Chapter 4
1271 Words
In the meantime, Ralphia caught up with the creature and
cornered it at a cave. The half vampire bared its teeth towards him
and then at the girl. lailani trembled in fear at the sight of its teeth.
"Don't come any closer," it warned him.
Who created you?" Ralphia asked calmly, "Answer me and I'll let you go," he said. The creature knew it didn't stand a chance with
no companions now.
"Lord Edgar," it spoke hoarsely pushing the girl away and ready
to flee but the gun didn't drop from its sight. The Xeridian Lord then spoke,
"Sorry but I don't keep my word," he said calmly, "See you in hell,"
and he poured all the bullets in the creature's body. The sound of the
gunshot echoed due to the cave they were in making lailani flinch.
Once the gunshots ceased she opened her eyes to see blood
splattered on the floor with a dark dusty powder sinking in it. Seeing
dead bodies and death at close proximity, she was exhausted. Her young mind being unable to digest everything, she closed her eyes
and her body moved forward, but Ralphia was quick to catch hold
of her.
Ralphia looked at the girl in his arms with a frown. She had
passed out due to exhaustion. He knew humans were fragile little
creatures and he questioned his judgment on bringing the girl along
with him. Surviving in a vampire world would be difficult but only time would prove it.
Picking her up in his arms, he carried her out of the cave walking through the lush trees. Inspecting her, he noticed a trail of blood over
the toes of her right foot. The creature had hurt her for no reason. He felt his eyes grow redder and sharper, irritation surfacing in.
Few half vampires were vile creatures, a mix of human and vampire but useless, unlike the pure vampires.
"Is she alright?" Maya asked Ralphia once they reached the
carriage.
Her ankle's bleeding," he replied, getting inside and placing her on
the other side of the seat before taking a seat next to her, Use this," he said handing over his handkerchief to Maya.
Sel closed the door and took the place of the missing charioteer,
his eyes looking around for any suspicious movements. The black ashes left a stench in the air making him cringe a little. Cracking the
reins, the horses began to move. Inside the carriage, Maya was
almost done wrapping the kerchief around the young girl's ankle
when Ralphia spoke,
"Find out what Edgar is up to once we reach the kingdom," he said looking at his fingers for some time, thinking something deep
and then bent forward to gather a drop of blood on his finger that had escaped down the girl's knee.
"Ralph-" Maya gasped seeing her Lord put his finger in his mouth
that had touched the blood, What are you doing?!" She exclaimed
with a shocked expression on her face.
Once he removed his index finger out of his mouth he asked,
What does it look like?"
Maya didn't know what to say to him. A Lord and a pure-blood drinking or tasting blood from a wound were considered to be
disgraceful. hey didn't know if the wound was infected during the time
the creature took her. Sighing, she shook her head.
When they reached the castle, lailani was sent to the infirmary
while a few officials were gathered in the upper ground of the
dungeon. Most of the gatherings took place in the main hall but the
important, urgent and secretive ones were held in the dungeon, its
entrance below the palace shed. The dungeon was divided into two
grounds, upper ground, and the lower ground. The upper ground
was guarded with men and wolves while the lower ground held
prisoners who had broken the law.
"Sir Sel, why have we been summoned here?" one man asked
looking at the third in command, "it has been only two days since the
last gathering."
"Didn't you hear about the attack that happened last night on the
village?" a woman who stood against the wall spoke, studying her
Red-painted nails.
What attack?" an old man asked from the group.
"| heard they were drained of blood. The humans," a young boy
replied. Gasps and murmur filled the room at the given information.
The voices got louder slowly asking questions on what had
happened.
"Silence," said Ralphia entering the upper ground. Behind him
followed a man with round glasses, "Last night an entire village
of humans was killed by rogue vampires. We have one of them captured and the trial will take place next week."
"Next week?" the old man asked.
"Yes," replied Ralphia. "Until then he shall undergo interrogation.
“There is something else that needs attention about which Cole will
explain when I leave," he said looking behind him and the man who
had followed Ralphia nodded.
In another part of the castle, lailani sat in front of Maya, drinking a
bowl of soup.
"Did you like it?" asked Maya who sat with her elbows on her
thighs, supporting her chin with both her hands, "l can ask them to
prepare something else if you don't like it."
lailani shook her head. I like it,"" she said with her soft voice.
"Glad to hear that," Maya beamed. After a few seconds, lailani
looked up at the woman with hesitation evident in her eyes. What is
it, lailani?" Maya asked, sensing the girl's hesitation.
"Um- did you see my rabbit?" She asked slowly and Maya's smile
faltered for a second.
"Ralphia said he took it to the vet," she informed lailani to which
the little girl nodded and continued with the task of emptying her
bowl. Maya's smile fell from her face when the girl looked down to
continue drinking her soup.
It was true that the animal was taken to the veterinary doctor but
she doubted its survival. The claw of the half vampire must have
grazed the rabbit while pulling the young girl out of the carriage,
she thought to herself. They would have to replace the rabbit with a
different one if this one didn't survive.
Once lailani was done with her food, Maya took her to the second
floor of the mansion so that she could show her the room she would
be living in for the time being. The room was situated two doors away
from the Lord's room for safety purposes as they had vampire guests
in the mansion right now. lailani was yet to be introduced to everyone
and being a human wasn't safe. Even if warned there were vampires
who would want to drink blood from her. Out of the twelve rooms on
the floor only four of them were occupied, the rest were empty.
"lailani, this is will be your room for now," Maya said pushing the
door made of teak wood. The room was painted white and it had
a bed placed almost at the center, but pushed against the wall. It
had white satin-cloth-like curtains around it. lailani jumped when she
heard a loud thunder outside the window.
"Jeesh, can't believe its raining," Maya muttered going to close
the windows. Lightning struck from the sky and with the way it looked
now, the rain wasn't going to stop anytime soon. Turning back, she
saw the young girl staring at a nearby vase and flowers in it.
They had brought the girl into their dark world. If she has survived
all this while, Maya thought with a smile, her future shouldn't be that
difficult.
- Writer
