⚠︎ This chapter has mentions of sexual assault, drug usage, blackmail, dead body mutilation and blood consumption.
♬ Prey - The Neighborhood ♬
''Divine smell that fill my nostrils, divine taste that rolls in my tongue, the blood of novices who yet don't understand how the world works truly tastes divine.''
There are things one will never imagine waking up to, and waking up with no recollection of who you are or where you are is definitely one of them.
Dirty streets where the smell of smoke and piss fills the air, the sound of cars and bustling night life surround those who walk past them. And in one of the back alleys with the company of trash bags and sewer rats, a boy slowly wakes up. His body is too thin, malnourished, his skin tone is pale enough for his veins to be the only color in it, he's wearing torn clothes of what was a tuxedo.
The boy has distinct features, his eyes are sharp and long with bright orange irises, his nose is small and sharp and his thin lips are red like blood. But despite his eye color, the boy's hair is also a pop of color, a blood red tone that matches his lips perfectly. Regardless of his appearance the boy finds himself taken with an immeasurable headache, and a thirst that one would imagine he is beyond dehydrated. "I'm hungry" the boy mumbles to himself, attempting to get up, but failing, his legs too weak for him to be able to withstand his own weight.
So instead the boy looks around, trying to find something to hold himself onto that aren't trash bags, and that is where he sees a fresh dead body. And the benefit of not having memories means that he doesn't think twice before crawling towards the body, attracted by the sweet smell. Driven by instinct the boy touches the still warm body, his hands trembling with hunger, too engrossed to notice the gunshot wound on the body's head. He pulls the arm of the dead man closer to his mouth, the sweet smell becoming stronger so he opens his mouth, the two perfectly white and sharp fangs popping out before he sinks them onto the flesh of the dead body's wrist.
And the taste is even better than the smell, the blood flowing from his lips to his throat is warm and velvety, tasting sweet and at some moments a bit sour, insatiable, the boy drinks and drinks until the body is completely depleted of blood. He drops the arm on the ground with a thud, feeling much better than before, his skin more lively and his malnourished appearance almost gone, his eyes even shining with life. After such a meal the boy manages to get up, the weakness on his legs gone after eating well. But now what? He doesn't know what to do, he ate but doesn't know where he is, who he is or even what he is.
Just as if by cue, a transparent-like message appears in front of him, the message window is of the same color of his eyes and the light it emanates doesn't seem to be reflecting on anything, being for his eyes only.
Congratulations! You managed to survive your doomed fate!
Rebirth isn't for the weak-minded, become the best version of yourself and defeat the heroine of this world!
Check your status window for more information.
(Tip: to check your status window just think about it)
The boy stares at the message for a moment, wondering what every word means. Rebirth? Heroine? Status window? They don't sound exactly unfamiliar, but considering he doesn't exactly remember anything before waking up in the dark alley, he can't pinpoint what every word means even if he feels that he knows at the back of his mind. Maybe if he does as the message says he'll find out more, so he does exactly that.
Status window
Name: Eryx Algeo
Age: 19
Species: Newborn Vampire
Affiliation: Link Academy (1st Year) / Algeo Family
Title: Bastard of the Algeo Family
Thirst: 60%
Chosen target: Not yet chosen
Progress: 0%
Heroine chosen target: Not yet chosen
Heroine progress: 0%
Active Missions:
Defeat the heroine! (In Progress)
Feed for the first time (Complete)
Attend the entrance ceremony of Link Academy (In Progress)
Skills:
Thirst - As a vampire you're able to consume blood to satiate your hunger, when your thirst is low you will have an increase of 30% efficiency in tasks given by the system, but when your thirst is high you'll be penalized. (Current active penalty: Amnesia, Weak bones)
Heartbeat - When active you'll be able to identify heartbeats in a radius of 100m from your location. (Inactive)
Algeo's Soul - As a descendant from one of the primordial vampires you were born to restore their honor. Every time you consume blood you'll be able to see a glimpse of the future. (Available for use)
Newborn - (This skill will be deactivated once you consume enough blood) Even coming from a long line of vampires you were born a human, but suddenly you became a vampire? Deal with the tribulations of being a newborn and consume enough blood to avoid death. (Current active effect: Dehydration)
Phoenix - Being reborn isn't easy, especially when this world is familiar yet unfamiliar, this skill is tailor made for you, tap onto the powers of the Phoenix, your comrade in arms, and control fire to your will. This skill also allows you to come back from the dead four times, except in the case of death by thirst. (4/4)
"This isn't exactly helpful" the boy says out loud with frustration, his voice is raspy and it hurts to speak, his throat dry from the dehydration effect. According to that information his name is Eryx and he has a family which considers him a bastard for apparently being born a human. But it doesn't help to have new information when he doesn't know what all that means. So he decided to check his missions, maybe they'll give him more information.
Mission Accomplished!
Congratulations for completing your first mission (Feed for the first time).
Would you like to receive your rewards?
Y/N
He doesn't think twice before selecting Y. He awaits for another window to pop up but nothing does, instead his head is bombarded with information. Not information on who Eryx is , but who he was. Besides his name, the information his brain is filled with is quite helpful, helpful enough for him to understand his own situation.
Before waking up there, he was a 19 year-old boy fresh out of high school and working part-time jobs to pay for college, he worked everyday and all day. His parents passed away when he was six and his older sister raised him. She was ten years older than him so they weren't put up for adoption, instead she dropped out of school to raise him, and after they became more stable even within poverty, she got a big break and became a big game developer for a big company.
He remembers looking up to her a lot, but never wanting to depend on her, and he might not remember her face or name, but he can't help but feel sad for not being able to see her anymore. And that is because he remembers his death clearly, from all of his memories that was the fresher one.
"What a stupid death", Eryx mumbles with a short laugh. He died in a gas explosion in his recently rented studio, all because he accidentally left the burner on, not used to using that brand of stove. At least it wasn't painful as he just exploded. I just hope I didn't kill anyone but myself with such a stupid mistake, he thinks to himself with deep regret.
Another clear memory from his past is one of the games his sister developed, he remembers playing because she begged him to. It was a mobile relationship simulator focused on a female audience, meaning that all of the 'capture targets' were men, he didn't exactly enjoy romancing men, but the game was interesting enough for him to see it through to the end. The game was set in Link Academy, a place where vampires go for further education, it's a three year course with electives and when you graduate you're immediately offered a job within the vampire community. In this game you're set as the heroine, a human girl that enters the Academy by accident and needs to survive not being eaten alive by her peers while solving mysteries and falling in love.
The mini-games were interesting and the targets were diverse enough to grant the game a distinct atmosphere and gather the attention of many. He remembers his sister mentioning that the game gathered more than four million downloads in its launch week. And not only that but the game even had a dedicated website for the Link Academy, to expand the world building.
It went more or less like this:
After humans found out about the existence of vampires their coexistence was critical for both of their survival, vampires began consuming blood only from donors and humans started accepting vampire-only cities and communities. The biggest being Iris City where the Link Academy is located, a vampire-only city ruled by the same mayor since its foundation.
One of the mysteries you had to solve in the game was the mayor's identity, as his son was one of the targets and you had to meddle in their relationship to progress with the story. But Eryx never played this game story, so he doesn't know its details deeply. Based on my surroundings I must be in Daisy City, a human city next to Iris City, since I just consumed human blood.
He expected the realization that he just consumed human blood to make him feel disgusted or angry, but all he feels is thirst. But dwelling long around a dead human body won't be good for him, so he decides to do another stupid thing and strip the body to use its clothes since his own were torn. The hoodie was too big and the pants were loose before he put the belt on, sadly the shoes were two sizes too big so he stayed barefoot.
And so he gets out of the alley to the bustling street with his head down and the hoodie on, analyzing his surroundings he doesn't see any vampires, and his eyes are a giveaway since most vampires had surreal eye colors. Luckily he manages to leave the city and reach the tunnel that separated the two cities.
The tunnel was filled with druggies and homeless people, he passed them hurriedly, but he noticed that half of them were human while the other half were vampires. It seems that vampires also like getting high , he thinks, turning his gaze away, fearful of the reactions of the druggies that stared at him with deadly intent.
On the other side Iris City was calm and silent, uniquely in the universe of the game the vampires aren't sensitive to sunlight, so they were just active like humans in that sense, the only downside was that their eyes were sensitive, so most of them used sunglasses when out during the day. The calm streets were due to the curfew, in the beginning of the story there was a wave of vampire murders, so the curfew was applied to avoid them. That was also how the heroine managed to enter the Academy without being caught so easily. That and plot armor, since I could smell the blood on all the humans I passed through. There was a poor explanation on how her blood was scentless, but to the newborn vampire that sounds like a poorly made excuse on why the heroine was so special.
Before continuing his journey through the silent streets, Eryx decides to use his skill, seeing the future so that he can at least see where he should go. Luckily enough, the skill shows him exactly that, the path towards the Algeo Family's mansion, it was a bit far since the rich part of the Iris City was on the outskirts, but not too far. So it takes him half an hour of walking to arrive at the gates.
He's not sure of what to say or how to react, but he doesn't have much choice, it's still the middle of the night and he's wearing a dead man's clothes, barefoot and with an unquenchable thirst. So he settles by ringing the bell next to the gate.
A sweet melodical voice answers the intercom. "May I help you?"
"Hm…" his voice is raspy and he needs to cough a few times before being able to speak in a proper tone. "It's Eryx".
For a moment he was worried that the gate wouldn't open, or that he would be kicked out for some reason he doesn't know, since he has no recollection of that place and the people in it. Maybe when I feed enough I'll remember, since the penalty is said to be amnesia. But his worries were unfounded.
"Young master! Where were you? I'll open the gate". And so the gate opens, the mansion is modern, with a white exterior, fancy windows, and a black tile roof, up front there is a garage with six expensive cars, an olympic pool and a tennis court. It was a rich people mansion he only ever saw on TV in his past.
The door is double his height, and it opens as soon as he gets in front of it. A young woman is the one on the other side, she's the same height as him, her black wavy hair is long, reaching her knees, and her vivid purple eyes denounce her identity as a vampire. She has an expression of worry and carries a blanket she places on Eryx as soon as he passes through the door. The interior of the mansion is just as fancy as the exterior, filled with crystal decorations, fancy paintings and furniture that seems directly out of a rich people catalog.
"Care to explain where you were?" The voice speaking to him belongs to a young man, he seems to be in his twenties, his hair is red like Eryx's but different from his own short waves, the man's hair is straight and a bit longer, reaching his chin and his eyes were just as red as his hair. It doesn't take much for Eryx to know they are related, but not exactly how they are related.
He takes off his hoodie, revealing his disheveled appearance, but that wouldn't be enough to warrant the pure shock on both the young woman and man's faces. The man walks towards Eryx, pulling his face in a tight grip closer to him.
"How?"
"I'll wake the Madam", the woman states before running up the stairs, almost tripping on the steps.
"Eryx, what have you done?" The man's voice is calm but his eyes are showing pure disturbance.
"I don't want to explain more than once so I'll wait a moment", Eryx voice trembles, but the man's grip doesn't seem hostile. The window said I'm a bastard, probably because I was a human, or maybe I'm illegitimate? Regardless, he can't jump to conclusions too hastily.
The young woman appears again, accompanied by an older woman, who appears to be in her mid-forties, her red wavy hair is long reaching her shoulders and her eyes are red as well, just like the man holding onto Eryx's face.
"What happened?" The older woman speaks, looking at the older man before looking at the boy, she takes a few moments to process the information before sighing with disappointment clear in her expression. "Eryx, what drugs did you use this time?" Her accusation made it seem that it wasn't the first time he came home looking like that.
"Mother, I don't think it's a drug", the man says with a sigh, letting go of Eryx's face and turning to the older woman. "And it doesn't look like a contact lens as well".
Just what did I do before? He asks himself as he watches the three people discussing what it must be then. Since it sounds ridiculous that he just became a vampire out of nowhere. Once their discussion dies down, from not being able to reach a conclusion, Eryx speaks.
"I'm sorry", he bows to the people, trying to convey the minimum of sincerity. "I can't tell you what happened because I don't remember". He takes a deep breath. "In fact I don't even remember who any of you are, I woke up in an alleyway, extremely thirsty and wandered the streets until I arrived here, I just found the address in a paper on my clothes and decided to give it a shot". He omits the part of the dead body and the ability to see the future.
"And why are you wearing these clothes?" The man asks.
"I stole them because the ones I was wearing were torn", he replies without thinking much, it isn't a lie.
"Let me see if I understand," the older woman speaks again. "You woke up, a vampire, after 19 years as a human, without any recollection of who you or your family is, walked all the way from Daisy City to here barefoot with clothes you stole , and didn't attack a single human?" He nods along her words, confirming all the information she repeated. The older woman laughs, her gaze with pure disbelief. "Eryx Algeo, you're absolutely grounded".
"Mother, I think we need to calm down a bit, if he just became a vampire he's a time bomb waiting to explode", the man speaks, turning from the older woman to the boy. "Eryx, I'm Levi Algeo, your older brother, I'm 23, even though I've been 23 for a while already", he laughs trying to ease the mood. "You're the youngest of our family, and you were born human, that's why we were so shocked earlier". He tries his best to explain the situation after grasping it from Eryx words. "We come from a long line of vampires, our father was one of the primordial vampires, but he died a year after you were born", the sudden information dump made Eryx think that he was seeing a character introduction. "This woman here is our mother, Freya Algeo, she is 45 on the outside but she's just as old as father was. We have six other brothers, they're all older than you… Oh, and this lady here is Margaret, head servant in our house since I was born, she appears 25, but is also older".
Eryx nods, from what he understood in the game, those born vampires grow like humans until they reach a certain age, some take longer to stop ageing while others don't, usually is around 20 to 30 years old, that's why they start the academy at age 19, right before they might stop ageing. And vampires who are turned stop aging the moment they're turned. I wonder if I'll be the first or second case.
"Maybe the young master was turned?" As if reading his mind, Margaret voices her concern.
"Impossible, we tried that already", his mother says, walking to the living room and sitting on the couch before continuing her words. "This is a disaster, he'll need to enroll in the Academy now that he's a vampire, since it's mandatory" she leans her head back with a sigh. "I can already feel my migraine coming back".
"If he enters the Academy we won't be able to help him adapt" Margaret says, disappearing towards what Eryx assumes is the kitchen.
"I'll contact Milo, since he works at the Academy he'll be able to take care of Eryx's documents and maybe he'll also be able to help him under wraps", his brother says, taking his phone out of his pocket. "Milo is our second oldest brother", he says now to Eryx directly, before putting his phone on his ear, waiting for the other brother to pick up, once he does, the man walks out of the room to talk privately.
Margaret appears again with a glass of water and another with a dark liquid which Eryx can only assume its blood by the sweet smell. She gives the water to the Madam and the blood to Eryx. "You should drink slowly, if you drink too fast you might get indigestion", her tone is kind.
"From now on you need to consume at least six liters of blood everyday, which is triple of what we usually consume, but since you're a newborn your thirst will be much bigger than ours for a while", his mother says, still leaning on the couch with her eyes closed. "I'm sorry for latching out earlier son, I know you don't remember but you were quite the troublemaker… Probably because I couldn't raise you well without your father." She opens her eyes to look at Eryx. "You have the same eyes as him now, I was always sad that all your brothers inherited my eyes, I'm glad to see you take after your father". She pauses for a moment. "I'm proud of you son and your father would be too".
Those words bring tears to Eryx's eyes, he can feel the truth in her words, and her eyes express pure fondness. I must've fucked up a lot before, he thinks, sipping on the glass of blood slowly, the taste isn't as good as the fresh one he had earlier, but it was enough to bring his thrist down from 60% to 35% and his Algeo's Soul skill to become available for use.
He places the empty glass on the coffee table in the living room as he sits on the couch next to his mother, placing his head on her lap. It felt natural to do so, almost as if it was something he'd done thousands of times before, the woman petting his head softly.
"It'll be okay, your memory will be back soon, it can happen to newborns", she almost whispers the words, making Eryx wonder if she was telling that to ease his or her heart.
The door of the mansion opens and another man enters, he's taller than Levi, his hair is wavy and long enough to be in a low ponytail, the color is the same as the mother, red like blood, and his eyes are also of the same tone. He's wearing a long beige coat with a simple black suit underneath. He spots the mother-son duo on the couch after entering the house. "Shouldn't you both be in bed?" His voice is low and he sounds mature.
"Mael, you're home", the mother says softly. "Something happened to Eryx".
The man sighs, "What trouble he got himself into now? I still have a headache from last time, it took me weeks to clean his mess at the station", his face contorts with annoyance. The boy in question raises his head properly to look at his brother, when their eyes meet, the man called Mael starts laughing. "Where did he get these contacts? They almost look real." He states, walking closer to the boy still laying on his mother's lap. "Who gave you the money? Was it Levi or Nicolas? They both have a soft spot for you, if it was me you would've been in a reformatory long ago". He's curt, rude and his words hurt deeply, but Eryx doesn't speak, he doesn't have to.
"Mael, that's enough, it's not contacts", the woman speaks with a sigh. "I know it's hard to believe, but we should help Eryx, not berate him", funny enough she was berating him just a few moments ago.
"Mother, this is ridiculous, we tried everything for 19 years and now you're telling me he suddenly turned?" As baffling as it sounds, it was exactly that. And not only that but he consumed blood from a fresh corpse and a strange window spoke nonsense to him, not only that but he has memories of a previous life but not his current one. Not that he was going to say those things out loud.
"That's basically it, brother", Levi returns to the living room, still looking at his phone while typing something. "I talked with Milo, he'll get Eryx's documents sorted but he'll need to move to the Academy tomorrow morning already, since it'll be the entrance ceremony", his words make Eryx remember about the missions in his status screen, not that he was going to check it right now, just in case someone other than him can see it.
"The Academy? You're both insane, if he really just turned he'll be a danger to not only himself but other vampires as well!" Mael speaks, almost yelling out of frustration. "He needs to stay home and feed properly!" His words are filled with concern for someone claiming his other brothers are the soft ones.
"We're aware Mael, but we don't have a choice, you know attendance is mandatory", a sigh leaves the woman's mouth together with her words, she seems to be exhausted. "We'll have Milo help him with feeding and keep an eye on his health, we should contact Luc as well, since it's his last year there he can show his brother around".
"I get Milo, but Luc isn't a good idea, he hates Eryx's mother", Levi shakes his head. "He still blames him for father's death".
"Why would he do that?" Eryx asks, finally speaking.
Levi pets his head, ruffling his wavy red hair, "Don't concern yourself with that ruffian". His eyebrows furrow with worry. "Oh right, this here is Mael, he's 24 but he's younger than me in total age, he just stopped aging later", he attempts to smile but fails. "And Luc is the youngest before you, he'll be 21 this year, he's in the last year of the Academy and he's still aging, you'll probably see him around, but try not approaching him yourself."
"What's with the information dump?" Mael asks, grabbing the blood cup Margaret brought him after he arrived and sitting on a chair close to Eryx.
"Eryx doesn't remember anything before his transformation", Levi says.
Mael almost spits the blood with surprise. "You're joking".
"I'm sorry, I really don't remember anything", Eryx says, doing his best to not anger anyone.
"Ha." Mael snorts, he takes off the scrunchie from his hair, releasing his straight hair which reaches his chest in length.
"We should sleep", Levi states, "I'll take you to the Academy tomorrow after breakfast", Eryx nods. "And Mael, you shouldn't arrive this late, what if mother was already asleep? You make too much noise!" And like that Levi and Mael start to bicker, but Eryx doesn't pay too much attention to what they're saying, accompanying his mother and Margaret upstairs to go to his room.
The bedroom feels familiar, the scent in the air is of the same cologne he smelled on himself previously. It's not a big room one would expect of such a big mansion, but it's cozy, the walls are painted beige and are filled with drawings and pictures, he takes his time observing the room, trying to figure out who Eryx Algeo is.
And after a while what he gathered was that he was lonely, there were a bunch of awards for piano, violin and mathematics, but they were all smeared with tear stains, and all the pictures are of the family, none with friends. Most of the pictures were with two specific brothers, one Eryx recognizes as Levi, but the other he hasn't met yet, but if what Mael said earlier has any truth, it must be Nicolas. The smile Eryx has in all of the pictures is one that doesn't reach his dull eyes, that seemed to be green previously, a common color for human eyes.
There are also a couple journals and books scattered around, most were music partitions while others were math problems he seemed to be in the middle of solving. And at last under Eryx's pillow he finds a bag of pills, with a small note.
Consume only three per day to avoid overdose.
He wonders what the drug was for, but it was probably the same as what his family was saying: to become a vampire. Well, it seemed to work. If the reason was the pills or something else, he doesn't really want to know. I should throw it away. With this thought the boy decides to take a shower, not only was he wearing clothes from a dead body but also he was smelling like trash. After picking up a new change of clothes from his wardrobe and grabbing the pill bag he walks next door to the bathroom, contrary to what he thought it was small, with only a few toiletries, a bathtub, a shower besides the sink and toilet. He puts his things on a hook behind the door and proceeds to toss the pills on the toilet, flushing them down.
Maybe I should've kept them to find what they are, but if anyone in the family found them I would probably be in trouble, Eryx thinks, taking off his clothes and entering the shower.
As he washes up he decides to verify the contents of the other missions he didn't check before.
Defeat the Heroine!
(Mission In Progress)
This world has a set heroine, but isn't that unfair? Beat the heroine in her game and conquer not only the heart of a target but also the vampire community!
Sub-quests:
1. Introduce yourself to all of the targets (In Progress)
2. Choose your target - your target cannot be the same as the heroine (In Progress)
3. Get your target's phone number (In Progress)
More sub-quests will be assigned as you progress in the Mission!
Observation: Failure in this quest will result in the end of the Algeo bloodline.
So basically I need to progress in the game faster than the Heroine?And failure will make me and my whole family die? Eryx stares at the holographic screen, dumbfounded, his eyes starting to sting because of the shampoo he didn't rinse yet. If I knew this I would have played the game on all routes. Right now he wants to punch his past self in the face for only playing one route and quitting after he found the ending lackluster. His sister insisted that he played more because he got a normal ending instead of the perfect one, but romancing men wasn't exactly his favorite pastime and there were other games more enticing.
Luckily for him the memories of the route he played and the background story he read are still fresh in his mind, and he also recalls some information he heard from his sister about the other targets. Nowhere near enough for him to be able to breeze through everything, but perhaps if he chooses the same target he did while playing and gets the normal ending it won't be that bad.
The normal ending was lackluster but wasn't an unhappy one, he thinks closing his eyes as he rinses his hair. And the target I chose was by far the most normal one.
He remembers that his sister used a lot of popular troupes in all of the targets, so that she could appeal to a broader public. And some of those troupes are definitely scary. Eryx sighs, his hand gripping tightly on the sponge. Let's think about this tomorrow at the Academy, it'll probably be where the first scenes from the game will take place.
Attend the entrance ceremony of the Link Academy
(Mission In Progress)
Not only is the entrance ceremony the perfect place to meet all of the targets before choosing, but also where you'll meet your nemesis! The Heroine! Attend the whole ceremony without getting sidetracked and show the heroine that her nemesis isn't someone to be taken lightly!
Observation: Failure in this mission will make the heroine think you're a joke and all the targets will think you're nepo trash.
Ha. Nepo trash? What could make… Oh true, his brothers are not only in the Academy but one of them is a teacher there. Milo may call me during the ceremony… To prevent that I should meet him before or after.
He turns off the shower, grabbing the towel to dry himself up. I probably have his number on my phone… Wait, phone? And that's just when he realizes that he didn't have a phone on him when he woke up. What if I dropped around there? It is a crime scene! He panics, dressing himself quickly and running to his room, his hair still dripping wet. Eryx starts searching his whole room until he finds his phone inside a school bag, why would I hide it here?
It doesn't take much for him to find out why, once he turns on the device hundreds of notifications hit him, he sits on his bed, putting the towel on his hair so that it doesn't drip much on the blankets as he checks out.
A lot of the notifications were from his brothers, all of them were from that day, asking if he ate and where he was. He tries checking how he normally responds but he can't see any messages from days prior. Do I constantly delete my messages log? After responding with 'yes' and 'I'm home' he turns to the other texts, from six different people, the numbers were random and the contents made his blood run cold.
XXXX-X6: If you don't reply I'll send the video to your family.
The first text is as cryptic as it can be, what video and why would it be such a threat?
XXXX-X8: You're a little whore Ery, aren't you? If you want more pills remember to suck me off well.
Eryx's face runs cold and his hands tremble slightly. The game had 19+ bonus paid content, but that doesn't mean it had explicit sexual content or innuendos during the story, at least not by what he knew. Well, this isn't a game, and I am 19, but exchanging sexual acts for drugs? It doesn't make sense, if his drug problems were that bad his family would have noticed.
XXXX-X2: Eryx, Dony told me that you exchange bjs for drugs, I got some.
It seems at least that all he did were blowjobs, still it doesn't sound exactly true, if he were being coerced or threatened, or maybe he was high?
XXXX-X4: Pay up if you don't want to lose a finger, you have 24h.
This sounds more like someone ordering him to pay for drugs, it seems that not always was something related to sexual favors. He decides to answer this text first.
Eryx Algeo: Send me the account and how much.
XXXX-X4: BloodBank Account XXXXXXXXX - 430 vexes.
Eryx Algeo sent a picture.
XXXX-X4: I have new awakening pills if you're interested.
Eryx Algeo: I don't need them anymore.
XXXX-X4: Delete this chat log.
Eryx Algeo: Ok.
He stares at his phone, the conversation was short, it seems that the other numbers were humans and this one was a vampire selling drugs to him to turn, fascinating. He deletes the chat log as requested, proceeding to read the other texts.
XXXX-X9: Bastard, you're the shame of your family, who would've thought that the youngest from the great Algeo family was a human? But if you pay me I can keep my mouth shut.
XXXX-X9 sent a picture.
Things are getting complicated, he thinks as he stares at the picture. It was completely disgusting, he recognized himself and an urge of throwing up washes over him. The picture is him covered in semen, his eyes are dulled and his pupils are dilated, he's clearly out of it. I don't think I would've… but again what does he know? He has no memory, his mother told him he was using drugs, he even found drugs in his pillow! And not only that but the other texts were also implying he exchanged that type of things for drugs, the pictures in his room after he turned 18 are also proof that he was constantly out, his eyes dulled and expression of misery.
The next texts make everything worse.
XXXX-X5: Eryx, the guys are pretty pissed because you ditched midway, did you regret it? I know you come from a family of vampires, but there's no shame in being human.
XXXX-X5: You were the one that said you wanted to try out that drug, the guys were nice enough to buy for you, but you never paid them.
XXXX-X5: Dony said he was going to leak that video of yours to the press.
XXXX-X5: Yuri went missing, so everyone is on edge.
XXXX-X5: Eryx, Yuri is dead.
XXXX-X5: Call me.
XXXX-X5: Fuck, I was nice to you and you think you can just ignore my texts? You're nothing but a whore Eryx, you deserve what's coming for you.
XXXX-X5 sent a video.
Eryx runs to the bathroom, emptying the contents of his stomach in the toilet, his face more pale than normal, his hands trembling and his throat burning. Too much, that was too much, he thinks. Not only does he have amnesia, since he didn't feed enough, but he just emptied all he ate from watching that video.
The video is muted, but he doesn't need the sound to understand what was happening, it's a video of him sucking four men off, they shove their dicks down his throat yet he barely reacts, his pupils dilated and his actions are consistent to a drug high. Isn't this abuse? Wasn't I abused? This… He starts crying, the door of the bathroom opens wide and he's laying next to the toilet. The rest of the texts only make him sicker.
XXXX-X5: Guess who just received this?
XXXX-X5 sent a picture.
Did they just send that to his brother? He doesn't recognize who it is from the picture since he hasn't met all of his brothers, but the red hair and eyes are enough clues for him to know that those bastards sent that video to one of them. By the time in the texts the video was sent half an hour ago, soon everyone in his family will know.
I'm the victim though.
But it isn't that simple, even if he's the victim, he was high on drugs he apparently chose to take himself.
How can I fix this before going to the Academy tomorrow?
Once he enters the Academy he'll need to focus on beating the heroine and if this is still lingering around he won't be able to focus. He throws up again, his whole body trembling as he feels weak, his eyes burning from hunger. I need to feed again but I don't have the stomach or strength.
This night doesn't seem to end, not only he woke up and fed from a dead body, but he also had a huge amount of information dumped on him at once.
XXXX-X5: I hope you know what you're doing, I can help you if you just call me.
XXXX-X5: They're saying you killed Yuri.
XXXX-X5: But they found vampire marks on his body, ha, Ery, did you run to your brothers?
XXXX-X5: Fucking bro-con, did you suck their dicks too?
What a fucking mess. It seems that someone appeared dead, maybe it's the body I fed from? If it is, this is becoming even more complicated.
His phone rings, the caller ID showing Brother Ezekiel. He doesn't pick up, not only he doesn't have the strength but he doesn't think he can speak right now.
It only takes four minutes though, the door from the house slams open, the sound loud like a thunder, and soon a figure appears at the bathroom door, staring down at a sick Eryx, the red eyes showing anger and disbelief, the man is the tallest of all the brothers he met. His red hair was buzz cut and he was wearing a black leather jacket, shirt and pants, the boy makes a mental observation that his brother looks like a grim reaper, and the scar going from his right eye to the left part of his chin gives the man a more intimidating aura.
"Brother, what are you doing here?" Eryx hears Mael's voice from the corridor.
The man raises his cellphone, showing the brother in the corridor why he was there. Eryx doesn't need to see Mael to know his reaction, he can hear his brother's shock. And surely, Mael's face appears behind the scary looking brother, his face pale, but his eyes are showing nothing but worry. For someone cursing me a while ago he sure loves me. Eryx thinks, feeling sicker.
"Care to explain?" Not only was his face scary but also his voice, strong like a thunder, making Eryx shiver.
"I don't remember", Eryx says, closing his eyes and leaning on the toilet, he tosses his phone to the two brothers. "I don't know what I did or why", tears flow down his face, he's scared. He opens his eyes, his orange irises shining with the tears. "Help me, brothers".
He refuses to look at them as they go through his messages log, he feels like insects are walking all over his skin, he feels disgusting. The video replayed non stop inside his brain. And by cue, he turns to throw up again.
Mael goes through who Eryx assumes is Ezekiel - since the video was sent to him -, reaching the sick boy, helping him to get up. He's carried all the way to the kitchen, being forced to sit at the counter while Mael grabs a few blood bags from the fridge and tosses them in front of Eryx.
"Eat while I talk with Ezekiel", his tone is softer than before, Eryx nods, without the strength to speak. Mael leaves, but even if they're far, the boy can still hear his brothers discussing. "Just kill them", Mael says.
"It's not that simple, they're humans", Ezekiel answers. Eryx slowly swallows the sweet blood, it helps him feel better but the urge to throw up again doesn't go away. "As a detective yourself you know what could go wrong Mael".
"Exactly because I'm a detective!" Mael raises his voice before lowering again. "We all knew Eryx was using something but we assumed it was just vampire drugs, if he was using human drugs along with that we should've helped him!"
"He's already an adult, aren't you the one who constantly lectures Nicolas for babying him?" Ezekiel snorts, Eryx nods along, remembering how just moments ago Mael was arguing with Levi about him.
"That was because he was spoiled! But the situation is different now", Mael sighs, Eryx can't see them, but he can see the man scratching his head and pulling his long hair back just by the sounds they're making. "He's a newborn now, and he doesn't even have his memories, this must be a shock".
"You're scared he'll be traumatized?" Ezekiel asks, he continues speaking so Eryx assumes Mael must've nodded. "I can use my ability if he wants, we can change his number and do an investigation ourselves".
"Do you think he'll want to have his memories erased?" Mael's voice is filled with worry. "When he's already amnesiac?"
Eryx finishes the fourth blood bag, a notification from the system pops up.
Congratulations for reaching 0% thirst, remember to constantly feed so that you don't suffer side effects! The penalties are turned off.
And as simple as that Eryx not only feels his body becoming healthier, but he receives a surge of memories, some clearer while others are more muddled, not only memories of his life as Eryx, but also memories of his past life, he still doesn't remember his or his sister's face and name, but he can remember his childhood and other memories.
However the memories from those moments from the video aren't a part of the memories he remembers. He can recall meeting a group of friends and taking drugs due to their influence, he can also remember the first picture they sent him, and the increasing requests. He never 'paid' the drugs sober so the memories of the acts don't exist, only the aftermath and the blackmail.
It all started when his friends found out he was taking drugs to become a vampire at the prime age of 17, and then this nightmare kept happening for two years. They kept threatening him, and he kept consuming drugs to forget what was happening, the texts, threats and verbal abuse made Eryx become a shell of himself, he stopped playing the piano and violin, shutting out and focusing on studying. He wanted to make his brothers proud with his studies at least, since he was a disappointment already.
The system detected harmful memories to the user that threaten the missions' progress.
A sudden Mission appeared!
The youngest deserves a good school life!
(In Progress)
Brother Ezekiel and Mael are worried about the dark past of the youngest of the eight brothers. A family means helping each other and also killing humans if necessary!
Brother Mael is a detective from the vampire-human taskforce, convince him to help you erase your past as a human and rebuild yourself as a newborn vampire! (Reward: Mael will start doting on you and the probability of him helping you in the future will increase. Penalty if failed: Your relationship with Mael will be forever soiled).
Brother Ezekiel is a professional hitman but a softie for his younger brothers, convince him to erase the existence of those who are harming you. (Reward: Peace of mind, all of the memories of the videos and pictures erased and a gift from Ezekiel. Penalty if failed: A scar and both Ezekiel and Mael will be arrested).
What's with these penalties? If he fails it's the same as ruining both of his brothers' futures. Eryx gets up, going to his brothers.
"My memories are back", he says, grabbing the two men's attention, "All of them", he completes. "I think feeding helped".
Mael grabs his shoulders. "What do you remember?"
Slowly he tells them, all about how he went after drugs to awaken as a vampire to how his friends threatened him by giving him human drugs and forcing him to do those sexual favors in exchange to not telling his brothers. And how that night he was going to do the same but he ran away scared after they told him they intended to take his virginity, he didn't take any drugs that night but passed out while running and woke up in an alley already having turned.
He doesn't tell them about the dead body, though.
"I see", Ezekiel says, his expression is obscured by the badly lit corridor, but Eryx can tell he's controlling his anger by his voice alone.
"Ha, they're insane", Mael says, his expression more clear, his eyes wide and his lips pursed, he's pissed off.
Eryx appreciates his brothers, now that he has his memories back he can remember how much he was cared for. Even if they constantly argued and not all his brothers were exactly caring, he had everything, except being a vampire like them. His biggest fear always was dying as a pathetic human, it didn't help that he had an inferiority complex to Luc, his brother who's only two years older than him. While Eryx had his talents, he was human, and he was constantly compared by those around him to his more talented vampire older brother.
But that's different now, he not only is also a vampire, but the memories of his past life soothe his heart, he doesn't need to be perfect to be loved, he knows that now. But he didn't know that before.
"Brothers, can I ask you a favor?"
ꕥ
Characters Profiles
Eryx Algeo (Main Character)
The Eighth Algeo Brother
Age: 19 years old (19)
Species: Newborn Vampire
Height: 170cm (5'7'')
Birthday: October 31st
Hobbies: Solving math problems and reading music partitions.
Likes: Piano, violin, math and his brothers (except Luc).
Dislikes: History, sermons, drugs, crying and Luc.
TMI: Prints all the pictures he takes with his brothers (except Luc) and puts them in a folder to look at when he's feeling sad. Basically a bro-con.
Mael Algeo
The Sixth Algeo Brother
Age: 24 years old (68)
Species: Vampire
Profession: Detective
Height: 183cm (6'0'')
Birthday: August 6th
Hobbies: Painting mountains and camping.
Likes: Classical music, architecture, playing games and being outside.
Dislikes: Solving his brothers' problems or being compared to them, animal cruelty and sports.
TMI: Never cut his hair after one of his Academy friends said he looked exactly like his older brother (Milo).
Levi Algeo
The Fifth Algeo Brother
Age: 23 years old (110)
Species: Vampire
Profession: CEO of Parts (a Music Instruments Manufacturer)
Height: 175cm (5'9'')
Birthday: January 2nd
Hobbies: Playing Piano and listening to music.
Likes: Create instrument designs, listen to his brothers play music, talk with his mother and watch reality TV.
Dislikes: Popular music, newspapers, studying and having to nag his brothers.
TMI: When he was at the Academy he won an award for the talent show all 3 years in a row, all of the records of those shows were mysteriously burnt after his younger brothers were born. Occasionally his older brothers would bring it up, but he fought for his honor every time by hitting them.
Ezekiel Algeo
The Third Algeo Brother
Age: 20 years old (367)
Species: Vampire
Profession: Hitman (Was a Professional Ballet Dancer before his fourth brother was born)
Height: 191cm (6'3'')
Birthday: September 28th
Hobbies: Anything related to Ballet, flower arrangement and cleaning his guns.
Likes: Sci-fi movies, operas, ballet and fashion.
Dislikes: Insects, romance movies, relationships, airplanes and human blood.
TMI: When Milo (fourth brother) was born he got into an accident on his way to the hospital, making him injure his leg and giving him the scar he has on his face. After that he decided to be a strong older brother and bulked up, became a hitman after becoming fascinated with guns.