The gaping entrance in the side of the wall is dark and seems to stretch on forever. I can’t seem to make out where it ends, even with my recently attained night vision.

“In here?” I mutter, trying not to breathe in the putrid stench.

Alice nods. We followed the Ashbrook River a fair distance away from the city and are now standing before what is supposed to be the entrance to the sewers. The ground is muddy (at least I hope it’s mud) and wet, but thankfully the water level isn’t particularly high. It stopped snowing a while back and the sun’s come out to shine, much to my annoyance. I now know what Alice meant when she said we were ‘weaker’ in the sun – I feel a light tinge of lethargy following me everywhere I go, one that was never present before.

Alice takes one more look around, making sure we weren’t followed, and heads fearlessly into the dark. She hasn’t been walking for long when she looks back and realizes I haven’t taken a single step.

“Come on, you’ll get used to the smell,” she urges.

I swallow. It’s not the smell that puts me off…

“Coming,” I yelp. I have to put on a brave front before her.

As we head deeper and deeper into the tunnel, the light behind us gradually shrinks to a small white dot. My lethargy is gone but replaced by another, worse feeling. Despite the coolness, I’m beginning to sweat.

“How long is it going to take?” I ask, trying to keep my voice under control. Alice glances back with a puzzled look.

“We aren’t even halfway there yet.”

She stops and takes a few steps towards me, bringing her face up close.

“You’re sweating,” she says. “Are you feeling alright?”

Before I can respond that I’m as right as rain, she presses a cool palm to my forehead. My heart was already thumping like a jackhammer – and she’s making it worse.

“J-just keep going,” I stammer. “I don’t want to waste any more time here.”

“If you say so.”

We continue to hike forward in the darkness, each step bouncing around the walls until it sounds like there’s an army marching in the pipeline. Every so often we hear the scampering of small feet and the splashing of water thrown into the mix.

The deeper we go, the more my feeling of anxiety grows. The darkness is never-ending and smothers me like a blanket. What if we get lost? What if the tunnel collapses? What if it floods and drowns? Are we going to starve to death? Just the thought of being buried here, deep under the ground away from civilization never to be found again is-

“Bran. I can hear your heartbeat.”

The sound of her footsteps stop and she turns back to me. Now that she mentions it, I can hear it too.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Alice examines me with her warm red eyes. “Could it be… that you’re claustro-“

“I’m fine!”

My voice comes out louder than I expected. Echoes of ‘I’m fine’ ricochet along the walls, multiplying in intensity and number until a legion of them are speaking back to me, as if to mock my fear.

I’m not familiar with the capabilities of a full-blooded vampire’s night vision, but I hope it’s not powerful enough for her to be able to see my face. From what I’ve learned in biology from Mrs. Kuksal the retina’s rods are responsible for night vision, and they only perceive in shades of grey. If Alice could see the colour of my face now, I’m sure it would be as red as a beetroot.

Alice quietly comes back to my side and grabs my hand. As much as I hate myself for it, her touch is a comforting and reassuring presence. I feel the pulsing of my heart slowly die down until I’m breathing normally again.

“It’s not far now,” she says softly before tugging on my hand. Looking at my feet, I allow myself to be led by her.

One step at a time she takes me through the tunnels, twisting and turning. She must have been along this route countless times to be able to remember it so perfectly. Every single path looks identical and I have no doubt that if she were to disappear right here, right now, I would never find my way back.

After what seems like an eternity we come to a halt before a wall. The material comprising the dead end is exactly the same as the slick sides of the tunnel and nothing stands out from it.

Alice steps up to the wall and feels along its surface until her fingers apparently find something. She presses what looks like a single brick amongst many, which sinks in and begins to shake. Like a scene out of a movie the wall shudders as gears and mechanisms begin to turn. I watch in fascination as the wall slides to one side, revealing an even darker passageway behind it. There’s a delicious aroma wafting from it, one which almost makes me forget my claustrophobia.

“We’re pretty much here,” she says reassuringly. “Just a little more.”

I find my eyes unwillingly drawn to her hand.

No. What sort of man am I if I can’t even manage this?

Taking a deep breath to steel myself, I head into the darkness.

True to her word, this passageway only stretches for a few metres before widening into a hallway. From what I can make out with my nightvision it looks like some sort of outdated eighteenth century cathedral. There are torches hung on the walls, but they shed little light on the area.

At the sound of my entrance, I hear the shuffling of footsteps ahead of me before an old man appears from the aisles. He’s incredibly pale but looks well-fed and has quite a lot of meat on his bones. There’s a heavenly scent around him, one that tugs at my stomach. I wonder if anyone would notice if he went missing-

All of a sudden I realize what I’ve been thinking and shake my head. Was I seriously looking at this person as if he was a walking meal?

“My lady! I see you have returned. What brings you here today?”

“Kenneth,” Alice greets from behind me. “Doing well?”

The man nods.

“Where’s Father? Dinner?”

“Ah, they just finished a few minutes ago. They’re feeding now, I believe.”

Feeding? But didn’t they just finish dinner-

“Are you a human?” I ask.

Kenneth nods, giving a jolly smile. “That I am. Who might you be? Bringing another newborn here, Alice?”

“Pretty much. I know I promised I wouldn’t after what happened last time, but…” Her voice breaks off.

“You don’t need to explain to me,” Kenneth says with a shake of his head. “I’m sure you’ll have your hands full explaining to your father after all.”

She nods in response and strides down the aisle, turning towards a door on one end. Turning expectantly to me, she waits patiently as I make my way to her side.

“What is this place?” I whisper, peering around warily as if the walls had ears.

“It’s the hideout of our clan. We’ve been here for several generations, ever since we first retreated underground.”

“It shows,” I mutter, brushing away a web that plastered itself onto my face.

“As soon as we get things sorted out with Father, I’ll let you go home.”

The sounds of chatter slowly grow as we walk into a large dining hall. The delicious scent hangs heavily in the air and before I know it I’ve quickened my pace. I can’t focus on anything except what my ears and nose are picking up. I can’t even remember what I was doing here in the first place-

“Bran!”

I feel something tighten around my hand and almost lash out, until I realize it’s Alice. I’m standing in front of a woman sitting on a seat, red blood still oozing from a piercing in her forearm. She looks at me with a puzzled look on her face.

“Sh-shit,” I curse, confused and ashamed. “Sorry.”

There are several of these people seated around the long table, and they’re all bleeding. There’s a man going around to each of them, extracting blood into small glass vials. If we weren’t all the way underground in this ancient place, I could have easily mistaken him for a doctor taking a blood sample.

“Be careful not to lose control here,” Alice says. “These are all humans, with O type blood too. If you want to feed, you’ll have to wait in line.”

She gestures at where all the noise and chatter is coming from – a large group of people hanging by a large fireplace. I instinctively know that these people are all vampires.

“You use them as livestock,” I whisper.

Suddenly, I feel sick.

“There are some among us who must have human blood,” she says. “In exchange for food and shelter, we take in the homeless and take blood from them.”

“I thought you were a vegetarian,” I accuse.

“I am. I stay away from human blood.”

I gulp and look again at the circle of humans. Some of them are giving me odd looks, some of them are ignoring me entirely and some are simply focused on eating the leftovers placed before them.

“Think of it as mutualism,” Alice says. “They agree to this deal willingly. Both sides stand to benefit.”

“Just take me to your father already,” I grit through my teeth. I’d gladly return to the sewers if it meant there was no temptation of accidental cannibalism.

Alice dips her head and continues to walk past the hall, never releasing my hand. It’s something I can focus on, to take my mind off my reawakened hunger.

We end up inside another dimly lit room, lined by bookshelves on all sides. A desk lies in the centre of the room and a man sits before it with a fountain pen in his hand. His slick white hair is combed back, and he is wearing a crisp suit.

“Who is this?” he asks, sniffing the air. “I don’t recognize him.”

“Father… I’ve…”

It’s the first time seeing Alice like this. She’s at a loss for words.

“He smells like you. Don’t tell me you Initiated someone else?”

His voice is cold and quiet, but I can feel its edge. He’s angry.

“I’m sorry. He was about to die-“

“Then you should have let him. You made this mistake once, why do it again?”

He finally looks up, and I nearly take a step back from the force of his gaze. His glowing red eyes burn with a ferocity I’ve never seen before – it feels like I’m staring right into the eyes of death itself.

“He’s a member of ANGEL, and possesses a Divine Edge… I thought we could use his help in tracking down the feral demon.”

The man gets up and walks around to stand before me. I can feel his eyes staring me up and down, examining every inch of my body.

“Have you forgotten why I asked you to refrain from increasing the size of our family even further?”

“I-“

“As the Blood Lord, I have a responsibility to keep all my subordinates in line. The more people you share your blood with, the more potential there will be for someone to contest me.”

Alice meekly nods. She seems like a completely different person in front of her father – gone is the stoic, apathetic girl who saved me, and in her place is a small child being scolded for doing something wrong.

“Hit her.”

For a second, I thought I misheard. The man’s eyes bore into me, shaking my core as he commands me.

“Her?” I ask, pointing to Alice.

He nods. “Punish her for me.”

I turn to Alice, who is deliberately avoiding my gaze.

“Sorry, Sir. I think domestic violence is wrong.”

Instead of lashing out at me or something similar, the man sighs. Taken off guard, I decide to ask a few questions of my own.

“Who are you?”

“It’s as I thought… I have no control over you.”

He straightens up and looks down at me. “I am Ian Vancratt, Alice’s father. I am also the head of this clan - the Blood Lord. It seems like you are to be the latest addition to our family.”

“What did Alice do wrong?” I press. “She saved my life. Despite being the sworn enemy of a demon, I owe her.”

Ian whips his hand to the side without warning, catching Alice square on the cheek. The slap is like a thunderclap, and sends her sprawling into a bookshelf. Several books fall from their place, but she doesn’t respond.

“What was that for?” I yell. “You didn’t need to do that.”

“What is your name, boy?”

I step backwards. “Bran Lietmann.”

“Bran. If you had a daughter who disobeyed you, what would you do?”

I don’t even need to think. “I’d explain to her why what she did was wrong, and urge her never to do it again.”

“And what if she repeated that mistake?”

My mouth is already open, but I can’t find a proper response. What would I do? If my child continued to disobey me?

“This is not the first time Alice has Initiated humans into our clan,” he says. “I let her off lightly last time. This time I may not be so forgiving.”

“What’s wrong with that?” I protest.

“I told you to hit her, and you didn’t. If I asked any of my other subordinates, they would have done so whether they wanted to or not. You see, as it turns out, anyone within the clan who does not share the blood of the leader is forced to obey their command. I’m sure you see where I’m going with this.”

I remain silent, going over to help Alice to her feet. She intentionally avoids looking me in the eye.

“All vampires in the Vancratt clan are bound to me by an oath. They cannot disobey me, even if they try. The only way I can be overthrown is by one of my own family… or anyone they Initiate. Before Alice did anything, she was the only one capable of this – but now there are two others.”

He throws a look of disdain at his daughter.

“I… I won’t do it again,” she says quietly, looking down. “I’m sorry.”

“Apologies won’t fix the problem,” Ian spits, his voice gradually growing louder. “We already lost track of that other runt. If I get killed, do you realize you’ll be next? As a Blood Princess, your fate is linked with mine!”

“I’ll take full responsibility!” Alice suddenly cries. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t step out of line!”

“What makes you think that?” Ian roars back. I’ve now been excluded from the argument – it’s a verbal showdown between father and daughter. “You said so yourself, he’s from ANGEL! He’s a Demon Hunter, he specializes in killing us! What if he reveals our secrets to the officials?”

“I’ll kill him then,” she replies without hesitation. A chill runs up my spine at the sound of those words. “He can’t possibly be a match for Moonlight.”

Ian stays still, breathing heavily. An uneasy silence passes between the three of us, only broken by the clamour from the dining hall.

“You’re positive he’ll be able to help take down that feral vampire?” he finally asks.

“Yes,” Alice responds immediately.

“You’re taking full responsibility?”

“I am.”

Ian knits his brows. “All the other men I’ve sent have proven themselves incompetent. As my daughter and the strongest in the clan after myself, I fully expect you to be able to handle this yourself. Whether you enlist his aid or not, I expect this feral vampire to be taken care of swiftly and efficiently. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes Father.”

“Good.” Turning away from her, he returns his gaze to me. I shift unconsciously on the spot.

“My daughter believes you have the potential to be of use for us, so I will allow you to leave for now…”

I’m just about to let out a sigh of relief, until he finishes his sentence.

“…if you can pass my test.”

There’s always a test isn’t there?

“If you can defeat one of my men in combat, then I will allow you to leave.”

“What does it mean to defeat someone?” I ask, dread creeping up my spine.

Ian fixates his eyes on me. “You have to kill them, of course.”