Vamper : The Return of The Queen (BOOK#1)

Chapter One : Grey Moon

That day, she discovered the truth.

Marceline, a 20 year old woman, walked down the hill while pulling a huge magical beast behind her.

As the sun sank lower in the sky, the sky glowed crimson. Her long, light-brown hair danced with the breeze while she was looking at the distant trees. Why was she living in the woods? And why were her childhood memories blurred? She didn't know. After twenty minutes of walking, she had finally reached the house where she lived with the only man she had known for the longest time who was currently sitting on a rocking chair.

"I'm back, old man," Marceline greeted him after she had dropped the magical monster beside the house.

"Marceline," said the old man as he glared playfully at her, Walter was a tan-skinned, black-eyed man with silver hair.

"Never underestimate an old man," he warned as Marceline ignored him. She climbed up the few stairs and sat on the stair near him then moved her eyes to narrow her eyes and a small frown formed in her face; the expression didn't go unnoticed by Walter.

"For 42 years, I was charged in the castle of our kingdom, the Vamper kingdom, as the head butler which led to a close relationship between the royal family and me. Then 20 years ago, the king and queen had their first child, a girl. Yet she was unlike any normal vampire girl; she had light-brown hair, hazel eyes and pale skin; unlike common vampires, her eyes turned grey whenever she felt strong emotions. She was uniquely beautiful," Walter stated as Marceline's hazel eyes turned to gaze at him.

"But 15 years ago, the castle was attacked by the worst enemy of our kingdom, the werewolves. I had no chance against them so as a butler; I decided to save at least one member of the royal family. I wanted to save the king, but it was too late so I looked for the queen and princess but her majesty ordered me to take you and flee the castle which is the reason we now live in this house away from other vampires. You were too young to have that dark past haunting you so I manipulated your memories to help you grow without any risk," Walter finished telling the young woman beside him about her past without looking at her. He didn't get a response in return, so he decided to let silence kill the ambiance between them; Marceline was drowning in her thoughts. Why did they attack them? How did they succeed entering the castle if it was protected by guards?

"What happened to the rest of the family?" Marceline asked.

"They didn't survive," Walter answered. They fell into a tense silence before the old man broke it again.

"To my knowledge, a vampire lives in a village of humans near Luvus which is the werewolves' kingdom. This village is located in the southeast of the borders between the two kingdoms and the forest that separates the two of them. I believe that this vampire is your uncle, Clyde."

"And how can you tell?" Marceline questioned, feeling confused and surprised by the fact that a vampire lived in a village of humans.

"Sir Clyde was a vampire who refused to see and treat humans as a sort of food for his kind, so he made some secret friendships with humans who worked in the palace and who lived outside in villages since he loved traveling around the kingdom. To let you know, Sir Clyde would have turned 40 this year. He has brown hair and green eyes thus fair pale skin," Walter explained.

"I'm going tonight," Marceline announced. Walter finally looked at her.

"You are not going alone," he said, which made her look at him with a raised eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"There is a person who will accompany you."

"Walter, I don't need anyone to accompany me, I can take care of myself," Marceline argued which made Walter give her a look she knew too well when he was serious about something. Giving up on the idea of resisting, she sighed and got up to face him.

"And who would this person be?" she asked with an audible hint of annoyance as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"You can come out now, Damien," Walter called somebody, and the person called Damien walked through the shadows and slightly bowed to Marceline.

"Damien was your personal guard when you were five years old so he is the perfect person to go with you in such a dangerous journey," Walter said.

"I had a personal guard because I was a child but I don't need one anymore, Walter," Marceline started to complain.

"The matter has been settled. I won't hear another word about it," the old man said, putting an end to any other objections.

Marceline glanced at the other man in front of her. He was a tall man with pale skin, straight, short black hair and light-brown eyes. He wore a black leather jacket with a hood that matched with his grey pants and black boots which fit his muscular body perfectly, and he also had a sword at his side.

Marceline sighed and eventually agreed. She went inside the house to change her outfit and pack whatever she needed for the trip. After a while, Marceline exited the house wearing a beige leather jacket with a hood and fingerless gloves in the same colour, along with some black pants and boots. She also added some belts across her chest in order to carry her own sword at her back. However, she didn't find the old butler when she got out, only Damien. The two of them didn't speak a word so Marceline decided to peek at the man next to her and found him calmly closing his eyes.

"Marceline," the young woman turned her head to see Walter walking towards her while holding a black box in his hands then opened it once he had stood in front of her, "This is a ring that belonged to your mother, her majesty."

It was a mysterious ring; it had a black gem surrounded by royal designed metal with a grey bat that matched perfectly below the gem and was supported by the surrounding metal.

Marceline hesitantly took the ring and slipped it in her finger, she examined the object slowly then felt Walter tap her shoulder.

"Be careful," he said as she stared at his black eyes that held a sad emotion behind them, the woman wrapped her arms around the man's back in a long hug knowing that they might never see each other again. As they parted away, the old butler walked towards Damien and placed his hands on his shoulders.

"Take care of her, she can be stubborn at times but she is a kind-hearted woman, also one thing..." Walter leaned closer to Damien's ear, "Don't try to irritate her because she can make you regret it instantly," the old man whispered and backed away.

"What are you whispering to him, old man?" Marceline asked with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Nothing to worry about," Walter responded with his hands shaking in the air in a defending way and smiled awkwardly. The light-brown-haired woman sighed and looked at Damien who was already looking at her.

"We should get going now," she said as Damien nodded, when Walter heard her statement, he kept showering the young woman with all sorts of fighting advice, thus Marceline had to listen to what the previous butler was telling her because she'd known that he cared so much about her to the point that he didn't want to lose her which made her smile a bit as she listened to him. Eventually, the two young vampires took their leave while Walter was waving at them. Once they had been out of Walter's sight, the old butler let out a short breath and stared in their direction with a smile upon his face.