Ch. 1: An Unfortunate Beginning

Maximilian Rivera wasn't the kind of guy someone would picture the nephew of Satan to be. He was out of shape with a mop of unkempt black hair upon his head. The kid had the appearance of a bedraggled twenty-one-year-old. But he was the nephew of Satan, no doubt about it-- he never heard the end of it, either. People constantly hounded him in the streets, asking for favors from his uncle, His Highness himself. It was tiring and only added to Max's ever-growing anxiety.

Yes, Max was different from the rest of his family members. No fighting skills, pathetic small and leathery wings, and nubby horns fit for a child. The almighty family of Satan had to have one ugly duckling, and that was Max. It was for this reason that Max moved far away from Satan's castle as soon as he was old enough to move out. It took a few hundred years, but it was worth the wait. 

He moved into a flat in a small town on the outskirts of Hell's central city, Belial. He scraped up the gold to pay for the room with his best friend, a saleswoman named Anna, who set up shop in town after they moved in together. Anna was a dark-skinned faerie with light blonde hair in a bob cut, and was one of the toughest people Max knew. They met as younglings, when Anna punched a kid in the face for bullying Max on the playground. They were inseperable ever since.

Anna owned a weaponry shop, and taught swordsmanship lessons on weekends. Anna was trained in swordfighting as a young adult and was one of the better students in her training sessions. In case a war ever happened to break out in Hell, Anna wanted to be prepared. She deeply feared angels would someday attack their land, but that never happened and would never happen. Angels mostly keep to themselves, anyways.

It was on a day when Anna was at work training her new apprentice, a young ghost woman named Violet, when Max heard the news on their television. 

"Is this thing on? Oh..." a very nervous news anchor cleared his throat. "There have been... reports. Some sort of attack on Belial residents by... vampires, specifically a group that lives outside the city walls. They've been calling themselves a 'militia', and have left their calling card on multiple bodies..."

"F*****g dumb." Max finished off a chocolate bar he'd been eating, throwing the wrapper behind him somewhere. He was about to change the channel when he heard something that made his pointed ears perk up.

"The son of Satan, Darius, is rumored to have been spotted with this 'militia'. This would explain why he has gone missing. We'll keep you all updated on these events as we recieve information." the news anchor swallowed a lump in his throat, and Max changed the channel quickly.

He'd heard his cousin had gone missing a few weeks ago, but he assumed they'd found Darius already. If Darius ran off with some vampire liberation group, he'd be kicked out of the family for sure. This would mean Max was next in line for the title of Anti-Christ. Not good.

"D****t," Max swore. "I always knew Darius was into that social justice crap, but for him to do something like this? Didn't he even think of what would happen to me?" Max stood up and had to take a deep breath to calm himself down. The vampires in Hell had been treated poorly as long as Max could remember, facing discrimination at the hands of demons who didn't want vampires living in the same territory. They'd been forced into ghettos and small villages outside the city walls. Max never really cared for politics, so he'd never given this a second thought. Heartless, but true.

He tried calling his boyfriend, Victor, a high-class vampire from a wealthy clan. They were the most well-respected vampire clan in all of Hell. Victor's father was, naturally, Count Dracula himself. They lived about a thirty minute walk from Max's place, in a large castle in the forest. They'd met in the tavern in town, and began dating after a pint and an accidental love bite on Max's neck. Max thought it was the hottest thing that had ever happened to him.

When Max got Victor's answering machine, Max knew he had to find Anna. Anna would have some advice. She always had good advice. Max threw on a pair of sweatpants and a ratty Linkin Park t-shirt, slamming the front door behind him as he left the flat. He went down the stairs and headed for town, specifically Anna's shop.

He entered the weapons shop and found his friend giving a last bit of advice to her apprentice, who had finished her lessons for the day. Violet was a nice girl, about fourteen-years-old in appearance with a bit of facial hair and pale white skin. She didn't look physically fit enough to be a swordswoman, but he knew Anna could train her up well. Violet giggled as she passed by Max and left the building. Max blushed a little, hoping he didn't have something gross in his teeth or something.

"Anna, I need to talk to you, something happened. Darius ran away and f*****g joined this group of vampires who are attacking Belial citizens. Can you believe that? Do you know what that means for me? I'm going to have to be the f*****g Anti-Christ, Anna." Max slumped down in a chair and rubbed his hands over his face in frustration. Anna rolled her eyes.

"Literally anyone in the world would jump at that chance except for you, Max." Anna sat in the seat across from Max. She thought for a moment before speaking again. "I have an idea, but you're not gonna like it."

Max groaned. "What is it?"

Anna leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. "If you don't want to be the next Anti-Christ, we just have to get the original Anti-Christ back."

"I'm not following. Satan will never let Darius back in the family after this." Max replied.

"Well, then you just have to convince your uncle, don't you?" Anna cocked her head slightly to one side. "We find Darius, bring him home, have him apologize, and everything's back to the way it was. Hopefully, without a powerful ally like Darius on their side, the vampire attacks on Belial will stop as well. You with me?"

Max shrugged. "It's not like I have a better idea." 

"Then we leave tomorrow morning. Pack a backpack, it's gonna be a long trip, chief." Anna stood, ruffling her friend's hair. They both took the long way back to the flat, talking as they came up with a plan.

Author's Note

Any and all feedback is appreciated!