Chapter One...

As the sea lapped the beach, normality ensued. The birds were singing loudly as they flew through the clear blue sky,. The wind blew gently stirring the leaves and moving loose sand. People strolled happily along the shore laughing merrily without a care in the world. In fact, it was the perfect summer’s day, and it was on this day, and on this beach that our hero Vlaad found himself, face down in the sand, with waves breaking over his head.
Passers by were walking over and around him, as far as they were concerned he was part of the scenery. Something to look at, but not something to interact with. These people had learnt long ago that in the town of Riverhaven, a coastal town famous for it’s history of smugglers and pirates, messing with matters that didn’t concern you soon earned you an early grave, and Vlaad just happened to be one of these matters.
Covered in seaweed, sand and seashells Vlaad lay there groaning, lifting his head slightly now and again to stop himself from suffocating. As he raised his head for air, the sand which had formed small hills on and around his head cascaded off in a small waterfall to join the beach. His face soon found the sand again and he let out a small sigh of discomfort, it seemed sand was not the most hospitable place for a person to lie.
Shaking off some of the sand, an arm appeared from beneath the seaweed covered coat that seemed to conceal Vlaad’s figure. It was one of those long coats, which people who generally had something to hide wore. At some point it was probably black, but through wear and tear, and being covered in copious amounts of sand, it was touching on a dirty brown colour. His collar was pulled up covering a mass of matted long white hair. Where the sand was touching the sea, it had caked itself to his face, leaving him more beach than skin.
“Pfft… Stupid sand” Vlaad raised his head once more. He brought his arm round and wiped the sand off of his face, revealing travel beaten features and a time worn eye patch carelessly plastered over his left eye.
Vlaad wasn’t the most handsome of men, though he had the worn characteristics that some found attractive, it was the eye patch that he felt was his major failing. As it made him look more like a villain, not to mention the impairment to his depth perception. He lay his arm down on sand and put his head down on it. “Really, why the hell does there have to be so much of it?”
He raised his head again, a wave broke over the shoreline behind him and covered him in cold salty water. Vlaad shivered, sending more sand tumbling back to whence it came from. Around him people continued to walk by, a family had settled down near to him and were currently putting up a parasol to shield their children from the sun. For them it was another day at the beach. There were three of them, the traditional family. Dad sitting on a deckchair reading the morning’s newspaper, Mum in charge of the picnic, rubbing sun cream on her shoulders and the ever present small boy, overweight, blonde mop of hair, perpetually running round with his bucket and spade and getting in people’s way. At this current moment he was being scolded.
“And if I see you going anywhere near whatever that is, we‘ll go straight home.” The mother was pointing at Vlaad’s body, unbeknownst to Vlaad, who was still breathing through a pile of sand. “I mean it, if you even look at it, we’ll turn the car around and go right back home, won’t we honey” She looked at her husband.
“Listen to your mother” More interested in the goings on of the local sports team, the boy’s dad issued a reply from behind the newspaper. The boy nodded and ran off longingly towards the sea, bucket and spade in tow.