"Pass me the blood please," Sarai said, extending her hand to Nikolas. The Knights were all seated in the dining room, having their dinner. Two days have flown by since the party their father hosted. All the servants had been sent home and only the family inhabited the mansion. This was more of a safety procedure for their workers and also a good way for the Knights to hide their identity as vampires.

The walls of the dining room were wallpapered with the painting of the French renaissance. Mr Knight sat at the edge of the golden table and took a sip of blood from his cup. Shafts of silver light sneaked past the high windows, casting their silver glow into the chandelier-lit room.

Nikolas slid the bourbon to his sister. "You're drinking too much blood."

"What can I say," Sarai opened the bourbon and filled her glass cup with the scarlet liquid, "blood tastes great."

"Centuries ago you wouldn't have thought so," Benjamin added, dividing his toasted bread with a knife.

No one in Nikolas' family would've thought so too. But here they were, gulping down the blood of humans. Why wouldn't humans see them as barbaric? The thing with humans was that they couldn't comprehend fear.

Anything that stimulated fear in them was seen as monstrous. Nikolas could remember what happened three hundred years ago. He had fallen in love with a Turkish girl. But the moment her family discovered he was a vampire, they hunted him down.

She didn't fight for him. He could remember the way she had hidden behind her father as he shot an arrow into Nikolas' heart. It was then the truth became clear-vampires should never establish relationships with humans. It always ended up badly.

It was all about fear. The fear of being killed by the undead. The fear of being bitten. The fear of losing their humanity. So all Nikolas had was his family. And it was going to be that way till he was able to break the curse.

"Sarai, don't overdrink the blood," Mr Knight said. "I pay huge sums to our black market dealer for them."

"It couldn't be that costly," Sarai said and drank from the cup, her lips staining rouge.

"Fifty thousand pounds per week."

Sarai nearly choked on her drink. What did she expect? Their family had to spend a fortune to be able to feed and stay strong. Animal blood wasn't enough to keep them powerful, but human blood was.

"What?" Mrs Knight signed with her hands. Her dark eyes widened with disbelief at her husband. "You didn't tell me you were spending that much."

"I didn't want you all to become worried and stop eating well." Mr Knight narrowed his dark eyes at Sarai. "But now you know know how much I spend weekly, I advise you to drink wisely. Most vampires don't even have the privileged to get blood from blood banks. We all know they go hunting for blood, sinking their bloody fangs into the necks of innocent humans."

"Let's all hope Sarai listens," Nikolas said, smiling. "We all know she doesn't ever listen."

"She's like a stubborn goat," Benjamin added and Sarai hissed at her brothers, her fangs baring.

"Boys," Their mother signed, "let your sister be. She's younger so she'll need more blood."

"If I remember correctly, I'll say Sarai is six hundred years old," Benjamin inputted. "She's more of a grandma."

Sarai tossed her fork at him and he caught it effortlessly before it hit his eye. "I hate you."

"I love you, little sister," Benjamin said, smiling so sweetly it could make someone diabetic.

He was always fond of teasing their youngest sister. They had the closest bond and it was a result of both of them being the youngest. Before they were turned, Nikolas was twenty-one years old and spent most of his time training in the Templar Knight camp. So his younger siblings had enough time to bond.

"I could just turn our servants into vampires and ask them to tear you to shreds," Sarai said. "Then I'll cook you and feed to dogs."

"That's quite the imagination you have there," Benjamin replied wincing.

"Children, remember our code," Mrs Knight said, silencing the room. His tone was always authoritative and boomed with power. "No turning of humans into vampires. We're in enough shite as it is. We wouldn't want to add more people into our mess."

Sarai laughed. "Father, I was joking."

"There are things no one should joke about. Matters as serious ours is an example." Their father stared ferociously at Sarai.

Nikolas watched his family from his seat, his guilt piling up. His mother couldn't speak, they were drinking blood, Sarai had anger issues...

The list was endless.

He was the engineer of this disaster and he hadn't fixed it yet. They were running out of time. He didn't know how long his family would be able to put up with this mess. They had held strong for over six centuries. Would they want to keep going like this?

Nikolas held the bridge of his nose. He was once a Christian but now couldn't even say God's name or else he would choke. Their life was miserable and despite his family not shoving his mistake down his throat, he knew they cursed him every day for putting them through this.

"Nikolas," Mr Knight called from across the table.

Nikolas looked up from his full cup of blood. He hadn't drunk a bit since dinner started.

"Father."

"You and your brother would begin school tomorrow."

"What?" Benjamin queried, his tone heavy with astonishment.

Nikolas narrowed his dark brows. "Why?"

"We've been in London for three months and have already become the richest family. People are talking about us, wondering where our wealth came from." Mr Knight intertwined his fingers. "When people ask a lot of questions, it leads to the discovery of things they shouldn't have found in the first place."

"Like the fact that we're vampires," Mrs Knight signed with her fingers.

"So we can't give them another reason to keep talking. I have two grown sons who always stay indoors. Talk more of your eccentric attitudes."

Benjamin scoffed. "I'm not eccentric. I just don't like speaking to anyone other than my family."

"And I can't bear the company of dullards in the form of humans," Nikolas added.

"My decision is final boys. You will both attend Howard Lithstone university. I've already spoken to the chancellor and you're clear to start school. You need to act like normal humans who go to school. Not stay indoors and drink blood all day long."

Their father had a point and that was what made it annoying. How could Nikolas bear being in the company of confused creatures who couldn't even comprehend his glorious presence?

You were once human.

And when he was, he was no doubt a fine specimen who was rare to come across. Not everyone was privileged to be a Templar Knight.

"Why isn't Sarai joining us?" Nikolas asked and his dear sister stepped on his foot. How convenient and lovely.

"Do you truly want me to answer the question?" Their father inclined a brow.

"He means to say that she'll tear up anyone who even dares to--"

"I know what he means," Nikolas interrupted his brother.

This was the worst evening Nikolas have had in centuries. He just learnt he was going to study in the company of powerless dummies.

However, all he had to do was look at things in a positive light. He was going to the university to bless them with his glorious presence. They should be glad he even thought of setting foot on their campus grounds.

He glanced at Benjamin who was sweating profusely and staring longingly into his cup of blood. Nikolas would survive being in such an open space with lots of humans. But Benjamin, however...

Bloody hell.

***

"Ahh!" The scream echoed through the walls of the house and it tossed Nikolas out of the brief nap he had decided to have. He glanced at his clock. It was six in the morning. The sun was beginning to rise and the dark sky was being slowly replaced by a blue one.

Nikolas hopped out of his wooden canopied bed and slipped his naked self into a morning robe. His daylight ring was laid next to a bronze bedside drawer. He picked it up and slid his middle finger through it.

Everyone in the family knew who the scream belonged. That was why Nikolas wasn't in a hurry to head to Benjamin's room. This was what they had to go through every day; his brother's nightmares. It was a very familiar occurrence to the extent that whenever it happened, no one in the family panicked.

It didn't take long for Nikolas to arrive at Benjamin's bedroom. The blue walls were lined with bookshelves and littered over the dark rugged floor were books of all sizes. Nikolas stepped over them and walked over to his brother who was seated at a brown table, his hand quickly scribbling something.

"Benjamin?"

No reply.

"Benjamin?"

That was odd. He held Benjamin's shoulder and his younger brother flinched as he turned to him, beads of sweat all over his face. His lips quivered and he wrapped his arms all over himself, his brown eyes wide with what seemed to be... fear?

"Benjamin, are you alright?" Nikolas asked, touching his brother's neck. His temperature was hotter than a bloody volcano. What was happening?

"Bennie."

Nikolas looked over his shoulder. Sarai stood at the threshold, her blue eyes shaking with concern. She jogged over to Benjamin and pulled him into a tight hug.

"It's okay, I'm here," she said softly.

He hugged her stomach as he sobbed and she ran her hand through his thick black hair. This wasn't usual. Whenever Benjamin had a dream, he wasn't sweating this way. He rarely appeared scared too. When you've had nightmares for over six centuries, you get used to it.

On the desk, a piece of paper was laid on it. There was a drawing. It was a being wrapped in a robe that covered its body. The being's face was shaded in endless darkness and siding it was two dark dogs with razor-sharp teeth.

Nikolas held up the paper and assessed it one more time. "Benjamin, what is this?"

His now calm brother departed his embrace with Sarai and cleared his throat. He massaged his temples and took in deep breaths. Nikolas couldn't bear seeing his brother in such a state. The nightmares were taking a toll on him.

"It was in my dream, chasing me."

"Let me see," Sarai said, taking the paper from Nikolas. Her eyes widened at the drawing. "My goodness. What is this?"

"I don't know." Benjamin stood up and headed to the bourbon of blood on his dressing drawer. He poured himself some and gulped it down. "But whatever it was, I think it's coming."

"It's a dream. Nothing would happen," Nikolas said.

"We're vampires. Anything is possible, Nik," Sarai countered.

"It kept telling me it was coming," Benjamin said pointing at the drawing. "The dream felt so real."

"Well let's hope it's a dream." Nikolas looked at the drawing one more time, his vision focusing on the endless darkness inside the robe. "Because if it's not, we may have a problem."

*****

Author's note: Hey guys, good evening. How are you all doing? I hope.you enjoyed the chapter.

Yours truly,

Lord Victor Hastings.