Chapter 1 Locked in a dungeon

AMELIA MOORE

This was a world of the supernatural, where only the strongest of all supernatural beings survived.

I was a vampire, and according to what I had heard, vampires didn’t form lasting bonds with others the way werewolves did. They simply had fun with women and had children, nothing more, nothing less.

But why did I turned out different?

You see, I’d discovered that I had a mate… a werewolf, of all things, vampires' greatest enemy.

Strangely enough, I’d been dreaming about him long before we ever met in reality.

The question is why? I have no answer.

I had no answer to anything. As a matter of fact, my life itself had always been a mystery to me.

I am Amelia Moore, and everything had begun with my usual routine of being locked up in my personal cell by my father, the leader of the Red Sun Clan of vampires.

That had been the pattern of my life for the past twenty years, and I often wondered how long it would stay that way.

I don’t even know why I was imprisoned.

All I knew were the whispers I overheard from the cruel vampires guarding my cell. According to them, I was a disgrace to our kind.

Why, you might wonder?

It all came down to my aversion to human blood.

When I was born, they tried to feed me a glass of human blood. But before the red liquid could touch my lips, I’d recoiled instinctively and knocked the cup away, sending blood splattering across the floor.

My rejection of human blood had made me an outcast, too strange to be allowed to roam freely.

Being different was the reason I had suffered all my life without ever knowing what it felt like to be loved. I had been beaten, mocked, and never given a real bed to sleep in.

Maybe they thought I didn’t deserve comfort.

However, please understand that I was still a vampire, and survival depended on blood, just like any other of my kind. I only had an aversion to human blood, but animal blood sufficed.

My eyes fluttered open weakly as I slowly pushed myself up from the hard floor, a groan escaping my lips when pain flared through my side.

I had been beaten terribly the night before, and my body was healing slower than usual.

‘You’re twenty, Amelia Moore. You can escape now.’

I let out a tired breath and leaned back against the cracked, dirty wall of my cell, my brows furrowing in frustration.

That voice again. It had been in my head lately. I didn’t know if it was a sign of madness or something real, but it kept telling me that I could escape.

Escape? From here? From a place guarded by monsters stronger and faster than me?

My cell alone was watched by six male vampires, not to mention the rest of the fortress.

It had to be my mind playing tricks on me.

Suddenly, something struck the side of my head, and I gasped, and turned to look.

Reed stood there. He was one of the guards who despised me more than the others.

"That's your meal, you worthless freak! You've been on good behavior lately, so you'll have deer blood," he sneered, his face twisted with disgust.

This made me really furious, and I shot him a sidelong glare, simultaneously using my right pinky finger to scratch at my left, attempting to quell my boiling rage.

They all looked at me with that same disdainful gaze, and I wondered just how repulsive I must be to them.

Ironically, I didn’t even know what I looked like.

Every second that passed, every breath I took, felt like punishment. The pain of being trapped in this filthy cage went beyond discomfort.

I was simply tired of living.

My life had been the same since I was a child. Sleep. Wake. Eat a little. Endure the guards’ blows. Repeat.

I was sick of it all.

If I’d had the choice, I would have ended it long ago. There was just no point in living when escape seemed impossible.

“Hey, Reed!” Another wicked guard named Cole called out, but I kept my head bowed and fixed my attention on the plastic bottle of blood sitting within reach, the same meagre meal I’d had for as long as I could remember.

Why they bothered to feed me at all, I didn’t know.

Maybe my father didn’t want me dead.

That man was the one I despised above all others. He’d locked me up in this place but never once revealed his face to me.

"We caught a few humans today,” Cole said, tossing the words like a prize. “Those werewolves are getting on the leader’s nerves. Actually, they’re annoying all of us.”

Werewolves, our sworn enemies.

They were as strong and fast as vampires but lacked our hypnotic power. Still, they were deadly. One bite from them could kill a vampire.

“Yeah,” Reed replies with a bitter laugh. “That Alpha from the Nightfall Pack is the worst. His warriors are always vigilant at night, thwarting our plans. Because of him, we can’t hunt like before. If it weren’t for that mutt, life would be easier. The other packs would at least be more accommodating."

“Still, they’re our enemies,” Cole growled. “I’d wipe out every last one of them if I could. I hate those beasts.”

I had heard about the Alpha of the Nightfall Pack many times. He seemed to be the greatest threat to my kind.

Ten years ago, there had been a peace treaty between vampires, werewolves, and even humans. For a while, everyone tried to live by the rules.

But that Alpha, as I've heard, never accepted it.

He still hated vampires, and we hated him just as much.

According to the treaty, vampires were forbidden from killing humans. We were only allowed to adopt them, drink a little of their blood, erase their memories, and send them back home.

My only friend once told me that another war might break out soon, because peace like that could never last forever. Vampires and werewolves could never truly coexist. Sooner or later, one side would break the treaty.

When two powerful races lived side by side, it was only a matter of time before one wanted to rule alone. I often wondered who would win if that day ever came.

But if vampires did… I knew the world would drown in blood.

Not long after, the guards left the dungeon, their cruel words about me still echoing in my mind.

All I could do was hide the glare in my eyes, swallow my anger, and do nothing. The only friend I’d ever had, the only one who pitied me, had been the only light in this forsaken place.

But… they killed her.

And it was all my fault.

Her being friends with me led to her doom.

And now, I have no one.

‘You can escape, Amelia Moore. All you have to do is think where you want to be.’

The voice in my head again.

I sighed and slowly pushed myself to my feet, a low groan escaping as pain rippled through my stomach. Leaning back against the cold wall, I tried to think.

Where I wanted to be? I didn’t even know anywhere beyond the four walls of my cell. But one thing was certain, I wanted to be anywhere but here.

‘Just think, Amelia Moore. Where do you want to be and you’ll be there?’

I scoffed softly and shook my head. The voice was starting to irritate me. How could I think about where I wanted to be when I didn’t know anywhere else? And how was that supposed to help me?

I sighed, feeling miserable.

Still… if there was one place I wanted to be, it was somewhere… safe.

At the thought, I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, I blinked in confusion.

How… how did I get here?