Name: Santiago Black Rose
Specie: Vampire
Age: 27-Eternally
Height: 6'4
Hair Color: Pale Blonde
Eye Color: Golden
Love Interests: Straight (Not Looking)

Summary: Black Rose, a man so bitter a ruler. Ran his entire kingdom out. Left to rule a vast empty empire. Unable to fend off the horde of Demons, he gave in. Summoned with all his hatred something darker, something willing to aid against its own. Signing over his mortal existence, he was given immortal life, the power to fight the hordes. But, it comes at a price. A thirst that knows no bounds. What little was left of the citizens, who became his victims? His eyes soon turn to the last of the mortals, his sister, and her husband. Both with a newly born son; Santiago.

While all goes to ruin, the Vampire finds himself unable to make his visit. Something was warding him away. What it was, he could not guess at. During that time, he was being watched. From the very darkness, he happened to lurk. Word had reached the family, that there was a creature on the prowl, its sights on the child. Shown how to defend themselves, there would be no way, harm would come to them. Something else, they should be wary of her brother. This was all that was said by the stranger. Santiago's mother swore she saw a glint of a smile on the stranger.

Weight is placed upon the couple and their growing child. So, plans on leaving the fortification were in order. With safe passage, and an angered Vampire gazing down upon their departure from his perch. He would watch as they leave through the large gates, defended by the whispering cold winds. Why he felt compelled to hunt them down, is unsure, even to the creature he had become. A family bond is much stronger than a stranger's blood. Their blood called out to the Vampire like none other. While it was rather amusing at first, things changed per the contract that had been made.

Years pass, and new ideas are born. And the Demons have become restless, and they do not know why. A seed has been planted. Eyes among them. Bodies have begun to pile, and whispers say, that it is the doing of the Lord of the southern stronghold. What can a mere mortal man possibly do to their kind? Their leader, still not convinced, decides to observe. Waiting, while his own grow impatient. With a few of the Demons slipping past their border. Lay a secret attack upon the center stronghold. There, in wait, was a group. Unbeknownst to the family inside, these numbers lying in wait, attack the Demons. Baring pale flesh, and fangs. With a thirst for Demon blood, it would seem.

While one was allowed to escape, he returned home with stories, possibly proof. War, that is what they will bring to the Black Rose. War. What manner of power they have gotten hold of, they were now a true threat. Leaving no room for chance, and having them attack their home. Black Rose, on the other hand, hears nothing of this. But, he is visited. Pacing like a madman, unable to understand. Growing mad with the thirst. Finding that he cannot leave, too much of a coward, even with this granted power. So, he is relieved of his reign. All but ash now, forgotten. While in his stead stood one with the same face.

Vampires, that is the word that has reached the Demon's ears. And that is what they are calling the Black Rose. Even the growing Santiago, and his parents. To which they are not. Yet. Growing up, the boy had been visited. The man claimed to be his uncle. Requesting he now tell his parents about the visits, he did promise to show him how to protect his family. Because to the north was a growing army of Demons that posed a great threat. With some secret tutoring, Santiago would prove to be a vital piece in this game. A game that will drag out for years. Which it does. As a young man, he cuts down the number of Demons that invade his land.

His battles, however, could only be wagered at night. Due to the strategy of the Demons. Again, more lies had been spread through their numbers. Reaching the ears of their leader. On Santiago's side, his uncle had given him an army. Creatures made to command, there to bide by Santiago's words. The secret was, that they were made of unknown flesh, having dug their way from the dirt, equipped for war. When one would fall, they would rise again. At times said, that their numbers doubled, but there was never proof. But it would be from one of the fights, that Santiago is mortally wounded. Calling for his uncle, the only way he knew. Santiago's call was always answered, just as promised, his uncle would be there.

Power, that's what the boy asked for. With his wound healed. He was offered the same deal his uncle had that day. However, Santiago didn't seem as weak as his uncle had been that day. Given that power, tailed by a curse, he was able to defend against numbers. Keeping his aging parents safe. Seeing them pass on, was heart-wrenching, but he could not offer a single tear. Grasping this new resolve, he plows his way through a wall of Demons, heading right for their gates. In the thickness of it all, Santiago is wrangled, subdued, and brought forth the head of the Demons. Looking like any savage beast, he snapped his jaws at them. Caked in blood, they swore he resembled a Demon.

Many eyes were upon him, hatred was what filled those gazes, weighing upon him. But there was something amid that hatred. Curiosity. His own eyes search the numbers present. But it is when he looks up, that he meets a pair of eyes. Captivated, Santiago was not the only one looking upon this Demon. For through his eyes, his supposed uncle too met those beautiful demonic eyes. Sitting on his throne, biding his time. All seems to cease at that moment. Sasha...

Never-Ending Nightmare: Santiago's nightmare didn't end at the mercy of the demons that would imprison him within their stronghold. It continued his torment handed from one hand to another, one that was viler than the last. There was ill-intent behind the cloaked figure's eyes that taunt him. All of Santiago's problems would be gone if he could strike a deal. Thought to himself, none of the other demons had offered such a thing, yet...there is this enigma offering such a contract. The vampire would be free to live the rest of his immortal existence without penance or the worry of being hunted down for striking down so many of the demons of this keep. Santiago wasn't exactly verbal with his thoughts, however, he did tell himself that this was a rather tempting offer. 

A voice in the back of his mind, sweet as corpse bell flowers that danced under the moonlight of his castle's gardens. His gaze wandered as did his thoughts, focusing on the voice, attempting to coax it back so that he might hear it again. And he did. 

Those eyes that were upon the vampire focused, a grin grew from the dark confines as it seemed that the youthful vampire had taken the bait. That voice he thought he heard, was just the manipulation of the cloaked figure. And so, it takes little for the vampire to finally look up and gaze across to his would-be benefactor. Santiago agrees. Right before him, the cloaked figure drops his concealing drape to the ground. And before the vampire stood a towering equally pale male, striking features. Where had this man been hiding that extra height? Santiago had believed he had been looking him in the eye while they shared a fair exchange of words. And now, the vampire was looking up at him...

Santiago must confess, he felt a pang of regret the moment he'd agreed to the contract. No one from his house had heard of such a deal offered by someone of little to no background. The vampire knew nothing of this stranger, only that he resembled in a sense the beasts that had imprisoned him here. Though calling such meant that he too was insulting the likes of Sasha, the sole creature he thought the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. And now, he was going to be with her...or so he thought. 

The stranger gave off an imposing presence that the vampire couldn't place. Again, he hadn't met any other creature that wasn't demonic on these lands. Santiago didn't quite get around to saying he knew the world or anything beyond the boundaries of this here place. But this here stranger, he felt no different than those out there and yet, very different, almost at a dangerous level. If anything, Santiago should have listened to what one called, his gut feeling. Before having a chance to react, Santiago notices something that would render him speechless. As he looked on with a deepening horror, it was like looking into a mirror. The stranger has his likeness down to the last strand of pale blonde hair.

"It's definitely unnerving." Those would have been Santiago's words were it not that he was keeping them to himself. Finding that he was closing his eyes shortly after. Looking into eyes that did not quite match his own, he found himself falling. Falling into a darkness he knows nothing of, one that would swallow him whole and grant no escape. Ever...

That cruel fate would come to pass but not before a grueling process that was to take place. One that would establish the vampire's hate towards the one who he thought a benefactor.

What seems like an eternity, Santiago opens his eyes, he is still inside the same cage he'd been thrown into when he was dragged into the desolate dungeon. No signs of his mysterious duplicate. No amount of looking around would have that stranger appear. Santiago did not resign himself, he was reluctant. A strong sense of belief that this would be the end of a means but unbeknownst, it was just the beginning.

While he was still in prison. Outside of that same prison, Santiago's false self stood defiant, the demons shook with disbelief at the measure of his confidence and that overwhelming aura. Just what had happened in a matter of hours that the vampire would change so much and drastically at that.

While everyone else thought this very thing, there was but one that did not. And that was Sasha. Sasha whom Santiago was staring at, gaze unwavering and fixated upon her like he was mesmerized, enthralled even. There were no words to describe it. Yet, she felt a fathomless dread. It wasn't that innocent fascination anymore, the one she had felt when her eyes first fell upon him on the battlefield. How he had stormed her Uncle's fortress.

Here stood a different vampire entirely...

Flashforward: Santiago's escape is but a blur at this point and he has given up attempting to understand, wrap his head around it if you will. It's been hell even outside his prison walls, much has changed and he doesn't know where to begin. How to place himself in this modern civilization. 

to be continued...

** Mistress of the story. Non-playable.

Gazing through Santiago's eyes that day, changed things. What had happened before, was about to happen again. As Santiago was questioned within the threshold of the stronghold, Sasha, the young Demoness watched. With such a curiosity, that will always get the best of her. Careful not to be seen, it did little for Santiago who had. And someone else as well. Where she might have thought that the chill that coursed through her, was from those piercing Vampire eyes. When in reality, it was the darkness peering through them, right at her. Hauled into the depths of the mountain itself, which made up half of the stronghold.

Santiago was kept in a cage-like cell. Kept till further notice, and it is then, that Sasha takes her chance. Stealing a moment, she slips from her chambers, working her way down. Careful not to be seen. From what she had overheard, the Demons planned to do something. She had not stayed long enough to hear it all. Before the young Demoness could reach Santiago, someone had gotten there before her. Where salvation seemed to be within grasp, it is taken. As was Santiago's appearance, for someone had taken his place within the cell, the Vampire slipped into a darkness from which he would never return. Enters young Sasha, with careful footsteps, drawing closer to the cage.

The closer, the heavier the Vampire's presence seemed to be. It was that same sensation she got before, but his eyes were different. Where there had been a mix of hatred and fascination. There was now, infatuation. With time, Santiago can win the young Demoness's heart. Her everything. If truth could be told or known to the unbeknownst, Sasha has been the first and only true being to win her true tormenting, dark admirer, that who had remained in the guise of her Santiago.

Destruction of her kin soon followed, and the truth behind it all was kept secret. A Vampire she thought to have made union with, had never been. Nor would she ever discover the one behind that guise. Before the curtains fell, she had turned to stone. Kept like this eternally. Sasha, the still sleeping beauty, cast in stone. Placed within a forbidden garden, viewed by none. Save for the Devil who put her there. Even then, her voice, still lingers in the garden, hauntingly, beautifully. Making the roses that surround her, shudder with an unfathomable dark passion.