Kane’s speech was witnessed by everyone. Every single person who had a holographic screen was forced to watch it. It didn’t matter if it had been turned off. Holographic monitors all over the world were forced on, and every station was replaced for ten minutes with Kane.
Some people did not pay attention to him, choosing instead to go about their day. What did they care if some weirdo made big claims? He wasn’t the first and he most certainly would be the last. So long as it didn’t affect their lives, this moron could say whatever he wanted.
But those who knew Kane understood, and they were in a panic. The global leaders all remembered the terror that Kane had unleashed. Many of them were now struggling to figure out what had happened to him because, to the best of their knowledge, he had died during his battle with Lilith. This also meant that a lot of those people were trying to get in touch with Anthony. However, he had gone completely silent.
“Breaking news, a man claiming to be The Kane made a horrifying announcement yesterday, claiming that he was going to begin culling the human population to, and I quote ‘lessen the ecological burden on the world.’”
Anthony was sitting in his bed, watching a news anchor talk about Kane’s speech. It had only been a day since it happened, but many news stations were already talking about it. A few had opted not to. Some had gone on to claim it was a prank, but several news stations were taking the man’s words seriously.
“For those who don’t know, Kane was a Vampire Progenitor and often hailed as the strongest vampire alive. Rumor had it that he was so strong that even the Beast King of Russia didn’t dare fight against him. He was reportedly killed during a conflict with Lilith--the strongest succubus. Both of them were said to have died during the conflict. Dustin, have we confirmed whether this man is who he claims to be?”
His women sat around him, also watching the news, though Secilia was also working on something. She sat with her legs crossed on the edge of his bed and was fiddling with her communication device.
Two news anchors sat together at a table. One was an attractive young woman, and the other was an older gentleman who retained a hint of his youth.
“We have been doing our best to confirm this man’s identity and recently discovered that he bears a striking resemblance to someone named Calvin.”
“Calvin? No last name?”
“None. Calvin is the younger brother of Anthony Amasius, the current President of Academy Island. We have confirmed that he was at one point laid in the Hospital for Magical Catastrophes on Academy Island. According to what we have gathered, he had been in a coma as a result of the conflict between Lilith and Kane.”
“So we have a younger brother who is now claiming to be Kane and an older brother who runs the world’s most advanced nation.”
“That about sums it up, but there is still a lot we don’t know. Here is what we do know. Anthony Amasius came to Academy Island with his brother several years ago and joined a college in an attempt to bring the young man out of a coma. While we have not gotten an official statement, the rumors we managed to gather claim Calvin was human up until he woke up several months ago. He vanished after that and nobody has heard from him until yesterday.”
Anthony continued to watch the news anchors talk about his brother, but his attention was only half on the news. He was also thinking about what he needed to do.
“Not many people seem to be taking the situation seriously,” Trinity said.
Sasha crossed her arms. “Of course not. Some unfamiliar face claiming to be the most infamous vampire warlord in the world is threatening to cleanse the world of humanity. Why would they take that seriously. Look at their faces. Even these two do not believe anything will come of this.”
“What do you think?” asked Brianna.
“I don’t know what to think right now, but…” Anthony took a deep breath. “That speech was something Kane had said to Lilith. The ideology is the exact same. Calvin was there, of course, so he might remember that, but I can’t imagine he’d be able to so perfectly replicate Kane’s mannerisms. Even if he could, why is he doing this? What’s his goal?”
“Do you think…”
“I’d rather get confirmation before making any assumptions,” Anthony said, forestalling the redhead.
At that moment, Anthony’s comm began beeping to let him know that he had a call. He accepted it and watched as a holographic projection of Naomi appeared before him. The woman looked frazzled. Even her glasses were askew. That she wasn’t doing anything to fix her appearance spoke volumes about her state of mind.
“Anthony… there’s so much I want to say right now that I don’t know where to start, but you need to return to Academy Island. The Board of Directors is… quite livid.”
“With me?” Anthony asked, raising an eyebrow.
Naomi paused. “They are blaming you for this.”
“Of course they are,” Anthony said with a sigh. “And you? Do you blame me for this?”
“I… I do not think you could have known this would happen,” Naomi said.
“What a diplomatic response,” Anthony said dryly, then spoke in a louder voice. “Get together a team of our best scientists, give them all of the data we have on Calvin, and have them come up with theories on what happened while i am gone.”
“I’ve already got them working on it.”
Anthony raised an eyebrow. “Any theories?”
“They all agreed on one theory,” Naomi paused, then said, “Possession.”
Possession was an ability often associated with poltergeists. A spirit inhabited an inanimate object or the body of another and took control. Most poltergeists could not take complete control over a living creature because the will of the living would often fight against the possession, but a particularly strong-willed poltergeist could indeed possess the body of a human.
“I don’t think vampires can use possession,” Trinity muttered.
“They can’t… or they shouldn’t be able to,” Anthony answered. He turned back to Naomi. “I assume there is a reason they came to this theory?”
Naomi nodded. “During his battle with Lilith, Kane’s body we destroyed. We assumed that Lilith destroyed it. However, we have now come to the conclusion that she did not. You were there, so you know better than anyone what happened. Can you recall what happened to Kane’s body?”
“I was pretty delirious from my injuries at the time, but let’s see…” Anthony closed his eyes and struggled to remember that trying time. “Lilith’s last attack was one she often reserved for when her life was in danger. It was a blast of pure magical energy, of mana, shaped like a spear. The attack had pierced Kane’s heart. I know for a fact that he was dying.” He furrowed his brow. “During that time, he stumbled forward as his body began giving out. He said something. I couldn’t hear what, but his body disintegrated after that…” The furrow on his brow deepened. “However, Lilith’s attack would not be able to make someone’s body disintegrate, much less a vampire warlord's.”
He looked at Naomi.
“Our scientists believe that Kane knew his body wouldn’t survive, and so he ejected his spirit from his body and inhabited the body of an empty shell. Once inside, he began slowly changing that body to match his previous one.”
“You mean he was changing Calvin’s very physiology into that of a vampire,” Anthony said.
“Correct. This is also why all his scans appeared human. He was human at the time while his body underwent metamorphosis. Once the change was complete, he woke up, attacked the hospital staff, and fled.”
A heavy silence hung in the air. Anthony did not know what to say right now. He was struggling just to keep his emotions in check.
Marianne and Brianna sat beside him. Brianna placed a hand over one of his while Marianne leaned into him. He instantly felt better. Their presence was doing a fantastic job of keeping him centered. He somewhat hated that, but he knew that he could not afford to mope right now. Anthony needed to be strong.
“That explains why the scans didn’t pick up anything,” Secilia said into the silence. “I imagine he was also working on it in secret. The reason he was in a coma for so long was because he didn’t want anyone to know what he was doing until it was too late for anyone to do anything.”
Naomi agreed. “We’ve come to the same conclusion.”
This was a lot to take in, but Anthony thought about the problem. He needed to return to Academy Island and prepare, but there were other things he needed to do as well, like bond with Sasha. If possible, he’d also like to find Lucretia Incanscino, not only for his own peace of mind, but also because they were going to need her strength in the coming conflict.
I should get in contact with Gitsune soon as well…
He needed power. Conflict was coming. Kane was not the kind of man that an army could deal with. The world would need someone who had enough personal power to take him head on.
Just then, someone began yelling at Naomi offscreen. Anthony could not hear what was said because the holographic image only picked up what she said, but the woman had snapped her head toward the source before looking back at him with a grave expression.
“I don’t like the look on her face,” Secilia chimed.
“Bad news?” asked Anthony.
“I just received a report that south-eastern Europe has been… decimated,” Naomi replied.
A silence so profound that it felt like gravity was pushing down on them pervaded the room for a moment, but Anthony needed more information.
“Explain,” he said.
“I suppose decimated is not quite the right word. Taken over may fit better. According to a report that just came in, thousands if not tens of thousands of ghouls descended into south-western Europe and laid waste to the people there. Several among the ghouls were vampires who… somehow turned the populace there into ghouls as well. Their numbers are swelling even as we speak, and they are flooding into other nations bordering the ones that were attacked.”
As she spoke, Secilia was on her IDBand and pulling up all the information she could on what was happening. The first thing she found was a variety of social media feeds. She activated her holographic screen so everyone could see what was happening.
Anthony and the others could only watch in horror as whoever was making the video ran for their life as hundreds of ghouls invaded their city. They ran along the streets, the roofs, and even the walls. The person, a woman, was screaming.
“What’s going on?! What’s going on?! Oh my god what is this?! Someone! Anyone! If you’re seeing this, please send help! Please--AAAAAHHHHHHH! NO! GET OFF ME! NO! NOOOOOOOooooo…”
Halfway into her near-incoherent shrieking, one of the ghouls tackled her to the ground. The device fell from her grip, tumbled along the ground, and came to a stop. It was perhaps coincidence, but the screen showcased the woman, who now had several ghouls on her. Anthony and the others watched in grim silence as the woman was torn apart and her body eaten.
“Those are beastkin,” Sasha said at last.
“Do you think they came from Russia?” asked Trinity.
“Secilia?” asked Anthony.
“It’s certainly possible. I’m sure some of them did, but…” she paused, then shrugged. “I am beginning to suspect the operation here was partially a decoy meant to draw attention away from similar operations elsewhere. Of course, if the ghouls being shipped out of Russia reached their destination, then great, but it’s now clear to me that they were just the tip of the iceberg.”