Beyond the Afterlife

CHAPTER 4

"THE f**k! f*****g f**k!" Hannuel cursed himself, seething with anger.

Even now, Hannuel was still deep in thought. In all the decades he had walked the earth, never once had he experienced panic—until now. Just moments ago, when he realized his compulsion didn't work on the girl. Another mystery was why he couldn't hear her thoughts. He could hear the thoughts of all humans, especially when they were nearby. But this girl, even though she was right there, he still couldn't hear a single thing she was thinking.

What was even more baffling was that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't compel her. In the Valtieri family—a lineage of astral vampires who feed on blood energy in the dreams of mortals—Hannuel possessed the strongest and most refined abilities.

Even his parents were impressed with the gift of their firstborn. His abilities were so exceptional that they often saved the family from difficult situations. He was always confident, particularly because he could hear what others were thinking and could compel mortals to see or know things about him.

The fact that a mortal could resist his abilities was truly troubling. And why, after all these decades, had such a mortal only appeared now?

"Woman, what do you have that allows you to repulse my abilities?" he wondered aloud.

After ensuring the woman's safety, Hannuel returned to his place. Each of his siblings had their own designated area to guard their mortal sources of food as darkness fell. They were Necrosiphones—a race of soul suckers who drained the souls of humans.

Once a soul sucker made eye contact with a human, their victim had no chance of escape. A soul sucker could absorb a mortal's soul with a mere touch of their lips, usually through a kiss, which drained the very essence of life. This was what made soul suckers strong and kept them alive. The Necrosiphones grew larger and more powerful, and Hannuel would not allow them to continue depleting his family's food supply.

They were not enemies of humanity; they merely shared in its strength. While it was true that they caused nightmares, they never intended to kill their food source. It wasn't their fault if the person they chose to drain had a weak heart. To be safe, they usually targeted astral travelers—humans who could leave their bodies and travel to imaginative places within their dreams. The Astral Society safeguarded the astral planes that travelers visited, ensuring bad elements couldn't enter.

However, no world is truly balanced without both good and evil. Dark entities could always find a way in, and astral vampires like Hannuel and his family were the only dark entities capable of entering the astral planes where travelers sought refuge.

Fortunately for his kind, they did not share in consuming the blood energy of astral travelers.

Yet, after years of indulging in the blood energies of humans within the astral planes, the Necrosiphones had come to the Philippines, where Hannuel's family had settled. The Necrosiphones were depleting their food source, and to prevent a shortage, the Valtieri family had to protect the humans. They decided to divide themselves across different parts of the community to ensure their food source's safety.

Hannuel often saw the woman in the community where he was stationed. She usually returned home around midnight, often stopping her car as if in distress. He wouldn't have cared about her personal problems, even if she cried constantly inside her car, had it not been for the fact that a soul sucker was about to attack her. Protecting humans was his duty. Before the soul sucker could get close to the woman's car, Hannuel intervened. They fought fiercely, even knocking off the roof of the woman's car. The woman must have been curious, as she stepped out of the vehicle.

The soul sucker's desire to consume the woman's soul grew stronger, and Hannuel did everything in his power to stop and kill the creature. Afterward, he decided to take the girl home.

He hadn't thought it foolish to reveal his abilities to the girl, believing he could compel her to forget the strange events of that night. But what happened next left him stunned. What was he to do now? He couldn't penetrate the woman's mind.

"Ah! I'll deal with her later. I need to eat."

Hannuel returned to their mansion to astral travel. He ascended to the astral plane, joining many travelers to feed. He desperately needed it, having lost much energy in the battle with the soul sucker.

•┈┈┈•┈┈┈•┈┈┈