Characters' Introduction
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| From google image |
ITALY,
APRIL 2018
In one year after the first brutal murder,
others followed. Rome has been terrified for eight or nine months. Also, the
Lazio suffered the terror of those monsters. All the journals and tv news talked
about it. Legends like vampires and wolfmen were staying on everyone’s lips. In
the night anyone stayed out until too late.
The population was divided into two factions:
those who stayed with monsters and those who fought them for saving themselves
and their families. In one year many families were exterminated.
Those who specialized in the area said that
those new monsters hunted only vampires and lycanthropes and that they were
themselves hybrids of the two races.
Suddenly the fans of the genre augmented
and in some universities were born some specific courses. Most of the students
attended these courses trying to understand how were born the hybrids. But the universities
didn’t give any good information that would have lead the students to real
answers…not directly, at least. The students were provided of all the tools they
needed for doing research independently. Only the most gifted students could
take the least evident tools. One of them, Christian, was a real well of
passion. He constantly dedicated to the study and always obtained excellent
marks. Was there something that attracted him, or had he been captured by the
classical charm of the occult?
When he didn’t study at the university or
at home, he went to the Colombo’s house huge library. And there he made friend
with the landlord: a young man that received as an inheritance all that property
from his deceased uncle. His name was Antonio and he came from a wealthy
family. Antonio was a scholar of the occult, like Chris, but his capacities and
his resources allowed him to study on his own, at home, in his library.
In the city there were other fans, who for
work, who for hobby. In general, if they weren’t formally acknowledged, they didn’t
expose themselves too much. The best places where to find those people were the
Catacombs. Under Rome they extended for kms and after the appearing of the
hybrids they became the home for hundreds of survivors. Virgilio was one of
them. All those that were working with him in the souvenir shop near the
Colosseum were dismembered a morning of the preview September. It would have
been finished also for him if he wouldn’t have been in late. Shocked because of that massacre, he grabbed
some statuettes and took shelter at the Catacombs.
The event of that day increased the
attention threshold. Some military forces were called to Rome for the safety of
the city. Tony, a recalled soldier from the Middle East for the project “safe
roads”, and his colleague Bepi, arrived exactly that day.
The Vatican increased its forces too with
the Swiss Guards, even if any priests or others were targeted. Each guard has
the job of protecting the Pope from the fiends, and that was well known by
Hans.
The internet was another worrying place. It
was the principal source of information, especially for those of the Militia
that were always hunting those of the Resistance. Gabriele, called “the Rat”, was
one of the best hackers that actively supported the Resistance. He couldn’t
stand monsters that killed anyone came to shot…vampires and lycanthropes payed
attention to it at least.
One day, all seven received a message from
an unknown anonymous number that showed them a place and a time for a meeting.
TO BE CONTINUED...
