Blood-Mage Hunters

Secrets

Reia and the two unconscious vampires he was carrying were greeted with thankful cheers from all the villagers of Obsidian Mountain Village. However, when they saw the condition in which two of their saviors were, they quickly led Reia to a small, neat and tidy house where the three of them could rest and stay for as long as they needed to.

"Thank you so much for protecting our village. We'll forever be grateful to you, Blood-Mage Hunters," the man that had called them to fight the dragon told Reia, bowing over and over again, almost on the brink of tears from thankfulness.

The vampire just awkwardly smiled in response, still not being used to people thanking him even after almost a hundred years of saving humans and defeating monsters. Realizing that he was probably bothering them, the man left the house, bowing one last time.

Reia glanced over at Lucius and Cyrus, who were laying on the two small beds in the room, still unconscious. Cyrus seemed unscathed, having passed out before the dragon had woken up. However, Lucius had bruises and cuts from fighting the creature, but it was nothing he couldn't overcome.

The vampire just stood there, his vision focusing on nothing in particular while his mind raced with different thoughts for a few minutes, then he sighed, looking down at his blood-soaked and dirty clothes. He walked over to the corner of the room, where some villagers left a bag full of different clothes for them, since they probably noticed the state in which the three vampires were. Reia opened the bag and searched for something that would fit him, pulling out a simple black long-sleeved shirt.

He pulled his dirty shirt over his head, tossing it aside. Before he could put on the clean one, a gasp from behind him made the vampire quickly turn his head. To his horror, both Lucius and Cyrus had woken up, and they were staring at him; at his scars -his grotesque, ugly scars covering almost the entirety of his back, chest and arms.

"Reia, what are those?" Cyrus whispered the question, his face pale and his eyes full of concern as he stared at his friend's body.

"W-Where did you get those from? Dear Lord..." Lucius said, his voice barely audible as he got up in a seating position, not taking his eyes off of the vampire in front of him.

Reia quickly put on the shirt he was holding, hiding his scars from his companions once again. Silence filled the small room, the three of them staring at each other for what seemed like hours. Then, Reia broke the silence. "We've all got a past, don't we? And that's all it is. The past. So please don't meddle with what I'm unable to explain," he said, his voice hoarse while a sad smile tugged the corners of his lips and a dark, almost unreadable emotion appeared in his eyes.

Both Lucius and Cyrus stared at him in silence, their mouths slightly agape. They didn't know much about Reia's past, but they knew it wasn't the most pleasant. That much was evident from the way he always flinched at sudden movements, or from the way he would sometimes go into his own little world, staring in the distance with a cold, emotionless look in his eyes, like he was physically present but in reality he was far, far away. He had always been closed off, keeping all his thoughts and emotions bottled up inside him, like he was terrified of being vulnerable in front of anyone, even in front of the two people that he considered his family.

Cyrus and Lucius knew all of that, and that was exactly why they never forced him to talk about the things he had been through, hoping that one day he would feel comfortable enough to tell them on his own. However, they had never expected the gravity of the things he was keeping bottled up inside him.

"Who the fuck did that to you?" Cyrus asked, his voice filled with anger, a threatening look in his eyes. Then, a different thought crossed his mind. "Don't tell me you... Did you..." he stumbled on his own words, his eyes growing wide at the thought that his friend might have given himself those scars.