We could hear the faraway sound of heavy wheels and distant cries. That only meant one thing. They were coming to collect a new batch.

Alex immediately took control.

"Quick! Hide and be quiet. Henri close the curtains. Tonya, lights off." he whispered yelled. We hurdled together in the kitchen.

All this is not actually going to stop them from taking us if they really wanted to, but still we always try and stop them from considering our house.

Alex holds me tightly in his arms while I held onto Tonya's hand on my right. Kyle and Henri were both close behind us.

The sound of the wagons got louder and louder. They were in our street now. We all held our breaths as we stood frozen in our spots.

If in any case they come up and order you into a wagon, you have no right to say 'No.' The wagons take you straight to the palace where you become a slave. Of course they called you 'servants' but we know better. Whether you liked it or not, it's an "honor" to work in the palace as slaves. It's an honor to die for the royals. That's what they keep feeding our brains until we accept it.

As they came close to our neighbor on the right, Alex held me closer. I was trembling. Tonya's palm was already sweaty. There's only so many times they can miss our house. I heard voices of protest come from our neighbor. Parents being separated from children. The children were crying. Either the parents or the children were taken. That much we could make out.

Alex stiffened. I then placed my free hand over his arm in a comforting manner as I knew how much this bothered him. Just then I realized they were done with my neighbor.

We were next.

The mechanical sound that came from the wheels of the wagons were the scariest sound you'll ever hear. Once they take you, you're done. For life. No getting out.

Would it stop? Would it pass?

One can only pray.

We all stopped breathing and the was silence. Only silence. Silence that could kill. And it was killing me. Every second of it felt as if all the air was being sucked out of my lungs. Then, after a few near heart attacks, and heightened blood pressure, after a few painfully slow minutes, we heard the wagons move pass our house.

As seconds turned into minutes, we couldn't hear them anymore.

"This is getting bad. This is getting really really bad! " Tonya said panicking.

"What is?" Alex asks.

"The last time they needed a fresh batch was three weeks ago guys! It's supposed to be once a month! " Tonya waved her hands frantically "It's becoming more and more often, means more and more slaves are dying. Quickly at that." She said sounding defeated. Alex held her arm "We survived another round. I think we should be thankful."

"Yeah he's right. At least we know we're in the clear for another mon.. I mean three weeks right?" I chipped in.

"Oh joy! Hurray for us!!" Kyle said, his voice filled with sarcasm.

"Don't try to be so tough. You think I missed the part where you held Henri's hand so fucking tightly? I wouldn't be surprised if she fractured a couple of her fingers ." Alex bursts out.

"So you saying I'm strong?"

"Just. Shut. Up. Scaredy cat. You're just as thankful as the rest of us," Alex says

"Fine! Daddy."

Turns out Alex was right. Henri's right hand and arm had red finger prints on them. I asked her to sit while I rubbed and massaged her hand.

I looked at Kyle and saw him stare at Henri's hand with a look of concern. When he realized I was looking, he immediately diverted his gaze somewhere else.

"Well, let's at least enjoy our dinner?" Tonya said after a few moments.

We talked about our day while having dinner. All of us except Kyle of course. He was busy playing with his soup until Henri slapped his hand. She winced as her hand was still sore. Kyle gave her an evil smile. Only Tonya and Alex could fully control him.

After dinner, it was Henri and Kyle's turn to help Tonya clean up. Just as I went to close the blinds again, I saw it.

Bright orange light which reached the sky. I also noticed that the flame was slowly spreading.

He was doing it. Again.

"Great! He's burning something again?!" Kyle asked from the kitchen.

"Well at least we don't hear any screams. Means he's not burning people. It looks like it's somewhere deep in the forest." Tonya answered.

"How is that any better?! Poor animals." Kyle complained.

"Number one, stop shouting. Number two, since when did you become an animal lover?" Alex asked truly curious.

"Number one I'm angry. I hate that bastard. Number two, no animals means less chance of us EVER getting any meat. Not even cute bunny meat." Kyle proudly replied. Alex gave up talking to him. Kyle sure is something else.

"That's a huge fire Alex, wonder what's made the Dark Prince so angry again." I was always curious. So much anger. For what? What could make one feel that amount of rage? Was it even worth it?

Some say he cannot control his powers while others say that he's a monster just like his line of Royal Pure Blood's. The thing is he is not just a Royal Pure Blood. He has fae blood running through his veins as well. Maybe that's what made him what he is now.

"That guy has issues!!" Kyle angrily spoke.

"Ssshhh Kyle. Keep it down. We could get in trouble," I scolded him.

"Is it true that he can't control it?" It was Henri this time.

"Kyle or the Prince?" Alex teased which earned him a scowl from Kyle.

Tonya took a seat on one of the chairs near Henri. "The Prince has fae blood in him Henri. The faes, elves and certain witches posses light magic while vampires, werewolves and certain witches posses dark magic or dark powers. Only the trolls and humans are well....neutral. The king happened to fall in love with an ordinary fae almost 600 years ago th-"

"Screw that dude as well! He's the cause of my current situation!!" Kyle cut in.

"Stop shouting!" We said simultaneously.

"Can I continue?"

"Yes Tonya, please." Henri leaned forward cupped her face in her palms and rested both her elbows on her knees, waiting eagerly.

"Where was I? Aaahh, despite many objections from the royals and the royal fae people, they were stubborn. Insisted on following their hearts. And of course he turned her into a Vampire. Although, he didn't actually need to. The queen asked for it so that she could please his side of the family. Vampires and fae creatures aren't supposed to merge or be one. In other words light and dark magic shouldn't be put together. As we all know the Queen gave birth to 4 children. Everything went well after his birth of course.

The king and queen never expected anything to go wrong until it was too late. Until they gave birth to their first born.

Until the Dark Prince.

See when Royal Pure Blood vampires happen to have mix marriages, their blood, the power of their Pure Blood does not get affected. Meaning their offspring will inherit all its powers just the same. Means nothing can go wrong if a Royal Pure Blood vampire decides to marry a human, a troll or any dark magic creatures.

The problem arises when the Royals wed creatures with light magic. Their blood becomes tainted. That's kind of what happened with the Dark Prince. All went well with the vampire side of him. It's just that instead of inheriting light magic of the fae, it got mixed up, tainted and it turned into dark magic. So he's dark and dark. He has two dark sides. No balance. Half vampire and half dark fae.

"Ohhhh. Wait, how about his three other siblings? They're just fine." Henri asked.

"Well the King and Queen learnt from their mistakes. So, when the Queen found out that she was pregnant again, they couldn't bear to think about what would happen if another was born like the Dark Prince, so they had help from witches with light magic. They visited the coven leaders and asked for advice.

The witches came up with something to balance out and suppress any signs of possible catastrophe within them. They created a spell and put it on the others. Too bad they couldn't do anything to help the Dark Prince. Even the king and queen couldn't do anything to help him. For years they tried to fix him. To get him to learn how to control his powers. They traveled the world looking for a solution. Anything.

Sadly they couldn't. So he grew up and it's been a few centuries but he still can't control it. And he has probably excepted who he is. Maybe he even likes being who he is. All mighty and powerful. He is the strongest creature alive anyway." Tonya thought for a moment.

"You bet! And that is..."

"I swear if u scream again..." Alex warned Kyle.

"You'll do what? Make me sleep outside again?" Kyle dared to ask. Alex just gave him the look.

"Yes Alex, I really think you should do that again," Henri muttered under her breath but it didn't go unnoticed by Kyle.

"Why are you on his side?! You're supposed to be on mine. Always." He whined looking annoyed while Tonya snickered.

"I like Alex more so I'll always be on his side. Plus he's not a moron." Henri shot back. Ouch.

Was that hurt I see in Kyle's eyes?

No way.

"Whatever. Coming back, all I'm saying is that there's no excuse. He's hurt and killed a lot of people. If he's angry there a super huge fire. If he's anxious, he brings out a bloody storm, if he's..."

"We get it Kyle. No one said it was an excuse. So calm down." I said then turned towards Tonya. "How come those witches couldn't fix him?" I asked.

"I'm not so sure Eve. I heard those witches put the spell on each child while they were still in the womb. Maybe nothing could done to a child which has already been born and grown up?"