It was the night of the blood moon, where the streets were empty and the silence was deafening. It was customary for the City of Allegra to keep their doors shut, dim the lights and keep the noise low. For thousands of generations, the blood moon had been a sacred day for the vampires, as the Royal Family celebrated their ancestry and heritage by throwing the most extravagant party in the city. The Gladstone Castle was buzzing with thousands of vampires, drinking and dancing. In the underground dungeon, a cage fight was held for the young vampires to fight one another - to win their freedom pass - which allowed them to hunt one human for one night. They were allowed to feed on their chosen human, without causing them to bleed to death. It was a lesson for the fledgling to control their thirst and magical ability, to harness their healing powers and obliviate their memories. None of the humans remembered anything about the feeding, it all felt like a long dream, soon to be forgotten.
Clang! One hit and one more body tumbled to the ground. He snarled at his opponent, wiping sweat and blood away from his face. He lowered his stance, keeping himself balance as his opponent struck him on the ribs, sending him backwards. The pain was bearable, but the humiliation was overwhelming. There was no way that he would be defeated by such a fledgling. Although the odds were never in his favour - 10 fledglings to 1 adult vampire - he did not look defeated. 'One left' he thought to himself, malicious grin formed on his face as he licked the blood on his lips. This particular fledgling was stronger than the others, very muscular as he was a professional sportsman - a Rugby player, before he was turned. He was panting hard, trying his best to knock his opponent out, but one thing that he did not know, was his opponent's identity.
Reed was having a good time. He loved to mess about the fledglings before revealing his true identity. One by one, he fought all 10 of them, resulting in 9 of them writhing, wriggling in pain on the floor. Simon, the last fledgling standing was doing his hardest to put a punch on his handsome face, but Reed was too quick to dodge and Simon ended up hitting the concrete pillar surrounding the cage. His bulky mass drove through the metal wires, wrecking the cage apart as he lost his balance and crashed face first on the ground. The crowd cheered as the last opponent fell, Reed emerged victorious. Female vampires squealed and screamed his name, while the males chant in unison "Reed! Reed! Reed!". Guards scrambled in, pulling the fallen fledglings back on their feet, forcing them to stand in line as Reed walked around victorious.
"Attention fledglings."
The booming voice of a vampire guard regained order, as the fledglings stood next to each other, fidgeting in pain.
"The rule clearly state only victors earn their freedom pass, but by the good grace of the Prince, one of you will be allowed to leave the castle ground and join the humans for one night." the guard gestured at Reed, who stood against the pillar, checking his nails, looking bored.
"Prince Reed declared that Simon Wilson will be allowed to redeem his freedom pass tonight for giving a fair fight tonight. Congratulation Simon!"
Everybody cheered for Simon, many patted him on his back as he grinned sheepishly, exchanged glances with Reed, who nodded back at him. The other fledglings looked around, confused and clearly did not expect that the Prince of Darkness himself would be participating in the fight. They secretly felt honoured and humiliated at the same time, for fighting Reed himself.
"Good fight, Simon. That was not a bad fight afterall. We might find you useful in our ranks." Abley, a senior guard slapped him on the back as he turned at Reed, "You reckon he can be a warrior?" he asked.
Reed walked over with much difficulty, parting the crowd of female vamps that flocked around him.
"If you train him, he's got potential." Reed agreed. His icy blue eyes gleamed under the flickering flames around the fight cage. His well defined jawline hardened as he glanced around, his eyes meeting another pair of grey eyes belonging to a female vamp. He smirked and placed a hand on Abley's shoulder, "Show him the warrior quarters, then you can take him to the city. Teach him to hunt."
Abley nodded respectfully, "Yes, Prince."
Reed made his way to the girl, exchanged a short conversation before taking her waist and both disappeared behind the stairs. Abley, being a veteran that he was, shook his head at Reed's direction, knowing exactly what he was up to and know all too well not to disturb him in his chamber till the next sundown.
=========
Sunset, the next day.
Abley pushed the double doors to Reed's chamber to find clothing items strewn around the room. Undergarments on the floor, belts hanging on the chandelier.... along with some broken furnitures. It was no secret that vampires were powerful beings, especially when aroused. Abley picked up a broken piece of wood, what was left of an arm chair.
"Wake up, sleepyhead." he tossed the plank of wood towards the sleeping Reed.
It magically missed his head as it landed on another's... producing a muffled sqeak. A messy head popped up behind Reed, the same tired face of the female vamp that he picked up last night. Her make up was a mess and she was clearly under dressed. She looked embarrassed and awkward, as she scrambled out of the bed, picking up pieces of her torn clothings and draped one of Reed's clothes... his white, almost translucent shirt, outlining her full figure. Abley sighed as he pointed at the door, signaling her to leave.
Reed stirred in his sleep. His blue eyes lost its usual sparks from sleep. His chocolate brown hair tousled and messy, strands jutting out in all directions. He stretched and yawned, showing his porcelain white fangs and let out a lazy growl.
"What time is it? My fight isn't till 8." he rubbed his eyes, begrudgingly looked up to meet Abley.
"It's past 6 in the evening, you need to get ready." Abley shook his head in desperation, "And I told you not to waste your energy unnecessarily before a fight."
Reed chuckled, "Sex is quite... a necessity." he flashed a mischievous grin, "What? Makes me ready to pounce." he added, answering Abley's mocking stare.
"For a vampire who pretends to fight humans, in human sport, you clearly have the upperhand." Abley continued, while attempting to clean the room, picking up things off the floor and tossing it aside. "That doesn't mean you can misuse it. You promise me to always fight with human power, locking your vampire strength away."
"Yeah yeah, I know." Reed dismissed Abley's words as he got out of bed and dragged his feet to his bathroom.
"I'll get the maids to clean up your chamber as soon as you got dressed." Abley tossed a used condom into the rubbish bin - which was overflowing with condom wrappers and more used condoms. "Oh for blood's sake, Reed, just how many times did you..." Abley did not even finish his sentence, he stormed out of the chamber, hearing Reed's laughter echoing in the room as he shut the doors behind him.
On the outskirt of Allegra, a group of freshman from St. Antonio's College happily set up their camp for the night. It was the last week of their summer break, where five of them decide to go hiking and camping at Mount Verius, one of the highest and toughest mountain to beat. Dante, the camp leader was walking around their campsite, collecting fire woods for the camp fire when Alyssa and Morgan prepped dinner. They bought a few slices of beef and some chicken wings to barbeque. Eric and Lance were setting up the tents for everybody, when Eric paused in his track, his senses heightened as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stood. He straightened his body, looked around, completely perplexed as it started to get dark and he could not see anyone else but them. "What's going on with you?" Lance stopped doing his task as he looked up at Eric's terrified face. "Dude, I felt this ominous feeling in my gut." Eric muttered, his eyes darted from tree to tree, watching the leaves sway
Having discovered another living descendant of the royal witch, Reed was excited to share the news with his father, Count Gladstone, in other words, the Vampire King. It was known to the insiders of the castle that Reed was born to inherit the vampire kingdom, once the Count passed away. Light on his feet, Reed climbed up the stairs to the Great Hall, where the Count and his ministers were gathered in a meeting. As soon as he pushed the doors open, all eyes were on him."Ah, speak of the devil." Count Gladstone flashed a smile, his wrinkly hand gestured for Reed to approach the round table."Father. Sorry to intrude your meeting but I have an important news to report." Reed nodded his head respectfully at the other Elders at the table, as he approached his father."I have heard snippets of it. It was the sudden rogue attacks at Mount Verius, wasn't it?" Elder Montaigne, the Count's advisor sat on his right."Yes, Sir Montaigne. It was unprecedented and we would not have known of it, i
Two days since the attack, the three vampires were still living in Norfolk, disguised as one of the lycans. There was circulating rumours on the whereabouts of the Prince, the heir to the Vampire Kingdom and his mortality. Chief Han has been making discreet communication with the shadows, informing the king of his son's condition. The nightshade poison used by the rogues was almost lethal to Reed, but with Yeri and Lilo's quick action, he avoided his impending death. Nightshade plant was hard to find, and most of them were grown up in the hills, near the werewolves' territory. Any rogues who dared to venture out there had to be on high alert, as any lycans on patrol would have sniffed them. It was curious as to how the rogues obtained the poisonous plant in the first place, whether they received help from other creatures of the woods.Count Gladstone was furious when he heard that his only son was targetted in the latest attack. He sent Abley to monitor the movement of the rogues and
Never in a thousand years, did Reed ever think that he would first feel his mate bond with another species. While he tried to digest what just happened, he heard the wolves around him cheered as Yeri made her ascend back onto the rocks. Her bikini stuck to her skin, her long hair was dripping wet as she climbed the big rock towards Reed."I see you've managed to escaped the house." Yeri sarcastically commented on Reed's escape."I am not aware that I was a fugitive." Reed replied, looking away from her, trying his best to hide this weird feeling that consumed him from the inside."You're not, just a very expensive prisoner that I have to look after, unfortunately." she retorted as she sat down on the rock next to him, watching the other young wolves taking turn cliff diving."I told you before, I don't need a baby sitter.""It's only a temporary arrangement until your wound completely healed and you've got your full strength back. You couldn't even win a fight against a she-wolf." Yer
The air surrounding them seemed to stand still as both looked into each other's eyes in silence. Millions of thoughts crossed their minds, how their mind and body tried to reject the gravitational pull of the mate bond, tugging at their hearts. "You knew?" Reed fixed his blue eyes at her dark eyes. The gold swirls darted around."I didn't think you knew, either." Yeri did not look away. She took in the sight of him in front of her, the one man whom she waited all her life, one that she did not expect to be of a different species."Is this even possible? For a vampire and a wolf to be mated?" Reed turned away, he took a deep breath which strangely burnt his lungs."I have no idea. I've never seen such pairing in Norfolk," Yeri poured herself a cup of tea and held the cup with both hands, warming herself up."Could it be just a fluke? Like in the heat of a moment... we felt something that wasn't truly there." Reed still tried to deny it, even though his heart wished that there was some
A week after Morgan's arrival at the Northern Lycan territory, things seemed to have settled down in Allegra. Less rogue attacks were reported in the city and it's surrounding areas. Nonetheless, citizens were still on high alert as the heir to the throne has not returned yet. There were rumors regarding Reed's disappearance, that he changed allegiance, or that he completely abdicated his right to the throne. Count Gladstone has been keeping silent, while he dispatched his royal guards to scour the perimeter, looking for the rogues' nests. There was a report that mentioned the sighting of Zenon's army near Allegra, but when the troops got there, no trace of vampires were left at the spot. So, the search continued. Meanwhile in Norfolk, Reed and the group has returned from Sir Varkey's land back into town. They continued to stay at the chief's house, as it offered the most protection for Reed. Killian and Damon decided to stay at the chief's neighbour's house, as their old room was gi
After Lilo's funeral, Chief Han closed all borders of Norfolk and even put up magical perimeter with the Oracle's help and Morgan, to produce a glamour that was not visible to any children of the shadow. Following Abley's order, Reed decided to take Morgan and his friends back to Allegra. At first, Yeri wanted to stay in Norfolk, but Chief Han was worried of her safety. She was fighting against one of the higher ranking officer of Zenon, who found out her important lineage as the sole heir of the Northern Lycans. Norfolk was the last town before Allegra, which meant that if Norfolk fell under Zenon's siege, they would have easy access to Allegra. Reed, Killian and Damon were packing up their belonging when Morgan came knocking at the door frame, breaking their focus. "They lost Brutus, the high officer of Zenon. Abley managed to corner him in the woods but he escaped. I sense that another attack is imminent," Morgan relayed the message to the boys, to Reed's annoyance. "Just how lo
It's been a month since Yeri moved in to Allegra to protect her secret mate, Prince Reed and their relationship was as complicated and confusing as ever. The mate bond definitely forced them to get closer, with the ultimate goal of consummating their union, once both parties accepted their mate and consented to it. However, Yeri had her own reservations. She still refused to accept Reed, who was a different species from her, to be her mate because of her own terrible past. Reed, on the other hand, was pressured by the royal officials to take a bride so he could inherit his father's kingdom on the next blood moon. Driven by lust, the vampires had the tendency to be more promiscuous compared to the wolves, who upheld monogamy. Reed's cassanova reputation preceeded him and Yeri caught wind of it, thus all the more doubts filled her heart. Furthermore, their reunion was restricted to night time, while her wolf yearned for freedom during the daylight. Dawn has broken in Allegra, the human