The baritone voice of a man yelling caused my eyes to flutter open. For the first time this week, I didn't wake up from a nightmare. Pain suddenly enveloped my entire body, causing me to wince. Remembering what transpired between Kane and me, I let out a huff of frustration. I had not woken up from a nightmare; instead, I woke up in a nightmare. I had to bite my lip to hold back from screaming.
My entire being ached, especially my side. Glancing at it, a deep gash greeted my eyes. And for some weird reason, it did not show any signs of healing. What the hell was going on today? I hurriedly surveyed my surroundings, looking for something I would recognize. To my dismay, on the walls of the grand room were various pictures of someone I did not want to meet personally: King Faginus himself.
This was the King's palace; I was in the King's palace! I clenched my trembling fist in anger. It was all because of that stalking dolt, Kane. If I got out of this shit alive, I was going to burst Kane's head open, guard or not.
People rarely stepped in here and came out whole; either you step out in a body bag, or you step out without your sanity. The familiar sound of a person clearing their throat caused a small chill to run down my spine. Dread washed over me; I was not alone. I turned around to see the duo, King Faginus and his creepy wife, Queen Octavia, staring daggers at me.
They were both dressed in expensive robes and as usual, they were frowning. Why not a T-shirt and a pair of jeans? How many muscles does it take them to frown that deep? I had never seen both of them up close but now I had, it was horrifying. A long scar ran down the face of the King, making him look more terrifying. His irises were a haunting shade of grey. For some reason, I felt if looked at them long enough, I would be courting death.
King Faginus spoke first: "Is what I hear about you true? Are you a werewolf? Are you from Y.A.N.A?", He chuckled. "Or are you just a bloody mercenary who has a death wish?" Y.A.N.A? How the hell could I belong to such an organisation? Heck, I wasn't even accepted here due to my Ripper problem. What would a group filled with hybrid demi-humans think about me? Precise, I would never join a group like Y.A.N.A; it would be quite ironic. You Are Not Alone? Yeah, right!
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I hurriedly replied: "No, my lord. I am Hayden Cinders(I slightly cringed once I said this) from the Cinder Coterie, sired from birth and blooded when I was thirteen. I'm in Dracia's main and only college and I have lived here at Dracia for almost eighteen years. I'm not in any way a traitor, my lord." He was taken aback by my sudden outburst; I didn't even give him a chance to accuse me. Then again, what kind of fool would allow himself to be executed for such a stupid allegation? The Queen just stared at me with her haunting, purple irises.
I immediately regretted answering the way I did because the Queen bared her long, pointy fangs at me. Saliva dripped from them into her mouth like a stalactite. Good job, Hayden! Now they're mad. The cold hands of fear gripped me, preventing me from speaking any further. It seemed like the temperature of the room dropped suddenly. This was the effect of something called Killing Intent; an ability that only the strongest vampires possessed. It paralyzed weaker victims, sometimes preventing them from even breathing. I quickly discovered I was no different when I tried to step back but my legs stayed rooted to that particular spot. At least I'm still breathing. Trying another approach, I began to frantically beg for my life: "Your Highness, please I'm not what you think I am. The allegations are all wrong!", I cried out.
"Are you calling your king a liar?", he growled. He let out a menacing hiss, one that almost shattered my eardrums. "I made those "allegations". And now I declare: for colluding with the enemy against your King, you will be executed before the end of today!" I felt my heart drop into my sneakers; he was going to kill me. He reached out slowly to grab my throat. For a second, he drew back his killing intent; that second was all I needed.
My figure blurred before him as I sidestepped him and dodged his hand with a vamp-sprint. At that second, his hand blurred, destroying the picture in front of him. He bellowed angrily because instead of ripping my throat out, he destroyed a picture of his wife. "Guards!", he bellowed. "After him! And I want him alive!" Of course, I did not stick around to see the guards. This was my cue to get the hell out of there.
I burst out through the window beside me, landing face-first on the concrete. Grunting, I quickly pulled myself up and began to run for all I was worth. I vamp-sprinted like I was a burglar being chased by the police. I didn't even dare look back or it would have been my last glance. My lungs burned as I urged myself on, maintaining my speed till I reached my house. My side was still hurting like a bitch and now it hurt more due to the run.
For safety measures, I wedged it with one of the sturdy chairs which were lying around. Who was I kidding? If it was the royal guards they sent after me, even the doors of a bomb shelter wouldn't hold them back. At this point, I was running blind, doing whatever came to my mind to ensure my survival. Hurriedly, I opened the fridge, hoping to find some extra blood bags. Nothing. I was getting very thirsty and agitated. Frantically, I paced around, forcing the gears of my mind to devise a plan of escape, in an attempt to keep my mind off the thirst. My knowledge of Dracia's surroundings was quite limited since I couldn't wander beyond the walls.
That ruled out the 'run and hide in the forest' option. At some point, I even began to question how I ended up in such a predicament. I would have chalked this up to be a rotten prank but the King's involved! And that man has no funny bone in his body! Scrawny me, a werewolf? That wasn't even possible! I'm from the Cinder Coterie of vampires!
Then I recalled how I violently reacted when I was exposed to that substance on Kane's dagger. Could that have been wolfsbane? The only weakness of a vampire was a deadly substance called Nightshade and that wasn't even allowed in Dracia. Kane would never have agreed to hold a nightshade-coated dagger. The stuff smelt horrible; almost like shit! Wait, shit? Isn't that how his blade smelt? I felt so frustrated that I almost kicked myself.
Grasping my hair, I thought: How could I have been so blind and stupid? Allergies? Vampires were nigh perfect creatures that were incapable of falling sick, talkless of possessing allergies! Before I could think further about the possibility, I suddenly heard a voice: "Talking to himself? This one's a bit loony, right Kane?" I was startled by this voice so I quickly averted my gaze to the ceiling. To my horror, Kane, an unfamiliar guard, and Felix... WAIT, FELIX?! When the hell did he become a guard?
I was about to let out a yelp but Kane threatened to throw his dagger. Then, they all dropped down from the ceiling with a light thud. The guard spoke first: "Stay still and you won't have to lose any limbs." My eyes widened in realisation; I immediately recognized his strange words. I once stumbled across a book that contained the profiles of mercenaries, where to find them and how to identify them(whoever published such was probably dead.) In school, we were taught that becoming a mercenary was even worse than becoming a prostitute. It was a despicable profession due to the way it shaped a person's psyche to become selfish beyond imagination. It also turned people into cold-blooded killers.
They(mercenaries) looted, killed, and vandalized property. Leave it to the King to make his own rules, only to end up breaking them. He had hired some of them as guards and kept it a secret from the people of Dracia! I wouldn't be surprised if he secretly had a human concentration camp that he used for his thirst. What a vampire!
The words I recognized belonged to the bloody butcher, Decapitator. To think horrible people like him were walking around Dracia under the guise of being a guard. "Decapitator, how nice it is to finally see you," I spat with obvious sarcasm. Decapitator was a gun for hire. A good-for-nothing (except the killing of course) mercenary.
According to the book, his trademark was the terrible state in which he left his victims: dismembered, drained of all their blood, and dead. He looked at me and smiled. "Hey, you guys! This one recognizes me! It's a shame you have to come with us; you would have made good company." He sighed as he unsheathed his scimitar. "That is after I chopped you to pieces." Before I could speak again, Felix, my so-called 'bestie', threw a dagger at me. I tried my best to dodge it but its hilt hit me square in the chest, knocking the air out of me.
The dagger had some force behind it so I stumbled and fell on my back. I grunted as I tried to stand up to my feet. Good thing it wasn't the blade. Felix better know what he was doing because if I survived this, I may never speak to him again. Kane walked towards me, his eyes showing his ill intentions. He hissed at me, his fangs fully drawn. "I guess since you couldn't have me, you framed me. Nice move, Kane", I chuckled.
The angry vampire ignored my remark and put the weight of his foot on my chest. "His Royal Highness would be pleased to see you executed."I snorted in response. "Royal Highness my ass." The last thing I saw before my world went black was a boot.