraction of what Dornan said is true, the screams should begin soon.
  
  "Mama?" Lilia asks.
  
  "Hush, darling," Mama replies, as Papa finishes boarding up the door and grabs his shotgun from it's place on the wall. He takes his spot next to you, his gun pointed at the door, and you wait.
  
  The screams start soon. Howls of pain and terror from other houses of the town. Ivana is old enough to know to stay quiet, but Lilia soon starts to cry. Mama desperately tries to hush her six year old daughter, but to no avail.
  
  "Sssh! Sssh, darling! It's alright, you just must stay quiet!" Papa says.
  
  Suddenly, a tall, dark shadow passes by the window. Papa immediately grabs his shotgun, frantically raising it to his shoulder. The shadow disappears, and Papa breaths a sigh of relief.
  
  "Scared of something?" a deep, guttural voice says from behind you.
  
  Papa turns, firing his shotgun as the monster speeds forward. It grabs Papa's throat with unnatural speed, smiling as it holds him in the air, strangling him.
  
  The monster looks hideous. It's dreadfully pale, it's face twisted with hate, and looks to be hairless. It's eyes are completely black, like the endless darkness of its soul, and it's mouth is filled with mangled teeth with two large fangs, curved and bloodstained, with even more blood pouring down its face. The creature snarls, before smiling as it turns to look at you and your siblings. 
  
  "Ah... so young... so fresh..." the vampire says, licking it's lipless mouth with a forked tongue. "Peasant, your daughters are mine. Don't struggle."
  
  The vampire tosses Papa to the ground, turning towards your siblings.
  
  "No! No! You will not take my daughters!" Father says, grabbing for his gun.
  
  The monster strikes, smashing it's boot into Papa's head.
  
  "How dare you?!" the monster screams. "I gave you your land, I gave you your house, I give you your life!"
  
  The monster begins walking toward Papa, who desperately crawls back to the wall.
  
  "I keep the beasts away from the village! I let you roam the night all but one night every twelve years! I don't ask for your wife, to allow you to sire more. I don't ask for your son, to leave you a legacy. I only ask for your daughters! How dare you attempt to deny me that?"
  
  As the vampire walks towards Papa, his fangs bared, you see a chance to get Papa's shotgun. Still, you don't want to anger the vampire further. Perhaps the best option is to hope for the beast's mercy.
  > grab for the gun
  You scuttle forward for the gun, grabbing it. You aim it at the vampire, grabbing the trigger and pulling it tightly.
  
  The gun explodes, sending you falling back with the recoil and smacking into the wall with a painful thud. The vampire roars as buckshot slams into his back. He grabs your father by the head, twisting with inhuman speed as your hear a painful snap. Then, he turns, staring at you. He snarls, walking forward quickly. You reach for the gun again, but he steps on your hand as you yelp in pain.
  
  "You dare shoot me? I have lived millennia, you think you'll be the one to end my life?" the hunter snarls, before laughing, a horrible, terrifying noise. "You have balls, little one."
  
  You stare at the monster in front of you, trying to stare him, but you see nothing but hate and unquenching thirst behind his eyes.
  
  "Yes... I see strength in you. Potential. I have an offer for you, as the newfound man of the house. Join me. Let me take you on as my... apprentice. As my servant. As my slave. As whatever I need you to be. In exchange for your servitude, I offer you not only your life, but the life of your mother and sisters."
  
  You stare at the monster, whose eyes narrow as he waits for you answer.
  > agree
  "OK," you say, gulping.
  
  The vampire smiles, perhaps in an attempt to calm you, but the way his smile curves upwards seems unnatural. It's like the smile of a wolf who has found a young, bleating lamb all by itself.
  
  "Perfect," the vampire says, dropping you to the ground.
  
  The monster walks out of the hut, barking out a single order.
  
  "Follow," he commands.
  
  You walk outside to the glow of the red moon, seeing a dozen bodies, pale from blood draining, lying on the street. A single carriage lies there, with a hunch-backed man sitting there, wearing a low-down bowler hat, a balaclava and a large coat that cover his appearance.
  
  "Haygarth! We're finished here. I've fed," the vampire growls.
  
  The hunch-back nods eagerly, grabbing the reigns of the horses.
  
  "Yes, sir, ready to go, sir!" Haygarth says eagerly. "And the boy?"
  
  "He is mine," the vampire says, as he steps into the carriage.
  
  "Yes sir, yes sir! Up front, boy! Quickly!" Haygarth says.
  
  You quickly walk up to the carriage, climbing into the shotgun seat of the carriage. Haygarth seems badly deformed, clearly attempting to cover his appearance with his large coat, low hat and balaclava, but he still looks monstrous. Haygarth quickly stirs the horses into a trot, as you leave the town that's always been your home.
  
  "You're to serve Count Grey?" the hunchback asks.
  
  "Yes," you say, barely coming to terms with the fact.
  
  "Hmm... we'll see how long you last," Haygarth says. "Yes, we'll see..." 
  > Three Years Later...
  You sit on the ground, scrubbing the cold stone floor of the Grey Castle, named as much for its cold, lifeless demeanor as much as its owner. Haygarth stands over you, watching as he makes sure you do a proper job cleaning the blood stains that cover the ground, a remainder of the last girl foolish enough to be out at night. 
  
  So far, your job has been simple. You have little contact with Count Grey, as you work in the day and sleep at night, whilst he sleeps in the day, coming out at night to hunt, feed, plan and much more. Mostly, Haygarth forces you to work at any job he sees fit. He seems to think you're little different from a pack horse, working you as hard as them. If anything, he's feeding the pack horses better. You see your role in the castle as a servant on your more optimistic days, and as a slave on the worse ones.
  
  "Good, good, put your back into it! Yes, that's it!" Haygarth says, as he hurries around the room, collecting pieces of clothes left over from the poor girl being brutally murdered.
  
  "Yes, Haygarth," you reply, putting your pressure on the brush as you splash some more water to get rid of a particularly disgusting stain of a mixture of blood and urine.
  
  Haygarth is a hard ruler, forcing you to work day and night. He's not sadistic or cruel, he just doesn't seem to understand that you're not an animal who needs a break. Hell, perhaps his only redeemable feature is the fact that he works himself even harder. As he rushes past, trying to do various chores, you can hear him angrily mutter to himself to go faster.
  
  You finish off the stain, quickly crawling over to the next. You sigh as you realize just how much you need to clean. Your knees hurt from crawling around all day, your hands are covered in blisters, and you've done nothing but work all day. You had two ive minute breaks to cram food into your mouth, and one more to shit, and that was it. Who the fuck has only two people to keep an entire castle from falling into disrepair?
  
  "Hurry up, boy! Use some of those strong muscles! I want to be able to see my reflection in it!"
  
  Will he ever leave you be? The bastard can't just let you fucking work, he has to constantly remind you that you're not doing good enough? 
  > insult Haygarth
  "Really? You want to see your reflection in the floor? Maybe I should leave it dirty so you wouldn't have to look at your malformed, pathetic excuse for a face," you say, as a year of anger is released in a single jab.
  
  Haygarth stops suddenly, looking at you. He frowns, looking at the ground behind you, where ironically you've polished the stones enough for him to vaguely look at himself.
  
  "You... you know, you sound just like my mother, or Count Grey. Mean. Cruel. Perhaps it's good you've found yourself serving a man such as the Count. He could be your soul mate, if he had a soul."
  
  Haygarth hobbles out of the room, leaving you alone. You continue keeping working, but fuck, the floor is pretty clean. You sit down, leaning against the wall as you sigh as your aching muscles get relief. You take a deep breath, as you watch the the sun fall in the distance. After about half an hour, the moon has finally appeared, and Haygarth appears.
  
  "Come. We need to wake Count Grey," he says, not looking at you.
  > follow Haygarth
  You follow Haygarth along the hallways with haste. You hurry down the stairs, quickly heading to the lowest floor, at the center of the castle, into a dark room, empty except for a single, candle-adored coffin leaning against the stone wall, and a large, black sword hanging above the coffin.
  
  The coffin in intricate, a large, black wooden coffin with an intricate, thorny pattern, and a single silver, demonic face with a roaring mouth with a pair of fangs on the front.
  
  The sword, on the other hand, is somehow even darker, its surface seeming to suck the very light from the room. Even staring at the thin edge makes you feel like you've been stabbed. You can practically taste the hatred and malice that emanates from it. 
  
  "Do you feel it?" Haygarth says. "That is the master of the home."
  
  You feel the hairs stand up on your skin. The air tastes stale and rotten, and there's a general feeling of dread emanating from it. In a place like this, you feel even if you called on the good Lord to save you, he would be unable to find your soul in such an abyss of all warm or love, let alone rescue you from it.
  
  "What now?" you ask.
  
  Haygarth grabs your hand, pulling it forward until your hand touches the metal.
  
  "It... stings," you say, as it feels like your hand is both being put against a hot stove and a freezing block of ice.
  
  "You'll get used to it," Haygarth says, drawing an iron blade from his side. 
  
  Haygarth presses the blade against your arm, smiling as he slices open your arm, a long, deep cut appearing with a stream of blood.
  
  "Ah!" you yelp as your arm is covered red. "Stop!"
  
  "It's necessary," Haygarth replies. "We need to draw blood."
  
  "Did you need to cut so deep?" you complain.
  
  "I wanted to," Haygarth replies, shoving your arm in the silver mouth of the demon, cut first. Blood begins to pour down the creature's mouth, as the coffin's door clicks open. Haygarth grabs you by the collar, pulling you back. Count Grey steps forward. He looks the same as he has every night since the night he took you, except now his lips look parched and cracked, his eyes immediately darting down to your arm.
  
  "Thirst," he moans, staring at your wound.
  
  Haygarth hits you in the back with a snarl.
  
  "Come on, boy, feed your master!"
  
  You hold your arm forward, as Count Grey grabs it, his mouth darting down to your bleeding wound with an insane speed. You close your eyes and wait for the pain of his bite, but instead feel his cold lips on your wound, instantly beginning to suck the blood out of your arm. You take a deep breath as you go pale, Haygarth putting your arm around his shoulder to keep you from fainting. After about a minute, Count Grey stops, raising his head as he smiles.
  
  "Good. I was thirsty. The bitch from the other night was dry, and half her blood ended up on the floors. Good thing I managed to stop myself from draining you completely," Count Grey says.
  
  He looks up at the sword that hangs above the coffin, staring at it for a second. 
  
  "Do you see that sword? While I like to keep up to date with my weapon technology, such as with rifles. grenades and the new and innovative Maxim Gun, in cases of the super-natural, the old stuff is the best. I've had that sword since I was a child. Forged it myself under command of my master. So many ancient, arcane inscriptions, horrid rituals and infinitely worse had to be done to make it the thing it is today. It's name is the Psychí Líptis. It is a killing machine. You will become the same."
  
  Count Grey s walking past you, and up the stairs. 
  
  You stand there, waiting, looking at Haygarth for what to do.
  
  "Follow!" Count Grey's voice booms.
  
  You quickly hurry up the stairs after him.
  > an Hour Later...
  You sit in the shotgun seat of the coach, as Haygarth continues spurring the horses forward. You're entering the village of Nitchidorf, with Count Grey resting in the back. The carriage's wheels roll into the village, stopping as you enter the village limits. 
  
  "Go open the doors for the Count," Haygarth says.
  
  You nod, quickly hopping off the carriage. You run to the back of the carriage, opening it as the tall, gaunt Vampire steps out, tilting his head to stare down at you.
  
  "Follow," he commands.
  
  He begins walking along the street, staring at each of the houses.
  
  "We must find you a little... playmate," Count Grey says, looking at the houses.
  
  He sniffs the air, staring at the houses. His eyes flicker to you, filling you with dread as he licks his lips, still stained with bits of your crimson ichor, looking hungry.
  
  "Ye-yes, master," you say, nervously.
  
  The vampire stares at you for a second, before looking away. He seems impatient.
  
  "Yes... I can smell two prominent ones. Tell me, Samuel, what do you think? There's a young one who smells freshly bathed and lemongrass perfume, or one that smells of fresh dough and... terror sweat. It appears the latter one can see us. Which is it, Samuel?"
  > The first girl
  "Uh... the... the fi..." you stutter, tripping over your words as the vampire growls.
  
  "Have I found myself with another fool, a boy with the mind of a mule?" the vampire says, his long, gleaning white fangs, the corners of his mouth still red with your blood. "I've had a year out of you. Perhaps it's best to finish you off now."
  
  Count Grey slowly walks forward, snarling as his fangs poke out, looking like huge spears. 
  > attack
  You charge forward, but you're a child, and he's an immortal, ancient vampire. He grabs your neck, holding your head high to expose your neck. His mouth immediately shoots forward, biting into your neck as he begins to drain you of your life force. You gasp as your blood is drained, before he drops your dead body to the ground.