A Vampires Tale

Prologue


Artemis and Gloria waited at their aunt Macy’s for what seemed like an eternity but still their parents did not come.
“Where is mama and papa Artemis, do you suppose they got into an accident?”
Artemis was sixteen and Gloria eleven, Artemis looked at his little sister and smiled.
“I’m sure they just got stuck in traffic. You know how the highways get at this point of day.”
“Yeah that’s true.”
Gloria turned around and went into the house. Artemis hoped what he said was true; he was getting a bad feeling their parents were now five hours late.
The environment around here was the best Artemis had ever been to. You could hear birds chirping and smell fresh air without the smog of city air. Just as Artemis turned to follow his sister into the house he stopped cold. On the air was the sound of a siren from this far off Artemis couldn’t be sure if it was a police car or an ambulance. Turning around Artemis saw a black and white county sheriff’s car driving through the gate. He started to break out in a sweat. There was no way his parents could be dead, he had just said goodbye to them three hours before when they had left for the charity ball.
The car stopped and out came a blonde haired blue-eyed sheriff and a dark haired deputy who was wearing shades. The pair came up the walkway and started up the steps. Behind Artemis the door opened and his Aunt and sister came out.
“Are you Macy Gold, sister to David Gold?”
Artemis saw his aunt‘s hand tremble as she placed her hands on Gloria’s shoulders in a sign of protection.
“Yes I am, is there a problem officers?”
The deputy took of his shades off and Artemis could read the regret in his green eyes.
“Ma’am I’m sorry to tell you but David and his wife Lacy was killed in a car accident.
Artemis seemed to hear those words in slow motion, as the words played out Artemis felt something in him snap. No longer will he see his strong laughing father or his dainty graceful mother, they were gone forever.



Chapter One


Cain du Monte was enjoying himself immensely. No matter how many centuries he has been around, there was always one thing he could rely on, that being foolish women.
These women always made a spectacle of themselves trying to get his attention, but these ladies soon realize that once they do get his attention, they wish they had not gained it.
At this moment only one woman had his attention. She was a brunette who was heavy on top and loose in her favors. The brunette’s name was Cynthia Foxworth and she was the estranged daughter of Maxfelt Foxworth, the CEO of Foxworth Records. This was one favor she wasn't going to come back from, this being mainly due to the fact that Cain had his fangs deep in the vein in her neck, draining her very life.
Cain du Monte is around six feet and a little on the thin side, his hair is sunlight blonde and is always smoothed back. Cain’s eyes are an empty green and his complexion is white like an albino. Cain is two hundred and ten years old. Cain may be old but his immortality makes him look like his twenty-six year old son. Cain may be a powerful vampire but he is not a true-blood vampire. A true-blood vampire was born a vampire; Cain was turned a vampire. Since Cain was a turned vampire and he had a child with a human, his son was a human with vampire powers. Cain turned his son when he turned twenty years of age.
At the sound of the door opening, Cain glanced at the door and frowned at the intruder. Having had his fill, Cain released the woman and her scantily clad lifeless body sank to the floor. Stepping over the heap Cain took a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and gently dabbed the blood from the corners of his mouth.
“What are you doing here Amadeus?”
The intruder was Cain’s son; Amadeus was a very handsome man, just as his father is. Amadeus has his father’s hair and his mother’s crystal blue eyes. Also like his father Amadeus has the slim build that all du Monte's seem to have.
“Father there’s trouble.”
Amadeus walked into the room closing the door behind him.
“Amadeus you were supposed to stay behind so there would be no trouble.”
Cain watched his son and felt a father’s satisfaction at seeing his son grow up to be a powerful vampire in the covens.
“Father “The Slayers” have raided the coven, I was barely able to get out of there with my life!”
Cain stilled, it couldn’t be, no he mustn’t think about it, but he had to be sure.
“Amadeus, did you say “The Slayers”?”
“Yes father, I did say “The Slayers”.”
Cain held his breath and asked the most important question.
“Who led the "The Slayers"?”
Amadeus turned his troubled face to his father.
“It was Artemis Gold.”
How that very name made Cain hiss his breath. No matter how many places they moved, no matter how many covens they started, Artemis Gold hunted Cain and Amadeus like animals, he had hunted them two years ago and he looked like he still had another two years to go. The way things were looking, he might hunt them straight into hell.
Cain remembered the exact day Artemis Gold said he would hunt them down to his dying days.
It was the day Amadeus had been turned by his father. Amadeus’ hunger had been awakened and he had gone into a raging party to lure a beautiful girl outside.
The girl he had found had been so beautiful, Amadeus had decided to turn her into his vampiress.
The girl had been blonde with gray eyes that always seemed to laugh. Her body had been luscious in her denim pantsuit of pale blue with white trimmings. The blood in her veins had pumped clear and fresh. Amadeus had counted her heartbeats as he watched her with cold eyes.
She had not known what she had gotten herself into until it had been too late.
Amadeus had sunken his fangs into her soft flesh draining all but a few drops of blood. His father had cautioned him about drinking too much or he would have been pulled into her death. As he laid her on the ground to finish turning, the girl’s brother had come bursting out the club door onto the street.
He had taken one look at his sister who was pale and writhing on the ground.
“You bastard, what did you do to Gloria? What did you do to my sister?”
Amadeus smiled at the brother,
“I liked her so much, that I’m turning her into my mistress and I mean I’m turning her literally.”
Amadeus watched the gray eyes, as they seemed to crackle and thunder with a raging thunderstorm.
The boy ran toward Amadeus grabbing hold of his jacket lapels. He threw him toward the wall and jeered as Amadeus sprawled on the floor.
Amadeus slowly got up from his unsophisticated position on the ground. He brought out his fangs and claws and was advancing on the boy when his father’s voice stopped him.
“Amadeus du Monte, I did not turn you to get killed, we are leaving.”
Amadeus turned to his father
“I have to get him back father.”
Cain walked up to his son, his green unholy eyes shining.
“I said we are leaving.”
Amadeus looked at Gloria’s prone body.
“Can I at least take the girl with me?”
Cain watched the girl’s brother and cocked his eyebrow.
“I dare say son, it would be your funeral and I don’t want that, let us be off.”
The boy walked to his sister and watched as Cain and Amadeus started to melt into the night..
“My name is Artemis Gold and I will be the death of you both for what you’ve don’t to my sister. I don’t care who or what you are but vengeance will be mine.”

Cain and Amadeus had spent the rest of their time just barely escaping Artemis’ grasp.
One day after escaping Artemis once again, Cain watched his son.
“This is entirely your fault Amadeus, you should have picked a girl who was by herself. Did you even think about a loner, one who didn’t have anyone to care if she went missing? ”
Amadeus watched his father and sulked.
“I liked her, she would have been a good mistress. She was beautiful; I would have been the envy of every vampire. I’ll kill Artemis, even if I have to wait until he’s old and gray and can’t fight back anymore.”
Artemis had staked his sister in the heart after they had left. This stopped the finishing process of the change. Now it seemed all he wanted was revenge.










Chapter Two


“So many long years I have dogged their footsteps Tristan, So many times I have just nearly managed to catch Cain du Monte or his bastard son Amadeus.”
Artemis Gold was still angry he had barely managed to catch Amadeus du Monte, only to have him slip through his grasp again. That vampire had the devil’s own luck, he seemed to be able to slip through whenever it got rough.
Artemis Gold has dark brown hair that looks the color of oak. His eyes are smoky gray and he is close to six feet one inches. Artemis is no push over with his muscle-toned body.
Artemis is the leader of “The Slayers”, which is a group of humans who slay the supernatural. Their main victims are vampires who run over the world like a plague.
At the moment Artemis was standing in the headquarters of “The Slayers” with his lieutenant and very good friend Tristan de Simone. Tristan has red hair and gray eyes, he too has a muscle-toned body. Everyone in “The Slayers” has to have a toned body. Tristan reasons for joining “The Slayers” were like everyone else’s someone close to them had either been killed or changed by vampires. The headquarters was Artemis’ library in his house. The library was one of many men, but on the shelves were not magazines of cars, beautiful women, or anything you would expect in a man’s house. On Artemis’ shelves were of the extraordinary. Ghosts, vampires, werewolves, witches, there were even books on the families of noted vampires.
The only thing in the room that showed Artemis’ personality was his desk. The desk was littered with papers on the du Monte's and other vampires “The Slayers” happened to track down. Above the desk was a picture of Artemis’ sister Gloria.
Tristan saw Artemis watch his sister’s picture and knew when Artemis wanted to be alone.
Tristan knew Amadeus du Monte had bitten Gloria two years ago. Artemis had done the humane thing; he had driven a stake through his sister’s heart in order to release her of the mixing of the bloods. Before she turned to a vampire and would never know the peace of death.
“I’ll inform the rest of the team to be on the look out.”
Artemis watched Tristan close the door behind him. He knew why Tristan had left and he was grateful. Tristan had been a lifesaver; Artemis had met Tristan a year after he had driven the stake into his sister’s heart. Tristan had picked him up out of his wallowing in self-pity. At that point of time all Artemis could have think about was why he had not kept a closer eye on his sister. He had been training to become a slayer yet he had thought no vampire would dare go off with my sister. Then just such a thing had happened; Artemis must have beaten him self up about that a million times. Tristan had told Artemis about his brother being turned when he was but four. Tristan had tried to keep the vampire away from his brother but the vampire had proved too powerful. He had knocked Tristan unconscious and as he slipped into the dark the last thing he saw was his little brother crying holding out his hand to him and vanishing with the vampire. A couple of years later as he had chased a vampire gang Tristan had come face to face with his little brother Tony. All Tristan could do was stare at Tony as the other vampires escaped.
“T…Tony? Is that you?”
“Tristan…”
Tristan took a step toward his brother. His partner had come around the corner yelling for Tony to stay where he was.
Tony turned around and had vanished into the night.
“Tony!”
Once again Tristan had watched helplessly as his brother had disappeared out his life.





Artemis remembered the day Gloria had asked him to go to the party. He had told her no, but caved when she asked him to go with her. She had looked so cute in her jumper, Artemis had tried to keep an eye on her at the party but the crowd was big.
Gloria had been eighteen and like all eighteen year olds she had been naïve and foolish believing herself in love with the first boy to show her any interest. She had never seen the evil lurked under the surface.
Artemis had come too late for his sister and that day he pledged he would never be late for anyone again.
Giovanni LePez was born a vampire. His father had been the great Count Rigimo LePez. In his own way Giovanni was Royalty among the covens. Giovanni didn’t belong to any coven, he was a loner. When you were in a coven you attracted too much attention to yourself. Giovanni has eluded many slayers but he has yet to meet up with “The Slayers”.
Giovanni is six feet one inch has a disciplined body, blue eyes and hair black till it shone blue. Giovanni liked to keep his hair in the latest styles, that way he can easily blend in.
Giovanni was in Blue Lagoon a bar on the rough side of Los Angeles. With his incredible skills, Giovanni could close his eyes and tell when a slayer come into the room. Giovanni had his back to the door but he still picked up on the slayer coming into the tavern.
Giovanni turned around and surveyed the room looking to see the newcomers. Two people had just entered the bar, an old man about forty- years old to Giovanni’s nineteen years the man seemed ancient. Next to the man was a girl, a beautiful girl, who looked to be eighteen. This girl had long black hair, violet eyes, a body that enticed and a mouth that nearly caused Giovanni to choke on his ale.
Giovanni felt mesmerized by this girl. There was something intoxicating about her. The sway of her hips, the swish of her skirt, just something. He had to snap out of this trance or he will be vulnerable to the slayer. Putting his coins on the table Giovanni passed the girl and went into the night.
As Giovanni passed a red Celica he heard footsteps following him. No matter how many slayers died at his hands, there were always foolish ones coming after him. Seeking glory as one who slayed one of the last true blooded vampires.
Giovanni slipped into an alley and melted into the shadows awaiting the slayer.
The old man stepped into the alley and stared in shock. The alley was devoid of anyone. But it couldn’t be he had seen the young vampire slip into this same alleyway.
Charles Montcrest had never lost a vampire in his life. As slayers go Charles was very fortunate to have lived to see forty- years of age. Most slayers last only five years after entering the occupation. Charles made to go but the voice of his daughter stopped him.
“Don’t go father, he is in here. Isn’t that right Giovanni LePez?”
Charles heard clapping but could not pin point the exact location. A little to his right he saw Giovanni step out of the shadows. Charles took a step back; this was the first time he had ever seen a vampire melt into and out of the shadows.
“I’m surprised a slayer would allow his daughter to accompany him while on the job.”
Giovanni walked towards the two. Keeping his eyes strictly on the old man, Giovanni smiled as he heard the girl gasp in shock at his audacity.
Charles whipped out his wooden cross and held it in front of him.
“Stop in the name of Jesus Christ the son of God. You the son of Lucifer shall not touch us.”
Giovanni started to laugh; he whipped his eyes as fake tears came into them.
“I hate to burst your bubble old man but I’m a Christian vampire. Meaning your little cross has no effect on me. Oh by the way my father’s name was Rigimo not Lucifer.”
With an evil smile on his face Giovanni walked up to Charles and held the cross.
“I’m sorry to trick you, I’m not really a Christian and the reason why I can touch this cross is because only turned vampires burn from garlic, holy water, wooden crosses and any pathetic holy relics you may have. Turned vampires are weak, but now old man you are dealing with a true-blood vampire.”
Giovanni drove the cross into Charles throat and frowned as blood gushed like a geyser.
“What a waste, I guess you weren’t a really good slayer.”
Giovanni made a terrible mistake, as he watched the life seep out of Charles Montcrest, he had forgotten about the daughter.
Giovanni felt a burning in his side and felt the wet stickiness of his own blood. Impossible, there were only three weapons that could possibly harm him, and they were all of a set. The Arch angle sword, Arch angel pin, and the Arch angel knife, these were the most powerful of all weapons known to the slayers. He turned and saw the daughter holding the Archangel knife.
“You spawn of the devil, you killed my father.”
Out of the corner of her eye Lila du Bois watched as her father turned white with death. As the vampire had turned she had seen plain shock written on his face. One minute he was at least three feet away, the next he was right in front of her his demonic blue eyes looking into the depths of her violet eyes. Whatever he saw in her eyes surprised and intrigued him because he made to grab hold of her chin. Lila sliced again and this time she cut the palm of his right hand.
Giovanni hissed his breath and in an instant was gone.
Lila was shaking as she ran to her father’s body and knelt beside it. He had been the only thing she had left in this world and now he was gone. She sobbed over his body as she remembered all the good and bad times they had together. As she held on to her father’s body she mistakenly stabbed her finger. As her blood welled she stared at the little bead. Humans were not supposed to get cut by the Archangel knife.




Chapter Three


Cain du Mont was restless, he felt something but he couldn’t place what it was. Something was bothering him, something or someone. Cain sat in his chair behind his desk and heard the door open. Cain and Amadeus had yet to build another coven so Cain knew it was his son.
Amadeus walked into his father’s office and stopped in front of the desk.

“Father a LePez just came into the city.”
That little information interested Cain. It explained some of the restlessness he felt. The LePez were true-blooded vampires, if turned vampires lived in a coven with a true-blood they got stronger.
“What LePez is it?”
Amadeus sank down into the sofa in front of the empty fireplace.
“It is Giovanni LePez, but there’s more father.”
Cain put the tips of his fingers together and looked at his son.
“What more is there?”
Amadeus smiled as he sank deeper into the comfort of the cushions.
“There’s talk of a day walker.”
A day walker was a true-blooded vampire who was never wakened. If they drank the blood of the day walker they would become true-blooded vampires.
This is interesting news Amadeus, interesting news indeed.”








Giovanni could not believe he had been so careless with the girl. When he had looked into her eyes, he had been so surprised to see she was a day walker. He knew if any turned vampire got wind of it the girl would be in trouble. Giovanni stared at the cut in his palm. This was his reminder to never let his guard down around that girl again if he ever saw her. The cut was slowly healing, but since it was the Arc angle knife that cut him it would take longer than usual. Giovanni stretched to get the kinks out of his body and winced as he remembered he had been sliced in his side also. He lifted up his shirt carefully and watched the long gash. He was lucky she hadn’t stabbed him instead of slicing. On a spurt of anger, Giovanni decided the girl could get herself killed for all he cared.










William the youngest member of “The Slayers” rushed into the library where Artemis and Tristan were going over a map of the city.
“Captain Gold there’s a day walker here in the city!”
Artemis jumped out of the chair he had been sitting in toppling it over.
“Where is the day walker located?”
“It’s a girl and she lives at Morning Road.”
Artemis was in a flurry selecting the right kind of weapons so he could leave.
“We have to get there fast, or every vampire within a hundred feet radius will be calling at Morning Road. If I’m lucky Amadeus and his father will be there.”
William watched as his boss went around the room like a butterfly selecting weapons and checking the condition.
“Sir, there's one more thing.”
Artemis continued his speech like he didn’t here William.
“We cannot let this day walker fall into the du Mont’s hands.”
“…Sir.”
Artemis stopped walking around the room and turned to his slayer.
“Tell me about it on the way.”
Artemis turned to the door and was making his way out the door with Tristan following close behind.
“Sir, there’s a true-blood in the city also.”
Artemis stopped in his tracks and stilled, Tristan trailing behind had no warning so he bumped into Artemis’ back.
“What is the family name?”
“Sir?”
Artemis turned around grabbed William’s collars and growled at him.
“The family name, Dracu, Kercov, Radune, take your frigging pick.”
William took a step back and swallowed hard.
“LePez sir, the family name is LePez.”
Artemis walked back into his library and strode towards his bookcase. He was looking for the LePez family book. He located it on the third shelf from the top.
He took the book over to his desk and opened it to the middle searching for information on the last family member to be born. He found what he was looking for halfway to the end.
“By the information in this book, the true-blood we will be looking for is Giovanni LePez. He’s seventeen, relatively young for a true-blood, and he has escaped capture many times. Meaning he is dangerous and even more threatening to the day walker than a mere turned vampire.”
Tristan looked coward’s Artemis; his face grim with the possibilities of what he will find when he found Giovanni LePez.
Giovanni LePez had run with a vampire gang before, it included Mav, Richard, another true-blood Radu Dracu, and Tony de Simone.
“Let us be about our duty, we have to get that day walker.”
Artemis looked at his friend who looked lost in thought.
“Tristan, if Giovanni finds the day walker and wakes her up, we will not have three but four vampires on out hands and a very, very hungry one at that.”
That seemed to pull Tristan out of his thought and he looked Artemis in the eyes.
“Don’t worry; I will do my duty no matter what. We have to find that day walker at all cost.”



Chapter Four


After Lila pricked her finger, she had gotten out of the alley as fast as she could and stealthily made her way home. Her father had always told her the Archangel knife could not cut human flesh, yet her finger had a bead of blood where the knife pierced her skin.
As soon as she reached her home, Lila had started packing. She knew all the demons and vampires would have smelled the spilt blood. They would have surely come to investigate; they were blood thirsty that way. They didn’t care who it was that died as long as there is still blood for them to feast on.
She wanted to be out of the house quickly. Once the demons and vampires learned that she was on her own they would all come out of hiding. She finished packing her clothes and went into her father’s den to look in his files. Lila was going through her father’s desk and she found some papers in the top drawer that made her pause. On the top of the sheet in bold letters was the word Adoption. The paper stated that Lila had been adopted from an orphanage in the Tang du area. The Tang du area was a noted vampire haven. When Lila was younger she had asked her mother and father why she had a different last name than theirs. They had always told her it was because she was special. She was special alright, Lila was a rare if not endangered kind of vampire. Lila was a sleeping true blood, which is also known as a day walker.
How could her parents have done this to her? They had never told her that she was a vampire and now she will never learn her real parent’s origins. She wondered what other secrets they had kept from her. Lila looked at the paper again and saw that there were no birth parents listed. Why didn’t the orphanage list her birth parents names?

A pane of glass breaking downstairs pulled Lila out off her reflections. That could only mean the demons were on to her. Lila’s heart raced in her chest and she felt the fear begin to rise. Stomping down the fear Lila picked up the Adoption papers and the file that was behind them. The file she had been searching for was on Giovanni LePez, it showed his birth date, his ancestors, and his address. Lila decided she needed to use the file to kill him. She placed a cross around her neck, bathed her arms and legs in garlic water, and made sure she had the archangel knife. Lila opened the door and moved silently down the hall to the escape door her father had built for such incidents as this. As she opened the escape door a voice stopped her. The voice was cold and dead it had no sound of life and it chilled her.
“Where are you going day walker?”
Lila’s heart felt like it was going to explode. This voice sent the feeling of death and decay. She turned around slowly and looked at the vampire behind her.
The vampire behind her looked to be in his twenties. He had gelled back blonde hair and blue eyes that looked like chips of ice. They held no warmth no feeling; they were just empty portals through which he looked at the world. The vampire would have been a very handsome man if he had been alive. His features were of the classical dandies you would find in a nineteenth century painting. His body was slim and he looked to be fit for a dead guy.
Lila watched the vampire with contempt and replied,
“I’m not going to hell that’s for sure.”
Lila begged her father’s forgiveness as she swept out her arm and knocked one of his lanterns onto the carpet. The vampire hissed his breathe and swung up a hand to block the glaring light. He watched helplessly as Lila slid down the rail and vanished into the night.







Cain was sitting by the fireplace sipping on a chilled martini when Amadeus walked in very much alone.
“Where is the day walker Amadeus?”
Amadeus looked at his and scowled,
“She heard me coming and left.”
Cain stared at his son, the boy reminded him so much of his mother, and it was really a pity he had had to kill her. She had been his loveliest woman in centuries. The quality of women seemed to change from century to century. In the old days you could have found many beauties now you’d be lucky if you could find one.
“I got out of there as fast as I could, I didn’t want to take the chance that the Slayers might have come.”
True to Amadeus’s words The Slayers had went to the house to investigate. By the time they had reach the house it had burned down from the lantern.
Artemis was very angry he had not made it in time.
“Damn it all to hell, I know du Mont was behind this, I can feel it.”
Tristan walked up to Artemis holding an object in a cloth.
“Artemis, have a look at this pin.”
Artemis wasn’t in the mood to look at trinkets but he decided to humor Tristan. He took the cloth from his lieutenant and examined the pin. Artemis drew in his breath and looked at Tristan.
“Do you know what this is Tristan?”
Tristan shook his head a curious look on his face.
“This is an Archangel pin Tristan.”
Tristan was still a little confused,
“Do you mean the fabled to have been created in the Francois Belkacem Eglise?”
Artemis was impressed by Tristan’s knowledge of it and told him so.
“Why is it important? Does it bear any significance?”
Artemis turned the pin around to see the blood red ruby that was the head of the pin.