Stained By Sin

PROLOGUE

Elara woke up from the rough shaking of her shoulders. Her lids fluttered open, then looked for the source of the unwanted motion. She saw her friend, Arren, by her bedside. Her eyes were wide and urgent, effectively removing any traces of sleep in Elara's system. 

She immediately sat up, taking Arren's hands in hers as she gazed at the other's eyes. 

"What happened?" Elara asked. 

Even before Arren could answer, the scent of blood and sweat filled her senses. Arren opened her mouth to respond to her question but Elara held a finger up to silence her. Closing her eyes, she let her senses take over. 

She centered all her attention to her hearing. Screams of pain, anguish and anger filled her mind, almost making her wince at how loud they were. 

Elara opened her eyes and looked at Arren, who was kneeling before her, biting her lips nervously. It seemed like she wanted to run away, to escape, but couldn't because Elara had not ordered it yet. 

"Who dared invade the house of the Crows?" she asked Arren, anger flaring in her system. 

"This ambush is led by the Ivorys. They bought other clans with them, but it seemed like they were the ones who planned this." Arren's voice shook, her hands fidgeting more frequently now. 

As much as she liked this girl, Elara had to fight the urge to roll her eyes at this show of fear. 

Well, whatever. Time to move. 

"Where's Somi?" Elara asked as she stood up and simultaneously dropping her nightgown on the floor. Knowing exactly what to do, Arren stood up to fetch Elara's fighting clothes in her closet. 

"She's guarding the hallway. She'll come here if she sees any Ivorys nearby to warn us." Arren helped Elara with her clothes, slipping the loops of her top in her arms and securing the locks behind her back. 

Fighting clothes weren't really necessary. However, Elara loves to fight in minimal clothing because her movements weren't restricted. And in this case, she had to fight with everything she had. Her clan's survival was on the line, and she'll be damned if she lets her own people die. 

After she quickly finished wearing her clothes, she took her weapons from her drawer and secured it in her body. Wearing only skin-tight black shorts, tube-like metal-plated black top, black leather jacket and black combat boots, she stepped out of her room to join the battle.

As soon as she stepped out of her room, she immediately saw Somi running in their direction, her face a mask of fear. 

"They're here!" she screamed. 

Elara felt her body coil in preparation of a fight. She sprinted towards Somi, wanting to pull her to safety and face the intruders instead. But before she could reach the female, she saw Somi's eyes widened, her lips parting in shock before she crumpled down on the floor. Elara immediately took the throwing knife she fastened on her hips and threw it blindly ahead, trusting only her instincts, knowing her knife will reach its mark. 

Sure enough, Elara heard another thump from the distance, as if someone fell on the ground. Probably dead. 

She went towards Somi, taking her body in her arms, cradling her like a kid. 

"Somi," she called, shaking the girl, trying to wake her up. However, Somi remained motionless.

A sob escaped Elara's lips. No... she couldn't cry yet. Crying means acceptance, and she refuse to accept what's in front of her. 

"Dammit," she whispered. Clutching Somi's body tightly one last time, she let the girl go and stood up. She turned to face Arren, whose face had gone completely pale. Arren stared at Somi's lifeless body, hands covering her mouth. 

"Let's move," Elara instructed but Arren remained still. "Arren, come on!" 

Arren's head snapped up as she looked at Elara. She was already crying, making Elara want to curse again. 

Damn this. She had no choice. She'll have to leave Arren behind or risk getting killed trying to protect her. 

"Arren, listen. This place is at the farthest end of the mansion. Chances are slim that the invaders would find it anytime soon. I'm going to leave you here, so hide inside my room, then try to find a chance to escape. If in case the enemies find you, I have lots of weapons in my room so try to kill them all. Understood?" Elara spoke in rush, wanting to leave this hallway already. She could hear her people dying and she needs to be there, fighting with them.

Slowly, Arren nodded. 

"Now, go!" she snapped, making Arren move faster. She ran towards Elara's room and locked herself inside. 

Once Arren was out of sight, Elara ran as fast as she could to where majority of the sounds were coming from. It led her to the ballroom, the biggest part of the house. 

As soon as she entered the room, Elara let out a series of curses that would probably make a normal person's ear bleed. 

Blood filled the room. The scent of it was so strong, she didn't know if it made her feel hungry or nauseated. The large room was full of armored vampires, their fangs bared against each other in pure fury. Colors of black, white and red mingled together in an elegant but terrifying way. The flowing black hair of her clan against the pale blonde of those who invaded their sanctuary, with the bloodied walls as the backdrop.

Rage consuming her, Elara let out a battle cry and joined the war. 

The enemies swarmed her at once, attacking her almost at every side. If it wasn't for her long time experience of fighting, she probably would not survive this room for even a second. 

Daggers, arrows and swords were flung at her all at once. Dodging the arrow that was aimed for her head, Elara blocked the sword that was about to go straight through her heart with her bare hands. She grabbed the sword at the edge and pulled it away from its wielder. She immediately dropped the sword as she felt her skin burn. 

"Silver. f**k," she muttered as the pain made her wince. She looked at the owner of the sword and saw him smirking at her. 

Arrogant prick. 

She saw him dive for his sword. She had to admit that he was fast, but she was faster. Before he could even touch the grip of sword, she kicked it and sent it flying towards him, impaling him. 

Elara wasted no time to celebrate the death of that annoying guy. She kept throwing her daggers at anyone within her line of sight. Not one of her throws missed, and she made a mental note to gloat about it later. 

She was in the middle of cutting another vampire's throat with a silver knife she found on the floor when she heard a familiar voice screamed. 

"Xian," she whispered, her heart suddenly pounding unusually fast. 

No, no... they couldn't have found him, have they? Xian's room was made hidden, so no outsider could find it. No... they couldn't have...

Instantly, Elara ran and left the battle. As she ran, she tried to pick up Xian's scent and followed it. Though her first instinct was to go to his room, she couldn't afford to make any mistakes. She had to find him at first try.

The enemies still went after her, even as she fled the ballroom, slowing her down. Pissed, and in a state of panic, Elara threw her daggers wildly, not caring if it went cleanly through the heart or not. She didn't need to kill them. She just have to make sure they couldn't slow her down. 

Sure enough, she went out of the room without any of the other vampires getting near her. She ran even faster now, the scent of her brother becoming stronger.

Finally, she reached Cairo's room. Xian's scent was inside, and it made her let out a sigh of relief because Xian would probably be safer with Cairo than with her. If she was a skilled fighter, her older brother even more. Still, she had to see with her own eyes that Xian was safe. 

Slowly, Elara opened the bedroom door and went in.

Elara stepped inside the room at the exact moment that a silver sword pierced her Cairo's heart. Her eyes went wide, a loud scream escaping her lips.

Her brother turned to look at her. He raised his hand as if to reach out for her, but his lips mouthed the word, "run". 

Elara stood by the door, frozen, watching helplessly as the life in his brother's eyes leave him. His hands fell limply to his sides as generous amount of blood escaped his lips.

Her brother's attacker pulled his sword out of her brother's heart before -- in one swift motion -- he proceeded to decapitate him, making sure that his brother won't be able to heal himself. 

Elara screamed again, louder than her first, as Cairo's head fell and roll on the ground. She looked up, wanting to erase that memory from her mind, and looked at the other vampire just as he finally took the time to look at her. As soon as their eyes met, she saw how the bloodlust that filled his eyes died down, and was replaced by something she couldn't identify and didn't bother to figure out. 

Hate filled her heart as she stared at the man before him. All she wanted to do was kill him, right there and then, even if it seemed impossible. Cairo was the most skilled among the three children of his father, and if this man managed to defeat him, she had no chance of winning at all. But it didn't matter though. She didn't care if she dies in the process, she had to kill this guy.

Then, Elara suddenly thought of their baby brother, Xian. She had to get to him and escape this place, first. She had to find him. 

She could avenge Cairo's death later. She needed to prioritize the living brother. 

Finally deciding to push her thirst for this man's blood away, she looked away from him and took a step back, preparing to run. That's when she saw the figure lying motionless behind the man. She couldn't have mistaken that small figure… those clothes that she made for him. 

Xian laid lifeless on the ground, blood pooling around him. 

A huge wave of grief went through her. She looked at the other vampire again, her gaze oozing with hatred. She let out a loud shriek, reason finally leaving her system. 

At her scream, her brothers' killer seemed to have finally gained his wits back. He started towards her, raising his sword. 

Half-crazed with fury and grief, Elara ran straight towards the vampire without any weapon on hand. It took the other vampire off-guard and stood frozen as Elara grabbed his arm and dug her nails in his skin. 

"I will kill you," she said in a guttural voice, her nails digging even deeper, fangs bared at the other. Her gaze immobilized the man, standing motionless and under her mercy. Elara stood on her tiptoes to close the distance between their faces, wanting to send her message clearly. 

She let her eyes wander around the face of the vampire in front of her, memorizing each and every inch of his face, embedding it to her memory. She took in his almost silver hair, his silver eyes, the sharpness of his jaw, the firm set of his lips... and the cruel look in his eyes. 

She would never forget the face of this guy. Never. 

Leaning a bit more towards him, Elara whispered against his ear, her voice dripping with venom. "I will so f*****g kill you. Just wait."