Off the western coast of the Atlantic, a humble fishing boat struggled through the waves, which grew ever more violent.
Night had long since fallen, yet the sky seemed to darken by the second.
« Trim the sails! Joseph, is the engine going to start tomorrow?! »
A grizzled man with a tanned face shouted orders at the top of his lungs, trying desperately to keep the boat afloat.
But nature had other plans.
« Jettison the ballast! »
**
In the hold, two men with panicked expressions had just heard their captain's orders to lighten the ship of anything unnecessary. Their safety depended on it.
« Don't you think we should check what's inside first? What if there are ancient jewels or some kind of treasure? »
They stood before a coffin they had retrieved just hours earlier, before the storm began.
It was a truly royal-looking coffin, made entirely of a red material none of them recognized.
Exquisite carvings covered its surface, reminiscent of the ancient Greek frescoes in temples. Ten black stones were inlaid on top in a perfect semicircle.
Selling such a treasure could have bought them a house and freed them from work for the rest of their lives.
The second sailor hesitated for a moment, clutching the nearest beam to avoid being thrown about by the ship's violent movements.
He gritted his teeth and nodded at his companion.
Seizing a rare moment of calm, they heaved the lid open with all their strength.
Their muscles strained, veins bulging on their foreheads and biceps.
They were about to give up when the coffin finally moved, a mechanical click echoed as if a lock had disengaged, red smoke hissed from the coffin.
BAM
The two men let go instantly, the lid slamming almost exactly where it had been.
They assumed it was too heavy for just the two of them and prepared to call for help.
What they didn't realize was that this tiny misalignment was all that was needed.
They opened their mouths to scream, but no sound emerged.
They looked at each other in disbelief.
All sound seemed to have been sucked away.
They even thought they had suddenly gone deaf.
Until they heard a whisper so faint it would normally have gone unnoticed.
The sigh was soft yet so piercing that their ears immediately began to ring, their eardrums threatening to burst.
The sound seemed to come from all directions, yet deep down, they knew.
It came from the coffin.
Wide-eyed, they watched a pale hand lift the crimson lid as if it were feather-light. Yet the deafening clatter when it hit the floor proved otherwise.
Two hands gripped the edges of the blood-colored coffin.
Their hearts pounded as though they might leap from their chests.
A body struggled upright.
It was a man, or at least he appeared to be.
His skin was impossibly pale, long scarlet hair cascaded over a face of exceptional beauty.
Two crimson eyes opened with effort, and his mouth parted to reveal a row of pearly teeth, two prominent canines standing out among them.
Any fan of supernatural would have recognized him instantly.
He bore every hallmark of what was called a vampire.
The creature surveyed the surroundings with curiosity until his gaze fell on the two men who had awakened him from his eternal slumber.
His lips stretched into an exaggerated smile, twisting an enchanting grin into something manic, verging on madness.
He erupted into a powerful, guttural laugh, amplifying the terror of the two men, now on their knees, hands clamped over their ears as they struggled to breathe.
A cavernous voice, in stark contrast to his humanoid appearance, resonated through the deafening silence of the hold.
« I suppose it's finally time I fulfill my duty… »
The men barely had time to blink before the figure that had been seated in the coffin vanished as if it had never existed.
They stared at each other, terror mirrored in their eyes, confirming what they had witnessed was no dream.
**
The vampire, now draped in a black suit embroidered with delicate red threads, looked perfectly at home against his pale skin and crimson hair.
He stood within an endless void, gazing at the surface of a small celestial body on which he had lingered for millennia, all because he had lost a foolish bet thousands of years ago.
Even for someone of his nature, who did not perceive time the same as mortals did, sleeping for millennia felt like a waste, especially for one of his stature.
He sighed and then focused on the lone satellite orbiting the blue planet below.
« When it's time… »
He raised his right hand to the sky, palm open, and sliced his left wrist.
His dark red blood flowed upward, forming a spear hundreds meters long.
With a simple flick of his wrist, he hurled the projectile directly through the center of the moon, piercing it through and through.
His brows furrowed.
« Seems I'm a bit rusty after all these years… Anyway, I've done my part. »
He vanished without leaving a trace.
Only those as powerful as him could discern that he had transformed into a cloud of bats moving at incomprehensible speed.
Shortly after, cracks spread across the satellite's surface until it ultimately shattered into countless fragments.
**
A sixteen-year-old boy, with pâle skin and short black hair, calmly studied his reflection in the mirror of his small bathroom while brushing his teeth.
Since waking, he had felt… off.
He was not feeling sick, just suffocated, a fluttering sensation in his stomach.
He considered calling the school to report feeling unwell but dismissed the thought, imagining the punishment awaiting him at home that weekend.
Though he had endured years of physical abuse and verbal cruelty, he did his best to avoid it.
You never truly get used to it.
He absentmindedly touched the corner of his lips.
His face bore a striking feature, a "gift" from his parents, what doctors called an angel smile.
A long wound stretched from both sides of his mouth to his jaw joints, revealing almost all his teeth.
It should have healed long ago, but his mother had cauterized it with acid, preventing any regeneration, condemning him to wear this horrifying visage.
She is as imaginative as she is perfectionist when it comes to punishing him.
His older sister, the only one who ever treated him correctly, always tell him to see the glass half-full.
But no matter how hard he tried, he only felt disgust and hatred when looking at his own face.
But not directed to himself.
He shook off the dark thoughts and dressed, black pants and sweater, white sneakers.
Simple clothing, no logos, no designs.
As if his parents were gonna waste a single coin more than necessary for him.
He then put on his black leather mask, hiding his oversized mouth.
To him, it felt more like a muzzle, he didn't care if people were shocked.
But the school had its rules, he must appear "normal" to attend classes.
«Normal… what a joke. »
Descending the stairs of his apartment complex, he recalled the stunned expressions of his teachers when they first saw him in class.
One young female teacher had even fainted for several minutes.
He had struggled to suppress his laughter.
Although the staff had tried to be understanding, he knew deep down they wished he would disappear.
Society was nothing but a nest of vipers.
On the bus, his gaze swept across the students.
Some avoided his eyes; others laughed and pointed.
It mattered not to him.
« Nothing but snakes… »