Rio Grande City…

The Mission of San Juan is a catholic church located on a small hill near the mountains of Rio Grande city.

It is an old building that has some parts of the ceiling falling off. Father Clemente is the priest in charge of the church...The church serves to raise orphans and educate them to follow the way of God…

The church is really lively during the day as the staff often goes to the church to clean and do community service…they help the residents with provisions, and classes for those who can’t afford education…those who live inside the walls of the Church are Father Clemente along with 4 other members…

Once the sun sets, the staff goes home leaving only five people within the mission…a very respectful and lively church…

However, the Church has a secret…an important objective that’s done within the sacred walls…

In the dining room, three people are having a serious conversation:

"I see, so that viejo (old man) contacted you and said that I was coming…" Uriel drinks from a cup of tea, calmly. Seating in front of him there are two people; a nun and a priest.

“He did…and even though I despise him…I did owe him a favor…” Father Clemente laughs as he drinks from his cup.

Looking at Uriel is a nun; “Excuse me…but can you tell me who you really are? It’s because…you look so familiar…”

“Uriel…this is Sister Carolina…she is my right hand and she is in charge of taking care of staff of the church…you could say that she is the second in command…” Father Clemente presents Sister Carolina.

"Allow me to present myself, I am Sister Carolina...it is a pleasure…"

Sister Carolina is a 30 year old nun. She has black hair with dark green eyes and white skin. She has a thin body and always wears a nun-attire.

"Thank you for welcoming me…” Uriel thanks both of them by slowly leaning his head in sign of respect.

“You know…for being considered the successor of that man…you sure are polite…” Father Clemente chuckles, Uriel makes a little smile; “Well, he may be my mentor…but he is not father…”

“Now that you mentioned that…I have a question…who are your parents Uriel…the surname Di Fiore…it can’t be a coincidence…are you…”

Uriel puts down his cup; “Listen…it’s complicated…but this body once belonged to the son of Maria Di Fiore and Roberto Vazquez…”

Sister Carolina and Father Clemente open their eyes wider with surprise; “M-M-Maria…You mean that Maria Di Fiore?”

“Indeed…Maria Di Fiore, my mother, is known as the Scarlet Maiden…member of the Order of the Holy Maiden…”

“So…you know about the orders…” Sister Carolina stands up and prepares to make a move.

“STOP CAROLINA…DON’T…” Father Clemente stops her; “But Father…he knows and if he does…then we must…”

“There’s no need Carolina…” Father Clemente looks at Uriel; “Tell me hijo, were you the one who was involved in the “Vampire Incident” in Jalisco, a couple of months ago?”

Uriel nods in agreement, Father Clemente laughs; “Hahaha…I knew that Juan wouldn’t do things like that…”

Sister Carolina looks at Father Clemente; “What do you mean Father?”

“Listen…this boy saved so many lives on that fateful night…and also I heard the rumors of El Charro Negro hunting down Sombras and evil beings throughout the continent…now it makes sense…that Charro is you…right?”

“...” Uriel doesn’t answer, he only takes a zip of his tea.

“Is that true? Uriel?” Sister Carolina asks Uriel. He looks at Sister Carolina:

“Yes…that’s true…”

“Then that means that you’re not evil?”

“What a good question…” Father Clemente laughs, he then changes his expression to a serious one:

"Hey hijo, I have the same question…plus another one…"

"What is it?" Uriel feels their killing intent.

Father Clemente looks him in the eyes; "Is it true that you are an evil being like a demon?"

"...."Uriel doesn't answer at first, he looks at his tea and responds:

"Yes, I am…"

"You know that you could go to hell right, and under the Church's order, I could “purify” you here and now…do you understand?"

Father Clemente begins to release a small aura, he looks at Uriel with a threatening expression, Sister Carolina also prepares to take action.

Looking behind the door, the three sisters whisper:

"Did you hear that, that boy made a deal with a devil…"

"I know, that's scary…"

“Are they going to kill him?”

Sister Carolina asks one more question; “How much do you know about us?”

Uriel looks back at Father Clemente:

"I am well aware, however, I already saw hell at first hand……"

Uriel stands up and points at Sister Carolina; “I know that you are a member of the Holy Maiden…” He points at Father Clemente; “He is a member of the Order of the Holy Cross…” He points at the door:

“The three girls behind the door are members of the Order as well…”

(GGGYYYAAHHHH, BOOOMMM)

The three sisters fall to the ground. Sister Carolina looks at them with shock; “What are you doing here? I told you to stay in the room…”

“We’re sorry…” The three of them apologize.

“He looks scary…” One the girls exclaims, another looks at him with heart in her; “I know but he looks so dreamy as well…”

“Shut up…both of you…we have a great problem here…” The third one scolds the other.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Be quiet…the three of you…” Sister Carolina yells at them. Father Clemente sighs with his eyes closed; “Tell me…are you a demon? What are you going to do?”

“I am not a demon…I am something different and as for what am I going to do…I have a mission…”

"I see and what is that mission?"

"My mission is to eliminate all the “Sombras” in the world…"

Everyone looks at him with shock:

"Eliminate Sombras? But you are an evil being...why do you want to hunt Sombras?"

"Because I made a vow that I would get rid of all evil...”

Uriel closes his eyes and tries to remember his friend:

“A couple of months ago…I lost my only friend...He was a member of the Order just like you Father…he was a true friend and he died because of my mistakes…He had a dream to finish off the evil on this world…and I made a vow to continue that path for him…”

Father Clemente is speechless; “Then…that friend was Lorenzo?”

“He was…” Uriel looks down, Father Clemente sits down; “Now I understand…Lorenzo was my pupil…we was sent to Jalisco on a mission…to hunt down El Charro Negro…but the letter I received from him said that he made a friend…who would’ve thought…”

Father Clemente, with tears in his eyes, laughs; “What a fool…he always was like that…I really missed that idiot…”

Uriel smiles a little; “He really was a fool, making friends with me…but still he said that there was good in everyone…”

“Did he suffer when he died?” Father Clemente asks Uriel. Uriel looks at his cup; “He died in my arms…he had such a peaceful look in his eyes…”

“Did you kill him?”

“No…I tried to save him…but it was too late…”

“Okay then…what is your purpose here?”

“I came here to hunt down Sombras…”Uriel looks at Father Clemente in the eyes. Father Clemente smiles:

“I understand, that look in your eyes is Maria’s alright...I believe you boy...I know you have another motive in coming to the Borderland but I will look away...Welcome to the Mission of San Juan...You may stay here as long as you want…”

“WWWHHHAATTTT?” Sister Carolina and the four sisters scream in shock:

“Father, what are you thinking? I understand that he was your pupil’s friend but still he is a El Charro Negro and he is a boy after all…”

Father Clemente looks at Sister Carolina; “Relax…he may be evil but he has no hostile intention here…and besides I doubt he is a pedophile or likes older women…”

(PPPUUUMMM)

Sister Carolina hits Father Clemente in the head; “Who did you call old?”

“Very lively here…huh?” Uriel stands up; “Now then…thank you for having here…and I promise that I will help you with anything I can…specially with that monster in the city…”

“So you know about that too…” Father Clemente smiles at him. Uriel nods in agreement; “I know…but first…”

Uriel looks at the girls; “Why tell me who they are?”

“Well…if Father Clemente trusts you…then I guess I also have to…” Sister Carolina sighs with her eyes closed; "I’m sorry, the girls were curious to see you, allow me to introduce my three students: Fabiola, Mariana and Abril. They are all 13 years old.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you.” The three of them greet themselves to Uriel.

Abril is a young girl that has brown skin, black hair and light brown eyes. She has a skinny body, and she is always hyperactive and smiling.

Mariana is a young girl that has white skin, light brown hair, and also light brown eyes. She has a thin body as well. Unlike Abril, she is very shy. She has a thin body with regular breast size.

Fabiola is a young girl that has white skin, blonde hair and dark blue eyes. She has a thin yet more developed body and she acts more mature despite her age.

“Nice to meet you…you girls were strong when you confronted me...”

“About that, we’re sorry...” The girls apologize to Uriel, Mariana then asks Uriel:

“Excuse me Uriel, are you evil?”

The other girls look at Mariana with a mad expression:

“SHUT UP...”

Uriel drinks his tea and answers; “ That depends, it is up to you to decide on your own...right now we are currently inside a room that repels evil beings…and judging by the symbols behind the painting…you could easily exercise a demon…and yet…I am still here…”

“So he knew about that too…” Sister Carolina looks frustrated and Father Clemente laughs; “Very clever…” Abril and Mariana look at him with stars in their eyes; “Wow,that’s so cool...”

-Hmmmpphhh- Fabiola looks away angry at him. The girls take a seat at the table as well.

Uriel restarts the conversation; “Alright Father…tell me what’s going on in the City?”

“Very well, Uriel, allow me to explain the situation...The city is currently under the attack of a monster…”

“A monster?”

“That’s right…at first, the church believed it was a Sombra…but it’s far stronger and intelligent than anything we’ve ever seen…people in the city call it…The Chupacabras…”

“The Chupacabras?”

“That’s right…”

“I see…”

“But you know…that monster…isn’t moving by instinct alone…”

“What do you mean?”

“That monster is being controlled…”Father Clemente explains, Carolina lowers her head and tears come out of her eyes:

“It's all because of him.”

“Who are you speaking of?”

“EL MUERTO”

“El Muerto?” Uriel asks, Carolina responds; “Indeed, that man declared war on the church…5 months ago…he appeared in front of the Cathedral and made a declaration…”

“What did he say?”

“He said…to offer the Bishop’s head and give him control over the city…we refused of course…”

“What happened next?”

“During the next 5 months…the monster began hunting innocent people around the city…and we of the church began to clash against El Muerto and the Chupacabras in a constant war against that man and its monster…during that period…we have lost so many of our members…also the monster has abducted hundreds of people every night when the moon doesn’t shine…the monster has claimed over 300 lives…”

Father Clemente makes a fist; “What’s worse is that I lost one of my students to that demon…”

“A student?”

Sister Carolina walks forward; “Sister Melissa…was taken by that beast…”

-TCH- Fabiola gets angry, Uriel notices and comments:

“Please continue…”

Carolina walks closer to the window and continues to explain:

“Two months ago…Sister Melissa and I fought that thing…and I saw it up close…at first it looked like a man…however…once it spread its huge wings…and made that horrible scream, I couldn’t do anything…that monster grabbed Sister Melissa and began to fly away… I tried to stop them by throwing my “Lance of San Marcos” at him but I failed.”

(BBBAAADDDUUUMMMPPP)

Sister Carolina begins to feel nauseous as she remembers the events of that night. Father Clemente stands up and trying to calm Carolina:

“Calm down Sister…it wasn’t your fault…that monster caught us by surprise…”

“Where were you, Father?”

Father Clemente lowered his head; “I was unconscious…”

“I see…”

“I feel so ashamed…but I won’t let anyone…”

(BBBBOOOMMM)

Fabiola slams the table and stands up with an angry expression:

“Father Clemente…don’t say things like that…because…you failed to protect my sister…”

“Fabiola…mind your manners…” Sister Carolina tries to stop her. Father Clemente looks at her; “No…Carolina…she’s right…”

“That monster is mine… I’m the one who will kill that monster for taking away my sister. Father, Sister, you disappoint me...”

Uriel notices Fabiola’s glare; “Those eyes…”

“You…Uriel…don’t interfere with my fight…” She stands up and walks out of the dining room furious as she slams the door shut.

“We are sorry, she is just upset about losing our sister.” Abril apologizes with a sad expression. Mariana is standing behind her and both of them say at the same time:

“We will be leaving now, excuse us.”

Mariana and Abril leave the room.

“I will go and check on them…” Sister Carolina also leaves the room. Father Clemente sighs with his eyes closed; “I’m sorry about that…she really loved Melissa and unfortunately, she was there…on the moment Melissa was taken…it’s been really difficult times…and for those innocent girls to experience the horrors…I pray to God that someday…it will end…”

“That look in her eyes…she wants revenge…” Uriel comments as he finishes drinking his tea:

“Tell me…when does the monster attack?”

“Usually it attacks when the moon is gone…when the moon is covered by the clouds…”

“You mean like tonight?” Uriel looks at the window. Father Clemente nods in agreement:

“Indeed…the monster will attack tonight…”

Uriel smiles as he stands up:

“Perfect…you see…I was getting bored…so I think I will check that monster out…”