Adriel’s Point of View:
“You son of a gun! Where have you been?” Vagon’s jovial voice greeted me when I entered the huge mansion. I gently shook his outstretched hand with a smile on my face. Michael and Philious, my closest friends, were seated patiently beside him. The room was dark, and everyone was waiting for me.
“Good morning,” I greeted, and I went over to my mom’s side to peck her cheeks. My mother patted my back, but a deep frown settled on her face as she perceived a lady’s fragrance on my body.
“Oh, Adriel! What have you been up to again?” She whispered into my ears. I gave her a mischievous smirk before going to an empty seat.
There were twenty people in the room: ten elderly men and women and ten young adults. Roseline, my ex-girlfriend, was seated in a corner, slipping wine with her best friend, Lily, who happens to be my youngest sister.
The air was tense and eerie, and I sat down, lazily cleaning my nails, wondering what I was invited for. Philious, the silent killer in my friend’s zone, noticed I was getting bored and quickly stood up and went to the front. A whiteboard was in the front, but nothing was written on it.
“I gathered everyone because of the report I received from the shadow hunter secret society,” he began with a stern voice and took a deep breath. “Report has reached me that a group of vampires was caught feeding from a little girl, and unfortunately, or should I say, sadly, the girl was drained dry,” he announced with a melancholic voice, and the room was covered in silence.
“Hmmm… I’ve always advised the shadow hunters to poison their everyday meals with wolf banes, but as you all know, some people just like to act deaf. Anyway, within the last two weeks, over twenty-five dead bodies have been found, all of them dead from the same cause: loss of blood. This has made me come to the conclusion that rogue vampires are indeed back in Limiha City!” He announced with a grimace on his face, and murmurs filled the dark room.
“Rogue vampires?” Lily looked surprised. “But is that possible? Brother Adriel killed all the rogue vampires decades ago,” she continued, and turned to look at me for affirmation. I shrugged my shoulders with an ‘I don’t give a dime’ look on my face.
“Well, we’ll just kill them again. It will be so fun.” Vagon squealed excitedly like a baby who had been given a stick of sweets.
“Yeah, you make it sound so easy. In case you’ve forgotten, we lost more than thirty powerful families during the last clash. I would suggest we let them be; who knows, maybe they are looking for their mate.” Roseline chipped in and burst into laughter, Lily joined her.
“Argh! Who let this spoiled brat in, again?” Lora, my favorite sister, asked with indignation. She stood up, and Roseline also stood up, and they both growled at each other, threatening to tear their heads apart.
“Stop whining like a baby, Lora; go fudge yourself if you feel depressed, but I don’t have time for you, so stop bothering me.” Roseline replied with a ruthless voice, and her words seemed to hurt Lora because she backed down immediately.
“You girls should sit down and stop whining like little wee babies! Let’s put behind our differences and focus on the humans.” Mother scolded the two young ladies with a husky voice, and they sat down at once.
I raised an eyebrow, my gaze shifting between Roseline and Lora. ‘Brat’ was a strong word, even for Lora’s fiery temper. She is the closest to me in terms of siblings, and although I knew she was still heartbroken, I just decided to ignore her temper and focus on my ex-girlfriend’s outfit. She looked hot, and when she noticed I was looking at her, she flipped her hair like a seducer, shining her white teeth at me. I leaned back in my chair, my eyes turning back to the plain whiteboard as Philious continued to explain the situation on the ground.
“… We have reasons to believe they’re led by a powerful rogue vampire, or probably a vampire lord,” he explained, his voice grave.
I snorted, my mind wandering back to the mysterious woman who had escaped my room earlier. ‘Vampire Lord’ sounded interesting. It was more like a title she might wear well. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t realize I was grinning like a fool.
“Adriel, are you listening?” My mother’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts and back to earth.
“Of course, Mother. I’m all ears. What could I possibly be thinking of?” I asked rhetorically. A lazy smile on my face. But my mind was elsewhere, thinking about the woman and the strange connection I felt with her. She looked exactly like a certain special woman from my past, and that’s what amazed me more.
‘Who was she, really? And what is it about her that draws me in like a moth to flame?” I shook my head, trying to focus on the discussion at hand.
Vagon was suggesting we gather the shadow hunters to hunt down the rogue vampires, while Roseline argued that we should let them be.
“Let them be.” Vagon scoffed at her words. “Little sister, they’re monsters, and if we don’t kill them, they will multiply, and who knows, maybe attack us when we aren’t prepared. We can’t miss an opportunity.” He tried to convince his sister and the whole committee.
I leaned forward, my eyes locked on Roseline. “Actually, I think Roseline has a point. We don’t know what’s driving them. Maybe they just want to play; we should leave them alone,” I suggested with a carefree voice, and the room fell silent, all eyes on me. Roseline was also surprised that I agreed with her.
“Adriel, are you for real? Tell me you don’t mean what you’ve just said,” Vagon muttered, his voice laced with disbelief.
I shrugged my shoulders, not minding that they were all staring at me. “Well, you know, I’m just thinking outside the box,” I replied, a playful grin on my face.
“Don’t pay him any attention; he’s just being a brute.” Michael Zupa, who had been keeping quiet all along, spoke with a calm voice.
“Do you have any ideas about what we can do, Michael?” Philious asked curiously, grateful that someone intelligent was speaking out.
“We are the leaders of this country’s army, and most people believe that vampires are fiction. They don’t believe in their existence, so telling them about vampires would not only turn us into a laughingstock, but would ruin our reputation.” Michael began his suggestion, but his words were rudely cut short by Vagon.
“No offense, but we don’t actually have a good reputation,” Vagon said with a grin on his face, thinking it was funny and expecting everyone to laugh with him, but we all shook our heads and focused on the main speaker.
“I suggest we spread out and gather the keepers of Neptune, while the rest should try and gain access into the shadow hunter society; that way, we’d know more about their movements, and we’ll always be ahead of them with the investigation.” Michael voiced out his suggestion, and it was welcomed with nods and a bright smile.
“I agree with you, nephew; that is the only sensible thing that can be done now.” My mother praised Michael, a broad smile on her face as she looked at him.
“Thank you, Aunt Quinn,” Michael appreciated, returning the smile.
“Not fair, Mum C; you praised Michael while you ignored me. I also brought up a suggestion. I suggested we attack them.” Vagon lamented like a baby, pouting his mouth like a suckling child. His expression was so priceless that I had to burst into laughter. He stood up from the table and went to kneel beside my mother. He held her legs playfully and looked her in the eyes.
“This is cheating! You are favoring Michael because he is your nephew, while you abandon Philious and me. But it’s alright; at least, Adriel’s love for us will never change.” Vagon scoffed as he blabbered like a little baby. Everyone in the room couldn’t hold their laughter as a full-grown man like Vagon acted like a little boy.
“Oh, Vagon! My brother from another mother, stop lamenting, and let’s listen to the brilliant ones’ suggestions,” I said in between my laughter, pointing at my two good friends, Michael and Philious.
Mother caressed Vagon’s cheeks, and he pecked her hands. After that, he stood up, smiling triumphantly, while my mother laughed at his childish behavior.
“Isn’t he so cute?” My mother asked rhetorically as she watched him return to his seat.
“Oh Mom, I am so jealous,” I said playfully, and we both laughed.
“Hey, enough of all that; let’s get back to business. We have something very important at hand,” Philious informed us with his stern voice, and our attention was fixed on him once again.
“Here goes the boring strategic plan,” Vagon mumbled as Philious began to divide us into different groups.
“Aunt Quinn, you and your coven will join the Zupa family in Saga City, where you will join the shadow hunters’ secret society. Lora, you and your sisters will work together with the other vampires to ensure safety in this country. Uncle Edward,” Philious called to one of my uncles, and he responded by nodding his head. “You need to start gathering the other vampires; Adriel’s cousin, Mark Zupa, will assist you.”
“And what will you guys and my brother be doing? Let me guess, chilling off in an expensive hotel or attending another boring concert and running off in the middle of the night, leaving your company stranded?” Lily faced me, her voice filled with bitterness.
“Hey Lily, I was forced to attend the concert yesterday, and I didn’t run off, something important came up. Moreover, I didn’t leave you alone. Vagon was by your side!” I replied to my sister with fake sincerity. I was supposed to be with her at the concert, but I met the mysterious woman and forgot I had come with her.
“I will keep fighting for your attention! No one will take it away from me.” Lily said and pouted her lips like a little girl. I smiled, shaking my head at her childishness.
“Anyway, that being said, the three of us will not be chilling off in a fancy hotel. Instead, we’ll be in charge of searching for the keepers of Neptune,” Philious informed them, and Vagon quickly agreed.
“Yes, we will, but…” He raised his eyebrows, realizing something. “The keepers cannot be found, except if they want us to find them.” Vagon lamented, and I quickly chipped in.
“I know an old friend in the entertainment industry that can help with that; she will surely consider helping us. She is a typical ‘Vampire Lord'” I reasoned, and the others liked my idea.
“Well, the Vamp can start their journey first,” Lora suggested, standing up and moving closer to my mother.
“Oh, Lora, what is the meaning of VAMP?” My mother asked her second daughter gently.
“Argh, I have told you before! It means Vagon, Adriel, Michael, and Philious, the four destined friends,” Lora replied, frustrated that she had to re-explain herself.
“Ah, yes, the infamous VAMP. Well, it seems like you boys have a lot of work ahead of you.” My mother nodded, her eyes gleaming with amusement. I nodded at her words, feeling a sense of excitement about the dangerous journey, but I was ready for it.
“Well, let’s get started then,” Vagon suggested, his eyes gleaming with enthusiasm. “We have a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of time to waste,” he continued, quickly going over to my mother to peck her cheeks. “I will see you very soon, Mum C,” he whispered into her ears, and my mother smiled back at him.
“It has begun,” Philious added, his voice dead serious. “We need to find the keepers of Neptune before the rogue vampires do. If they are by our side, we will know the rogue vampire’s motive. Perhaps they are here for revenge because we eliminated their children, or maybe they’re here to suck the poor humans… you know, for fun.”
I smiled at his words as a mischievous idea dropped into my head. I had the home address card of the woman I had a one-night stand with, and I thought of leaving a surprising gift for her.
“Give me a few minutes; I have an important parcel to drop at a tiny pest place,” I said, a mischievous smirk on my face, and I quickly ran out of the room.
“What just happened?” Vagon asked my other friends, his voice laced with disbelief.
“I really don’t know, but I hope the house owner has a strong repellent, or it might be a very long night,” Michael murmured, shaking his head, his eyes still fixed on the door.
“With no doubt, our journey just got a lot more interesting,” Philious added, his voice barely above a whisper.