Bloodborne

After reading a few pages regarding the history of Byrgenwerth and the discovery of healing blood, Francis concluded that the books containing information about blood healing were written by the church and had no valuable information about Yharnam"s secrets.

They only contained general information about blood healing and the different ministers and vicars that oversaw blood ministration and blood healing, nothing of great interest to him. He diverted his attention then towards books about the hunt and the origin of the beasts inhabiting the city.

He gathered that beasts started roaming the city"s streets at nights when the moon was full, shining in the clear night sky. People soon started closing their doors and protecting themselves from the beastly scourge that affected the city. Anyone caught outside could and would be executed for fear of being affected by the bad blood.

Hunters took to the streets and church doctors a.s.sisted them in their hunts. Being a hunter himself, Francis wanted to know more about the hunters and how they came to be. He found another book that spoke about the first hunters and their struggle to clean the city from beasts.

They all trained under a certain hunter called Gehrman, whose name was mentioned only once and in an old dingy book. "The order of hunters must be as old as the creation of the healing church. No other book mentions this generation of first hunters by name. They only call them the old hunters. Interesting…" Francis was deep in thought when the retired hunter came into his room. "May I come in?" he said as he peered from the door. "Please, by all means" answered Francis as he gestured to an empty chair by his desk on which the man sat down.

- "I"d like to ask you a question dear Francis, but since information doesn"t come cheap in this place, I"m willing to trade with you."

- "What could you possibly have that is interesting to me then?"

- "Valuable information of course, the more I get from you, the more I"m willing to give. To the extent of my knowledge of course. By now, you should"ve figured out that the books in my library contain but standard material to work with."

- "Fair enough, so what is it that you"d like to know?"

- "Has anyone taken the old man"s place at the dream?"

Francis was puzzled at the question. Which dream? And which old man was he speaking of? He wanted to get more from the retired hunter as he seemed knowledgeable; he needed to be cunning and mysterious then.

- "Aren"t you a retired hunter? Why would you want to know about that?"

- "Simple curiosity, it"s not easy for a hunter who was used to battle and dancing with death to sit idly for a long time. It is strange indeed, to know that death is a valid option for me now."

- "What do you mean?" Said Francis before he could refrain from asking the question.

- "It seems that you are a new hunter to me. Don"t tell me that you don"t even know what the dream I spoke of was?" The man had a wide smile on his face. He knew that Francis had no information whatsoever regarding the dream.

- "I must admit, I was taken aback when you spoke of that dream." Francis bit his lip and cursed his eagerness.

- "Well, that changes things. But let me ask you, how did you get your blood ministration? And when?"

- "A doctor in the upper Cathedral Ward administered blood to me. That wasn"t long ago though. I"m just discovering my new abilities." Francis said, losing his superior tone. The retired hunter smiled and asked Francis another question.

- "And may I know what happened to that doctor afterwards?"

- "I killed her. I had no further need for her."

- "Excellent! You did well, those church doctors are an abomination that doesn"t deserve to live. For that you have my thanks and respect dear Francis." The man showed real grat.i.tude which surprised Francis.

- "Why do you think so?" Francis didn"t understand the animosity the hunter had for the doctors. But that explained why the one he met in Oedon Chapel feared meeting Gascoigne.

- "That is not a question I can answer. It will be up to you to form your own opinion about them." The man diverted the subject then instantly. "So you haven"t been to the hunter"s dream, have you?"

- "I didn"t even know that something such as the hunter"s dream existed in the first place." Francis felt disappointed at his ignorance.

- "That just means that you are a strong and skilled fellow. From all the beasts you have encountered here, none of them was strong enough to kill you. This counts for something." The retired hunter, feeling Francis" disappointments tried to comfort him with his words.

- "How do I reach that dream you speak of then?"

- "It"s simple. All you have to do is die." The retired gentleman burst into an unstoppable laughter as soon as he finished his sentence.

- "You jest! I didn"t come all the way here to die." Francis was upset and felt like he was looked down on.

The man whipped a gun from his back pocket and shot Francis multiple times in the head and in the chest. Before he could move or attempt to retaliate, blood covered Francis" face and he felt himself losing consciousness. As he drifted away from the world of the living, he heard the retired hunter say, "Sweet dreams old man, and say h.e.l.lo to the doll from me." And he burst into laughter again as darkness welcomed Francis into its arms.

Francis opened his eyes and found himself lying face down on a big flowery field. The gra.s.s that grew in the place looked pale and had a mix of green and yellow in its colors. The flowers were all white and seemed to give the place a feeling of serenity. The garden was vast and extended towards a hill on top of which an old wooden house stood.

A stone way led towards the house from the middle of the garden. Francis stood up and looked around him. Grave stones were placed around trees and on the extremities of the garden. Further down, he could see a metallic fence that blocked entry towards the place. He inspected the fences and after looking over them, he realized that place seemed to be elevated above clouds, or at least that"s what he could fathom.

Everywhere he looked, there was no way to leave the place unless you jump away from the fences. "That b.a.s.t.a.r.d surprised me and killed me, backstabbing son of a b.i.t.c.h. I knew I shouldn"t trust anyone in that place." He felt angry at remembering how the retired hunter laughed as Francis fought against death. "What to do now? Is this the dream he was speaking of?"

Francis turned around and walked towards the wooden house atop the hill. He saw branches of a gigantic tree that grew behind the house, extending over its roof. As he reached the main door, he saw a woman standing, looking at him intently.

As he approached her, she spoke: "Good hunter, I am a doll, here in this dream to look after you. Honorable hunter, Pursue the echoes of blood, and I will channel them into your strength. You will hunt beasts. And I will be here for you, to embolden your sickly spirit." Francis looked at the doll intently.