Prologue

The blissful ambiance of the morning brought endless grins to the people of the Grimland Valley. The soothing rays covered the bricks and stones houses' roofs. Within the streets were filled with the blooming flowers, crafts, and people selling breads and pastries. The children ran around freely as they pass through, some stopped - astonishly looking at the bright pearls displayed on the red fabric.

One boy stood close.

A smooth, rounded bead formed within the shells of certain mollusks and composed of the mineral aragonite or calcite in a matrix, deposited in concentric layers as a protective coating around an irritating foreign object: valued as a gem when lustrous and finely colored. It was such a shimmering and eye-catching object for the little boy. As his chin rested on the wooden stand.

But, he was curious, what it was? As for a young boy's innocence, he couldn't help but ask.

"W-what are those?"

The shopkeeper glanced down at him, how could he not when the boy was gripping on his under cloth too tightly?

"Those? Well, those are pearls."

"Pearl?" He gasped. "Those pearls, where did you get them?" With his curiosity floating, the shopkeeper bent down and levelled his vision.

"This young man came from the people who sell across the sea. Swam down under and delivered it to us here. I can't blame you, it really is such a bliss just by laying your eyes on it." He smiled, patted the boy's head. He could sense that he was very thrilled to touch it, yet he was hesitating. "If you want one, go tell your mother then. I bet she'll buy it for you."

Came running home was the overjoyed young boy, almost tripped as the neighboring kids were also running together with him. They chased each other and unexpectedly, he arrived at their house.

A woman, who had fair black curly hair came out, holding her basket full of bread and fruits, her pale porcelain shone through the lights from the sun. She was blistering with beauty. Laughing, she went towards her son that was lying on the ground, fixing his shoes.

"Settle down, now. You already had a blast from all that running, haven't you?" She heaved a sigh, wiping her son's face that was full of dirt. "Where have you gone off to, Luther, dear?"

Seeing her mother made him so happy again, hearing her voice calmed his heart. "Mother! Mother! I saw a… uh… pearls! That's right! They were such beautiful pearls, mother! Please buy them for me."

She stood up and held his hand, as they walked towards the near tree for a shadow to lean on.

"Pearls?" She wasn't clueless of what her son was pertaining to, however, she has never touched the topic about pearls before. She was wondering how his 6 years old son knew about it?

"Yes, mother! They were so beautiful. The man said that if I wanted to take on them, then I must tell you first. But, mother, what made it more beautiful was the color. It… It resembled you, mother." His red puffy face was shown, he was shy after saying those words.

His mother giggled softly. "I appreciate you saying that mother is beautiful. But, we do not have that much money with us. Therefore, mother can't buy you such a thing."

The young boy was engulfed by silence, lowering his head as he sulked. He really admired the sparkle those pearls gave to his vision earlier yet, he can't argue with his mother.

The mother noticed his behaviour and she puffed an air out, letting off some stress. She really can't say no to his adorable son.

"Alright, mother's going to buy one for you. But remember, one is enough, do you understand? I can't always afford such things, so you, my son, must be patient. If you want something, work hard for it. Because we're not that fortunate." She gave in, cupping his son's face as it brightened up again.

"Fart… u… nate?"

The woman giggled. "Fortunate. It means you are lucky to have something. That whatever you want, you can get your hands on it. Something that makes you happy. Something that brings you joy."

He pressed his mouth and thought for a while before he could respond. "But, mother, we are already fortunate? I am happy that I have you, that's fortunate, right mother?"

"Hmm… I guess you're right, I am very fortunate to have you, as my son too, dear Luther." The edges of her lips arise, her complexion was bright as day when the sunlight hit her skin, the wind brushed on to the bristles of her hair, for him, she was the most beautiful woman out there.

He went and embraced his mother tightly, expressing how happy he was. As flowers open in spring, happiness blooms in emotional warmth. As blithe covered his heart, the contentment was there. Silently, in the back of his head, he thought, 'I wish me and mother would stay like this forever'.

On the same day, after eating breads and fruits under that freshly springed tree, he and his mother went down the hill to fetch one of those mesmerizing pearls. They met the same shopkeeper, she laughed along with him after seeing her son jump and boasted with the other people how his mother brought him one. In addition, they had made the single pearl into a necklace. The pearl as its pendant and a silver chain around his neck.

He couldn't remain calm, for others, it might not be as luxurious as the ones found inside a very prestigious jewelry store; however, for him, it left the beauty of a far wide sea with a complexion of her mother's in its shade. The sudden bling appears from time to time and whenever he catch up on it, his eyes would brighten.

So shiny! So pretty. He thought.

Until then, the night came along as the sun had fully set.

The sky was black tranquility married to a poetry of stars. It was the softness that called body and brain to rest and let the heart go to its steady rhythm. Night came as a reward of sorts, a restfulness above to calm the soul. It was a cold night, yet the fireplace warmed their bodies.

She prepared the dinner for the both of them, Luther was too bored to wait for her mother so he went out for a bit without asking his mother's permission. He roamed around the hill and faced the concreted road again. As he was happily gripping the pearl. The valley's lights were vast across the streets, so there he had no problem walking around. He was too distracted then but he heard screams and cries not quite far away. He flinched but the curiosity floated above his head, he gulped hard before continuing his steps.

Together with his shivering back, trembling of his hands, and the shaking of his knees, still he proceeded on to find out where that dreadful noise came from.

Along with his anxiousness was the pounding of his little heart, it felt as though it was beating inside his head. He was sighing too often. With his heavy accelerated breathing, was his excessive sweating. It was only a matter of step before he could see what was up against that huge wall. He exhaled before peeking.

Gasped.

A pallid man who looked as though he had never seen the sun, with very long golden hair, wearing a pitch black coat was biting off some woman's neck. Blood strode down her neck to her white dress. Her eyes widened as her blood kept sucking off of her body. She couldn't move as this man was tightly gripping her body close.

His eyes flashed with fear by the mere sight of it. But then, this man immediately laid his sanguine eyes to him. With shock, he flinched and backed away, but he quickly halted when he bumped into something. He turned around and saw that it was another man, wearing tight-fitting, calf length frock coats and a waistcoat or vest. His curly dark hair placed a very evil highlight in his pale face. In addition, he smiled like a psychopath which made him run for his life.

His knees were still trembling, yet the more he ran the more vivid those noises became. Shrieking, shouting, crying, and a sound of suffocation.

The boy had thought, why did such a wondrous day become one disastrous one? Those smiles and giggles that people had shared to each other earlier, why was it quickly stolen out of them?

Within his young innocent mind, were questions buried to have never been answered.

He arrived at their home, thinking that his mother was still there - cooking and preparing a delightful dinner for the both of them while humming a soothing song, but he was too late. Too late that he never had the chance to utter about the fact that there were monsters in their valley. Slamming the wooden door open, he saw his mother facing him, behind her was the same ol' man who was biting the woman's neck.

"Luther!"

"M… Mo… Mother, they're m-m-monsters!" He squealed with all his might, hoping that his mother would possibly run away with him.

But, that wasn't the case. His mother was already held captive, by these creatures whose canine teeth were far more sharp than any of their owned knives, deadly when engraved. He then felt someone behind him, the man who he had bumped into was already gripping his tiny little arms, he couldn't escape no matter how he struggled.

"Boy, oh, boy. Monsters? We're no monsters, darling. We're just here to feast on our beloved foods, just like how you ravished your meats." The man whispered, in a very low whispery voice.

"L-liar! You killed that woman! Stay away from my mother! Mother, please run!"

Despite this frightening situation, within the warm tears shed by her mother, she smiled as the moonlight crossed over to their window to her white skin. It was another of her reassuring smiles, not long after, a sharp edge hit her neck, crashing into her veins, as her blood was being swallowed. Her hands trembled, her mouth parted, and her eyes went up as if her soul was being taken away.

"Nooooo!" He screamed with his soft and small voice, sobbing after what happened.

"Haah!" Blurted out the man after he sucked off her blood. "What a treat, now guess who's next?"

His mother wrenched her body on the floor, she ended her life in misery as her skin went violet, fell into the deepest ends of her slumber, a snooze that will ever be awakened once more. As he saw her fell, his whole body shuddered. He was furious, the hatred piled up inside his heart, and the urge to murder came early as expected. But then, what could such a child like him do?

So, he gripped the pearl, and with that, his consciousness almost blacked out, it almost faded after the man has bitten his neck but instead of sucking him to death, he had transferred some of his vessels to him, making him suffer; his heart started beating oddly in a dash, the veins in his face thumped, and his little frail knees gave up on him.

Within the pain and suffering was more of his crying noises, screeching, and the constant gulp.

"Mother!" He dropped down. His eyes started to get in blurry posture when it was filled with his tears, he tried to reach out to his mother's hand but it ended up with him blaming himself for being too small to fight back.

He dealt with the pain as it slowly disappeared, even so the madness grew inside his mentality. Short breaths attacked him, after a while he had no strength to even shed a tear, not an ounce of power to lift his fingers, and can't even move his feet. He fainted and went to a deep sleep.

The moment he opened his eyes, he realized. He was already part of the undead. He was already a Vampire.