Blood Prince

Welcome To The World

"What?" I asked, completely confused.

"Azimon," he repeated.

I gave him a 'wtf' look and he sighed. "Azimon is a name given to different kinds of underground cities for . . . immortals," he elaborated, "Sort of like a country only all spread apart."

"And by immortals you mean vampires?" I clarified.

"Yes and no," he answered, "Yes, their are vampires. But no, it's not just vampires"

"Then what else is there," I gulped.

"All sorts of 'mythical' creatures," Austin said, "Vampires, werewolves, witches, shape-shifters, genies, pixies. . .the list goes on and on""Wow," was all I could say.

"Yep," he muttered.

I looked out the window, we were in the middle of nowhere.

"So where is this 'Azimon?'" I asked, "How come I've never heard of it?"

"Because they don't want you to," Austin said, rolling his eyes as if this was obvious.

"Who are 'they?'" I asked.

"That is irrelevant," Austin said tensely.

"Okay. . . " I said, "So, where is Azimon?"

"Azimon isn't a specific place," Austin explained, "There are different underground cities that make up a secret society called Azimon. The one we're going to is called Hades"

"Wow, interesting name," I mumbled, "So how come nobody's ever found any of the Azimon?"

"Because they're inside mountains," Austin said, smirking.

"Uh . . .how is that even possible?"

"In case you haven't figured it out. . . immortals can do some pretty crazy shit," Austin said ,"A group of Earth Movers hollowed out the mountains thousands of years ago"

"W-O-W" I said, enunciating each letter.

"Yeah, but heres the thing" Austin said, urgently "This place isn't all flowers and sunshine Its. A. Jungle. It's kill or be killed there. There's not pixies prancing around throwing pixie dust everywhere. . .Actually, watch out for the pixies. They're not like you think they'd be. . .and they fight dirty"

"The vampire is warning me that pixies are dangerous?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Sorta,," he said, "The point is, that immortals you think are harmless. . aren't, they're dangerous. And the ones you think are dangerous, are even more dangerous"

"Fabulous", I grumbled.

"Don't worry," he told me, "You just gotta remember two rules. 1. Don't leave my side. 2. Don't make contact with anyone, even eye contact. Got it?"

"Got it," I promised.

"Good," he said.

Austin turned off on to a dirt road. We were on that road for a few minutes Austin veered off onto the grass and parked the car.

"This is where we ditch the car," he said, turning off the car.

"Okay," I agreed, although not particularly pleased about continuing on foot.

We got out of the car and I followed Austin through the grass. It was October so the wind was blowing and I felt goosebumps rise along my arms. The chill in the air made me regret my outfit choice.I had picked out dark blue jeans and a "Green Day" t-shirt for that day, with black fingerless gloves and random wristbands. So, it wasn't exactly a weather appropriate outfit. Actually, I was freezing my ass off. It was sooo damn cold; how the hell was Austin not freezing.

He left his lettermen jacket in the car. So, all he had on were faded blue jeans and a white 'Ambercrombie' t-shirt. I was practically jogging, trying to keep up with him. He walked, but was so much faster then me. I had noticed the large mountain a while ago. It was absolutely huge. And it kept looking bigger, and bigger as we got closer.

When we were directly in front of the mountain Austin stopped.

"Don't say anything," he told me.

I nodded as he walked along the edge of the mountain. I followed, trying to be extra quiet. After walking around about one fourth of the way around the mountain I saw an old house. A really dingy looking cabin. Austin walked up to the front door and knocked on the rotting wooden door.

"Who is it?" someone inside hissed, "What do you want?"

"To thrive under the watchful eye of night," Austin recited.

What the hell? I thought. Are these people crazy?

A little door slid open. About the size of one of those things you slide mail into. I could see a pair of bright green eyes looking at us.

"Name?" they asked.

"Austeralgo Arctarus Karodarus," Austin said.

Damn, thats a long name, I thought to myself; a real stretch from Austin Anthony Kardigan.

Then Austin pulled a chain out from his shirt showed it to the man like a VIP pass. It had a strange design on it but I couldn't make it out because he hid it back under his shirt.

The green eyes seemed to widen in some sort of surprise. He seemed genuinely shocked.

The owner of the green eyes spoke.

"Welcome to Hades,"

And then we were falling.