Vampires called the war The Great Awakening, but humans knew it as the Blood Wars.
Up until then, vampires had only been a work of fiction for humans. Countless stories about their lives were written, TV shows created, one story similar to the next, but all with their own twist when it came to the creature. Some got it better than others, almost perfectly in fact, but in reality, those who wrote about vampires knew they weren’t real beings, only the result of the incapability of humans to explain certain phenomena years and years ago.
Granted, some people thought it weird that across multiple cultures with virtually no contact with each other, a similar monster existed, but with the medical and scientific advancements we have today, the existence of the vampire had long been debunked, the old theories proved wrong one way or another. And so the blood-drinking myth was deemed just that… a myth.
And they remained one for hundreds of years, hidden in the shadows, tucked in all the places humans dare not go. And their existence seemed pleasing enough; they lived in small groups, left humans alone for the most part, relying on animals to feed.
But that was a long time ago.
Some vampires grew tired of the life they were leading. Tired of hiding from the world, while humans thrived, their population growing at an eye watering pace, the planet they unknowingly shared getting destroyed more and more with each passing day.
After all, weren’t vampires depicted as these superior beings that could tear through the strongest of men in a matter of seconds? Weren’t they supposed to be alluring, enigmatic creatures that crossed paths with unlucky humans that turned into food? That is exactly how they had been described in the countless books and films after all.
And do they not have a right to enjoy their lives in freedom and in a world fit for such magnificent beings?
But the vampire race had not evolved at the same pace as the human race… centuries upon centuries in reclusion meant that they were no longer the strong, fast creatures they once were.
The first vampires were almost all in deep slumber, or lost. The Elders stopped reproducing a long time ago, and so with every new birth of a vampire — not by a bite, but by natural means — a small amount of that superior gene was lost.
Yes, vampires were still faster than humans, most of them were more beautiful, stronger, taller even, but they were far less in quantity, and they wouldn’t stand a chance against a modern day army of human soldiers.
Even though it was deemed impossible to overthrow the human race, some vampires refused to let the idea die so soon.
The head of those vampires was Ender.
As far as beautiful creatures go, Ender had to be the most striking one. Tall, with dark hair making a stark contrast with his pale, almost translucent skin, and a body that seemed to have been sculpted by the finest hands, all heads turned when he entered a room.
His piercing blue, almost white eyes could cut through anyone, but his mind that was even sharper. He was old, 545 years old to be exact, and had been born naturally somewhere in Europe. His lineage belongs to one of the oldest families who’s original is still alive, making them among the most powerful vampires on Earth.
Much like humans, vampires also lived in an established structure. The most powerful ones, at the top of the pyramid, as mentioned, were those that belonged to the oldest families. Below them, those who’s original had died or was lost, but the rest of the family was alive, and so on until you reach the bottom of the pyramid, where newly transformed vampires found themselves.
But turning a human into a vampire was almost unheard of these days, as vampires didn’t venture out of their safety areas, and having to keep a newly turned vampire in line was far more work than what it’s worth, so the last bitten vampires to have joined said pyramid where already 100 years old or more.