37 Chapter 37 - The Son Of The Nigh

Dante

It was three in the morning. I couldn't sleep. It wasn't the nightmare, it was the anticipation that a few hours from now I'm about to go out with Caroline King. She was going to take me to some place special and she wanted it to be a surprise which made me more anxious.

I went and started to make coffee for myself. The house was quiet. Asmodeus and Mephisto were nowhere to be found and I had no idea about their whereabouts. They probably went out to spread evil in the world. As I waited for the coffee, I thought about my training and discovery in purgatory.

Souls, the essence of every living creature on earth is power. This knowledge has been long known to every supernatural being that resided in the different planes of existence. It is the reason for the struggle between heaven and hell, between angels and demons.

**

"Every soul on Earth is at stake when it comes to salvation. The faithful and the unbeliever may have different understanding of belief but their souls possess the same power, the same essence. In the eyes of both angels and demons, humans are all equal."

We were at the park once more, neither the sun nor the moon shone in here. The trees are but shadows, illusions, pale copies of reality. Lucifer was teaching me about grasping and feeling for the essence of my soul which sounded alien and awkward to me.

"How am I suppose to do that?" I sounded pathetic.

He sighed and gave me a tired smile. "Close your eyes. Breathe, and launch forth into yourself."

The words didn't make sense at all but I closed my eyes anyway, skeptical as I was. A few seconds passed and then minutes and nothing was happening. I was merely closing my eyes waiting for nothing.

"Should we try something else?" I asked Lucifer without opening my eyes. There was no reply. When I opened my eyes, he was nowhere to be found. It was just me at the center of the park.

My first thought was that he just went off somewhere, perhaps he got bored of waiting for me. The anxiety and the panic started then, I was afraid of being stuck here. Lucifer had told me that it wasn't just angels and demons who roamed in purgatory. There were other things, creatures that I should not wish to see.

And as if an answer to my thoughts, the pale light that illuminated the fading facade of purgatory began to dim. And from the approaching darkness, a mist, then a voice.

"Human." It was a deep voice, and I almost believed that it belonged to a human.

From the mist appeared a son of the night. His dark cape covered the rusty suit of armor beneath. He was as pale as a corpse, his eyes glowed crimson. His dark hair was brushed up neatly and his lips were almost the same shade as his eyes. On his back was a great sword, the length of which almost amounted to that of his own.

And just like my encounter with every supernatural I asked it the same question. "Who are you?"

"Alucard." His face was unreadable, or perhaps it's just because he was already dead.

"Why are you here?"

At this his eyes glinted. "I smelled you from far away. Blood draws me but perhaps you already know that."

I didn't like one bit where this conversation was heading and I silently prayed for Lucifer to come back. "I'm not alone."

At this he laughed, and his voice rang all around me as if he was everywhere. "For now, you are. It has been sometime since I've had blood."

The fear intensified and my body began to become numb. The mist began to thicken and I could no longer see him. The fear became fuel and I could feel a dormant part of myself awaken.

I had no weapon, but I had what Lucifer and I proceeded to call the Veil of Death, a flexible muscle that enveloped my whole body, invisible to the eye and could be use both for offense and defense. It was the only thing I could use for the moment. Other abilities and possibilities have yet to become known.

I was blind but the veil gave me a bit of comfort, somehow I felt protected. After all, as long as I kept it where it was, surrounding my whole body, I was invincible, or so I thought.

I felt the sword slashed through the back of my knees and I screamed and as a reflex, the veil reacted to the pain and lashed out but it didn't hit anything but air. And out of the mist, the voice of Alucard.

"You have power but you have no idea how to use it. That is plain." I couldn't sense him anywhere but I could hear his voice everywhere.

His blade appeared once more, a mere flicker in my field of vision, and after that a dozen cuts, I lost count. I couldn't even scream anymore and I realized that my throat was cut.

*I should be dead. Why am I still breathing?*

"Your hold on life is impressive." The voice of my tormentor echoed. "Though you look quite pitiful, holding on to life when you seem to have no purpose for living at all."

The last part got to me and a brief image of Caroline appeared in my mind's eye. *She's my purpose.*

I began to assess my surroundings, there was nothing but mist.

*The mist isn't natural, it came with him.*

I had to think fast before the next attack, before I lose my grip on consciousness. The bleeding from my cuts were slowly being mitigated by the veil but I knew it would be futile if they were reopened once more.

*Think. Think.* I pictured an explosion, a shockwave. The desperation I felt was passed onto the veil, a clear image of what I had in mind.

I felt the veil contract, gathering onto a single point, at the center of the ground I stood on and without warning, it exploded, and the mist blown away.

I saw Alucard a few feet away from me, with an amused expression.

He looked like he was actually having fun.

"That was quite a surprise." He brandished his sword at me, the edge glinting in the pale light that haunted purgatory. "I've fought many supernaturals in my lifetime and none of them are like you."

I only looked at him with apprehension. I couldn't speak, my whole body felt so weak after the shockwave I just unleashed.

*I paid so much for just that?*

It all seemed to be in vain however, because the mist was starting to surround me again.

*I'm not gonna stand a chance if he disappears.*

I concentrated and felt the veil in my whole body grow once more.

*So whenever I'll use it like that, it'll disappear and I have to grow another.*

I now could slowly grasp where the source of my power is, a mild tapping within, like opening a valve or turning on a switch and the circuitry was still new and I've yet to test how much I could do but there's no time.

*I have to attack now while he's still out in the open.*

I tried to reimagine the sensation when I used the veil as a sort of extension, a muscle when I fought with Lucifer. It seemed to respond with my thoughts and I felt it as if it has been a part of me all this time. I flexed it with my mind and it responded.

*At least that's some reassurance. Now for the test drive.*

I went on the offense. Calculating the distance between me and Alucard, I went on the attack with the veil, extending it as a sort of whip. He parried it with ease, and then rushed at me, his agility allowing him to close the distance between us and strike.

Predicting the attack was something, defending against it however was another. The killing blow struck me in the stomach, opening my bowels and I was thrown a few feet sideways.

The pain was unbearable and I wanted to pass out. Anything but this my psyche screamed but it just wouldn't let go. And then I heard it again, the voice in my head, the other part of me.

*You can't fight him this way. You'll lose.* Perhaps it was just the pain but it sounded worried.

*Yeah? There's nothing I can do to stop him. He's too damn fast and too strong, not even this puny veil can stop his attacks.*

*You are only as strong as your will to fight.*

*My will to fight?*

*Right now, you're only trying to fight to survive and that is not enough against someone like him.*

I was still writhing in agony, screaming in silence and I could feel him approaching. It was clear that no one was going to save me, no one to throw out a lifeline in this world of pain. I gathered what was left of me, and concentrated, willing the wounds to close. Both body and soul protested at my mind's command but they relented. The wounds began to heal but only up to a point. I knew I was going to have battle scars after these. The next part was the hardest, I lost all my bodily strength and had to rely on the veil to support me.

Once more I stood and stared at the face of the vampire who looked mildly astonished but that didn't stop him. I could feel his lust for my blood, feel his curiosity of how I tasted. He lunged at me with his inhuman speed. He was going to stab me and impale me to his sword and that would be the end of me.

*This time I fight for myself.*

I could feel a ripple inside of me, a tingling flow of energy that traversed from the same source. A circle of dark matter formed in front of me, pulsing with death. Without a second thought, I hurled it at Alucard.

It was too slow but because Alucard was unprepared, it grazed his left shoulder and he was hurled backwards.

He checked his shoulder and didn't like what he saw. The pale white skin had now turned dark and it looked like he couldn't move it.

"You're full of surprises." He sounded slightly annoyed.

I didn't answer. I merely produced another sphere of dark matter and threw it at him. By now, I was operating on sheer instinct, letting that other part of me take over. I could feel him taking in the reins of my consciousness.

He dodged it this time, the sphere was too slow though when it hit the ground it exploded into shards of dark energy. I knew though that this won't last. I couldn't stave off exhaustion much longer. My body was about to betray me but still I kept going and produced the spheres. This time I produced five spheres and hurled it at him all at once, thinking that if I hit him even at least once that would be enough to incapacitate him but none of them hit him. He simply danced around them, looking as graceful as a cat.

"You should simply give up and let me have your blood." His eyes, a picture of lust. "I might even turn you into one of my familiars. Come, give it up, your soul is all but spent."

*All this power and I can't beat him.* The haziness in my vision was increasing.

*You're trying to limit yourself, open yourself a bit more. We're so much more than this.* I heard the voice in my head say.

I didn't have any clue of what he was trying to tell me but I already felt the source, connected to my body by sheer will. Right now, I knew the connection was weak, the circuitry in shambles but the flow of energy was overwhelming.

*I have to find a way to increase the flow.* I chuckled despite of it all. *Open the gates as you would say.*

Perhaps it was just an illusion but I could almost see that voice in my head break into a smile. *Exactly.*

With much effort, I made my last stand. Calculating the amount of blows I've taken and the energy left in my body, I only had one chance left. I tapped into the source once more but this time I concentrated on the flow. I didn't know if I'd gathered enough but I only had a small amount of time.

Without breaking a stride, I used the veil, empowering it pouring every energy I've managed to gather into it. Slowly, the veil became visible, a dark pulsing field of energy, and I felt it wrapped itself on my body.

"Another trick? Fantastic. You're going to be quite a treat." Alucard didn't look threatened. In his eyes I could see that I was nothing more than prey.

He lunged at me. I was no match for his speed, much less on physical strength. All I had was the veil and the spheres and I had to make do with them.

I felt the blade of his sword stab through the right side of my chest, saw him smile, thinking perhaps that I was done for. We were standing face to face with one another. He was holding the hilt of his sword which was buried in my chest.

"You put up a good fight but this is the end of the road for you." His voice was devoid of any emotion. "I wonder how the taste of your blood and soull will be."

*NOW!* I could hear the voice in my head scream.

And like a response to a stimulus, the veil exploded. A deafening wave of dark matter splintered all over the place, engulfing Alucard who was blown back and fell to the ground.

Now the replica of the park is nothing more than a wasteland. Everything was turned to ashes. The veil was gone now and I knew I no longer had the focus to channel and create another. I was on my knees, staring at my opponent who was trying to pick himself up but it seemed he was having trouble doing so. What I last saw before I fell was Alucard, his skin the color of a rotten corpse, the right half of his face was gone and there was a gaping hole in his gut.

*Vampires.*