Lira gasped with horror and revulsion. Here standing in front of her, the prince of the vampires himself, confessing his crimes against her, against her mother. Hot tears streaked down her face. If it wasn't for this loathsome vampire, she wouldn't be orphaned right now! Philip and Nicholas were cut from the same cloth. Both betrayed the trust that was given to them freely. No wonder they were brothers; they share the same blood of traitors.

Philip fell on his knees and clasped Lira's hand. Lira pulled her hand away. "I loved your mother more than anything else in this world. She knew that as well. But she chose to marry your father. I was angry and hurt. Then my father told me of her schemes against my clan. And I listened to his lies! I gave the order to my Enforcers to kill your parents and the slayers. By the time I realized the truth, it was too late. I rushed towards her house, as fast as a vampire can. But I was still late. She lay on her own blood, barely breathing. I kept on apologizing and apologizing as if it could bring her back to life. Your mother stared at me, still trying to smile though she was weak. On her dying breath she was still kind and forgiving me." Philip lifted his gaze to meet Lira's eyes. Lira wanted to avert her gaze, but she saw the anguish in the prince's eyes as tears rolled down his cheeks. "Before she died, she managed to tell me to look after you. I went to find you but you weren't there."

Prince Philip stood, walked towards the window, and gazed at the dark sky. "When my father fell into his vampiric sleep, I worked with Amara's family to continue the fight what your mother's family had started. That's why I built this school, to correct the wrong notions my father had implanted to the younger vampires, and with Amara's help, to also guide the young humans to see things in a different light. Of course, some of the lords from the noble houses objected this and some people in your government have made some restrictions with how the school should be run."

He shook his head, as if he realized that he had spoken too much. He walked towards his desk and extracted something from the drawer and handed it to Lira. Lira took what looked like a small book from his hands. "It's your mother's diary. I think it belongs to you now. I advise you to also read the books Nicholas gave you from my library. It will help you understand things."

Lira snapped her head towards Philip's direction. How did he know?

Philip gave Lira a warm smile. "I am a vampire who has a freakish obsession with books. Naturally, I know all the books in my library. I am bound to notice if any of my books would be gone missing. Nicholas tried to mask your scent. He forgot a vampire of my age cannot be easily fooled by a mere hundred-year-old vampire."

"Do you expect me to forgive you?" she whispered.

Philip shook his head. "No, I don't expect you to. I haven't even forgiven myself for what I did. We won't force you to help our cause. But allow your memories to arise and then decide if you will fulfill your role as the Dayanghirang or not."

After the meeting, Lira went back to her room after her aunt bade her goodbye. Before leaving, her aunt told her that the moment she was informed of the Diwata's rising, she quickly made her way to the Academy as part of her promise to Lira's mother to inform Amara and Philip about Lira. "But how did you get here so fast?" Lira had asked. Auntie May had given her a chuckle and said, "I am half an elf, remember. We use portals to travel." Lira was so going to ask Ian about portal travelling.

"I'll always be there for you, Lira. I may not be your blood relative but I have always loved you and I am still your auntie by heart," Auntie May had said before she left.

Lira sat on her bed and hugged her knees to her chest. Yumi was tucked in on her bed and was fast asleep. She tried to decipher everything that happened today. What was it that fate wanted her to do? She was just a regular seventeen-year-old girl from the Third, who aspired to attend senior year high, was accused of being a caste climber, and currently held the position of being a vampire's very own supplier of blood.

Then overnight she became Lady Lira, one of the Dayanghirang; vessel to the Diwata Dalisay, deity of the forest and the earthen beings, destined to thwart the evil schemes of the vampires. It sounded so grand in books. But experiencing it first hand? Not so grand at all. These were just too much and she couldn't even confide it with her friends since she was forbidden by Miss Amara to tell anyone about it. She was also advised by the head mistress to take extra precautions as the vampire-like creatures might be targeting students from the academy. She needed to find out what those monsters are called. She couldn't just call them mutated vampire-like creatures forever.

She looked at the journal on top of the books Nicholas lent her on her desk. She was just too tired to read and assimilate new knowledge in her already overcrowded mind. She lay on her bed and threw the blanket over her head. She would sleep now, and maybe when she woke up in the morning everything would turn out to be just a bizarre dream.

It did not turn out to be a bizarre dream after all the minute Lira spied her mother's journal on her desk when she woke up the following day. So much for hoping. She put on her uniform and told Yumi she'd catch up with her in the mess hall.

She went to the infirmary to check on Matt. When she arrived in the infirmary, Lira was surprised to see a tired-looking Mari sitting on a chair beside Matt's bed. Two trays of food were on the opposite bed, untouched. A small basin of water and a blood stained towel was on the table near the bed. "I became Matt's ward mate last night. You know how it is when I have my dysmenorrhea," she explained. She picked up the bowl of water and placed the soaked towel inside. "I'm going to get ready for class. See you there." The she left.

Lira approached Matt. His eyes slowly opened and Lira held his hand. "Hey. How are you? How does it feel to be mummified?" she joked, eyeing Matt's bandages all over his limbs and neck.

"If I tell you to run, you run, you stupid," he groaned.

"Nice seeing you too," Lira said, smiling.

Matt grimaced as if a slight of movement causes him pain. "I must have been asleep for months and haven't seen you a while. There's something different about you."

Matt might be referring to her absent glasses. She tried to put it on this morning but it just made her vision blur, so she placed it aside. Her hair also seemed different. It became less frizzy and curly.

"You look nice," Matt said. Lira almost blushed at Matt's compliment until he opened his mouth again and added, "For someone who almost got killed by monsters. I should bludgeon your hard head right now; see if that'll make you listen when someone tells you to run."

"But for now you can't 'cause you're still regenerating from your mummified state." She gave Matt an encouraging smile. "So try to get well faster so you could bludgeon my head. You should be taking your meals."

"Not hungry. Can't even move with all these bandages," he whined.

Lira rolled her eyes and carefully placed a pillow on his back. The movement caused Matt to wince and grumble. "Are you trying to dislocate my shoulders? 'Cause really the doctors gave a lot of effort putting it back in place."

"Oh, stop being such a baby." Lira placed another pillow behind Matt's back until he was in a semi sitting position. She then carefully removed a glass from the food tray and placed a straw in it. "Here, drink this milk instead."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I would have given you a beer, but since no one bothered to bring one, milk will suffice."

The corners of Matt's lips lifted. Lira knew he must have been thinking that he told her almost the same thing before. Lira placed the straw closer to his mouth and he obediently took a sip. She patiently held the glass for him until he consumed all the drink.

"Mari was here earlier," she said, placing the glass back on the tray.

"Yeah she was. Nice kid. She even helped with changing the bandages and cleaning the blood off my face."

"Aha! So you do see now she's a nice GIRL," Lira said triumphantly, making an emphasis that Mari is a girl, not just a kid.

"I would have shrugged my shoulders as an answer but it pains me to move."

"Well I hope you did not forget to thank her."

"Again, I would have rolled my eyes but it's killing me to do so. Of course I thanked her. I still have some manners left, you know."

Lira chuckled. "I think with the way you're being your cranky self again, you're recovering just fine."

"I'm cranky 'cause I'm in pain. You're such a pain."

"Whatever. Get some rest." After making sure Matt took his medications, Lira left to go to the mess hall.

Being one of the Dayanghirang apparently didn't exempt her from attending the dreaded Vampirology and Vampirism class. She just wanted to forget anything related to vampires for now, not that it would be possible since she was studying at a vampire infested school.

An excited Miss Ana went to greet the class and announced that they would be having their annual Ball in honor of the Academy's former students before their semester break this month. The students began with their excited chatters. Most girls found it a problem that a two-week notice was not enough to come up with a proper Ball gown. Ah, if only Lira's own problems were as simple as that.

"Don't worry you two. I'll lend you some of my gowns," Mari offered.

"Mari, you're a life saver!" Yumi declared.

Later that evening, Lira sat behind her small desk inside her room and considered which to read first: her mother's journal, Philippines: the untold HISTORY, or what seemed to be another guy's journal? She would have chosen her mother's journal but it might make her cry in her still vulnerable state. Reading another person's diary was like invading once privacy so she set aside the other journal. She settled for the history book instead.

She flipped through the pages and landed on a topic that caught her attention and made mental notes of the important details: During the 16th century Ferdinand Magellan reached the island, made a blood compact with the natives, and was later killed by a native leader. Succeeding expeditions were sent by New Spain to the Philippines. The earliest invasion was during the 1564 when Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived at the Philippine shore and permanent settlers were established on 1565. In 1570, the encomienda system was introduced, and due to the abuses inflicted by the encomenderos to the locals, caused frequent uprising from the Filipinos.

Lira understood that part, but how did the vampires came into the picture? Lira read the rest of the history to find the answers. She reached another section of the book, where the author described about the vampire settlers and Lira summed up everything: They came together with the succeeding expeditions. At first some locals called them aswang. The vampires began controlling the Spaniards, mandating forced labor and demanding offerings through the encomienda system until later the vampire established rule outside the encomienda system. The Spaniards followed the vampires out of fear/greed/power, supremacy and immortality was promised by the vampires.

Immortality? Nicholas had told Lira that no vampire could turn any human to a vampire. Were the vampires from the past made false promises just to control the Spaniards? What were the real roles of the vampires back then?

As Lira read further, she came upon the name of Lazarus, king of the vampires. And the author described him as a terrifying creature of the night, who played a major role during the colonization period and the oppressions that followed under his rule along with his noblemen. Lira read through the timeline including the rise of the ilustrados in the 1869, a man named Jose Rizal who wrote novels that inspired the movement for independence and the Philippine revolution in 1896.

She reached a chapter where the author mentioned the name of the deity. It was said that Diwata Dalisay organized the very first house of vampire slayer in the middle of the 17th century. When the vampire forces grew strong and formidable, a blood compact was made by four women in the 18th century where the four Dayanhirang came to be. A revolution was led by the Dayanghirang in the 19th century. Slowly the forces of the vampires were defeated. The four Dayanhirang made a covenant to rise once again if needed. Lazarus and his noblemen went into hiding for many scores of years. Lazarus attempted to resurface during the 20th century but the slayers were able to push them back during the EDSA revolution...

It seemed to Lira this Lazarus guy was always making an appearance almost every century. Was he aiming to create havoc every century? Seriously, that guy needed to give it a rest. But the book, however, did not describe anything about Dalisay's origin or how she came up with the decision to form the slayer houses.

Lira gave her mind a rest and decided to close the book and called it a night.

The following evening, Lira met Prince Philip in the hallway after their evening class. He met her gaze and there was still that sad look in his eyes. Lira's face remained impassive as she moved past by him. Philip called her name and she turned to face him.

"Have you read your mother's journal?" he asked.

"Not yet," she replied curtly.

"I know how it feels. I kept her journal close to me and yet I never read it. I was too frightened to know what she felt about me," he said before he left.

Lira and Yumi spent their remaining time in the rec room later that evening after their class. Mari asked them if they wanted to go with her to visit Matt before going back to their dorms. The two feigned headaches and said they would rather go to bed early. The truth was they wanted to let Mari have some time with Matt. So here she was now, watching TV and Yumi nibbling on a chocolate on the opposite couch. It was a minute later when Stephan and Sevastian sauntered inside the rec room. They approached the two girls—Sevastian sat beside Lira while Stephan was pestering Yumi on the other side.

"I never asked how you were after the attack," Sevastian said.

"I'm fine. Nothing to worry about," she said. "Thanks for coming to my rescue."

Sevastian shook his head. "It was Nicholas actually who heard you. He rushed outside the house looking frantic and we followed him. When we scented blood, we knew something was not right. Steph must have scented Yumi nearby for he sprinted off and we never noticed where he went."

It was just like what Nicholas had said. Of all the names she called out, it was his she chose. She was grateful he saved her and Matt. But there was a price to pay in the end. "But still you were there and saved me. Thank you," Lira said.

Sevastian gave her a small smile. "We must have frightened you. We—it seemed brutal what we did. But we needed to kill them. They were already mindless monsters."

"I don't easily get squeamish over the sight of blood and intestines," she boasted. "What were those things anyway?"

"They are called the Crazed. Philip told us they were once humans who were infected by potent vampire venom that had worked in reverse. I don't know how they did it, but the ones behind it managed to reverse the effect of vampire blood. A vampire blood can cure. But the effect of the altered blood had somehow created a new breed of vampires out of humans. We have heard of activities of some vampire lords creating an army out of those creatures, though we still couldn't identify who the lords are. It's either they are trying to overthrow us, the Imperials, or they are trying to build a new vampire kingdom."

"How come it's not reported in the news? People should be aware of this so they can protect themselves."

"Philip and some of his loyal nobles have been working with the slayers over this. Philip's own Royal Enforcers were already dispatched to eliminate the private army discretely. But your president was adamant about having a news black-out. He said he doesn't want to create another pandemonium. The other noble lords from the council also agreed to the news black-out."

"What about you? Do you agree with the causes of those vampire lords?" she asked, wanting to know where Sevastian stands.

"I don't want to live in violence with constant blood-shed over the next millennia. I can live thousands of years, and I don't want to have my memories filled with gruesome events. No, I don't agree with what they aim. I'd rather be an ordinary vampire at peace and tranquil than be a vampire prince ruling a kingdom of chaos and despair."

Lira eyed Sevastian and said, "You really are different from your brother." By brother, I meant Nicholas, Lira thought.

Sevastian gave her a small smile. "I grew up spending much of my time with Philip or reading his books. I seemed to develop the same interest as what he has. Nicholas—he's a good brother. But he grew up with Father constantly drilling him about his role and duty as his heir. Steph and I spent our youth creating little vampire mischiefs—or Steph does those and I watch over him to make sure he does not cross the line. Nicholas on the other hand at an early age started to attend council meetings with Father and meeting dignitaries from other vampire kingdoms. That was why he grew up to be..."

"Arrogant? Who thinks highly of himself? Who thinks the world revolves around his royal feet? Who thinks he can always have his way? A pig, loathsome, selfish royal prince?" Lira supplied.

Sevastian chuckled. "Among other things. But I think when he met you he was starting to... change. Did you know he badgered me all day long to know where he can get medicines and vitamin c? I asked him what it was for and he told me to keep my nose out of his business and left. He ended up ordering his young subjects to produce those things. Imagine my reaction when I learned he meant to give those to you when you were sick. He never does things like that before. He never worries about others."

Lira remembered that all too well. She ended up in a fit of laughter when someone delivered a box filled with oranges, strawberries and fruits she never knew existed. His subjects must have ransacked a pharmacy for another box was filled with acetaminophen, antihistamines and vitamin c in all forms: tablets, capsules and syrups; they even included medicines like omeprazole, metformin, amlodipine, metoprolol. She had told herself she should have been more specific what medications were used for common colds. She had thought it was thoughtful of him to do those for her, even though he made a royal command to those poor vampires to procure those boxes.

"I tried to persuade him to revoke the deal he made. I would have helped the slayer myself, but we both knew his blood was more powerful than mine," Sevastian said a moment later.

Lira shook her head. "I know he's too stubborn to be persuaded. I made a deal with him because I wanted Matt to live. I know I will never forgive myself if he died because of me."