Chapter 1

April 2025

The shimmering glow of the fire-crackle red light on the horizon alerted everyone. A new era had begun. Staring at the full blood moon and the white, orange-brownish clouds, Samantha Peterson shook her head. There was something new happening on the Earth plane she had called home for the past five years. The war that ended the race of the once powerful demon-vampires left blood-stained streets and sidewalks. Now only vampires were left to roam the six realms of the universe. They claimed he had risen. But Sam never believed in him. She refused to believe in the one. The one who was the leader of them all.

Standing on the edge of the sidewalk overlooking the brush as the sun began to set, the fire-crackle red glow overtook the once midnight blue sky. She had lost something great after the war. When the final axe missed the bullseye, not only did Earth change, but the entire universe changed with it and that created the Great DVH war, which stood for; the Demon-Vampire-Holocaust war of 2024.

That was the new name etched in all the history books since that fateful day. Was she up to the task at hand? No. No way. Not now. But everyone depended on her. The Vampires were running rampant. What could they do now that vampires had their “special” power. They now had the ability to be out in the daylight. The legend of the Daywalkers had arrived.

He was out there. She felt it. She felt him. His cold touch. Somehow, she felt the coldness of his white, silky, smooth skin. There was no other way to describe it. How she felt his touch, it was beyond her. And being exiled from her original home world, Sam couldn’t talk to anyone about this, except maybe her best friend, Lucy Minton. As she stood on the sidewalk looking over the brush, her shoulder jerked forward suddenly at an unexpected touch.

“Sorry, Sam.”

Sam turned around and smiled at her best friend, Federal Force Agent Lucy Minton. Since the glow became the permanent night sky, she knew what needed to be done. How could she face him? After glancing down at her black cane with a golden curved handle, she shook her head in disgust at herself. The once badass, axe champion, and demon-vampire hunter was rendered disabled. No, she never wanted to use that term. She could still do stuff. But normal things were hard for her. And she heard them all laugh.

While the new vampires roamed around, they knew humans were perilous as their champ was no longer relevant or a threat. Especially after the last battle, the explosion that took her once keen sense of hearing was almost destroyed. Now solely dependent on her right ear, Sam just can’t fathom going after anyone. Not right now.

 “Hey, I knew you’d be out here,” Lucy said.

“What?”

Sam turned to her other side to hear her friend. Going back to the explosion that happened after the bastards burned down her bar was always a new nightmare. The explosion took place once she lost the axe championship. Someone tried blowing up her house.

But the explosion didn’t take out the entire house. It was centrally located in the basement. And the bomb wasn’t large enough. However, it blew a small hole into the wall next to the stairs. Sam was thrown through the wall. The tertiary mechanism from the bomb propelled into the middle of her left ear space and resulted in hearing loss of that ear.

They never found the person or people responsible. Sam moved into a different home shortly after. Thankfully the bomb only caused that bit of damage, but she still couldn’t stay at the home. Lucy was at work and Sam’s cat, Burbank, wasn’t affected.

“I said, I knew you’d be out here,” Lucy yelled.

“Oh, yeah. I just, since the new glow, this is my nightly ritual no matter how cold it is. Being April, you’d think we’d be warm but not in Michigan.” She laughed.

“Yeah, so, what are you doing out here?”

“I don’t know. I just like to come out here.”

“You’re blaming yourself. The war was not your fault.”

“I lost. I missed the bullseye that would have sent those bastards packing. Now look what I did.”

She sighed. So did Lucy. There was no way to get her back. But Sam knew she needed to move on and get back to her old self.

“There’s something else,” Lucy started.

“No, that’s it.” Sam said jumping right away to answer. Cause if she stuttered or took a few moments to think, Lucy would keep at it.

“Come on, I’m your best friend. I know you.”

“Okay.” Sam swallowed hard. “I feel him.”

“Um what?”

“See, it’s stupid. You know me, but you don’t know me, Luc.”

“I know you have special abilities, and you are not from Earth. Since the treaty of all the other realms, it’s been weird, but I know your secrets.”

Sam sighed and shook her head. That was true. Lucy did know her but not fully and there was one secret Sam kept. Only her parents and brother Reese knew her full abilities.

“Sam?”

“Okay, when I say I feel him, I’m meaning the one, the one this world calls Dracula.”

Lucy put her hand to her mouth and sputtered out some loud laughter. Sam shook her head once more. She never wanted to believe this. But she felt him. Somehow, he was real to her. His touch. He wasn’t in human form yet, but she could feel his spirit. That was the one secret she kept. Telling those about this, they would for sure lock her up.

“Stop laughing!” Sam stated.

Lucy pulled her hand away from her mouth. “Sorry. I love reading about vampires and all that but really, Dracula? Hell, Castlevania was my favorite video game back in the day but Sam, Dracula is just a myth.”

“How can you say that after everything you’ve witnessed these past few years? Realizing that your realm isn’t alone. That there are in fact five other realms out there all connected. See, this is why I didn’t want to say anything.”

“I’m sorry. I just find it hard to believe. I know the demon-vampires were real. But I never thought they would be connected to Dracula.”

“Well, neither did I,” Sam said.

“So, what do we do?”

“I need to talk to Seth. He may have the answer.”

“Seth, really, Sam, he cannot intervene now. The deal was the vampires got free reign if you lost. That’s what happened.”

“I know but we need to do something. I’m not going to stand here and do nothing while they keep coming at the world.”

“Okay, what did you have in mind?” Lucy asked.

“Another duel. Stop the chaos before he truly rises. I only feel his spiritual touch right now. If we can find a way to stop him from rising, then maybe, just maybe we have a chance at redemption.”

“Um, Sam, the red heart charm you’re wearing from that silver necklace David gave you, it’s glowing. So is the heart shaped red charm on your leather cuff bracelet.”

Sam glanced down at both charms. Her eyes widened.

“Can you feel him, now?” Lucy asked.

“Yes.”

“It’s the charms! They want the charms. Somehow, someway, the charms are connected to him!” Lucy exclaimed.

“No way!”

“Yes. We need to protect them and you, we need help.”

“Can your Federal Force help?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Let me make some calls.”

While Lucy made her calls, Sam went inside their new home. As she walked through the foyer, it hit her. The iron, the stench of something strong but she wasn’t sure what it was. Her eyes widened as she entered the kitchen. Blood was everywhere. How in the hell?

“Burbank!” She cried out. “Lucy!” Sam screamed.

Luc came running in and as they inspected the living room, the TV was on the floor cracked in half. The couch was sliced up and blood splatter lay all over the white, cloth couch and love seat. The round table was broken in half. Blood dripped from the other three walls.

“Burbank!” Sam cried.

She ran to her room. Unable to bend down to look under the bend, she grabbed one of his toys a stuffed fish and waved it under the bed.

“Burby!” She cried again.

Lucy met her there. “You find him?”

“I think he’s under the bed, but I can’t bend down. If I get on the floor, I can’t get back up! Please, Luc, check for me!”

“Okay.”

Lucy bent down and sighed in relief. There was Burbank sitting way in the back under the queen size bed.

“He’s there!” Lucy smiled.

“Thank the universe! Call your team!”

“On it. They are on their way. You think the vampires did this?”

“It has to be them.”

“The same ones that burned down your bar?”

“Yup. Bastards. I want these fuckers!”

“We’ll get them!”

“Now, we need another place to live. Burn this fucker. No way can I live here now!” Sam cried.

“Hold on, we just can’t keep moving, Sam.”

“Fuck, yes we can!”

Burbank came out from under the bed and hopped into Sam’s arms. She petted his head, and he meowed at her. She was beyond upset now.