New story for my OC Jack! Hearing about a group of missing people, he goes to investigate the cause and wind up getting more than he bargained for. Let me know what you think. I'm always open for constructive criticism!

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The sun rose over the ring of ancient mountains and shone on a valley deep below. Within the valley was an old, abandoned town by the name of Lindun. Built into the side of one of the mountains was a crumbling castle that presumably had once housed the lord and lady of Lindun. Rumors and tales from nearby towns had always spoken of Lindun as a ghost town. Those who travelled there would never return. Of course, some still dared to tempt fate and explore the town. Most of the time nothing went wrong and the daring few would come back with maybe just a few scrapes and bruises from the journey.

However, the most recent group had yet to return after nearly a month. Those who had gone looking for them found no trace of them. No rock slide had occurred that would have trapped or crushed them. Their campsite had been found, but no sign of any sort of struggle or animal attacks. Any trace of them had disappeared and caused quite a stir among the neighboring towns.

A lone, silver-furred wolf by the name of Jack had heard these tales while eavesdropping and scavenging from a passing trade caravan. It was a tale that easily caught his attention. Once he was certain he had all the information he needed, Jack started off to find Lindun and a trace of this missing group. Normally a simple disappearance wouldn’t be any sort of interest to him, but the circumstances deemed a proper investigation necessary.

It took a few days of travel before he managed to reach the peak of one of the mountains surrounding the town of Lindun at nighttime. Standing at four feet in height, he scanned the surrounding mountains, town, and castle below with his piercing, ice blue eyes before starting his trek downwards into the deep valley. At the bottom of the mountain he stopped and rested for the night, then continued onward the next morning at sunrise.

By midmorning Jack had arrived at the town and began his investigation. He sniffed at the air, but found very little of interest; it was mostly just dust and decay though there was a touch of something he couldn’t quite identify, but he shrugged it off for the moment and continued his search.

By early evening, Jack had traversed most of the village and came to one very important conclusion; this place was boring . There was nothing worthwhile in this town. The most interesting thing he could find was a few bones from skeletons of the former townspeople and some graffiti from various visitors that town had since its downfall.

He eventually made his way to the end of the town where the castle was at the base of the mountain. This was his last chance to find something worthwhile for his investigation. He took a deep breath and started forward once more. Searching around the crumbling castle, he managed to find a hole that he slipped in through.

Jack found himself in a large, would-be-grand hallway for the castle. The once beautiful tapestries and carpets of the hallway were all torn and faded from excessive years of weather abuse and wear that came from the crumbling ceiling and walls around them. Shattered chunks of stone riddled the ground throughout the hallway along with sconces that had fallen from the walls. Décor that had once glorified the hallway was now rusted and broken with no chance of repair.

Jack huffed as he took in his surroundings and carried on further into the castle muttering something about not understanding people needing to be so glorified and wasting resources. He weaved his way through the ruins of the castle. He soon came to what he could only guess was once a dining hall from the amount of rotting tables that filled the room. In the fading light of evening it was getting rather difficult to see even for Jack. As much as he would have liked to look at more of the castle, he figured it best to turn back and carry on his search in the morning.

So back he turned and traced his steps back to the hallway he had come in from. The hole was in sight when he heard an odd whistling sound coming from behind him. He sidestepped moments before a heavy lance pierced and embedded itself in the stone next to him. He spun where he stood and peered into the darkness of the hallway. A low growl rumbled forth from his throat while the fur along his body stood up on end.

In the darkness, a set of blood red eyes stared back at Jack. A soft giggle echoed through the hallway that sent chills down Jack’s spine, though he did not move away or back down. “You’re a quick pup, aren’t you? Not often a wolf wanders into my home,” came a feminine voice from the eyes. The person in the darkness started forward towards Jack leisurely, “Come here, pup. Make this easy for me.”

“If you want me, I’ll be sure it’s anything but easy for you.” The woman stopped and Jack could see her eyes widen in surprise. To be fair, there probably weren’t too many talking wolves in the world. Looking over her, Jack could see some sort of fur covering her exposed face, arms, and legs.

“A talking, feral wolf. Now that’s something rare,” Jack could hear her lick her lips. “What brings you into my humble abode? Planning on using it as your home? Have a pack waiting to move in? Or are you all alone?”
Jack’s tail flicked at the mention of a pack, “I’m here to learn what happened to a group that got lost here about a month ago. People have been looking for them. Given the welcome you gave to me, something tells me you have a hand in their disappearance.”

The woman smirked at that, not that Jack could see. “I may have, but what’s it matter to you, wolf? Were they friends of yours? Are you here to avenge them?” There was a hint of yearning in her voice during the last question. “You won’t find them. They’re gone now. After I was through with them, I gave them out to the wildlife. I’m sure you can imagine how quickly they were carried off, wolf.”

“Jack. My name is Jack. What reason did you have to kill them? What did you do to them? What even are you? Some sort of anthro fox, but what else? You’re not normal.” He stated flatly, now seeming to relax as his fur lowered down partially.

“Seren is my own. And I must say that I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out yet.” She held out her hand to her side with her palm up and muttered something under her breath that Jack couldn’t quite pick up. A moment later, a ball of light formed in her hand bright enough to illuminate most of the hallway. Jack was forced to look away until his eyes adjusted. When he looked again at her, she had halved the distance between them. His fur rose back up once again, but she held up her hand as if to calm him. “I mean you no harm for now. If I wanted to, I would have ended you then and there.” Looking at her, she was tan-furred fox wearing a pitch black, sleeveless dress that came down to just above her knees. Sharp claws adorned each of her fingers and toes, but the part that stuck out most to Jack were the two sharp, red-tipped fangs protruding from her upper lip.

Jack stared hard at the fangs, quickly realizing that he was dealing with some species of vampire and that he was incredibly underprepared. Even so, he wasn’t going to back down. He couldn’t at this point. The hole was too far away and she was much too fast. “I don’t think I’ve ever had the pleasure in meeting with a vampire before.”

Seren’s lips turned into an amused, almost kind smile towards Jack, “I don’t think I’ve ever had the pleasure of conversing this long with somebody. I suppose I could hold off on feeding for some friendly conversation.”
“We have very little to discuss beyond your murderous tendencies. I have no reason nor desire to speak with a creature like you that’ll kill the innocent without a second thought.” He stated boldly and took a strong step towards the vampire-fox.

Seren remained calm despite the confrontational wolf. “That’s not true at all. Most of the time when I feed on you mortals,” She said the word with venom, “I happen to think back on my own life and everything that has brought me to the present. It’s not as if I were a vampire my entire life. I’m very much a bite-in.” She could see the slightly confused look on Jack’s face at the phrase and explained, “There are two main varieties of vampires, Jack; purebloods, which come from the mating of two vampires, and bite-ins, which happen from injecting a venom into our victims from our fangs.”

“Fantastic lecture, but that doesn’t excuse what you did to those people who came here. You killed them.”

“I fed. You kill to feed, don’t you? What’s the difference between us? You kill a rabbit to stay alive; I do the same, but with a different prey.” She stepped towards him, “You make it sound as if you’re something better than me, but you’re not. Are you without fault? Are you able to judge me because you are perfect?”

“I’m able to judge you because I don’t hide away from this world. I may not be upfront about all of my actions, but I try to help where I can.” He took a step forward, “I don’t just eat and let my life waste away. I came here to figure out why these people disappeared and stop it from happening again, even if it meant my life would be taken in the process.” Another step. “The reason I can judge you is because I’m doing something with the time I have and not just sitting around an abandoned castle letting time go by.” He took a third step forward and refused to back down now. His gaze was hard as stone as he stared into her eyes.

Seren’s smile twisted into a deep frown. Her brow furrowed at Jack’s words and she took a step back from him as he stepped forward. When he stopped, it took a moment for her to speak up again, “I did what I could to help this world. Being like this simply made it impossible. I couldn’t help anybody even if I tried.” She looked down away from Jack’s hard gaze. “I did what I could to help before and I only suffering came from it.” Her voice grew shaky and Jack watched as tears rolled down her cheeks and splashed onto the carpet beneath her. Jack’s gaze softened some, but he continued to firmly hold his ground.

Jack’s fur slowly lowered itself back down to smoothly lay along his body. He took a soft step towards her, now having closed a majority of the distance between the two now. “Explain yourself. What happened to make it impossible for you to help others?”

She shook her head, “It doesn’t matter. Nothing can change the past. Nothing can change what I’ve done or what I am.”

“Nothing will change the past. It’s the future you need to worry about.” His voice was hard, but there was a comforting tone to them. “Even if you are a vampire, that doesn’t mean you can’t do good. Don’t beat yourself up over your previous actions, because you can’t change them.” He moved forward so that he was only a few feet in front of Seren. “What matters is how you prevent those things from happening again. Don’t let your past self’s mistakes be your future’s as well.”

Seren kneeled onto one knee and leaned into Jack, giving him a tight hug. “You’re very innocent, Jack. For most, I think you would be right, but not for me. I live by killing others. It’s what I am. Vampires don’t have the pleasure of getting to be something else. I wish I had known that before.” She let go of Jack and stood up, stepping away from him.

“You make it sound as if you chose to become this. What happened to you, Seren? What made you like this?” He sat down now and looked up at her solemnly.

“That’s a rather long story, but I can shorten it up for you.” She sat down on the floor across from Jack and crossed her legs. “Some time ago, probably over a millennium now, I was the lady of this castle. My husband and I ruled over Lindun proudly. Coming into it all, the place was a wreck. People were poor and starving. Some were dying of disease that they couldn’t afford to have cured. You were considered rich if you could pay the taxes without selling off part of your property or children.” She shuddered at the memories then continued after recomposing herself, “After my husband and I came into power of Lindun, we set to work on fixing it up. Got a solid trade route through the mountains to other towns, organized a proper crop rotation, worked to lessen taxes so people could afford to get better again. We turned this place into a paradise for our people. We thought everything would be fine then. Once everything was set up, my husband and I started to work on our own family to continue our lineage.” A sad smile showed briefly before disappearing.

“Hard to believe this town as any amount of alive given its current condition. It sounds like you two did a wonderful job.” Jack says thoughtfully.

“We did, I think, but then we got a visitor one day. He claimed he was a cousin sent by our king at the time to check up on us; even had proper credentials. The man was surprised the town was so alive. At the time, my husband was away to visit an ill family member and I was with child. I invited the gentleman in; I believe he said his name was Samwise. I gave him a room in the castle to stay in while he was here. He came to me one night and offered me something. He said that he would give me a gift that would allow me to make sure Lindun would stay like this forever. Questioning into it further, he revealed to me that he was a vampire. He offered me vampirism and even guaranteed the safety of my unborn child through the process. He said it would just be a simple bite and a small payment of my blood in exchange for my town’s prosperity. Foolishly, I trusted him and I agreed.” Her hands clenched into tight fists, “He took nearly all of my blood. If not for the venom, I would have died. But my child…” Tears streamed down her face and she looked away from Jack. Regaining her composure once more, she continued. “When my husband returned, Samwise was gone and I was left broken. At once I revealed everything that had happened to my husband. It was everything in my power to keep it from the servants. I thought he would understand. Instead he called me a… a monster . He took the servants and ran, leaving me alone in the castle. I didn’t know what else to do. I locked myself in the castle and refused to answer when people came knocking.”

“What happened to the town then? Without their leader, what happened to them?”

“Some just left. They had no reason to stay, especially if the only people that cared for them were gone. Others were lost and didn’t know what to do. Come the next winter, most of the townsfolk died from either famine or plague. The remaining ones either ran away or stayed and died. And I did nothing but watch it fall apart.” She hung her head, avoiding any sort of eye contact with Jack. “I let everything I loved slip away. By the time anybody came back, I was starving. I needed something and so I started to kill those that would come to the castle. At times, I could fend off the hunger, but other times I felt I couldn’t even control my own body when I went after them. That’s why the last group vanished. They found their way inside and I killed them all.”

“Did you ever think about leaving the castle? Why did you stick around for so long? You could have started elsewhere, couldn’t you have?”

She shook her head slowly, “No. I still would have needed to feed. When I don’t feed, I’m weak. When I’m weak I can’t travel as fast, so I can’t make it to another town. I’d prefer to starve myself in the castle rather than hurt more innocent people. I even tried on various occasions to kill myself, but I could never bring myself to do it. Every time, I got too scared of what would happen after and I would back down. Why would the gods ever forgive me for what I’ve done? They would send me into some torment even worse than what I’ve been through now.”

“You have every right to be scared. The unknown is a terrifying thing to think about, but if the gods would find you unworthy of peace and happiness after everything you’ve been through, then they can go fuck themselves,” Jack said flatly.

Seren looked at Jack with widened eyes, “But I don’t even deserve their mercy. I was the one that messed up everything in the first place!”

“You messed up, but you paid for it and then so much more, Seren.” He stood and stepped towards her, nuzzling into her neck softly. “You deserve to be happy. And even if you don’t forgive yourself for everything that happened, I want you to know that I do. And if anybody disagrees, whether they be mortals, vampires, demons, or even gods, they will meet my teeth and claws and they will know the pain you have endured.”

Seren stared longingly at Jack then pulled him into another hug and openly wept into his fur. Jack hooked his head over her shoulder to her as much of a hug as he could. Jack knew what had to be done now; she was right that she couldn’t go out on her own just as it would be hell for her to stay here as well as dangerous for anybody else that would come by. There was only one solution and Jack was nowhere pleased with the idea. For now, though, he would stay here for her.

After several minutes, Seren’s weeping turned into shuddering gasps and silent crying. The two stayed like this for several hours until early morning. Seren slowly pulled away from Jack and looked him in the eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Jack gave her a gentle nod of understanding and helped her up from the ground. Both were stiff from not moving throughout the night, but they carried onward to one of the side doors of the castle. With some effort, they managed to get it open and stepped out in the fresh air.

Given the mountains around them, the sun wasn’t quite up yet. They made their way into town and silently traversed the various streets together. Seren stared longingly at various spots and Jack could tell that she was reliving memories of her time here. They made their way into the center of town and stood next to a dried-up fountain that looked to have once been an incredibly beautiful piece of stonemasonry.

Jack stood next to Seren as the shadows around them gradually started to shrink away with the rising sun. Seren reached down and firmly gripped onto Jack’s fur. He looked back to see tears flowing freely down over her cheeks and a look of fear in her eyes as the sun rose higher and higher into the clear blue sky. He gently and comfortingly nuzzled into her side. He gave a light nod and released her grip and instead just put her hand gently on his back.

It was then the sun came over the mountain and shone its light onto the pair. Jack could feel Seren tense up as the sun burned her, but she made no sound over it. It was only moments before the light touched every part of her exposed body. The process was fast for both of them. With the full exposure from the sun, her body quickly burned away. Tears rolled down her face, but she faced the pain bravely. Her clothes burned with her body, scraps of them falling away and burning separately and exposing more of her to the sunlight.

Within a few long moments, there were only hot ashes left of Seren which were swept up and away by a light breeze. Jack watched the ashes rise up and out of the valley within the ring of mountains and disappear into the sky. Knowing his investigation was concluded and that Seren was at peace, he began his trek out of the valley.