[The Inra Empire fell. Where would the little vampires run off to? They had grown accustomed to living in luxury. How would these little vampires adapt to the human lifestyle? The emperor was not the emperor anymore; the prince was not the prince anymore. You get the point, right?
We were practically lower than slaves. Humans hated foreigners even more than slaves. But if the right cards were played, we weren't going to be treated worse than slaves. Humankind is utterly disgusting; they are full of greed and lust. Why get married if you're going to cheat? This is the type of world it was and still is.
Kael was an arrogant, clueless prince. Desmond, our "Emperor," was heartbroken as he watched his wife die before him. For days, he was in a trance, even without all the trauma; what would this emperor do? A good person doesn't always mean they are a good emperor.
What would this little group of vampires do? How could they survive? Here's where I step in. Sure, I was traumatised, but survival came first. I also needed to find Kiara, no matter how long it took. They handed all the controls to me. Slowly, we blended in with these greedy creatures.
We shifted from low-level nobles to shady underground businessmen in the 21st century. My dear reader, I hope you're wondering. If you're not, I will tell you anyway. Passports and IDs are things no one can hide from in the 21st century. So, we placed our people in the government early on.
If you go to page one, I mentioned vampires hibernating every fifty years. Well, once that happens, that vampire is "dead" in the human eyes. It's because when we are hibernating, our body mimics a dead body, so technically we can't be jailed for "faking a death".
I might seem really funny right now, but trust me, readers, if you saw me in the past, I would be like a body without a soul. Personally, I would not like to go into too much detail about that; after all, this book is about the first vampire and the history behind our existence.
Why don't I show you how I, who was once a mere mortal, found the first vampire to exist.]
February 27, 2026
[Oh my gosh, that's three hundred years! He waited three hundred years; that's so cute. I know readers, however, those years weren't filled with cute moments of waiting. It was pure survival and learning how to calm your thirst for blood.
Up until this day, no one has been able to find Kiara. I'm sure you're wondering why; it is because there was a curse on us: we couldn't remember what she looked like anymore. We couldn't even remember what Marliene looked like.]
Each night, after the meetings and the bloodshed, we went to a room deep under our headquarters. The ink had dried on contracts signed in code. No guards. No surveillance. No lights. Just me, Desmond, and Kael.
In the centre of the room sat a single sketchbook—worn, weathered, and long since out of pages.
Desmond would break the silence first, always in the same way.
"Her eyes… they were sharp, weren't they?"
I would shake my head, eyes unfocused. "No. Gentle. But... sometimes cold."
"What about Marliene…?" would ask Desmond.
"I think… they were round…" would reply Kael.
And then silence again.
Because they didn't know any more.
Marliene's and Kiara's faces began to scatter like grains of sand in the wind. Their sweet and gentle voices were gone. Kiara's laugh, that soft laugh that once echoed down the hallways, was now just static in the back of our minds.
We wrote everything down—everything we could still recall. But each morning, the ink was smudged and warped. Entire sentences vanished.
That was the curse of Emris.
All we had left was hope, because without it, I was nothing more than a living corpse.
That night, on 27 February, I was heading home after cleaning up a bloody mess left by some rogue vampires when my phone rang.
Desmond (Emperor)
Desmond: Xavier, there has been another sighting of these rogues in Kamakura.
Xavier: Alright, I'll go and check that out.
Desmond: I'm sorry to overwork you like this, but I can't find Kael, and he isn't picking up my calls.
Xavier: Don't worry about it, Your Majesty.
Desmond: I'm no longer that... When are you going to stop calling me that?
He let out a dry laugh.
Xavier sighed.
Xavier: Alright… sir, I'll be seeing you at home.
Desmond: That was also very formal.
Xavier: Do you want me to call you Dad or something?
Desmond: If you want to!
Xavier: Nahhh. Please hang up now.
Desmond: Alright, see you at home.
The call ended.
Extremely tired, with heavy bags under my eyes, I let out a long sigh before turning the car around. Leaving Tokyo behind, I drove to Kamakura. Nearly an hour later, I arrived at the quiet village that Desmond had spoken of.
Kamakura was a lively and peaceful village; however, it was quiet today, with no soul in sight. No lights, no voices—not even the sound of the wind.
I quickly got out of the car; this was not normal. I ran through the empty streets trying to find someone, anyone, any sign of life. I knocked on doors, calling out, but no one answered. I pushed open the doors of small shops along the street, yet every one of them was empty. As if nobody had ever been there at all.
"Is anyone out there?!" I yelled.
And then, right at the centre of the village, I saw a figure, a figure crouched in the distance.
Feeding.
My hand instinctively moved to the pistol strapped to my side. It was loaded with silver bullets—the only thing capable of killing a vampire if lodged directly in the heart.
[Vampires had been unaware of this weakness; even today, many don't know about it. The only reason it was discovered was by witnessing their own kind collapse and die in front of them.
Who knows where these humans found this out?]
I moved closer; the more I did, the more bodies I saw surrounding the figure.
The sound it made wasn't like any I had heard. A wet, methodical slurp, like marrow drawn from bone, like it had been hungry for decades.
The figure straightened slightly, like an animal catching scent. Slowly, deliberately, it turned its head.
A Woman.
Pale. Too pale. Her silver hair was slicked to her scalp with blood. Her mouth glistened crimson, lips wet and sharp, stretched in something between a grin and a snarl. Her eyes—
Wrong.
They burned gold, too bright for the fog, too ancient for the body they lived in. Feral.
She stood up with strange grace, letting the human body fall to the pavement as if it meant nothing.
Then she spoke.
"I didn't know vampires this hot were real," she purred, eyeing him with amusement and hunger. "What's your name, sweetheart?" She winked.
I took a slow step forward, eyes narrowed, shoulders tense—but my voice was ice.
"You have three seconds to answer my question before I rip your heart out," I said, pulling back my lips to reveal my fangs. "What are you?"
The girl laughed hysterically, "Rip my heart out, the funniest thing I've ever heard. How will you do it? With those silver bullets in your gun?"
"What—"
"Now you're going to ask me, how did you know? Pretty simple, actually; I am the all-knowing." She gave a big smile, then licked a droplet of blood from her chin.
I scoffed, "Like hell I'll believe that; no one is all-knowing."
"True, true. I don't know everything; I just know enough to get by."
"Who the fuck are you?!" I spoke through my teeth.
"Oh. We're getting feisty," she said with a grin. "I love that you. Seriously though… You wanna makeout?"
"What—" I stared at her, utterly bewildered.
The woman's grin only widened.
"What? Are you not into girls?" she questioned.
"I am… I have a… lover," I replied cautiously.
"Aww," she cooed. "I don't like to be the other woman, but it's a fun game. You wanna try?"
"No," I said firmly.
She tilted her head—just slightly, just enough. The movement was graceful, almost feline. Blood still streaked down her neck. She took a slow step forward, arms out to her sides as though she were welcoming someone home.
As though she knew him.
The woman's golden eyes burned.
"You're angry," she said softly, "but not afraid. That's good. Fear is boring."
Another step.
The woman's golden eyes glinted like a flame catching on oil.
"Come on~, I'm pretty sure I'm hotter than her. Your lover or whatever, she is pretty lucky to have you; you're very hot." She cooed, her voice mixing mockery with interest. Each word carried an older, deeper tone—like the hum of a cracked lullaby. "What's your name?"
I didn't move. Didn't blink.
"Last chance," I growled, my voice low and shaking with restraint. "?"
The woman clicked her tongue, casual and cruel. "So cold. Is this how you treat everyone looking for a little fun?" Her smile sharpened. "Tsk. No wonder someone took her."
I froze.
"Who?" I demanded, the word cracking out like a gunshot.
The woman's grin twisted sharper, like a blade sliding under skin. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
My eyes narrowed, breath steadying as rage pooled cold and deadly in my chest. My voice dropped to a lethal rasp.
"I said, who the fuck are you!?"
The silver-haired woman gave a theatrical little bow.
"Eimi," she said sweetly, almost singing it. Her teeth gleamed, still stained with blood. "At your service. Or, well… someone's service," she winked, slow and deliberate. "Depends who's paying."
Eimi wrinkled her nose and nudged the lifeless body at her feet with her boot. Her expression showed mild disgust.
She sighed dramatically. "His blood was disgusting…" She licked her lips, then shrugged. "But what can I do? Hunger's a cruel mistress."
"Who sent you?" My voice was a blade now—sharp, steady, and cold.
Eimi's smile curled wider; she relished the tension.
"I work for no one, darling~" she sang, twirling a finger through the air like she was tracing invisible notes. "Too many rules. Too many leashes."
Her eyes glittered. "I prefer chaos. It's… tastier. Plus, I get to drink so much blood," she giggled. "My partner almost died here; these pieces of shit had silver bullets; it almost hit her heart! The audacity!"
Eimi suddenly looked down at her chest. With a crooked grin, she tapped the bullet hole over where her heart should have been.
"See this?" she said, pointing at it before lifting her gaze to look back at me, a wild look burning in her eyes. "If I actually had a heart… I'd be dead."
"What?! How do you not have a heart? Everyone has one!" I said, staring at her like she had lost her mind.
"I don't know, but I'm really grateful!" she said cheerfully. "I feel really bad for you guys, especially my partner, Kiara," she said with a smirk.
"Kiara… How do you know Kiara!!!!" I yelled.
"Whoa, calm down, dude; why are you getting so worked up over a name?" she shrugged.
She stepped closer. As she did, I backed up, my hand still on my pistol.
Eimi paused, then tapped her chin as if she was suddenly remembering something.
"Oh, right," she said, her voice lilting like a bad joke. "Someone did mention a vamp that looked like sadness itself," she sniffed the air theatrically. "Mmm, vintage despair. That must be you."
Her smile twisted, losing its charm.