THE FAMILY GATHERING
1728 Words
The Robinson estate sat on the highest part of Ikoyi like a kingdom separated from the rest of Lagos.
Massive black gates surrounded the property. Armed guards stood outside despite the heavy rain pouring from the sky. Security cameras rotated slowly along the walls. Beyond the gates stretched a mansion too large to feel human. Marble pillars. Dark glass windows. Ancient statues brought from forgotten kingdoms.
Power lived there.
Danger lived there.
And tonight, fear lived there too.
Daniel Robinson stepped out of the black SUV and slammed the door behind him. Rain soaked his shirt instantly, but he barely noticed. His mind remained fixed on the hunter inside Club Noir.
The eyes.
The symbols.
The sacred ash.
None of it made sense.
The Crimson Sun hunters disappeared centuries ago. Marcus himself wiped them out during the Benin m******e. That was the story Daniel grew up hearing.
So why were they back?
Lightning flashed across the sky as Daniel entered the mansion.
Inside, silence waited.
No servants moved around.
No music played.
The estate felt dead.
Daniel walked through the long hallway lined with portraits of Robinson ancestors. Men and women with cold expressions stared down from golden frames. Some paintings dated back hundreds of years. Kingdom eras. Colonial times. Military governments.
The Robinsons survived everything.
Because they adapted.
Because they killed threats before those threats could grow.
Daniel reached the main hall and stopped immediately.
The family was already gathered.
Marcus Robinson stood near the fireplace, hands behind his back, dressed entirely in black. Calm as always. Dangerous as always.
Elias sat on one of the leather chairs flipping through an old book covered in strange markings. His expression looked tense.
Zara stood near the window, staring at the storm outside. Unlike the others, she still looked human emotionally. Still soft around the edges.
But tonight even she looked disturbed.
Daniel entered slowly.
“Nobody waited for me?” he asked.
Nobody answered immediately.
Marcus finally turned.
“You embarrassed this family tonight.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“A hunter walked into my club carrying sacred ash.”
“And you exposed yourself publicly.”
“He forced my hand.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“You are four hundred years old, Daniel. Stop behaving like an angry teenager.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Zara crossed her arms.
“He’s right though,” she said quietly. “The livestream is already spreading online.”
Daniel looked at her sharply.
“What livestream?”
Elias picked up a tablet from the table and tossed it toward him.
Daniel caught it.
The screen displayed social media clips from Club Noir.
Blurry videos.
People screaming.
Daniel’s glowing eyes.
His fangs.
Comments flooded beneath the videos.
IS THIS CGI?
THAT MAN IS NOT HUMAN.
DEMON IN LAGOS CLUB.
VAMPIRE?
Daniel cursed under his breath.
Marcus remained calm, but the atmosphere around him darkened.
“The videos are being deleted,” Marcus said. “Our people are handling it.”
“But some already downloaded them,” Zara replied.
Marcus looked at her.
“I know.”
Silence swallowed the room.
Rain battered the windows harder.
Daniel placed the tablet down roughly.
“So what now?”
Elias finally spoke.
“We find out how the hunters returned.”
Daniel frowned.
“You really believe they’re Crimson Sun?”
Elias slowly looked up from the ancient book.
“I know they are.”
Marcus stared at him carefully.
“You’ve been hiding something.”
Elias hesitated.
That alone changed the tension in the room.
Marcus noticed instantly.
“What did you find?”
Elias closed the book slowly.
“Three weeks ago, one of our warehouses in Kano was attacked.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why am I hearing this now?”
“Because Father ordered silence,” Elias replied.
Marcus did not deny it.
Daniel looked between them.
“What was inside the warehouse?”
Elias answered quietly.
“Artifacts.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“What kind of artifacts?”
Nobody spoke immediately.
Then Marcus walked toward the fireplace.
“Ancient objects connected to the origin of our bloodline.”
Daniel blinked.
“You told us those were destroyed.”
“I lied.”
The room went silent again.
Zara slowly turned away from the window.
Even she looked shocked.
Marcus rarely admitted lies.
Daniel stared at his father.
“You kept supernatural artifacts hidden in Lagos?”
“They were protected.”
Daniel laughed coldly.
“Clearly not.”
Marcus ignored the comment.
“One item was stolen during the attack.”
Elias swallowed.
“The Blood Crown.”
The words landed heavily.
Even Zara looked uneasy now.
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“That thing is real?”
Marcus finally looked directly at him.
“Yes.”
Daniel paced across the room.
“This keeps getting worse.”
“The Blood Crown was created during the first ritual,” Elias explained carefully. “It connects directly to the original bloodline.”
Daniel stopped moving.
“You mean our bloodline.”
Elias nodded slowly.
“The hunters believe the Crown awakens something.”
Zara frowned.
“What something?”
Nobody answered.
That frightened her more.
A loud thunderclap shook the mansion.
Suddenly the lights flickered.
Every vampire inside the room went still instantly.
Someone was near the estate.
Marcus sensed it first.
His eyes darkened.
“How many?” Daniel asked quietly.
Marcus closed his eyes briefly.
“Three.”
Elias stood immediately.
“Hunters?”
Marcus nodded once.
Daniel smiled slightly.
Finally.
Action.
He moved toward the hallway, but Marcus stopped him.
“Alive,” Marcus ordered.
Daniel looked disappointed.
“They attacked us first.”
“I said alive.”
Daniel exhaled slowly.
“Fine.”
The mansion alarms suddenly activated.
Red emergency lights flooded the walls.
Zara looked alarmed.
“They breached the outer gate?”
“No,” Marcus said quietly.
His voice changed.
Cold.
Dangerous.
“They’re already inside.”
Daniel vanished instantly.
One second he stood in the hall.
The next second he disappeared into darkness.
Zara stepped backward nervously.
“I hate this family.”
Marcus ignored her and walked calmly toward the security monitors.
The screens showed empty hallways.
Rain.
Static.
Then one camera flashed briefly.
A masked figure stood directly in front of it.
Silver mask.
Black robe.
Crimson symbol on the chest.
Then the screen died.
Elias cursed softly.
“They came prepared.”
Another scream echoed from downstairs.
Human.
One of the servants.
Zara jumped.
Daniel’s roar exploded somewhere deep inside the mansion.
Then silence followed.
Marcus turned toward the staircase.
“Stay here,” he ordered Zara.
“I’m not a child.”
“You’re the weakest among us.”
Zara’s expression darkened instantly.
Marcus regretted the words immediately.
But too late.
Pain flashed across Zara’s face.
She walked away without another word.
Elias sighed quietly.
“You could’ve said that better.”
Marcus kept walking.
“Feelings matter less than survival.”
Downstairs, the estate looked different under emergency lighting.
Dark.
Almost haunted.
Daniel stood near the kitchen entrance holding a hunter by the throat.
The masked figure struggled violently.
Blood covered the walls nearby.
A dead servant lay on the floor.
Daniel’s golden eyes glowed brightly.
“You killed one of ours,” he growled.
The hunter laughed despite choking.
“You monsters kill thousands.”
Daniel slammed him against the wall hard enough to crack marble.
“Careful,” Elias warned while approaching.
Marcus arrived seconds later.
The hunter immediately stopped struggling after seeing him.
Fear entered his eyes.
Real fear.
Marcus noticed.
Interesting.
“You know who I am,” Marcus said calmly.
The hunter remained silent.
Marcus stepped closer.
“Then you also know silence won’t save you.”
Still nothing.
Daniel tightened his grip harder.
Bones cracked.
The hunter groaned in pain.
“Talk.”
The hunter suddenly smiled.
That disturbed Elias immediately.
“Wait,” Elias warned.
Too late.
The hunter bit down on something hidden inside his mouth.
Blood poured instantly.
Poison.
Daniel released him.
The hunter collapsed onto the floor twitching violently.
Within seconds smoke rose from his body.
Then blue flames erupted.
Zara entered the hallway just in time to see the corpse burn into ash.
Her face turned pale.
“No…”
The fire vanished quickly.
Nothing remained.
Marcus stared at the ashes silently.
Elias looked disturbed.
“They’re using death rituals now.”
Daniel kicked the floor angrily.
“Cowards.”
Marcus crouched beside the ashes.
Then he noticed something.
A symbol burned into the marble beneath the remains.
A circle.
Inside it sat an ancient marking.
Marcus froze.
Elias stepped closer.
Then his expression changed completely.
“No,” Elias whispered.
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
Elias stared at the symbol.
“The prophecy.”
Marcus slowly stood.
For the first time that night, tension entered his face openly.
Zara looked confused.
“What prophecy?”
Marcus answered quietly.
“When the marked hunters rise again, the First Blood awakens.”
Daniel crossed his arms.
“You keep saying First Blood. What does it mean?”
Marcus looked toward the storm outside.
“It means something older than vampires is coming.”
Silence.
Then every window in the mansion exploded inward.
Glass rained across the floor.
A violent force swept through the hall.
Zara screamed.
Daniel moved instantly, shielding her from flying glass.
Three masked hunters stood outside in the rain.
One carried a glowing blade covered in symbols.
Another held chains coated in sacred ash.
The third stepped forward slowly.
Unlike the others, this one removed the silver mask.
A woman.
Dark eyes.
Cold expression.
Ancient hatred.
She stared directly at Marcus.
“We finally found you.”
Marcus remained calm.
“You should have stayed buried with the others.”
The woman smiled faintly.
“Tonight is not about killing you.”
Daniel stepped forward aggressively.
“Then why are you here?”
The woman looked directly at Zara.
“To collect the girl.”
Everything stopped.
Even Marcus looked surprised.
Zara frowned.
“What?”
The hunter pointed at her slowly.
“She carries the mark.”
Marcus’s expression darkened instantly.
Daniel’s eyes widened.
Elias looked terrified.
Zara stepped backward.
“What mark?”
Nobody answered her.
The female hunter smiled again.
Then she whispered five words that changed everything.
“She is not fully vampire.”
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