The manor was nothing but a screen. A carnival of bodies, blood, predators. There weren't many hybrids left, but the few left were hungry as never before. Alexander glanced for a second at a room that led to the cellars, but wiped away any emotion that shone on his face.

            "I want you to look for someone, a hybrid."

             "Why?" Joseph asked him curiously.

             "He stole something from me!"

              That was all he told him as he handed Joseph a picture. The young man glanced quickly, narrowing his eyes. He nodded and put it in his pocket, only to be stopped again by the man who playfully approached him, even though he was near to escape the heat from that place.

         "Say hello to Lucifer for me."

           "Ok, I promise not to forget."

           "Oh, and please remind him that he still owes me a hundred dollars because I helped him then. He knows what I'm talking about!"

           "You're a bloody snake, you know that, right?"

           Joseph tiredly rolled his eyes and turned to him. Lucifer was nothing more than a petty crook, and his name came from the wings tattooed in flame designs on his back. He also worked for him once as a snitch. However, knowing who he was talking about, it might as well be that fallen angel himself. But something didn't smell right, and he pulled out of the way, turning to the hybrid. Aleksander was hiding something.

            "I knew you weren't leaving so soon. You want to drink something?"

            "No! You're hiding something," he told him, still feeling his head pounding from the last drink he'd had.

             The hybrid smiled, wrapping his arms around Joseph's.

             "I notice you're drinking the liquor I gave you," he continued. "Well, it works well then, although..."

             "It tastes like shit!" Joseph finished irritably.

             Cleverly, the hybrid touched his forehead with the fingertips, sensing the scar vibrating, burning like a steaming fire. He smiled sadly.

              Instead, Joseph quickly scanned the room and noticed a number of Lucifer's men claiming to drink. He could feel their eyes on them, and Joseph diverted it by whispering something in Aleksander's ear. More pulled him into a dark corner, trying to find the two he came with as well.

             "Oh, goddamn it!" he heard Chandra. He smiled as he watched her drag William by the handy hair and up the stairs leading to the top floor of the house. "Do you realize that if I caught you a second later, your entire paycheck would go here? In this black hole." She continued to scold him.

              William at that moment was shrugging his shoulders, happy that he was about to reach nirvana in a treacherous place.

              Joseph gave them a sign to leave the mansion. He breathed a sigh of relief. They were safer outside than inside. At least that's what he thought. Outside, the real monsters were making their appearance as night fell.

              "What are Lucifer's men doing here?"

              He quickly recognized them. Massive men, all wearing a winged bandana around their necks. At least if they disguised themselves better.

              "A glass of booze, a woman?" the hybrid replied, looking innocent.

               He licked his lips mechanically, looking directly into Joseph's eyes, who was already too tired to keep up with his game.

              "Cut the crap? Who is the guy in the photo?"

              "I told you, a hybrid..., newborn," he whispered to her later.

               "Oh, of course..."

              He saw where Alexander was beating. Lucifer was looking to capture him, because a new hybrid on the black market was worth a fortune, and the man next to him, whose motive he didn't know, wanted it for himself. Not all hybrids were strong at first. Few were as powerful and influential as the man in front of him, but all were cunning, just like him, in order to survive.

                "The kid is dangerous," the man finished with a shrug, as if it was nothing special.

                "Like you're not," Joseph interjected, rubbing his temples.

                 "Where is he actually?"

                  "I think you know without me answering you."

                  "You mean he's on that island burned and covered in a thick layer of ash?"

                  "Bingo!"

                   "Something's wrong," Joseph said angrily. "If it's on the island, where is the picture from?"

                    It was blurry, of course, but one could easily see the young man's features. In the twilight engulfing the atmosphere, one could see the creature's reflection in the rippling river.

                   "I think you answered your own question," the hybrid continued.

                 Joseph nodded, but also annoyed at how easily he could read his mind.

                 A hybrid that was not monitored could be dangerous to the human population. He could hunt and kill. At the same time, captured, his blood could be used by the underworld groups for their business. One thing was clear. Those who captured it should know where its second heart was. Otherwise they could not kill him. Joseph brought his hand to his forehead, rubbing it frantically.

               He took out the picture again and got a better look in the darkness of the corner where they were sitting.

               "Snake!" Is that why you opened here?"

                The hybrid suddenly bared its jagged teeth. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't help but stand out. However, he was one of the first to appear.

                The rest of the details were discussed more mechanically, coded, or so Joseph wanted to believe. He hated his impertinent way of being.

                "Innocent until proven guilty," he noted, playing with the tip of his jagged sleeve. He glanced again out of the corner of his eye at the metallic gray painted door. The rusty lock was clearly visible.

                 "Is he still alive?" Joseph asked, making the man raise an eyebrow.

                 "He will never die!" he replied in a sad tone, becoming serious. We are the first, we are immortal, in a way.

                 That was a story for another time; one where they could have a drink and reminisce. Joseph always loved stories about the time when civilization still had a human face. When light penetrated the darkness or the sky was blue, not streaked with blood red.

                Joseph was born on that cursed island, between two convicts of murder and rape. He has not known a civilized world. From a young age he was bathed in blood and violence. Alek took him under his wing from a young age. He saved him. That was because it reminded him of himself, when he too had been saved. He was given a new life, but then he lost everything when he was the same age as Joseph back then, on that cursed Island.

                 There he also met his new contract. Although at the time Alek had a different, more human appearance, he was still searching doggedly for absolute evil. He wanted to kill him, even though he knew it would be difficult.

                  "I'll see what I can do!" he informed him, fumbling through her black jacket pocket for a cigarette.

                   "Smoking is seriously harmful to health!"

                   "The one who lives in cigarette smoke speaks," he answered.

                    He laughed subtly, inhaling the toxic fumes. With that, Joseph walked away, walking out with his hands in his pockets, without having smoked, sullen and irritated. The two of them already been drunk.

                   "Yes, I forgot..., I told a girl to honor them."

                  Suddenly, Alek came to the door and shouted loudly with the rest.

                   "Happy birthday, Joseph!" the hybrid behind also yelled, holding his stomach at the time, laughing loudly. "Somehow I had to bring you here. You don't turn twenty every day."

                    "Chandra, for God's sake, what are you doing?!" he asked, surprised and overwhelmed.

                    "Brother, be more relaxed too, man!" she replied, taking another sip from a glass of clear liquid.

                     "Was any of what you told me real, you bloody snake?" Joseph shouted angrily and the man shrugged his shoulders in amusement. Who is the guy in the picture"

                 "Some person, I suppose, who passed this way?'

                 Joseph looked at him with an urge to say something, but stopped. It was not his real day, but the day he was reborn. The hybrid knew best, because he was the one who threw him into the abyss he lived in. He couldn't reveal it to anyone though.

                  The party was somber and short. Joseph always hated his birthday because it reminded him of the nightmare he lived on an island where you had to be as strong as possible to survive. He felt a shiver run down his spine and swallowed hard. Without warning, he raised his hand and grinned, pointing his middle finger at the hybrid. A thing that made him roll his eyes. But something made him lose his sly smile.

                  Suddenly, a thick fog covered the bulbs and lanterns, and they began to slowly go out in the autumn breeze. Then there was silence, and Aleksander put his finger to his lips, beckoning them to be quiet for a moment. Joseph turned to him, realizing that the whole place had fallen into an ominous silence.

                   Darkness. That's what they both felt. They exchanged a few glances and he ordered the two to go inside. In turn, the hybrid ushered everyone out to continue the party in private.

                   At an end, he appeared beside Joseph, taking his arm.

                   "It smells rotten!" he said, looking carefully through the gray mist of the swamp that surrounded the manor.

                    "I can smell it, too."

                    Joseph swallowed and looked into Aleksander's eyes, as a cold sensation on the back of his neck manifested, as if someone was blowing on the back of his neck. Through the fog, a figure appeared, but instantly disappeared in the fog, as if that entity was the display of the entire strange phenomenon.

                    "This is something new," the hybrid whispered, but you could hear the fear in his voice.

                     He looked up at Joseph and his face was frozen in fear as they were both enveloped in a cold and sinister darkness. Aleksander snapped his fingers and there was light. Each lantern lit up one by one. He looked towards the island and his forked tongue peeked out between parted lips, which were a dark purple at the time.

                   "Aleksander, you see you're digging your claws into my arm," Joseph informed him, though his face was still pale, a cold sweat took over his entire body, and he could feel his legs getting heavier. He fell to his knees.

                    "I got you, kid!" the hybrid told him in a joking tone, but there was concern in his voice. With his friend in his arms, he scanned everything quickly. Only an uncertain sound wafted from near the swamp. He couldn't leave Joseph alone like this. "Are you feeling alright?" he continued, glaring at him and growling.

                     The scar on his forehead throbbed, making the headache even sharper. He screamed muffled once he fell face down in the mud. Alek let go of his body which was like lead.

                    "It hurts, and..." Joseph continued, feeling as if someone were digging claws into his skull.

                   "You'll get over it, I promise..."

                     It was all he could tell him at that moment.

                    Aleksander gasped in the cold air as he picked him up, clearly seeing that the island wasn't as dead as he thought. A demon escaped from it and wanted the souls of those who lived there back. He wanted his trophies back. He looked at the figure lingering in the darkness and only fear accompanied him.

                   It wasn't just any hybrid that followed them from the heart of the swamp, shrouded in foul smelling smoke. He was one like him, one of the first. The worst of them all. Invincible, sadistic, pure evil. The one he was looking for twenty years ago. He was no longer a warm-hearted human being. He has been just a beast. A creature that everyone should fear. A dead man who came from the shadows to bring darkness and fear.

                 "Father!" he whispered and eased away towards the entrance where Joseph would be safe. He couldn't tell him that in that picture was actually his father, who had been missing for years. He hoped with all his rotten heart that his increasingly palpable fear would not come true.

                   "You really are a snake!" Joseph whispered to him, falling into what he feared most. In the dark.

                    "I am," he repeated to himself, and let out a wry laugh.

                     He saved him from hell, turned him into a hybrid. His thoughts finally caught up to him. It was enough for him. With his help, Joseph managed to tame his creature in time, and the drink he always consumed kept the beast asleep. Aleksander turned him into a monster to save him, but...

              "Of what you are afraid, you can't run," a voice from the swamp kept hissing... "The strongest will live, eat well and do what they want with those who lose or are weaker." Those words echoed after a short pause.

                 The hybrid looked at Joseph, to whom the creature from his mind whispered to kill, to eat. She wanted fresh blood, but the young man in his arms was fighting her mentally, as he had twenty years ago when she woke up. They would win the battle again, but the war was just beginning...

                  They needed someone of the power they were facing and only the one sleeping and kept secret had that kind of strength. Joseph could not fight, and not alone.

                  They needed blood...