• The Barn of Hades (Side Story/prequel)

    This tale goes back to when Hanz was a young lad. When Hanz Wagner the 23rd was a little boy he had brown, almost black and ashy hair. His skin was still pale but it had been kissed by the sun that summer even if just lightly. This was twenty years before my story takes place in the year 1923. This was still in Munich, Germany.

    He had to go to the barn one summer night to feed the horses. His father Achim had been overcome with a strange and sudden sickness and despite Hanz's fear of horses, his father's utter refusal made him go. He felt the need to go. He was lured to do so almost. He helped his father around the house more and more especially as he got older. But he had to do so much more this year since his mother Benedikta had passed away in a mysterious fire. There were rumors it had been caused by an old family friend that was practically an uncle to Hanz. His name was Bernard. hanz swore he would get revenge on him for betraying his trust. His father told him not to fill his head with "revenge nonsense" and made him work to get his mind off of things...and he needed help.

    Hanz adjusted his black and blue, crust overalls over his thin naked frame. Half asleep he picked up some small bundles of hay almost heartlessly. He made a hand free, rubbed his eye with some musty hay still on it. This caused a burn.
    "Ow!" He moaned sadly. He stepped back a bit as he did this. He dropped the hay. "Damn!" then his eyes jotted back and forth not wanting to be caught cursing. He jumped hearing a weird sound soon after.
    "Oh no..." Hanz said nearly shrieking. "The gott is going to get me for cursing!" Achim Wagner was naturally a poor, God-fearing man this rubbed off on young little Hanzy. He saw a mysterious red and clear blue glow coming off from the inside of the rickety barn. Hanz raised an eyebrow. He was not scared anymore but happily in awe at the pretty colors. They hypnotized him and drew him in. He went to the boards of barn and looked through them. He saw strange black shadows almost dancing around the horses. The horses were scared. They were screaming. The screaming brought Hanz back to reality. He shook his head. Trying to analyze what he was looking at. He rubbed his eyes. He blinked. He heard a rustle near the barn door. He ducked behind a barrel only peering from behind it once. He saw a pale monster with ratty hair, fangs, pointed ears, and a grim expression. It was utterly macabre. Hanz tried to keep quiet but he wanted to scream. The secound one came out pointing in some random direction. The secound returned to the barn. A juicy snap was heard and the horses went silent. Hanz got up and yelped. The first beast went in some random direction.

    Hanz turned around and ran. He bumped into one of them and fainted. He blacked out completely. He awoke early morning. He could tell it was cold at that hour but he was not shivering. He sat up to notice the barn had started on fire and it was too late for him to put it out. The horses have all died too. He looked in the barn though to see if he could save any of them. He couldn't. He ran into his house through the pryed open back door. "Papa! Papa!" he yelled. He ran into Achim Wagner's room fearfully. He opened door. He noticed the bolts were broken. The door almost fell on him. "Papa...?" He inched in. Thinking His Dad asleep. He looked at his dad lying in his bed, his body pale. There was a large, dark red splatter where his stomach was, a single strand of intestine left.

    Hanz clung to his Achim's corpse, sucking his thumb, curled up.

    Two days later he was found by the authorities that took him to the hospital for being malnourished and disturbed. He was adopted by a soldier who would take very good care of him yet taught him to trust no one. He taught him to fight too. When he was in the hospital they stripped him and gave him a full body examination. They found his records and identified him. A nurse with red hair and a bun in it looked upon the files with a frown through her fire engine lipstick. A doctor approached her.
    "Isn't this kid whose mother died?"
    "Yes....it shouldntve been too long from now."
    "Strange..."

    On Hanz Wagner's body they found multiple bruises, a mild burn, and an in infected animal bite on his neck. They kept him in the hospital for many weeks after that. They were Performing tests.
    "Hmmm..." The doctor said.
    "What's wrong?" The redheaded nurse said, cocking her head.
    "Matilda.............I havent seen these bites of this like before."
    "What?"
    "He was bitten from a creature that shouldn't be on Earth..."
    "...what?!"
    "It looks like that of legend......"
    "......." Matilda went silent in fear.
    "It seems like it's being vampire's bite."
    "That doesn't make sense."
    "I know."

    They visitted him that night. They compared his teeth to old record. They got mysteriously sharper. His hair was falling out too.
    "This....."
    "He's......."
    Hanz rolled over at looked at them. Jumping in shock and fear still disturbed from the accident with mild amnesia he was temporarily mute.
    "No, no, Hanz...it's me Doctor Feuer......"
    "Ddd....." Hanz retardedly stuttered.
    "and this is Matilda..."
    "Ma........." He tried speaking again.
    Matilda sat next to Hanz.
    "Wait...nurse..."
    "Shh. Its fine. Leave so I can talk to him."
    Doctor Feuer left sheepishly, worried about Hanz's health.
    "Hanz......do you miss your mommy?"
    "Hmmm???"
    "I could take you to a nice home...you'll be safe with me. I gurantee it."
    "......" Hanz goes silent, not knowing what to say.
    Matilda hugged him, pulling his face to her chest to hear her heart. Hanz hisses and tries pulling away. She lets him go, shocked as he arches his back, and goes on all fours. He hops onto the wall, jumps down on her, scaring her. He then drinks blood from under her ear, missing her neck. She shrieks until she goes limp. Hanz jumps out the window and runs into the courtyard where he sees the soldier. The soldier was one of the authorities that found him. From all the energy wasted he passes out in front of him. The soldier assumes it is his own blood on his lips.
    "Poor little boy." He wraps Hanz in a blanket and carries him off. He curses the place. "******** c**t hospital...hurting children...as gott as my witness, I, Ebb Eckhart, will protect this boy."

    Ebb Eckhart carries the child away as the sun sinks. Giving him a home and his heart.