Vampire Reincarnation

The gentle breeze caressed the tender blades of grass, swaying them gracefully to and fro, while a scattering of dried leaves whispered in accompaniment, drifting harmoniously in its wake.

The leaves followed the breeze, flying above the vibrant grass field before stopping on a boy’s face. He scratched his nose, pushing away the leaves before he resumed his peaceful sleep.

Laying in the field, his body sinking into the grass, his long silver hair was almost completely hidden within its blades. His chest heaved as he slowly opened his eyes, blinking rapidly as the sun hit his crimson pupils.

His hair fell along his body as he slowly got up, stretching before looking around curiously. Where am I?

He tried to stand up, however, he shot back to the ground the moment he raised, almost like an invisible force pulled him down. What the?!

Kai’s heart sank to his stomach as he tried standing up once again, but his legs felt heavy as if they were tightly constrained by spikey tendrils. He screamed in pain as blood gushed out of his feet, turning the grass to a deep crimson color.

His gut-wrenching screams reverberated in the empty field, but his pleadings fell on deaf ears, as no one was there to hear. He wore a pitiful expression as he yelled toward the sky in a silent voice.

He snapped his head backward as he felt a morbid aura rapidly approach him, and his pupils widened in shock at the sight before him. A man and a woman walked slowly toward him, their ghostly bodies covering a dozen meters in a single step.

Mom…Dad…?

He watched in horror as his parents’ figures became clearer and clearer in his eyes, they both wearing smiling expressions as they casually strolled toward him sending a shiver down his spine.

Goosebumps spread all over his body as he gulped, his face flushed red and his face broke into a relieved smile after seeing his parents alive and well, but he was too blinded by their presence to observe the morbid scene behind them.

The grass withered and fell apart before disappearing into clouds of dust, revealing the dried and broken dirt, similar to that of the Vampire Kingdom. The sky darkened and a blood moon appeared, hanging above their heads following them wherever they passed.

Kai tried getting up, and he grunted in pain as he fell to the ground, violently hitting the floor with his jaw. He raised his head, hopefully looking at his parents, and his heart threatened to jump out of his chest as their figures came closer and closer.

He could clearly see their young faces, their bright smile, and their glowing crimson eyes.

Mom! Dad!

He yelled inwardly as he began crawling through the grass, dragging his bloody legs as he hurried toward his parents, his elbows gradually becoming a mangled mess as the grass turned into small, dark spears that dug into his bones.

He steeled through the unbearable pain as he stared forward with anticipation, waiting for his parents to pick him up, hug and tell him that everything will be alright.

His eyes gleamed with hope as their figures finally arrived by his hide, their translucent clothes fluttered past his body, which started decaying as soon as they walked past him.

He gasped in shock as he looked toward his parents with widened eyes, and his body jolted slightly before he looked around.

Finally seeing the death and decay his parents left in their wake, he stared at his decomposing body with horror as he let out a soundless scream.

No! Don't leave me!

He pleaded inwardly, and his heart skipped a beat as they halted their footsteps.

They slowly turned their heads at an unnatural angle, their exposed skull had bits of melted and rotten flesh hanging from them, their empty eye sockets glowed with a fierce red color and their teeth cackled as their body turned, following the motion of their heads.

His mother had a gaping hole in her chest, while his father was missing his hand and clothes, exposing his still-beating heart that could be seen through his ribcage.

Kai gulped and his entire body trembled as he tried running backward, however, he was unable to move.

He shifted his gaze toward his legs, where he saw two pairs skeletal of arms tightly hugging his shins and thighs, dragging them to the ground as they slowly tore away his flesh.

"Why… son…? Why…?"

His parents' eerie voices rang in his mind, cold sweat dripped down his spine as he tried to pry open the arms, however, all his efforts were futile.

"You… you killed our son…"

His eyes widened as stared at his parents, his left eye slowly fell out of its socket, turning into dust before even reaching the ground.

"No! No! I… I'm your son!" He yelled, spitting his yellow teeth out as bloody tears flooded his eyes.

"Your fault! ALL YOUR FAULT!"

The sky shuddered, the couple's voices reverberating through the air, and a huge metallic hand raised up from the ground, violently slamming into Kai's body, destroying his midsection.

The skeletal arms finally dragged his legs into the ground, disappearing completely from view under Kai's primal pain-filled scream.

He tried removing the metal hand, his futile actions causing his parent's teeth to cackle in amusement.

"Serves you right… ri□ht, you □□ke!"

Kai let out a bloody scream as the metallic hand dug its claws into his body, dragging him backward and into the crowd, his parents' ghostly laugh echoing in his mind as he became one with the ground.

…

"Aaagh" His body jolted as his eyes snapped open, and he grunted in pain as his heart pushed wildly against his ribcage. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead as he attempted to calm his unsteady breathing.

He brought his hand to his chest, clutching at his heart as he tried to ease his pulse, inhaling deeply in an attempt to steady himself.

His sweat-drenched upper body was covered in bandages, and blood seeped from his open wounds, dying them crimson.

He looked around the familiar room, the walls made out of pelts gave him some privacy as he lay down on the large bed. He briefly inspected his bruised and bloodied arms before gently lowering them on the bed.

A set of slow and heavy footsteps echoed in his ears as the figure of an old man appeared in the corner of his eye. He carried a vat of water and sighed as he stopped next to Kai, placing the vat on a chair by his head.

"Another nightmare?" He asked as he wet a cloth, undoing his dirty bandages and cleaning his wounds, without waiting for Kai to answer.

He didn't resist, he couldn't even if he wanted to as he barely had any strength in his body. The cold water sent shivers throughout his entire body as it touched his burning skin. A soft light emitted from the old man’s wand, and a brief feeling of relief washed over his corrosive wound.

He stared blankly ahead as the old man helped him up, drying him off before placing new bandages over his wounds and leaving without saying another word, only giving Kai a pitiful glance.

Lying back down, he inhaled deeply, staring blankly at the ceiling as he tried to calm down. He held the purple necklace his parents gave him, his mind occupied by thoughts, but empty at the same time.

His teeth let out a scraping sound as he remembered the events of the past few days, and his heart threatened to jump out of his chest as images of that day flashed before his eyes.

The old man had found him five days ago, laying against a tree not far from his camp, unconscious. His body was drenched in blood and a few drops of rain washed off a bit every so often.

Even unconscious, he held tightly onto the necklace, as if he was afraid that he might lose it. The old man’s eyes widened after he inspected Kai’s wounds. He poured mana into his body, carefully inspecting every nook and cranny and his shock deepened after he finished. How is this boy still alive…

A lot of the bones in Kai’s body were broken, and a large percentage of his mana veins were covered in cracks, ready to shatter at any moment. His muscles were torn to shreds, and his internal organs were a complete mess.

The most shocking thing, however, was the wound that ran across his chest from his shoulder. Malicious, dark energy ate away at his skin, rotting his flesh and drinking his blood. The old man gulped as he used some light magic to drive away the corrosion, but it did little to no good.

It will take a while… He sighed as he put his wand away. He brought Kai back to the camp, placing a small totem by his head to watch over him.

His heart raced in his chest as he ran toward Kai’s home, and an empty feeling appeared in his stomach as countless thoughts flashed in his mind. No… it can’t be!

The battlefield appeared in his field of view, his heart dropped to his stomach as he panted while looking at the morbid scene.

Countless corpses littered the crimson-dyed ground, bits and pieces of flesh rotting away, emanating a putrid stench, filling the air with the aura of death. The old man jumped over the burnt and mangled bodies of the black armored soldiers, frantically praying and hoping that his thoughts would not come to be.

However what one fears to happen always becomes reality, and one’s worst nightmares always end up being true. He ran toward what remained of the house, a few walls covered in holes, the roof had caved in and the windows became nothing more than glorified knives.

The old man fell to his knees as he arrived next to Elena’s lifeless body, her youthful vigor replaced by the face of a middle-aged woman. A gaping hole took the place of where her heart used to be.

Her pale skin contrasted with the pool of dark blood that she was stuck to, and her faint smile remained frozen on her face, which, together with her widened eyes created a horrific picture.

He brought his trembling hand to her face, slowly closing her eyes as he held back tears, and he took out a pelt from his ring, covering Elena’s body before getting up.

Ray… where is Ray!?

Looking around, he gulped as he feared the worst, but he had to make sure, he needed to verify with his own eyes that it didn’t happen…

He looked toward the destroyed house, in front of which lay Ray, his body in a worse state than even Elena’s as the darkness consumed most of his skin and muscles, leaving behind an almost empty skeleton.

“Ray!” The old man exclaimed, barely recognizing Kai’s father at first sight, his heart ached painfully and a sharp pain spread all over his body as tears flew down his cheeks.

“WHY??” he let out a long, pain-filled scream as he stared at the cloudy sky, his soul tearing into pieces as he fell to the ground, repeatedly hitting the ground with fury and desperation.

…

He took out a small cart from his ring and gently placed their covered bodies next to each other, he finally departed after finding Ray’s arm and sword. The cart’s wheels creaked under their weight, and the old man disappeared into the forest, slowly dragging his feet behind him.

He found a place where the sun would shine during noon, in front of two trees whose trunks intertwined. Using earth magic to dig two holes, he could not bring himself to separate the couple and laid them to rest together before dirt covered their empty husks. He then dug the sword deep into the ground, marking their resting place.

He returned to his tent as darkness took over the land, his body swaying weakly from left to right as he balanced himself against the trees.

…

Kai woke up two days later, every fiber of his body screaming in pain even as he tried to breathe. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t eat, he could barely drink water and speak, and even that proved difficult.

The old man rushed to his side, his being overcome with emotion upon seeing Kai awake, and dropped to his knees as his shoulders shook lightly.

Kai looked at him from the corner of his eyes, their dimly lit crimson hue, and unmoving pupils seeming to have lost all life.

“Who did this?” the old man asked, choking lightly.

He didn’t answer immediately, instead looking at the ceiling with a deadpan expression. His disheveled hair covered part of his face, and after a long period of silence, his lips parted.

“Ha..ni..ard…” he said in a hoarse, barely audible voice, pain spreading all throughout his body with each syllable.

A shiver ran down the old man’s spine upon hearing the name, but his eyes burned with determination and fury. “I knew it…”

He hurriedly got up, his expression covered in the desire for revenge, and he got ready to rush out of the tent. His eyes widened in surprise upon feeling something drag him back. He snapped his head backward and saw Kai’s pain-filled expression and trembling hand that held him by the cloak.

Deep within his dim eyes, hidden behind a layer of grief and depression was a fire fueled by rage, emitting a hint of killing intent and bloodlust.

The old man sighed and gave up on any thoughts of revenge upon seeing Kai’s seething hatred. Looks like it’s inevitable… He freed himself and left the tiny room with his hands behind his slightly hunched back.