Darcia's pov

Our plan is very simple. First, we must pass through the guards standing in front of the castle's entrance. Because of the ball, no one pays much attention to who enters the castle. It would take them a whole day to check on each and every vampire. Nobody expects someone to try to break in and fight the princess when there are so many guards surrounding her.

Second, we can't possibly fail this next step. Talia, I believe, will be close to Elvira. If not, we will face a major problem to solve. I'm hoping that the first option is correct..

Nicoli will distract Elvira while I and Espen complete the almost-final phase of taking Talia away.

Nicoli is ultimately the best option to tune out Elvira's peace. Just let alone his snow-white hair, is the biggest distraction in that ballroom.

Elvira will panic, not expecting Nicoli to show up out of nowhere. I know that she saw it planned in her head: me barging in there, screaming, yelling. I will be a big disappointment for her. I won't be her next joke to laugh at. We thought this through over and over again until it was the most brilliant idea.

"How long until we reach the cave?" Nicoli asked as we took a break to feed properly. You can't go to a fight if your stomach, or in our case, system is empty.

I leaned my head against the tall pine tree and sucked the blood out of the fifth blood bag. Zero-negatives are the tastiest ones. I said I wouldn't ever touch a human again because of my thirst, and I kept my promise to Talia.

Espen had saved a couple of them just in case. Those were his words.

The last time I didn't feed properly, Elvira won against me. It wasn't a fair fight. She was filled with human blood while I was starving. Animal blood wouldn't help me obtain the justice I seek for. However, human blood will.

"Just a few more meters, and we can begin with our plan," I replied, squeezing every possible drop of blood that could be squeezed out of the last blood bag.

Entering the vampire world is like entering hell. You pay for your sins rigorously.

It was forbidden a few centuries ago to leave the vampire world. If you by chance got away without anyone knowing, you could pass through the gate into the human world. But once you do so, your name will be written on the Wall of Escapers.

After Nicodemus became the ruler of the vampire world, he changed the law of entering the human world.

But one thing remained, and that was the Wall of Escapers. Nicodemus wanted to have everyone under his control. Except for me...I was the only one who escaped from him, dead alive.

The gate is deep in the woods. But not as deep as you would think it is. It's so far in the forest that even some animals don't travel that far inside.

There are many gates in every city and in every country in the world. How were they created in the first place?

Well, as far as I can remember, the lessons I attended about our history happened anciently ago when even I didn't exist. The vampires who ruled the vampire world had only one access to the gate. Which was very inconvenient for them.

They needed access to every possible country that existed back then. To taste every different humankind. That's why they needed help from someone as powerful as they were.

Witches.

And not the kinds of witches who can fly on brooms or have unbelievably ugly faces. It was those kinds of witches who were bewitching. Their sweet scent and a few beautiful lies brought death upon you. They loved to experiment. Not just with humans, but with other creatures as well.

The Highest ruler decided to connect with the most powerful witch, who could duplicate the same gate in every corner of the world as their ancestors once created.

Only the witch had a strange request in return for doing something so twisted and dangerous for humankind. Putting in danger people that she lives amongst with her friends was an extreme threat to her kind.

That's why she requested a single vampire in return for her services. The Highest ruler laughed off such an easy request. What are millions and millions of gates compared to the single life of a vampire?

And with his acceptance, the powerful witch duplicated millions of gates throughout the world.

How was the first gate even created? Not even the oldest living vampires know, or they do, but they don't want to reveal it.

Because no one can be trusted in the vampire world.

I got up from the ground, taking the dirt off my black long dress with a burgundy corset. Nicoli and Espen burned those empty blood bags in case they were tracking us.

Elvira surely thinks I'll come for Talia. That was her plan all along. Lure me back home and let me see what she's capable of. What monstrosity she's able to plan.

As we wandered by the dark path to the gate, I had to urge myself to turn back and not continue. The possibility of her death is too high. I don't want to discover her purple body, and cold as ice.

I won't find her in such a state. I think to myself.

I would rather be killed in that awful place by my sister than see her dead body.

I clenched my jaw and curled my fingers into fists. I cannot feel the weakest when I'm about to start step one. And especially not in front of Espen. He isn't quite fond of me, or more specifically, my empty promises for his vengeance.

I can only give him my word that my part of the deal will not be broken by anyone or anything.

He gets to help me kill Elvira in exchange for taking Talia safely away from her claws. Not a single hair on her head can be broken, or the deal is off, and I will kill her all by myself.

We appeared in front of a small stone cave that was barely four meters long. Moss decorated those old, asymmetrical stones that were all on top of each other. It was hard to notice it at first, as the trees perfectly hid it around the entrance as well. I doubt human eyes could notice this cave at night. Or that they could travel so far away from any civilization where numerous wild animals ran through.

We passed through the stabbing trees and finally got close to the teleportation gate. Every inch of the inside was filled with red flames, and that's all you could see. I recall passing through it with Nicoli centuries ago, but at that moment when I caught sight of it, it brought me back into my past, where I was escaping from my marriage with a stranger whom I felt weird trusting.

"Are you two remembering how it felt to pass through the gate? Because truthfully, I forgot the feeling." I said with a monotone voice.

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"So much agony and guilt drown me in my sins." Nicoli suddenly replied to my question. I quickly smiled and took the first step, where the red flames began. The gate has three parts. The first one is physical, and that is pain. The second part is where you feel the guilt for your sins, and the last third part is where you see the dead bodies you've killed from the moment you were born or turned.

Walking through the flames is not even five minutes duration, however, while you're in it, it feels like an eternity.

I handled the first two parts well until I got to the last one. My past self wouldn't feel what I'm feeling right now. I couldn't stand the sight of all those dead men and women lying on each other like a heap of hay.

But you have to complete all of these parts to get inside the vampire world.

The witch who created these gates showed us what kind of monsters we are and that we need to pay for them well. Nothing comes with good intentions when you make a truce with an enemy.

I gritted my teeth and focused on my goal. Once I saw Talia smiling at me, the pain and guilt washed off me. Only I wish that smile was real and not just an imagination in my head.

I fell to the ground, pulling myself up by my forearms. I looked around and saw nothing but trees.

Shortly after, Espen came, and then Nicoli. We analyzed our surroundings, but nothing dangerous could be detected.

I revived my memory of this place to know which direction to go first. We can't be making mistakes.

We ran a few meters from the forest and found the tall, majestic walls that protected strangers from entering the castle. My old home.

Dark clouds with red bolts of lightning sticking above the whole sky cast shade upon us. The clouds detect intruders as well as those who want to escape the castle. If one's not informed about his leaving, his existence will shatter once he walks through the gate. Since the masquerade ball is happening and many immortals will attend it, the protection has now been stopped.

The sky from the place where we were standing was dark, like when a storm was coming, but no other colors could be seen. Our surroundings were filled with dead trees. Not one leaf could be found on those dry wenches. The air was thick to breathe in, and no positive energy radiated.

"Alright, now the second step begins," Nicoli announced, and I nodded.

Nicoli needed to leave the two of us alone to enter the castle. I will be pretending to be Espen's wife, which is an easy role for me to play. Meanwhile, Nicoli gets inside the castle from another entrance. He said he could not reveal the way he would get inside, but I trust his decision. It means he believes it will work out when he does it his way, which is unknown to me for now.

I pulled the hood up to cover most of my hair and face. Both of us were wearing black cloaks with masks, decorating our faces. It was pretty uncomfortable to wear, but soon other things will be much worse than a cheap mask scratching my face.

As we got to the first guard, who was taller and stronger than me, I realized I was really back home.

"Good evening, my friend." Espen greeted him, handing him a handwritten invitation in his hand. Because of Espen's many great friends, we could obtain a real invitation to the masquerade ball that my sister arranged without knocking this guard down.

As pure blood, my fighting power is stronger than that of these guards, but taking them down would uncover our undercover and disturb our plan.

I kept my eyes on the ground, holding onto Espen's hand hard. With my other hand, I held my cloak to not show what was hanging from my belt. A dagger and a slim sword, which I brought from my house.

Sometimes you have to play unfairly in a game full of unfair tactics in order to come out on top. Be willing to use any advantage you can find, even if it means bending the rules a bit, to win.

To kill a pure-blood vampire, you have to possess an Elemental Dagger, which transforms into magically-formed poison when its power is activated. The poison is one of a kind because this is the only one that exists.

When Nicoli made a deal with the witch to help Talia get better after Elvira's attack, he asked for one more thing. For them to create a one-of-a-kind poison that can kill a pure-blood vampire. Nicoli told me they at first declined, but then he offered them something they couldn't refuse, and that was his venom.

As soon as you stab the vampire exactly in the center of his chest, the dagger becomes liquid poison that can't be pulled out or destroyed in any way.

Nicoli has known the witches for almost a century. He once helped them, and as you know, witches always pay their debts, no matter what creature you are.

The only obstacle that may appear is that the dagger has to be sunken deep inside the vampire, and Elvira will surely try to pull the dagger out of her. We cannot go through any complications, and no one can interfere, or our plan is ruined.

The guard let us thankfully in, and we appeared on a black marvel walkway that led to the front door. Memories revived in my head. Once, I was walking through this path every day when I had lessons outside. On each side stood five black statues in the form of skeleton guards with long swords in their hands.

We kept on casually walking forward to the double door. Another two guards stood beside the door, analyzing the two of us. Since anyone from here could recognize me, I bowed my head down.

They opened the door in sync, and Espen had to push me by my shoulder as I didn't know if we could enter inside already. We walked a few meters, and the entrance door closed behind us. Now we were standing at the very beginning of the castle. The ballroom is located at the very end of it.

I pulled the hood off my head and turned to Espen. "We can now use our superspeed. Just follow me carefully." I whispered because even walls have ears.

On the handwritten invitation, it was written that the ball starts when the full moon begins. We came a bit late since passing through the gate took us longer than it should have.

At super-speed, I ran down the hall and took a turn to another hall that led to a secret door. I checked if no one was nearby and opened the secret door in the form of a fake bookshelf. Espen quietly followed me. I guess he sensed how much tension was building up inside me. What if something goes wrong? I asked myself. As I questioned myself, I realized I was walking again instead of super-speeding.

We reached the end of the secret passage, and I slowly opened the door to the ballroom. We got through it, and without a noise, I partially closed them. We have to have an exit door in case this all goes badly.

A long velvet curtain was touching the tip of my nose. I moved a step back, so no one would notice that someone was behind the curtain. I was practically lying to Espen, but he didn't seem to mind.

I could sense how Espen's chest tightened. I figured that he was the type of guy who likes to fight, but if his anger got into his logical thinking and he would bash into the ballroom, Talia might not survive.

I rotated to look into his sand eyes. "Please don't try to do anything unnecessary. Because I swear to you, I will torture you if it is needed." I threatened in a low voice.

He faked a quick smile as his jaw tightened. His eyes were piercing through mine, but I kept my gaze on him. Not even a single blink.

Suddenly, the music started to play, and that alarmed me enough to rotate back. Violin, cello, and a piano I could easily recognize. The sound of it was so pleasant to hear again after centuries. Vampire music is full of passion. It cannot be explained in words how it feels to hear it.

I shook my head to stop thinking about the music and remain focused. Many more guests arrived, and their shoes indicated it from far away.

I conscientiously pushed the velvet curtain so I could see at least a glimpse of what was happening.

I examined the right side of the ballroom, but I could only see random guests whom I didn't know personally. Then I looked to the left side, where numerous stairs led up to my sister, sitting on a black plush velvet chair with silver framing. The top part of the chair had carved the "V" letter at the center of it.

A group of singers started to sing in a gothic style, and the sound of strings that the cello let out became darker and intensified.

When the moon reaches the top of the sky, the velvet-red curtains that we're hiding behind will be lifted, and our presence will be exposed. However, we cannot progress further if Talia is not nearby.

Espen's hand touched my shoulder. "Don't do anything unnecessary either. Let's just wait for what will happen." He whispered and removed his hand.

I returned my gaze to Elvira. Her eyes scanned someone I could not have an outlook on. Once I heard footsteps coming our way, I instantly closed the curtain. Since my eyes cannot see, I used my super-hearing to at least get some useful information.

"My dear friend, sit right beside me," Elvira said. "I have a little surprise for you. I hope you will accept it." She added in a mischievous voice.

I lightly touched the hem of the curtain to look at who sat right beside her. She's not the type to share her space with anyone. Not even her family.

The girl who sat right beside her in a burgundy satin long dress with an off-shoulder neckline and an updo hairstyle was my beloved Talia.