The Tragedy That Started It All

Cherry rubbed her ears and forced a laugh. “Pardon?” she squeaked. “You’re… my brother?”

Charlie scratched his head. “Yeah, I have plenty of things to explain, huh?”

“Absolutely,” said Theodore.

“Come sit,” said Clover. “We have much to discuss.”

Cherry shyly took the only available seat left—which was right next to Charlie’s.

“Alright,” said Clover, “now that everyone’s comfortable, let us start by introducing ourselves."

“Ah, there is no need,” said Charlie, stretching a friendly smile. “I already know all of you.”

“...Eh?” everyone else but Penelope asked.

"You’re Clover Vamier, the oldest sibling here," said Charlie as he moved his gaze at each of the siblings. "And you must be Theodore. You’re El—er, Penelope and..." He glanced at the lady in yellow. "You’re Dorothy."

“Eh?” Dorothy tilted her head. “You already know us?”

Charlie glanced at Theodore and Penelope. “Even if I pretended that I didn’t, you two would instantly catch on. Theodore, your ears are sharp enough to hear lies with my heart rate, and Penelope can read my facial expressions like a pop-up book, am I right?”

Theodore and Penelope exchanged glances.

“And since you guys can detect lies, then I might as well just save everyone time and tell you all the full story.”

Clover twitched his fingers.

Dorothy tilted her head. “What are you saying all of a sudden? How do you know about that?”

“Allow me to explain everything then.” He grinned politely. "As I said already, I’m Charlie Elthean, and Cherry’s my twin sister. To put it simply, lots of terrible things happened to us out there." He leaned forward, rested his elbows on his lap, and placed his chin on his folded hands. "Have you folks remembered what happened eight months ago?"

The Vamiers exchanged shrugs. Charlie narrowed his gaze with disappointment.

"Well, I don’t remember anything," said Cherry. "Mind if you explain everything anyway?"

"Of course. Then, let me start by summarizing our nation first," said Charlie. He tightened his hands and slowly inhaled. "Theatreux. That is the name of our ridicul—er, our spectacular kingdom, ruled by our oh so very... uh, charismatic ruler, King Carmin."

Why does he talk with so much spite? Cherry arched an eyebrow.

"Anyway, King Carmin himself... uh, how should I say it... he is... very, very obsessed with entertainment, and thus, he spent most of our taxes on many forms of leisure. Amusement parks, carnivals, festivals, theaters, circuses, exhibits, trade shows—you name it, and we have the best of it. Our king has a fascination with clockwork technology as well. Because of this, Theatreux was a prosperous kingdom known to combine art and science into the entertainment industry."

"‘Was?’" Cherry forced a cough. "Sorry."

"Astrale Academy is a school that specializes in art and science, and many of those who graduated invented incredibly flashy works of art. With so many people with the desire to show off their brilliance and creativity, King Carmin himself established Theatreux’s most famous, most important festival: The Spectacular Theory."

The Vamiers glanced at each other while Cherry raised her brows.

"The Spectacular Theory... was an outdoor art and science exhibit disguised as an amusement park. Inventors, artists, and scientists would collaborate to create the most stunning, most eye-catching masterpieces, and have them on display like a colorful, giant fever dream of a playground. Singing mechanical animals, dancing flowers, sock puppet chefs, cogwheels that float on their own. Hell, a train even flew across the sky once. Anyway, you get the idea. It’s a fantastical trade show where everything feels like it was created by magic."

"Wow, really?" whispered Cherry, her eyes sparkling with wonder as her vision imagined the scene. Charlie glimpsed at her with a sad frown before looking away.

"The Spectacular Theory was an annual event hosted throughout July. It was so incredibly popular that it’s nearly impossible to visit because hundreds of their tickets get sold out in an hour. Of course, if you have special connections with the amusement park—whether it be with the people running it or other affiliations—you’d get better chances of getting in. That included the students of Astrale Academy."

"Oh?" Cherry tilted her head.

"Astrale Academy had very close ties to The Spectacular Theory. After all, their students would graduate and walk out of that campus with creative, intelligent minds of their own. So, the school tends to host events, offering students opportunities to hone their crafts, and if they do great enough, they might even get a chance to show them off in The Spectacular Theory. Students who managed to do so could even get job opportunities from big companies out there. Hell, they might even get acknowledged by King Carmin himself."

"That’s... that sounds amazing," said Cherry with starry eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Honestly, I couldn’t care less about the amusement park, but Cherry, on the other hand..." Charlie shot her a glare. For a brief, split-second moment, his eyes glinted hints of pain, and Cherry’s insides knotted with sudden guilt.

What was that look for? Why did her brother see her like she did something wrong?

“Charlie?” she asked, her sparkling eyes transitioning to concern.

Her brother sighed and faced the Vamiers. “My sister, on the other hand, wanted to go so desperately that she..." He cleared his throat. “Let’s just say... that she worked hard and sacrificed a lot for them.” He lowered his head. “And so, my sister attended The Spectacular Theory eight months ago alone.”

“What? I went alone? You didn’t come along?”

Charlie looked away. “I—We came later... to find you.” He clicked his tongue. “By the time that we found you, though, sunset had already arrived.” He lowered his head with a gloomy frown. "By then, the amusement park... became a living hell."

Charlie squeezed his fists. "When... when sunset arrived, the sky... suddenly grew red, the air stank of death, and several crowds began to scream. They suddenly fell into a violent fit, where some clutched onto their heads and chests, and others collapsed to the floor, suffering from sudden seizures. Then, just as it happened, the same people... suddenly sprung forth... to bite off each other’s necks."

Cherry covered her mouth, and the Vamiers remained quiet as they listened to every word spoken by the survivor.

"Loved ones began to bite and tear each other apart with crazed, hopeless looks in their eyes. Blood and screams spread across the park. Absolute, frenzied chaos erupted everywhere. Those who survived the sudden assaults tried to escape, but the gates were already surrounded by the crazed people, whose faces were painted with blood, their growing fangs sharp as a snake’s. The people there... the innocent visitors who just wanted to enjoy the amusement park... began killing each other without any reason as if something had possessed their minds into becoming mindless, bloodthirsty monsters."

None of the listeners moved a muscle. Only the hands of time continued to tick endlessly, as they always had been.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Cherry and I... barely survived." He glanced at his sister. "You... had a... a severe head injury... and fell into a coma during those eight months. As for me..." He raised his shirt, revealing his stomach coated with rough patches of skin. "I’ve been left with these burn scars since then."

Cherry widened her eyes in shock. Dorothy looked away while her other siblings remained silent.

He pulled down his shirt. "And so, that incident eight months ago became widely known as The Star-Crushing Tragedy. Hundreds of lives were lost that night, and the remaining survivors spread their stories all across the nation. After what they had witnessed, after the clear, nonhuman signs of the attackers, the entire public began to acknowledge... the existence of vampires."