See You In Hell

Fear

Ivanna woke to the faint sound of birds singing outside her window.

For a few moments, she remained still beneath the thick covers, her eyes slowly adjusting to the pale darkness of the room.

Something felt different.

She turned her head to the other side of the bed.

Empty.

Her brows furrowed.

Giveon was gone.

She pushed herself upright and looked around the room. There was no sign of him anywhere. His side of the bed was already cold, as though he had been gone for quite some time.

Ivanna glanced toward the tall windows.

It was barely dawn.

The sky was still painted in shades of dark blue and grey, with only the faintest glow of sunlight beginning to appear beyond the mountains. The sun had barely begun to rise.

"What could he possibly be doing this early?"

Then the memories of the previous night returned.

The council meeting.

His serious expression.

The war.

His brothers.

Ivanna's heart sank.

Giveon had told her that his brothers were preparing to join forces against him. He had spoken about it so calmly, almost as though discussing an ordinary matter, but now that she was alone with her thoughts, the seriousness of it frightened her.

A war.

Her fingers tightened around the blanket.

Why did they have to fight him?

Why couldn't his brothers simply leave him alone?

And why did Giveon seem so prepared for it?

She didn't have the answers.

Perhaps that was why he had left so early.

Perhaps he had already gone to prepare for battle.

Ivanna slowly climbed out of bed.

"Elvis."

Her voice was soft, but one of the maids outside immediately entered.

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"Call my maids. I want to get dressed."

Within minutes, the room was filled with servants preparing her for the morning. They helped her into a long ivory dress decorated with delicate embroidery around the sleeves and waist. Her hair was brushed and styled simply, with a few loose strands framing her face.

Once she was ready, she was escorted from her chambers.

Elvis was waiting outside.

The moment he saw her, he bowed.

"Good morning, Your Highness."

"Good morning, Elvis."

He fell into step beside her as they walked through the castle corridors.

Eventually, they stepped outside.

The morning air was cool against Ivanna's skin.

The castle gardens stretched before them, beautiful and almost unreal. Rows of flowers bloomed along the stone pathways, while tall trees surrounded the gardens like a natural wall. A fountain stood at the center, its water sparkling beneath the first rays of sunlight.

A table had already been prepared beneath a white canopy.

Breakfast was waiting.

Ivanna took her seat while Elvis stood beside her.

She looked around the garden, trying to enjoy the peaceful scenery.

But her thoughts kept returning to Giveon.

She picked up her fork but barely touched her food.

"Elvis?"

"Yes, Your Highness?"

She hesitated.

"There is something I want to ask you."

"Of course."

Ivanna lowered her voice.

"Is it really such a bad thing that Giveon is a halfbreed?"

Elvis became still.

For a moment, he didn't answer.

Then he looked at her carefully.

"Who told you he was a halfbreed?"

Ivanna frowned.

"Everyone."

A strange expression crossed his face.

"Everyone calls him that because they don't know what else to call him."

Ivanna slowly put down her fork.

"What do you mean?"

Elvis glanced around the garden before lowering his voice.

"Prince Giveon is not viewed by many as human."

Ivanna's brows knitted together.

"I know he's half human."

"That is what the kingdom says."

His words made her pause.

Elvis continued.

"His mother was a vampire. His father was human. Everyone knows that much. But Giveon was the first child ever born from such a union."

Ivanna listened closely.

"And because no one had ever seen anything like him before, people didn't know what he was."

She swallowed.

"What did they think?"

"At first?"

Elvis looked toward the castle.

"They thought he was an abomination."

Ivanna's eyes widened.

"Some believed he was a completely different species."

"A different species?"

"Yes."

Elvis nodded.

"Something between a vampire and a human, but belonging entirely to neither."

Ivanna felt a chill run through her.

"Is that why people fear him?"

"That is part of it."

Elvis's expression became serious.

"Vampires understand humans. Humans understand vampires. But Giveon..."

He paused.

"No one truly understands what he is capable of."

Ivanna said nothing.

"His body possesses traits from both races. He has the strength and speed of a vampire, but he also possesses human characteristics. His blood behaves differently. His abilities developed differently. Even experienced vampires struggled to understand him when he was young."

"So they feared him because he was unknown."

"Exactly."

Elvis nodded.

"People fear what they cannot classify."

Ivanna slowly looked down at her plate.

"But if he's half human, doesn't that make him weaker?"

Elvis almost smiled.

"That was what everyone thought."

Ivanna looked up.

"They were wrong."

His voice carried a quiet certainty.

"Very wrong."

Elvis continued.

"His mother refused to let anyone use his human blood against him. She believed that if Giveon was going to survive in a world that feared him, he needed to become stronger than anyone expected."

"What did she do?"

"She personally starved him of human blood."

Ivanna's eyes widened.

"She starved him?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because she wanted him to master his hunger. She refused to let him become dependent on the very thing that made people believe he was human."

Elvis paused.

"She wanted him to prove that he could survive without it."

Ivanna slowly shook her head.

"That sounds terrible."

"It was."

"But it worked?"

Elvis nodded.

"Giveon became extraordinarily powerful."

His expression changed as he spoke.

"His mother also sent him to an elite military college. He trained alongside pure-blooded vampires who were stronger, faster and far more experienced than him."

Ivanna listened.

"He was mocked at first. Some of them believed he had no place among them."

"What happened?"

"He defeated them."

Ivanna blinked.

"All of them?"

"Enough of them to make them stop laughing."

A small smile appeared on Elvis's face.

"Giveon learned quickly. Faster than anyone expected."

He continued.

"He mastered swordsmanship, combat, military strategy, hunting and battlefield tactics. He became so skilled that eventually, the same vampires who once called him an abomination began calling him something else."

"What?"

Elvis hesitated.

Then he said quietly,

"The Unclassified."

Ivanna's heart skipped.

"The Unclassified?"

"Because they still couldn't decide what he truly was."

She stared at him.

"They believed he had become something beyond both races."

Elvis leaned closer.

"And then came the war."

Ivanna already knew where this was going.

"His father sent him to battle with five hundred men."

"Against two thousand?"

"Yes."

Ivanna's eyes widened.

"Five hundred against two thousand?"

Elvis nodded.

"And Giveon won."

She stared at him in disbelief.

"He defeated two thousand men?"

"His army did."

Elvis corrected gently.

"But Giveon was the reason they survived."

He explained how Giveon had used the terrain, divided the enemy forces, created false retreats and attacked their weakest positions until the larger army collapsed.

"He didn't simply fight them," Elvis said. "He outsmarted them."

Ivanna sat silently.

All this time, she had believed Giveon's human blood made him weaker.

She had been completely wrong.

She suddenly remembered all the times she had seen him standing silently while others spoke.

The way people moved aside when he walked through the halls.

The way even the councilmen measured their words around him.

She had thought it was because he was a prince.

Perhaps it was more than that.

"Elvis..."

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"Why would his brothers want to fight someone like that?"

Elvis's expression immediately became cautious.

Ivanna noticed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You know something."

"I know many things."

"Then tell me."

Elvis looked around the garden.

Finally, he leaned toward her.

"In confidence, Your Highness..."

Ivanna waited.

"You didn't hear this from me."

She nodded.

"Of course."

Elvis lowered his voice.

"His brothers didn't join forces because they believe they can defeat him."

Ivanna's heart began beating faster.

"Then why?"

"Because they are afraid of what he has become."

She stared at him.

"Afraid?"

"Terrified."

Elvis straightened.

"They have watched him grow stronger for years. They know what he can do. They know what the armies say about him."

He paused.

"And unlike everyone else, they know him personally."

Ivanna felt an uncomfortable chill travel through her.

"So they joined forces because they're scared of him?"

Elvis gave a small nod.

"Two brothers who would rather fight together than face him alone."

Ivanna looked toward the castle.

The sun had risen fully now, casting golden light over the ancient walls.

She suddenly wondered if the war was truly about power.

Or if it was about fear.

Perhaps Giveon's brothers weren't trying to conquer his kingdom.

Perhaps they were simply trying to destroy the one person they believed they could never control.

Ivanna finished her breakfast quietly.

When she placed her napkin beside her plate, she looked at Elvis.

"You said you would complete my tour of the castle."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Then let's continue."

Elvis bowed.

"Of course."

Ivanna stood and began walking beside him.

But even as she admired the gardens and the ancient castle beyond them, one thought remained in her mind.

Giveon wasn't simply a halfbreed.

He was something no one had ever seen before.

Something neither human nor vampire could fully understand.

And perhaps that was the real reason everyone feared him.