Agonizing screams persisted, escalating the cancerous dread that clung feverishly to their yearning hearts.
A final, resounding bang concluded the torturous ordeal, the menacing grin on Levi's face dwindling as his grip loosened.
Raphael's body was sent flying as the latter eventually let go of his arm, his body crashing against the wall not too far away.
Darion looked back at his brother's pitiful state—blood pouring from his pierced lips, head and appendages fearsomely bashed.
His eyes remained corrupted by acidic hatred. Their blood cloths appeared crudely ripped, severely diminishing his vision.
Moments later, he pressed his hands against the floor, spat out a concerning amount of blood, and forced himself back up to his feet.
Crazed eyes stared back at Levi, unflinching as the latter met his gaze.
He took a step forward, then two, then three.
His every move was garnered by the involuntary swaying of his body, his compromised vision slowly being cleared by the power of Blood Weave.
'If there's one thing I'm grateful for, is that my powers somewhat recharged during that ordeal. Now, I can see somewhat!' he screamed internally as he covered the distance at a lacking pace, drawing everyone's attention to his hellbent adamance.
The gargantuan mass clouding Gordon's mind suddenly shivered and shrunk, diminishing within moments.
For him, all that was left was a vast emptiness, and a constant noise disturbing his ears.
"I hate you!"
He turned around, dull eyes searching for the source of the voice, but caught nothing but the bottomless abyss of nothingness.
Then, his eyelids slowly fluttered shut, his consciousness shaking nonstop until it arrived at a sudden stop.
Finally, he opened his eyes.
The acrid odour of blood flooded his nostrils, his eyes taking note of his wife on the floor, the towering figure standing near the entrance, and finally, the harrowing state of his son.
His heart strained as he parted his lips, struggling to speak once more:
"... Raph…al… Your… your mother…"
Raphael's furious gaze took notice of his father, ears picking up the scattered pieces of words escaping his lips.
His emotions swayed, a strong sense of malice flooding his words:
"I hate you!" He started off, bloodied tears rushing down his eyes. "You coward! When that tyrant got here, why didn't you do anything?! Why didn't you protect mum from him?! All you did was stand there and watch him attack her! You didn't even move after seeing her loosing so much blood. All you could do was look, and nothing else!
"You're so useless, I hate you!"
His words pierced his father with volcanic force, stabbing through what little resolve he managed to muster within the depths of his defiled thoughts.
His eyes shifted back to the state of his wife, and the next moment, he slowly crawled his way towards her, ignoring the cursings of his son as he caressed her hand with his, uncaring for the odious blood surrounding her.
"Don't touch her!" A sharp pain assaulted his neck, the image of Raphael glaring at him filling his thoughts as his consciousness wavered, before drifting away from the tangible world.
Levi sucked his teeth, his gaze lingering upon Raphael with a hint of pleasure swelling within his crimson eyes.
"Strong, unyielding, and sinister. Oh, Leo will definitely like you," Levi said, stepping forward once more. "Join the Dark Kings. I'm sure with the right guidance, you'll become a fitting tool for us."
His words lingered in the air, Raphael's attention returned to his towering figure as his march continued.
His blood magic declined the more he healed his vision, his body soon to be devoid of power.
'Crap… I don't know what I can do, but then, that doesn't mean I won't try!'
He pulled his fist back, pouring every last ounce of blood magic he had at that moment, and threw his fist forward.
A dull wave of crimson light coated his fist, the force of the impact stirring no reaction from Levi.
In fact, it was Raphael who ended up feeling pain. The muscles and bones within his hand pierced and wrapped severely around each other, a torrent of blood gushing from his mangled arm.
He screamed out once again, pulling his other hand back as he was ready to repeat the process, even though it would be without blood magic.
His heart ached as he gathered his strength, and threw his other hand forward.
However, the punch never connected. His eyes stared at the hand grabbing his fist, then at the face of the crouched man whose irises held a covetous glint within them.
"Stop wasting your strength, brat. It's pointless," Levi's crude voice filled the ambience, fuelling no response from the boorish child. "Or should I kill the rest of your folks before you behave?"
Raphael's persistence remained, causing the giant man to laugh once more.
"You don't care about the rest of these wretched?! Hah! Well, I shouldn't be surprised! They're all weak, after all," he suppressed his laugh at the end, his eyes looming above the other two children hiding in the shadows. "Or are they?"
Raphael's lips parted, blood rushing down the corners of his lips as he yelled:
"I'll kill you… and avenge my mother! You hear me?!"
The next moment, Levi drew Raphael from the ground, then swiftly covering the distance towards the other two children and picked them up as well.
Unlike Raphael, they offered no resistance, allowing the hulky figure to do whatever he wished with them.
"I see potential in you three. Henceforth, you belong to the Dark Kings, and nothing you do or say can change that," Levi declared, turning back before walking out of the pungent enclosure.
Raphael kicked and screamed. He turned to his siblings, urging them to fight with him, but his cries fell on deaf ears.
Darion remained distant, consumed by a perpetual sense of doom. Meanwhile, their little brother remained utterly shaken, eyes tainted by the horrors he never wished to witness.
Before his own eyes, his family was ruthless torn apart.
His mother was dead, his father wholly consumed by the throes of grief. And now, he and his siblings' destinies remain uncertain, caged by the vindictive claws of the tyrannical organization suffering their town.
'This… this can't be happening…' he thought, sobbing silently.
Raphael's jaws clenched tightly, the wave of his hatred flooding over the memories of his cowardly family. His lips moved once more, his words reaching all across the town of Fluxton.
"I swear on my life! One day, I'll slaughter every last one of you damned devils! You hear me!!!"
******
Present time…
"And slaughtered them I did," Raphael mused, strolling around his father's bedroom. "Darion, Jay, and I. We waited for our chance to get revenge, and we made sure they paid for their transgressions against our dear mother."
Gordon's body shuddered as he remembered that ghoulish day. His face turned paler than usual, eyes lost, swept off by the abysmal whirlpool of emptiness.
His body stilled, incapable of utter a single word.
Seeing this, Raphael hissed, moving back to the door.
His head turned back as his hands clasped the handle, his face disgusted as he spoke:
"That stillness… it always irritated me," he sneered, pulled the door open, and left.
The room returned to absolute darkness, weak eyes staring blankly in the midst of oppressive silence.
*******
Days crept by after the Rumbling, everyone going about their lives as usual.
The Night Of Crimson drew nearer with each passing hour, the empire's citizens sharing mixed feelings about the monumental celebration.
It was the celebration of the first ever Emperor of Nefaria—Kaiser Darkhaven.
During a time of gluttonous anarchy, a sole individual battled against the various vampiric factions, eventually uniting most of them under his banner.
He was regarded as the most powerful vampire to ever live, revered as a demigod by his descendants.
The celebration was hosted by the royals who dwelled in the central metropolis of the empire, the region referred to as Dragon City.
It was named after the nickname given to Kaiser during his reign by his subordinates, insinuating the vastness of the carnage he sew upon those who refuted his wishes.
The lowerclass were admonished to pay additional tribute to the Darkhavens as their way of showing reverence to the original emperor. Failure to due so was met with swift retribution.
This included the common townsfolk, as well as the local gangs reigning over them.
All were subject to the decree of the emperor.
Ezeikel and Kennedy worked extremely hard to save enough in order to pay the additional tribute, skipping a couple means to ensure they didn't go below the stipulated amount.
Then finally, the Night Of Crimson arrived.