Ethan groaned. His eyes were heavy with fatigue, but he had been so caught up in his novel that he had lost track of the time. Glancing at his clock, Ethan was shocked to discover it was well past midnight. Knowing he had a big day ahead of him, he hesitantly placed the story of Vincent and Alexia down, crawling into his bed, but he was not ready for sleep. Rolling onto his back, Ethan stared at the roof as he replaced the story in his head.

Being a lover of history, he was well aware of the Christian massacres of ‘vampires’ that had taken place in the fifteenth century, despite how hard it was to uncover information on such secretive events. Naturally, he did not believe in vampires, but he did release vampire hunts were as common, if not more so, than witch hunts and other such supernatural escapades in the earlier centuries.

Ethan could not explain it, but whenever he thought about the massacres he felt a deep spiritual suffocation. He could hear the screams in his head. He could feel the flames burning around him. He could see the crazed villagers running throughout the buildings, setting fire to everything that burned, viciously craving the blood of their enemies.

For that reason, he often tried to avoid the subject, but during his studies he had been forced to read a novel pertaining to the events, and he had been swept into the story. Since he first heard of the vampire massacres, Ethan had just passed them off as another religion custom, no different to any other rituals performed by historic fanatics.

It was not until he read this book that he began to realise just how horrific that they were. Anybody who disagreed was violently burned to death, screaming and writhing in pain, nothing more than a spectacle to people they had grown up with. If you tried to save a loved one, you were considered one of them, and faced a similar fate. If you looked different, or acted different, you were a demon; a creature from Hell sent to destroy human life.

Ethan could not help but wonder if the ‘fiction’ tag lining the side of the book was a mere ruse, to avoid suspicion. He felt stupid for even considering the existence of vampires, but he could not deny how real the recreation was. Vincent was not more than a teenage male, his heart only for Alexia. He threw his entire life away for her, without hesitation. Even given the nature of his lifestyle, he was so ready… so ready to discard it in an instant…

Ethan’s mind was exhausted from focusing so much energy on overanalysing, as was usual for him. He slowly felt his eyes closing, and he soon fell into a deep sleep, dreaming about the events pertaining to the origin of the novel.

Alexia shivered. The night was unusually cold, so she folded her arms and attempted to huddle into her clothes. Vincent, noticing this, nudged her softly, inviting Alexia to rest on his shoulder.

As Alexia snuggled into Vincent’s neck, he wrapped his arm around her, in both a gesture of affection and a token of his own warmth.

The pair had no idea as to why they were being summoned to a public meeting in the middle of the night.

As the villagers murmured amongst themselves, Vincent’s eyes scanned the crowd, taking note of those who were absent. Upon making his observations, his eyes darted to the mayor, who slowly stood weaved his way through the assembly. The general hum of conversation was silenced as the mayor stepped onto a small stage.

“As you know,” the mayor began, “our livestock has been disappearing at alarming rates.”

The crowd buzzed with annoyance at the prospect of being awoken to discuss missing animals, but the mayor continued.

“More recently, however, we have also started to lose members of our own community. I am here to publicly announce the capture of this culprit, and to deal with him as a demonstration to others who may follow his path.

Upon the mayor’s signal, two burly men walked forward, alongside a scrawny, malnourished teenager.

The boy had a hood covering his face, hands were tied behind his back, and clothes tattered and worn.

Vincent cringed as the scent of the boy reached his nostrils. The boy’s skin was of a decaying colour, an indication that the boy had not bathed for the longest time. This was intriguing to Vincent, as his village was renowned for its wonderful bathing springs and creeks.

The murmurs began again as the mayor stepped up to the boy.

“What you see before you, my friends,” the mayor announced, “is none other than… a vampire!” The crowd gasped as the mayor ripped off the hood, revealing the boy’s large fangs, stained with dried blood.

Vincent narrowed his eyes. He had heard tales of these creatures, and how sightings of them were becoming increasingly common in other parts of the country, but he never considered to be them anything but tall stories. His eyes were fixated on the creature’s jaw, watching the fangs as the vampire slowly hissed and gasped.

“In the name of the Holy One,” the mayor began, raising a wooden stake high above his head, “I purge the evil from thee.”

As he brought the stake down, the vampire shook free of its captors’ grip and dug its fangs deep into the mayor’s throat. Vincent, his mind racing, leapt to his feet as he contemplated his possible courses of action.

Sprinting through the gathering, he tackled the vampire off the struggling man and, without hesitation, pulled the discarded stake from the ground and thrust it into the beast’s heart. The creature writhed and struggled as its breaths slowly grew fainter and fainter, and soon it was limp and still.

Rising to his feet, Vincent brushed himself off before turning to the mayor.

“You know how it works,” Vincent spoke solemnly. “You are going to turn, so you must die.”

The mayor looked up at him with pleading eyes, begging for his life. Vincent, without so much as a blink of his eye, raised the stake above his head, ready to be rid of the vampire-to-be before him.

“No please, don’t!” the mayor cried, covering his head in his hands. A streak of doubt ran through Vincent’s mind, and he threw a glance at Alexia, in an attempt to ask her advice. The mayor, noticing this, straightened himself and leapt straight for Vincent’s throat, attempting to dig his own fangs into the man. Vincent stumbled back, but managed to drive the dagger into the vampire’s throat.

The creature, whilst not mortally wounded, screeched in pain, before fleeing into the darkness. Vincent gasped in shock as he contemplated how fast the curse could consume a person. Upon another glance at Alexia, it was his resolve that he would destroy any and all traces of the creatures before they could do harm to her.