“You are inside the body of Progenitor Castiel: one of the four Ancestral Vampires to grace this earth!” Lilith’s thundering words fell in the ears of Atlas, shaking him to his core.

“V-vampire Progenitor Castiel?” exclaimed Atlas in shock.

Even though he didn’t know who Castiel was, just the word Progenitor was enough to provide him some clue. He knew the meaning of Progenitor.

“Are you sure I’m inside a Progenitor? Doesn’t that mean I am inside the body of one of the four oldest and strongest Vampires ever to exist? H-how…just how is it possible? How did I even end up in his body?” he asked in disbelief.

“I was a human and a weak human at that. I was always at the mercy of the Vampires who treated us like slaves? How come I am in the body of their Progenitor now? Is this your attempt at some kind of pathetic joke?”

Atlas raised his voice in frustration; the whole situation was now beyond his understanding.

“Joke? Do you think I would joke with the likes of a human? That too about the body of my Master? If you weren’t in the body of my Master, I would have already killed you for this disrespect!” Lilith snapped at Atlas, making Atlas realize that she was being serious.

Atlas didn’t take Lilith’s sharp words to heart. Instead of growing angry, he was lost in his own thoughts, trying to figure out answers to the questions that even Lilith didn’t seem to know.

Was he at the right place at the right time when dying? Or was it a lucky accident? It didn’t matter. What mattered was that he was here and stuck in this body! Even if he had become a Vampire for some reason, he was happy. This was an opportunity!

“With this strength, I should be able to take back what was taken from me!” He clenched his pale fist, looking at his dead body. Even if this was an accident, it was no less than a blessing in disguise for him. It was his chance at redemption for the broken promises.

*****

[One day ago]

“Stop making noises. So what if we are taking a little more than usual? It’s a special occasion. Guests are coming! We need a little more today. Stop crying!”

A sixteen-year-old boy was lying on a beautiful white bed, obediently listening to the doctor. He could hear the muffled cries from his surroundings as more children like him went through the same procedure.

There was a cannula connected to their arms from which their blood was being collected into a blood bag.

Young Atlas looked at his surroundings, trying to avoid the sight of a blood bag. He could see a lot of boys crying in pain. Unlike them, he laid silently, letting the process take place.

It was already his fourth year here, and he had understood that crying wasn’t going to help in this place. Their tears were as worthless as sand in a place where they were nothing more than disposable items that could be discarded at whim.

Even though he had spent only four years here, these four years were no less than a hundred years for him as his blood was drained every day so that they could feed the Vampires.

Even though he was giving a bit more blood than usual, he didn’t feel much pain. For some reason, he felt like he had grown numb to the pain. It wasn’t as painful anymore, but he still understood that today, he wasn’t going to be able to move his hand for quite some time.

He wondered if he could even walk properly after standing up or not? They were taking twice the amount they usually took without showing any concern for those children.

‘I wonder who the guests are. These people seem to be really stressed as well. The guests must be some important nobility.’

He tried to distract himself by thinking about all sorts of things, from the guests that were coming to the journey he had experienced so far. Everything was no less than a bad dream that was just refusing to be over.

‘I am already so weak. It’s miraculous how I survived four years here. The human body can surprisingly produce quite a decent amount of blood for the Vampires to drain and yet still keep going on.’

“You’re done. You can leave!” As Atlas was lost in thoughts, he heard a hoarse voice. The doctor took out the syringe from his wrist.

Atlas slowly nodded and got off the bed. As soon as he was on his feet, he realized that he was right. His left hand wasn’t moving anymore, and his legs were trembling as well. As expected, too much blood was taken without bothering about their health.

‘Whatever, at least I am done for the day. Now I can eat and rest to prepare for tomorrow until it’s time for me to end up here again.’

Letting out a sigh, he turned to leave. It was the moment when he noticed the person who was next in the line.

A young girl stood behind him in the line. The girl has deep blue hair and innocent blue eyes similar to that of Atlas. Despite living in such darkness, those eyes still had a sparkling hope for the world. There were so many emotions in those eyes, including fear and concern.

The girl was none other than the sister of Atlas. She was only fourteen years old now, two years younger than him. Initially, he didn’t realize that she was next in the queue. Now that he noticed her, Atlas deliberately stopped in his tracks.

‘I can’t let her go through this. She is even weaker than me. It was fine if this was the usual amount, but it is twice the amount today. No! I definitely can’t let her do it!’

He turned back to the doctor, naively hoping he would pay heed to his request.

“Ah, Sir?” He approached the white-robed man respectfully.

“What do you need? You’re done already. Leave and don’t disturb me anymore. There are more people I need to take care of. I’m already running late!”

Despite getting rebuked by the merciless doctor, Atlas didn’t step back.

“Sir, the next person in line is my little sister. She is too frail for this. Can you forgive us this one time and only take the usual amount from her?”

The doctor yelled in rage. “Nonsense!”

“Rules are for everyone! If she wants to break the rules, she can end up dead! You know that, right?” he stated.

Upon hearing those words, Atlas panicked.

“I-i didn’t mean that. I was saying that I’m ready to give her share of extra blood today. Take only the usual amount from her and take any extra you need from me?” Atlas suggested, having no other option.

“Hmm?”

Hearing Atlas’ suggestion, even the doctor was surprised. Generally, people were scared of the pain, and here this kid was suggesting him to take more from him, all for his sister?

He started looking at Atlas from top to bottom. From the man’s gaze, Atlas was able to decipher that the doctor was trying to see if he was even capable of giving more. His curious gaze seemed to slowly turn into a disappointing one.

‘It doesn’t matter. Even if I’m not capable, I’m ready to give my blood for her today!’

Atlas was determined to fill the place of his sister, no matter what.

“You can’t give more. If we take more from you, you’ll die. Your body doesn’t have enough. You can leave. I refuse. Let the girl come.”

The doctor waved his hand to shoo him away.

“But sir…”

“No buts! Are you leaving, or should I register your and your sister’s names for ignoring commands? Leave right now if you don’t want to be made an example of!”

He curtly rebuked Atlas, forcing him to decide immediately and wisely.

“Y-yes.”

Even after an attempt, Atlas found himself helpless. He couldn’t afford to rebel, only to lose their lives. If he insisted, he was probably going to risk his sister’s life too. Nonetheless, they were going to take his sister’s blood anyway. It wasn’t worth dying for no change.

Who was going to take care of her after he died? With that thought, he turned around, lowering his gaze.

As Atlas walked past his sister, he placed his hand on her shoulder to reassure her. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry, Misella. My strong sister can do it. You’ll be done before you know it. I’ll wait for you here.”

What else could he do except to encourage and comfort her? This was him, helpless and at the mercy of others. He couldn’t even successfully sacrifice for his own sister. Their actions and their destiny were all decided by others for them.

Even though he acted strong before his sister, he knew he could fall at any second from weakness. His legs were trembling even more. He needed to sit.

As soon as Misella went to the bed to have her blood withdrawn, Atlas walked towards the corner and sat to give much needed rest to his weak legs.

“It feels so good to sit. Who knew my life would take such a turn that even sitting on the ground would feel like a luxury.” Atlas raised his head, looking at the roof with a mocking look on his face.

“Thank you, father, thank you for everything! It’s all because of you that we are here. One day, I’ll get back at you. I promise,” Atlas sarcastically mumbled with nearly a hysterical expression in his eyes.

There was a strange tingling all over his body, especially in his arms and his legs. Fortunately, he could at least move the fingers of his left hand now. Sitting numbly in a corner, he soon started laughing weakly. He couldn’t help but laugh at his pitiful situation.

His world was cruel, but Atlas still hoped that they would eventually get out of here. But when he saw the syringe being inserted into his sister’s hand, the nature of the situation became even more clear.

No one cared for them; it didn’t matter if they lived or died. The vampires could simply replace them all by luring and trapping children into slavery. One death here meant that two lives were destroyed: one of their own and the other of the person who was going to take their place in this godforsaken place.

Upon witnessing the sight of his sister’s suffering, a certain thought often crossed Atlas’s mind. It drove him enraged, but everything was futile because he was not a match for those powerful vampire deities.

‘I wish I had the strength…the strength to escape with my sister to give her the life she deserved. She is so unlucky to have a pathetic father like that man and a weak brother like me….’