Midnight After Midnight - Nanowrimo 2022

Chapter 19 - Runaway

Just as Adelaide was about to go after Elizabeth, Lionel appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her hand, which startled her. Standing there like a statue, her mouth agape and her eyes wide, she anticipated what he would do next while her heart beat like a drum. A few seconds later, it appeared to be a false threat, for he didn't do anything but form a broad smile. It caused her to relax her stiffened body and place her hands in a careless position, smiling back right before he started the conversation.

"Don't go after her," he said casually, yet still tightening his grip on her hand. "She's an unworthy little brat, not capable of understanding what goods she could reap if she were a vampire due to her prejudiced mindset. If she doesn't want to be one of us that much, let her lose out on that sweet deal. She's disposable, after all. 

There are so many better individuals I've met over the years, and it's not like I ever cared about having an heir that much anyway. I guess I could let you pick a human child whose blood you like, just like my mother did with me, but it's not that important. Let's not waste any more time on unnecessary things, Adelaide. I like to read this time of day."

For a couple of seconds, she turned her gaze away from him, facing the empty hallway while thinking of poor Elizabeth. She had inherited her bad luck from the rest of her family, having her life ruined because of vampires, her stepfather greeting her by telling scary stories about the worst of people and threatening her life, and now she might not return home as well.

She bit her tongue so as to not sigh, not at all willing to show her vulnerability in front of him, facing him again so that she wouldn't look too suspicious. Fortunately, he did nothing more than drag her into the library and close the door behind them after that, and for hours, they read as if nothing had happened.

In three weeks' time, the war between vampires and humans had begun. The latter had become suspicious about the state of corpses in the Londonian graveyards, and vampire sightings, although still not too common, were common enough for the whole affair to become public. Terrified and enraged, England took immediate measures against the evil undead, employing countless hunters on their territory, but none of them came near the castle yet, and there was no news about how the other countries reacted.

However, the news began arriving two months later. Whatever country the Vega castle was in saw some vampires as well, which was evidenced by the occasional vampire hunter walking through the woods at night. Adelaide had to be careful not to walk through them around midnight too often, especially not without company. The matters became so serious that she had to attend a court meeting in the study, in which the painting of Lucifer would once more remain veiled until the very end.

"Welcome to the meeting, everyone," Lionel said gravely immediately after he closed the door. "I suppose you all know very well what's going on at the moment. I believe that we might win, but the situation isn't as good as I'd expected it to be. We've revealed ourselves a bit too early, and thus we've commenced this war while our strategy remains incomplete. Now we have to be careful not to make noticeable mistakes, for even one wrong step could lead to our doom. We also have to create a new plan, although an imperfect one because we don't have the time to do our best. Any ideas?"

Sadly for them, the meeting lasted for an entire hour, but no one had any ideas. Disappointed, he left the meeting as soon as they'd finished a rather desperate prayer to Satan, him and Adelaide being the last ones to leave. As he closed the door behind him, she stared him right in the eyes for a while.

Even though she had a strong feeling that the humans were sure to win, she was well aware that they had to take the war one hundred per cent seriously if they were going to defeat the vampires, herself included. For years, she'd never done much to oppose her kind, but now that she was participating in the definite moment of their history, one that could make them victorious forevermore, she had to make a great sacrifice, and she knew exactly what it had to be.