New Jersey Port, 1907
The bustling port of Constable Hook in Bayonne, New Jersey, was alive with activity as workers,commonly called longshoremen,loaded and unloaded cargo from arriving ships. Steamships and cargo vessels dotted the waterfront, their towering masts and billowing smokestacks painting the skyline with a blend of soot and steam. Fishermen prepared their nets, merchants shouted prices for fresh goods, and dock supervisors, clipboards in hand, ensured shipments moved efficiently.
The port workers paused as they noticed a vessel approaching, its silhouette cutting through the morning mist. The name *The Black Swan* gleamed in worn gold letters on the ship's side. The harbormaster and a few inspectors moved closer, waiting to verify its identity.
With practiced precision, the crew tossed thick ropes over the dock's wooden posts as the anchor was dropped. The ship creaked, settling into place. A few workers exchanged glances—the ship wasn't one they recognized from regular trade routes.
Then, the first figure emerged.
Mr. Carter was the first to step off, his boots clicking against the wooden planks of the dock. Behind him, his crew descended in an orderly fashion. But the real spectacle came when Dr. Elias Montgomery stepped down the gangway, his assistant Sophia Carter following closely, along with the men who had accompanied them on their fateful journey.
Gasps filled the air.
The crowd, which had been going about its usual business, erupted into chaos.
"Dr. Montgomery?! But he was dead!" someone exclaimed.
"Impossible! I read it in the paper month ago—he was lost at sea!"
"No, no, this must be someone else!"
"I heard he had been rescued some days ago."
People surged forward, trying to catch a glimpse of the famed doctor. Some shouted his name in excitement, others in shock.
"Dr. Montgomery! Dr. Montgomery!" the name echoed through the port, called out by eager voices. Some men removed their hats in disbelief, while women whispered behind gloved hands. Children, unsure of the commotion, clung to their mothers' skirts, staring at the strange man who had come back from the dead.
"I heard he was searching for the secret to eternal life!"
"Nonsense, it was just a failed expedition, and they must have been stranded somewhere."
"Then why did no one hear from him? He looks different… like he's seen something we can't even imagine."
"This is unnatural, mark my words."
The murmur of voices filled the port, blending into the sounds of seagulls and the lapping waves.
Two security officers quickly moved in, clearing a path through the mass of people. "Step back! Step back!" they barked as they escorted Dr. Montgomery toward a waiting carriage.
The doctor remained silent, his gaze unfocused, as if he wasn't entirely present. Sophia stayed close, her expression unreadable. Behind them, reporters scrambled, notebooks in hand, eager to capture the first words from the returned scientist.
The crowd continued to watch as the group was led toward the Henderson Hotel, one of the most luxurious in town. The moment they stepped inside, a select few journalists, having bribed their way past the others, eagerly followed.
Inside the room, the air was thick with expectation. Pens were poised above parchment, and eager eyes locked onto Montgomery.
"Doctor, tell us—where have you been?"
"How did you survive?"
"What did you discover?"
The door shut behind them, muffling the outside world. The truth—whatever it was—was about to be revealed.
After a month's of tracking the legendary Tree of Life, for I have been tracking it for 10 years now, this was going to be my last try, according to my calculations I was going to spend three months, if I still couldn't find it, I would sail back home, but to my surprise we finally arrived at the island. The landscape was unlike anything I had ever seen—untouched, ethereal, as if it existed outside the realm of human understanding. The flowers, their colours beyond description, swayed in an unseen rhythm, whispering secrets lost to time. Fruits of unknown origins hung from twisted branches, each one a discovery waiting to be made.
A forgotten garden, hidden from the world, yet thriving in its isolation.
And at its heart, the very reason for our journey—the fruit of immortality.
Dr. Montgomery reached into his bag and pulled out the golden apple. It shimmered under the dim candlelight of the hotel room, its surface pulsating with an unnatural glow. The reporters gasped, their voices caught in their throats as they beheld the impossible.
One of them finally found the courage to speak.
"Miss Sophia Carter, how would you describe the garden in your own words?"
Sophia sat across from me, her expression unreadable. Her lips parted, and for a moment, hesitation flickered in her eyes. Then, she spoke.
"It was hell on earth."
The room fell silent.
"The whole place was covered in blood. This man sitting here—he is nothing but a demon!"
The reporters exchanged glances, taken aback by her words. But something was off. Her voice carried no fear, no urgency. It was as if her very speech was twisted against her will, the truth bound and reshaped into a lie the moment it left her lips.
She looked at Dr. Montgomery, her gaze full of silent rage, yet her words betrayed none of it.
The interview continued for hours, the reporters hanging onto every carefully distorted word. When they finally departed, the room fell into an eerie stillness.
Outside, the world stirred with madness.
News of the golden apple spread like wildfire, reaching the farthest corners of the continent. Every man with a boat, every adventurer seeking immortality, every king and merchant with too much power and too little patience—each one set sail toward the island, believing they could claim paradise for themselves.
But they did not understand the cost.
"What do you intend to accomplish by doing this Abaddon"
"Greed is a fire that never burns out, a hunger that can never be satisfied. It drives people to take more than they need, to betray even those closest to them. It is the force that turns men into monsters, willing to spill blood for power, wealth, or immortality.
When rumors of the golden apple spread, the world descended into madness—men setting sail, risking their lives for a taste of eternity. But greed has no end. Even if one man obtains what he desires, another will rise, ready to kill for the same prize.
In the end, humanity does not need a devil to destroy it.
It will do so with its own hands, and then the war would being, this would be the first war the world would face as a whole. Million would die, not by my hands, but I would help out a little, rifles are slow, humans need something more than rifles as I will advance their thinking, assist them in their fire arms"
Nightfalls
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Sophia felt the weight of reality settle upon her shoulders. The truth clawed at her throat, desperate to escape, but she knew—she was the only one who understood what had truly happened. And she could tell no one.
Needing an escape, she wandered into the heart of the city, stepping through the doors of a dimly lit bar.
The music thrummed in her veins, the world spinning in a haze of cigarette smoke and cheap whiskey. She danced like a woman with nothing left to lose, her body moving to a rhythm only she could hear. She downed bottle after bottle, waiting for the alcohol to numb her senses.
But it never did.
Hours passed, the crowd thinning, the music fading. Stumbling out into the cold night, she pulled her coat tighter around herself, the streets now eerily quiet.
And then—she felt it.
A presence.
Something was following her.
Not a human.
Whatever it was, it had no heartbeat. No heat. No life.
She quickened her pace, turning down an alley, the darkness swallowing her whole.
The moment she turned to the corner, a strong hand gripped her wrist. Instinct took over. Without hesitation, she twisted her arm free, grabbing hold of the man's forearm and, with a single motion, hurled him into the shadows. His body crashed against the brick wall, but he barely reacted—almost as if he hadn't felt it at all.
Sophia's eyes narrowed.
Then—it moved.
A blur of motion, faster than any normal human. But to her, it wasn't fast enough. Not compared to Abaddon.
She could see it. Every slight shift of muscle, every unnatural twitch. The way it crouched low, ready to lunge.
Then, the glow of its eyes pierced through the darkness.
Blood-red, like the moon on a cursed night.
Sophia's breath hitched as the creature stepped into the dim light of the alley. Its fangs gleamed, long and sharp, its nails curved into deadly claws.
A human—no. A predator that had once been human.
A vampire.