Crimson and Furs

Orpheus Rodolfo

Orpheus walked along the dark street, his hands placed in his pockets. His pace was calm as if he owned the street and no thief would be able to turn up on him. He walked to a part of the street where street lights were lined, shining radiantly. The street lights illuminated his figure, exposing his looks and all.

Orpheus was a tall and slim 16-year old with taut muscles that gave him the bearing of a perfect gymnast. His hair was as red as blood, curly and long that it rested on his shoulders. His eyes were also red, hypnotic in nature with the ability to compel everyone they stare out to submit onto him. His face was extremely gorgeous like a model's, having a hint of feminity in it. It was the kind of face one couldn't get off his mind even after hours. Moreover he had the demeanor of a noble child, calm and composed. Dressed in a red pyjamas and a pair of red flipflops, he looked like a casual person walking about in his bedroom.

In reality his father, Luther Rodolfo was a well-known viscount in Moon City—a very powerful one at that. He owned a manor at a desolate part of the city where people rarely visited and this was where he lived.

It's so boring at that manor, Orpheus said as he walked past the street and took a turn to a very dark alley. Although it was dark, he could still see. Actually Orpheus was not a normal human being. In fact, he was not a human being at all. He was a Crimsone, a young Vampire[1]. Although everyone in the family were all Crimsones, they were not as powerful as his father, Luther Rodolfo. He was actually a Crimsone Viscount[2], a rank among Crimsones. He had gotten this rank at a very young age and to this day he maintained that rank. Orpheus couldn't help but worry why he hadn't advanced yet.

"Life at the manor is very boring," Orpheus said as he picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it into the air, hitting an empty can. He couldn't help but shrug at the feeling of returning to the manor.

This night he had snuck out of the manor to the streets to catch some fun. Being locked up in a manor was extremely boring. The only moment he left the manor was when he was going to school. When he was back from school, he was always in the manor. Viscount Luther never allowed his only son to move out of the manor because he felt he needed to be protected from humans and other Crimsones with bad intentions.

"Being an only son is extremely difficult," Orpheus said as he took another bend, exiting the alley. "I have to be watched by those puny guards and attended to by the maids. And to think all of them are all Crimsones make me sick. I need to interact with humans!"

He then remembered that he usually went to school and interacted with humans. Well, he didn't actually have any close ties with any of the humans around as he felt they were all inferior to him. He believed Crimsones were superior beings and needed to maintain a superior bearing. Well, the reason for his superiority complex was him being a noble child who was always addressed as Lord.

Lord Orpheus, he chuckled when he remembered how his classmates addressed him just to gain favour from him or have a chance to be with him (this pertained to the girls). They're so inferior and weak when compared to me.

He was still having thoughts about how weak humans were when he remembered the tales his father told him about Crimsone Hunters. They were all humans trained to the core to hunt Crimsones. They possessed both natural and mystical weapons for killing Crimsones and did so with the utmost fervency. Thinking about those Crimsone Hunters, he couldn't help but cringe inwardly. What if he met them right now? What was he going to do? Scream, Daddy?

Nonsense, Orpheus shrugged as he continued walking. Why would those Crimsone Hunters hunt a law abiding and harmless Crimsone as me? It's not like I or my family have committed any crime.

Truly, the Rodolfo family were very law-abiding Crimsones who lived in Moon City. They hid their identities as normal humans and lived their daily lives interacting with humans. They were all amiable and cheerful, establishing several connections with humans and making close friends. Although Crimsones couldn't do without feeding on blood, they didn't rashly kill ahh human and suck their blood. Rather they would buy huge amounts of blood from hospitals and place them in wine bottles. There was a large wine cellar filled with bottles of blood and wine for drinking. Although the Rodolfo family didn't always eat human food, they always kept them at home just in case a human turns by. Also from time to time members of the Rodolfo family would eat human food from time to time just feel how being a human is. Orpheus was not an exemption.

There was another thing that would have bothered Crimsones. That was sunlight. But that issue had been long resolved by Viscount Luther. Since he became a Crimsone Viscount, he had mastered the ability to create potions and had created a potion with magical effects to resolve the weakness of sunlight. Now his family members could freely move about in sunlight after consuming the potion. But then in order to make the potion effects to not wear down, they had to consume this potion every hour. Hence Orpheus could go to school like an ordinary human.

Orpheus suddenly stopped in his tracks after picking a scent. It was a scent of cigarettes coming 100 meters away from him. The smelling range of Vampires like him was 100 meters. He could also pick up the scents of the smokers and knew how many they were and what type of people they were.

Murderers, he frowned as he continued walking in that direction. Those people were murderers and thieves who had stolen from people and robbed them of their lives. They deserved death after their crimes. Since the law couldn't get them and deal with them properly, he would.

"They're ten in number," Orpheus muttered to himself. "I can easily handle them with my speed and all."

When he was 50 meters away from them, he began hearing what the ten men were saying clearly. This was his hearing range and so everything he heard was very audible.

"Let's lie and wait for someone to turn by," the first voice said. It was husky.

"Exactly. We haven't killed any people today and it's becoming boring."

"That's why we have to do something."

Orpheus' frown deepened. So you all are still plotting to kill someone? Heh, that someone would be me but I won't be killed.

He soon arrived at where the gang of criminals were. They were all dressed in black ragged outfits, their fingers curled around large sticks of cigarettes which they dragged noisily with their scalded lips. They were all ten in number—ten murderers.

"Hey you!" one of them shouted. From the tone of his voice Orpheus could discern that he was the first speak he heard with the husky voice.

A small smile appeared on Orpheus' face as he didn't stop walking, his hands still in his pockets. He didn't feel any bit of fear or intimidation from the weak humans. What was he to be scared of when they were so weak in comparison to him?

"Ain't you afraid of walking about alone in the dark, kid?" one of the men said with a sinister smile as the others surrounded Orpheus. Tonight would definitely be an easy kill for them. The cops would have another headache after discovering this kid dead and mutilated in the morning.

Orpheus looked at the man with husky voice straight in the eyes as he said, "You are bunch of serial killers."

The ten men looked at each other in surprise before turning to giving him deadly looks. Nine of them then pulled out daggers from their pockets while the man with a husky voice pulled out a silver revolver and pointed it at Orpheus who was still standing in their midst.

"You look like a noble child, Mouth," the man with husky voice said with an evil laugh. "I wonder what your parents would feel after we mutilate your body."

The other nine then roared into laughter as they stared at the poor kid who was surrounded by them. After they killed this kid they would immediately move to another city to continue their serial killing. Crimson Springs was their best choice.

Orpheus didn't say anything as he opened his mouth, his two upper canines slowly transforming into fangs as they grew longer and sharper. His red eyes became light, having an unusual glow to them. In no time, he had revealed his Vampire form. Crimsone Vampires could only unleash their powers by transforming into their Vampire forms.

Immediately they saw this, all the men were momentarily at loss. They didn't know why but they all became hypnotized to this Crimsone standing before them. It was as if they had seen a beauty goddess on earth!

The power Orpheus had used was called the Hypnotizing Stare. It was used by Crimsones to hypnotize targets before killing them off. For Vampires, it could only last for five seconds. Orpheus had to make use of his time properly.

Whoosh!

Orpheus moved towards the other nine men, disabling them of their daggers before tossing them far away. He then moved towards the man with husky voice who had a revolver, aiming to grab it from him.

Pa!

The man had snapped out of the Hypnotizing Stare, his index finger pulling the trigger just as Orpheus was two meters away from him.

Whoosh!

Like a wind Orpheus quickly changed his direction just as the bullet came out towards his chest, moving to the right to dodge it. He then grabbed the revolver from the man's hand and banged his head with it.

Pa!

His skull cracked, bloody juice seeping out of it as he dropped to the ground with a loud thud.

The other men were very much shocked after seeing this incident that they couldn't even run after witnessing it. It was after their leader dropped to the ground that they attempted to run.

Orpheus curled his lips into a warm smile as he pulled the trigger several times. It was too late for the men to escape.

Pa! Pa! Pa!

Sounds of gunshots pierced the serene night as bullets flew accurately towards the men, hitting their heads one after the other.

Orpheus watched their heads explode in gusts of bloody juice, a smile still plastered on his face. He watched them all drop to the ground, dead. He was very happy he had gotten the chance to kill these criminals and get justice for the hideous crime of serial killing they had committed. He had helped the cops in solving a criminal case. Also he was very proud of himself that he had killed a bunch of criminals. As the youngest Crimsone in his family, it was something to brag of. None of his family members had ever killed someone at the age of 16. It was something deserving of a worthy praise.

He looked at the revolver in his right hand and threw it away. He wasn't afraid that the cops would get the weapons and do some scans with them. When he transformed into his Vampire form, his entire body structure had changed also. Hence his finger prints left on the weapons wouldn't be traced to the noble child, Orpheus. They were very much different.

"I think I should act more like a Crimsone Vampire using this method," Orpheus muttered to himself. "It seems to be filled with so much fun!"

As he walked, he fantasized about catching a bunch of criminals for the cops. For those criminals who had done hideous crimes, murdering people for pleasure—he chuckled as he tugged at his pyjamas—he wouldn't hesitate to kill them. He wasn't breaking the law by doing so neither was he harming the innocent by doing so.

As he walked into the darkness, his figure turned faint before vanishing. He had walked into the darkness filled with hidden dangers of criminals, thugs and the likes. In reality, he was their danger—a danger one should avoid.

[1] Vampire: This is the first rank of Crimsones. More information about this rank would be given as the story progresses.

[2] Viscount: This is the second rank of Crimsones. Among the human and Crimsone race, it also pertains to a rank of nobility before the count. More information about this rank would be given out as the story progresses.

Author's note: After spending time on researching about royal and noble titles, I've created a successful Crimsone System. The Lycanthrope System is also set. What's remaining is the distribution of powers and weaknesses. No need to fear, I won't included any overpowered stuffs—at least not in this first books. Enjoy the read.