After a minute of walking, they arrived in front of Blacky's apartment building, where he lived with his mother. It was a modest, not very modern apartment, with a small basketball court. Then, they walked down a dark hallway.
Their apartment was #34. They reached the entrance to the apartment. Blacky stopped and knocked on the door.
Knock... Knock... He always knocked twice slowly, so his mother would know it was him. Because in this particularly dangerous neighborhood, one always had to be wary of everything; even the most insignificant situation could have enormous repercussions.
The door opened slowly, and there stood a man Blacky knew very well.
"You? What are you doing in our home?" Blacky said to the man who had opened the door.
Then, Dracula was seized by a strange sensation. Inside, at the back of the room, he could see the aura of something foul and sickening, something that anyone would have described as Death.
"This room smells of death, it's distressing. No matter what happened in this room, someone is dead, it's inevitable."
The man then pulled out a white bag and displayed a demonic laugh. "Hee hee, my dear Blacky... Your mother didn't learn her lesson from last time. She owed the boss money, remember?"
"Yes, I remember, but what's the connection? She said she would pay your boss back, didn't she?"
Dracula, for his part, was sitting on the balcony, waiting.
But the man in question opened the bag and asked Blacky to take a look inside. What he saw inside that bag put him in a complete state of shock.
Inside were the remains of his mother's body, cut into small pieces. It looked like it had been done by hand, and the man in front of him showed no remorse.
"You baaaaastard!" Blacky screamed in rage.
When Dracula noticed, he logically remained calm, given that he didn't really have a human heart to feel pity, fear, or grief.
Dracula, who was sitting on the balcony, stood up.
"This is very unfortunate, my delicious Isolde has been murdered. It just goes to show how repugnant this world is. But because of you, I will no longer have information about my old friend whom I'm so desperately searching for."
Blacky, impulsively, punched the man in question in the face with a tremendous blow. Struck with full force, the man staggered and fell.
"Take that... that, that, and that." Blacky laid into the man, blood splattering on the floor and the apartment doorframe. The man's face was completely disfigured. It was at that moment that a kick came out of nowhere, sending Blacky flying backward.
And Dracula caught him in his arms. They were men in suits, five of them. They took off their jackets, revealing their tattoos.
Blacky finally understood that his mother had been dealing with the heavy hitters of the Japanese mafia in the United States. He knew their situation wasn't stable, as he risked ending up homeless. That's why Blacky had found a job to provide for them.
It was the Oniwaka-kai, the Association of Young Demons, a yakuza clan with brutal methods, under the direction and command of their leader, Shouta Onizuka.
The five of them pulled out katanas they had kept behind their backs.
Dracula stepped forward and proclaimed.
"What a magnificent show! I thought I was watching a performance straight out of a circus," Dracula laughed.
The first yakuza tried to slice Dracula's neck, but his sword broke. The yakuza cried out, "That's impossible!"
Then, Dracula emitted a red aura and, with his voice alone, commanded the five men: "Kneel!"
The five men knelt as if controlled by a single mind. Blacky was still surprised by Dracula's abilities; for him, it was like watching magic tricks.
Dracula asked just one simple question: "Life or death?"
The five yakuzas, who were paralyzed and unable to move, began to shed tears, and snot ran from their nostrils. It was an amusing spectacle for Dracula, who was thoroughly enjoying himself.
Then, one of them, trembling, replied: "Life, please, sir, I have a wife and children."
"Hmmm..." Dracula mused, holding his chin.
"You have a wife and children? I already knew that. But before killing that wonderful woman, did you think about her son?"
"This is the facet of human beings that I detest the most: you don't want others to do to you what you do to them?"
"In any case, whether you chose life or death, in either case, I would have killed you anyway."
"Now, it's time to feed."
Dracula's eyes turned red and his energy made contact with the five yakuzas. Blacky was still there, nearby, drained of his energy, contemplating the masterpiece. "What is this nonsense now?"
Dracula's aura was draining their life force and siphoning everything, accelerating their aging until their bodies were completely deconstructed.
After that, Dracula went inside the apartment and Blacky followed him, dragging the man whose face he had disfigured by the collar. First, Blacky went to his phone to notify the police of what had just happened in his apartment, and Dracula was annoyed when Blacky called the cops.
Blacky dialed 911. "Yes, police?"
"Hello sir, it's urgent, my... my mother has just been murdered by a group of people. I'm in the Anacostia neighborhood, six blocks away."
"You could have waited before calling the cops, kid. I'm still looking for information about that old friend I told you about. Since your mother is no longer alive, I was thinking that..."
Blacky cut him off immediately. "Silence, you psychopath! I'm not in the mood to think about your desires... I just saw the fucking pieces of my mother in a white bag!"
Dracula approached Blacky and hugged him, and Blacky cried his eyes out. "Kid, let me tell you, before this curse, I was happy, I had a family, but I watched my entire lineage die before my eyes. And it's an incurable pain that cannot be healed, because immortality means that the people you love die and you continue to live, that is the worst pain."
Blacky understood what Dracula meant. "And this friend you speak of, what is his name?"
Dracula smiled and said, "His name is Orpheus Sangrael."
Blacky, at that precise moment, had a flashback. He briefly remembered his appearance. This Orpheus had long white hair. From what he remembered, he used to visit Blacky and his mother every month, but for a while now, he hadn't seen the man again.
But Blacky knew where the man lived. "Orpheus Sangrael? Hmmm... I believe his mansion is in the Capitol Hill neighborhood."
Dracula could know where another vampire was if he knew their location. Once in Capitol Hill, he would have no problem finding Orpheus.
But Dracula's time on the earthly plane was only temporary; he had other plans and some meetings with the vampire council in the vampiric dimension.
"Thank you for the information, kid, but it's time for me to go. We might see each other again soon or in a century, who knows, until then..." he paused.
Suddenly, he plunged his arm into his chest and pulled out a stylish sword that emanated a dark red aura. Then, he approached Blacky and plunged it into his chest.
"Argh! What are you doing? That hurts like hell!" Blacky screamed in pain.
"This is the necrotic blade I created. This blade should allow you to unlock your vampiric hybrid potential. Thank me, kid, you'll have superpowers."
"With that, it's time for me to go check on Orpheus Sangrael. I'll tell him about you, he'll know how to guide and advise you."
After that, the sound of police sirens, along with ambulances, could be heard.
It was at that moment that Dracula dematerialized as if he had vanished or become invisible. Blacky no longer felt his presence.
Decidedly, it had been a difficult day for him.