Eclipsed by Blood

The Hunger

Lucian D'Aragon's POV

The scent of blood seemed to be everywhere. I couldn't withstand it.

I stood at the edge of the city, the darkness curling around me like an old lover. The moon, large and red, hung over Raventhorn’s skyline, casting a rough silhouette of gothic feel against the night sky.

I was hungry and thirsty; I needed blood, more blood, a lot of it. My Hunger was deep and insatiable. A beast was waiting to be unleashed but I tried my best to hold it in.°°

For days, I had tried to quench the Hunger and thirst, which might even be Weeks if I sat to calculate the time well, pushing myself to the point of starvation just so I could try to tame the monster within me.

But it was useless; all my efforts were for nothing. I was no longer the prince of the Crimson Court. The heir to the throne that was soaked in centuries of blood.

I was just a predator, a shadow among humans.

I was hurting.

My father, Malagar Darion D'Aragon, who was the king of the Crimson Court, had just passed on. He was the cause of my predicament. He had trained Me to become a weapon.

My siblings before me... well all dead now. They were all killed by enemy vampires like chickens, so when I was born, my father feared I might die just the same; he never knew that I was different. My destiny was different.

He began to feed Me with a lot of blood immediately after I was born, all because he wanted me to be strong, ruthless and brave, but I guessed he overdid it.

I grew up to become a monster, going through nights of killing spree, not just humans but also vampires and werewolves but more of humans; the name Lucian Vael D’Aragon sends shivers down the spine of everyone who hears it.

I was a terror to the Crimson Court, the werewolves factions and to the world at large.

I have lived for more than three hundred years, and for all those years I have dropped millions of bodies.

The only good thing about me was the fact that I always made the Crimson Court win whenever we were being attacked by rival courts or other supernatural species.

My Dad regretted his actions before he died, but there was nothing he or anyone could do. I had become a monster, and nothing was going to change that.

I preyed on both vampires and mortals. I had tried to be calm these past few days, hoping that they would see how hard I was trying to be good, and when I say they, I meant the Crimson Court.

But I guess they were scared for their life; besides who would want to make a monster their king? If I wanted to take the throne forcefully, I could, and no one would be able to stop me, but even I was tired of the bloodshed.

"We can't let a monster be our king; our lives won't be safe," One of the elders said out loud

It was time to crown a new king.

I stood in the middle of everyone waiting for my judgement.

"Let's banish him; he doesn't have a place here", Duke Viktor said, coming closer to where I stood.

Duke Viktor was a distant relative of mine; I knew he would be the next king because his family were the closest to the royal bloodline.

Everyone began to stomp their feet in agreement.

"Lucian Vael D’Aragon, son of Malagar Darion D'Aragon, the heir to the throne of the Crimson Court, is hereby exonerated from being the next king, and we banish you from the Crimson Court."

Honestly, I wasn't expecting banishment; I expected punishment, maybe being locked up in a tomb or cage for a couple of thousand years, hungry and thirsty till I overcame the hunger.

Nah... honestly, that would have been a bad idea because the hunger would worsen, and everyone would be in danger once I was out. But still, I wasn't expecting banishment; anything else would have been better.

The Crimson Court was the only home I had and it was my father's legacy.

There was nothing I could do, the elders had spoken. I looked over to where Duke Viktor stood, a wry smile appeared at the corner of his lips. Suddenly the hunger came again; I vamped out of the court and began to kill and suck dry every human or supernatural specie I came across.

"No, that's enough, Lucian", Elias said, snatching away the one-thousandth human I was killing that night, I am not even sure about the number, but I am sure it wasn't lesser.

"Give me back my food" I growled.

"No Lucian that's enough, your late dad wouldn't want this"

"How dare you bring in my late dad into this"

"How long do you want to keep continuing like this? Till you kill every last human?"

"How's that your business Elias" I shot at him

"It's my business Lucian D'Aragon, you are my friend"

Elias was one of the few people in my life who had been with me all through, though he's about three hundred years old, but since we met two hundred and fifty years ago, we've been friends.

He was one of the few people I couldn't bring myself to kill.

"I know you are grieving, but this is not the right way." He said coming closer to me.

"Do not come any closer!" I warned

But Elias ignored my warning, he came closer, and I attacked him; I held him by the neck, my grip very tight, smashing him against the walls on the street and the ground.

I tried to stop myself, but I couldn't; I was going to kill my only friend; how worse could I ever be? I was about to bite his neck when a very intoxicating scent passed through my nose.

My hand froze mid-air.

What's this?

I released my grip, drew my hands back, and was about to follow the scent; there was something about this scent; I had a feeling that if I could drink from this person, I would be okay.

The scent, at the same time, had succeeded in calming down my anger.

As I was about to leave, Elias stopped me. "That's enough, Lucian," he managed to say amid the pain.

I picked him up and then started heading back to his place.

What kind of a scent was that? And who could that scent belong to?

But as I took Elias away, the scent grew stronger, very intoxicating and irresistible. And then, I heard a heartbeat...