The Vampire of Salina Cruz, Mexico(Open)

The dry city of Salina Cruz has been the spot of more unusual activity lately. The people there are shaken to the point of insanity, all because of one creature, Bram.

Bram had set up residence in this city for one reason and one alone. You see, Colombian drug cartels often came through this town to traffic the illegal substances, and Bram fed off of these "Heathens" as he called them. He would go off into the jungles at night, clear out a few of them, and then return to the city for church that afternoon. It was truly a vicious circle that the people knew about, but were afraid to do something about. Every time someone tried, they were never to be seen again.

This was the way Bram liked it. No one ever challenged his authority over the town, and newcomers were none the wiser about him. These actions were never uncovered, but would that eventually be broken? Hah, Bram thought not. How could something ever be powerful enough to combat a vampire; to stand and look into the deep purple eyes, and not even flinch?

"Of course I could beat a vampire!" A cocky, yet manipulative sorcerer had told some of the towns people. Sora Nai had always wanted to go to Mexico. Mainly because of the food. But he did not expect that someone would try and make him food! Armed with a brown cloak, a magical chess piece, a mysterious arm-crown and wits as sharp as a katana, he made his way down the streets of Mexico, reciting what information he had of the vampire in his head. It distracted him from the fact his sister wasn't there, by his side. He made another note in the chess piece. Apparently, this guy loves to go off into the jungle and kill a few drug smugglers. I can appreciate what he's doing, but not the way he does it. Making a sharp turn into a back alley and leaning against the wall, he went over his notes once again. People don't just get as good as Sora.

"Thou doeth not knoweth the pow'r thou wouldst be dealing with, young one." Bram said to himself, watching over the sorcerer from above on the roof of the building. Bram was wearing the preacher clothes he wore when not hunting. The thick glasses covered up the glow of his eyes, but made it hard to see. He took a single step, and immediately tripped over something and fell off the roof. He got up quickly and started growling in angry Spanish, rubbing his leg furiously.

"I hope I can safely guess you're Bram from the way you were lurking on the rooftops." Sora twirled the chess piece in between his fingers and slowly approached the vampire. The sorcerer observed the aura around the other man for a few moments before speaking again. "And could you please refrain from speaking like that? It's quite annoying and I hate Shakespeare." The boy said with slight disgust in his voice. He focused on a certain part of the aura that surrounded the vampire. "And your religion is heavily flawed, by the way." But little did the monster know, Sora had already anticipated any possible move he could make next.

The vampire was quite shocked that it was apparently this obvious. He honestly didn't know why he was so shocked, but what really got him angry was his claim that Catholicism was flawed. His heart pounded with anger, but it did not show. Standing to his feet, he said "What endues thou to mine hunting grounds, heathen? Tis not wise to intrude on a vampire's t'rrit'ry." He gave a small smile, acting friendly to this sorcerer. The townspeople all looked at him in fear, but this did not matter to him. It was commonplace for these mortals to live in fear of what they could not understand.

Sora laughed at the vampire's pathetic attempt to conceal his emotion. "Oh, you know, I was in the neighbourhood. Apparently you're a great tourist attraction." He lowered the hood on his cloak, for Sora isn't nearly shallow enough to be afraid of a vampire. "I'm also here to question your beliefs. I mean, really, a heavy catholic vampire that breaks the 'thou shalt not kill' rule? That's a questionable belief." The boy did a fake yawn and drifted closer to Bram, ready for any sudden attack the vampire might attempt. "Oh, and the townspeople want you dead. Now, why would that be?" The sorcerer already knew the answer, but this was simply a test to see if he would tell the truth.

Bram just scuffed. "Tis a corrupted claim." Bram said, holding his head high. "I am the instrument of god's judgment, manifest'd into human formeth. These heathens broke thy holy law, and will argal be amerced by me. These people knoweth this, and will stayeth in line with the law of the church, 'r will suffereth the wrath of mine holy judgment." Bram boasted, as if making a claim of divinity. Suddenly, three bells rang, and Bram turned to look behind him. It was time for church. "If thou doeth not careth, 'tis timeth to attendeth mandat'ry s'rvices to the l'rd and saviour. wouldst thou careth to to taketh parteth?"

This night would truly be fun for Bram. This child seemed to anticipate his every action, as if reading his mind, or seeing into the future. This heathen would provide an excellent feast later on tonight, if he dared to follow him into the jungle for dinner.

Sora grinned at the request and bowed. "I would be honoured to join you, my lord." The sorcerer said mockingly. But he easily saw through the vampires request. What kind of falcon would he be if he didn't? "But I must warn you, if you try to do anything, you'll find a dagger sturdily lodged in your throat." He straightened himself and revealed a small dagger in his cloak. One can't easily deceive a Japanese street magician with legit magic powers. "I'll see you in church, my unholy friend. I've never seen the inside of a church before." The sorcerer cackled and morphed into a certain species of falcon and flew in the general direction of the church.

Bram laughed at the mocking tone of the sorcerer's words. On his way to the church, he couldn't help but think of the frightened townspeople. Was it right to keep these people in fear for his faith? The mortals lived every moment afraid of him, and may have even wanted to kill him. Was it worth forcing them into his faith, at the cost of gaining their hatred? Of course it was. Their hatred meant nothing, since they couldn't possibly have the ability to fight him back, and they attended church every day, unwillingly, but they still did.

At the church, it was a pleasant sight to see all the less corrupted souls entering the doors, along with him himself. On the inside, there were dirty rows of red booths being supported by purple painted wood, which was chipping. The place was full of cobwebs and dust. The air was so thick not even a Death Scythe could cut through it. At the front, there was a single stand holding up an open bible, and behind it was a metal cross poorly fastened to the wall. It appeared as if it could easily be removed and then put back. The sides of it were covered in dry blood.

Bram licked the blood on it, with a satisfied look on his face. He approached the stand, and began to speak. " Pleaseth riseth. we art all hither today to witness the holy blessings that hast been given to us. each one of thou, by being hither today, hast been grant'd a blessing, that thou may avoideth the et'rnal fate of damnation and may faceth Saint Pet'r, and be allow'd pass'd the golden gates." he preached. The people remained quiet, and the younger ones were terrified of what may happen.

Sora watched in shock from the rafters in his falcon form. I knew he was bad, but I didn't think he was this bad! It's times like these I wished Shiro was here... Sora was hit by an overwhelming wave of sadness at the thought of his absent sister. Step-sister. Adopted step-sister. Whatever. He still missed her. He silently glided from beam to beam of the rafters, looking for any sign of resistance against this vampire dictator. A single row of men near the back seemed to all be equipped with small firearms underneath their coats. He didn't need to use magic to sense the aura of pure fear radiating from the townspeople, and could see the armed men near the back would attack very soon.

The sunset gleamed over the horizon as Bram starred off at it through the mud-stained window. As the sun went down, he continued his sermon. "Anon, may the most unholy of us be present'd." he said, with a twisted smile as a woman was brought by what appeared to be zombies. "This woman dar'd to commit the deadly sineth of adult'ry, a crime condemn'd and will be amerced. n'rmally this wouldst be a stoning, but that is not righteous enough." he said as the woman was held down and he tore the cross off the wall, wielding it as a sword. "In the nameth of the l'rd, i sendeth thou to rest in the et'rnal t'rment. amen!" he exclaimed turning the sword upside-down.

Raising it, there was a sudden sting in him. He had been shot through the body, and fell back. The zombies were then executed along with him. The woman gasped in horror getting up. The people in the church all stood there in shock and awe. Was the monster dead? Was the nightmare over?

Bram just laid there, motionless. He was not dead, as the wound was healing, but just laid there, faking dead. The sword remained in his hand, but without a grip.

As the people began to head out of the church, Bram got back up. "So, thou dareth to intermit me, the imm'rtal of mexico, the gentle knight of am'rica, and the holiest of the ordinary! tis a grim fate thoust brought upon yourselves, and this will not goeth without being amerced. I declare a new holy war, an inquisition, a crusade!" he announced, waving his sword at the people. The moon then rose and Bram gave a deep breath. "Tis a wonderful night for the hunt." he commented.

OOC: Sorry if this seems G-modded, but I didn't know how to handle the NPCs you mentioned.

((OOC: Nah, it's fine, man. I just wanted to see where you would go with it.))

Sora's falcon mouth was hanging open. But... But they shot him! Through the shoulder, no less! Even I didn't see that coming... He corrected himself and tried to see his current emotion through his expression and aura. Bloodlust. That's not good. He swooped down behind the Vampire and landed in his human form, trying to be as dramatic as possible with his cloak. "I'm guessing... Zat you vant to suck dere blood! Bleh!" He used his cloak to symbolise the cape of a vampire, then broke into laughter. "But seriously though, don't. It's not very healthy for the villagers." Slowly, Sora pulled a curved blade from his cloak and held it in an assassin position, then held it up to the Catholics spine. "And I suggest not dramatically spinning around or twirling away, because if you move, you can say goodbye to all feeling in your legs! And I have a feeling you'll miss them when they're gone!" Then he began humming the cup song to himself, unaware if the vampire was aware of his presence the whole time.

Bram didn't move whatsoever. He just simply stood there, silently watching the moon rise, fueling the lust to murder the tiny heathen that stood behind him, mocking him. In a moment, using the enhanced speed of vampire, he jolted away in a brief second, facing the sorcerer, sword in hand. "Thou haseth chosen to cross blades with me. Tis a brave action, but foolish at most." Bram then appeared to be fading away. "Leteth us seeth just how artful ye are fighting a creature that thou cannot seeth n'r toucheth." Bram taunted, appearing to blend into the darkness being casted by the moon. The vampire creeped around the outskirts of the street, nearly invisible, the only thing remaining faintly visible being the purple glow of his eyes, masked by a thick pair of sunglasses.

Bram was not going to make his move just yet, as he soon caught on to the heathen's foresight, as if looking into a crystal ball. He would have to figure out a way to separate the sorcerer from the chess piece he wielded, believing that to be the instrument of his power.

Well, Bram wasn't wrong. He made another note to himself in the chess piece: 'Vampires get stronger at night, you dumbass.' Sora was actually feeling scared. A crazy religious invisible vampire at night? His chances of survival were slowly dwindling. He looked around cautiously, searching for any possible signs of where the monster went. Until his sharp falcon eyes picked up a light source coming just from his left. Sure, he was wearing sunglasses, but nothing can hide from eyes like these. But he played along. "Hey, um, vampire senpai! How 'bout we sort this out like men? You know, a good game of cards, or chess! No one has to get hurt and we can learn to get along, huh? That sound good?" Sora hoped his opponent didn't have eyes as keen as his, or the vampire would see that he was completely faking it. What was he faking? His own fear. Always have complete control over a situation, and you'll always have the upper hand. And with an ignorant vampire with a superiority complex, it seems that I might have monopoly.

"Gambling?" Bram asked insulted. "Tis a grave sin. Thou hast tainted the thy holy grounds with your crime, and the righteous judgment shalleth be brought!" Bram shouted, charging straight into the sorcerer. His sword was raised in a motion that indicated he was about to hammer the sword downwards, but he was actually covering his claw, which was raised up about to slam on Sora's face. "Amen!" he declared coming down.

The sorcerer laughed and easily sidestepped the blade. "You're gonna ha-" But the claw caught him directly in the face, sending Sora sprawling across the street. He even imagined the letters "KO" appearing in the air. He skidded for a moment, until coming to a halt. Sora groaned, rubbing his face in pain. There were four large cuts along his face, now. "Have to do better than that, is what I was gonna say..." He painfully staggered to his feet and took his dagger from the ground, for he had obviously dropped it on impact. "Don't... Ow... Don't you dare insult my games, you demonic bastard!" Sora flung the dagger he held, aiming directly for his throat, and secretly threw a much smaller one with it, aiming for his knee. After both daggers were flung, the sorcerer charged at him with falcon claws raised and eyes a-blazing, aiming for the general area his lungs were in. Three separate attacks, aiming for different parts of his body. Let's see how you handle this!

The vampire just stood there, with a smile on his face. He had a little bit of a surprise for the gambling wizard. He swatted the first knife away, and then took the knife to the knee. He kneeled down, playing along to the hurting, and then took the claw back to the face. He let out a powerful shriek as it made contact. It hurt much worse than he thought it would.

He got on the ground, and then what sounded like crying could be heard, which then turned into laughter. He stood up as the wounds on his face healed and he tore the knife out of his knee, standing as if nothing happened as the last wound closed. The laughing got louder as he paced closer to Sora. "Wherefore wouldst thou yea both'r? Thou can't cloak, thou can't healeth thy wounds, thou don't yea draweth pow'r from nature, n'r the l'rd. He hath bless'd me with these pow'rs to vanquish thou bloody heathens who denounce him." He dashed up close and, as he did, cloaked, dsappearing from immediate sight. Bram then, using his speed, dashed from side to side, in an attempt to throw Sora off track before coming in with the next attack.

Sora could barely keep track of the vampire, but when he blinked he completely lost sight of him. "You know, my offer still stands from b-before. How about we make a deal ? If I can take your sword from you while you're cloaked, you have to stop terrorising these poor people." The sorcerer had completely lost track of the monster and fear was creeping back up his spine. Being out of knives didn't really help the situation. "And... Um... If you take my chess piece while I'm a falcon... You... Uh... What do you... What do you want if you..." He was slowly becoming more petrified at the fact that an invisible demonic dictator was hunting him from the shadows. "What would you want if you win? Riches? A... A new sword? Come on, anything!" The fear was definitely getting to him. If he was put under any more pressure, he'll just break.Where's Shiro when you need her?

As Bram jumped from place to place, he scent of fear filled him; pleased him. The growing fear just made it all the more satisfying when the small child tried to offer a challenge. However, deep in the back of his mind, the good side of him started to tae over the thoughts of murder.

(in thought) "Why do you take such pleasure from the torture of those weaker than you? You claim God's will, but what give you the right to interpret the holy words? You yourself never followed them! You murdered, tormented, and abused your powers, all in the name of your faith! You deserve to rot in the deepest dungeons of Hell!" It was Anderson's voice. Anderson took him in when he was like Sora, terrified in what seemed to be an overwhelming force.

The last word made Bram stop running, behind Sora, with the sword ready to thrust. It was placed right on Sora's back, and only one thrust would be all it takes. The psychotic smile drew wide, but then Bram lowered the sword, and backed away. He looked at the sorcerer, loosening his grip. "I am nay Catholic, but a cockatrices." he whispered. He tried to pick the sword back up, but could barely bring himself to wield it correctly. His next jab was off, and sloppy. The vampire was actually starting to break himself.

"Are... Are you okay there, vampy?" Sora cocked his head to the side in confusion. What on Earth is going on? Did I do something? He scrambled away from the sorcerer and took his knives from the ground, ready to strike down the man if necessary. But he seemed to be more distracted by... Well, himself. "To stab, or not to stab? That is the question." He chuckled at his reference to a Shakespearian play, but the vampire still didn't seem to be interested. "Okay, you're really freaking me out now." Before the Vampire could snap out of his trance, he snatched the blade from the Vampire and threw it onto the roof of the nearby building. "Get wreaked, Vampy!"

Bram knew that his sword was gone, but just stood there in the trance. Flashbacks of Anderson's sealed memories pounded against his mind with force. The word "monster" kept ringing in his ears, along with a screech. "Tis a grim night for me. The dark is what kepteth me alive, and yet it hath nay meaning." he whispered before retreating back into the church. Inside, where a desk with dusty bibles was stacked, behind was a hidden door. Checking to make sure he was not being followed, Bram headed into the door and down a dark staircase, the only light being the purple of his eyes.

Down the staircase, there was a heavy iron door. It was bolted in tight and frozen. Using all his strength, Bram pried open the door and slammed it shut. Inside, there was a casket with a black and white picture of a preacher on it, being illuminated by nothing but a tiny candle. "Thou wast once a saint and fath'r. Thou took me in when nay one else did, and how did I repay thou? I stood thither and watch'd thou die by the handeth thou creat'd." he said to the photo as the candle flickered.

Outside, the people began to gather around. They were stunned by how this stranger had the power to challenge their threat. The vampire had ran away from him and hid himself. A little kid approached and asked "Why is he sad?" to Sora. The townspeople were also flabbergasted. This had never happened before. Bram always seemed to have the aura of superiority, always boasting himself, while denouncing others, like a modern Jonathan Edwards, but now bared regret? What was wrong?

Sora looked down at the child. "Honestly, kiddo? I don't know. But I fully intend on finding out." He dramatically swept away using his cloak as a cape, heading back inside the old church. Once again, he referred to his king piece. Gets stronger at night, religious dictator, superiority complex... There has to be something I missed! As he examined the interior of the church, he noticed a new passageway that seemed to have been hidden behind a desk. "I'm going to guess that's what I missed." He whispered to himself. Apparently, the vampire had forgotten to cover his tracks. Sora swiftly climbed down the stairs without a sound, careful to use the old Japanese sneaking technique. Toe first, heel second, detect ground for any loud areas, repeat. With this technique, Sora easily descended the stairs and came to a large metal door. Since strength isn't is ally, and you can't see through metal, he decided to listen through the door.

Bram remained silent in the crypt, inhaling the stale air through cobwebs. He could even smell Sora listening through the door. Sighing, he said "If ye are attempting to spy on me, at least be softer." he stated, with a small laugh. "I hast been grac'd with ent'rnal life, life that cannot be taken. The l'rd hath given me this gift, and I took it f'r garnet. this is nay a gift, but a beshrew. The suff'ring of mankind is what gave me faith in the one savi'r, and I betray'd that v'ry faith." he rambled. Bram took the picture of Anderson and starred it down. He remembered the life of this man, all the blessings he gave, and all the fears he projecting. "I wisheth it couldst be undone." he said, putting the picture back carefully.

Bram then pried the door open, starring down at Sora. "Doeth thou knoweth what 'tis liketh to liveth f'rev'r?" he asked.

"To be honest, vamp? I don't want to." Sora was slowly backing away from the door and the monster alike, afraid that this temporary moment if calm would end sooner, rather than later. "I believe it doesn't matter how long one lives, but what they do while they live." Sora was starting to climb back up the stairs, but then he saw something. He saw regret. Sadness. Depression. And Sora couldn't take it. He sighed and stopped climbing. "Look, vamps. I can see that you're regretting this whole 'undead king' stuff that you've been doing, but standing there looking sad ain't gonna do shit for you. I can... I can make you human again, like in Beauty and the Beast with that clock and candle and stuff. I can get rid of this curse for you, but... You're going to have to play a game with me. And let me win." Sora was already regretting his decision to help Bram, but he always stood by his word. Always.

Bram scoffed. "Tis against the will or the L'rd." he said. "The hand of Death is final, and his word is law. Thou doeseth not cheat Death, without paying the price." he warned. Bram kept a sturdy look to his face. At that moment, instinct took over. Looking over the small boy, he looked like a delicious feast, but unobtainable. "I grow weak. Tis time for the hunt." he said as the moon reached its peak. "The power of the night calls to me. Thy prey must not be allowed to escape." he said charging out, pushing Sora out of the way, heading for the jungles.