It all made sense, then. The clarity experienced by those who were involved in this game erased their perceptions. It struck them with the sobriety of their false expectations and understanding. The shedding of blood was about to start, and no soul was prepared for the result of that particular battle.

Barricades had been erected, shelters had been filled, food had been stored, and fear had afflicted every beating heart. There was no sunlight on that day. Thick black clouds had been rounded throughout the city for years now, and their presence had completely engulfed sunlight before it reached residents' needs. Such sight broke the heart of those who were old enough to remember what it was like to bathe in sunlight on a hot summer day, but it was normal for the children who wouldn't know what a blue sky would be.

The air stinked like oil and grease. The machines were set in motion, causing a thunderous shout across the city. The twilight reverie lied empty in the frontier, awaiting its savior. The soldiers had secretly exchanged drugs to keep their sanity intact for what they were about to witness again, and soldiers as young as twelve years old, were preparing to fight mightily. The eyes watched the full moon devoured by the clouds of black ashes, awaiting the moment when their swords collided with the claws of mutilated creations.

The Gospels of Fear had been recited thousands of times in these brief hours. The regular gunshots were heard across the city, families leaving behind nothing but a note and a fresh corpse for the mooncallers to devour believing that was the only merciful solution to their everlasting pain. The guards had encircled the dome of crops, the place was the whole food supply of the city was cultivated intelligently. The royals had received their more than fair portion of protection unlike the rest of the citizens, and the high church rung their bell every hour in anticipation as the soldiers froze in their positions. Stolen kisses occurred in every shadow between the lovers, leaving the safety of their company hoping to see one another again.

And at last, the secretly suicidal soldiers had awaited to swallow poisonous substance in hope of having their death impactful on the predators. Young inexperienced soldiers believed that once they take a painkiller, they wouldn't feel the pain of their limbs being torn apart or worse, being stolen. Those hours passed like a dull knife scraping the fresh wounds of the city, and the confrontation between the strange mixture of hopeless and enthusiastic soldiers and their rivals who might be their own blood and kin loomed in the black horizon.

One hour before the fullmoon.

Ivanka stood still with her heart beating like a drum. She stared at the tall man hovering over her, knowing that this face was more than familiar to her eyes. The words were knotted inside her brain, and her tongue faltered to assemble them, but he was too keen on speaking first.

"As beautiful as you have always been." The mooncaller softly spoke as he let down the lamplight. "No matter how I make things hard for you, you would always get it right. You know how my mind works." He took out a chair and sat on the dusty table, gesturing her to join him. Ivanka was still stunned, unable to accept his invitation, she retreated to the door.

The mooncaller was a one hundred and ninety centimeters tall male. He had shoulder length black and white hair, he wore sunglasses and possessed a normal humanly face, he wore a dark beige trench coat over a Victorian black suit. From his neck down, many patches of his human skin was sewed to bionic ones, and his fingers were entirely mechanical. It was like this man had been dismembered then assembled once again. From his back, a one hundred centimeters long tale had emerged. He kept wiggling it around like a lizard, perhaps unaware of its movement.

"Its a lot to process." He sighed. Ivanka gulped as she mustered the words. "Luther..?" She observed every single detail of this strange man, the first mooncaller Ivanka encountered in her life without having to fight. "Please, have a seat." Luther asked her as he eyed Andrew who was still unconscious. "Your friend, his arm is infected." Luther got up as Ivanka sat down. "You're supposed to be dead.. " Ivanka stammered as Luther proceeded to focus on Andrew. "I am, and someone gave your friend a marker." Luther inspected his arm as Ivanka raised an eyebrow. She was full of questions yet she was unable to speak. "A marker, you haven't figured out this thing yet?" Luther wondered, Ivanka's silence confirmed his thoughts.

"Oh god, well, its fairly new so I won't be hard on you." Luther sighed. "Its how they mark the ones that will be abducted during the fullmoon, which is why his arm has been hurting him before he passed out. He won't wake up again." Luther spoke as he got up and sat down facing Ivanka again.

"They?" She frowned. "Then what are you?" She asked, completely ignoring the demise Andrew would encounter in an hour. "Ivanka. Don't let your emotions control you." Luther firmly spoke. "I was killed by them." He looked her in the eyes. "I have no control over what happened to me." He sighed in pain, but Ivanka wasn't having any of it.

"You killed us! Just like they did!" Ivanka burst out. "I did it out of the need to survive!" He justified. "I didn't know who I was, I just knew I needed to live!" He reasoned with her. "If you have seen things through my eyes, you would have wished to die in that battle." He frowned. "My words mean nothing, but I will show the other side you fail to see." Luther spoke as Ivanka breathed heavily. "In less then an hour, I will cleanse my sins." Luther said. "I have called you here to witness what I am about to do, and to save one last victim from an unrevokable fate that would lead her down the same path as many of us." Luther walked closer to Ivanka, almost begging her. "But first, I need to be on my side. I need to trust me, like you all always did." He slowly moved his cold mechanical fingers to touch hers, but stopped.

"I can't do that." Ivanka boldly replied. "Yes, You can! You need the chip. The one I knew you would make perfectly." Luther spoke closely to her. "Its right there, with me." Luther put his hand in his trench coat, and took out the tiny chip. Ivanka's eyes widened but she didn't dare to grab it. "A deal is all we need to make." Luther got up from her side. "The chip in exchange for your help." He offered.

Ivanka paused. The remains of the man that stood in front of her were the remains of her first unrequited love, one she had tragically lost in a battle and never found anything to bury but memories. Strange enough, no matter how intimidating his new form was, she felt that his intentions were not ill.

Looking at the evidence, she wanted to believe that all those years he was only trying to help her, and as the fullmoon unraveled, the chip was the priority she had, and in her wounded heart, a tiny hope of reunion lingered as she accepted his offer. But still, Ivanka knew better than entirely surrending to a Mooncaller.

"Are you just going to leave him here?" Luther wondered, looking at Andrew. Ivanka had completely forgot about him. "Oh, lord." She sighed. "What can we do about that?" She wondered, inspecting the marker in his arm that surprisingly Andrew failed to notice. "You have two choices." Luther spoke. "amputate his arm. Which is the easy choice." Luther paused. "Actually on second thought, this is your only option, and you should do it NOW!" Luther's tone suddenly changed as he jumped back to Andrew.

"What? I can't do that!" She opposed. "He will never forgive me!" She rejected the idea. "He won't forgive you if you let him become a mooncaller puppet either." Luther explained. "Your friend here is one of many, marked by an agent. Mostly a white sect member." He continued. "Do you know what happens when they're abducted?"

"He will be put under immense tactics to expose all of his divisions info, and he will be replaced by a double right away that will have all of this information stored in their new mind. Just like Nelly" Luther sighed, looking at the young man who was unaware of what would become of him.

"Wait, are you telling me these bastards are copying us? Including Nelly?!" Ivanka inquired in distress. "Yes. A handful of you had already been replaced." Luther spoke in remorseful tone. "Why didn't you tell us?" She blamed him. "I couldn't.." Luther shied away from Ivanka's sharp eyes. "Can we leave this all behind now?" Luther said, "If you don't amputate his arm as we speak, he will be followed by his double which will expose our place." Luther laid beside Andrew, ready to amputate him.

"What if he dies?!" Ivanka wondered. "I'll patch him up quickly, he could get medical treatment as soon as we go back. The church has a blood supply as far as I know." Luther explained. "The church?" Ivanka asked. "Look behind you. Through the magic eye behind the third book, third shelf." Luther pointed. Ivanka immediately looked in curiosity, after following his steps she looked at what seemed to be the inside of the white church, and as she looked more carefully, she saw Abigail hanging from the top of the church. Ivanka gasped in surprise.

"We are there?" She asked, amused by how the tunnels are all interconnected, truly a circle. "Yes. Now, make a choice." Luther asked. "In few minutes, Ernesta will call me in. I can accompany you inside without her noticing, and this man could stay low here under the effect of the anesthetic and the purifying agent I'll put him under until the fullmoon starts." Luther explained. "What purpose does me coming with you serve? Andrew will die of blood loss!" Ivanka opposed. "Not if you sneak in the blood supply from the adjacent room in the other part of the church. This needs to be done quickly. As for the purpose, your sole presence is what I need in addition to a small favor I can only tell you about when we are there." Luther continued. "You will be my witness." He looked her in the eyes, finally removing his sunglasses. Ivanka was stunned by his green eyes, the ones that weren't tainted by the mooncallers filth. They were just like how she remembered, but she remembered that her emotions must never overtake her mind.

"And when will I get the chip?" Ivanka wondered. "Right after we're done. It will be fast, way faster than you think." He explained. "I know you think I'll go berserk and harm you once the fullmoon is present but that's impossible." Luther shared. "You can't guarantee that." Ivanka interrupted him. "Yes, I can. I already have my preys in mind." Luther assured her. "You, him and two more people are off my list. Don't worry." Luther's eyes were persuasive, but Ivanka still had her doubts.

"Cut it." Ivanka calmly ordered him as she turned around, refusing to look. In split seconds, Andrew's arm was amputated by the sheer force of the blades hidden in his tail. Blood was splattered all over him and her. Ivanka turned around to see Luther shying away from the blood, controlling his forbidden appetite. Andrew regained conscious, and as he was about to scream, Ivanka jumped and muffled him. He resisted, but his power was non-existent.

"Listen to me, Andrew!" She spoke to him as she put her hand on her mouth, restraining him as Luther injected him with an anesthetic and a purifying substance that would expel the liquid used in that marker out of his body to avoid any chance of them being traced down and to cut away his double's memory transfer that could have already begun. "You have been infected by something called a marker, that's why your arm hurt." She explained. "If we didn't amputate your arm, they would have found us here and you would have been abducted and replaced by a double." She shared as Andrew cried and resisted, he still wouldn't stop.

"He's afraid of me." Luther sighed. "Don't worry, I am an ally. Tell him, Ivanka." Luther asked Ivanka to explain. "He is helping us, I was right, Andrew." Ivanka said, and Andrew to calm down. As Luther patched him up and did his best to stop the bleeding, Andrew's confusion was overtaking his mind. "H-how did this happen?" Andrew cried as he looked at Ivanka. "Its complicated, but you had your theories. I suppose you knew." Ivanka replied to his concerns. "I-I would have.." He trembled. "I have never thought they have come this far.." Andrew breathlessly spoke. "T-the full-moon." He faltered. "Don't worry, we got this. Just rest, I have the chip, I'll get you blood. In minutes, wait here." Ivanka got up, Andrew was too caught up in his thoughts to question Luther, his consciousness was slipping away as Ivanka and Luther went on their way to the white church, discussing the plan Luther all along had in mind.

Ten minutes till fullmoon.

Abigail's senses were going wild. She felt the mooncaller going back and forth, and now she felt him approaching her. Her hunger was torturing her body, and the cruel conclusion she reached electrified her. She would have to eat a child in some sort of a twisted ritual that the white church would oversee. She was running out of time, and she was surrounded by enemies. If her teeth would ever sink deep into that young girl's flesh, Abigail would never forgive herself.

Abigail's ear caught on the sound of a side door being swung open, and from it, she saw a mooncaller accompanied by a member stained in blood coming in. Abigail was mortified by the sight of that man, Luther. The one that had stunned her. She was sure he had nothing but ill intentions towards her, and she was in disbelief of how stupid she was to come this far by trusting those who had once killed her.

The first time they took away her life, it impacted her body. Now, they were eager to deprive her of her humanity, one that even the horror she saw in Gabriel's arms didn't erase. "Stay away from me!" She cried, horrified by Luther's presence. Luther had approached Ernesta and whispered in her ears. "We cleaned the blood, Miles is now ready for the change." Luther lied to Ernesta who happily smiled at who she believed to be her superior. Ivanka had disappeared into another room, rushing to supply Andrew with blood before it was too late. The minutes were ticking fast while she was out of sight.

"That's your own fucking child, you monster!" Abigail cried, Ernesta and her fanatic followers weren't moved. Abigail's pleaded for the child to run but she wouldn't even look her in the eye. "Don't do this!" Abigail asked her. "Run of her before its too late, I don't want to hurt you!" Abigail demanded her, but she wouldn't listen. The girl stayed at the far end of the church, giving her back to Abigail while staring at the clock hung above her. Abigail's insides were grinding itself, and that's when she realized it was fullmoon.

It wasn't like a switch as she imagined, it was more of a gradually built momentum that was awaiting her body to reciprocate. She suddenly too weak to resist, she was drooling like a lion lustfully eyeing its prey. The church went quiet, Luther had accompanied the girl to the alter as Ernesta stood at the side boldly staring at her daughter's death parade. The young girl cried but refused to falter, it seemed whatever determination Ernesta had, she had planted it into her daughter's mind long enough to convince there was any good in her so called sacrifice.

Luther had placed his hand firmly on the girl's shoulder, pushing her to the alter where Abigail was right above her. At this point, Abigail's cries were gibberish and she could no longer suppress her need for flesh.

"Today, we are here to witness the conversion of a deviant kind. One we had been tracking down for ages, impatiently awaiting her arrival. Abigail Walker has finally found us even though we were the ones looking for her, her hostility is the proof that conversion is needed and no one other than my sweet daughter, Eman, could have this tremendous honor of being Walker's first awakening." Ernesta spoke in a delighted tone that stunned Ivanka who was now sitting on a bench after tending to Andrew's wound. She bit her lips angrily just thinking this beast was granted the gift of birth only to give it away in such a barbarous way like this.

"Goodbye, Eman. To your next life." Ernesta, and the rest of the church bowed down to the young girl who was stricken by shock and fright. She gulped as she saw Abigail being lowered closer to her, she feared her growling and drooling as her steel jaw clenched firmly. In a second, Abigail's hands were unchained as she had finally reached the ground but her legs were still chained to the poles, she stood up and saw Eman standing her ground.

"Run, idiot." Abigail spoke in an inhuman beastly tone, the girl gasped but refused to leave. Abigail saw her as nothing but a piece of meat, but her morals were too strong to be shattered so easy like this, they were so strong that she cried like the child she was facing in fear of hurting her. "I said run! your mother is fit enough for the sacrifice." Abigail ordered her as she looked beside her where Ernesta was standing. Ernesta was smiling wickedly, this woman hardly had any emotions in her. To let go of her own kin, and watch her being tore into pieces in the name of honor, in Abigail's mind, Ernesta was worse than the mooncallers.

Abigail swiftly ran towards Ernesta in the hope of devouring her. Abigail's hate was justified, in fact, killing everyone in that church but Eman would align with the morals she had adapted. She was pulled back the short chains, but that wouldn't stop her from firing her incinerating arrows, which also didn't work.

"You need to feed your hunger." Ernesta glared at Abigail's lustful eyes as she struggled to reach her. The quietness of the church was interrupted once the members begun singing their angelic hymn, in hopes of diverting Abigail's attention back to her prey.

Abigail wouldn't flinch.

Eman had walked closer to her, presenting her body. Although her eyes screamed, she remained silent only luring Abigail to let go and surrender to her will, the closer she moved, the more Abigail retreated as she heavily breathed. "Get back." Abigail turned her eyes away, Eman wouldn't back down. "I said get back, you fucking idiot!" Abigail grunted at her face, but as she looked, she was tempted by her exposed arm. "No, no.." Abigail cried as she covered her eyes. The chain wouldn't let her go further back, Abigail tried breaking them but it was of no use, she was consumed by her hunger.

But her savior was here.

It didn't take seconds for heads to fly over the white church. Left and right, blood splatter and screams of agony erupted. Abigail was taken by surprise as she watched Luther ravage through the members relentlessly. He would behead them then proceed to eat them like a brute. Even Abigail was scared of him, she backed down remembering he was not her ally, and Ivanka sunk into her bench as she watched the masquerade prevail viciously. Luther's tale had made a dozen heads explode as he made sure these fanatics would never be revived. Eman screamed at the top of her lungs while Ernesta ran into the back door of the church, cowardly fleeing as her daughter tried to follow her back only to realize the door is locked.

Abigail's lust for blood had become overwhelming as Luther's madness had exposed her virgin eyes to what she truly desired. It hadn't been five minutes till there was no one but Abigail, Luther, Eman, Ernesta and Ivanka.

Luther's breathlessness echoed in the graveyard he had created. Met by Abigail's ferocious eyes, he knew that his hunger had been satisfied. There were few breathes left for him to eliminate in the members which he took care of with his tail, he wiped the blood off his mouth and looked at Ivanka who curled up to a ball on the bench, covering her ears in horror. "Its over." He told her. "You need to come now." He asked her. Ivanka slowly looked around her, she was horrified to see the insides of the man next to here twisted around the bench while his liquid brain stained her clothes. She gulped but wouldn't dare to let herself look terrified in front of those who lived.

Luther told her exactly this would happen.

The smell stunned Ivanka's mind as she walked through the bloody goo beneath her. She had fulfilled her part of the deal, now it was time for Luther to fulfill his. But that wasn't the end for Luther's quest, as he looked at Ernesta's failed trials to open the door, he dragged her by her long hair in front of her daughter to Abigail.

"This one right here, Abby, is one of the many people responsible for killing you." Luther told Abigail, calling her by the nickname "Abby" which left her wondering if he knew her.

"Please, let her go! Let it be me!" Eman pleaded, finally she had spoken. "You're betraying us." Ernesta cursed him as she struggled with her hair in his fist. "Shut up, bitch." He cursed her. "And you, you don't want to see this. Go inside that room now." Luther ordered Eman who was visibly distraught, saying anything to save her mother who wouldn't even care if it was her.

"Why are you helping her?" Ivanka asked Luther concerning Abigail. "You need to open your eyes, Ivanka. We are not the enemy!" Luther explained emotionally. "Look at her! Abigail is a kid too." Luther looked at Abigail who was almost passing out from hunger, doing her best to suppress it. "She could've eaten Eman when she had the chance, but she didn't" Luther sided with Abigail. "She didn't do today, but she would do it tomorrow!" Ivanka opposed as she grabbed Eman and pulled her to her side. "Give me the chip." Ivanka firmly asked Luther who shied away from her eyes.

"Not yet." Luther sighed. "You can't go back alone, that's how it goes." Luther told Ivanka as he blocked Ernesta's futile kicks. "Make her shut up!" Luther screamed at Ivanka to silence Eman as she cried. "This wasn't our plan." Ivanka said. "This has always been the plan, we need to help each other. This is it, this the grand finale." Luther said, "Cover her eyes at least." Luther ordered Ivanka who had realized what was about to happen.

"Feast your hunger, Abigail." Luther carried Ernesta to Abigail who quickly and without hesitation snatched her, and out of pure instinct, Abigail devoured Ernesta like a hungry beast isolated in a pit.

At this moment, many sounds intertwined. Whether it was Ernesta's whimpers, or Eman's screams while Ivanka covered her eyes, or the sound of Ernesta's bones crushed between Abigail's godly jaw, or the external battle symphony arising as the fullmoon battle begun. It was enough to make anyone lose their sanity, but even in this moment of absolute horror, there seemed to be a faint hope of victory arising in Ivanka as she realized the allies she had possibly gained even though her moral compass was erratic, but her analyzation of both Luther's and Abigail's actions revealed another side of the tale she wasn't aware of, and that was when a strong alliance was formed.

As one battle behind the curtains had ended, one started in the basement of Carvo's. To kill the lust inside Brando's copy was his goal, and it wasn't far away anymore.

The red hours were over, the fullmoon beg