Ch 1: How It All Began

The dark streets of Rome, Italy were quiet. The roads barely lit by the torches hanging overhead as a thick and heavy fog weaves its way through the alleyways and between parked cars.

The fog seems to be thickest on Cherry Street. If you were to try to walk through it, you would immediately become lost in it, and doing so would mean your death.

This fog is not normal. If you had been unlucky enough to be out on the streets, you would have seen a tall man in a trench coat come out of it.

When his eyes came into focus, he looked up at the tallest house located on the street. There are many tall structures in Rome, but to the man, this house was the one most precious to him.

For in this house, is the family that he will be 'taking care of.' He is always careful about how he chooses his targets.

His skin buzzed with excitement as he thought of the many ways he could eliminate this target.

He put his hands in his deep pockets as he listened to the noises inside.

(Inside the house)

"Where are you, My Little Bumblebee?" a sweet voice called. Judging from the sound, the woman was in her late twenties, early thirties. She had long, flowing, golden brown hair. Her eyes were a light green and reflected the light to perfection. She was tall and slim, with only a slight bit of weight to her. In her prime, she had many suitors.

"We have already found the Butterfly. Now where is the Bumblebee?" a male voice called. His voice is soft has well, but with a rough edge to it. He is in his late thirties. He, on the other hand, had dark brown hair that came down to his shoulders, which he always kept in a low ponytail. His eyes were a dark brown that lightened slightly in the sun. He had some weight to him, but not so much you could not put your arms around him. He was not the best looking man, but handsome none the less.

A little girl is following the male around the house as he and his wife search for their eldest daughter and giggles as her father makes the comment. It is past their daughters bedtime, but they had begged for one finale game of hide-and-seek and their parents knew that they would not go to bed without it.

The little girl resembled her father in appearance in so many ways, with very little of her mother in her.

The youngest daughter was slightly upset when she was found, but knew that her elder sister was the best at hide-and-seek and it would be some time before they could find her. She also knew her sister was not one to give up, so as long as she stayed hidden, their game could very well last all night. However, she would come out when her parents gave up their search. Not when they were around, though, out of stubbornness that she had inherited from her mother in not wanting to loose her prized hiding place.

The eldest daughter was pretty like her mother, but her appearance was entirely her own. Her hair was long and was just golden, very soft to the touch. She was tall and slim as well, but she was much lighter than her mother. Her eyes were a beautiful sky blue that shown best when in the moonlight. Her face was well rounded with just the right amount of coloring to make her beauty even more outstanding.

She had a gentle way about her, and was always kind to others. She had many men asking for her hand in marriage, but she had graciously refused them all. The thing that set her apart most from everyone else, though, was the fact that she was not vain about her beauty. In fact, she thought herself ordinary.

Their eldest daughter was much older than her younger sister, coming as a surprise to the family, but loved all the same. The eldest had only played this game because it was what her sister had wanted. She had a habit of putting others long before her.

The eldest daughter silently giggled from the raptors above the first floor of their three story house as both her parents and little sister continued to pass under her. Her parents never thought to look up there because they thought it was too high for her to climb and that she was not brave enough to climb up there. They had no idea just how brave their daughter really was.

(Back Outside)

The man smiled a very sinister smile. Happy that all in the house were awake, this giving him an excuse to use his skills to the full extent.

He whistled to himself as he walked up to the large house, his hands still in his pockets. He does not see the eyes starring at him through the thick fog.

He walks around the side of the house, his boots barely making any noise. He looks in through the low window, careful not to be seen. The youngest daughter had nearly seen him, but he ducked out of the way in time. He waited a moment or two before peering back in.

When he was sure the coast was clear, he pushed the unlocked window open and climbed into the house. He had already been through the rest of the house when he made it to the sitting room in the very back of the house.

Had he looked up, he would have seen the eldest daughter perched on the raptors, but he had neglected to do so.

So, when he had tiptoed underneath where she was hiding, he looked up only seconds too late when she pounced and landed on top of him.

She quickly jumped off his back and out of the room. He needed only a moment to collect himself before he was up and chasing her.

He had speed on his side, but she had the true upper hand, knowing the house better than him.

She made a sharp turn around the corner across the slick, clean floor. Had she been thinking of it, she would have seen the blood smeared against the wall, but at the moment she was only thinking of keeping this intruder away from her family. If only she had known.

She heard the loud thud as he crashed into the wall, not realizing he should have slowed down.

She smiled to herself once more as she turned another corner and entered the dinning room. She froze in her place as she looked at the scene before her.

Her father was seated at the head of the table, a long kitchen knife jammed through his throat, very little blood seeping out of the wound. Her mother was seated to his left, just as a hostess would, her long, once white dress forever stained in blood. Her little sister was seated facing their mother, her small head resting on their mothers breasts, as if they were embracing for a hug.

"Mother? Father? Amy?" she whispered as the gravity of the situation came down on her. She did not hear the footsteps behind her.

A sudden smack on the back of her head and she fell to the floor.

The man grabbed her arms, dragged her to an empty chair, tied, and gagged her.

It took only a moment to wake up.

Her eyes fluttered open and fear suddenly gripped her as she remembered what had happened.

She mumbled incoherent words against the gag and fought against her restraints.

"It is pointless to struggle, Deary," he whispered into her ear.

Her eyes widened at the sound of his voice. She turned to look at him. Her silent suspicions confirmed. She knew him.

His name was Alaric Renegade. He had been one her many suitors, and had asked for her hand numerous times. Each time she had said no. She had been able to tell he was upset, but there had been nothing she could do. She would not agree just to make him feel better. She did not realize he had felt this bad about it.

"Oh, come now. Enough with the puppy dog eyes. It is unbecoming of a young lady of your stature," he laughed.

She became angry at his words, but let it die down quickly, not wanting to give him any sort of satisfaction.

"Now, I am going to remove the gag, but if you scream I will have to hurt you," he warned her. He moved towards her and pulled down the gag so it was resting on her collar bone. She sat perfectly still. "Good girl."

"Why would you do this?" she whispered.

"You could have prevented this, you know. All you had to do was say yes. Now, because I think you do deserve an explanation. Do you agree?" he asked as if he had not heard her first question. She nodded. "Have you ever heard of Jack the Ripper?" She nodded again, and her eyes became wide as she realized what he meant by the question. On top of being gentle, she was also smart. "Yes, I am him. I am always careful about who I chose as my next victims. The moment I saw this house, I knew this would be the next family. I scoped out the house for months, making sure I had found the right house. Then, I saw you. You were radiant in the hot glowing sun. I knew I had to have you. I told myself if I could just have you, I would be content and stop what I was doing. Let the gossip and fear die out. But you refused. I just could not take it. Then, I realized, it was your family that was in the way. They made you say no to me. Now, they are out the way." He got down on one knee in front of her. Her eyes widened even further. "Caralina of the Baskerville Family, will you do me the honor of becoming my bride?" The smile on his betrayed his thought that she would say yes.

"I would rather die," she said, her voice barely a whisper, but he heard her none the less. His smile slowly fell and anger spread across his face.

"So be it," he said as he pulled out another knife and cut her across her collar bone. Before she could even get the scream out, he replaced gag over her mouth and all that was heard was a muffled cry.

He continued to cut her for a few more minutes. Neither of them could see the tall man watching from the shadows. His eyes being the ones that had followed Alaric outside. He could watch no longer.

"You really have a way with the ladies, do you not, Alaric?" a deep voice called out from the dark.

Caralina knew his voice, but from where. Her mind was too foggy.

"Who is there?" Alaric called out. "Is anyone else in this house?" She was silent. "Answer me!" He cut her across the cheek. She opened her eyes, looked up at him, and shook her head. "Stay here. Oh, wait..." He gave an evil laugh as he walked out of the room.

She sat back deeper into the chair. She was going to die.

No, not without a fight! She would not give up so easily.

She fought against the gag until it slipped from her mouth. She then leaned over until her lips were at the rope around her left hand and started working at the knot. It took her only a few seconds to untie it. He must have thought she was weak. She was far from it.

As soon as her left hand was free, she quickly freed her other hand. She then gingerly stood up and made her way to the hall. She crouched down under the table in the hall and opened the secrete compartment to the crawlspace. She had discovered it while playing one of their many games of hide-and-seek with her family.

She crawled in and replaced the cover of the crawlspace.

Then she realized what a stupid mistake she had made. She was covered in blood. There would be blood spots on the floor where she had crouched. He would find her, and she was trapped like a rat.

She heard footsteps in the dinning room and then loud cursing. She heard more footsteps coming her way. The footsteps stopped right in front of her hiding place. She heard the table being scooted to the side.

She let her mind cloud over and closed her eyes. She did not want to be aware of anything when he found her.

She felt the air hit her face as the cover was taken off.

"Come out of there," a gentle voice told her.

Her body moved to its own accord. She crawled out and sat with her back against the wall, her head down.

Gentle, gloved hands cupped her face and made her look up. Instead of the hard, cruel eyes of Alaric Renegade, she looked into the soft eyes of Dracula Tepes (pronounced tse-pesh).

His long black hair shown even in the dim candle light. His skin pale as the moon. His tall figure kneeling in front of her. His black suit fit him to perfection as it clung to him, showing of his physical strength. 

She knew him through her father. His and her father did buisness together once or twice a month, sometimes three, and he always brought Dracula along with him. Whenever he would come over, her father would shue them out of the room, saying business was not the talk of a lady her age. So, like the young hostess she was training herself to be, she would find ways to entertain him. Sometimes, if she were lucky, they would stay for dinner. She would always prepare his meals just to his liking, rare. The servants had found it charming a nobleman's daughter would want to know how to cook.

This man was the reason she had refused all of her suitors. Nobody knew this. Not him, not her parents, not even her, but she loved him very much. Her heart secretly hoped that he would ask for hand, and her parents had too.

She looked into his dazzling violet eyes and felt the fog melt away. Then, she could not control the wave of tears that flooded from her eyes.

His eyes softened even further at the sight of this, sat her in his lap, and pulled her into an embrace. One hand behind her head, the other stroking her back. She felt safe in his arms. She let out silent sobs.

"Shhhhhh, shhhhh, shhhhh. It will be alright now. I will not let him hurt you anymore," he cooed in her ear. He gently rocked her back and forth. She had never seen this side of him before.

"Oh, now I see. He is the reason you said no to me! Once he is gone, you will finally be mine!" they heard Alaric say.

Dracula was the only one to turn his head. The evil look in his eyes was enough to make Alaric shiver and tremble with fear.

Dracula set her back against the wall, took off his cloak, and wrapped it around her.

"Wait right here. I will be right back, okay?" he asked as he pressed his forehead to hers and cupped one of her cheeks. She gave a shaky nod.

As he got up and started walking towards Alaric, he unsheathed his sword.

Alaric backed up into the dinning room and Dracula followed suit.

She could hear the screams and covered her ears. She knew Dracula knew how make a quick, clean death, but clearly he was going for his signature torture style.

A few moments later, the screams finally stopped. She opened her eyes and slowly uncovered her ears.

She stood up with the cloak still around her shoulders and walked into the dinning room.

Dracula stood in the corner, obscuring her view of Alaric. She could still see the blood on the walls none the less. He turned to look at her as she walked into the room. She avoided eye contact.

She looked over at her family. Their bodies long since turned cold. No blood left in their bodies.

Her breathing turned to hyperventilating and another wave of tears clouded her vision.

She had not heard his footsteps and gave a tiny gasp as he swept her into his arms. She buried her face into his chest when she realized it was him. She felt them moving and after a few twists and turns, she felt the cool night air on her face.

Dracula's warmth and the fresh air helped her calm down some.

She felt herself being lifted higher and felt the familiar hardness of a saddle. She steadied herself on the black steed as Dracula climbed up and positioned himself behind her, his muscular thighs pressed against hers. He placed her hands on the reins and overlapped her hands with his. He grabbed the reins so that both of his arms were one either side of her. She felt protected this way.

Before he set the horse off, she tucked her hair into the cloak and put up the hood so that her hair would not get in his face. True, even on horseback he was much taller than her, but she did not want to bother him.

He lifted his arms slightly and snapped the reins back down, signaling the horse to go. The horse reared slightly and went off at full speed.

She looked back and saw her home disappearing into the distance.

'Goodbye,' she thought.