The soldiers had tracked down their assassins all night long. The climate was really cool out there, the snow-capped alpine peaks of Rila range surrounded them and they began being affected by weariness. But the target was so near…

Their headquarter had had news of such bloody crimes in Kyustendil Oblast (region) three days ago, so a specialist team had been put immediately at work to find the ones responsibles of the killing. In Sapareva Banya,southwestern Bulgaria, the members of two entire families had been assassinated, except one: the younger lady that had disappeared, probably kidnapped for some unknown reason.
The response of the “serial killers” specialist policemen -appointed to present a specific profile- had been that most likely a sort of sect was involved in such cruel crimes…there was blood everywhere inside both the houses,destruction of all the religious signs and decorations and some circumstances more which made them thought of a typical way of doing usually associated to people acting in group, not alone…

For two days the police squads had found nothing in the surroundings, but finally one of them had made an interesting report:some evidences pointed to a valley in the Rila mountains, in the southern area of the range the soldiers were in now, 20 km east of Dupnitsa. It was a place difficult to reach, but easily accessible to some expert climbers as the soldiers were.

The Land Forces had exactly what the police needed: a team of three experienced men of arms had been sent there completely equipped. The hunting and the climb had not been too fast, but they had succeeded finally. Now the valley was wide open before their own eyes.

Angel was the team leader (a man in his thirties, a massive body under a good-looking face, blonde haired and blue- eyed), Alexander (a long brown beard, muscle-bound and taller than 7 feet overall) the weapons specialist and Samuil (a red haired slender young man, two low set ears and an average height) the expert at radio communications. Only three people, but they counted as a group of ten.

All of them were from 101st Alpine,usually based in Smolyan from the 68th Special Forces Brigade. They were under the command of the Land Forces Headquarters of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, but their special unit was directly subordinated to a secret office of the Minister.

Their equipment was made up of an AK-108 (a version of the AK-107 chambered in 5. 56x45mm NATO) which was essentially a selective fire weapon (a three-round burst capability in addition to semi-automatic/fully-automatic firing modes). All the weapons were endowed with night sights and a very good 40 mm GP-25 grenade launcher, too, just in case…

They wore slight dark brown colour uniforms- perfectly suited to the mountains they were in- tactical helmets, reinforced vests, flashlights, combat knifes and a complete climbing kit (slings, rope bag, “figure eigths”, etc. ). They were saddled with 200 pounds of gear each, more than usual, but they preferred to be equipped with everything they would have needed in any case in such long- range missions.

Past the Seven Lakes circus in Rila mountains, they had found the right trail just before sunset, then had decided to go along no matter the lack of sunlight: on the other side of Mechit mount (8,425 ft) there was a valley and in the middle of that only one house present nearby: the remains of an old stone manor near the woods.

There had always been strange legends about such abandoned places in that area, but they were men of action,well experienced and ready for anything. Other than that, they didn’t believe in those things. Anyway, they had to pay attention, indeed.

The team went down wordlessly, crawling and searching everywhere around in the dead of night. When finally the soldiers were under the first window along the ruined wall, had a glance at the inside and saw what they had never thought of: seven people singing an incomprehensible chant and surrounding a beautiful young woman completely tied and placed within a circle made of blood. She seemed to be unresponsive, probably in trance, unaware of what was happening to her. The whole thing looked like a sort of ritual…All the kidnappers- the members of the sect they were looking for…- had on well- worn robes, showed an extremely pale skin and, most of all, they had very long canines and blood in their teeth… They didn’t look like humans at all… what the hell…?

Angel was doubtful about what to do, but on the other hand his companions did not. The soldier heard a strange noise at his back, as if clothes were lacerated and thrown to the ground, so the man turned fast to have a look, fearing for an ambush from the rear.

Both his comrades were changing, the face turning into a sort of wolf-like nose, their vivid eyes now resembling the ones of a beast…
-We’re dealing with Vampires this time!- Alexander said, his voice becoming very deep and almost indistinguishable from his common tone- They’re not members of a bloody sect as the policemen thought…-
-But our leaders had considered even such an occurrence…this is the reason because they had sent us here…- Samuil added.

Angel was terrified while looking at his two men turned into a sort of furry werewolves taller than 10 feet in size, showing off a voracious maw.
-So it’s our turn, let us deal with them in our own way! When the going gets tough…-
-And sorry for that but…- Samuil said, looking severely at his human fellow.

-But…?- Angel asked, almost incapable of speaking.
-…but we can’t have witnesses at all around…so sorry…-
And the first of them- the one who had been Alexander, the soldier, just one minute before- extended a paw towards Angel’s neck…and then darkness fell upon him.