Kings of Awakening Vampires and Purebloods (8 page)

“Albedo, wake up, you’re having a nightmare!”

He started shaking badly, his hand begin to tremble.
That voice from the dream, it’s the same in the forest when the bear swung at me.
He looked up to see Sonia instead of one of his parents. He cried out, “It’s him, the demon with the white flame!” 

Sonia took hold of him and gently put his head on her chest.
             

In a panic, Albedo started a stammered chant describing the beginning of his nightmare. “White hair—“, he catches his breath.  “Sonia his hair was white and his eyes…one
blue and one red!” he continues.

“It’s just a nightmare, that’s all,” she said with a soft voice in his ears
. The rhythm of her heart slowly bringing him to his senses.

Albedo realized Sonia was holding him. His cheeks blushed and he slowly calmed down as he listened to their breathing and heartbeats sync.  As he lay nestled in her bosom, Albedo started to become in tuned with a sense of intimacy.  He started to not only change from
feeble to strong, but boy to man.  His heart rhythms were slow and his breathing was now steady enough to come to his senses and converse with Sonia.  As he arose and gradually unwrapped himself from her arms, their eyes locked for a quick second.

Soni
a felt her heart beating faster,
what is this feeling
?  She had never felt like that before, it wasn’t a part of her makeup--- her regimen. 

“Sonia?” Albedo grabbed her attention.

              She gasped, “Oh! Yes Albedo …what is it?” she quietly answered.

Albedo asked, “Where did you come from, it’s like you just appeared?” he said rapidly. 

“I’ve been sleeping in your tree since I’ve been training you,” said Sonia.

“In my tree?” He had never thought about where she gone off to after training him. He always thought she gone back to the castle and come back the next day.

“How do you sleep comfortably in a tree?” he asked.

She snickered bashfully, with a hand over her mout
h, and smiled, “I’m a Pureblood. I can sleep comfortably wherever I want too.”

  The tree was rich with branches and leaves. Out of nowhere, instantly, it started raining, this time the plain white water rain, which the humans love.

Albedo locked his door and window and told her to sleep on his bed. In his closet was an extra blanket. He decided that he would sleep on the floor tonight. She thought it was such a subtle act of chivalry; she lay there comfortably on his bed. Throughout the night Albedo shifted his body around on the cold hard floor, the room was pitch-black and the shadows seemed as if they’re watching him. He wondered if Sonia was asleep, as he constantly thought about her.  He yearned to lie next to her, but he subdued his feelings and tried to drift off to sleep.  The peaceful sound of the rain tapped against the roof.  He started wondering how warm it would feel to lay next to Sonia.

“Hey Sonia, tell me about your parents? I hardly know anything about you.” He truly was naïve sometimes. It wasn’t until a couple minutes ago he realized she’s been sleeping in his tree. She seemed like the type of person who loves comforting others, but when it comes to herself it’s a different story.

She turned to her stomach and said quietly but sternly, “Goodnight, Albedo.”

***

“
I
keep forgetting that vampires and Purebloods aren’t affected by the sun,” said Albedo as he sat on the sand beach. He and Sonia had decided to take a rest from training.

“It’s one of our many gifts Albedo. The red moon protects us from the sun’s w
rath,” said Sonia. She watched the water washing the sand as the breeze whipped past them. 

Albedo had gone to the market and brought bread and meat for a nice picnic, hoping to know her more.

Sonia took a bite of the bread and her eyes lit up. “Albedo, this is delicious.”
Although I prefer if we had some sweets, it’s been so long since I’ve been to the castle for my sweets
.

“Is it really? One of the people suggested to me,” said Albedo. He searched for the words to say---nothing. Was it nervousness? What was it about Sonia that made him blush extra hard?  He stared at the sand while playing with a stick.
Why can’t I talk to her? It’s been a month and I still can’t tell her.

“So how do you like living in Inferno,” asked Sonia.

Albedo looked up and thought about how much he disliked Inferno. It wasn’t hate that he felt for the place, he felt as if there was something more he was meant for. “It’s growing on me, I mean---it’s the only place that I know.” 

“What do you mean growing on you? If you ask me it’s quite nice.  The weather is perfect and the way Inferno is run is in perfect harmony, little fighting and low conflict.  Any Pureblood would love to live in Inferno,” said Sonia. She looked the other way, remembering that vampires and Purebloods weren’t allowed to live among the humans. “What about your parents Albedo. Have you talked to them about what’s been going on?” 

Albedo sighed and shrugged, “I don’t want to talk to them about it now. When the time comes I’ll confront them.” He looked back at her. He did wonder why his parents were allowed to stay in Inferno. It was against the law for Purebloods or vampires to live among the humans. He starts to say with a smile, “I do love the cherry blossoms, the mountain, our house. But Sonia, being a Black Reaper is so much better! You get to go out to different lands. Explore the world and see different people, different kingdoms. I dream of the day when I can see a castle with my own two eyes!” he said with much excitement on his face.

She sweeps her hair behind her ear with a slight smile. “It’s not all as fun as it sounds to be, Albedo. Every day I see new things, but you have to understand we’re putting our lives on the line.”

As the day passes by Sonia had told Albedo stories of the different missions she’s been on. Albedo looked happy to hear about her missions, how exited they sounded and fun.

“What about our king? What is he like?” asked Albedo.

She looked at him, “I guess I haven’t told you too much about him. Let me ask you Albedo, how many lands does this world have?”

Albedo had learned about geography from school, he knew this world had 57 lands. “I also know that we have 31 monarchs. So, only thirty-one out of those fifty-seven lands are in control by a kingdom.” Albedo wondered what she wanted to teach him.

“Yes Albedo that’s good. But do you know what distinguished those Monarchs?” asked Sonia.

He thought long and hard.

“You need to understand Albedo. Out of those 31 Monarchs there are 6 of them who are so powerful that they’re considered a High King,” explained Sonia.

“A High King, what’s a High King?” asked Albedo confusingly.

“High Kings are the most powerful kings in Nacune. King Victor is one of them, a High King, Albedo.”

Albedo had always thought of Victor as a powerful king, but never to this magnitude.

She continued, “To be considered a High King, one has to have military influence throughout the world. Let’s say a small kingdom needs our help, king Victor will send us to help, as part of the world’s alliance.”

“What about Victor’s castle, what’s it like?” asked Albedo.

“It’s beautiful, Albedo, at night times the lights light up the place, that’s when its beauty shows.”

Albedo wondered how many candles it would take to light up the kingdom. “You guys must be using a lot of candles.” 

Sonia looked at him in confusion, “Candles?”

“Candles to light the castle up,” said Albedo.

Sonia started to laugh, “No, Albedo, we use electricity.”

Albedo now looked baffled, wondering how electricity lights the castle up.

“We use wires to transport the electricity to the light bulbs. When it reached the light bulbs it light up, even brighter than candles,” explained Sonia.

Something that lights up even more than a candle?
Albedo had never heard of such a thing.

She felt bad for him; he was ignorant about the outside world. “Albedo, did you know that the majority of this world population is vampires.”

He wondered why that is.

“It’s much easier for vampires to have children than it is for us Purebloods, that is why,” said Sonia.                                                     

                                                                ***

       
            
 
A
s
Angelione sat at the library reading one of his books. It was black with silver starbursts. On the cover of the book was a double edge spiked dagger. The book cover read, “The Black Dagger” He gently licked his thumb and turned the page. He fixed his glasses that seemed to keep falling off his face and continued on reading. The room was quite, it was late and not many people in the castle went to the library that late at night. The candles had been burning for hours; small bugs started circling around its light. Angelione sat in a secluded area of the elaborate castle library; it’s a gloomy dank private study within the six story cathedral library.  It requires much effort to look up and clearly see the details of the ceiling towering over you.  He took a sip of water so his throat wouldn’t get dry; unaware that there was a young man behind him slowly approaching with a dagger in his hand.

The young man moved slowly as not to alarm Angelione. The sweat on his face hit the floor and even a small bug could hear it. As he got closer to Angelione, he hesitated for a second. The perfect assassin has no time for hesitation, so why should he? He lunged at Angelione’s neck. Angelione quickly turned around and caught the dagger before it stabbed his neck. Angelione caught his hand and threw him across the table with his right hand. The young man crashed into the bookshelves and the books fell to the floor. Angelione’s movements were naked to his eyes; he thought to himself it was impossible to catch this man of guard. Angelione lifted his head up and gave him a malice smile.

              “Dante, as soon as you entered this room, I could feel the fear in your movement. Hesitation to kill your prey will cost you your life,” said Angelione in a teaching tone.

Dante
got up and wiped his clothes off. “Yes, master,” he said with a disappointed voice.

Throughout the whole process, Angelione’s left hand did not move, the book was still in the very exact same page.

Dante had short white hair, crystal blue eyes, a necklace around his neck, and a handsome stature that would make any lady fall to her knees for him. Angelione pushed the glasses back to his face; he was a man who only spoke when it was necessary. He left the room, leaving Dante to clean up his mess. Dante was disappointed in himself; if only he had not let Angelione’s presence intimidate him.

The Hunt

                  
 
Thre
e
months passed by in the blink of an eye. Albedo was no longer the weak, skinny boy Sonia once remembered. His body was more masculine. He had the strength equal to the average Pureblood. He was faster. His stamina was much more enduring. He and Sonia stood on top of a roof, Sonia with her black cloak on and her mask in her hand. Sonia had asked him to meet her here. Albedo had decided not to go back to school that day. That morning he woke up and ate with his mother. He had eaten all that his stomach could consume. His father had left for work early as usual. Sonia had left early that morning and left him a note.

In the note it read, “Hey Albedo meet me on top of the old castle’s roof.”

Now Albedo stood next to her and wondered what Sonia wanted to tell him. He noticed she had her chains wrapped around her hands. For the first time, he noticed that the chains weren’t thick and bulky.  They were very strong but thin and wiry better suited for the agility to snatch her prey.  Don’t let its looks fool you.

“Albedo, there’s something I must do,” she said with an uneasy voice.

The look in her eyes told Albedo his training was over. Maybe King Victor needed her.

She was a Black Reaper after all.

“You have to leave,” he said with a sad face. He thought about how much he would miss her if she were gone.

“I should be back in a week or less, depends on the mission. The King needs me,” said Sonia. She had explained to him that the Black Reapers’ Division was for missions not training.  As much as she wanted to stay also, she had no choice but to leave, she was being sent on a mission by King Victor.
 They had grown attached to each other; she was content with the progress he had made. His newfound strength was a reflection of his passion and hard work.

          “Before I leave, let me show you something!” said Sonia.

Albedo wondered curiously what Sonia had planned to show to him. She raised her left hand to the sky and her hand erupted with flames like a lit torch.

“This is my ability, I can emit fire,” said Sonia.  She lifted her hand again, this time like a pedestal as she pumped the p
alm of her hand towards the sky. This time the blaze of fire was larger coming from her hand.