The Vampire Moon - Prologue

Prologue

“Gwen, we shouldn’t be out here.” A man’s desperate voice pleaded as he was led across the Castle of Fadon’s grounds. Soft laughter was his only reply as the beautiful woman leading him ignored his plea.

“Gwen, we could be caught. Or worse! ‘tis the night of the devil tonight, as well as a Vampire Moon.”

“Is Sir James McFadden a coward?” The woman teased, her voice as soft as her laughter. The man straightened up. “I am no coward, Miss. I am a Knight, of course I am brave!” He retorted.

“Then come with me.” The woman cooed. Sir James looked uncertainly at the woman, a maid by the name of Gwen. “Forget about your worries.” She whispered again and James found the worries disappearing in a haze. With a sigh, he began to follow Gwen further into the night.

Gwen skipped across the grass, James following loyally behind her with a dazed look in his clear blue eyes. A grin was settled on her full, red lips as she looked upon the handsome young man following her.

As she neared the stables, James seemed to come out of his daze. “What?” He gasped, looking at the stable building and then back at Gwen. “What happened? I can’t remember coming here.” He asked, confused.

Gwen shot him a reassuring smiled. “You went into a daze. It was nothing. Let’s go inside.” She purred.

James looked unsure. “I don’t know, Gwen. What if we get caught. You know it is not right for a Knight, especially one of noble blood like I am, to be associating with a maid, let alone courting one.”

“No-one will catch us. You said it yourself. It’s the night of ghouls and Vampires. They’re all too superstitious to be out tonight. Come on, live a little.” Gwen replied, running her hand down the side of his cheek.

James let out a large sigh. “Very well.” He relented. Gwen’s smile widened and she led him into the stables. James missed the blood red colour of her eyes as the door swung shut.

A man’s pained scream echoed throughout the castle and into the night, making some bats take flight from their roost and fly across the path of the blood red moon that hung high in the sky.

The door to the stable opened and Gwen stepped out into the night air, blood running from the corner of her lip. She glanced back at the prone body of the handsome Knight, the youngest son of Lord McFadden. “Such a waste. Oh well, his blood was most delicious.” She said, licking the blood from her lips.

She then turned on the spot and she began to shrink. Her face structure changed to one of a Vampire Bat’s, her black cloak becoming leathery wings and her dress becoming the furry body of a bat. Her feet became clawed and thick skinned and her hands became hooked. Her hair shrunk back into her head and her ears grew to suit her new body.

A large bat took flight into the night, squeaking loudly, calling its brothers and sisters to join it on it’s hunt. Thousands of red eyed and sharp toothed bats joined this one bat over the skies of Fadon, part of the lands of Parfain. The land haunted by Vampires. That night would be a blood bath. The first Vampire Moon in over a thousand years, falling on the day of the Devil.