Chương 2: Night

Year 1834

The round golden moon emitted a soft glow as clouds passed by, a few of them trying to hide the moon but only to be blown away by the wind.

It was like any other night for the villagers who lived in between Valeria, the West empire and Mythweald, the South Empire, near the bank of a river. Each land had their villages and towns. However, it was yet to be decided as to which empire this specific piece of land would belong to.

Lamps and lanterns were lit around the small houses while the forest that surrounded them had turned dark after dusk. In one of the houses, a little girl at the age of six lived with her parents, who was now petting her newfound rabbit which she had received from her father. She had often seen the little fur of animals hopping in the forest but had never got the chance to pet it so near. She was running her small hand across its white coat when she heard her mother call for her.

"Katie!" her mother called for her, panic in her voice.

The little girl got up from where she sat, picking up the rabbit in her arms and walking out of the small room to meet her mother. Her mother looked scared as she kept looking behind at the door.

"Honey," her mother said bending down to meet the little girl's eye, "I want you to stay in here, close the door, and do not open it until your papa or I come to get you."

"Where are you going?" she asked, looking at her mother, her brown eyes questioning.

At the same moment, the shrill cry of a woman echoed outside, making both the mother and the daughter look towards the window. The worried mother held her daughter's face in both her hands to gain her attention.

"Katie, my sweetheart," she whispered to her little daughter, "Remember papa and mama will always love you. Take care, my child," she said as a pool of tears formed in her eyes, placing a kiss on her daughter's forehead.

She knew she had no time to explain, and even if she did, would her little one understand? Katie had grown up with so much tenderness and love. She was at an age when the young bud was meant to blossom into a beautiful flower, but fate was inevitable. What she didn't know was that something more dangerous was heading their way. Someone banged at the door loudly while the area filled with screams of women and men.

"Hide!" the woman cried, and the little girl scrambled to hide under the bed.

The little girl knew something was wrong and wanted to know what was going on, but her mother had told her to hide. The cries outside the house and the loud banging at the door frightened her as she brought the animal closer to her chest. She then heard the sound of the room's door crash which was followed by a numbing silence. Katie got out of her hiding, to peek at the hall but was confused to see a man holding her mother, who had his teeth sunk into her neck. A small trail of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth as he drank her blood.

"M-mama?" she called out for her mom, who looked lifeless. There was no smile on her face, and her eyes looked empty. Her mother was long gone and was just a piece of flesh now.

Hearing her speak, the man who was feeding on the woman snapped his gaze at the little girl standing at the door. Licking his lips, he threw the woman he had in his arms on the ground as he stalked the girl in front of him with a crazed smile. His bright red eyes shone with excitement while thinking about the fresh prey that stood in front of him now.

"A little girl is such a treat for a vampire," the man said seeing her bolt towards another room, but he was faster, "A small helpless human under a vampire's pity. It wouldn't be so if your kind had listened to us but look at what they have brought on themselves. I'm going to enjoy drinking your sweet blood."

Katie didn't say anything but backed away slowly as her hands trembled with fear. She was cornered and had nowhere else to go now. When the man in front of her lunged for her, she squeezed her eyes shut waiting to be hurt, but nothing happened except for the sound of a snap in the air and a thud sound on the ground. Opening her eyes slowly, she saw that the man was lying on the ground. Moving her gaze upwards, she found herself staring at a pair of dark red eyes, unlike the eyes of the one lying on the ground.

Both of them stared at each other, one with a scared expression while the other out of curiosity, eyeing the animal in her hand. When the tall man took one step forward, the little girl spoke,

"Please don't kill it," she whispered, holding the rabbit close to her chest.

Hearing this, the man cocked his head sidewards.

"I won't," he said, his eyes transfixed on her making her squirm with his intimidating frame. At the same moment, a blonde-haired woman appeared in a light armour suit, stepping inside the room with a small bow.

"Sir, we have taken the ones that were at the perimeter as hostages, few including witches though two of them fled before we could capture them. Elliot has already headed out to catch up with them," the woman reported, and the man gave a curt nod.

"What about survivors?" he asked his subordinate. She shook her head in disappointment, "None, Sir. All of them have been drained out of the blood."

"This is what happens with the rogues of other empires. Breaking the law as they please, killing innocent men and women with no mercy," the man said with a cold tone. "If only that idiot of a Lord had decided sooner it would have saved unnecessary bloodshed and work."

"Weren't the half-vampires taken into the custody of the council?" the woman asked him.

"Either the council didn't do a good job, or someone's transformation went wrong while turning the humans to a bunch of deranged half vampires. It looks like the council will be sending another notice to us. Sylvia, get this place cleaned up and the bodies buried and ask Elliot to meet me once he's done with his current assignment."

"Yes, milord," Sylvia replied with a nod and continued, "I found this lying on the ground," she handed the parchment of papers that were in a curled state to him.

She saw him uncurl them, to see what it was and heard him murmur, "These are names," and as he scanned it one of his brows raised, "Did you find a body lying around when you found this?" he asked. This was no ordinary parchment, he thought to himself, the contents inside it was a piece of highly classified information.

"Too many. The villager's bodies are scattered all around the area," her eyes then shifted to the young girl, "What are you going to do with her, Alexander?" she asked the man. Poor thing, she thought, her family was wiped away, and there were no humans in the surrounding area.

"I don't know," he answered with a sigh.

When they passed by the room, Katie saw her mother lying on the floor, lifeless. She ran to her side in an attempt to wake her up, but it was of no use. Her mother wasn't going to come back. She felt a cold hand on her shoulder, making her turn towards the man who had rescued her.

"It's alright," he said, looking at the girl. A sob left her lips, and she buried herself in the man's arms, crying softly. Unsure of what to do in such a situation, he wrapped his arms around the girl and let her cry in his arms.

Sylvia felt her eyes pop out in surprise at the Lord's gesture towards the girl. She had grown up knowing him and the Lord of Valeria had never shown such sentiments or gestures towards anyone. Lord Alexander Delcrov was the type of man who wouldn't bother providing water to a dying man let alone lend someone a shoulder to cry but here he was soothing her. Moreover, it was human. He didn't mingle with the humans unless they had high connections in society and were useful to him.

Katie didn't know what to do. She felt lonely and lost. Once she felt her tears cease, she moved a few steps back, looking at the man with her big brown eyes. He seemed to be thinking about something before he spoke.

"She'll stay with me from now on," Alexander decided, making Sylvia snap her head towards him. There was no doubt in her mind that the vampire Lord had taken an interest in the human, but this was a young one. "Once she's of age we can send her to a human household."

"I guess so," Sylvia replied. "We have humans working in the castle. Therefore that shouldn't be a problem." If they left her with the other humans, they wouldn't know if the humans would treat her well. After all, slavery was still rampant.

"What's your name?" Alexander asked in an authoritative tone with his piercing gaze making her wary of him.

"You're scaring the poor girl Alex asking like that. Smile," Sylvia said, making Alexander throw a glare across the room. Softening his gaze, he tried putting a smile on his face, which in turn earned him a snicker from his subordinate.

"You call that a smile?" Sylvia asked him.

"Fine, you handle it!" he snapped at her before stepping out of the house. The woman walked towards the young girl and sat down on her knees.

"Hi, I'm Sylvia, and that was Alexander," she introduced with a gentle smile, "We don't mean any harm and only want to offer help to you. What's your name sweetheart?"

"Katherine," the girl replied, earning a smile from the woman standing in front of her.

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