DARK BLOODLINES

By Hung Nguyen aka Animeaddiction

Introduction: After re-reading my old Hell Hunter story, I decided to take another crack at an original series. First, I started watching anime like Maburaho, Rosario + Vampire, Vampire Knight and other supernatural series to get an idea. Then, I decided to make my own main character a high school student with his own special talents and problems. Now I know that sort of thing has been done before, but I think this could be a different spin on things.

< >: Thoughts

Episode 1

What Are You?

It was a dark and eerie night in the outer districts of Tokyo. A pair of high school girls were walking down the dimly lit streets after a round of karaoke and sweets. Both were in good spirits. One had long dark hair done up in a ponytail and possessed a tall, slender frame. Her friend had short, black hair and wore glasses. Both were dressed casually in short-sleeved blouses, skirts and low-heeled shoes.

“So what do you want to do next, Achiko?” The brown-haired girl asked.

Achiko Sutanara shrugged her shoulders as she replied. “I don’t know Minasa. It’s getting kind of late and we do need to study for that test next week.”

Minasa Tsunane smirked as gave her companion a mischievous expression. “Come on, Achiko! The night’s still young! And it’s not like YOU need to study for a test. You always get straight A’s. Come on! It’s time you get your head out of those books and live a little!”

“I don’t know…”

“We agree with your friend there.”

The two girls turned toward the sound of the new voice and saw two teenage boys standing casually against the side of a convenience store. One was dressed in a black leather jacket, black shirt, jeans and hi-tops. He had short black hair and a kind of devilish grin. His partner was similarly dressed, but had reddish-brown hair and was a bit shorter than the first boy.

The first teen gave Achiko and Minasa a smirk as said, “Hey, girls. Are you looking for some fun? My friend and I know all the best hot spots in the area. By the way, my names Kenta and this is Botan.”

His friend then added with a more sly grin. “We can guarantee that we can get your blood pumping with excitement.”

Minasa leaned forward with vivid interest, while Achiko backed away nervously. She grabbed hold of Minasa’s left arm and tried to pull her friend away.

“We really should be getting home!”

“Oh come on! It’ll be fun!” Minasa countered in low, whisper. “And they’re pretty cute!”

Achiko tried to protest further but was then pulled forward by her companion as she addressed the two boys.

“Lead on guys! My blood needs to be pumped hot!”

Kenta smiled as he and his friend began leading the two girls toward a nearby night club. He then thought to himself.

<Yes, let’s get your blood as hot… and as sweet as possible!>

----------

Several hours later…

Both girls were laughing happily as they exited the night club along with the two boys. As they headed toward the park, the two boys started to become more tense as they neared the shadows.

“I’ve got to admit Minasa, that was fun!” Achiko said as she and her friend walked casually down the park’s pathway.

“See, what did I tell you? These guys know how to party!” She then turned to their companions when her stomach grumbled slightly. “Hey, I just realized that we haven’t eaten yet.”

The dark-haired boy smiled along with his friend. “That’s quite a coincidence, My friend and I were just thinking of having dinner right about now. And we were thinking of having you join us. It‘ll be our treat.”

“Great!” Achiko’s friend exclaimed. “So what are we having for dinner?”

It was then that the area became extremely dark as the bushes and the trees blended into the expanding shadows. It was at that moment that the dark-haired boy’s eyes started to glow with a crimson hue. His friend’s eyes did likewise. Then he said in a very slow, and malicious tone.

“What we are having for dinner... is you!”

At first Minasa thought it was all a joke, but then the two boys smiled, each showing a very vicious set of elongated and pointed canines. The girls began to back away fearfully as the pair of vampires slowly closed in on them.

“Oh my God!” Achiko cried out as she clung to her friend in terror. Minasa was trembling like a leaf as she realized that her expected night of fun had just turned into a nightmare.

Both girls started screaming as they looked about for an avenue of escape. However, their supernatural stalkers laughed at their predicament.

“Don’t bother.” Botan said with a sneer. “We’ve blanketed this entire area with sound-suppressing shadows. No one is going to hear you.”

“Although, we’d prefer that you do scream.” His friend said with a malevolent voice. “That feeling of terror makes your blood all the more sweeter. Like I said before, it’s going to be a treat!”

Achiko and Minasa let off another scream as they tried to run, but everywhere they went, their pursuers were always in front of them. They soon realized that escape was impossible as the two vampires closed in on them.

“There’s nowhere you can run and nowhere you can hide.” The vampire with the reddish-brown hair said.

His companion nodded as they watched the girls cower before them. “These shadows not only keep others from hearing your screams, but they also block off this area from the rest of the world. Only vampires like my friend and I can navigate this darkness.”

“Well then. I guess that means that I can make my way through this as well.”

Everyone turned toward the direction of the new voice and were surprised to see a stranger appear from the darkness. He was a tall individual who looked to be about 16 or 17 years old. He had dark brown hair in an unruly style and had a lean, athletic body. He was wearing a jean jacket, matching denim pants and running shoes. His expression was serious as he focused on the two girls and their attackers.

“Who are you?” Kenta demanded.

“How did you get in here?“ Botan added.

The newcomer smiled as his eyes glowed crimson and his fangs glittered.

Both bloodsuckers immediately understood as they tensed up. They started to maneuver about to get into a better position to attack the interloper. As they circled about, they began to assess their opponent.

“I can sense that you are like us, but I can also tell that your power is weak.” Kenta taunted.

“Yeah, and I can also smell that you have a human side as well.” Botan remarked as they took to the air and hovered above the intruder and their intended meals. He let off a snort of disdain. “You’re nothing but a stinking half-breed! A dhampir!”

“To think that one of our kind would actually breed with a human! Talk about playing with one’s food!”

The stranger said nothing as he stood and studied their movements. He then took a deep breath and prepared for their attacks.

Kenta smirked as he dived toward his opponent. “I’ve always wondered what a dhmapir’s blood tastes like!”

Botan charged in at the same time. “Yeah, after we suck your blood, we’ll have those girls for dessert!”

Both moved with a speed that could only be described as inhuman. However, as fast as they were, the newcomer easily dodged their initial attacks, then countered with a series of fast punches. Several of them landed on his opponents with bone-crushing impacts, however the two purebloods laughed as they circled about him.

“Hah! Like I thought! Weak!” The dark-haired bloodsucker taunted. “You may hit harder than a normal human, but that still doesn’t compare to a pureblood!” He emphasized his point by diving toward the stranger feet first. His opponent dodged the attack as Kenta plowed through concrete, causing a small crater to be formed.

“Your vampire powers are nothing with that human blood tainting them!” Botan said with a sneer as he came down from behind.

The newcomer avoided his lightning fast strike and jumped back to get some more fighting room. He then stood defiantly as his right hand came up toward the front of his shirt. The two vampires waited for whatever pathetic attack he would make.

The stranger gave both of them a look of contempt as he reached into the front of his shirt and brought out an ornamental pendant in the shape of a pentagram. His expression became deadly as he addressed the two dark boys.

“Actually, I was just testing out how strong you two were, and I’m not impressed. You two may be purebloods, but you’re only a couple of minor level vampires. I’m giving you fair warning, here and now. Go back where you came from and leave these girls alone.”

“Hah! We’re vampires, and it is our nature to drink the blood of humans!”

“Your entry into the human world is unauthorized! Furthermore, there have been reports of several deaths in the last few days. Some of those victims were killed without having their blood drained. They had your spiritual essences all over them. Which means, you killed them without even being hungry!”

“Hah!” Kenta sneered. “Those humans were just for sport! That’s all humans are good for. Either we eat them, play with them or both! Those weaklings deserve nothing but contempt and we don’t see why we must consume those wretched blood substitute pills. Hell! We should be the masters of the human race, not try to coexist with them!”

“So you refuse to submit to the Contract?”

“I spit on that treaty!” Kenta exclaimed.

“We will never accept those stupid rules!” Botan added.

The stranger nodded. “Then by your own admission, you’ve just forfeited your own lives and I have the authority to end them.”

“Hah! Like we’d be scared of some half-breed with the taint of human blood in him!” Kenta scoffed.

The stranger took on a serious expression. “You should be grateful that I do have some human blood in me to keep my powers in check. You wouldn’t like it if I used them at full strength.”

“Hah! Prove it!” Botan sneered.

At that moment, the stranger’s aura flared in a dark, red glow. His right hand clenched the pendant tightly as a sensation of terror flooded the area, causing the two purebloods and their intended victims to tremble in fear.

“If you insist.” The stranger said in a deadly tone as he suddenly blurred forward. A scream was heard. However, it was not from one of the girls, but one of their attackers.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!”

Botan fell to his knees as he clutched at the stump of what was remaining of his right arm. He had not even seen the interloper move and was unable to react in time. Then something appeared from the shadows in front of him. A gigantic shape with leathery wings descended upon him and Botan screamed anew as his body was torn apart.

Kenta watched in shocked horror as his friend was mauled by a gigantic bat. He could feel the immense dark powers emanating from the creature and was even more surprised to feel the same presence as the supposed half-breed. Then the huge bat shifted into human form, leaving a bloodied and severely butchered Botan lying on the ground. Kenta gulped as the stranger raised an arm at him and his eyes glowed bright crimson. An unseen force grabbed hold of him and sent him flying away. In an instant, the stranger materialized behind him in a cloud of mist and swung an arm.

WHABOOM!

This time, Kenta truly felt the blow which was equivalent to being struck by a speeding bus going at 60 mph. As he went flying off like a grand slam baseball, his thoughts raced in confusion and disbelief.

<SHAPESHIFTING?! TELEKINISIS?! DISAPPEARING INTO MIST?! THERE’S NO WAY A

HALF-BREED COULD BE THAT POWERFUL! WHO IS THIS GUY?! WHAT IS HE?!”>

At that point, his trajectory was abruptly halted when the stranger appeared in air and grabbed Kenta by the throat. He then dived down toward the ground, slamming the injured vampire to the concrete, nearly pulverizing the skull. He disappeared once again and reappeared beside the two frightened girls. Giving them a glance, he took a deep breath and clutched at his pendant again.

<Must… pull back my powers. I’m… already starting to feel the bloodlust. I’m going to end up feeding on them if I let it go on…>

After a few moments, a gentle blue glow enveloped his form. Opposite to him, Kenta and the barely conscious Botan were further amazed to sense the stranger’s vampire powers diminish back to their reduced levels.

Then they got another shock as he took a deep breath and let loose with an soul-shattering scream which pierced into their brains like steel blades and flung them backward as if they were pieces of paper in a gale force wind. The two bloodsuckers tumbled painfully end over end and came to a stop some fifty feet away. They were about to lapse into unconsciousness as the stranger slowly approached them.

“That… that… was a banshee’s wail!” Botan gasped.

The unknown teen nodded as he stood before them some twenty feet away. “That’s right. And are you familiar with the other abilities of the banshee? Specifically her power to predict the time of death of a person?”

At that moment, his hair turned ashen white and started to become wavy. His eyes glowed red, but this time it was not with the same malicious intent of the vampire. It was rather with the saddened and mournful tone of the Irish messenger of doom.

“From what I can tell, you two are about to die in eight seconds… seven… six… five… four…”

At that moment, the area became lighter as dawn began to break. The vampire pair realized that it was too late for them to seek cover as the light of day approached them. They were too weakened from the battle to escape and as the first rays began to burn into them, Kenta shouted out to him.

“WHO ARE YOU?! WHAT ARE YOU?!”

The teen ignored his request as he finished with the countdown.

“Three… two… one… zero.” He then let loose with another wail to signal their ends.

Botan and Kenta let loose with screams of anguish as their bodies smoked, then caught fire. In less time it took to tell, they were consumed in flames as their flesh let off a putrid smell as it burned. In one final burst, the two became piles of ashes, which were blown away with the morning winds.

He nodded in confirmation of their passing, then turned to the two girls. They were still in a state of shock and didn’t move. That suited him just fine as he began waving his hands about in a casual gesture. Sparkling motes appeared and started to shower the females, causing them to become drowsy. In a minute, they were fast asleep on the ground. He then placed his right index finger to the side of his nose. In a flash, all three disappeared from sight.

----------

A few minutes later…

Achiko and Minasa awoke to find themselves on a bench in front of the night club they had been to several hours ago. Both found themselves unable to remember the events of the previous night and assumed that they had partied all night long and fell asleep.

As the two girls walked away from the scene, the strange boy who had saved them, looked on from the shadows of a nearby alleyway. Glittering on his chest was his pendant as the morning sun continued to rise. A minute later, after the girls had gone, he placed his right index finger to the side of his nose and disappeared.

----------

At a large, western-style house in a district north of downtown Tokyo, the young man appeared out of thin air at the front door. Taking a deep breath, he entered into the house and headed down the hallway. As he came to the main living room, a large man with short black hair and a slender woman with long, ash blonde hair greeted him.

“Son, you’ve been gone all night.” The man asked.

“We were worried, Sean.” The woman added.

Sean Logan nodded while answering his parents, Michael and Sheelin. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be gone so long. I was going to call you, but then I came across… a couple of vampires.”

“Vampires?” His father repeated with interest. “Are those the two that had a warrant put on them?”

“Yes. I checked with the office before I started following them. They admitted to their guilt about the killings. They also denounced the Contract, so… I took care of them. Their deaths have already been registered.”

“I see. So did you use it?”

Sean nodded. “Can we talk about this later? I’m really tired now.”

“All right, Sean. Go get some rest. However, you will need to get ready for next week. I’ve just had you enrolled at the local high school.”

Sean nodded again as he headed toward his room. After entering his room and closing the door, he didn’t even bother to change out of his clothes as he lay down on his bed. As he lay in silence he started to contemplate his pendant as Kenta and Botan’s words came back to him.

Botan: You’re nothing but a stinking half-breed! A dhampir!

Kenta: To think that one of our kind would actually breed with a human!

Sean snorted as he thought to himself.

<Human… I wish I was just human! Then I’d only have to worry about human problems. The thing is, my human blood is around one percent! I’m half banshee on my mother’s side, and my father’s side is part vampire, part leprechaun, part werewolf, and about a thousand other monsters, myths and legends! I guess a more accurate description of me would be a mutt.>

Sean then began to think about his family’s history in general. Since ancient times, the Logan family had been breeding with members of the Old Races and throughout the centuries, had harnessed their powers to keep the peace between the human world and the non-human one. Though the blood had been diluted throughout the ages, the Logans had discovered a way to bring out the full potential of each trait they had gained from interbreeding their bloodlines with that of the demon realms. Even the tiniest amount of supernatural genes could be amplified to equal or surpass even purebloods.

The pendant that Sean wore had allowed him to boost his vampire heritage to its highest levels, making him a match for even high-level bloodsuckers. However, using the pendant’s power had its price. In becoming like a pureblood, he not only gained the full power but also the same weaknesses and tendencies. He would have drained those girls dry of their blood and shriveled up in the sunlight along with Baton and Kenta. Normally, his powers were at reduced levels and though his human blood was a minor portion of his genetic makeup, it still retained control over his physiology. Since he was also half-banshee, the powers he shared with his mother were in greater amounts than the others.

He then started thinking about how his father and mother met. Michael Logan had been hunting down rogue banshees in Ireland when he got involved with the most powerful of them all. Sheelin Blaise, the Queen of the Banshee. At that point, he fell in love with her. After taking care of the criminals, he and Sheelin began a romance which was considered a great scandal in the Other World. Three years later, Michael proposed to her and she accepted, but had to abdicate her throne to marry him. A year after that, Sean was born, much to the surprise of the other banshees, considering that only females were ever born to them. A male child with the powers of a banshee was unheard of. Michael had suggested that it was due to the fact that their family bloodlines were a mixture of the other races, as well as being partially human. Furthermore, since his mother was technically royalty, he would be considered as the Prince of Banshees.

Sean sighed again as he decided to put those thoughts for later. In truth, he really wanted to live out his life as a human, rather than having to battle monsters and demons and enforcing the treaty. Many of the other races hated his family for its mixed blood and thought of them as nothing more than lowly mongrels. At times, he wondered if he belonged anywhere at all.

Sean hoped that going to a normal, human school would help with his depression.

----------

A week later…

“Class, I would like to introduce you to a new transfer student. He’s from America and just moved to Japan. His name is Sean Logan.”

Minasa and Achiko, along with the other students in the room took in the ruggedly handsome young man before them. For Minasa and her friend, they couldn’t help but feel that they knew him from somewhere before.

Sean nodded as he bowed to the class and introduced himself. However, his supernatural senses began picking up the telltale traces of otherworldly energies emanating from the school grounds. Apparently, his dream of attending a normal human high school was not to be. Deep within him, his dark bloodline began to stir.

To be continued…

Author’s notes

After watching anime like Rosario + Vampire, Devil May Cry, and other supernatural series, I wondered about having the main character possessing not one but several traits from many different monsters. After seeing Danny Phantom and Roswell Conspiracies, Aliens, Myths and Legends, I thought that a new twist was to make him the son of a banshee, which definitely goes against the traditional lore of a female messenger of doom. It’s an interesting concept and I may just expand on it later.

Sean Logan

Age: 17

Occupation: High school sophomore, part-time Enforcer of the Contract

Height: 5’ 11”

Weight: 155 lbs

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Black

Nationality: United States citizen, currently living in Japan and attending school on a student visa

Known Relatives: Michael Logan (father), Sheelin Blaise-Logan (mother)

Profile and Personality: Sean Logan is the latest in a long line of monster hunters and Contract Enforcers that had been interbreeding with various supernatural beings over the centuries. As a result, his genetic makeup is comprised of traits from more than a thousand different species. Though diluted, Sean is able to use the powers of those beings at moderate levels. When he needs to use a set of powers at full strength, he makes use of a pentagram-shaped pendant which can amplify those abilities. However, he cannot use them for too long, else those traits will take over and cause him to lose what little humanity he has. Furthermore, he will gain all the weaknesses of the pureblood monsters.

As the son of a pureblood banshee, Sean is able to use piercing shrieks to disable and damage his enemies, as well as cause considerable material destruction. He also possesses a form of precognition in which he able to predict the imminent death of a person.

Monster Abilities Currently Known

Vampire: Enhanced strength, telekinesis, shapeshifting, levitation, night vision, able to vanish in a cloud of mist

Werewolf: So far not known

Banshee: Highly destructive wail or sonic scream, able to foresee the imminent death of a person

Leprechaun: Fairy-style magic, (to erase memories), teleportation, (by placing his index finger to the side of his nose)