Mildry Underground Cavern- 18FTE

A mass of Vampires funnelled into the dome-shaped cavern not too far from Mildry. The loud murmurs echoed around the room with many shuffling about to find their place in the crowd. A few of the Vampires spread their wings and hovered above the crowd so as not to take up space on the ground. From one of the cavern openings in the ceiling, Malillia flew down, her glowing white wings contrasting the brown and black wings everyone else possessed. Her descent was graceful, her wings gently coaxing the air of the room to keep her afloat. Archie soon joined her with a less graceful descent, he smacked straight onto the centre raised plateau that everyone surrounded. His wings twitched as he groaned in pain.

Archie slowly lifted himself and folded his wings away.

"I'm... good. All good..."

Malillia landed beside him, she wasn't dressed in her usual nun attire, instead, she wore a fully black dress and let her fiery red hair cascade down to her ankles. She remained stoic and attentive to the atmosphere of the bustling room.

"Attention!"

Malillia raised her hands but everyone kept conversing with each other, paying idle mind to Malillia's presence.

"Ahem, Everyone listen here!"

Further attempts to garner the crowd's attention failed.

"Can everyone please listen!?"

Archie smirked watching Malillia's voice go ignored.

"You got them riled up by stuffing us all into this place, people can't help being comfortable now that they're out of the eyes of any human."

Malillia sighed.

"I get it but I swear I have an easier time getting the kids at the daycare to quiet down."

Archie walked to the edge of the plateau.

"Let me show you how I'd get it done."

Archie pulled out his violin, seemingly from thin air, and set it on his shoulder.

"Antonio Vivaldi."

Archie looked back at Malillia who rolled her eyes.

"Just watch first before judging."

Archie began a slow start, his melody being drowned out by the crowd's combined susurrations but as the melody heightened, people's attention was drawn to Archie. A flurry of sharp tunes was exhaled from the violin as the melody ramped up. The crowd all turned toward Archie, who was now prancing around the plateau, as he played in a one-man symphony. A few people smiled at Archie's display of skill with some even cheering. Archie danced around Malillia as she put her face into her hand and shook her head. Archie continued his song and now the crowd's attention was on Archie. Archie began to conclude his song as it reached its climax, a grand melody rang through the whole cavern as he came to an abrupt stop. He bowed before his newly acquired audience as people clapped and cheered.

"Thank you Vampires of Mildry! Please let our princess take your attention."

Archie made way for Malillia as she stepped forward.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice. Today's events have quickly become an ugly stain on the town's history. I give my deepest condolences to those closest to Kiara, I also wish to humbly apologise for failing my duty as the elected representative of this town. We are reaching a point of no return for the town and it is now more than ever that we must stick together."

The crowd murmured and clapped.

"Since opening the gates of this town to the humans we have been forced to hide our Vampiric ways lest we end up as targets. You have all done well in keeping our identities secret, playing the part of a human and deceiving anyone who comes to our land but, with the recent events, I fear the human population of this town has far surpassed the Vampire population."

The crowd speaks amongst itself.

"We should sack these lousy humans. It's our land!"

"They're a threat, no less, but my farm has increased production by triple since they brought their grain. My livestock hasn't looked healthier."

"I can't even teach my children how to fly without the risk of getting shot down. They're a danger to our kids!"

"Their technology is quite advanced, transporting construction materials is so much easier with their fancy cranes. The extra help has been good too, construction has sped up a ton."

"Why should we have to hide ourselves!? It's not our fault we stayed in OUR land. These humans are suppressing our nature for no good reason."

"Their medicine has helped so much, common colds and small wounds can be easily treated. I know the clinic has benefited from their arrival."

Malillia listens to the whispers around the room.

"I hear your concerns and notice the benefits that humans bring but we must be focussed on our lives. Humans despise us and no matter what we do so I believe our next course of action is... to leave."

The crowd goes into an uproar.

"Leave!? This is our home, we've lived here for Eras!"

"The princess is right, we have to focus on ourselves here or we will be destroyed!"

"I didn't spend my whole existence building a life for myself just to throw it away! This is our land, we should remove the humans!"

"This place is growing dry of natural resources, we've been here for so long that we have to venture further and further out just to get basic needs. Leaving could help us live more comfortably!"

"You think the humans are just going to let a third of the town leave? They'll hunt us to the end of Sundial! We stay and fight!"

"Fighting will only cause another war! We simply aren't as advanced as humans to go against them again. I'd rather leave than go extinct!"

Malillia tries to hush the crowd.

"I know that this might seem extreme but with so many Vampires choosing Limbo it's obvious this town isn't suitable for us anymore. I don't want to leave either, this place is my home, it was my parents' home and their parents' home but look around! The fact we have to meet in secret is telling enough that this isn't our home anymore because it never was our home!"

Malillia spreads her wings and hovers above the ground.

"Home is where we go! We are not humans, we do not stake a sign in the ground proclaiming this is our land, we stick together and move forward. I promise to lead you all to a better place, we won't go quiet here."

The crowd continues to murmur, Archie looks away shaking his head.

"Not a wise choice."

Archie walks forward.

"What are we saying!? To run? To hide? To cower? Are you seeing the opportunity we have right here? Vampires live on deception, it's how we've lived for this long! Yes, home is wherever we all are but with humans expanding this far north it won't be long until they control the ENTIRE Central Continent. We can continue to move forward but how long will it take before humans catch up to us again."

The crowd discusses amongst itself.

"It's true, they already possess these 'trains' that can travel faster than any carriage or wing. We can only run for so long."

"If we stay we'll all be killed! We may rely on deception but humans are cunning and a lie can't be kept forever."

"But think! We're the northernmost town in human territory, for them to even get the word out of Vampires here it would take days, then for them to send reinforcement it would double that time."

"I have a family I need to protect, I won't allow them to be caught up in a war like we were! They don't deserve to live through that."

Malillia lands.

"What are you doing Archie!?"

Archie looks to Malillia.

"I'm doing what we should, you may be a princess but I am still a voice of reason, everyone here is! We let the people decide what we do with OUR future. You said it yourself, we need to stick together."

Archie turns to the crowd.

"LISTEN! VAMPIRES OF MILDRY! Those who wish to stay and fight for our home make yourself known!"

Almost half the crowd raises their hands and cheers.

Malillia steps forward.

"Those who wish to find safety elsewhere and provide a future for yourself and your family, rise up."

The other half of the crowd raises their hands and cheers.

Malillia turns to Archie.

"Why are you doing this? Division is not what we need right now."

Archie remains determined.

"Neither is death. I'm sick of not being able to control OUR future. If we have to fight then we fight, it is the law of nature. We are not prey."

With the town divided a choice must be made if the town is to survive. Just outside of the cavern, however, someone is running away with bated breath.

"Shit... I have to warn them."

A boy says as he runs into town.

"I have to warn them that... there are more Vampires here..."

A couple of days later...

Archie stretched as he leaned back in his chair. He put his feet on his desk and sighed happily. Malillia was sitting across the room reading a book as Yuro was staring at the clock on his desk. The office was quiet but the moment that the clock struck 11 pm he got up and grabbed his bag.

"I'll be back."

Yuro walked toward the door.

Archie raised an eyebrow.

"Where are you going? We're still on the clock y'know?"

Yuro froze when he reached for the doorknob.

"I'm... hungry. Really hungry."

Malillia closed her book and looked up.

"You're not starving yourself again, are you? I can always make you your meals again like how I used to."

Yuro brushed it off.

"No no, you should focus on the daycare. I've just been... working out."

Malilla and Archie looked at each other and then back at Yuro, smiles forming on both of their faces.

Yuro groaned.

"I swear to time if you two start-"

They both erupted into laughter, their howls shaking the whole office as they almost drowned in their tears. Yuro just left as Archie and Malillia fell to the floor in hysteria. Yuro put on his hat and walked down the street, their laughter echoing through the whole block. Yuro kept his head down as he walked, most humans nodded when they passed him, greeting him as 'detective' which he had almost forgotten he was. He paid no mind to anyone who did acknowledge him but soon he reached a trading company, their large camp was filled with cages and carriages, a large tent atop a hill being the centrepiece.

Guards roamed around the perimeter of the lot, rifles in hand and lanterns on their hips. Yuro climbed up an adjacent water tower and glided down, using the night sky as cover. He landed in the lot and crept around, keeping a low profile as guards went on their usual patrols. Yuro took a syringe out of his bag and silently approached a guard from behind. Yuro jabbed himself in the neck with the syringe and injected a sleeping drug into himself, before he dozed off fully he plucked a hair from his head and put it in the guard's head so that when he swapped bodies with the guard, the guard would fall unconscious in Yuro's body.

The plan worked without a hitch and Yuro was now in the body of one of the guards. Yuro grabbed his unconscious body and hid it in a discrete location before walking over to a guard tent. Inside he found a bunch of guards sitting at a table, the putrid smell of booze coating all of their breaths as they laughed and played cards.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I'm telling you she was a real good-lookin' one! The way her dress clung to her was... whew, absolutely amazing!"

"I'll do you one better, Ashley Rioane."

"BAH! Overrated, she's what? 30 or somethin', way too old for my tastes."

"You're not seeing the vision! They age like fine wine nowadays, not sacks of fat like Courtney."

"The one who likes 'em older is the same one who still kisses their ma' on her lips! BWAHAHA!"

The group burst into laughter. Yuro walks up to them.

"How's it goin' lads."

The one bearing a captain insignia looks up and cheers.

"Riley! Hell ya doin' here for? Thought you'd be on patrol still."

Yuro shakes his head.

"I am, bloody wood hatchet took my keys. Can't get into the slave cells."

The captain clicks his tongue.

"Let me guess, you need to borrow my keys again? Whatcha' need to go into the slave's tent for anyways?"

Yuro chuckles.

"Heard them singing again, at this time of night would you believe? Can barely think out there without them howling like animals."

The captain stands up.

"Rightio then, you can borrow my keys but I'm coming with you. Losing these games is building up a mean storm in me."

Yuro panics.

"Nah don't worry I'll handle it, enjoy your game and booze."

The captain shakes his head.

"Don't worry, I won't beat them too bad, I'll save some for you."

The other guards laugh.

"Old man already done? Thought you could best the colonel back in Splinter? Where's that bravado now!?"

The captain puts on his hat.

"I do better when I have actual alcohol, not the dollar shit the Marty gets us. I'll be back soon."

The captain and Yuro leave the tent and walk through the mountains of cages.

The captain sighs.

"Can't wait till Marty finishes up here. Asshole has been keeping us here to finish his agenda, using us as bait. Idiot. This place is a dump, I don't mind sitting around but at least put us in a nice town for once."

Yuro looks to the captain.

"What's so bad about it?"

The captain scoffs.

"Everything mate! No good bars, even worse women and don't even get me started on those fuckin' Dreads. Keep hearing reports of them flying up above at night, driving me insane."

Yuro nods.

"I don't mind it."

The captain shrugs.

"Well if you like being this far out be my guest and stay but the longer you're out here the higher chance your girl is getting shagged back home."

Yuro rolls his eyes, soon they reach the tent housing all of the slaves. They walk in to find it pitch black and dead silent. Giant isles of cages, each housing two to four slaves each. There is barely enough room in the cages to fit all of them so most have to lay on top of each other to sleep.

The captain looks around.

"Seems quiet to me. You sure they were the ones makin' noise?"

Yuro hits the captain in the back of the head causing him to fall unconscious. Yuro swipes the keys from the captain and searches each cell, scanning the people inside. Eventually, Yuro finds Auny in one of the cells. She is awake and shivers when Yuro approaches her.

"It's me, Yuro."

Auny stays away from him so Yuro unlocks the cage.

"C'mon, let's go."

Auny doesn't move, her eyes wide as she glares at Yuro.

"Damnit... okay just stay here a second."

Yuro ran back to his unconscious body and shook it awake.

"Huh...? Where am I? Is that... me?"

The guard said staring at his own body.

"Nope."

Yuro took out a syringe and jabbed himself in the neck again, quickly swapping back to his original body as the guard fell unconscious.

"Sorry, Riley. Your wife might be cheating on you."

Yuro pat the unconscious guard on the shoulder and ran back toward the slave tent. As he neared the tent, however, guards were flocking to it as well. A loud commotion came from them as they dragged the unconscious captain out.

"Damn, you think they actually took the bait?"

"Captain! Wake up!"

"Damnit, send out a warning signal! Check the cages."

The guards rushed around, they were in a major panic, a strange sight considering only the captain had been knocked out. The guards seemed shakey, their hands trembling as some clutched their rifles and looked around the night sky. With the front of the tent too crowded Yuro snuck around to the back and ripped an opening for himself.

Yuro approached the cage in which Auny was in but when he got a closer look he found her missing.

"Auny... Where are you?"

Yuro whispered, creeping around the tent, passing the groans of slaves that reached their hands out to him.

"Auny...!"

He searched around but she was nowhere to be found.

Outside, one of the guards began to shout.

"Quick! Get to position!"

Yuro poked his head to inspect what they were doing. His eyes widened when he saw the guards run and hide behind boxes, their rifles pointed at the sky. In the open, Auny struggled against her bindings as she cried out, her face covered in tears.

The guards whispered among themself.

"Shoot any movement. We're killing these Dreads right here."

Another guard, whose voice was shaky.

"What about Marty's plan...? We were supposed to plant the bait in a couple of days and deal with the dreads, not fight them now!"

"Doesn't matter, somethings here and that bitch was wandering around outside of her cage. Keep your head straight."

Yuro's mind raced.

Bait? Are they trying to lure Vampires here using slaves?

Yuro's blood boiled as he had to resist transforming right there. In this position, he would be gunned down immediately if he went into the open. His best chance of saving Auny would be to simply wait it out, at least that is what he planned to do before the sky fell dark.

The stars disappeared as the guards all looked at each other shocked.

"T-The... Look! The... the Moon..."

Yuro poked his head to see the moon be enlarged ten-fold, its looming presence instilling a sense of dread in everyone. The stars vanished as the world around them disappeared, trapping everyone in a dark dome.

"Parade."

A voice rang out causing all the guards to look to the sky, descending were the ominous shadows of winged beasts, eyes glowing red and claws that cut through flesh like butter. In an instant the guards were all attacked, some were scooped up and carried high into the air before being dropped, splattering onto the ground. The guards aimed their rifles and fired, bullets coated the night sky as multiple beasts were turned to limp piles of pulsating flesh. Corpses of Vampires fell from the sky as the guards shouted.

"SHIT! DREADS! ALL GUARDS GET ON STATION NOW!"

"Holy fuck, I'm getting out of here! Screw this!"

"They've taken the bait!"

Despite the barrage of gunfire, a couple of Vampires used the corpses of their friends as shields letting them reach the ground. The guards had no close-range weaponry so once a couple of Vampires landed they were able to tear through the guards. Hollow screams rang through as the guards retreated to better positions, this opening allowed Yuro to spring forward and grab Auny.

"I've got you. Just keep your eyes closed."

Yuro carried Auny in his arms as Vampires slammed into the ground, picking off any guards too slow to retreat. Yuro ran past the bloody and gored corpses of guards and jumped over the still-twitching corpses of Vampires.

The Vampires entered the tents full of slaves and looked at the mountains of cages.

"Humans in cages? What is this?"

"Keeping their own kind locked away like this... how odd."

"Doesn't matter, we have orders to kill every human here. Caged or not they left their own kind to die so hurry up."

The Vampires began to slaughter all of the slaves locked in the cages, echoing screams haunted the entire camp as any human was reduced to a bloody mess. The guards used this opportunity to light the slave tents on fire, any Vampire inside the tents was engulfed in flames along with any surviving slaves.

"TORCH THE DREADS! DON'T MATTER WHAT WE SET ABLAZE WE ARE KILLING THEM!"

A few Vampires ripped their way out of the fiery tents and flew into the sky still burning. Yuro looked up to see smoke hide the moon and the bodies of flaming Vampires fall, it looked as if the very night sky was collapsing, stars descending upon the earth in a true inferno. Auny clung to Yuro as he continued to run, gunshots still permeating through the destruction.

Soon Yuro escaped the camp, thinking he was free, he soon found a wall made of pure darkness. He touched it, feeling the icy sting of nothingness.

"You really struck it big, to think so many humans were in one place."

Archie walked up to Yuro with a grin.

Yuro turned to look at him.

"You... followed me?"

Archie scoffed.

"Yeah? Why is that surprising, we're partners."

Archie noticed the human girl in Yuro's arms.

"Who's that?"

Yuro looked down, his breath hitching.

"A friend."

Archie shook his head.

"No. That's a human."

Archie studied Yuro's face.

"You're not serious, are you? We need to kill that thing."

Archie began to laugh manically.

"That is a human. Our enemy, look at what they're doing. You heard them, didn't you? They planned to use their own kind as bait to lure us in. Luckily you found them before that happened. Thank you, Yuro. You've done good, now finish it."

Archie walked up to him.

"Kill it."

Yuro shook his head.

"This is a friend. Leave her out of this."

Archie's smile faded.

"Okay. Okay. She's your friend. That's fine. All good. She is YOUR friend. Not mine."

Archie ripped Auny from Yuro's hands and raised his claw. Yuro's body tensed and a rush of adrenaline hit him, a new high he had never experienced before. Yuro lunged forward and transformed, his body shifting as he grew his wings, claws and beastly body. With a quick swipe, his claws easily cut through Archie's arm. Before Archie could react, Yuro punted him away from Auny.

Archie slid across the ground, regrowing his arm instantly.

"So this is what friendship means huh? I should have just stayed an outcast..."

Archie transformed and leapt toward Yuro, their claws collided and they both flew high into the air. They flew around each other, exchanging blows as the fire roared below. Archie's ruined wings however prevented him from flying properly and Yuro was able to close the distance quickly.

Yuro grabbed Archie.

"STOP! Listen to yourself!"

Archie kicked Yuro away and thrust his claw into his abdomen.

"YOU LISTEN! See how vile humans are. We're doing these caged humans a favour by putting them out of the misery their own KIND put them through."

Yuro bit into Archie and tore chunks from his flesh.

"You don't understand! Humans aren't us! Death isn't freedom for them like it is for us. They only have a finite amount of time in this world and Auny made me realise why they cherish every second!"

Archie grabbed onto Yuro's wings and ripped one off. They both fell to the ground.

"Yet they spend their whole life doing NOTHING! And the ones who do decide to make use of the time they have to use it to hurt others! Humans always want to be the best so they'll use the little life they have to accomplish that, by any means necessary!"

Archie tore through Yuro's flesh.

Yuro screamed in agony.

"But... give some of them a chance... I never understood why they worshipped time of all things... that clock hanging in the church... made no sense to me. It wasn't until I saw Auny pray that I realized what time meant to them. It's hope... We vampires are content with living the same way because we have no hope for the future. Look at yourself... instead of leaving this town in hopes of a better future for all of us, you stay and fight because you don't have hope. To humans... time is hope. To us... time is a curse."

Archie listened to Yuro, his expression softening.

"I... I don't understand."

Yuro smiled.

"Neither do I..."

Yuro looked to Auny was had fallen unconscious.

"But she does. Please, have hope that there can be good in humans. Please, Archie."

Archie scoffed and let go of Yuro. He untransformed and collapsed beside Yuro.

"Ha... what am I doing... I'm fighting my own kind. I went against Malillia and caused division amongst ourselves."

Archie looked at the fire.

"I'm subjecting my own kind to torture. I'm no better than a human."

Archie began to silently sob.

"Damnit... fighting isn't helping anything."

Yuro untransformed and sat up.

"You realised that which means there's hope for you yet."

Yuro got up and went to Auny, she was okay just unconscious from the amount of mental trauma she had endured. Yuro scooped her up.

"We won't have much time. This whole event is going to spur something greater, and while we can we should prepare everyone to leave. I'll speak with Malillia."

Archie got up.

"I'll gather up the other Vamps."

Archie went to fly off but turned back to Yuro.

"I'm sorry Yuro. I'll make sure to have hope."

Archie turned off his parade as the barrier surrounding the camp disappeared letting Yuro and Auny get away safely.

A few days later...

Malillia sat in front of a group of children, holding a book as she and the children read along.

"The bear sat up and..."

The children finished the sentence with cheer.

"Rubbed his head!"

Malillia smiled and nodded along.

"The bear looked up to find duck laughing, quack quack quack!"

The children listened along and laughed. Amongst the crowd was Auny, she had a neutral expression and mumbled along. Once Malillia finished reading, she let the children play outside as she and Yuro watched over them.

"I hope she'll be okay here."

Yuro sighs as he hangs his head low.

"I do wish there was more I could do for her."

Malillia put her hand on his shoulder.

"She'll be fine, just make sure you visit more. She would appreciate that."

Auny was sitting by herself, away from all the other kids as she drew pictures in the dirt.

"Also visit more so you can help me bake more cookies. Auny is addicted to those things, she goes through BATCHES, I'm impressed by it honestly."

Yuro softly smiled.

"Alright alright. I mean, once we leave this town I could probably... work here."

Malillia's eyes widened.

"Really? You? Work HERE? Ha! You'd get torn to shreds by these kids in the first week."

"Well, I don't care! It's not like I'll have to be a pretend detective once we leave. Plus I'm hoping that when we leave the amount of Limbo cases will die down. Maybe people can have... hope."

Yuro stares off into the distance.

Malillia nods and turns to go back inside.

"Thanks for that by the way. Archie and some of the town really turned around, I knew he wasn't a bad guy but you're the only one who could have convinced him. I mean you were the first to be his friend."

"He's just like that, loves to put himself out there, even if it's bad. He'd make a great musician though, we should convince him to go full-time once we leave."

Malillia went back inside the daycare while Yuro watched over the kids. He looked to Auny who was still sitting by herself. Yuro felt bad but to his surprise, a few of the kids approached her and asked to play with them. She agreed and Yuro watched her play, a warmth entering his still heart.

Malillia came back outside, stumbling around as she leaned on Yuro. Yuro smiled and turned to her.

"What's up? You need... any... help..."

Yuro looked down to see a knife lodged into Malillia's throat. She choked as she collapsed. Her body twitched.

"W-What..."

Yuro slowly looked up to see a human, gun in hand, standing before him. A crazed look on the human's face.

"You... what did..."

The man aimed the gun at Yuro's head.

"DIE YOU DIRTY FUCKING DREAD!"

The gun went off.