Chapitre 3: Vampire Nights

(About 10 hours later after the Bandit Raid on the camp)

Governor Jeremy White, the appointed Colonial Governor of Benham-3 courtesy of the UFE Bureau of Colonial Affairs and Initiatives was having the worst day of his political life. What was supposed to be routine colonization to a pleasant climate and uninhabited planet was instead a firestorm of questions, dead bodies, and destroyed government-issued equipment. There were over a tally of 54 injured, 8 dead (all non-combatants) from the Casualty-report. These 'Bandits' in contrast, were completely wiped out with a death toll of 151 dead including what ashen remains were left of the giant 'Fire Monster' that Samantha and her squad heroically took down. Additionally, the Squad had also acquired a strange crystal blue necklace from the monster's handler or more colloquially called by the men as a 'Mage'.

Jeremy sighed as he sank down on his desk, he was so confused and so tired from his heart racing up when he was nearly attacked by the unidentified men who attacked them earlier in the day. The Crew of the Eodem Colony Ship was left reeling to mend their wounds. Medical Bay staff were overclocking in their workloads to heal off the wounded men and women. Supplies were re-accounted to check in-store how much was lost during the attack in the meantime that rationing and corner-cutting were enforced to make do with what remains until the next supply run. The Militia doubled their patrols and tightened their defensive formation around the Eodem's perimeter. Based on their on-the-ground reports, they said that the initial Probe's scouting reports were significantly inaccurate which further confused the Governor as the equipment was considered the best in the UFE's technology.

"Alright Science Team! I want a status report now." White opened the doors to the laboratory of the colony ship. There he found several scientists who were holding papers of their findings at hand, some faces showed nervousness while others showed confusion. After a brief silence, a scientist who was sitting by a chair stood up.

Doctor David Mahelona wiggled his way through the laboratory. Being more of your typical 'fat nerd' who doesn't care about the input of food he takes, he had to carefully move around his laboratory without accidentally knocking over the expensive equipment. This doesn't help the fact that he wasn't expecting this morning to be greeted by what everyone could only describe as "a Bandit Raid with a giant fire monster" only made him more stressed out than he normally is supposed to feel. A Native Hawaiian who got a Ph.D. in Physics by education, David was the go-to scientist who Colonel Polonsky can entrust the task of analyzing the mysterious blue-colored crystal necklace they have acquired from a dead bandit that day.

The necklace was tucked neatly inside a vacuum container that had various recording and observational gadgets attached to it like a prize piece in a jewelry store. The computers attached to the gadgets recorded the strange necklace producing curious signals and frequencies that the physics doctor could only be astonished to see.

"No Radiation, yet the compute says it can give off energy that are close to a kilo of Uranium-235. I am surprised nobody reported any signs of Radiation Poisoning sir." Dr. Mahelona said. His eyes showed his disbelief over the readings on his computer screen.

"I am just as surprised as you are too doctor. Other than energy readings what else can you get from it?" the Governor asked.

"I have recently cross-referenced the Scanning Probe recordings of Benham-3 with what the Scouts reported. I noticed that they have reported that they too have experienced seeing these kinds of energy patterns while the probe was doing the initial explorations. From what they have said, these particular energy patterns were causing their equipment to at first suffer technical fluctuations before coming back to normal and then they lost it soon after some 'Destructive Anomaly'. The next bit that I managed to learn from our new piece of jewelry here is that the energy readings are similar to energy readings from a coordinate not too far away that I triangulated. I believe the blue crystal that we have here is just a piece of a larger deposit I theorize of whatever this thing is. I suggest you some men over to check out if my readings are true. If they are we should send in some Harvester Drones and grab some more samples that I can work with. Plus I can send over these harvested crystals to other scientists who got better-equipped laboratories to study them." Dr. Mahelona replied. He passed over a file of paperwork that detailed his initial findings over to the Governor.

"That's good to hear Dr. Mahelona. Let me know when you have more findings. Now as for you Doctor Lee Haneul." Rodriguez turned to another doctor who was beside the Hawaiian.

A physical contrast to Dr. Mahelona's masculine, tall, weathered and fat physique, Dr. Hana Lee Haneul, a newly licensed surgeon was short of 5 feet and 2 inches, ideally feminine and a bachelorette of 26 years of her age. She too was rudely awakened by the bandit attacked and was tasked with examining the corpses of the slain bandits alongside other qualified doctors. Yet instead of a face of astonishing confusion, her face as if she just saw a ghost. She was frozen in place, her lips not moving like a lifeless department store mannequin.

"You look scared Hana, what's happening?" Dr. Mahelona asked.

"They. Are. Human." Were the only words that escaped Hana's mouth.

"They are 'Human'?" Both the Governor and Dr. Mahelona said.

"Everything in their bodies that I and Father Bishop dissected are… Human Blood, Human Organs, Human Bones. We didn't kill aliens… we killed…People." Dr. Lee Haneul said. Her eyes were on the verge of tears. She has always been a utilitarian pacifist who upheld her Hippocratic oath diligently but the sight of bullet-ridden bodies has made her descend into a state of Shell Shock. In her few years of experience as a surgeon, she had never seen so many dead bodies before that no field trip to morgues could prepare an upcoming doctor to face.

"God damn it! How am I going to explain this too command, to the press, to everyone upstairs?" White exclaimed.

The Governor's burdens have become heavier by the hour as more developments happened around him and all of it was bad news and more bad news. He wishes just for once can he hear something that produces to fill the many questions that are on everyone's minds right now. Who were these people? Were they some sort of lost colony of men? A clandestine attack on them by some Pirates? Or Corpo's? These questions flew into the Governor and the Scientist' minds as they reviewed their findings.

"What did we just get ourselves into…" White begged.

---------(Outside the Eodem)------------

Vincent Diaz looked at the mirror inspecting his new clothes. Having now traded his orange prison garbs for a comfortable plain olive t-shirt that had the Colonial Militia insignia imprinted and a vest that had pouches for magazines and a pistol holster. He smiled at the new conditions he has gotten himself in after ditching his dirty prison cell for a nice bunkbed inside a barracks though he does miss the privacy the he traded off for the barracks but it was an acceptable tradeoff.

"Atten-shun!" Samantha marched into the room alongside Kayin, Lewis and Obediah following her close.

Alerted by her appearance, Vincent clumsily tensed his body straight and saluted his superior.

"Sloppy! I have seen children salute better than you! I said Atten-shun!" Samantha yelled like a drill sergeant.

Vincent adjusted his posture and saluted again to Samantha. He silently expressed his frustration over being ordered by a woman younger than him painted his face.

"With feeling! Atten-shun!" Samantha yelled again.

Erasing his earlier face, Vincent again tensed up and saluted to his superior with a cold and stoic face below his saluted hand.

"Much better 'Prisoner' and I will call you that until I deem otherwise." Samantha said.

"What are your orders Sir, I mean Ma'am! I mean uhm… Lieutenant?" Vincent asked.

"I am called 'Lieutenant' or 'C.O.' from the likes of you. I am here to formally receive you as a member of my squad."

Samantha's hands held an assault rifle over to Vincent, she was hesitant to say another word and her hands trembled. Promptly grabbing the gun and holstering it to his shoulder Vincent saluted again.

"So, what's our duty today madam?" He asked.

"We will have to report to the Colonel right now. He says that he is assigning us as a 'Study group' or something." Samantha answered.

"Sounds exciting… adventure! I mean yes ma'am!"

------------ (at the Eodem's Conference Room near the Bridge) ---------

Satellite pictures and photos of the necklace acquired by Samantha were stickered by the whiteboard. The lieutenant and her squad were the only people being briefed in the room. The Colonel swallowed himself as he began to speak.

"Stryder Group! Your mission today is a recon of an area as seen by these photos here." The Colonel said. He pointed at a satellite picture that's contents looked like a bird's eye view of a forest.

"Governor White passed me these pictures from Doctor Mahelona and he said that the blue crystal from that necklace you managed to nab from that 'Mage' this morning is but a piece of what could be a larger deposit of them. The Nerd wants to have more of these blue crystal energy gem things for more experimentation. Tomorrow, noon I want you and your squad to investigate the area, find out what exactly is there and report what you find. Go in armed and ready for a fight if the worst happens, God only knows what could be out there. Also, you, Lieutenant will also be given a Camera." He added.

"A Camera for me? Is it like one of those laser-designators that call down airstrikes? A GoPro? Or a Thermal Camera?" Samantha asked.

"No, just a normal professional camera. It's for documentation purposes only and nothing more. I initially wanted to give the camera to Kayin but I wanted you to use it because I believe you will be more… observant than your squad." The Colonel said.

"I see, I'll take as many as I can," Samantha said.

"Dismiss!" the Colonel told everyone.

------------- (The Next Day at the Armory) ---------

Obediah sat down by a crate and cleaned his weapons. The morning of that day was a pleasant shine from Benham-3's Sun with a few clouds dotting the sky. Being a perfectionist, he always demands his good old rifle and pistol to be at the optimum quality for the best possible performance. Having been a long-time member of the International Hunter's Association has taught him to treat his rifle like if it was his. Not that his real wife who was brought along alongside their young daughter would have mind since he too named his rifle and pistol by their names respectively.

"Ok, 'Leah's' bolt is spotless and the cock of 'Apri'l is greased…" He smiled, satisfied over the conditions of his weapons that are as pristine as the day the weapons rolled out of the factory.

"Ha, a cock on a girl. That's funny… oh… it's your revolver you are talking about… sorry Obediah." Vincent's voice suddenly erupted from behind him. The ex-prisoner was holding a cup of hot coffee that he sips for his daily dose of caffeine.

"It's okay, I am in a calm mood today Vince. Just getting ready for the recon we doing." Obediah turned to face him.

"Finally, a decent response from someone and I am finally getting sick of being called 'prisoner' and 'thief' from everyone. You seem cool by my eyes. Are those your guns?" Vince asked.

"Yeah, the rifle and the six-shooter are named Leah and April after my wife and daughter." Obediah demonstrating the weapons to the new guy.

"Fine weapons, I am more of an assault rifle user myself, although this government-issued rifle I have is a bit larger and heavier than what I normally am used to wielding. I bet it's still there back in Kesserheim locked up asking 'Where is Vince? I miss shooting stuff with him. Oh, Boo Hoo!'." Vince chuckled reminiscing his days as a criminal.

"Yes! Ha! Ha! I sometimes treat my guns as if they were really my family, much to the annoyance of my real one. My wife would ask about which 'Leah' that I am talking to. What about your gun Vince?" Obediah said.

"That I can relate old man. My old rifle was a custom AR-styled gun that shoots .308 Winchesters because the barrel also acts as a suppressor because, well not to sound creepy to your old man but I need my gun quiet. I call her 'Blackout'." Vince said.

".308 Winchester? Shit that's the same ammo I use for Leah. Glad to see someone uses .308 other than me." Obed stood up and shook Vince's hand.

"Why are you farming folks really that cut off from the city people? Pah! What the hell am I saying, I made a friend now right?" Vince asked.

"In a way yes. What's your opinion on Gauss Rif---" Obediah was about to continue the gun talk with Vince when he was interrupted by a loud voice from their pockets.

"We are moving out in 3 three minutes! Get your gear and hop on the Land Cruiser, everybody!" Said Sargent Crocker over by the radio.

"Let's continue this talk on the road? You and I sit together by the turret?" Vince proposed.

Obediah locked the bolt of his rifle and twirled the chamber of his revolver. He smiled silently saying 'Yes' to the thief.

------------- (Meanwhile in Iris' Cadohagan's House) -----------------

The young (at least in her race's standards) Vampiress has the whole day getting into her. Her frustrations over the loss of her prized necklace and the halting of her experiments and the fact that the Burning Horse Bandits have ransacked her home became gotten her into a very agitated mood. She used her magical powers to commence the repair and cleaning of her dilapidated abode. Various cleaning implements such as mops, brooms, and towels began to wipe away the filth and damage from her home to make it a worthy respite for the Vampire witch.

Her house was situated in the middle of a forest so she can be near to as many alchemical ingredients as possible without having to worry about people competing with her over the many herbs, roots, and plants that the forest has. Normally, venturing this deep into the Verden Valley Forest would be dangerous as there are bandits and predatory animals that lurk inside the place ready to pounce on unsuspecting victims. Most of those hazards she can easily fight off with her vampiric abilities: Enhanced reflexes, strength, speed, and a more refined magical attunement with her mana energies compared to normal humans. She could incinerate Trolls with the thought of a fireball, electrocute bandits with bolts of lightning, and poison predatory animals with the breathe of miasma.

Yet despite her abilities, she is just one woman against hundreds of dangers and even she can be overwhelmed. She cursed herself, gripping the right side of her chair hardly when she had to fight off the Burning Horse Bandit's Fire Golem to protect her home from getting torched. But the monster was just a distraction for the bandits to run inside his house and steal her Pure-Mana Crystal necklace from her. Mana Crystals are often found deep underground in mines. The most common crystals tend to be tainted with other impurities that negatively effects the amount of energy the crystals can give off so it needs to be refined to remove the impurities before it can be used. Energy from Mana Crystals is used to fuel spells from your mundane Candlelight and healing to the more destructive elemental spells cast by wizards. Oftentimes Mana sensitive users become mages who can extract the energies from deep below Gliesia's earth and cast their spells but it takes awhile and the time to charge their powers is dependent on the users. To make spell casting more efficient, Mages such as Iris herself would wear special pieces of jewelry that would allow them to quickly tap into to energies instantaneously. Which of course she can't do because of the now aforementioned robbery.

"Relax Iris, you are going to give those Bandits a piece of your mind once you finish cleaning up this mess." She said to herself as she gestured her hands to command a broom to sweep up her littered floor. The broom animated to life by her magic went to work as Iris sat down by a chair and wiped of the sweat off her brow. The magic she has used has caused her to burn several calories that lightly bathed her ivory skin.

For a moment… there was a relative peace behind all of this destruction, her hectic scientific work has reminded her that she had taken her moment of rest for granted. The vampire's eyes began to feel weighted as she drifted to sleep… unknowingly canceling the spell she cast on the cleaning implements as they dropped on the floor.

-------------- (A few hours later outside Iris's Home) ------------

"Diaz, take point." Samantha ordered.

"Hmmph… I am… 'compelled' to agree." Vincent pouted. He moved pass his squadmates and approached the rusty door that was of a wall that was slowly being reclaimed by nature in a blanket of vegetation. He opened the door causing the rusty hinges to shriek from the friction of movement.

Stryder Group has just stopped their Land Cruiser by the triangulated location of the energy signals that Dr. Mahelona pinpointed. To the squad's surprised, what was expected to be a small clearing to investigate was instead a walled house that was in the middle of a forest. The growing greens of nature provided the perfect camouflage to fool the UFE's UAV recons. The forest's trees also covered the shadow of the house to also not give away its position.

Samantha was perplexed by the house being put right there in the middle of the forest. Who would build a house right here away from civilizations?

"You know guys, it feels like that there's more to this house than meets the eye. We should keep our toes up just in case." Crocker advised.

"You just read my mind Sarge." Samantha nodded.

The squad entered through the door and were greeted to what looks like a garden in disrepair. There were several random gardening tools that were laid down on the ground and the soil showed signs of uprooting with empty holes and plants with their roots laid exposed to the surface.

"Whatever happened here, the people must have left in a hurry. Did you think we were spotted and they bailed?" Kayin theorized.

"I don't think so. The gardening tools and plants are spread across the place. If your planning to bail with your plants you wouldn't just uproot them." Samantha answered.

"Hey, Boss lady! The house looks interesting, I'll bring the squad aroun'nd check it out." Lewis reported

"Alright, see if you can find anything interesting," Kayin nodded.

Crocker nudged Vincent and Obediah to follow him to the house. Just like its walls, the vegetation blanketed the structure in jade-colored leaves and foliage.

"Damn, in all of my years as a robber, this place is a fucking shithole," Vincent commented. He looked at his shoes and probed the wooden floor by stepping on them. Every time he tapped his feet, the wooden floor made a loud creaking noise that irritated his ear.

"You can say that right kid. I will only live here if I was paid a million dollars." Obadiah said.

"Amen to that." Lewis smiled. The two new members have been so far being quite competent for their jobs despite them having no prior military experience. The Sargent grabbed the knob of the door and pushed it open. To his horror, his face became pale.

"What the hell…" He opened the door further and saw that the room looked like a living room in disrepair with a sofa, chair, a fireplace and several cleaning equipments and other stuff littering the floor. But what stood out the most was there was a woman sitting lifelessly on a chair. She was in absolutely pristine condition with no visible scars and a face as white as snow.

"Lieutenant! I found a body." Lewis radioed in.

"Okay, see if you can examine it," Samantha answered.

Lewis, Vincent and Obed walked inside the room and approached the body. The woman looked like she was no older than around her early to mid-20's. Her body showed no sign of any kind of decay or any violent means of death like wounds or bruises.

"Wow, she's pretty," Vincent said as he examined the body.

"No signs of a struggle or any skin discoloration. Suicide? Maybe she offed herself?" Lewis said. He caressed the woman's left cheek and felt her icy cold skin. She looked like she had died recently for about a day or two. Lewis's index and middle finger stuck together and pass below the woman's jawline towards her neck. He pressed his two fingers and to his absolute shock… he felt a pulse.

Before he could react, the 'dead' woman's eyes flashed open. She pounced at the Sargent and grabbed his body and opened her mouth to reveal 4 canine fangs. She dived her mouth onto Crocker's neck and bit it. Vincent, reacting quickly, tried to pry the woman away from Lewis but with inhuman reflexes, the woman grabbed Vincent's hand and pushed it away with her strength forcing him back to a wall. Standing up, the woman dashed towards the robber and bit his neck too. Her tongue feasted upon the blood that erupted from the veins of his neck. Losing blood and feeling weak, Vincent passed out.

After tasting the blood of the two soldiers, the woman turned around to the third man who intruded her, Obediah. She turned around to see Obediah aiming his revolver at her.

"Die!" Obediah yelled. His finger squeezed the trigger and a clap of loud thunder and bright flash followed.

----------------- (Iris's POV) ----------------------

Iris' body jolted as she felt a great and concentrated force pierce her chest. She looked at herself and noticed that she received a wound right by her right breast. Thanks to her vampiric regeneration and resilience, she can easily shake it off. Then another loud thunder from the bearded intruder's strange metal magic wand was heard and this time, her abdomen ruptured with blood, again another wound she can easily shake off. Then a third thunder, a fourth thunder, a fifth thunder. Her body was struck from her center mass by the intruder's magic attacks. Was this person a mage that can cause people to bleed at random places by aiming his wand at her.

Then a sixth thunder from the man's metal wand was made and Iris' head felt a great force that pierced her left eye. Yet even that, she can easily walk off the wound and all those she had felt despite the injuries. She slowly walked closer to the man while she slowly regenerated her body. The man's face grew pale with dread as she fully regenerated her body from her wounds.

"What… the… hell are you?" the Man spoke.

"I am Iris Cadohagan! The last of the Cadohagan Bloodline! Know your place filthy peasant!" She roared, she raised her hand into the air ready to strike the man down.

"Did you just speak in Engl---" the bearded man was about to question back to her before Iris' hand knocked him out cold to the ground. So, such is the fate of humans to the vampires. To be bullied down and be treated as dumb cattle.

Her kind, the Vampires used to be the dominant species in Gliesia for millennia, being allowed to feed on the backward humans as they please. However, they are in a state of decline in terms of population for over 500 years due to the rising human kingdoms who have begun to build vast empires and states within those years. This has caused many vampires to scatter out due to competition and being hunted down. Several Vampires have been infiltrating the Human Kingdoms and blended into human society with mixed results. Others, like Iris, chose to hide in isolated areas of the planet's wilderness and only come out to a feast for blood or obtain certain luxuries found in the human-built settlements. She rues the day when the Vampires finally rally together and descend upon the humans in order to put them in their rightful place as slaves and cattle for the Vampires to use as they deem fit.

She observed her three victims who lay down on the ground paralyzed from the venom she secretes from her fangs to paralyze 'cattle'. Their clothes were strangely colored green with several strips of brown and black dots covering their attire. Their metal wands were just as strange as their clothes since the usual shape of a wand and magic staff is a stick or polearm with a magical crystal infused to it. There was no crystal on sight which has confused her.

"What are you humans even using?" She mumbled to herself.

Iris picked up the metal wand from the bearded man's body and observed for a closer look. It had a stick-like part with a hollow inside that she noticed have been intricately carved into a circular motion. Then she looked at the handle of the metal wand which was made of firm leather and was ergonomically designed for someone to hold it comfortably and firmly. She has never heard of any mage who would customize their wands to be this intricate, perhaps these humans were Vampire Hunters who were sent to kill her but failed.

Iris cannot wait to suck the blood of the three men dry but first, she needs to be sure that there won't be more Vampire Hunters after her. One of her kind's abilities, Called the Rite of the Blooded Mind is that she can while draining the blood of her prey can absorb the memories and knowledge from the person's blood. It's an intricate process that she needs absolute privacy and intimacy as she has to combine. She observed her three victims and looked at all of them with disgust. The first man who tried to touch her earlier has an impressive physique but she despises men with shaved or bald heads. The second one was much more lean and fragile than the man who has some really attractive short hair but that man has tattoos on his skin and Iris dislikes the ink as it tasted like sour milk to her. The bearded man was simply just too old for her own preferences as she likes her meals young and healthy. It looks like Iris must have to suck up her own pride and choose which of the poisons would taste the least bad to her. As she was contemplating who to perform the Rite of the Blooded Mind the sound of footsteps was heard coming from her living room's door.

"Hey! You! Get down on the ground!" A loud voice erupted.

Iris turned around to the sound of the voice and was greeted to the sight of a woman with red hair pointing another one of the metal wands/staffs at her. She was around the same height as her and despite the battle gear the woman was carrying she was quite appealing to Iris' taste. The red hair reminded her of blood, her fair skin that was almost as white as hers but with a slight tan and then her blue eyes which is her favorite color to paint one's eyes with. Iris smiled menacingly at the woman causing her to sweat anxiously.

"It is rude you know to attack your master human-swine." Iris mocked.

"What? Did you just speak in English?" the red-headed woman asked.

"I do not know of this 'English' you speak off. Now come here to me." Iris answered. She pounced at the redhead and grabbed her by the throat and leaned her over the wall, knocking her weapon away from her hands.

"Let me go!" the woman angrily yelled. She fought back by smashing her fists downwards at Iris' head and kicking the vampire's abdomen to create some distance between their bodies.

"Your puny attacks are no use to the Superior Race human filth! Now hold still while I drain your blood, body and mind." Iris laughed. Her fangs drew out from her mouth, paralytic venom secreting from her saliva glands and ready to perform the rite.

"Kayin! Kayin! Help!" the Woman cried before Iris sank her teeth to her.

The red head's resistance dwindled as her stamina was sapped out from the venom. Her kicking and punching slowly weakened until she fell down limp from the blood that was drained from her. Her eyes rolled up in ecstatic bliss as she drifted to unconsciousness. Iris stood proudly before her new victim and reveled at her power. The intel she will gain will be the most useful to find out who are these people are how they managed to find her. As the woman's blood nourished her, the life essence of her began to reveal the person's secrets. Iris could see the most recent memories of that woman were now being projected in her head. She and her team of 4 other people have arrived at her house because a 'Mahelona' told them there was magical energy in the location. Iris doesn't recognize what kind of person would have that kind of name, perhaps it's from some far-off nation she has never heard of. And for the other member of her team, she will deal with him in due time.

But that aside, what the memories have intrigued her the most is that she could see that the intruders weren't Vampire Hunters, they were instead hunting for Magic Crystals. Iris knew that during her experiments she had unleashed large amounts of energy from within her house that can attract unwanted attention if not the fact it was right at the middle of the Verden Valley Forest, one of the most dangerous areas within the local region. Additionally, she has also casted several wards around her house that helps out any magic-detecting devices and spells from sensing her abode. But right now she can fill the bliss of consuming blood from her enemies. She closed her eyes and savored the taste of fresh blood that was still in her mouth.

"Lieutenant? Samantha? Say again?" A deep and static voice suddenly interrupted the tranquility of the scene. It came from the unconscious redhead's body.

Examining the body, she noticed that it came from some sort of box-shaped device with a stick poling out of it.

"Lieutenant what happened? What happened to Sargent Crocker, Obediah and Vince?" the voice in the box said.

"Hello? Who is there?" Iris said to the box. But no reply was heard. She began to probe the box with her lithe hands to see if she had to press something in order to be able to talk to the voice. Her fingers slide to the left side of the device and she felt that it was rather loose and slightly detached from the object. Nodded that this could be a button, she pressed her fingers causing the device to make a 'click' noise.

"Hello? Who is in here?" Iris asked again.

"Who are you? What did you do to the Lieutenant?" said the voice.

"You do not know me? How naïve and stupid can you be human. But I digress, my name is Iris of House Cadohagan and you have intruded into my property. So, I have decided to take you all down and turn you into my thralls, you filthy peasants." Iris taunted.

"Human? What have you done to my friends? What, what are you?" the voice questioned. "Damn you!"

"Ha Ha Ha! You are more naïve and pathetic than I thought human. I am a Vampire who is skilled in the arts of magic and enchantments. Your friends are safe but lying on the ground sleeping. Once I am done finding you, I will make slaves of you all! Now… I smell that you are in MY garden. Please wait there, I shall attend to you shortly. ~" Iris laughed.

-------------------(Kayin's POV)------------------------

"Shit!" Kayin swore. He was the last man down on his squad, his team are knocked out or worse and he has to fight, if there is any credit to what the woman said, she is a Vampire who can also speak English with a seductive Romanian accent.

"HQ! I need backup. There is a Vampire who captured or maybe even killed off my team and I need back up." Kayin said to his headphone mic.

"This is Colonel, say again? Did you just say 'Vampire'?" Polonsky asked.

"Yes! I think she is, I mean she spoke to me in English saying she is a 'Vampire'." Kayin answered.

"She spoke to you in 'English'?" Polonsky asked emphasizing his shock on a native of the planet to be able to speak English.

"I do not know how she can do that but I don't want to be around and end up as my squad so hurry!" Kayin yelled.

"Roger, ETA 15 Minutes," Polonsky said before signing out. His fading words were then followed by the cold static sound of Kayin's headset.

Refocusing himself, the Engineer observed his surroundings looking for a means of survival against this scary of opponents. He has never fought a real vampire before so he has to trust his instincts. He can hear the faint howling of wolves and hooting of owls that indicate that nighttime has now arrived. If Kayin remembers his popular vampire knowledge which was quite limited to him since he was never interested in the supernatural to begin with, Vampires are nocturnal creatures.

"Damnit all to hell…" Kayin thought, realizing that his odds of survival have dimmed.

He desperately looked at his backpack for anything he might have. To his amazement, he had two packs of Thermite Charges that are perfect for Heliophobes like Vampires. His personal E-Tool with an imprinted Smiley face on the head that he calls 'Optimism' for it always sees's the best in what Kayin is tasked in building or blowing up structures. A shot of Adrenaline drugs, good for countering the Vampire's venomous fangs. Last but not least was a spare MRE Pack that contains a hearty meal of Grilled Chicken Breasts with Garlic and Herb Seasoning. Other than the contents of his backpack he still has his 12 Gauge Shotgun by his side too.

"Ready or not… here I come~~~" Iris spoke into his headset.

"Bring it on bitch!" Kayin cocked his shotgun.

After gathering his belongings Kayin crouched down and sneakily stride his way through the garden in order to avoid the detection of the Vampire as much as possible. He held a pack of Thermite by his side. He honestly doesn't know if the Thermite will work on the vampire. The best case scenario would be the kills her with just only one and the worst case would be she is immune to the burning that the Thermite will inflict.

"So, your leader Samantha her name is. She is quite the feisty one, isn't she? Among your friends, she was the most defiant of the bunch. I got to say, she is quite beautiful for someone who serves as a soldier. When I am done with you, I can't wait to make her bend on her knees and beg for me." Iris said.

"You stay away from her." Kayin objected.

"And you, my, my, your skin is black as night. I have never seen a human whose skin is like that nor have read about a nation as dark as yours. You will make an excellent addition to my collection of thrall..." Iris taunted. "Kayin is it not?"

"I am nobody's slave! " Kayin angrily roared. Such implications unnerved the Nigerian, of being the ebony butler to this Vampiric lady sickened him.

"Oh being my servant will be quite an honor. All you have to do is lay on your back and allow me to take good care of you. ~" Iris laughed mockingly.

"Well I hope you like the very sunny weather because take this!" Kayin said. He emerged from his cover and primed the first pack of Thermite and tossed it at the Vampire. Iris' quick reflexes dodged out of them and laughed again at Kayin.

"You resort to throwing rocks at me? How pathe----" Iris didn't have enough time to finish her sentence when the Thermite detonated causing the fiery eruption to occur right behind her. The Vampire witch back burnt painfully as she knelt down the floor and cried. Adrenaline soon floods her body with power as she conjured an ice storm spell to kill the flames latched on her dress and flesh.

"I have got to say, Nightman, that was clever but how much longer can you hold out?" Iris teased.

"Nightman? Oh great..." Kayin sighed. The Vampire is also a racial chauvinist. "You're just a Blood Drinker shit face... uh... bitch… uhm thing!" the Engineer dissed while picking up his second pack of Thermite.

"Please save the flattery AFTER I enthrall you with my beauty Kayin. Now ready or not hear I come~." Iris dissed back. She stood up and began to scan her environment for Kayin.

"You know, you are quite strange you know? Your metal Wands and Staffs? Tell me, what is your secret Nightman?" Iris asked.

"Like I will ever tell you!" The Engineer yelled.

"Found you!" Iris happily announced, her eyes darted towards Kayin's position. She turned her body towards the direction where Kayin hid behind some bushes at.

With his Thermite in hand, he primed the device, counted 1 to 3, and tucked the explosive behind the leaves of the bush, and slowly backed away. Hoping his timing and angling was right, he positioned himself at the opposite end of the bush. The Thermite then detonated just as Iris' body was brushing through the bush causing her to be caught right into the middle of the blast and setting her entire body aflame.

"GGRRAAAHHH!!!!" Iris writhed in agony. She dived at the garden's soil and rolled over repeatedly to kill off the flames leaving her open to Kayin who readied his shotgun.

"Die Witch!" Kayin yelled as he aimed his shotgun at the Vampire. He unloaded shell after shell of Buckshot at the witch which tore her flesh apart from the sheer cutting power of his weapon. Iris screamed louder and louder after every shot she was inflicted with.

"RRRRAAAHHHH!!!! I will feast on your blood! Get over here and kneel!" Iris angrily yelled. Desperate times came for desperate measures as it was do or die now for the Vampire. While still on fire, Iris picked herself back up, her regeneration slowly healing her back to her original form from all the damage she received from the Engineer. Kayin stood in astonished horror over how the Vampire was able to survive such blows from him and his gadgets.

"Why won't you die?" Kayin yelled in confusion.

Iris grinned her teeth, licked the blood off of her mouth, and strut slowly towards Kayin. Conjuring another ice spell to shake off the fire from her body.

"You underestimate the power of the Vampires Nightman. I must say, that trap of yours actually caught me off guard. Perhaps you humans aren't that stupid after all. I could always use a new butler who is smart, plus your skin would make quite a trophy for my peers." She said sinisterly.

"I am not anyone's slave! My people... where I came from will never be slaves again. Fight me, I will not go down easily." Kayin defied Iris.

"Fight you? I do not want to spoil my new slave. You, humans, are so easily broken by us and I wish to relish my new servant's. I can't also wait to know what you know about your strange magics. Now, look at your mistress and kneel. ~~~" Iris reached her hand towards Kayin.

Her eyes glowed bright red as mystical energies began to form at Iris body and shot forward towards Kayin. The energies pierced his brain causing his mind terrible pain. He tried to fight it but the energies had probed his brain and began to fiddle him with commands. The magic forced his body to kneel down before Iris and throw out his shotgun.

Now standing triumphant over the Engineer she laughed at the change of situation as now she has the advantage over him.

"I honestly never use this in the middle of a fight but I was forced to right now. I hate having to or harm my new toys. It's not every day that I encounter such a handsome fellow like you. Especially with that delicious-looking skin color of yours." Iris said. She now at an inch between herself and Kayin staring at him like a child looking at a beautiful toy in a store.

Kayin tries to fight back but whatever magic the Vampire Witch inflicted upon her has left him completely motionless.

"Like I will tell you anything!" Kayin barked in a last-ditch effort to keep himself alive before help could arrive.

"Oh, you do not have to tell me what your brain knows… Your blood will suffice now tilt your head and close your eyes…" Iris whispered to his ears. She caressed Kayin's neck and tilted left. She pulled out the fangs from her mouth, closed her eyes, and dugged her canines right into Kayin's Carotid Artery.

The Vampire began to will her magic powers into extracting the deepest memories of her newest victim as she indulges her appetite for blood on the Nigerian. She began to explore the very nooks and crannies of Kayin and began to see his thoughts and minds.

"I can't believe I will die here by some Horror Movie Monster." Kayin's thoughts echoed at Iris.

She has no idea what a 'Horror Movie' is according to her knowledge, perhaps it's just another means of art that the Humans use to communicate with each other while enjoying themselves, like a Play that she sometimes sneaks into and watch just to see the prey dance and act silly in front of swathes of crowds.

More memories of Kayin began to reveal themselves to Iris, this time she see's through his eyes what looks like a table with many similarly colored people sitting aside Kayin. They were all facing him in happy faces like if they were celebrating some event with Kayin.

"Happy 10th Birthday my son! I made this Maafe just for you!" Said a large woman carrying a giant bowl of soup by her hand that had a pair of candles that spelled out the number '10'. Iris could feel the great warmth of the Birthday Party release a hearty aura coming from Kayin that she is sensing. It had honestly made her smile over the sight of Kayin and his family celebrating his birthday. She laments such moments due to her upbringing be a very lonely life.

She then saw Kayin blow out the candles and hungrily chowed down on his 'Maafe' soup. As the food entered his mouth, an explosion of flavors flooded Iris' tongue causing her to fall into ecstasy over the food. During the Rite of the Blooded Mind, Vampires can also sense not only the sights and sounds of a person's memories that they are ingesting and experiencing themselves but also the taste and smells of those memories too.

Another vision from the annals of Kayin's memories was revealed. She now see's herself in a giant lecture hall in what looks like a college. There she saw a frail old man whose clothes and posture is Sage-like in appearance took up the mantle and began to speak.

"Welcome to the 'Introduction to Engineering' Class. I am your professor and I am going to be your best friend and your worst enemy. Now! Onto the board!" The man said.

The man's eagerness to share his knowledge with complete strangers astonished Iris. She has never met a mage who has openly talked about his secrets to people was completely alien to her. Normally mages only entrust their knowledge to worthy apprentices who are either just one or a three according to how much a mage can handle teaching them. But the classroom she has seen was filled with perhaps fifty people who were listening intently to this man. The Sage person began to write to speak in tongues as he wrote down numbers, arrows and shapes that Iris couldn't understand causing her to get a headache. Then the Sage started to show pictures of massive towers in alien geometries with great glass windows that covered every inch of the structure which began to confuse her. Then she saw the Sage demonstrate great iron beasts that build these structures in mere days that scared her. She became more terrified as more information flooded her primitive mind. Numbers, Equations, Formulas, Theories it all made sense yet Iris lacked the mental capacity to fully understand it.

Her mouth loosened its grip on Kayin's neck as she turned away from him, eyes widened and face frozen from the revelation. Then she screamed…

"Too much! Too much! Too much! Too much! Too much!" She repeated. She gripped her head as the information she has absorbed from Kayin overloaded her brain. For each second in her cracking state, she saw more visions of grand towers, great steel beasts and human's who come from another world with powers to mock Gods with.

As the Vampire slowly crumble before the revelation that she drank the blood of some sort of 'Divine' being whose powers were beyond her and every person and living thing in Gliesia, the sound of helicopters disrupted the silent night. Then large spotlights lit up the darkness and aimed themselves at her.

"We need that one alive! Hit'er with the tranq's." Said a man in the megaphone from one of the choppers.

A sniper on board aimed his rifle at the Vampire girl and unleashed a Tranquilizer shot at her. As the drugged bullet pierced her skin, Iris could feel relief from her revelations as the sedative effects lifted her headaches as she fell to the ground in a blissful sleep. As the Vampire lay knocked out on the floor before him, the magical influences that had impeded him waned and the Engineer regain full control of his body. Feeling the effects of the Vampire's venom he could barely move a muscle and collapsed onto the cold stone floor of the garden. UFE soldiers rappelled down from their choppers and rushed towards him.

"Thank God you are still alive Kayin. Where's the rest of your squad?" Said Sargent Mendoza, another soldier of the UFE who's squad is also assigned to Studies and Observation just like Stryder Group.

"They are in the house I think. She mentioned she kept them down but not out. They maybe still alive." Kayin muttered as Mendoza's men carried him over to the chopper.

Meanwhile he noticed that Iris was also taken by the soldiers and was strapped into a bed with reinforced straps to prevent her from trying to escape her confines. She was then dragged to an awaiting helicopter where the Vampire will undergo studying from the Eodem's science team.

As Kayin stepped into the chopper, he reflected upon the experience of fighting the Vampire. He had felt like he was wrestling with God due to the Vampire's impressive regenerative abilities and 'Magic'. Yet he was also just as equally astonished that Iris mentioned that she was impressed by his creative use of Thermite charges and most embarrassingly, the fact that the Vampire actually called him 'Handsome'. He was never the type of person who would go out of dates due to his duties as a soldier and engineer. To be called Handsome was something that caught him off guard but perhaps it was an attempt by the Vampire to flatter him. His mind continued to entertain such thoughts about that day until he noticed 4 shadows approach the chopper.

"Kayin… your okay… ahh…this venom… makes my body… weak…" Samantha said. She was carried over by one of Mendoza's men alongside the rest of the squad.

"I am happy to see you… you won't believe what just happened to me." Kayin softly smiled.

As Samantha took a seat across him, Sargent Crocker followed him alongside Diaz and Obediah.

Crocker had an icepack on his head as he sat adjacent to Samantha whilst Diaz and Obediah sat next to Kayin.

"Fuck this venom. I can't think straight… Vinny, say something that will make me think or something." Crocker said.

"Oh… uhm… think… think… oh I got it. I guess you can scratch get bitten by a hot vampire chick off of all of our bucket lists amirite?" Diaz joked yet judging by the tone of his voice he was practically forcing the words out from his lips while battling to regain control of his half-paralyzed body from Iris' venom.

Crocker cringed and threw his icepack at the one who traded his bars for stripes.

"You can't joke for shit you Flip cunt. You're on Latrine duty once you get your feet back in order." Crocker spats.

"Hey your arm is working again." Diaz pointed.

"Hmm… I guess your right. No more Latrine duties." Crocker said as he turned his eyes to his now functioning arm.

"And thanks for the Ice Pack by the way Sargent." Diaz said as he indulgently lay the icepack on his forehead.

"Nevermind, Latrines for you." Crocker teased.

"D'oh!" Diaz cringed. He then proceeded to flip his middle finger and stick out his tongue as a silent 'Fuck You' to the Sargent.

"A rebellious one, very entertaining to fuck with. Stay you, Diaz. Stay you so I can have a clean toilet for my midnight shits." Crocker smiled.

As the chopper was about to took off from the garden, the team sat their relieved that they have survived another dangerous mission together. Kayin felt the proudest of the bunch as when the lives of his team hang on a wire, he managed to hold off until help arrived.

"You did great Mudwin, you did great." Samantha approved as she slowly gave a thumb up to Kayin as she drifted to sleep. The cabin fell into silence as everyone closed their eyes and began to get a much-deserved moment of peace from their recent adventure. Kayin soon followed with them as his dark eyes enshrouded itself in darkness. Yet, he feels like this was only the beginning of something much more dangerous and fantastic that he could ever hope to imagine.