Bloody Twilight

I could hear myself breath but I couldn't open my eyes. Where I'm I? Who I'm I? Whatever I was lying on was very soft. I felt damp sweaty and I was sure sticky. The air around me was cool. Something was covering my body; I could only feel the cool air on my face. It sounded like it was raining. I could hear the splattering of raindrops rattling against something.

Wait! I can't move! My body was stiffer than a log. I tried opening my eyes again but to no avail, they felt too heavy to move. I tried shifting a finger, even a twitch but nothing. I mentally touched my toes, I wasn't wearing any shoes but whatever was covering me was covering my toes as well. Then I heard something, 'what was that?' It was a rattling sound. I stopped trying to move but my heartbeat quickened. Next I heard a thump, then the sound of footsteps. The rattling sound of the rain against the glass was subsiding and the sound of the footsteps became louder. Thump! thump! thump! It was getting closer, and then it stopped. I don't know how long I lay there, listening for another sound when I felt a finger brush against my cheek. Okay, that's when I started to panic...

With all the mental strength I had, I willed all the muscles in my body to contract, nothing. I felt it again, the light brush of someone's finger against my cheek. I was immediately thrown into a panic and without even trying; I pushed myself up. I drew in a long shaky breath, my heart was racing. There was darkness all around me, 'where I'm I?' I rubbed the back of my hands against my eyes and then the fluttering light from a candle lighted up from behind me. Instinctively I looked behind me; two blurry figures stood there, one way larger than the other. I rubbed the back of my hand against my eyes and when I refocused my vision on the figures I discerned two pairs of glowing red eyes. I lost my grip on consciousness-and I think sanity as I fell back to the bed.

It was raining heavily, the window panes rattled with every drop of rain that struck against the glass. I was alone, I always was. Sometimes Leya would come and stay with me throughout the night but that wasn't happening any often.

She and I were the only ones who slept amongst the five of us, but she was also the only one who ever showed any actual emotion. She was thirteen yet I thought her naive, brittle characters could allow her pass for a ten year old.

I was the newest member in the clan, but I wasn't the youngest. I sat on my bed, looking at the stretch of darkness behind the window, and the cold mist that clouded from the sides of the glass. I was thinking about who I was before my impurification. I remembered some of it very vividly, the pain, the numbness, the pungent smell of unknown chemicals and medicines that always hung in the air, the constant urge to vomit, the constant wish for death. Yet the doctors came every day to tell me that death wasn't coming soon, wearing a smile on their faces.

My room was dark; the attic I was forced to stay locked in for two months, I think. The air around me was cold and silent except for the frequent rumbling of thunder and the ticking of the small clock that hung loosely above the window. All I could do in my solace was recall the most recent memories I had before I woke up on this bed.

I remembered the stiff face of the emaciated boy that was very pale it was fair to call him stack white, as he breathed out his last and I couldn't help but feel envious of him; why would death pick him over me? My cancer had spread far beyond his own yet he died first. It was only till when the doctors rushed to his bed and picked up his drip cord that it all made sense. He had removed his drip cord and let himself die.

Dying was preferable than living in that condition anyway. After they took his body away and night fell I had decided to do just the same. The moment the lights in the ward went out, I had said my final prayers; begging God to forgive me for what I was about to do, pulled the needle out of my left hand and waited patiently for death to come.

I remember smiling, I had been happy that soon enough the pain would end. My heart had skipped a beat, then two, then three, and then I was suffocating. It was a rather torturous state and the thought that I had made a mistake crossed my chaotic mind. I had almost started to reach for the cord that was dangling at my side when I chastened myself with the thought of dying a noble death, rather than begging for life and regretting my mistake like a pathetic coward.

The feeling of suffocation came to a stop and then I had felt myself loosing grip on consciousness. If this is what death felt like, then I was more than glad to die. I had let a small smile creep its way onto my face. And as I was finally being pulled away into oblivion the image of my mother had crossed my mind and then just in that moment, I wanted to live again.

The door flung open with a thud. The sound startled me. A stretch of yellow light crossed the room. I turned sharply, ripping my mind out of the reverie, to look at who ever it was. Jhan stood at the door frame. The boy, or should I say young man, could have been six feet five, for all I knew, with a lean build. He always wore big trousers and nothing more than a white tank top-or that was just all I had seen him in. In the past two months. He and Leya had been the only ones I had spoken to. Although I was certain the others had no idea there was a fifth vampire amongst them.

"Doing alright?" He asked, without hinting off the slightest trace of care. Unlike Leya who always seemed concerned about how I felt. I guess she didn't like the idea of my imprisonment.

"Err... Yeah, I'm good." I answered inscrutably. If by good I meant gawking through the open window, waiting for the girl to jog by, then yes. I was good.

I didn't even know who she was, but when ever she jogged by I was already face-pressed against the glass, ready to stare. She once stopped, spotting me and met my gaze. I had expected her to turn away and jog off, but instead, she waved and smiled. I had ducked under the windowsill right after that, peeping a few seconds to see that she had jogged away. Like a child.

I had seen her a few times after that, either in a red car or just taking a morning jog, I was careful not to let her see me stalk her jog past the street every morning. And today was no different, I was ready at my window post to stare at her golden hair as she went past.

Her appearance warmed me up. The feeling sparked a new kind of life in me.

Jhan turned to leave. But there was something I had on my mind about my new family. I knew they were at home. I could hear them talk and laugh from the parlour below. The rough voice, I had identified to Jereum, had just made a joke about dumping Leya in the middle of a place called East valley and I could hear the lighter, feminine voice I had identified to be Tia, guffaw in response.

"Can I meet them?" I asked before he turned away.

I could see the lowly lighted figures of their bodies downstairs.

"I can see them downstairs, so..."

He looked perplexed, eyeing me carefully like I had just grown a horn. But I was sure he already knew the answer. We stared at each other for a while before I answered.

"Ever since my... Impurification"-the word was meant to be glorified, said with honour, but to me it was rather demonic-"it's like my hearing has dialled up." He looked at me expectantly as if wanting to hear more. And that wasn't all to it, I could hear ants crawl, the sound of insects buzzing through the air was as if I was standing next to an aircraft that was taking off.

I could not control when it happened but when it did; many other weird things would follow. I would be able to see people as yellowish-reddish figures through the walls and that was how I figured out that there were four others in the house. I would also be able to see much more bluish-whitish figures of furniture like the sharp edges of the table downstairs. At first I had thought that my vision was adjusting to the changes my body had undergone, but as it kept on happening I was forced to believe that this was going to become a permanent part of me.

"Is that all?" He asked.

"No." I answered begrudgingly. "Sometimes I start to see figures and objects through-,"

"-the walls," He said, cutting me off.

"Yes," I said, betraying a hint of surprise. The rain outside was settling, but a few white flashes of lightning could still be seen, alongside the sound of rumbling thunder.

"Is that all?" he asked again, and I was sure that there was nothing more to it. I shook my head but that didn't quench his look of expectancy.

But his looks of surprise did not make me feel in anyway better or proud. His reactions only told me that I was different.

"You can do it... Right?" I asked, "You all can do it?" I sounded nervous but his expression did not change. I did not want to be the odd one by any chance.

"Jhan!!!" A female voice-Tia-cried from below. We both looked towards the ground then back at ourselves. If this is the part when he nods to me an closes the door again-as he had been doing for the past two months-then I wasn't going to be locked in here without my voice being heard. But his next words surprised me.

Very slowly, a smile crept its way to his lips, and the edges curled upwards, the combo of the shadow on his face with the smile made him look almost sinister. "Come," he said at once. "I think it's time you meet-,"

"-Tia, Jereum and Leya." I said and I could clearly see that he was stung by my omniscience. He moved his lips as if to say something but I quickly added. "I can hear their voices and so-,"

"-you could hear them call each other's names."

If this had become a game of finishing each other's sentences, I was more than happy to play along.

I stood up from my bed, I wasn't sure if he meant what he said but I wasn't going to take any chances. I had already familiarized myself with the house so I needed no guidance.

The first door to my attic-room was right next to Jhan's. Tia's, Jereum's and Leya's rooms were at the end of the corridor where a staircase led downstairs to the other parts of the house. I reached the end of the corridor-Jhan's loud steps against the floor boards thumping behind me-and started down the poorly lit stairwell. A bulb attached to the walls, behind yellow decorated glass, poorly illuminated my way but I had no problem seeing. I could perfectly at dark but I watched my steps so I do not miss a step and end up tumbling down all the way-what a memorable first impression that would make.

I could now see, to the left, the stretch of a room at the beginning of the stairs below. I suddenly felt uneasy and nervous. I could only see them in the form of lighted figures; I had never actually seen their faces. I reached the beginning of the stairs and looked into the parlour. Three vampires stood behind the short black table. Leya, who had been secretly keeping me company in my room for the past months, did well to feign surprise. A low hanging chandelier was the only source of dim light for the room, and the red walls did well to add an occultic contrast to it all. Three black sofas, that could accommodate two people at once, were set adjacent each other. One sofa behind them and facing me, the other at their sides.

The girl at the left, who I immediately identified to be Tia, looked no more than eighteen. Straight long brown hair, blues eyes rosy cheeks... Just as I had imagined her to be, except for the white crop top and close-fitting grey leggings she wore-I had always imagined her in girlie dresses. Jereum, who was almost the height of Jhan, was now eyeing me carefully. His unkempt black hair-that was no darker than his gaze-looked as if it hadn't been combed for ages. I looked straight into his dark eyes; he was glaring so intensely that it was hard for me to look him in the eye without goose bumps rising on my skin, so I traced my gaze down to his scanty beard, then to the brown long-sleeved leather jacket he wore over a black sweat shirt.

Tia was smiling so brightly now and Leya was feign smiling as well. Jereum just continued his hate glower and I was sure of the fact that I was not going to get along with him in anyway.

Jhan, who was standing behind me, cleared his throat loudly. I wasn't expecting a whole introduction but I was fine if it meant I would no longer be locked up in that dark, creepy attic for another two months.

"Everyone, this is Kaldar. I'm sure you knew of his presence in the...err... attic."

Even he found it hard to accept the cruelty of containing someone in such a place.

"Nice to meet you Kaldar," said Leya in the most excited voice she could muster which still sounded very well fake to me.

"He's... Beautiful." Tia said, and I tried at that moment, as hard as I could, not to look at her, but failed. Nobody said anything else and apart from Tia's wide grin the only other thing that made me more uneasy was the continuous deathly glare Jereum was intensely focusing on my head.

Jhan continued, "He's the newest in our clan and so he doesn't know anything about our customs and way of life by the higher court."

"How old are you?" Jereum sneered. I couldn't understand how someone could hate somebody they had just met.

"I'm nineteen." I could remember one of the doctors, a female, telling me that I may live up to two decades by the years end. But for the specific date of my birthday, I had no idea.

"I'm Jereum, chronologically I'm a hundred and three but I was impurified when I was twenty-two, and I'm your superior so you take orders from me. You understand!?"

I couldn't do anything but nod, if that was what it took to get some fair treatment from him then I was willing to do it.

"This is Tia," said Jereum, and her smile increased length-it made me wonder just how far the corner of one girls mouth could stretch before reaching her eyes. "She's seventy seven and this one here"-he roughly patted Leya on the head-"Is Leya, she's thirteen and she's an Abnormal." He said the word with a sneer so intense it was as if he wore talking about a dirty stray, rabid cat. But Leya just smiled nervously and I smiled back at her, she was swaying to either side slowly it made the rims if the yellow night dress she wore to brush against her thin ankles.

Tia, whose hands had been locked behind her back, was now brushing away stray strands of hair from her face with a finger. The girls gaze was alluring, I tried my best to avoid her eyes.

The sound of Jhan's voice startled me, "There's one more thing I need y'all to know about our new blood." And I knew what Jhan was about to say before he even said it, the excitement in his voice was so overwhelming it filled this grim and ghostly looking room with brightness. "Kaldar is a Supreme."

I watched as their faces pinched with an intensity I could not make out-Tia's face stretched with excitement and Jereum's face was contorted with an entanglement of confusion and hate. The only people in the room that seemed excited about hearing this was Leya and Jhan, because I myself was actually getting scared of the unknown I had become.

TUESDAY.

It's been three weeks since Jhan had introduced me to my new family. Tia had told me everything I needed to know about the house; they had been living in it for forty years, but she was brought here fifty-three years ago. It had been just Jhan and Jereum before Tia's impurification fifty-three years ago and lastly Leya, who was impurified just nine months ago. She told me that vampires found it very hard to have emotions as love or affection except a minority which were called living vampires but they were been dubbed Abnormals. They were also visibly less pale than other vampires.

We could also recover from grave injuries and could grow back entire limbs. Today was a Tuesday, Jhan and Jereum were not at home when I woke up. It had been a very boring day up on till evening. Leya was at the back of the house-tending to a small garden she took pleasure in.

I was sitting on one of the sofas, waiting for Jhan to come back from wherever he went so I could bombard him with the mountain of questions I had mentally piled. I was still in pyjamas, the light blue colour of the material gave a nice contrast to my dark skin.

My mind had been wrapped about what Jhan said. 'I am a Supreme,' but I had no idea of what he could mean by that. The attic was officially my bedroom now, the house had run out of rooms, Tia had told me to stay in her room but I humbly declined the offer.

Something touched my shoulders, or someone, startling me. I jut my head and spotted Tia's brown hair. She walked from where she had mysteriously appeared behind me to the other side of the sofa and sat behind me. She was also still in pyjamas. I kept my gaze on the small table that was places in the middle of the three sofas. A white ornate vase was set upon it with bunch of fresh flowers I assumed Leya had put there.

"I don't sleep, these are just very comfy," Tia said, brushing her hands over the silky material of the pyjamas she wore and I completely ignored her.

"How are you doing?" Her voice was soft and caring. I didn't know how to answer the question; the fact that I could not remember anything from my past except that I was a cancer patient would trouble anyone. Nobody gave me any answers and when I had tried asking Leya, she said Jhan would be able to help me. Now someone asks how 'I'm doing'?

"I can take you to the playground later... It's this place where vampires meet to test our strength and other abilities."

I pretended not to hear her although I did like the idea.

She heaved out a breath. "You must have a lot of questions... I can help you." I turned to meet her blue orbs. She gave a small smile which I did not return.

But I did have some questions.

"So you-we cannot tolerate sunlight?" I asked, I remembered Leya had told me something like that. She did not answer instead she stood up and headed for the windows. 'What is she doing?' I asked myself.

On reaching the closed windows she turned around and looked at me. I looked at her, we just stared at each other for about five seconds-she was beautiful. I had almost gotten lost in her pretty blue eyes when she very suddenly pried apart the curtains. Rays of golden sunlight kissed her skin and for a second nothing happened. But suddenly she let out an ear defending shriek.

Her skin seemed to be blistering and evaporating off into the air as some kind of whitish steam. I stood pinned to spot, shell-shocked but on seeing get start to fall I easily skipped over the sofa, catching her before she hit the floor and closing back the blinds to prevent the dangerous rays from doing any more damage. The skin on her face and neck looked like it had been burned with fire. I watched the scorched skin start to heal, slowly the blisters faded until it was all gone. Her light skin vibrant again. 'Not a single drop of blood', I noticed.

"That's what happens when we go into sunlight," she mumbled while taking the seat I had previously occupied.

She had recovered so quickly from those burns and was already full of energy.

"Who was I?" I asked. Tia didn't answer, she just looked at me, allowing akward silence to seep in.

"You were dying of a cancer when Jhan found you," I was about to ask her how he found me when I was in a hospital but she continued, "It's how we keep up the population, we vampires don't just impurify anyone. You see, we give people a choice," her voice dropped lower than a whisper but I could still hear every word she said clearly.

"So he was there on purpose..." I reasoned to myself. "But I don't understand so you ask people before impurifying them?"

"Not just anyone, people who are dying-who want so desperately to live," she said.

"But how could you tell?" I asked her.

"The mind's-eye," she said it as if those three words had magically endowed me with all the knowledge I needed to know.

"Jhan is gifted, he has an ability only few vampires possess; the ability to read and manipulate someone's thoughts and memories," she said.

This sounded all too crazy to be true.

"But he says it's more complicated than that, truth is we without it can never really understand how it works."

"So what you are saying is that, 'I' decided to be impurified?"

She nodded stiffly.

"But why?" I muttered to myself, I knew I wanted to die before I pulled the drip cord, but of course no one knew that.

"You know..." She drew closer to me, "I can help you figure out what you want to know."

'Even if I wanted to leave this house to figure it out, Jhan will never let me, unless I sneak out,' The thought was tempting, I could sneak out and go to the hospital... 'I don't remember which hospital it was.'

My heart skipped a beat, and I remembered suffocating on that hospital bed again which made me wonder; how did I get to that hospital in the first place? 'Didn't I have a family? Parents? Siblings? A whole life probably? School, friends? Places I loved visiting, foods I loved eating, TV shows I loved watching. Or was my life was always hooked up to a life supporter, had I always had cancer throughout my life?' The thoughts came crashing into my head and I shrunk at the possibility. My mind was racing, I felt like an empty void had opened inside me

"If you want I could ask Jhan about-,"

"No, it's okay I'll ask him myself." I couldn't risk anyone figuring out that I wanted to know about my past life, because then, they'll keep a closer eye on me. I needed to gain their trust so I could sneak away and figure it out myself.

I glanced at her, clearly reluctant to ask the question but desperate for a change of topic, "So... Tell me about yourself?" She seemed stunned by the question.

"You want to know about me?" She asked, smiling brightly.

I nodded, ignoring her enthusiasm.

"Well, when Jhan found me I was a victim of a car crash, a trailer from the opposite direction hit our SUV"-okay, I was beginning to regret asking the question now-"and didn't stop, we were going on a family vacation... My family was killed. I had to watch my sister bleed to death." Her voice had dropped even lower and she didn't try to hide the sadness in it. "And I couldn't do anything because both my legs were crushed."

"I'm sorry..." Dread filled me up at the thought of young Tia watching her family die while slowly dying on her own. My imagination had already pictured everything out and for a moment I was the one watching my imaginary family die.

But she kept on going, "I was at the verge of death but then Jhan came. He told me that I was dying and that I had less than five minutes to choose between life as an impurified vampire or a peaceful death. He made it so clear that I choose life, I would become a demonic creature. A blood drinking vampire."

She paused and I saw the glistening light of tears at the corners of her eyes. The room was so quiet now it was like even the air around us listened in.

"I chose life of course. I knew I needed to get revenge for my family. And right after I made my choice I woke up in this house; in my room." She finished and there was a long pause. I wanted to apologize again but then I decided to ask her another question.

"Did you get your revenge?" I asked her slowly.

She straightened her back, frowning. "Of course I did, Jhan helped me locate him. It was an eye for an eye; he took away the ones I loved, I took away his family.

There was something to her aura. Some darkness that covered her features, made her look dangerous as she spoke about her revenge.

"I'm so sorry Tia," I said, feeling hurt for her.

I didn't know which surprised and shocked me more; her clear expression of deep pain and emotion for or the cruel dark nature of what she did to that trailer driver's family. They didn't deserve what came to them, although the trailers driver did. I dithered on the thought of to which side would her actions be justified; killing the trailers driver and putting his innocent family in pain, or killing his innocent family and enacting an eye for an eye justice on him.

The door opened and the stiff sound of boots against the floor could be heard. Tia abruptly made her way up the stairs, probably not wanting the Jhan and Jereum to her in that state.

At the same time Leya bustled in through the supposed back door holding a wet dripping shrub in left, yellow rubber gloved, hand. Her long blonde hair dropped with water and she was still in a light-blue night dress. She stopped short at the sight of us. I looked at Jereum, whose face was contorted with a mixture of anger and disgust. Seizing the distraction, I stood up quickly to make up the stairs.

"Kaldar."

'Hell!'

I stopped and turned around to face them. They were both dressed in brown leather jackets, black denim jeans and black boots.

"We need to introduce you to the higher court."

I raised an eyebrow, mimicking what he does, and saw the annoyance start to build up in Jereum's face as he contorted his face in the same way he did with Leya who was still standing at the spot she had been, her big brown eyes looked even bigger today.

Taking advantage of the distraction, (something I had failed in doing) she brushed past me, scurrying up the stairs with the dripping shrub still in her left hand.

"Now? Or..." I asked, hoping that he'd say 'No, tomorrow I was just informing you'.

"Of course now! Or do you have something better to do?" Jereum spat.

'I do you moron!' The thought was satisfying.

"Unfortunately we do, the higher court wants to meet you and their word is law," Jhan said, "Jereum would give the duds.

The air outside was chilly however the cold had no effect on me. Jereum had given me the same brown jacket and black boots he and Jhan had on from his minimalistic room and I wore an additional black long sleeve underneath the jacket. Everyone else was dressed similarly. Leya wore a yellow rain coat over her smaller jacket and long black socks, and Tia wore black joggers trousers. We had all gotten into a small black minivan. Tia had told me it was given to us by the higher court, but I was yet to grasp who or what the higher court actually was. Tia started a conversation with Jereum so I took the opportunity to exchange small talk with Leya who sat beside me and had her attention on a firefly that had somehow gotten into the car and landed on her nose.

"Leya..."

She turned her head-the firefly beep-flew out the window only to be swept by the wind the rushed by.

"So... How old is Jhan?" I asked her. He had to be the oldest amongst us.

She looked at me for about five seconds, each passing second only made me regret asking the question.

"He's a hundred and sixty," she said simply.

My mouth fell open, I had guessed a hundred at most.

Staring out of the window was the only thing I could do to keep my mind busy. Light from the street lamps flashed by, creating a rythmic pattern of brights and dims. We drove past a car that was moving in the opposite direction and I had only about a second to look at the driver but that was enough. I had got every detail of her face. Her bright blue eyes, golden blonde hair, smooth skin. I had seen it all in that second. It captivated me. She captivated me.

It was the stranger that waved at me. I stretched over Leya, staring after the girls red sedan, not even knowing why she caught my attention so much.

'Is she a vampire?' I asked myself the question.

"Kaldar?" It was Tia, I barely heard her the first few times-I was too engrossed in the thoughts of the mystery girl.

"Kaldar!" she said more persistently. That was enough to seize my attention.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just"-and the face of the girl settled on the front of my thoughts-"Never mind. Yeah, what is it? Tell me about the blood-that's what you wanted to tell me... Right?" Tia could read me like a book. I had to make something up.

"Yeah, sure. The blood," she said, eyes scanning the path down the glass I was gawking at.

"Okay, the blood are our higher court, they are among the oldest living vampires and also responsible for making our laws-"

With a sudden loud thump, the minivan spun shortly before screeching to an abrupt stop; throwing Leya forward, and Tia to the left, making her shoulder crash into mine. I heard Jereum curse angrily a few times and then I heard Jhan trying to calm him down.

"Is everyone okay?" Jhan asked. His voice surprisingly calm.

'Did we get hit or something? Did the brakes fail?'

"All good." Tia confirmed as she pulled herself from me. Leya just looked vaguely dazed by the whole accident.

I heard the front door open and in a flash, Jereum was out of the car, bellowing curses at some figures a distance away.

"What's going on?" I asked to no one in particular. My heart was pounding and I did all I could to suppress the fear in me but I was already finding it difficult to breath.

"Tia!? What's going on?" I asked in a controlled voice.

She hissed, "It's the dalaz boys." 'Or at least that's what I heard.'

I looked through the right side window-the car had swerved sideways. I easily spotted about seven figures and an angered Jereum drawing closer to them with every curse he threw. The street lamp that shun above, casted gloomy shadows around them. They stood beside each other, giving only about a meter of space between themselves. They hung their hooded heads low, their hands held at their sides wielding wooden stakes.

"They're an all males clan, their leader had a conflict with Jhan a while ago now they won't let us use their side of town to get to the higher court. And this is the shortest route."

Despite their weapons Jereum still closed in, as if they were unarmed.

"They're holding weapons, why won't he stop? Can't they hurt him?" But nobody seemed to pay any attention to what I was saying.

"They're young, Jereum can handle them," Tia said, but I wasn't convinced. The odds of the situation if it excavated into a fight did not seem to be in Jereum's favour. And this was not a friendly encounter.

I couldn't just sit by and let this happen. I pushed open the door towards Tia side and hopped onto the tarred road. I heard Tia call after me but I was already closing in on Jereum. The air was chilly-compared to the warmer air in the minivan. Jereum was very close to the tyrant in the middle now-only about a meter of space between him and the black dressed bandit.

"You tyrants better get you Abnormal asses off this road before I tear you to SHREADS!!!" His voice suddenly became inhumane.

He took a quick leap forward, launching the sole of his boot into the mid-section of the unfortunate that was front of him.

The hooded figure went tumbling back towards the ground and finally stopped after a few meters of painful rolling. It surprised me greatly. The attack-which looked like a simple kick-sent the person tumbling a great deal through the air before finally trashing himself and rolling over against the tar.

One of the tyrants-one to the left-tried in an attempt to stab Jereum with the wooden stake he held... But failed; Jereum caught his hand by the wrist, lifting the tyrant off the ground and threw him with an incredible force against the building to the right. The tyrant slammed into the concrete walls, breaking off parts of it on collision, and dropping to the ground.

I was amazed by his unexpected skills. Maybe this was the reason the others didn't even bother. Jereum should have been a master combatant.

The remaining five that were still on their feet hissed at him as they took cautionary steps back. All their pupils seemed to be giving off a reddish glint and I could see their prolonged canines.

What happened next all happened so fast; one of the tyrants conjured a small phial bottle. The tyrants threw the bottle at Jereum's face. The bottle shattered on Jereum's face and immediately the skin on his face started to burn. Jereum fell to his knees and let out an ear deafening shriek, clutching at his melting face.

One of the tyrants sent a big boot into Jereum's chest which sent his head slamming into the tar-cracking the solid ground. The tyrant swung the stake back and then brought his hands crashing through the air and towards Jereum's chest.

My heart raced as I watched in horror, I clenched my fists as angered filled my veins. In a crack I sped towards the assault it was like I had warped through space and just somehow teleported in front of the tyrant. I pushed him back with a strength I didn't even know I had. The tyrant was thrown into the air, soaring about fifty meters back.

"Woah!" I exclaimed.

I let out a grunt in agony as a sharp pain lanced through the spot between the base of my neck and my left shoulder.

"Argh!" I screamed. I looked at the area and I saw the latter of a stake that had pierced so deeply into my body. The skin around the stake started to burn. A beast-like power spawned in my chest and it was banging to be released on them.

I looked at the rest of them. The red glint in their eyes was gone and all I could see in place was... Fear.

"What are you?" One of them asked.

"Can he be a Su-supreme?"

At that point I was filled with so much rage my thinking seemed to be clouded.

"WHO DID IT???" I bellowed, sending my first to anothers face, and I heard his nose crush.

A loud cracking sound came from behind me and a sudden powerful force sent me tumbling backwards. I slid across tar, ripping and breaking a path as I scythed backwards.

I was almost dazed; it was a struggle to get back my on feet and now there was only one thing on my mind; to rip apart whoever had hit me. I saw the others; Tia, Leya and Jhan. They were out of the car and approaching my assailant; Jhan was mouthing something to me but the rage that filled me clouded my sense. My attacker was dressed in a red robe with golden embroidery designs and hood over his or her head.

I jumped at the hood, everything had paused all around me or was just moving too slow.

I was speeding through the air with my fist outstretched. I was only about an inch away from victory but then... The vampire turned around with an incomprehensible speed, getting below me and grabbing me by the jacket. Pulling, throwing and sending me with my own velocity head first into the hard cold tar. My head smashed into the ground, I heard the words, "insolent child," and I instantly lost my grip on consciousness.

Light filtered through my lashes, 'I'm I dead?' A buzz filled my ears, a low buzz that was changing and was slowly becoming the sound of Tia's voice. My head felt like the right side of it had caved in. Good thing the back of my head was rested on something softer than the bed I lay on.

The buzz was clearing up now, and I could make out Leya's childish whining and Jereum's harsh tone as he scolded her.

"What's happe...?" My voice trailed off and I could her Tia shushing everyone else. I forced my eyes open, and a bright light entered my eyes. I winced and I heard Leya apologize quickly.

"Are you alright? Do you remember anything?" Tia asked, and if not for the fact that I couldn't move more than half of my face I would have glared at her.

The light dimmed and I saw four faces above me, the closest being Tia's. They all wore worried looks except for Jereum; his face was blistered like he had been harshly exposed to sunlight, and the red blistered didn't seem to be healing. I tried raising my hands but felt the weight that was upon them. 'What?'

I felt a bone snap back into place, and then I could feel muscles pull and stitch themselves back together. The right side of my face was beginning to feel more alive.

Then I remembered, 'That tyrant!'

The anger from before was returned to me.

"Stop!" Said Jhan, and somehow I knew he was talking to me. He had been in my mind or had just sensed my shifting emotion.

"What do you me-ean?" I asked.

"Your insolence and stubborn behaviour is what put you in this state."

I could now feel my teeth beginning to grow back.

"I'm sho-shory." It was really hard to talk with more than half of your teeth smacked out of your mouth. Jhan didn't answer, I could see him from my peripheral vision, he pulled Leya, and Jereum followed, out of wherever we were and I heard a door shut behind them.

I felt Tia's warm touch on my face. I had forgotten she was still here and it had just occurred to me that my head was rested on her thighs. I looked up, at her. She looked worried. I jammed my jaws together-all my teeth had grown back.

My face felt good as new, except for my right eye ridge. I could put my head up now, but I liked resting on her thighs. As much as I hated to admit it, I enjoyed her company too.

She gently stroked a line down the side of my face. I felt a rush of warmth fill me up and my heartbeat started to pick up. 'No, I can't be enjoying this.'

I tried lifting my head, but a sharp pain at my neck cancelled out the thought.

"You were stabbed with a six inches long stake." She gently touched the sore area.

"It takes longer for wood inflicted injuries to heal," she said and I grunted in reply. The last thing I remember were the words 'insolent child.'

Could have that not been a tyrant and instead a member of the higher court?

There was silence around me, and for a brief moment I felt just pure anger at myself. But I still needed to get answers.

Glancing at Tia, who was looking down at me, I asked, "What happened after I... Who was that person?"

She didn't answer; instead she drew her brows to a frown and looked intensely at me.

"That was an adjudicator for the higher court. A person who represents them and settles conflicts between rival clans-" she glanced away"-she was also a supreme."

"She?" I spat immediately. A haughty looked covered her face.

"Of course she or you think girls aren't strong enough?" she asked firmly.

"No, no. That's not what I meant...er...it's just that I didn't see her clearlier."

I watched her from the corner of my eyes, she returned to her normal calm expression.

"Where are we?" I asked her.

"Well... You are to be detained here, in this cell, until your penalty has been evaluated."

I looked around the room, a cabinet, well painted red walls, a wall clock, a study desk and lamp with a chair. Looked more like a bedroom to me

"Penalty? For what?" I asked, contorting my renewed face with disgust.

"For attacking an adjudicator," she said simply.

She continued stroking the side of my face slowly and it didn't bother me, in fact, I liked it. I felt her other hand fiddling with my hair and put together with her soothing voice, it was rather calming.

I was nervous to ask the next question, "Will they err... Kill me or-"

"No, never!" She said grimly and I saw the flash of a red glint in her eyes. Silence fell between us again. She was warmer than usual, her temperature was higher.

"Your temperature is up," I said.

"It happens when we drink blood," she said, "first you feel the warmth in your mid, and then it spreads all over your body."

"Oh..." I said, "So if we drink blood we get warmer?"

"Yes but it also depends on the quantity and type of blood you drink; you see human blood is the best, and it rises our temperatures the fastest, unlike animal blood that does the job a lot slower."

She held the side of my face in her palm so I was looking straight up at her, she was breathtakingly beautiful. I stared into her eyes and for a moment I felt completely safer with her.

"Tia, when you said that we couldn't feel love or care; what did you really mean?" I asked her. She seemed taken aback by my question.

"Well... What I actually meant is that, we don't readily show those emotions Kaldar. In fact, we rarely fall in love-"

"So we can fall in love?" I asked her.

"Yes," She said simply, and I was more than satisfied with the answer.

I felt the touch of her fingers on my chest, and that's when I realized that I wasn't wearing my jacket or shirt. They must have removed it to tend to the stab wound. She slowly drew circles with her fingers on my chest. I tried as hard as I could not to look at her.

She trailed up her hand and used her thumb to gently brush my jaw line. She was still looking down at my face though.

"Are you with Jereum?" I heard the question like it was someone else who had asked it not me.

"No, no he's my distant cousin."

"What!?" I asked, clearly shocked on knowing this.

"Why would you even think that?" She asked perplexed and a rush of shame and embarrassment washed over me.

'Well maybe because of the way he looks at you or the way he hate-glares at me whenever you are being nice to me.'

But now that I thought about it, I had no solid proof that they were together in anyway.

I was glad when the door suddenly opened. Tia didn't stop caressing my face with her fingers as Jhan walked in.

He stopped just right in front of us, seeming not to notice what she was doing as he looked straight at me totally ignoring Tia.

"I handled the issue with the higher court, and given the fact that you are still very young and was acting on impulse, they have agreed to press no penalties on you." He walked closer to me and, with one hand, squeezed a side of my shackles till the cast iron broke right off.

He did the same for the other and I lifted my hands, rubbing my right wrist with my left hand.

"Put on your jacket, we still have to introduce you to the higher court and the other clans." He walked out if the room, closing the door behind him.

I looked up at Tia who was looking down at me. We locked eyes and for a moment just stared at each other till she averted her eyes. I slowly brought my head up and sat on the bed.

Tia stood up and walked to the cabinet where my jacket was hung, something I hadn't noticed before.

She picked up the black long sleeve shirt I wore and tossed it to me. I caught it and wore it quickly. I stood up and walked to her. She had the jacket in her hands, turning around she looked up at me. It was funny how she was the one looking up at me now.

"Wear it, no one will notice the hole on the left shoulder pad," she said as she pushed it to me. I collected it and slipped it on.

Jhan opened the door and peeked in. "Let's go."

I walked behind Tia and the three of us walked through a tight corridor before we got to a staircase that led higher up.

I climbed the stairs one at a time, 'This would all be over soon...' but no matter how much I told that to myself I knew that this wasn't going to be a brief meet.

"Stay close to me, Kaldar, and avoid eye contact with anyone." He pushed open the door in front of him and I we followed behind into a large dimly lit room.

Several groups of vampires, about five or even reaching eight in number, stood at small clusters at every corner of the room all wearing either black or brown jackets. I locked eyes with a few but then quickly turned away. I sped up and caught up with Jhan. We walked towards a large, high podium which atop sat seven vampires, cladded in silver and crimson embroidered robes, behind a long table.

Many chandeliers hung way high up; the chandeliers gave enough light for me to see the faces of everyone in the room clearly, which only made me feel more uncomfortable.

The vast hall was quiet except for the sound of our shoes against the white porcelain floors. We stopped just in front of two red robed adjudicators; they hung their heads low so I couldn't see their faces. The room was filled with mild indistinct chatter. I looked up at the vampires I assumed to be the higher court, and not much to my surprise they were all young, looking as in their twenties. One of them that sat a seat away from the extreme left looked even no younger than Leya. An adjudicator appeared at the edge of the podium. A woman.

She looked down at us for a brief moment before she looked at the crowd of clans and raised a hand, shushing the chatter and silence fell upon the room.

She cleared her throat and put both her hands at her back, "The clan of Jhan has brought a new member onto their ranks, Kaldar."

"Kaldar?"

I looked up at her and the beautiful woman's silver gaze.

"Do you consent and devote your life to serving the higher court?" She asked.

I didn't know what to say, was I even supposed to answer the question? She was still looking at me with a bored expression.

"Yes, yes I do," I said nervously and she continued immediately, speaking as if reciting a statement she has said over and over again, "Very well, come up here and place your loyalty."

I looked to either side of the podium, no stairs. 'How was I supposed to get up there?' Without any warning, Jhan grabbed my arm and leaped with me. I was pulled into the air, about a twenty meter jump and then we descended and I landed upon the podium. On landing I felt no shock or force on my knees. It felt like landing from a foot of height and I knew that was not going to be the first bizarre things I would find out about my new form.

Still slightly fuzzy from the high jump, I looked to either side nervously. The adjudicator walked to the back of the podium, returning with a small green bottle in her now gloved hands. She produced a small silver knife from nowhere and that's when I started to feel a little uneasy.

"Now I shall inscribe the mark of the higher court into his flesh by the silver knife, tip dipped in sacred waters."

"Take off your jacket," Jhan said.

'What!?' I thought.

Reluctantly, I took of my jacket and the long sleeve shirt I wore and the adjudicator stepped forward. She put the tip of the silver knife into the mysterious bottle and, when she brought it out, the tip of the knife glistened with the dim light from the chandeliers above.

She stepped closer to me. "This would hurt," she whispered to me with a smirk as she touched the knife on the skin of the area just above my left chest. I groaned slightly in pain, it felt like something was eating deeper and deeper away at my skin.

She was drawing a pattern and she dipped the tip of the knife into the bottle again and continued with whatever she was drawing on my skin.

The pain was becoming unbearable; I almost stepped away at a point but kept still under Jhan's glare. She stopped and I could feel my skin mending itself. She produced a mirror in front of me and I saw what looked like five converging lines tattooed onto my skin.

"Kaldar, of the clan of Jhan, is now officially the newest member of our society and shall now be treated like one of us." There was uproar of cheers and clapping from the crowd below.

A person, adjudicator, landed on the podium. She walked to a member of the higher court, a man seated at the right edge of the table. A low bow and whispered into his ears. His eyes widened and then glowed up slightly.

The eyes of all the other members glowed up as well and then, as if on command, they all turned and looked at me. I looked at Jhan, whose eyes also gave the same whitish hue.

A member of the higher court, a woman who was seated in the middle raised her hand. Silence fell in the vast room.

"Jhan?" The woman said.

Jhan bowed lowly.

"There is something you omitted when you cleared out your youngest blood's actions."

My heart skipped a beat and I felt that sinking, void feeling in my chest.

She didn't wait for Jhan to say anything, "Your clan's newest member, Kaldar single handedly attacked and defeated four members of the Dallas clan, yes?"

A low hubbub filled the room but disappeared as quickly as it came.

"On the bases of self-defence great one," Jhan said, but I knew, we knew that that wasn't where she was driving at.

"And when attacked by one of the tyrants he was stabbed with a wooden stake but still went on in defeating two more of them showing little to no sign of weakness towards the stake that was embedded beside his neck, yes?"

"Yes." Answered Jhan again.

"You," She turned to me, "Are you a supreme?"

The question hit me like a stab to the heart.

"I-I..." I didn't know what to say.

"Are you a Supreme?!" She bellowed.

I looked at Jhan, unsure of what to say. If he omitted that fact it had to be for a good reason, but looking at the situation now, there was nothing else I could say apart from the truth.

"Yes, yes I am a Supreme."

The crowd in front of us immediately erupted in murmurs. Vampires whispered amongst themselves. Most looking at me through different eyes.

The woman raised a hand again and the hubbub seized immediately.

"We shall discuss this is a more private environment, for now. Kaldar, of the clan of Jhan, welcome to our ranks."

I nodded before looking at Jhan who looked equally surprised at the resolve. We got out of the building. It must have been located at the edge of town. Forest trees stood tall around the top manor-like part of the building was above ground.

The car's engine roared to life and in no time we were rolling down the familiar road.

"That went well." Tia said and Jhan nodded while keeping his focus on the road. Jereum had been awfully quiet ever since and Leya looked at the back of his head with pity, probably feeling pained for the torture he had to go through with the holy water.

I resented to staring out the tinted glass, the continuous flashes from the street lamps gently putting me in a trance. It wasn't long before I spotted the red car again. This time for longer. I pressed my face against the glass, eager for a better look at her. Mouth agape. We locked gazes through the glass and time seemed to slow to a pause. It wasn't until the splitting sound of cracked glass shot through the air that I realized how hard I had my face against the window.

I jut away, looking at the crooked white line that started from the base of glass.

"Still nervous?" Tia asked.

I looked at Tia, before realizing that every other person in the van (except for Jhan) were also looking at the new crack in the glass.

"I..." I allowed myself to trail off, surprised at the fact I lost control at my own strength just at her sight.

"You just need to rest." Tia suggested and I nodded in agreement. But I wasn't nervous. The only thing that was on my mind was the face of that girl.