Into Light Bleeds Shadow (story)

The townsfolk have been searching for our lair for some time now with their dogs and another creature. We have dealt with dogs throughout time and they fear us, these other creatures do not. They seem to be a cross breed of some sort, possibly even genetically enhanced, to track and attack us without fear. Their strength is immense and their jaws powerful enough to sever a limb.

I witnessed an attack on one of our kind by a pack of these beasts.. His name was Stephan, he was my friend and lover. Having not fed for a couple of days we rose ready for the hunt. We were watching a lovely young couple kissing in the park and were about to approach them when a pack of vicious beasts broke through a thicket. They were quiet and fast. The fact that they startled us gave us an advantage. Even so, they had Stephan before he could leap into the tree where I watched as they attacked, severing one hand at the wrist and one leg bitten through at the knee. He howled and hissed as a human approached to decapitate him with an ax. At that moment I slid into shadow.

A man had arrived in the village, Nathaniel Rolard. These creatures with him.Very large and muscular with enormous feel. From a distance one could be mistaken for a large breed of albino dog, until you got close enough for a good look. There were no ears, only openings on either side of an over sized head, with yellow-orange eyes and a bat-like snout. virtually no fur to speak of, the skin is whitish and nearly transparent. The maw seems always open and drooling, full of razor sharp, spiked teeth and it's breath smells of rotting flesh.

Nathaniel introduced the villagers to his monstrosities and joined the search for our lair. Unfortunately, these beasts proved to be everything he claimed. That is when they began to discover the entrances and seal them up. One, two sometimes three in a weeks time.

Any documentation of the catacombs was destroyed mysteriously in a fire shortly after we arrived. But now with Rolard here, even our pets from the village (those who have answered our calling and allow is to feed freely) have begun to vanish, especially now that the entrances are being sealed. Apparently in an effort to keep any plans from reaching us. There are till many entrances remaining, it will take time to locate and seal them all and that is just what it is...a matter of time. There are those among us who choose to ignore the possibility that we may find ourselves trapped here for eternity.

This evening I wake before the others and prepare for the night's forage. What it that! No! They couldn't have found and sealed them all so soon. Panic stricken I find a hiding black, a shaft behind a circle of carved knots. I hear the shouts and growling, the splash of liquid; then the crackle and pop of the fire. The screams come next, of the others waking aflame.

The smell...Ughhh! I close my eyes to the stinging, stinking smoke. The screaming and crackling seems endless. When I realize the screaming and crackling have ceased, I can't recall how long ago. I don't want to leave my hiding place but I desperately need to feed. Damn, if I had kept my wits about me I could have simply slipped into shadow and escaped. It's strange what panic can do.

The fire has burned itself out. Everything is blackened. the charred bodies of all the other litter the remains of the catacombs. The air is thick with the burnt stench. There are more sounds coming from the passageways. Are they returning to inspect their handiwork? I slide behind what was once a thick red Velvet drapery, now just a tattered blackened rag. The sounds become voices of those who rested elsewhere and are returning. I am about to reveal myself when the curtain crumbles as it is snatched back and they advance, inhaling my scent and hissing. I claw my way through them hissing back and explain about the villagers who came with their creatures and torches. We search the labyrinth of catacombs looking for other who may have survived as I did. There are very few. they had coordinated their assault well. Entering from a choice few entrances to ensure total destruction of the lair and it inhabitants. They thoroughly succeeded. We have to find a new resting place4 by sunrise, somewhere far away from Nathaniel Rolard and his monsters.

Shadow is a good place to travel through, but we cannot rest in shadow. So we travel from town to town through shadow and feed. we do not know if we are truly all that is left of those who dwelt in the catacombs, but that doesn't really matter now. Once we have found another den we will have to discover what manner of man this Nathaniel Rolard is, where his demon-hounds came from and their weakness.