I know everyone is waiting for the release of The Curse: Origin of the Vampires, so I thought I’d give you a sneak peek at the prologue. I’m close to having the manuscript ready to go to my editor, only about five chapters left to write. I’m shooting for a summer release before I dive back into working on book one of the Legacy series, The Goldilocks Pledge. Enjoy this look into the future of the World of the Silver Hunter.

Prologue

An old journal sat open on the battle-scarred desk in the back of St. Martin’s Antiques and Collectibles. The owner tossed the book down beside his personal diary started two nights after his transformation into a vampire. The man in question glanced down at the current page of his life story.

March 5, 1992

I sat in the old house for two days after killing the being claiming to be Cain, son of Adam and Eve. Are biblical tales more than stories? Still can’t decide who I’m trying to convince, myself here in the present or some time off in the future. The effects of Cain’s curse are starting to take affect. When I tried to light the fire, I found my Ruby magic tainted with Ebony magic, which possessed a strange sparkle. The faint stirrings of hunger are starting to manifest, and my canines are elongating into fangs. Major magic awoke the moment my silver sword cleaved the vampire’s head from his shoulders. Now to find out what becomes of my life or unlife.

Would you believe twenty-five years passed since I wrote this entry? Didn’t think the crazy old man was Cain the first of his kind. The reality of my situation makes everything my poor lost Susan believed in, the fiction the critics of Judeo-Christian beliefs claim. Wonder what the church would make of Cain’s journal or any of the other ancient books in my private collection. Still can’t figure out what to make of some of the passages directed at his successor, in particular the one at the end of the journal; Richard thought as he flipped to the last page of Cain’s journal, which contained writing.

Under the full moon in the throne room of El-Abel soak these last pages in blood from one of my grandchildren and reveal the deepest truth.

Richard paused in his reading when a text message vibrated his phone. Pulling his phone out he glanced at the message and decided to put himself to the test. Richard hit the phone number in the text message and waited while the number rang.

“Kieran Belle, can I help you?”

“Mr. Belle, my name is Richard St. Martin. I’m a hunter, and I understand your services, as a tracker, are for hire.”

****

Reports claim the famous shifter and vampire hunter Richard St. Martin died somewhere in the wastes of the Russian Empire in late 2026. Witnesses consider Seth Abelson, the man who inherited St. Martin’s estate in 2030, an imposter. The United States of America’s decline continued and as with many of the former superpowers vanished in the ensuing chaos of The Upheaval in 2092. Under the storm of High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulses unleashed by radical eco-terrorists, civilization crashed back to pre-World War II levels of technology and Victorian ideals of morality. Waves of conservative victories erased many of the significant advances in civil rights. In the aftermath of The Upheaval, new nations arose from the wreckage. The Papacy under Pope Francis III seized control of Europe and established the New Holy Roman Empire as a balance to the Russian Empire. Pope Francis forced the signing of The Holy Accord of 2104, banning the redevelopment of air and space technology to prevent a repeat of The Upheaval. Travel restrictions are in place not only between the new nation states but also within many of the new nations.

A few national organizations serving as law enforcement on a global scale possess unrestricted travel permits. Our order dedicated to St. Hubert and based in the New Holy Roman Empire, is one of these organizations. Founded to honor the patron saint of hunters and to train hunters, the modern Order of St. Hubert serves an expanded function. At our core, we are still hunters. Based on rumors the Vatican ordered us to form a team and investigate the leads. The team discovered Richard St. Martin’s secret library in Amsterdam, New York in the Federal Union of North America. In hopes of laying claim to this treasure, the Order dispatched an archival team to recover the contents of the library. Unknown forces killed both teams. The last authentic communication received here at the Mother House of the Order came on January 25, 2111. Circumstance surrounding the event meant we acquired only one of the copies sent out to inform us on some of the secrets St. Martin kept hidden. The copy we received is incomplete, and we’re not sure what the actual proof behind our agent’s claims is. Attached is a copy of the late Father Sebastian’s cover letter for the records. Recovery of these journals is of the highest priority to all members of the Order.

Alexander Le Roux,

Knight-Archivist

Order of St. Hubert

Liege, Belgium, Holy Roman Empire

 

****

December 10, 2110

To Whom It May Concern:

Sorry I cannot call you by name, but I’m making and sending as many copies as possible, so I cannot address those who will receive these copies. By the time you receive this package, I will be dead or worse, do not trust any further communications from me. I beg you to take all precautions available to you to ensure these documents reach either my Grand Master or the Pope. Mother Church must be warned an ancient enemy still exists. The Members of St. Hubert’s Order counted Richard St. Martin, whom they called Lord Hunter, as an ally. Now I fear our trust is misplaced. In the aftermath of Lord Hunter’s death during the hunt for Celina Dyta, the Order did not possess the influence needed to claim his estate. The Upheaval and the wars following the disaster led to us becoming influential enough to claim what we believed belonged in our protection.

After things settled down, travel resumed between the Holy Roman Empire and the Federal Union of North America. The Vatican dispatched my team to recover relics from Lord Hunter’s last listed residence in Amsterdam, New York. What we found horrified us and challenged our faith in our Lord and Savior. The volumes contained in the St. Martin Museum of the Supernatural, contain dangerous materials. The attached are copied from one of the blasphemous tomes purport to be from the Journal of Cain, firstborn son of Adam and Eve. This journal’s vague claims and twisted history challenge every tenant of our faith. The author’s claims to be the first vampire raise the specter of horror in our hearts. Worse are the additional notes in the verified hand of Lord Hunter. Notes which claim one of his early kills as a vampire claiming to be Cain, and of receiving Cain’s curse as foretold in the Bible.

I beseech you to pass this package on. Whatever the truth may be vampires started to come for us and I am the last of my team left as I write this. Warn Mother Church.

Father Sebastian Drummond,

A Priest-Scout

Order of St. Hubert of Lieges

****

“Master, everything is done as you required. We destroyed the Order’s team before they communicated with their motherhouse. Like you commanded a false partial journal was sent to The Order with a letter from one of the members of the team. Other partial copies are scattered as well as the one whole copy of the journal you prepared. All will be tracked and moved along as needed,” Database reported to Richard St. Martin.

“Thank you, my little spy. The whole journal must find its way into the hands of an academic, a religious scholar, or an archaeologist. There are secrets within I need revealed, starting with the location of El-Abel.”