Celestial Clans: The vampire prince's origin

A new family

20th July, 1974

7:15PM

Hoia-Baciu forest, Transylvania, Bucharest, Central Romania

Normal Earthly realm

23 year old Erico Cacciatore (called Eric by most of his friends) sat alone in his cabin in the middle of presumably nowhere to anyone else. When choosing a place to visit weeks back with his now deceased wife, they both wanted a place that would give them as much thrill as anywhere else in the world while being very quiet and uninhabited so they could be totally alone. Eric’s friend had told them of a forest in Romania that was rumored to be hunted and the young couple instantly knew they had to visit it. They had been married since they were both 19 mostly due to the fact that Eric had inherited a lot of wealth and saw no reason to wait any longer when he was madly in love with his childhood sweetheart. Situations beyond his control had led to his wife’s death days back and while he had her body sent back home and let his friend handle the burial, he had been unable to leave this forest just yet. For some reason he found himself unwilling to leave, a part of him felt it was simply because this was the last place he made wonderful memories with his deceased wife before her strange death in this strange forest.

He sat alone in the warmth of the well heated living room but felt cold, a part of him still struggling to accept that his wife was gone as he stared into the darkness of the forest from the large window in the sitting room as he had done for the past days that he had been here alone. He was spotting his usual crew cut but his usually clean shaven face now had very visible stubble, his appearance had not crossed his mind for days. He was a young, wealthy millionaire but at the moment could see no way to move forward after losing the one and only woman he had ever loved, the fact that her death was clouded in mystery was going to make it that much harder to move on. He sat there lost in his thought for hours having not eaten for 2 straight days on end when he heard it.

It sounded so much like a baby making sounds. It was hard to discern if the baby was laughing or crying from a distance, he quickly dismissed the possibility of a baby being in this forest as impossible. It was not possible for anyone to get into the forest without him knowing, the forest was way to quiet to cover any movements. The people living around the forest could also never get into the forest for any reason; they avoided the forest like a plague and only ever looked at it from a distance. As he escaped his thoughts and came back to reality, he heard the sound this time as clear as it were coming from the front door of his log cabin. Picking out his 1970 semi-automatic Zastava M70 pistol from the cabinet drawer with his right hand, he walked quickly and confidently to the front door expecting to find nothing but preparing to face anything. He was not afraid of the dark at all; it was part of his family business and a major part as well. The Cacciatore family had been a wealthy one and had left him with wealth beyond imagination as he was the very last member of the family still alive, he had also been very serious with ensuring his family still had a strong representation in the Hunters Guild. After working being a hunter for so long there was nothing in darkness that could bother or scare him anymore, creatures of darkness were part of the mission most of the time.

He swung the door open swiftly and pointed his small pistol outside turning from the left to the right and letting the gun fall to his side only after assuring there was no one standing outside. He was about to close the door when he heard the sound of the baby cooing again, this time it was clear and distinct enough for his ears to reflexively trace as he looked down at the floor in front of the front door to notice an expensive looking cot for the first time. Squatting so he could look into the cot and then he saw grey eyes looking back at him and laughing, he took the cot up from the ground immediately and got back into the house and bolted his door shut. Now he knew why he had felt like staying for all this time at the exact same place his wife died. Destiny was either playing a mean trick with him or trying to give him comfort in his pain, trying to give the young widower a new family to love and care for. He took up his phone from the small dining table and dialed the one number he knew could be capable of giving him all the help he thought he needed at the moment. Someone on the other end of the phone picked up but said nothing for some seconds before speaking.

“Eric I am really getting tired of doing magical favors for you, it can get really exhausting. What can I do for you this time.” asked the witch in her usually calm tone of voice. “I helped with all the teleportation to that ugly place and would love to help you out with anything else you need for now, but you really need to get out of that forest Eric.” She added with concern very obvious in her rich voice.

“I am actually ready to leave this place now, just like you and everyone else have been insisting I do. I actually need your help sorting out a lot of stuff at the moment. I hope you can be here in five?” Eric asked quietly.

“5 what, five hours?” the witch asked.

“No, more like 5 minutes and please hurry.” Eric said and then cut the call; he had to cut it so she would know just how serious he was with her coming over immediately.