Nicholas waited for the night to come as he paced around in his room. When he spied darkness outside the window, he grabbed his mother's jeweled dagger, a lighter and a gallon of kerosene he had wrapped with his jacket to conceal the scent. He needed to do something before he would meet Lira tomorrow night.

He ran, cutting through the woods, and outside the academy walls. In less than five minutes he made it to the grand gothic-like mansion, situated on top of a hill—their ancestral house. He leaped over the high walls and landed effortlessly on the ground. There were enforcers standing guard over every entrance. So easy to delude, he mused. He went to the back of the mansion and leaped towards the balcony three stories high. He opened the French doors leading to his room. The tomb below would be heavily guarded, but he could easily get in since the only ones who could gain access were him and his father.

He went on his way towards the ground floor and climbed down the narrow curving bricked-steps. As he went down farther, the air became thin. Torches on the wall lit his path as he made his way past the hallway. He halted on his track as the wide archway revealed a narrow white concrete walk that led to the opening of Lazarus' lair as well as his father Magnus'. Between the walk was nothing but a bottomless abyss. The bridge-like pavement was lined with uniformed Enforcers whose sole duty was to guard the lair.

"Leave. I need to speak with my father," he commanded. They did not question Nicholas as they formed a queue and marched their way out of the walk. Of course even though his father was asleep, Nicholas could still speak with him through their minds as long as he was near him. As soon as the Enforcers left, he made his way through the walkway and stood before a massive white double door. He pushed open the door to reveal a large circular marbled room, the ceiling supported by pillars surrounding the mausoleum. Like outside, the room was illuminated by torches. A large golden star was etched in the middle of the marbled floor. He stepped forward, facing a marble figure attached to the wall, as if it was sculpted as part of the wall. It was Lazarus, asleep in his dried statue form. Not far from him was a white rectangular tomb that housed his sleeping father, Magnus.

He was about to do what every sane but hopelessly-in-love-vampire-but-will-never-admit-that-he-is-hopelessly-in-love would do: end the source of his girl's misery. In Lira's case, it was Lazarus. When his brother told him a group was trying to awaken Lazarus, Nicholas just shrugged his shoulder and said, "Let them." When later he was informed again by Philip that the same group was trying to reinvent the vampire kingdom Imperial and make it exist in its literal sense, he just dismissed the notion and said, "It's my kingdom to rule someday, anyway."

However, when he realized that the same group was making armies of mindless vampires, he became alarmed, considering that Lira was harmed by those creatures twice already. And now that Philip had informed him of the true scenario, he couldn't let Lazarus rise. Lazarus reign would ruin Lira and the rest of the things he came to care about in the human world. Not to mention those vile creatures intended to use Lira as an offering to Lazarus. No. He could not let that happen.

He unsheathed his dagger and drove the sharp blade towards Lazarus' marbled neck, forcefully slicing it until the head detached from the wall and rolled on the floor with a resounding thud that echoed through the white walls. Nicholas eyed his dagger then back to the statue. That was strange. There should be blood coming out from the statue even if it was in a marble-like state. Unless...

He took a step back and suddenly someone from behind kicked his knees, causing him to bend and dropping his knees on the floor. Sharp and pointed spears appeared beside his neck, ready to plunge and sever him if he made even the slightest movement.

"What is the meaning of this!" he demanded the Enforcers. An outline emerged behind the pillar. The torches' flame revealed Magnus' impassive face as he stared down at his son with his black menacing eyes, his silver hair created an illusion of halo around his head as the light from the torches touched his hair.

"Father? How did this happen?" Nicholas was not sure of what was going on. That couldn't be. His father should have been asleep! And he knew it was not yet his father's time to rise. What brought him here? And why now?

"Ah, Nicholas. I have woken up just recently," he said in a low tone as he strode towards Nicholas. "I have heard many things about you. Disappointed ones, to be exact." He circled around his son with the same eerie lithe and calculating movements that Nicholas had witnessed his father had so often used around his enemies or traitors he would later on give a deadly judgment. "I have expected that Philip might do some heinous crimes against the crown. I never expected for you to join his cause. Such a shame. I have grown to like you unlike the rest of your brothers."

"Tell your guards to let me go," Nicholas commanded.

"That would be impossible. You see, I ordered for you to be delivered to me. But that useless boy failed to do so. I sensed your presence when you entered the house. How nice of you to give yourself up freely to us." Prompted by a silent command given by Magnus, the Enforcers kicked Nicholas at the back and forced him to move farther in the middle of the room, just mere inches away from the golden star.

Magnus grabbed Nicholas wrist and extended his son's arm towards the star. "All we ever needed was a bit of your blood to fully awaken Lazarus and you were too elusive and greedy to share it." He sliced Nicholas' palm using the jeweled dagger and droplets of blood dropped on the opening within the star on the floor. An invisible force suddenly pulled Nicholas' arm towards the star, greedily sucking his blood out of his hand.

Magnus gave an evil laugh. "That's it. Feed your father Lazarus. It was the reason why you were born. Your blood is the catalyst for his true awakening."

"I will not let you win!" Nicholas bellowed as he tried to remove his hand away from the star. But the force was so great; he could barely move his arm an inch. His other hand grabbed his wrist to pull it away but the force was too powerful. He was mistaken for thinking the statue contained Lazarus' body. Lazarus lay underneath the star! He felt the blood draining out from him. His vision turned black in the edges, until total darkness consumed him and the last he heard was an evil dark laugh echoing in the chamber.

#

Lira checked herself in the mirror. She clasped the choker on her neck and adjusted the rhinestone. She brushed her hair. Oh, she forgot. She brushed her hair three times already. She would put the choker on. Right. It was already on her neck. Maybe just one more look in the mirror? She was in front of the mirror for the last half an hour. She was a bundle of nerves for the past hour for she was to meet Nicholas in the garden this evening. She had promised to explain to him about what really happened in the woods. She was to tell him her task. Maybe he would understand, maybe he wouldn't. But she needed to tell him anyway.

She let out a sigh. There was still an hour and thirty minutes, to be exact, before her scheduled meeting with Nicholas. She glanced at her watch. Still one hour and twenty-nine minutes. She needed to calm herself down. What was the fuss about, anyway? Surely Nicholas would understand. Knowing him, he might even volunteer to finish the task himself. He'd arrogantly command her to let him finish the task, to be precise.

A cool wind enveloped her body. It wasn't cold enough to cause her to shiver; it was kind of soothing, actually. She knew that feeling, from long time ago. Someone was calling her. She took one last look on the mirror and went outside.

One hour and twenty-five minutes. There was still enough time for her to make a detour. She made her way to the other building, across the foyer and into the hallway. She stopped to say the Hi's and Helloes to those who greeted her along the way. She stopped just a few feet away from the entrance of the Great Hall. The chandelier was turned off. The hall was dimly lit by the moon beam that passed through the tall French windows.

She went inside until she reached the middle of the hall. She scanned her surrounding and smiled. Three dark outlines appeared from behind the pillars, slowly making their way towards her from different directions. Two figure stood before her; one behind her.

She gave them a smile and said, "My sisters, we're finally reunited."

"I'm glad that we're all finally together. However, we all know what it means," someone said behind Lira.

Lira turned around and smiled sadly at her red-haired sister. "I know. It saddens me that we only get to see each other if Lazarus rises." She took her hand and said. "The first time I met you, I knew instantly that we are of the same heart."

Her eyes glisten with tears. "I felt the same way, too." She smiled at her remaining sisters. "We all do."

They spent a moment, reminiscing their pasts and the odd friendship they had shared. But it was time to go. No matter how much Dalisay had missed and yearned to be with her sisters, Lira needed to do something important. She excused herself from them, saying she needed to finish a task before her heart would be completely at ease with their mission.

"Go," one of her sisters said. "You do what you have to do."

Lira gave her a grateful smile and said, "Thank you, Yumi. You have always understood how I feel, even before." Lira bade goodbye to her sisters and turned before she was able to catch the worried look on Yumi's face, for Lira had no idea that the Priestess had seen the future.

Lira stood in the middle of the garden, waiting for Nicholas. He was already thirty minutes late. What could have happened? Why wasn't he there yet? She whispered a question to the trees around her, but they haven't seen Nicholas anywhere.

The cold wind blew making her shiver. She turned to the fountain and hugged her middle. She focused on listening to the sound of the water running in the fountain to calm her. Maybe he got a relapse? What possibly could have happened?

She heard the sound of footsteps approaching. She whirled around and Nicholas' outline appeared from the shadows. She smiled as he stepped into the light. Her smile froze in her face. Lira took a step back.

Standing before her was Nicholas, but not Nicholas. It was physically Nicholas; she sensed it was Nicholas. She knew it was Nicholas. And yet there was another...

Nicholas held his hand towards Lira, palms up. Lira straightened her shoulders, smiled at him and placed her hand into his palm. "Hello, Lazarus. How are you this evening? Pleasant, I hope."

Nicholas' lips tilted to one side, his obsidian black eyes that shone with glints of malice heightened his devilishly handsome face. "My beautiful dove, Dalisay. I woke up from my sleep just to be with you, my sweet."

—END OF BOOK ONE—