Bloodborne Picture Novels & Stories

“And this.” A single developed photo—still wet. Me, under the bleachers, spiral tattoo glowing silver through my hair. Behind me, in perfect focus: Mr. Bathory’s reflection in the chrome bumper. Only he had no reflection. Just mist shaped like a man. On the back, written in red darkroom pen: The Morua spiral turns again. Lesson one: some secrets develop in blood. —J.B. I looked up. He was already walking away, coat flaring, swallowed by mist that curled around his ankles like an obedient dog.

On the screen was a magnified strand of something that looked almost like blood, though it was too thick, too dark, and too organized. Simon didn’t look away from the monitor. “This was taken from a tissue sample embedded in the hyoid bone. It was the cleanest extraction we could get since most of Darius’s system burned too fast.” Richard’s voice was flat. “And?” “And it’s not wolf, and it’s not human either.” Simon tapped a few keys, and the image on screen split in two. “It’s showing dormant viral sequences that match known relics from vampire DNA archives, ancient ones, preserved in bloodstone repositories. Almost extinct markers, but still viable and still present.”

Harris pointed to the tiny form resting beneath the lamps. “The standard blood-cleansing treatments we administered have failed to stabilize his core. His periods of hibernation are lengthening, and his breath is growing too faint to turn the wheels... that is when my wolf realized this trauma isn't a typical consequence of a premature birth.” As the healer spoke, he passed the leather-bound medical chart into our hands. Collins snatched the parchment, his eyes scanning the ancient runes and chemical lines with desperate speed. “There is an internal failure within the boy’s defensive immune walls.”

The handwriting of someone who had all the time in the world. Declan reached it before I could, turning it over, checking the seal with the wary precision of a man who’d opened one too many warnings in his life. “No trigger. No powder.” He handed it to me. “It’s clean.” My fingers shook as I broke the wax. Inside was a single photograph — Declan and me, tangled together on the jet, the image grainy but unmistakable, taken from an angle that meant someone had been close. Too close. Watching the entire time.

Buis explained as I looked through the lens of the microscope. A soft gasp escaped my lips when I realized it was right. Strange, dark and tiny particles danced in the liquid, and I watched in horror as it slowly invaded other blood cells, making them multiply until everything was covered in those particles. What made it worse was that this blood was supposed to be stagnant. The cells should be dead. Everything should be dead. But these particles… they were alive even in dead blood cells. How the hell was this even possible? “Are you saying the explosion caused the apocalypse?” I asked in despair as I ran a hand through my hair, my mind spinning with different thoughts. “How do I know I'm no

She slowly walks towards one of them. It must be some artificial process of Vampire breeding or daycare- She tries to guess. But when her eyes fall on the incubator, her eyes widen. She clamps on her mouth as she whimpers. Her body starts shaking when she notices the long wire connected to the baby's arm. The blood isn't being transfused in his body but - His blood is gathering into a big tank which is in middle of the room. She walks around as fast as possible, realizing the kids are being killed.

It was just a slight cut but it was enough for it to bleed. Her head snapped back up and the red glow was back. I shook my head, horror in my eyes as she lunged towards me, her fangs pure white as it sunk into my palm. My eyes rolled to the back of my head as she fed from me until suddenly she wasn’t. “Are you okay?” I looked up, my blurred eyes taking in Logan and his twenty brothers. Through my hazy vision, I noticed that his skin was bright red and a weird smell oozed from him… like burning flesh.