Chapter 0 - Introduction

Introduction

The light was fading fast. All around, mist clung low to the ground, concealing the world from all who dared to enter it. Barely visible was the grey castle, looming out of the dark, it’s high turrets all that where evident, rising tall like misshapen tree trunks.
A rather tall, cloaked figure stood on the edge of the castle grounds, paused behind it’s open steel gates. A large dog-like creature stood solemnly by it’s master’s side, it’s gaze fixed towards the hazy castle. To a passer by looking in from the outside, there may have been nothing remarkable about this scene. However, they where not merely a boy and dog, for the animal was not
a dog at all, but as a full-grown, European wolf, the last left in the United Kingdom. Neither was the boy merely a boy, but a vampire, one whose family stretched back over countless generations.
The pair where returning home after seven long months spent away. It was not, however, to be a happy homecoming, nor would it ever be again, for much strife had occurred while the two had been away. The castle was no longer the comfortable home it had once been, more a place of fear and dread.
The boy teetered on the edge of the castle grounds, unable to make up his mind whether he dared enter or not. With a sigh, he leaned against blackened railings encircling the property, letting the ice cold metal burn into his cheek. Concerned, the wolf raised it’s grey muzzle and stared up at his forlorn master, his ever-faithful eyes glowing golden through the mist. He whined, partly through concern and partly through impatience. On hearing this, the boy looked down sternly at his wolfish companion. Unsure of himself, the wolf wagged his tail feebly in an attempt to appease his master. A slight smile flickered across the boy’s face, and he reached down to the wolf, putting his hand on the animal’s furry head for re-assurance.
“Alright, lets go. Home at last.”
The gravel driveway up to the castle front was a lengthy walk, surrounded by an almost impenetrable fortress of Scots Pine and Oak trees. Every step took them closer and closer to the castle, but the long walk only served to amplify their sense of dread. After what seamed like an age, the main entrance revealed itself through the mist, becoming gradually more visible until the pair where stood right in front of the massive oak door. Sat astride the door where two stone wolves, both modelled in a hunched, fearsome pose, their teeth bared in a snarl, ears flat against their skulls, their eyes wild and staring. They where so well carved that the layman may easily have mistaken them for real wolves. Their message was clear; keep away. The boy, who was all to familiar with them, ignored their fearsome stare, walking right past them without a glance.
After a few moments of hesitation, he reluctantly pushed the door open. Despite it’s substantial size and weight, the door swung open without difficulty, beckoning them into the shadowy hallway beyond. The wolf went in first, sniffing the air intently for any danger. With no apparent hazard to be found, the wolf signalled for the boy to follow him. Once inside, the heavy door swung shut. The thunderous sound made by the door making contact with it’s frame, echoed throughout the empty castle walls.
The castle’s entrance hall, in which they now stood, was neither too grand nor too modest. A large stone arch rose above them from floor to ceiling. Following the curve of the arch where five mounted wolf heads, each bearing a formidable expression, with lips curled back and glassy eyes staring madly outwards. If the stone wolves didn’t deter visitors, these wolves surely would.
The wolf padded silently down the long passage, but the boy’s footsteps on the flagstones echoed eerily down the hall, creating an atmosphere of solitude and emptiness. A sudden and overwhelming realisation of just how alone he was hit the boy at that moment. He slumped to the floor, with tears in his eyes, with only a wolf to
comfort him.

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