“That’s right. There has been an emergence of some futile resistance of humans against us. We’re crushing them as they come. I don’t even know why humans bother? It’s probably because of the influence of the Witches in the west. Those pesky annoying things can’t stop creating trouble for us!”

“Exactly. It’s not as if we go especially after them to hurt them. But I’m more pissed at the humans. Those pitiful creatures think they can defeat us with such minute struggles? They’re just eager to die, it seems.”

Inside the main hall, a meeting took place, and only one side was talking. It was the side that was dressed in a red cloak.

There was also another side that was dressed in black cloaks, which was mostly silent. That side belonged to the Vampires that ruled over this Palace.

The red-cloaked Vampires appeared to have more people in their group. There were twenty Vampires, all sitting together in their group.

The person that was leading the red side was known as Lord Carlisle. His cloak also seemed to be a bit different than others as it had the Symbol of the Carlisle family engraved in gold. The other members had the Carlisle family symbol engraved in red.

Lord Carlisle looked to be in his mid-thirties, but his actual age was unknown. He was known as one of the oldest Vampires in the Carlisle family and a powerful one at that. The Carlisle family wasn’t weak at all.

Lord Carlisle had beautiful white hair and frightening red eyes that seemed to be made entirely of blood.

As for the owner of this Palace, he was known as Lord Severis. He also had dark red eyes, just like Lord Carlisle, but his hair was blonde. His face was slightly oval-shaped, unlike the round face of Lord Carlisle. He was the Master of the Severis family and was also known to be as strong as Lord Carlisle.

“What I don’t understand is why humans are only acting up near your domain? They don’t even make a single noise in ours. Did you do something to agitate them?” Lord Severis asked, finally opening his mouth.

“Hmph, not at all. As I said, it must be because of the Witches. They have been messing with us, riling all the humans! Moreover, the humans are also getting a bit arrogant because of the appearance of Atlantis. Not the humans in my domain but the ones right outside.”

“Atlantis? You mean that mysterious group…?”

“Exactly! They are waging a war against the Vampires. Humans aren’t a problem. We can wipe them as we desire, but Atlantis is a headache. We don’t even know who is in that group. Is it a group containing Werewolves? Witches? No one knows.”

“I’ve been trying so hard to catch one of them so I can get the truth out; however, they are very sneaky. They kill my men and disappear, leaving no evidence. It’s so annoying that I just want to kill everyone I see. I’m sure you can understand.”

Lord Carlisle clenched his fist in annoyance, smacking it on the table near him.

As soon as his fist landed on the table, the table shattered into pieces with a booming sound.

Lord Severis nodded, letting out a sigh. “I can understand. Even though they haven’t established themselves in this place, their name has been spreading far and wide ever since they managed to kill Bastion. We do need to find them. We can’t let them run around freely and motivate humans to fight against us. I don’t want to kill my food.”

“Exactly!” Lord Carlisle expressed. “Humans are too naive! Just because Atlantis killed one measly Vampire in a faraway land, they think we can be defeated too? They don’t know how weak Bastion was! But then again, Atlantis doesn’t attack from the front. They’re an even bigger coward than a human!”

Lord Severis sighed. “Old friend, why think so much about it? So what if it’s Atlantis. If you need help, just tell me. I’ll wipe Atlantis for you and provide you with any help you need.”

“It’s alright. I can take care of them myself. I just want Atlantis to stop being a coward and appear before me once. Let’s see then. By the way, there is a rumor that they’re moving towards my territory. Let them come. They’ll see what their arrogance gets them.”

Both the Vampire Clan leaders were immersed in a deep conversation when the hall door opened, attracting their attention.

*****

Atlas stepped inside the hall, pushing the door open. As soon as he entered, the people inside the hall went silent. But before that happened, he was able to hear something about Atlantis. He couldn’t help but wonder what that was all about?

As soon as he looked in the direction of the Vampires, he momentarily froze. He tried hard to avoid looking into their eyes so as not to upset them. Taking another deep breath, he stepped towards them, keeping his head down.

“Hmm?”

As Atlas was walking, he heard the sound of rattling. Slowly turning back, he noticed that it was coming from Misella. Her hands were trembling. As for her eyes, it seemed like she was looking straight at a Vampire and couldn’t take her eyes off.

‘Oh god! Don’t tell me she looked at a Vampire directly?!’ Atlas thought as he took a step back to help his sister; however, it was too late by now.

“Fascinating. Very fascinating. A human that dares to look me in the eyes?” Lord Carlisle smirked. Out of everyone, Misella had just looked in the eyes of the leader of the Carlisle family.

“Young lady, step forward,” Lord Carlisle ordered. There was a smile on his lips, but his eyes looked playful.

Misella started walking towards Carlisle. Atlas also walked behind her to support her and serve them blood.

“You, stay where you are!” Noticing Atlas following Misella, Lord Carlisle commanded firmly.

Atlas didn’t know why, but there appeared to be some magic in the man’s voice. It was as if his body refused to listen to him and followed the command of Lord Carlisle instead!

He couldn’t take a step back either! What was it! Why wasn’t his body listening to him? Many questions floated in his hand. It was as if he was paralyzed entirely.

Atlas wondered if this was the compulsion that he had heard about? It was said that Vampires had noble souls! With that, they could control any human being to listen to their commands. It didn’t matter if that human wanted to or not.

He could see Misella trembling as she walked closer to Lord Carlisle. Even her legs were shaking. The tray in her hand became more and more unstable because of the shaking. Finally, just as she was a few steps away from the ground, one empty glass fell from the tray.

Seeing the glass fall, Atlas felt as if his heartbeat had stopped. This wasn’t going anything like he had imagined! It was supposed to be simple, where they had to serve and leave, but what was happening now….? Atlas realized that Misella’s life was in danger.

The glass went down and time seemed to have stopped until the sound of glass shattering came.

Atlas tried to help even now. “My Lord, she is young! Please don’t punish he-”

“Silence, you wretched human! You dare order me?!” Lord Carlisle roared. “You won’t move your lips either! Stand there silently!”

Since Atlas couldn’t move my legs, he thought he could at least talk to Lord Carlisle to forgive his sister.

In the tense moment, he forgot that he was breaking another rule which was that they couldn’t talk to the Vampires as long as they didn’t ask them to! His lips also closed and refused to open at all! He kept struggling to open his lips but to no avail.

“Why did you stop?” Lord Carlisle asked, noticing Misella stop. “Come closer!”

Misella again started walking as if her body wasn’t in her control.

“Argh!” she let out a pained noise as her feet landed on the glass pieces which stabbed her feet. She couldn’t stop though. Her body wasn’t in her control either. With tears dripping down her cheeks, she kept walking, even through the broken glass as her feet bled.

Unfortunately, her trembling only intensified. Her face had turned paler in fear, and her heart started skipping beats.

Misella glanced back towards Atlas as tears trickled down her cheeks. Seeing tears in the eyes of Misella, Atlas felt a thousand pins stab his heart. It was as if she knew what was going to happen to her.

‘Idiot! Nothing is going to happen! Why are you crying! Nothing can happen to you!’ Atlas tried to speak, yet his words only stayed in his mind and refused to come out of his lips. He was a prisoner in his own body.

Misella’s body didn’t stop walking until she reached Lor Carlisle. By now, all the glasses had fallen to the ground, leaving only the empty tray in her hands.

There were broken pieces of glass all around the room in the path she followed, most of whom were covered in her blood.

Atlas tried to force his body to move, but it didn’t. He kept roaring in his mind, trying to force himself. ‘What is this! Why isn’t it moving! Misella’s life is in danger! Come on! Move dammit! For god’s sake, move once!’

Even his eyes had started to get wet! He didn’t know if it was because of his helplessness or because of seeing Misella in pain.

‘No! Don’t give up! I need to free myself of this compulsion! I need to save Misella, even if it means giving up my life instead! Come on! Arghhh!’

No matter what he did, the outcome was the same. He couldn’t move!

There was a dreadful feeling in his heart. Was it the end? Was it the end of the path for him? His heart was churning in pain as he saw Lord Carlisle stand.