KOPRIVSHTISTA, BULGARIA.
YEAR 1478.
Dragos was sprawled on a chair in the living chamber when Azrael angrily walked up to him. "I know it is rare for me to utter such words, but you need to stop the killings," he said.
"Why?" Dragos asked nonchalantly, with a frown.
"What do you mean why?" Azrael retorted. "You're beginning to draw attention, you dimwit. The people grow wary, brother. How long do you think they're going to keep believing this silly tale of wild animals? Do you want a repeat of what happened in the time of our Lord Dragavei?"
Dragos slowly rose to sit upright in his chair. "I do not act thoughtlessly," he said, glaring at his brother "You taught me to be this way and now you try to stop me?"
Azrael ran a hand over his face in frustration "Why do you always cease to employ your wits when angry?"
He stood in front of Dragos. "I am not saying you desist permanently, I'm just saying refrain from it for now. There are blood bags you can feed on"
"I despise the blood bags" Dragos made a disgusted face "You know this for a fact"
"Well, you better stop despising them" Azrael snapped. "It is what you must turn to"
Their mother walked in "Darling, your older brother is right. You must desist for now"
Dragos groaned, getting up from the chair "Not you too, mother. You're well aware I exercise caution at all times. I ensure to engulf the bodies in flames when time is not on my side"
"Dragos, my trust in you remains unfailing, but somehow, word has reached the Dark Order and they have requested your presence"
He frowned "Someone told on me?"
His fists clenched and unclenched in anger.
Darcia took his hand and placed her palm over his "Calm yourself. We're not the only vampires in the vicinity. Whoever did this shares an equal concern with Azrael and myself. You need to stop for a while"
She kissed the back of his hand "And you also need to answer them right away"
Dragos sneered "Who put them in charge anyway? They're nothing but mere elders in cloaks. A gathering of weary, old fools!"
"Do not deride them in such a crass manner" Azrael interrupted angrily. "They have kept us and lead us since the Great Cleansing"
"They're still a menagerie of powerless old dimwits," Dragos said unapologetically, looking his older brother in the eye "They cannot even walk beneath the rays of the sun, and you call them all-powerful. What a jest "
Azrael disliked his brother's guts. In the past few years, he had grown cocky and condescending.
"They have summoned you, so you must depart with haste" Darcia spoke "It is a good thing that they have never always been too distant from us"
"All the more reason for my anger. They must keep their distance from me! I am not a mere infant they must monitor from afar!" Dragos exclaimed, furiously running a hand through his hair.
"But that is exactly what you are" Darcia replied amusingly, tugging at his cheeks. "You're still my infant. Our infant. The Chosen Baby"
"Stop it, Mother" He grumbled.
"Go," she said with a smile "Behave well"
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Dragos stood before the eleven members of the Dark Order.
"What has come over you, Alesul? Word has reached us about your rash feeding habits. Is your plan to jeopardize us all?" Traianus voiced out irascibly.
"You worry because I am young and that is understandable. But, do not treat me as an amateurish fool, for I am old at heart. I assure you I know how to cover my tracks. There's no need for panic"
Roxana, a female member of the dark order, leaned forward in her seat made of sculpted stone "No need for panic you say, yet twenty-five people have gone missing this week and the last. How long do you think it will take them to figure out the bloodsuckers have yet again resurfaced?"
She was the sister to Virina, a twisted vampire with a flair for collecting the heads of her victims and storing them away in her cellar.
Dragos folded his arms defiantly "That is if they come across the bodies"
Flavius broke out in laughter "Let the lad be. We should be thankful he exhibits signs of a great leader despite Andrei's absence. Azrael has taught him well"
The ten members turned to look at him disapprovingly.
"Vampire hunters will always rise. Though you may think them absent, but heed my words, lad, they always rise" Decius spoke, his voice hollow "Your eyes did not behold the sight we met that day. We were not any older than you when the great slaughter happened, our kind vanquished like ants"
"So, when we bid you to proceed with caution, you must heed our counsel and proceed with caution" Virina, the second female member of the dark order, contributed. She was seated by her husband, Alexandru's side at the far end of the table.
Dragos felt the anger start to seep in "Oh, Virina, withhold your hypocritical counsel of telling me to watch my steps" he answered back rudely, fixing her a daring glare "I'm well aware of your brutal actions. The ruthless manner in which you slay your victims and collect their heads, mounting them as trophies in your abode... yet you say that I tread carefully and expect I heed your words? This is truly a jest indeed"
Alexandru cut in before she could reply. "That is enough. Do not disrespect my wife"
"Disrespect? That is outrageous" Dragos said humorously "I speak the truth and now it is deemed as disrespect?"
"We cannot let history repeat itself because of your arrogance. Cease the killings and resort to blood bag sustenance or we will be forced to impose dire consequences" Ajax threatened.
Dragos watched him and scoffed. The audacity of the weakling stunned him.
"And are you not the least powerful of them all? I can tell merely by looking at you"
He eyed Ajax with disgust. "The stench of this simpleton is stifling. Can someone explain to me how he secured a seat on the council? I'd wager Azrael could easily best this... fraud"
"Ajax replaces his father who passed away some weeks ago" Marius, a gloomy vampire, answered.
"Oh! Count Filip?!" Dragos' tone held unbelief "Count Filip was his father? Why, that is such a shame, I adored that man. Too bad he birthed a weakling. Perhaps he is a bastard"
"Mind your tongue" Flavius scolded, his head shaking in disappointment.
Sharply, Dragos turned back to Ajax, his hands crossed behind him "You speak to me of consequences. That is grossly insulting"
Stepping down from the elevated platform, he advanced towards them, his gaze directed at Ajax "You threaten your Alesul"
There was a smile on his face. A humorless, dangerous smile.
"Dragos Nicole Vlad III, you were brought into this world with a purpose and your present doings, if not corrected soon enough, shall thwart that purpose from fruition" Petru, the oldest vampire and leader of the Dark order stated, his voice wobbly.
"And you all dare label yourselves predators? Predators do not fear the weak. You're just a pack of cowards" He said offhandedly "A clan of cowards, yes. That sounds more fitting"
Dragos took in the appalled expressions on their faces and pressed on "All you do is hide under some foolish title of the Dark Order with your nonsensical codes. Your foolish principles"
"That is enough!" Petru got up, his voice shaking with anger "You disrespect your superiors! We have over seven hundred years on you"
Dragos was unbothered "I am not some commoner.... some wretch you bully or threaten with 'consequences'" he guffawed "I've had it with you lots. From this day on, I choose to do whatever I want and I won't answer to any one of you"
"Do you think yourself above us? Above our rules?" Mihail asked calmly, a sour smile on his face.
"I marvel that you'd even name it a question"
He shifted his attention back to Mihail who was now engaged in a conversation with Bogdan.
"You seem to be the only composed one here. Perhaps you could make your other counterparts see reason. I want you to do that for me, Mihail"
Bogdan gritted his teeth in anger, facing Mihail "You're going to let this idiot dictate to you?"
"Idiot?!" Dragos was furious.
He was done behaving.
He took a malevolent step in Bogdan's direction, his gaze expressing his rage.
"You dare call your Alesul an idiot?!" His voice was raw with anger. "Though I have spent two decades on this earth and you might be a member of the Dark Order but I guarantee you, you are not untouchable. Disrespect me any further and I shall make a sample out of you by gouging out your eyeballs and feeding them to your members"
The place erupted in pandemonium.
"We must put him down!" Bogdan shot up from his chair, hysterical "I can't bear this! He is but a child and he mocks me this way?!!"
"What has gotten into you, Dragos?" Alexandru looked concerned "Darcia couldn't have raised you to be this way"
"The lad has grown rather mannerless!" Roxana muttered.
"Boy, you had better render me an apology right this instant!" Bogdan yelled in anger.
Dragos was silent for a moment. Then suddenly, he punched a hand through the ancient vampire's chest, ripping out his heart.
The room was plunged into a deafening silence.
He held Bogdan's heart in his hand, showing it to them "Isn't this what you've always wanted of me?!"
Dragos looked terrifying, the aura he exuded, similar to that of their dark lord. No one dared challenge him.
"You feel it, Roxana?" Virina inquired of her sister in a whisper.
"Yes, I feel it, too" she responded.
Dragos threw the heart to the floor. "To strike fear into the hearts of many" he continued. "To display an unimaginable amount of power and show no fear. To be absolutely ruthless. Isn't that what you all have always wanted from me??!"
"Y-you killed Bogdan. You killed one of your superiors. One of your own" Decius responded, staring at the body of his friend.
"And yet not one of you is powerful enough to stop me. The only reason this council remains is because I deem it fit" he stared into their faces "Vanquishing every last one of you will cost me nothing, but I am merciful"
Dragos pointed to Bogdan's lifeless form and stepped over him "I could've given him a more torturous execution but I chose not to, out of respect and mercy. I chose not to humiliate him in front of his people and his place of power"
They remained silent.
"You all shall accept my wishes... unhesitantly. I shall kill however I wish even if the humans are on the very precipice of discovering what we are. Anyone that questions me shall suffer a fate more excruciatingly brutal than Mihail"
He crossed his arms behind him and tilted his head "Now, have I made myself clear or would you like another demonstration?"