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Eternal Night

The night holds many secrets, some of which are discovered and brought to light. Others are kept secret by those who know them. If they are found, sometimes there is a price to pay. Immortality for your humanity, power for God's love, and so on. Of the few that discover these secrets are vampires, demons, and werewolves. From the shadows they came, in the shadows they remain, and to the shadows they shall return.

Chapter 1
The True Night

He awoke on Halloween morning 2007, prepared for a long night of joy and treats and parties. Little did Jack Marshall expect that this would be his last night as a normal human being. Jack got up and stretched and looked out the window at the small town of Rivervalley, Illinois. Everything was in a Halloween spirit, including the trees. Ghosts and witches were hanging by strings from roofs and branches, while tombstones with zombie heads and hands littered the ground. Jack scratched his large stomach. At age fourteen, he was a large guy weighing one-hundred fifty pounds and had lots of hair on his face that he'd managed to grow into something of a beard. He quickly got dressed and ate a quick breakfast before started the short walk to school. There he would stare into space for the next few hours before going home and going to several parties and pigging out on tons of candy. Once he got home, it was already getting dark.

"Now we want you home by midnight Jackie. Understand?" His mother said to him as if he was a little kid.

"Don't worry Mom. I'll be safe from the vampires and chainsaw nuts." He assured her sarcastically. Mrs. Marshall smiled and let him out the door. His dad nodded his head to Jack as he left. And Jack was off. He raced down the streets towards his first party. Michael Harris let him in.

"Finally! Thought you'd never come!" Mike said in an exasperated voice. Very little occurred at the party, though Jack did dance with several cute girls, though he never understood how, considering they had more fish in the sea than him. He got sick from too much candy and went outside in the last minutes of the party. He waited for Mike to finish locking up before going with him to the next party. It was roughly nine and darkness had set. While Jack was waiting, something began making a terrible noise that sounded like an alligator fighting a giant hissing cat. Out of curiosity and boredom, Jack decided to go investigate the horrible noise. For the next seven thousand years, he would regret that choice. He followed the racket to a bridge, but couldn't find the source until he realized it was underneath the bridge. He climbed down the steep banks and into the shallow creek. When he looked up, the noise had become silent hisses. What he saw scared the life out of him. Almost literally. Before him were two creatures. Both seemed human, though one was crawling on the supports for the bridge, while the other was crawling like some kind of animal on the ground. The one on the ground wore a torn and ragged robe, while the one on the supports wore a tank top and jeans, all of which was black. The climbing one had pale skin and coal black hair. Jack couldn't see the other one's face, nor did he want to, because it was emitting the alligator hissing noise. Both creatures grew silent as they saw the teenage boy standing there, awestruck. Suddenly, a voice shattered the darkness. It was cold but kind, if that's even possible. It made Jack feel safe.

"Don't even think about it, Vaness. You've already fed, and I will not allow you to feed again, ever." This seemed to be coming from the robed being. The climbing one jumped and landed gracefully on the ground. That's when Jack noticed it was a beautiful woman with her hair in a ponytail. Her eyes were a deep blue.

"Oh, but he's so young and tender," she whined. "Besides, you wouldn't mind, now would you?" She asked Jack, making a little sad pout and looking into his eyes. The moment he returned her gaze he felt a strange feeling in his head. It kept saying to him, Say yes, Jack.

"Vaness!" The cold and kind voice was back, filled with rage and directed at the woman, who was next to Jack, though he did not know how she got there. "Leave him be, monster!"

The woman laughed. "Monster? Look who's talking!" Her voice was filled with scorn. "I've seen murderers that are less monstrous than you!" This seemed to push the robed person's buttons badly, because he began to his again. But this time it was worse. This time, it seemed to fill the entire night on its own. The woman only laughed again. "See," Vaness said to Jack. "Who is the monster here, little old me," she put an innocent puppy dog look on her face "or, that thing over there?" She said nodding at the being in the robe, which had stopped hissing. Jack stood, swaying with uncertainty. If he were to go by appearance, he would have definitely gone with the woman. But he had learned not to judge by appearances. The creature wearing a robe seemed kinder, more willing to protect those like Jack who were ignorant of what was going on there. Finally, Jack collapsed. Vaness laughed a cruel, cold, harsh laugh.

"Vaness, if you take one step towards the mortal, I will personally save a spot for you in Hell!" the robed person shouted, his voice losing all of its kindness through his anger and hatred towards the thing before him.

"Oh, Masu, always such a charmer." The woman sighed mockingly. Masu began to crouch low to the ground, his stomach scraping the bottom of the creek. Before Vaness realized what he was doing, Masu leapt the twenty feet to Jack's prone form, grabbed the boy, and flew off down the creek. Literally, he flew off. His feet never touched the ground as he fled. It seemed as though he was suspended by shadows as Masu rapidly made his way towards an ancient church at the top of a hill.