It was the year 1745, Europe was riddled with Vampire killings, more so London in particular. At first, I thought that the Vampire Hunter had gone insane and gone on a killing frenzy. That time there was no treaty between the Vampires and Hunters, so naturally, I descended down on his home and threatened to kill his entire family if he did not stop killing my kind. But I was very much surprised when he had said that he had not killed a Vampire himself and quite a few years. Now, this did alarm me for what creature would then be behind the killings.

Now there was something different about these killings; the Vampires that have been slain had been somewhat mutilated, more ravaged, I would say, they were killed beyond the point of death was truly necessary. But not only did we find Vampires killed this way, there were humans that met the same fate, but the majority was Vampire, I would say.

So as what it was now, it was then a custom to use a Vampire or, in some instances, a human as bait. This we did on several nights, and just before we felt that we wanted to give up, we finally attracted the attention of two men that spotted our Vampire. But I can until this day say how beyond shock we were to find out that these two men were, in fact, Vampires. Now, unfortunately, we could not save our Vampire and witnessed how he was ripped apart by two of his own kind.

But kind is not quite what they could be described; they were different, not in only the way they fed but in the way they conducted themselves. As we tried to approach them, they growled, hissed, and snarled as they flaunted their fangs. Their faces were somewhat grotesque.

As we start to close down on their lair, we find that about a dozen of them found themselves living in the warehouses on the south side of the city. I always believed that the myth of their kind was just that, a myth that did not carry any weight. I was horrified to find that they have been living in my city for a number of years.

The story goes, there was a virus created that would turn a Vampire into such a creature called a Ripper. Now a Ripper preys on other Vampires as they have been given an insatiable hunger for Vampire blood. Rippers are extremely feral, predatory Vampires that are far more savage than a normal Vampire. Unlike the average Vampire, the enjoyment of hunting and terrorizing their victims is far more entertaining, as they destroy the life and sever the limbs without hesitation or remorse.

They say that some Rippers are capable of human emotions, such as compassion, love, protection, respect, and self-control. Not all rippers are evil killers with no conscience, but I was yet to find one that was not so affected by the virus.

The Ripper Virus was a chemical compound created through the genetic alteration for the purpose of transforming Vampires into cannibalistic, anti-Vampire Rippers that prey solely upon their own kind.

So after forcing their kind out of the city, with the promise that we shall not harm their kind if they do not set foot into town again, I never quite knew what happened to them. Well, I guess now I know, but the question begs, why have I not heard of any unusual killings all the way out here. I do not think that in all of the two hundred and seventy years that he had changed his ways. They were monsters then, and by the very looks of him, they are still one now.

But his foul face does not scare me the least bit as he comes to stand right in front of me.

"Sebastian Belmont, now to what do I owe this pleasure of."

"My dear Sertius, pleasure is the very last thing that I wish to give you. Now you know fair well that we have a sort of treaty in place, so I do believe that you need to untie us."

"I am afraid that applies to your city, well this here is my playground, there does not exist any treaty here. Now I would have liked to demand why you are here, but I shall be foolish to turn my meal away."

"You shall be foolish to think that we are your meal; don't you feed on rats these days? Has your kind become such a bunch of monsters that you need to live in the wild? You are truly not clever if they do not come search for you here in the woods."

"See that you still find everything so amusing."

"And I see that you are still in need of a good plastic surgeon."

I see as Anastasia stares at me with a face that clearly begs me to keep my mouth shut; well, the poor girl does not want to know what these Vampires are capable of. And by the dead animals around, I can safely say that this bunch of Rippers has not ripped a human or even a Vampire in some time. I guess we have just changed their eating plan for today.

…Anastasia POV…

My god, I have never seen such ugly creatures in my life before. Well, they are clearly Vampires, and what an odd place to run into them, in the woods, in the middle of nowhere. Something I do not quite understand is why do they have us tied up. We look like one of those pictures you see of a campsite where your food is wrapped around a stick; the only problem here is we are missing a fire. Now there would be no way why these rather moody Vampires would want to make us their meal. I have never heard of such a thing of a Vampire feeding on another of his kind.

So while Sebastian and this Sertius are having their stupid squabble, I turn to Lilith to ask her the very question. I try to whisper as softly under my breath that I possibly can.

"Lilith, why are these Vampires living in the woods?"

"Sebastian banned them from the city."

"Why? What was so bad that they did for him to do that?"

"They…well, you see, they kind of feed on other Vampires."

"What?"

My once silent voice echoes through the forest, causing such a stir that the birds start to scatter. This Sertius comes walking up to me with a somewhat amused smile on his face.

"I think I will keep you for a while; you are still fresh. Now tell me, is old Sebastian here your Maker?"

With my best effort, I avoid his gaze that is burning like fire through my skin. He somehow suspects more; it is only minutes from now that he shall place my side next to Sebastian. But unfortunately, minutes change into seconds as he circles my body and catch a glimpse of Sebastian's ring on my finger.

"Ah, what a privilege it is. It seems that we have the Master's beloved in our presence. You sneaky bastard, Sebastian, how long have you taken her as your bride?"

"None of your business fudge face."

"Fudge face, you say? It is this face she shall see when she screams my name."

"You have a better chance of being healed from that wretched virus."

Then this Sertius nods for two of his men to come and untie my ropes. The fear of seven horrors creeps over my body as I desperately try to pull away from them, and they are trying to get a hold of me. I push the one to the side while trying to shove the other one to the back, but their grip is firm; I can not get away from them. And as they clench onto me, I kick and snarl; they only but laugh at all my attempts to get away. The sound of my screams shakes the horror into Sebastian.

"Let me go!"

My please fall on mocking ears as they clasp around my arms tighter.

"Let me go!"

They look at each other, and my voice disappears under their thunderous laughter.

"Sebastian."

Sebastian furiously tries to pull his ropes as he watches them carry me off into a little selfmade wooden shack.

"Let go of her!"

Then Sertius stops to look at him, with a teasing smile on his face.

"And what are you going to do?"

"Oh, believe me, you shall see soon enough."

…Sebastian POV…

I know that my beloved can handle herself, but that does not stop the horror from creeping up deep inside as I watch them take her away. The feeling of hopelessness settles over my body as there is nothing I can do. There is going to be hell to pay when I get free from these ropes, but something gives me the idea that their biggest threat is one that they just carried into the wooden shack.

So I patiently wait, killing myself with anticipation. Why has it not happened yet? There are not terrifying screams coming from within. But then…one…two…three…

"What on heavens earth."

My laugther comes deep from my belly as I watch Sertius coming, speeding outside faster than a bullet. And from casually behind him comes Anastasia that has turned into her true form. Instantly the total of Sertius men is surrounding us. Now the question begs, can Anastasia get to us before these Rippers can. We are on the slight outnumbered side here, and the only one with enormous strength is surrounded by a bunch of bloodlust Vampires.

Now it takes one remark from Sertius for Anastasia to react.

"I have never fed on an Ancient, but I think you shall make a delicious meal."

"Feed off your fudge face friends."

Anastasia charges for Sertius, knocking him square of his feet, he lands on his back, but in mere seconds he jumps up again. With one quick snap of his hand, he smashes Anastasia through her face, leaving one gaping gash; she falls down in agony as she grabs at her wound. That is going to leave one unsightly scar. Out of pure rage, she launches at him and knocks him down again. With all her strength, she straddles Sertius and snap at his face. Much to my own terror, she claws out pieces of his flesh. The minute they hear the agony of his voice coming from beneath her, they rip her body from him and press her with all their combined force firmly to the floor.

It all happens so fast, I pull, and I pull, and Lilith even pulls harder to free ourselves from our ropes. Anastasia will be ripped apart in seconds the moment they slam their fangs into her soft skin.

"Sertius, take me instead."

"My dear Sebastian, why would I take such a measly monster such as yourself. You are going to watch how I rip every piece of skin off your beautiful bride."

"I beg Sertius; please let her go."

"A man never lets go of his meal."

With that, he turns back to where Anastasia is laying bare naked on the floor. She finds my gaze and looks into the deepest part of me. I can see the pain in her eyes, but there is something else, she has made peace that today she shall die. And as she calls out my name, my entire world crashes in.

"Sebastian, I love you."

Then all chaos breaks loose. There are the most horrific sounds of agony and pain shooting up into every root of every tree over the entire ground of the forest. Between the rumbling voices, I can hear Anastasia. There is blood running down the pathways of the forest, staining the leaves.

Then everything goes dead.