Thirty minutes had passed since Roman's transformation from his human form to vampire had begun. Even though one of the Elder vampire's blood flowed in his veins right now, only time would tell if he would be able to handle and survive the transformation.

  There had been many occurrences in the past where some humans had tried to gain an advantage against vampires. Apart from creating weapons to kill the night creatures, and in their own twisted thoughts, they had tried to turn some humans into vampires, who were sent to kill the other vampires. But the vampires often revolted and turned bloodthirsty, killing everything and anything that came in their way.

  It wasn't just the humans mentally breaking down, but some of the humans' bodies couldn't adjust the vampire blood in their veins. This led to the vampires spewing blood out of their mouths and, in the end, die.

  Right now, Roman had been locked in his room all by himself, in the Moltenore's manor.

  "The boy is abnormal!" Roman heard the voice of someone from the other side of the room.

  Outside the room and at the end of the corridor stood the four Elder vampires— Azazel Donovan, Castiel Marudas, Luciano Sterling and Remy Oscar.

  Luciano had a glare in his eyes. His face couldn't contain it and spilt into his words, "Kill him now, or I will kill him myself."

  "Try doing that and see what happens later," stated Azazel, staring at the other Elder vampire with his dark red eyes.

  The vampire named Remy asked, "Why are you so intent on keeping the boy alive, Azazel? You can have someone better, yet you picked him. Someone who appears to be a half. Not to mention we don't know what the beating heart means in his case."

  "It means he's a special kind," replied Azazel with a smile that continued to stay on his face, unlike the other three vampires, who had a serious expression on them. "I like to keep things that are special and I see potential in him. He will help us or me with the goal of keeping control over the lands and killing the humans that we need to erase, who are worthless."

  Luciano narrowed his eyes, "And what if in the future, one day he stands against you or one of us? None of us have ever turned any humans to vampires, with a beating heart. You never know when one turns their back at you. It's not the first time. We didn't even come here to turn them—"

  "You will not touch him, Luciano. Roman Moltenore will only answer to me, if he doesn't I will make sure he understands why he should. I did save him. If you want," Azazel said to Luciano. "You can pick one of the humans who are still under transformation, to do your bidding. Castiel has decided to take his nephew under his wing."

  Luciano had a scowl on his face, and he walked away from there, stepping out of the Moltenore's manor.

  "I might as well find a disciple who will listen to me so that I have company," said Remy, and he walked away from there, and soon after, Castiel left the manor too.

  At the end of the corridor, where Roman's room was located, he coughed. The light that came from the candlelight was too bright for his eyes, and he turned his body to the other side while he laid on the bed.

  The cough shook his body, and he brought his hand up, trying to cover his mouth, resulting in him coughing blood into his hand.

  Roman heard footsteps approaching the door, and even though he was in pain, his eyes narrowed.

  "How are you doing, Roman? I believe you have heard our conversation with your good hearing ability that comes from me," said Azazel, who stood on the other side of the door.

  "You remove all the things from the room," said Roman, because the table, the dressing table, and most of the objects that he could use as a weapon to harm had been cleared once he had been brought in here by the man.

  "Consider it to be a precaution to protect you from harming yourself until you complete your full transformation process," replied Azazel. A smile formed on his lips that the boy he had decided to pick as his disciple was not throwing tantrums, unlike the oth—


  "I rather die than be something like you, who killed my family," Roman threw up more blood. The wounds on his body had healed, but at the same time, it had weakened him.

  "It wasn't I or my other companions who killed them. It was the rogue vampires, people who don't follow rules and don't know when to stop," replied Azazel. Hearing the room's window creak, he said, "Step out and you will only end up hunting innocent people. Of course I understand the thirst you must be feeling. My condolences for what happened to your family."

  Roman stared at the wall in front of him, his eyes turning hard.

  "I can smell your insincere words from here," responded Roman, and hearing the young boy's words, the smile on Azazel's face widened more.

  A human or a vampire always knew when to close their mouth when speaking to the Elder vampire. But Azazel found humour in the boy's words, who was trying to speak as an equal, whom he had personally turned into a vampire.

  Roman heard footsteps leaving the front of the door, and he stayed inside the room. He didn't know how many hours or days had passed, but it passed by torturously slow. He didn't sleep, as the memories of his family repeated in his mind. The people he had cared for in this manor had been brutally murdered, and all that he was left with were just memories of them.

  And during that time, his heart grew colder as if wrapped in a blanket of ice that was never going to break.

  The manor held an eerie silence, and so was the town as if it had turned into a ghost town in one night. The Elder vampire, who had turned him, visited him once a day, the visit brief to check if Roman was still alive before leaving the front of the room.

  There was nothing to do in the room apart from coughing the blood and drowning in memories that were turning hollow and dark. His upper jaw hurt, the fangs trying to appear.

  One evening, as usual, Roman sat in the room all by himself, staring at the burning candle. At that time, suddenly, his body went through a shock of pain, his heart squeezing in his chest as if it would explode any moment. From some of the words that he had picked from the Elder vampires conversation, he wondered if this was how he was going to die.

  Getting up, he picked up a page. His red eyes then looked for something to write with. Finding a pin that had fallen at the far corner, he used the blood that he had coughed to write— 'The quietness that instills fear has now turned comfortable.'

  The humans who had been scared the evening of the massacre, running away, had turned into the very same creatures, who had either killed their families or friends.

  Roman wondered if he would be able to continue to live, as it had been around two weeks since he had been locked inside the room. His family's name would end with him. Once he was gone, every memory that had been built would cease to exist, and if it happened, he wanted to leave something behind.

  Hearing footsteps approach the door, Roman quickly folded the paper and pushed it inside a brick.

  When the door flew open, Roman caught sight of the same woman, who had told him to make use of the wooden stake. The woman had blonde hair tied at the back of her head, her eyes not red.

  "Roman Moltenore, Mr. Donovan has summoned you," said the woman, her voice firm.

  "You are now one of them too," remarked Roman, noticing though she didn't look like the so-called vampires, she was still one.

  "And you are too. Looks like you have survived through the transformation," responded the woman. Roman stood up from where he had been sitting.

  "Mrs. Dante?" Roman tried to confirm her name, as they hadn't come across each other much in the past.

  "You can call me, Ms. Dante," the woman let him know. "I will tell it only one time, so listen carefully. These vampires who are here, they are powerful. They are called the four Elder vampires of our time, and don't do anything to upset any of them." She pursed her lips before continuing, "A week ago, two of them tried to go against them and now they lie in their coffin."

  Roman's eyes didn't leave Dante, and soon they started to walk out of the room, where Ms. Dante's voice had turned extremely low.

  "So now we are part of the kind who killed our families?" questioned Roman, his eyes hardened.

  "They weren't the ones who attacked the town, but yes, we belong to their kind now. The ones who have survived are no more humans and are all vampires," on hearing Ms. Dante's words, Roman wondered if his friends were still alive. Azazel had never given any information while telling him to concentrate on fighting the transformation so that he could turn into a vampire.

  They stepped outside, and the dark sky was the one to greet them.

  On his way, Roman noticed the houses burning on the day of the massacre had disappeared entirely. There was a large patch on the ground.

  When Roman arrived at the place with Dante where the Elders stood, they weren't alone but in the company of some of the rogue vampires who had attacked his town.

  "Welcome, Roman," greeted Azazel with a satisfied smile on his face. "I brought you a welcome present to celebrate your successful transformation. These are the rogue vampires who had attacked the town. Anyone you fancy?"

  Roman looked at the rogue vampire's, and while doing so, he caught sight of a familiar face he had never gotten along with within the town. His eyes subtly narrowed, meeting Griffin's eyes, who stood right next to an Elder vampire, Luciano Sterling.

  Everyone noticed the way Roman and Griffin locked their eyes with a distaste for each other.

  "Luciano has turned Griffin as his disciple, similar to how I turned you. You must already know each other, it is a small town," commented Azazel.

  But Roman didn't remark on it. His eyes then moved and fell on one of the rogue vampires—the same person who had stood behind his brother. The memory had run in his mind over and over again that it had imprinted in his mind.

  There were a total of six rogue vampires who had been caught.

  Azazel said, "Looks like someone did catch your interest."

  Another Elder named Remy looked at Roman and said, "I will show you how to kill a rogue vampire as you are new to it." The man then came to stand right behind one of the rogue's, and he used his hand to separate the head from one of the rogue vampire's heads. "This is how to do it."

  Roman walked forward, noticing how the rogue vampire trembled from where he stood, without moving an inch even though he looked like he wanted to run away from the place. Some of the vampire's who had been turned stood far away, watching the scene taking place in front of their eyes. A lot of them watched Roman in doubt, as none of the town folks had ever tried to kill a vampire or kill anyone until now.

  Roman's right hand straightened, ready to run his hand across the neck to separate the head, but his brother's face kept flashing in front of his eyes. The relieved look that had been on his brother's face had turned to shock, realizing his life had been cut short.

  Luciano commented for Azazel to hear, "Looks like he can't do it."

  Roman felt the pain and the slight smile that had reached to offer him courage by his brother. His jaw clenched, and he raised his hand towards the front of the rogue vampire's chest. He suddenly pushed his fingers into the vampire's chest, grasping the person's heart and watching the pain, similar to how Tristan had felt.

  Pulling the heart out, he squeezed it in the process, and the rogue vampire fell on the ground, dead. And even though Roman had avenged one of his family member's death, his heart only grew colder.

  Roman then looked up at the Elder, who had earlier decided to teach him how to kill their kind. He said, "I don't like following things."

  Days passed, and the town was rebuilt, and the people who occupied it were all vampires, which the four Elder vampires controlled, mainly by Azazel Donovan.

  One afternoon, a man walked to where the Elders were and informed them, "The other Hunters have caught a whiff, they are planning to visit this place. To see if any vampires are living here. It's not one town, but more than five who have caught the news."

  "Hm," Azazel hummed and then said, "That will be quite problematic. But it is also the right time to rest, a rest we haven't taken in some time."

  "And what if they find anything to be suspicious?" questioned Castiel.

  "I am sure we have enough people to handle it. Keep only a handful of vampires here, while the rest can take a nap in their own spots. To the hunters we'll become just a myth and they will eventually forget," said Azazel, his chin raising. "I have already explained it to Dante, and she will get it arranged within a few days, to open the educational institution. Veteris will flourish."

  "It is a clever and perfect way to camouflage things around here," agreed Luciano, his lips twisting into a smile. "Borrell, make sure to pick the younger ones to sleep, while keeping the older ones out. When the time is right, wake them up and have them join with the others."

  Borrell looked slightly confused and asked, "What about blood and their age?"

  "Don't worry about that," responded Azazel, "Remy has already got everything prepared and the younger ones can continue with the same age once they are brought out of the coffin. Have the other vampires admitted when needed along with the humans. Balance them both. We would like to gather as many as we can." He took a deep breath and said,

  "I cannot wait to see what the new world looks like when we wake up."

  And when the time came, the elders' chambers were prepared to go to sleep, and wake up when it was time of the full moon, which would hold a line of redness around it.

  The graves with the caskets had been built for the vampires, who belonged to the town, in the cemetery that was in the forest. It was also the same place where their deceased families laid.

  The Elders as well as the newly turned vampires stepped into the chambers and graves respectively to rest so that the hunters would never come to know of them. Years passed, and as expected Veteris flourished, before the vampire students were woken up in batches to join the institution that was being run by vampires.