The Hidden World of Gods and Magic

Chapter Nine

While Bellator dreamed he could hear the screams of his mother before her dying breath. He could feel her pain of child birth. He could see the woman helping his mother through child birth and holding him, still covered in blood and birth mucus. He could hear and see himself cry through someone else’s eyes and ears. This happens every time he went into a very deep sleep.

Bellator found himself fleeing the village when he was caught drinking the blood of a young girl in the neighboring village on his 16th birthday. It was a confusing time for him. He started growing faster and stronger by each day. His body went through some rough changes and nobody could understand what he was going through.

He hated the village people for not having the answers. They believed him to be a demon and they wanted to burn him at the stake. They believed if they could burn a demon with fire, it would be sent back to hell. There’s just one problem with that, how could they know what a demon looked like? Stories of demons taking on any form has terrified the villages and caused the deaths of numerous innocent people…

 There was a young woman in that village who had tried to help him, but she was still in the progress to become one of the priestesses for the temple of Athena. She was the most beautiful woman Bellator has ever seen. Some might say that she was even more beautiful than the goddess herself. Every man in his village wanted to marry her or at least lay with her for one night. She always politely declined each offer. Bellator heard after a few short years that the woman was cursed and became something else entirely. She was well known as the serpent who turned any man to stone with a just a look. He often still wondered what the reason was for the goddess to curse her so. Was the goddess jealous of the woman? Or was there a different reason for Athena’s unforgiving hatred?

 He wondered about a lot of things for a few years when Bellator was found by his father and they welcomed him into their ranks. He was the leader of their clan’s son. This basically means that if his father should die, he will be the new leader, much like the werewolf packs, unless a vampire should challenge him and win the battle against him. Funny how vampires and werewolves are so much alike, yet they are mortal enemies. Bellator still thinks that the god responsible, for both curses, has a bad sense of humor. Bellator has met some of the werewolves before his father found him. They were very nice people. He of course fancied a wolf girl and he knew they would never be together.

Sometimes Bellator still thinks of the passionate night he and the wolf girl had and wondered if she was alive today, would think of him and that night. He remembered the story the girl told him of the night creatures that looked human but had a horrifying thirst for blood. She told him that they would rip people apart so the bodies could not be identified. Some of the women in the village gave themselves willingly to these creatures, with the hope they too would walk amongst them.

These creatures made promises of giving the people the gifts of eternal life, eternal beauty and unimaginable strength. That was enough for most of the village people. They wanted to live forever. They were too eager to give themselves to these creatures. Most did not return. Some of the ones that did were horrified and bleeding to death.

Others turned into something that would have made Hades himself proud. They too did not live for very long. One of the women that returned said that fire keeps them away and that is how she could survive. Bellator soon found out that this survivor was his mother. She said they could not enter her shelter; it looked like something, like a wall not visible to the eye, stopped them from entering. The woman said these creatures stalked their shelters like animals, disappearing with the shadows of the night.

One a few of them stayed and ended up burning in the sunlight which made them hid in the shadows again. She gave birth to a little creature not long after she returned. She died during child birth. The boy was forced to leave the village, he too had a thirst for blood, but he could walk in the sun. Before his mother died she had named him Bellator luminis which means ‘warrior of light’.

With that painful memory, Bellator forced the memory into the back of his mind, not wanting to see the face of the wolf girl as he told her that he was the one they called Bellator Luminis. Or what he did to her whole village after she screamed and looked at him horrified. There were so much blood and body parts…

Bellator stood and scanned his surroundings. Some of it still looks familiar. It has changed so much. His father told him that at times a vampire needs to sleep for a century. They used to call it the sleep of time. It was a way for vampires to stop growing old and survive the hardships in life without seeing it firsthand. The blood of the elder vampires would give them the information they needed for when they awoke. Something in the line of blood letting them ‘see’ through the eyes others. This was a very long and complicated ritual and only the ‘worthy’ ones would have the privilege of this ritual.

If the ritual was done correctly, the vampire that woke would be able to speak the language of the era they awoke in. If the ritual was done wrong on any account, the vampire would go mad and devour himself. They called it the blood sickness, this only happened once that Bellator could recall. He was only 18 when this happened and his father had to bleed the vampire dry in a attempt to save him. It did not work and the whole covenant mourned for years. At times the covenant could be so dramatic.

As Bellator stepped out into the sunlight he could see the wolves gathering. It was time to feed again. He hated this part of him. He had lost so much because of the need to feed. He lost the little he had left of his mother. He didn’t get a chance to get to know the beautiful priestess. He doesn’t even know what happened to her, and judging by the way the world around him has changed; she would have died a long time ago from old age.

He had to start focusing on the task at hand. Time for wondering about the past would soon come but now he had to go and rescue his father. Funny how fate would have it. The bustard disowned him after he spoke out of turn. Yet here he is trying to find him. Fate is indeed a cruel mistress.

He started his journey after he fed. It was more satisfying for him to feed on the blood of werewolves than any other creature. Feeding on the blood of a virgin was close. He would have to find shelter fast. Even though he could walk amongst humans, he would then tire quickly. Being the only vampire, to his knowledge, that could walk in the sunlight. Life was rather lonely. He never told his father that he could walk into the sunlight and not burn to death. He knew that his father would deem him a worthy sacrifice for the clan, so he kept quiet.

As he walked he came across small ruins of a once mighty temple. The statues of the goddess Athena were no longer towering over the gardens. The gardens were overgrown and overtaken by deadly weeds. He could find shelter in those ruins. The biggest thing he might encounter would be a lion but nothing else. He could use the hide of the lion to make himself a bag for supplies. If he was to survive in this new era, he would have to feed on a human from this era.

After scanning the ruins he found a lioness and went for the kill. He striped the hide from the lion corps and started working it. He found some stones to scrap the remainder of meat off and left it in the blazing 4th day sun. It would be ready within a few weeks and he would have to feed at least 3 more times. After every night he would wonder around looking for water to clean him. He found a watering hole were a group of young women were swimming, in things he has never seen before. The clothes covered almost nothing of their bodies.

Amazed by the lack of clothes Bellator felt his parts react. He could have one of them if he really wanted to. He stood very still and watched the women for a bit longer. They spoke a language he didn’t understand but one woman in particular was beautiful. Her chest was magnificently big. Her legs were just the right shape and length. Her hands were delicate and small. As he stood there still watching the women, he heard someone sneaking behind him. It sounded like a group of big men.

He turned his head and caught one of the men pleasuring himself while watching the group of women closely with a sickening smile. He looked like an animal stalking it’s pray; ready to go for the kill at any moment. Bellator jumped and landed behind the man. The man turned around, stunned and paled at the sight of him. He said something in the language the women spoke. That’s when the idea came to Bellator’s mind. Without a second to spare, he ripped the man’s throat and started drinking every ounce of blood he had to offer in his veins.

As Bellator drank the blood, the man’s memories flashed before Bellator’s eyes. He slowly started understanding the language the man spoke earlier. The man’s name was Julz. He escaped prison a few months ago. He was sent to prison for multiple counts of rape and assault with a deadly weapon on an officer, causing the officer to die on the way to the hospital. “Thank you for sharing Julz.” Bellator spat. He knew Julz was planning another attack, this time, on one if not more of these women. He was indeed like an animal. Bellator’s father would have been proud of this little worm had he been a vampire.

“Julz?” A whisper came from behind the tall grass. “Hey Julz, you done yet man? I wanna see them too you pig.” Said the same voice. The voice belonged to Danny, Julz’s younger brother. Bellator always wondered if he could mimic someone like his father did on occasion. Without wasting another second he mimicked the voice of Julz. “Yah, you can wait, I’m busy checking which of these pretties are coming with me tonight…now f**k off Dan.” Bellator said and looked at the tall grass. “Come on! Julz that’s not fair. I want one too man!” Danny whined.

“Fine, just get your own spot. This is my spot, you got it?” Bellator said still watching the grass. “Fine man… I call dibs on the blond. She’s smoking…” Danny purred like a lion. “Go for it bru.” Bellator said carefully moving away from the now dead Julz, closer to the women. Bellator slowly walked into the water and started washing the blood of him. If he was to warn these human women of the perverts he would have to work smart and fast.

Bellator swam low on the water making sure he didn’t make a sound and slowly crept closer to the women. One of the women saw him, but before she could scream he pressed his finger to his mouth and pointed to the tall grass behind him. The young woman caught a glimpse of the camera lenses and nodded to Bellator. She swam closer to him. “Hi, thank you for the warning. These assholes always try to get a few naughty pics of us.” She whispered.

When she saw the expression on Bellator’s face didn’t change she froze. “Wh-who are they? And what do they want with us?” The woman asked in a shaky whisper. “Those guys back there are murderers and rapists. I recognized the one, he escaped prison a few months ago and his little brother got out with him.” Bellator said in a serious tone. This woman was eating it all up. He could feel her shiver in fear, and he liked it. Scared pray always did make for the best and fun kills.

“You mind if I go and warn my friends over there?” She asked. “I’ll come with you. These guys are no laughing matter.” Bellator said in his serious tone again, injecting just the right amount concern, to win the woman over, by looking over his shoulder. “Alright, follow me.” She said and swam back to her friends and told them what Bellator just told her. Two of her friends looked at him with disgust but they too were frozen in fear. “You have to be kidding me right now. Why do these kinds of things always happen to us? Like are we the only hotties these perves have ever seen.” The blond whined.

“Keep it down Kim. Do you want those criminals coming after us right now? Like are you stupid?” The ginger said. “Geez Ella, no need to be such a drag…” Kim said flipping her nose in the air. “Ugh, can we go now? If you want to be their next victim, be my guest. I’m getting out of here before they end up having their way with me and leaving me for dead.” The brunette said. “Bossy much Sky?” Ella snapped. “Oh grow up Ella.” The skinny blond snapped. “Oh as if you’ve never freaked out when no handsome man is near. Don’t you dare pretend like you are the bravest one here Lisa.” Kim snapped.

“Ladies, please keep it down…we have to start moving before those guys do something…” Bellator said glancing over his shoulder. Just as he suspected, it worked like a charm on these women. If they had any idea he was a vampire, they would be running to the men behind the tall grass. “Ok fine. How do you know all this again?” Lisa asked, she’s not as gullible as the rest of her friends.

 “Like I told Ella over there, I recognized the big guy, Julz. He escaped prison a few months ago. He’s a known rapist and murderer, his little brother, Danny, is there with him. I have no idea who the rest of the men are, but if they’re running with Julz and Danny, you can expect the worst. Look I don’t have time to explain the situation to you right now. You can come with me and hideout and be safe from those guys or you can stay here and god knows what they might do to you. Choice is yours. I’m leaving.” Bellator said and swam to the other end of the river.

It didn’t take long for the women to follow Bellator to the other side of the river. The moment he climbed out of the water, he saw Danny staring at his brother’s remains. They don’t have a lot of time. If these women really want to run away from Danny and his friends, they will have to run like their lives are at stake. Which in their case, might be very accurate.

 The women ran after Bellator and hid in the ruins with him. They made him food and offered him their bodies to say thank you. He denied the offer of their bodies. He was still looking out when he saw the group of men approaching. “Their coming, hide…” Bellator said over his shoulder. The women did as he asked and hid where they could fit. “Hi there!” Danny said. “Hello.” Bellator said looking uninterested.

“Dude can we camp here for the night? Our ride is busted and we have nowhere else to go.” Danny explained with a hurt expression on his face. “No.” Bellator said. “Dude! Are you for real? Are you f*****g mental? There are wolves out there dude.” Danny began whining. “Not my problem. Get lost.” Bellator said. “Make me asshole…” Danny tried but found himself up in the air like he was a rag doll. “Ok…ok…sorry…dude…” Danny said. Bellator sat him down and Danny launched for Bellator. He simply moved to one side and Danny crashed head first into a broken stone pillar.

“You asshole! You broke my damn nose!” Danny whined. “Like I said, get lost. Or would you prefer I break more than just your nose?” Bellator said looking Danny straight in the eye. “N-n-no man, it’s all good. Sorry…” Danny said and ran in the opposite direction. The group of men looked at Danny in disbelieve turning back to look at Bellator. He just looked at them; they saw a flash of red in his eyes and followed after Danny. “How did you do that?” Ella asked. “Let’s hope you never have to find out. I’m starving.” Bellator said and turned on his heal.