SYSTEM!?

Military school 3, dorm room 102, past midnight.

Christian, Sam, and Paul were all on their beds in the room sleeping soundly and disturbed the calmness of the night. 

*swosh!*

A sudden surge of wind blew past the windowpane of room 102, and a mysterious youth quietly leaped on the wall by the window, and peered into the room, as the window reflected his appearance under the faint light of the moon. The youth appeared to be male, his face was delicate and handsome, like a jade sculpture, and he held a calm countenance. He looked to be within fifteen or sixteen years old. He had thin, long brows, gentle eyes, and a long nose. His skin was the color of white jade and as smooth as water. He gazed longingly at Christian and seemed to be thinking about something. 

"so he's finally awakened," the youth muttered softly, and turned to face the moon's direction, and wondered aloud softly "I wonder how the master would react to this if I were to tell him". 

His eyes were calm, and his gaze turned soft at the thought of his master as the calm evening breeze blew past his face, and ruffled his blonde wavy hair in the process.

Christian's eyes shot open when an unfamiliar scent drifted to his nose, and he turned to face towards the window, where the scent was entering from. He cautiously rolled out of his bed and stood in the middle of the room, as his eyes glowed red and gazed at the unfamiliar figure outside the window. 

His eyes narrowed to a slit, and his brow shot up when he saw a faint red aura surrounding the boy's body. 

'Vampire!' he thought and shuddered as a sudden sense of urgency filled his brain. 

Before Kelsia left for her room earlier, she had taught him how to identify vampires and differentiate them from humans, and the first thing she mentioned was none other than the red aura they possess!. 

How could he not understand the severity of the youth's sudden appearance and its implications? it simply means he had been found out, and they knew about him already! 

Christian's heartbeat spiked greatly upon this realization and his thoughts ran wild as he stood transfixed on his position.

They had come for him, and so early at that!

'is he the only one they sent?' Christian wondered, 'Where's the rest of them? How many are they? Did they send enough vampires that could threaten the entire school? What will happen to everyone else within the school if a fight were to suddenly break out between him and the vampire' he thought panicked

If they thought that he was just some junkie that would let himself be taken away by them willingly, then they had another thing coming, as there was no way in hell he would give himself up.

'right, why should I give myself up to those bastards that tagged me a 'curse?' fat chance if I'll let myself be captured by them' thought Christian as he steeled his resolve "but let's just watch what this one is up to first" Christian muttered and turned his gaze towards the window

"Uhn!" the youth gasped softly and turned to look back inside the toom to see a fully awake Christian staring back at him. 'So you were able to sense my presence, maybe you aren't so ordinary after all' the youth thought and his lips seemed to arch in a smile, yet at the same time, it wasn't a smile. The sort of grace would definitely woo the hearts of many women. 

He kept his gaze fixed on Christian for a while and muttered as he lowered his head "I won't do anything for now, and just watch you from the sidelines, I hope what master is doing is the right thing" he said and faded off in a cloud of fog that appeared out of nowhere. 

"fuu…" Christian let out a breath of relief after the disappearance of the youth. 'but that can't be all now is it?' Christian questioned inwardly, 'maybe he's just a scout sent ahead of everyone else. If that's the case then there's no time left!' he thought and his gaze lingered on the ancient-looking book on the table.

He strolled over to the reading table in large strides and picked up the book. The red aura enclosing the book had become more prominent and looked like red-colored flames erupting from the book. While the same red orb placed on top of the flask's cover was also placed in the middle of the book. A faint glint flashed through the orb as Christian tilted it sideways and studied it. 

"let's just trust dad on this one" he muttered softly then made a small cut on his index finger. He let the blood drop on the orb, and it immediately glowed a bright red color. The red aura around the book suddenly trembled and danced about wildly, latching itself to Christian's hand. 

Christian felt the shock of his life as the aura made contact with his skin. 

Blitzz! 

He felt his surroundings tremble and he staggered backward while he refrained himself from screaming. He shook his head fervently and fought back the pain, as he felt his consciousness slipping and tried harder to stay awake "damn…" he cursed quietly "what would happen if they were to come back when am unconscious" he thought and felt himself falling unconscious as his vision gradually blackened out. 

*****

"Uhg!" Christian gasped and hurriedly scrambled up on his feet, trembling slightly. "Where am I?" he asked rhetorically and gazed around, but he couldn't see anything within an inch from himself, and seemed to be in some sort of void. 

*Dark!*. 

Everywhere and everything within his line of sight came off as a deep shade of black and there wasn't a single source of light within his vision, even he couldn't see his own body. 'Isn't this the dark realm?' he wondered, but, "No! It can't be, something just doesn't feel right about this place" Christian said. 

'vrummn!' 

Almost instantly, a machine-like sound resounded within the darkness, and right before his eyes, a large pool of larva formed far beneath his feet and lit up the entire void. Christian gazed ran around the entire place and found himself to be within some sort of cave, with extremely high dark walls that reached over twenty meters above him. 

"There he is" an eerie quiet voice that could have been mistaken for a whisper echoed around the cave. Christian's head snapped towards the direction of the voice, and he felt a shiver run down his spine from what he saw. 

There were a countless number of monsters with dark, rough bodies, that were chafed with multiple whips and scorch marks, clinging onto the walls on either side of the cave with their claws that were shaped like hands, and they were baring their razor-sharp teeth shaped like fangs at Christian. Christian's eyes went wide and trembled visibly as his body froze, and he felt his legs go weak from the dominant pressure emanating from the monsters.

"It the abomination!" another low voice snickered from the horde of monsters 

"A curse I tell you!" 

"He'll bring nothing but destruction upon us all!" 

"I see nothing about him, other than a pack of walking flesh and blood" another sneered while it licked its lips hungrily, leaving traces of a yellow sticky substance on its mouth

"What are we all waiting for then,? Get him!" The one closest to Christian yelled out and lunged at him with all its might. 

Christian felt himself freeze on the spot and couldn't move a single muscle even if he wanted to, because his body wouldn't just listen to orders from his brain. His breath trembled ever so slightly and he braced himself for the collision, as over thirty monsters were upon him from every side. "Is this it?" He muttered softly as he resigned himself to fate. 

'BAM!' 

Thirty or so monsters all slammed down on Christian, painting his entire line of sight black as he stretched his left hand forward to grab hold unto anything, but felt nothing within his grasp but air, as his vision faded slowly… 

*****

"swuuu!" Christian sucked in a mouthful of cold air and sprung up to his feet from the bed in one swift motion, as he panicked ran his hand over his body. "Oh, my heavens am not dead, it was all a dream, all a dream" he mumbled almost silently and was visibly shivering. 

'...damn, it felt so real that I actually thought I was done for' he sighed inwardly and sat back on his bed. "it's noon already! I've been asleep that long" Christian said wide-eyed, "then where's Samuel and the other guy" he wondered and his gaze shifted back to the ancient book on the floor.

"Is that Dream what dad wanted to show me?" he questioned rhetorically and made his way towards the book, lost in his thoughts. 

"Does the dream hold any meaning? why would he want me to see something like that?" he wondered.

"Hello, Christian" a soft female voice suddenly called out. "I see you're finally awake, took you longer than I anticipated"

Christian was startled. He swiftly turned to look behind him but found no one there. 

"Who are you? You better show yourself right this minute!" He said, with a trembling voice, as the fear of the dream he just had still lingered at the back of his mind, and his emotions weren't fully settled.

"I can't show myself to you, am in your head and now a part of you" the same female voice replied

"what do you mean part of me?" Christian asked with his mouth agape 

"Well technically am not a part of you, but a part of the 'overlord system' that is now within you, and I'll be serving as your guide" 

"system!?" Christian asked in a naive voice and widened eyes.