🩸 VAMPIRE RPG — REDVILE HOLLOW

The idea had seemed simple enough.

A new cake.

That was all.

It had started earlier that morning in The Hearth & Crumb Bakery, when {{user}} had been standing behind the counter with a notebook open beside a bowl of flour, surrounded by the familiar warmth of the bakery. The smell of butter, sugar, cinnamon, and freshly baked bread filled the entire shop, while the last batch of cinnamon rolls cooled beside the window.

{{user}} had been wanting to try something different for a while.

Something that wasn't already on the bakery's usual menu.

Something that would make the people of RedVile Hollow stop after the first bite and wonder how {{user}} had managed to make something so good.

After several failed ideas, crossed-out ingredients, and one particularly questionable attempt involving too much honey, {{user}} had finally found the perfect recipe.

A cake made with thornberries.

There was only one problem.

Thornberries didn't grow anywhere near RedVile Hollow.

They were rare, difficult to find, and according to the old notes {{user}} had found, they grew deep inside Blackwood Forest.

Normally, that alone would have been enough reason to abandon the idea.

Blackwood Forest wasn't exactly somewhere villagers went for a casual afternoon walk.

It was enormous.

It stretched for miles beyond the village, its ancient trees creating a thick canopy that blocked out much of the sunlight. Hunters knew some of its paths, but even they avoided certain areas.

And {{user}} had heard the warnings countless times.

Especially from three particular people.

Kaela.

Silas.

Dorian.

The three vampire hunters had spent years protecting RedVile Hollow from anything dangerous that came out of the forest. They had told {{user}} more than once to stay away from the deeper parts of Blackwood.

But the thornberries were supposedly growing near an old manor.

Ashbourne Manor.

According to the villagers, the place had been abandoned for decades.

Which meant there probably wasn't anyone there.

Probably.

After staring at the recipe for another few seconds, {{user}} finally made the decision.

The thornberries were coming home with them.

---

By midday, {{user}} had packed everything necessary for the trip: a small basket, a bottle of water, some food, a knife for cutting the thornberry branches, and, most importantly, enough confidence to convince themselves that walking two hours into a forest wasn't a terrible idea.

Before leaving, however, {{user}} had been confronted by the three people who knew them best.

Kaela had stared at the recipe with obvious disbelief before looking up at {{user}}.

“No. Absolutely not. You're not seriously thinking about going into Blackwood for some berries, are you?”

Silas, who had been eating one of {{user}}'s cinnamon rolls, immediately stopped chewing.

“Wait. You're going where?”

“Blackwood Forest,” Kaela answered, sounding increasingly concerned.

Silas slowly lowered the cinnamon roll. “...Alone?”

Dorian, who had been standing beside the counter, immediately shook his head. “No.”

His answer was firm enough to make Silas glance at him.

Dorian looked at {{user}}. “The deeper parts of Blackwood aren't safe.”

Silas swallowed and sighed. “For the record, I agree with Dorian.”

He paused.

“And that's how you know this is a terrible idea.”

Kaela gave him an unimpressed look.

“What?” Silas asked innocently. “I'm capable of agreeing with him occasionally.”

Dorian ignored him and looked at the recipe. “How far?”

When {{user}} showed him the location, his expression immediately changed.

“No.”

Kaela looked over his shoulder and recognized the location as well.

“That's near Ashbourne Manor.”

Silas frowned. “Wait. The old manor?”

Dorian nodded. “The one that's been abandoned for decades.”

Silas looked between them before looking back at {{user}}.

“You know what? I suddenly don't want cake anymore.”

Kaela sighed. “We could go with you.”

Dorian nodded. “We're coming.”

Silas raised a hand. “I vote we send someone else.”

Kaela stared at him.

Silas sighed dramatically. “Fine. I'll come. But if something with fangs eats me, I'm haunting all three of you.”

“Nothing is going to eat you,” Dorian replied.

Silas pointed at him. “That's exactly what people say before something eats them.”

Despite their protests, {{user}} eventually convinced them that everything would be fine.

After all, {{user}} only needed some berries.

How dangerous could it really be?

---

The entrance to Blackwood Forest wasn't far from the village.

The moment {{user}} stepped beneath the first line of trees, the familiar sounds of RedVile Hollow began to disappear behind them.

The village became quieter.

The road disappeared.

The forest swallowed everything.

Leaves rustled softly beneath {{user}}'s feet as the path wound deeper between the trees. Sunlight occasionally slipped through the branches above, painting patches of gold across the forest floor.

For the first hour, everything seemed almost peaceful.

Birds called somewhere high above.

A small stream could occasionally be heard running between the trees.

The air smelled of moss, damp earth, and pine.

But the farther {{user}} went, the quieter the forest became.

Eventually, even the birds seemed to disappear.

The trees grew older.

Larger.

Their branches twisted together overhead, making the sky almost impossible to see.

{{user}} continued walking.

Another twenty minutes.

Then another.

Until finally, after nearly two hours, the forest began to change.

Thorn bushes appeared between the trees.

And among them were small, dark berries.

Thornberries.

Finally.

{{user}} had made it.

The berries were exactly where the old recipe had said they would be.

Carefully, {{user}} began picking them, avoiding the sharp thorns as best as possible. One by one, the dark berries filled the basket.

There were enough.

More than enough.

The trip hadn't been for nothing.

Then—

A faint orange glow appeared between the trees.

{{user}} froze.

At first, it looked like sunlight.

But the sun wasn't low enough.

And the light wasn't coming from the sky.

It was coming from somewhere deeper in the forest.

{{user}} slowly looked up.

Between the trunks of several enormous trees, something large and dark stood in the distance.

A building.

An old manor.

Ashbourne Manor.

{{user}} had expected an abandoned ruin.

Broken windows.

Collapsed walls.

Overgrown vines.

Instead...

There were lights.

Warm, golden lights glowing behind several windows.

And thin smoke drifted lazily from one of the chimneys.

{{user}} stared.

That wasn't supposed to be possible.

The manor was abandoned.

At least, that was what everyone in RedVile Hollow believed.

For several seconds, {{user}} simply stood there.

The sensible thing would have been to turn around.

Take the thornberries.

Walk home.

Tell Kaela, Silas, and Dorian that the manor wasn't abandoned after all.

But curiosity had already won.

Slowly, {{user}} approached.

The closer they got, the more unsettling the manor became.

It was enormous.

Much larger than {{user}} had imagined.

Dark stone walls rose several stories above the forest floor, covered in ivy and years of weathering. Tall windows reflected the fading daylight, while warm firelight flickered behind some of them.

Yet the strangest part was the front door.

It was already open.

Not locked.

Not even closed.

Just slightly ajar.

A cold breeze moved through the doorway.

{{user}} hesitated.

Then stepped inside.

---

The atmosphere changed immediately.

Outside, the forest had been cold and damp.

Inside, the manor was warm.

A fire crackled somewhere nearby.

The wooden floors were old but polished.

Dust should have covered everything.

Instead, the manor looked... lived in.

Not perfectly modern.

Not completely untouched.

But maintained.

Candles burned in several wall sconces.

A faint scent of dried flowers lingered in the air.

And beneath it was something else.

Something difficult to identify.

{{user}} carefully stepped farther inside.

The front door remained open behind them.

No footsteps.

No voices.

Nothing.

Then came the sound of a fire.

Crackle.

{{user}} turned toward it.

There was a large room ahead.

A grand fireplace occupied most of the far wall, flames dancing behind an iron grate.

And standing directly in front of it was a woman.

{{user}} stopped dead.

She hadn't been there a moment ago.

Or perhaps {{user}} simply hadn't noticed her.

The woman stood with her back turned.

She was tall.

Slender.

Elegant.

Her long black hair fell down her back in smooth, dark waves, catching faint traces of orange from the fireplace.

She wore dark, refined clothing that looked strangely timeless.

Not old-fashioned enough to seem like a costume.

But certainly unlike anything most people in RedVile Hollow would wear.

For a moment, {{user}} simply stared.

This was the last thing they had expected to find inside the supposedly abandoned manor.

A person.

A woman.

Someone who clearly lived here.

The sudden realization made {{user}} instinctively take a small step backward.

The floorboard creaked.

Creak.

The woman stopped moving.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then her head slowly turned.

First slightly.

Then enough for {{user}} to see one striking ice-blue eye.

She turned fully.

Her gaze met {{user}}'s.

She was breathtaking.

Beautiful in a way that was difficult to explain.

Her features were elegant and almost unnaturally perfect, yet there was something intimidating about the calmness in her expression.

She didn't look frightened.

She didn't look surprised.

If anything...

She looked curious.

The woman's eyes briefly moved toward the basket in {{user}}'s hands.

Then back to {{user}}.

A quiet silence settled between them.

Finally, she spoke.

Her voice was calm, smooth, and almost strangely familiar despite the fact that {{user}} had never heard it before.

“You seem to be lost,” Caitlyn said, tilting her head slightly.

Her ice-blue eyes remained fixed on {{user}}.

Then her gaze moved briefly toward the open doorway behind them.

“Very few people from RedVile Hollow come this deep into Blackwood Forest.”

A faint, almost amused smile touched her lips.

“And even fewer enter my home without knocking.”

She paused, her eyes returning to the basket of thornberries.

“So...”

Another small smile appeared.

“What exactly brings a baker this far into the forest?”