The Fields of Blood

Posted on Wed Oct 21st, 2026 @ 4:34pm by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Commander Samantha Howard & Lieutenant Kate Kono

2,416 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Creatures of the Night
Location: Planet Stoker - Vaseria

"As you aren't human captain, you may not be aware of all the legends, myths, and tales of our world. The supernatural is a broad and varied thing for us, the occult a field that seems bizarre, yet it survives even today" Gabriel stated matter-of-factly. "Tell me captain, are you or your friend here familiar with vampires or lycanthropes?"

"I am familiar with those terms, though beyond a book or two and a few films your people made a few centuries ago is the limit of my knowledge" Shran replied, looking to Deanna.

"I am also aware of both myths. Vampires are undead creatures that have supernatural powers and survive by drinking blood, notably human blood. Lycanthropes are a bit more of a mixed bag. Origin tales are harder to pin down, but it is believed to be a curse of some sort in which humans polymorph into humanoid wolves which gives them supernatural abilities as well. It is notable that neither creature can be killed by conventional means" Deanna noted.

"Very honest and clinical answers. More or less the answers I would expect from StarFleet officers" Gabriel stated flatly.

"They aren't human, they have no idea the horrors our world has produced" Anna stated as she walked over to the roaring fireplace.

Suddenly, there was a loud howl, and then another, and another.

"Lycans" Gabriel muttered.

"Tell me he is not talking about werewolves" Weasley said to this friends, a look of panic and fear coming over him.

"I'm afraid so" Potter replied.

"I really hope somebody has some silver" Granger noted, her voice trembling.

***************

Belmont's abode from the outside looked like a Gothic fortress had been crossed with a home of the same era. As they entered, it had a classical flair to it, until he led them to a secret door behind a bookcase that led to a turbolift that took them down into the real fortress, and archives. "My family has battled these creatures for centuries. We have studied them, learned as much about them as possible. Vampires and lycanthropes are the most dangerous, and they have been at war to varying degrees for nearly a millennia. Other dangerous creatures exist as well, such as the Wendigo that you have already encountered, as well as such fun creatures as mummies, zombies, ghouls, and various types of ghosts. The one thing that is true, those that subsist on blood do not seem to like aliens. That is to say, they don't feed on creatures that originate outside of Earth. They will kill them though."

Kate stepped off the turbolift with Sam, their boots leaving wet, crimson prints on the worn marble floor. The air smelled of ozone and damp stone. Kate’s uniform was stiff with drying blood; the silver spike she’d taken from the wolf-thing’s corpse felt heavy and cold in her grip, a brutal replacement for her shattered Phaser. Water dripped from their clothes, each drop echoing in the vast, torch-lit chamber. She fumbled in her pocket, fingers brushing against the cracked screen of her PADD, and tossed the useless device into a wrought-iron bin beside the lift. For a long moment, she just stood there, breathing in the scent of gore and ancient dust. Every shift of her sodden tunic against her skin made her shudder—not from the chill, but from the memory of fangs and howls and what should have been a simple stroll through the woods.

Vincent and Mina were equally as drenched but only by the rain itself. Vincent seemed fascinated by the architecture of the building while Mina gazed at Kate with a hypnotic stare as if she couldn’t imagine functioning after everything the young Asian Lieutenant had been through. Kate caught the gaze a moment and turned to look at Belmont.

“Sir, I hate to ask you such a thing but… Is there a place where we can… You know?” Kate’s gaze dropped to her uniform, the fabric heavy and dark with blood that wasn’t entirely hers. Freezing rain slid in rivulets down her sleeves and pooled at her wrists. Beside her, Sam stood equally drenched, her own jacket clinging wet and crimson streaked. They were both soaked through to the skin and bone by the downpour and the violence that had just ended, leaving them standing in the aftermath among fallen things that should not have been.

Mina’s voice was thin and disbelieving. “Vampires. Werewolves. How can they be real here, on this one world, when every scientific survey from Vulcan to the Gamma Quadrant has proven them impossible?”

Kate’s head snapped toward her. The movement pulled at the raw skin of her throat where the wolf’s teeth had grazed. She could still feel the hot gust of its breath, see the dripping jaws. Her hand tightened around the cold silver spike. She wanted to shake Mina, to force her to understand that this wasn’t a debate. This was the wet crunch of bone, the animal terror that had left her trembling and hollow. She wanted to ask how anyone could stand here, safe and dry, and question the reality of the thing that had almost torn out her life.

“Take a trip three hundred light years above the galactic plane,” Kate’s voice dropped to a raw scrape. “Look down into the voids where stars don’t reach. You’ll see things that don’t need blood or bone; things that unmake reality because they remember what was there before. Vampires? They’re just echoes. This universe peels us back layer by layer the farther out you go. Go where matter forgets its own name. That’s where the real dark is waiting. Not hiding. Waiting.” The last word came out half-whispered, half-gasped. She looked over to Belmont, a slow, deliberate nod. Her voice was low, stripped of all its Starfleet cadence, leaving only a cold, hard certainty. “I don’t need to know why they exist. I just know they do. They’re out there in the woods. They’re in the dark between the trees. And if we leave them there, they don’t stay. They follow. And if they can’t follow they’ll haunt you forever.” Her grip tightened on the spike as she shivered uncomfortably from the cold blood and water that she was covered in. “Lucy isn’t lost. She’s been found. By something that doesn’t plan to give her back. And I aim to ruin that plan. And I aim to get a shower if possible.” She turned back to Belmont to see if it was even an option.

Belmont offered a comforting smile, something completely out of character. He tried desperately to put the minds of his StarFleet colleagues at ease considering all they had encountered and just learned. "Space is vast, infinite as far as we can tell. The Vulcans have a saying, infinite diversity in infinite combinations. Well, Earth certainly has its fair share of diversity, and now you are learning about more of it. We evolved and left our little rock that orbits Sol, and we forgot about all the things that we once feared, because we were so great with our technology. But God in his infinite wisdom decided that we needed to have reminders of how small we are in the grand scheme. I can't tell you precisely why these creatures choose to be here, only that they are. And if you aren't careful, one of them is likely to kill you and eat you, and if you are very lucky, in that order."

Belmont was quiet for a moment before speaking once more. "Clothes and a shower. I can accommodate, though you'll have to do deal with technology that is about 4 centuries out of date. You ever taken a real water shower?"

"You mean...like real rainwater?" Sam looked up at Belmont. Such things were only delights from the rare chance she got to visit home back on Earth where her country was either baked or flooded and rarely anything in between. "I only get that on Earth - but heck I'll take it here."

"Well, not actual rainwater, but something similar. You may have noticed a lack of technology in this area. We definitely don't have sonic showers. Most technology isn't really accepted on this side of the mountains. If you want modern, you need to go east. They are fairly monster free as well, with the exception of the various specters" Belmont replied.

Kate’s fingers closed around Sam’s wrist, slick with rain and something darker. She pulled her forward, their boots sloshing through stone toward the low concrete block housing the showers. The chill had sunk into her bones, but it was the tacky feeling of drying blood on her neck that made her skin crawl. She’d heard rumors of fresh clothes from Belmont’s mouth to her ears, and the thought alone was a lifeline; the promise of peeling off that stiff, copper-scented fabric and burning it in her mind.

She didn’t care about partitions or privacy, only the promise of steam. She wanted to stand under a scalding jet until her skin turned pink and the memory of this dismal planet dissolved in the downpour.

“As soon as we find Lucy,” Kate said, her voice raw but clear, “we’re beaming up. I never want to see this planet again.”

Vincent walked over to them just as a cold, sodden bundle of discarded clothing sailed over the partition and slapped wetly against the stones. He ducked instinctively, then straightened to see Kate’s head appear above the shower wall. Her expression was flat, unreadable, though the water swirling around her feet had begun to blush a faint, diluted pink.

“I would like to stay if you find Lucy,” Vincent said. “I want to study this place further.”

Kate stared at him. Water streamed from her hair, over her shoulders. For a long moment she said nothing, then her gaze cut toward Sam. She shook her head slowly before turning back to Vincent. “You can’t be serious.” Her voice was low, stripped of inflection.

She stepped fully out from behind the partition then, naked and dripping, her skin gleaming under the dimly lit candles that adonred the walls. Water beaded and fell from her elbows, her fingertips. But it was the look on her face, which was not anger, not shock, but something colder, more exhausted; that made the air go still.

“Have you been paying attention today?”

Vincent’s attention remained locked on Kate’s eyes as he focused on his thoughts. He did not look down or acknowledge that Kate stepped from the steam of the communal shower, water still gleaming on her skin. She came to stand directly before him, close enough that droplets fell from her hair onto his PaDD. He adjusted his stance as though she were another curious specimen. “Regardless of the negativity that surrounds this place,” he said, not lifting his eyes away from her gaze, “it’s as you said… unique. Evil isn’t in science, yet it apparently should be. What better place to study it than on a planet where the supernatural is natural?”

Kate’s brows furrowed. She shook her head slowly, water tracing paths down her neck and shoulders. “Well if you want to do that, check with Shran when he gets back,” she said, her voice low. “But I think you’re batcrap freakin crazy.”

Mina entered then, her boots scuffing softly on the damp stone floor. She nodded as if on cue. “Some things aren’t worth studying.”

Kate pointed to Mina and nodded vigorously.

Belmont had gathered clothing for everyone and left the clothing in the shower area along with towels for them to use. He sat in a study area in a large crimson velvet chair thinking on what Kate had said. He pondered her words and the reality of the situation, and whether he should tell them that she was dead, and if they found her in her new form, Belmont was obligated to vanquish her. He sipped his mug of ale as he continued to think on the matter and then finally muttered in a low voice, "God enjoys tormenting me."

"Apparently so" Sam mused, finding a towel slung over a hook and a basic coverall next to it. It was rudimentary but was clean and functional. She could understand the desire to study the unknown but for her it was more finding a way to free the people from this curse once and for all.

Kate crossed the room to where Belmont sat, scooped up the pile of dry clothes without hesitation, walked into the shower room, and placed Sam’s stack neatly beside the privacy partition so she wouldn’t have to cross the room exposed if she chose not to. Then Kate turned, and studied Belmont’s weary face.

“God didn’t curse you,” she said, working a finger into one ear to clear the damp. “Only the ground under your feet. Even the rain here feels spiteful.” She shook her hand lightly. “You aren’t a tree, rooted where you sprouted. There are hundreds of worlds in the Federation…beautiful, welcoming places where you could wake up tomorrow and never think about this wet, lonely rock again.” She said it plainly, meaning it; she liked Belmont, appreciated his kindness, and hated the thought of him believing himself trapped here by some divine sentence.

"I could leave this planet, and it would change nothing for me. My family spent centuries at war with the supernatural, protecting humanity while being persecuted for it. We left Earth, following the last of it here with the hope that we might find a way to end it all. Humanity is cursed, destined to face turmoil for all eternity. Most don't even realize it, they just live life going from one doldrum to another, and that is a good thing. Not all of us should be blessed to know about the dark secrets, and those of us that do are tasked to defend those that don't so that the world, the galaxy can keep on spinning the way God wants it to. That is my curse my dear, and God reminds me of it periodically. But it isn't a life without joy. I get happiness in this life as well" Belmont responded.


TBC

 

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