Mutants and Vampires
38 AD:
Giugno was in the forest hiding with her young. The beautiful Asian/Italian mutant was trying to protect her young from vampires. Vampires had a taste for mutants, especially young ones. In fact, they had been stalking the Roman forests, managing to find mutants, kill them and make meals out of them. They could even smell their flesh from quite a ways, which made them even hungrier.
Giugno feared for the safety of her young and didn’t waste any time spiriting them from one hiding place to the next, always wary of vampires. Horrible fantasies ran through her mind: what if the vampires got a hold of her babies or her? They would probably torture her after they ate her babies. Ugghh! The mutant didn’t even want to think about it. She just wanted to get out of the forest quickly.
A few days later, Giugno and her young escaped. They managed to make it to a river and Giugno didn’t waste any time. She found a boat and rowed away from Rome. For now, she and her babies were safe.
Giugno and her babies made it to Germany, where they remained out of harm’s way. While there, the mutant became pregnant again-this time with a girl. She was born in the month of June and Giugno asked a native how one said June in German.
“Juni,” he said.
Giugno looked at her new baby girl and said, “Such a beautiful name. From now on, you are Juni.”
The baby gurgled, to her mother’s delight. She was simply irresistable.
As Juni grew, she was developing her mutant powers, as were her brothers and sisters. Giugno was proud of them but still worried. If they all stayed in Germany, they would be safe but if either Juni or her siblings went back to the Roman forests, then it was likely that the vampires would kill and eat them. Despite this, one day Juni told her mother, “I would like to leave Germany and go to Rome.”
Giugno was alarmed and exclaimed, “No Juni! There are vampires there that kill and eat mutants. They can smell their flesh from afar! You’d make me happy if you stayed here with us.”
“Why? I’m sure that those are just tales,” Juni said.
“They are true!,” Giugno exclaimed, “that’s why we’re in Germany. There aren’t any vampires here. We’re safe.”
Juni was silent but indignant, however she would go to Rome whether her family liked it or not.
64 AD
Juni, now 26, managed to run away to Rome. She got along with the locals but her notable German accent made her feel out of place. No matter, Juni still managed to explore the city.
Eventually, the mutant got to the forested area but was reluctant to step in at first. Maybe her mother was right; perhaps there really were vampires inside that killed and ate mutants. However, she had come this far and wasn’t going to turn back now.
Juni walked into the forest and at first everything was fine, then she heard strange footsteps not too far away. The mutant was nervous but kept walking. Unbeknownst to her, a vampire had smelled her and was following the scent. The footsteps got louder and louder as the vampire starting getting closer and closer. The mutant began to get very nervous and started running. The forest was dense and there seemed to be no way out, but that changed when Juni finally saw the outer city again and ran towards it. The vampire continued chasing her until she made a lucky escape. Fortunately, vampires hated sunlight so it didn’t follow her out of the forest.
Once outside, Juni breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. She was, so to speak, “out of the woods” for now but it was thrilling. The mutant was actually chased by a vampire and she loved it! Juni loved it so much that tomorrow she would go back into the forest and do it again.
The next morning, Juni was back in the forest being chased, but this time she had actually been caught by a female vampire named Ariel. Ariel didn’t kill her just yet, but said, “What a beauty you are, my sweet.”
Juni was in her grasp and Ariel smelled her and said, “Aahh, fresh mutant. You will be delicious. However, before I kill and eat you, I’d like to hypnotize you first. Now relax and look deep into my eyes..relax. Look further into my eyes...deep into my eyes.”
The mutant looked deep into her eyes and the vampire continued, “Very good...completely relaxed. Even if you wanted to, you couldn’t look away. Look further into my eyes..always deeper...always deeper. Look further into my eyes.”
“Further into your eyes,” Juni flatly said-now finding it impossible to look away. She just wanted to continue staring into the predator’s eyes.
“Very good my dear,” Ariel said, and proceeded to bite into her neck. She almost did until she detected the scent of another mutant. The vampire sniffed the air some more and sure enough, another mutant was nearby.
“Hmm..,” she said evilly, “another fresh mutant! I will have a pleasant meal tonight!”
Taking Juni with her, Ariel followed the scent and sure enough another mutant was nearby. Actually, he had been secretly following them and it was his intention to lead the vampire to him so that he could rescue Juni. Ariel was falling right into his trap.
Fortunately, this mutant was a shape-shifter so he quickly changed into a tiger and lay in wait. When the vampire finally got to the source of the scent, she said, “Come out mutant. Come out so I can kill and eat you, like I will this lovely creature.”
Then Ariel heard a growling sound and out came a large, orange tiger. The tiger growled and came towards her, making the vampire very nervous. Finally it roared, causing Ariel to scream, let go of the mutant and run away. Juni hit the ground, came out of her trance and also saw the tiger. She became firghtened and shielded herself for the worst, but the tiger approached her and gently rubbed its head again the mutant, then it licked her face. Juni laughed as the tiger continued to gently paw her and rub its head against her.
“Don’t be afraid of me,” he said.
“You can talk?", she asked.
“Yes. My name is Tiberius and I’m a mutant.”
“So am I,” Juni said.
“What’s your name?", he asked.
“My name is Juni,” she said.
“Juni, this forest is very dangerous and you shouldn’t be here,” Tiberius said.
“I understand,” Juni said, “my mother Giugno warned me not to come to Rome. She told me about the vampires that prey on mutants.”
“She is right,” Tiberius said, “and you were lucky to survive yesterday too.”
“How did you know about that?", Juni asked.
“I watched you in secret,” he said.
Juni grinned and slyly said, “Oh really.”
“Yes,” Tiberius said, “Juni, this isn’t a game. You can’t come back to this forest. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“You are so overprotective, just like my mother!", she exclaimed, “I hate you!”
After that, she got up and ran. Tiberius (still a tiger) ran after her and grabbed her clothing, causing the mutant to stop. Then he dragged Juni out of the forest, which was rather humiliating., and afterwards the tiger ran back in. Juni was upset and fumed, but since Tiberius banned her from the forest, she knew that she had to make the most of her day in Rome.
However, he would come back into her life again.
On her second day in Rome, Juni was walking around when she ran into a handsome young man.
“Hello Juni,” he said.
The mutant was suspicious. How did he know her name?
“Hello,” she said, “who are you?”
“I’m Tiberius,” he said.
“You! Are you the tiger who dragged me out of the forest?", Juni angrily asked.
“Yes, but I did it for your safety. I told you that I didn’t want anything to happen to you, Juni because I like you.”
“I can very well take care of myself,” the mutant exclaimed.
“If you could do that in the forest, you wouldn’t have been caught by that vampire,” Tiberius said.
“Well, I appreciate your concern but I really need to be going now,” Juni said.
“Where are you going?", Tiberius asked.
“I..I don’t know,” Juni said, “after all, it’s only my second day in Rome.”
“I could show you around,” he said.
“How? Don’t you live in the forest?", she asked.
“Yes,” he said, “but I also come out into the main city. I was born in Rome and know it very well. Incidentally in the forest, vampires are afraid of me because as a tiger, I’m always scaring them off. I also protect other mutants when I can.”
“You’re very noble,” Juni said.
Tiberius smiled and said, “Do you still hate me?”
“No,” Juni said and grinned.
The mutant extended his hand and asked, “Shall we?”
“We shall,” Juni said and took it.
Thus the two proceeded to go around Rome together.