Prologue

I Remember

I remember...

I remember it clear as day...

The crimson blood of the full moon...

The stench of all the rotting corpses as I walked on top of them...

I remember...

The day my father told me to never show my blood to anyone.

Always to hide...

Always to run away...

It's been 10 years since then. And never have I ever shown my blood to anyone. The human world has been quite unforgiving to vampires after all. They even made the hunter organization which hunts down any traces of vampires. But that's the least of my problems as tomorrow I have an English essay to finish.

"Hey, Nate! Are you free today?"

"Is it about Earlyamary again?" I said.

"Err...no. I just need help with math again. Let's meet at the usual cafe after school, ok? See ya," Ellie said as she walked away from me.

I didn't have the chance to say no...

Ellie and I have known each other for 5 years now. I met her on the first day of junior high and our first impressions of each other are...horrible. She looked nerdy with the glasses and 2 braided hairstyles. I told myself I would avoid someone like her, but something unexpected happened later that day. When I was picking up my favourite light novel from our local store, I bumped into her. She happened to be picking out the same light novel as I was. It was cliche and she and I knew that. But that's where we hit it off.

After school, I headed straight to the cafe she and I go to. I texted her that I needed to study for my essay so our meet-up needed to be quick. But minutes turned into hours and she still hasn't arrived. I was pissed as it was already dark outside. I texted and called her multiple times but she doesn't answer. What was her problem? She's just wasting both our times.

On my way home, it hit me... Maybe she got into trouble? Or she might have just forgotten? Either way, it got me worried a little. Maybe I should check up on her? I called her again but it kept ringing and ringing until it went to voicemail. *Sigh. I started to walk towards her house. But on my way, I noticed red and blue flashing near her house. Maybe it's her neighbour? After all, her neighbour had always been a troublemaker. But the closer I got, the clearer it became. There was a crowd gathering around her house. A policeman was talking to her father while her mother was crying. Is it about her little sister? I decided to ask one of the neighbours that was by her house.

"Umm excuse me. Do you know what's happening, miss?" I asked politely.

"Oh, Nathan! Hey, Nathan is here! He might know where she is!" The lady shouted. The policeman and Ellie's parents ran toward me like a track star. Ellie's father held me tightly to the point it felt like my bone was crushing.

"Nathan! Do you know where Ellie is?" Ellie's father said.

He looked desperate like someone who hasn't slept for days.

"Umm, I was looking for her. She and I were supposed to meet after school but she never came. Did something happen?"

"Damn, it...Damn, it... Damn, it!"

Ellie's father held me even more tightly to the point I had to push him away. Her mother shed even more tears before the two were escorted back to their house by a policeman. A few moments later the policeman came back and asked me questions. He asked me what my relationship was with her and the last time I saw her. I answered him honestly. He was reluctant at first but after I answered all his questions he told me what had happened.

Ellie had gone missing since lunch! She wasn't the type to run away and make her parents worried. She's the exact opposite of that. She's responsible and a hard worker. The policeman told me to go home and to let them know if I get in contact with her. I held tightly to my bag strap wondering what might've happened to her.

As I walked back home, I decided to take the long and unusual path back. I needed time to process what was happening and walking helped me with that. As I pondered in my own world, I suddenly smelled a stench of blood. Normally, I wouldn't be able to smell the blood that is from minor injuries, but this one was different. It was strong enough to make me cover my nose. It reminded me of the events 10 years ago.

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As I stood in the empty walkway, a shadowed-like figure came crashing down and hit the light pole that was beside me. It sat still. It had a scythe right beside it and was wearing a dark cloak. It was bleeding.

"This isn't a place for you kid, you should get your ass out of here," It spoke.

As I looked closer, the more it became clearer and clearer that it was a human hunter. She had an eyepatch on her right eye and a hunter insignia on her right chest. "Always to run away."

Hunters are bad! Are they out to get me? No, calm down. If they are, they would've sliced my head right off. My royal art is still working. I need to act natural.

"Yo... you're a hunter!... Are you alright? Is there a vampire? Shoul..."

"Shut up already! Just go home or something."

She used her scythe to support herself as she stood up. But as soon as she got up, she lost her balance and fell on top of me. Some blood got on my clothes.

"Damn, it... I lost too much blood... Hey kid, do me a favour will ya? Grab your phone and call this number ******6969. Then put it on my face."

I went ahead and made her lean to the pole. I did exactly what she told me as it would be suspicious if I didn't. As soon as someone answered the phone, she yanked my phone and started yelling arrogantly for backup. I got the feeling I shouldn't get involved with someone like her. After she was done with my phone, she told me to run away and to never look back.

I did exactly what she said, except I ran towards the smell of blood and not home. I made sure that she didn't see me taking the path heading toward the smell. The fact that a hunter was present meant that there was a vampire on the loose. It was also close to Ellie's house so there was a possibility that the vampire got her. The only question was, from which estate was the vampire?

I only planned on taking a quick look to see if Ellie was there. If she wasn't there then I'm willing to turn a blind eye to whatever was happening. Judging from the smell, there was going to be a lot of bodies.

The smell led me to a big abandoned warehouse. It was a good place for a base in terms of space, but it's also easy to find. The rotting warehouse door was open and I slowly walked toward the darkness. After my eyes adjusted, the first thing that welcomed me was another hunter. Except for this one, his body was in a pool of blood with his scythe pierced in his head. Ahead of the hunter were boxes. I continued to walk slowly to my right to see what was passed behind the boxes. As I got closer, the sound of gulping got louder and louder.

I peeked behind the boxes and it was disgusting. A lineup of unconscious young girls somewhere around junior high and high school all surrounded him. There was blood on the boxes dripping to the ground creating a bloody floor. He continues to gulf his prey from behind draining her and potentially killing her. After having his fill, he pushed her lifeless body to the bloody floor before wiping off his mouth with his fancy long sleeve. This vampire was of noble blood. No wonder why the hunters had a hard time.

"I have no taste for young men, so I shall end you swiftly," the vampire said.

"So, you only go after young girls? Quite a pedophile I see." I answered.

I walked slightly towards him, stepping on the bloody floor. I wasn't planning on getting some blood on my white shoes, but it was inevitable.

"Hm? Quite confident in yourself..." The vampire looked at me with his menacing crimson eyes. His fangs slightly showed.

"I'm only here to see if you got my friend. You could go back to whatever you were doing if she's not here. But...if she's here..." I looked at the vampire menacingly as I showed him my left eye while covering my right eye. "I won't hesitate to kill you..."

"I see, so you're a vampire living amongst the humans as well... Judging from the fact that you don't flinch from the blood, I'd say you're a noble blood as well..."

I ignored him...I didn't have time to deal with someone like him. I looked around looking for Ellie but no luck.

"Who are you looking for?" the vampire said.

"I doubt that you know her name. But she wears round glasses and is about this tall. She also just disappeared around the afternoon."

"Oh, you mean that girl..." He pointed at a lifeless body. I walked closer to confirm. The body was facing the floor and when I flipped the body... I immediately recognized that it was Ellie. Her dead eyes were still open and there were two dots with blood dripping on her neck, indicating that she was drained to death.

"Her blood sure was tasty. You were waiting for her to ripen up a little, weren't you? Too bad, I got her first. Anyways... from whose family are you from? Are you from the Greys or Wolven? Well, I suppose it doesn't matter..."

I haven't used my blood in forever... and fighting was inevitable. I was also pissed as he killed one of my friends. I already knew for a long time that Ellie's blood was good. But I never planned on drinking it. After all, I considered her my equal. I closed her eyes and made her lie on the floor before whispering in her ear "This won't take long, so just wait for a little."

"You hide your right eye...Why is that?" The vampire asked.

I stood up straight and bit my right hand until my blood started to drip to the red floor. I didn't answer him and decided to stay quiet. Forgive me, Father...

"Hmm, not interested I suppose. Well try not to scream too hard kid," the vampire said before biting his right hand. "Noble arts..."

As the blood from his right hand dripped from the ground, his blood took the form of a sword. It was the normal reaction for any noble vampire to make their blood a form of a sword. As someone who has no training whatsoever, there was no way for me to form a sword.

"Not even forming a sword... cocky little bastard."

The vampire charged at me at full speed. He kept his blade close to the ground before swinging it as hard as he could with both his hands. The air split into two as he aimed for my neck.

"Royal phantasm...." I murmured. His reaction as soon as he froze was priceless. Sweat began to form as his confidence disappeared into thin air. He couldn't move. Not even by a millimetre. His blood sword never reached my neck. Poor bastard. The battle was already decided before it even began.

"You... you're not a noble blood... You're of royal blood... A survivor... Your eye... I remember now... You're the... One-eyed prince... of the fallen kingdom of Westalis..."

I couldn't help but smile a little... After all, looking down on someone who underestimated you had always been satisfying.