In the meantime, Alexander caught up with the creature and cornered it at a cave. The half-vampire bared its teeth towards him and then at the girl. Katie trembled in fear at the sight of its teeth.

“Don’t come any closer,” it warned him.

“Who created you?” Alexander asked calmly, “Answer me and I’ll let you go,” he said. The creature knew it didn’t stand a chance with no companions now.

“Lord Norman,” it spoke hoarsely pushing the girl away and ready to flee but the gun didn’t drop from its sight. The Valerian Lord then spoke,

“Sorry but I don’t keep my word,” he said calmly, “See you in hell,” and he poured all the bullets in the creature’s body. The sound of the gunshot echoed due to the cave they were in making Katie flinch.

Once the gunshots ceased she opened her eyes to see blood splattered on the floor with a dark dusty powder sinking in it. Seeing dead bodies and death at close proximity, she was exhausted. Her young mind being unable to digest everything, she closed her eyes and her body moved forward, but Alexander was quick to catch hold of her.

Alexander looked at the girl in his arms with a frown. She had passed out due to exhaustion. He knew humans were fragile little creatures and he questioned his judgment on bringing the girl along with him. Surviving in a vampire world would be difficult but only time would prove it.

Picking her up in his arms, he carried her out of the cave walking through the lush trees. Inspecting her, he noticed a trail of blood over the toes of her right foot. The creature had hurt her for no reason. He felt his eyes grow redder and sharper, irritation surfacing in.

Few half-vampires were vile creatures, a mix of human and vampire but useless, unlike the pure vampires.

“Is she alright?” Sylvia asked Alexander once they reached the carriage.

“Her ankle’s bleeding,” he replied, getting inside and placing her on the other side of the seat before taking a seat next to her, “Use this,” he said handing over his handkerchief to Sylvia.

Elliot closed the door and took the place of the missing charioteer, his eyes looking around for any suspicious movements. The black ashes left a stench in the air making him cringe a little. Cracking the reins, the horses began to move. Inside the carriage, Sylvia was almost done wrapping the kerchief around the young girl’s ankle when Alexander spoke,

“Find out what Norman is up to once we reach the kingdom,” he said looking at his fingers for some time, thinking something deep and then bent forward to gather a drop of blood on his finger that had escaped down the girl’s knee.

“Alex-” Sylvia gasped seeing her Lord put his finger in his mouth that had touched the blood, “What are you doing?!” She exclaimed with a shocked expression on her face.

Once he removed his index finger out of his mouth he asked, “What does it look like?”

Sylvia didn’t know what to say to him. A Lord and a pure-blood drinking or tasting blood from a wound were considered to be disgraceful. hey didn’t know if the wound was infected during the time the creature took her. Sighing, she shook her head.

When they reached the castle, Katie was sent to the infirmary while a few officials were gathered in the upper ground of the dungeon. Most of the gatherings took place in the main hall but the important, urgent and secretive ones were held in the dungeon, its entrance below the palace shed. The dungeon was divided into two grounds, upper ground, and the lower ground. The upper ground was guarded with men and wolves while the lower ground held prisoners who had broken the law.

“Sir Elliot, why have we been summoned here?” one man asked looking at the third in command, “It has been only two days since the last gathering.”

“Didn’t you hear about the attack that happened last night on the village?” a woman who stood against the wall spoke, studying her black-painted nails.

“What attack?” an old man asked from the group.

“I heard they were drained of blood. The humans,” a young boy replied. Gasps and murmur filled the room at the given information. The voices got louder slowly asking questions on what had happened.

“Silence,” said Alexander entering the upper ground. Behind him followed a man with round glasses, “Last night an entire village of humans was killed by rogue vampires. We have one of them captured and the trial will take place next week.”

“Next week?” the old man asked.

“Yes,” replied Alexander. “Until then he shall undergo interrogation. There is something else that needs attention about which Oliver will explain when I leave,” he said looking behind him and the man who had followed Alexander nodded.

In another part of the castle, Katie sat in front of Sylvia, drinking a bowl of soup.

“Did you like it?” asked Sylvia who sat with her elbows on her thighs, supporting her chin with both her hands, “I can ask them to prepare something else if you don’t like it.”

Katie shook her head, “I like it,” she said with her soft voice.

“Glad to hear that,” Sylvia beamed. After a few seconds, Katie looked up at the woman with hesitation evident in her eyes. “What is it, Katie?” Sylvia asked, sensing the girl’s hesitation.

“Um- did you see my rabbit?” She asked slowly and Sylvia’s smile faltered for a second.

“Alexander said he took it to the vet,” she informed Katie to which the little girl nodded and continued with the task of emptying her bowl. Sylvia’s smile fell from her face when the girl looked down to continue drinking her soup.

It was true that the animal was taken to the veterinary doctor but she doubted its survival. The claw of the half-vampire must have grazed the rabbit while pulling the young girl out of the carriage, she thought to herself. They would have to replace the rabbit with a different one if this one didn’t survive.

Once Katie was done with her food, Sylvia took her to the second floor of the mansion so that she could show her the room she would be living in for the time being. The room was situated two doors away from the Lord’s room for safety purposes as they had vampire guests in the mansion right now. Katie was yet to be introduced to everyone and being a human wasn’t safe. Even if warned there were vampires who would want to drink blood from her. Out of the twelve rooms on the floor only four of them were occupied, the rest were empty.

“Katie, this is will be your room for now,” Sylvia said pushing the door made of teak wood. The room was painted white and it had a bed placed almost at the center, but pushed against the wall. It had white satin-cloth-like curtains around it. Katie jumped when she heard a loud thunder outside the window.

“Jeesh, can’t believe its raining,” Sylvia muttered going to close the windows. Lightning struck from the sky and with the way it looked now, the rain wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. Turning back, she saw the young girl staring at a nearby vase and flowers in it.

They had brought the girl into their dark world. If she has survived all this while, Sylvia thought with a smile, her future shouldn’t be that difficult.