Midnight in Dienox is when the moon is highest in the sky, humans deep in

their sleep at South and vampires are bustling with activities at North. Midnight in
Dienox is when dogs and cats huddle together whereas owls and bats roam the
night sky. Midnight in Dienox is many things but a castle's bell ringing throughout
the land. With every clang the metal core makes as it hits the wall a clear sound
resonate to every part of the city, along with uneasiness. Humans wake up from
slumbers and vampires hushed their voices. Castle's bells are rarely rang unless on
utmost important circumstances such as royal weddings, invasions and death. The
people were baffled when the bell first rang, but as times pass by realization sink in
and murmurs become hushes, hushes become whispers, and whispers become
silence. Every being in the kingdom stays still but the sound of a bell swinging at
the turret high in the sky.
Small town in Dienox, located neither at the North nor South but rather in
between, stands a mansion conjoined by various shops. It is a large mansion,
probably larger than any available houses there, but the largeness is carefully
concealed behind shops that line the sides of the building. From the front, all the
passerby can see are a door, a window, and a large swing door for horses and
carriage to pass, but inside, the mansion accommodate a garden, a library, a stable
and dozens of room.
Within the mansion two women clacked their heels hurriedly across the
marbled floor. It is a long corridor where on one side is a row of doors that take you
to various rooms, and on the other side is and open space that filled with flowers
and shrubberies. On the day, the garden is filled with diverse colours, sounds and
fragrance that will bring joy to whoever is passing by the corridor. At night, white
flowers that shied away during the day bloom and bushes that were dull and
overshadowed by the colourful flowers shimmer under the moonlight. Darkness will
usually cast a mythical beauty to the garden, a kind of sceneries that will draw you
in if you stare for too long. One of the women with petite figure with flowing blonde
hair stare at the garden as she walks by. With the bells ringing and the uneasiness
that she's feeling inside, the garden looks more like an eerie plants that grow over a
graveyards. She shudders, and quickens her pace to keep up with the long strides of
her dear friend infront of her. She glances at the side of her taller friend's face, but
she couldn't make out the expression. She scrunches her brows together, and stare
infront of them where five hooded figure stand on the end of the corridor.
The other woman has a pair of grey eyes, black hair that fixed to a tight bun
with a stick, slender figure and flawless skin that befitted woman in her early 20's.
She stares straight ahead at the hooded figures infront of her. Two of them are
whispering with each other, one looking out to the garden, another one is seems to
be hiding something under the cloak, and the last one is appearing to be staring
directly at her. Rose grits her teeth as she glare at the hooded man. She doesnt

need to look at his face nor listen to his voice to know who he is. She just knows.
Feeling of hate that accumulated over the years made her skin prickle just with his
presence alone. How long has it been since she saw him? 100? 200 years? The last
time they met he had promised he and his 'friends' won't bother her again anymore.
Well, look at the situation now.
"Get out" she spat at the words as she stop few feet away from the shadowed
figures. She wonders why they bother to cover their faces infront of her. She knows
each and everyone of their faces well. All too well.
Rose's voice ceases the whispers and four others turn to face the women. The
petite blonde woman flinches when the hoods simultaneously move in sync. The
hood in the center, the one who was staring at Rose from the beginning, raise his
head a little and was about to say something before she cut him off.
"I said, get out" said Rose through her gritted teeth. The hood bearer stays
quite after hearing her spat the words. Silence falls between them, only with the
bells ringing in the background. Time passes, and Rose can feel that her friend
behind her is starting to feel jittery with the heavy atmosphere that are building up.
Rose herself is itching to move. She wish she can just shove all of them out through
her door, hurl them across the walls, stab them and throw them out in the gutter, or
anything. She just wants them out of her sight as soon as possible.
"Is that the first thing you say after we meet for over 200 years?" The voice of
the man suddenly breaks Rose thoughts. She snaps back her attention to the man.
His voice was deep, soft and gentle, but beyond that subtleness it carries wisdom
and force that usually used from those in authority. Rose was once used to adore
this voice, but not anymore. Now all she feels is disgust and nothing else.
"Are you deaf?" She asks sarcastically. "Or have the years eroded your
intelligence to the point of stupidity to not understand simple Dianoxan?" She added
dryly ignoring his question completely.
The man pauses for awhile, then reply softly.
"I am not deaf, nor do I think I am less intelligent than the last time you met
me, Rose" he said calmly.
"Then you should know that I don't want to do anything involving your
business" She replied. "So either you lot get out by yourselves," she paused for
awhile and stare at the other four of them "or I'll make you do it myself" she
finished her sentence.
The hooded figure that was holding something under the cloak move behind
the man and whispers quietly. "Maybe we shouldn't ask her to do it, she's obviously
will not cooperate" The man stayed quite, unresponsive. "Vincent! We have to
hurry!" The feminine said with urgency.

The man takes a deep sigh, and began speaking.

"Dienox is in danger right now"
"So?" Rose replied without batting an eye.
"It will be sooner or later before civil war breaks out."
"It's none of my concern"
"Everything here will be destroyed, including this town"
"Do you think I care?"
"Where would you go when your house is destroyed?"
"Anywhere. Anywhere but this cursed kingdom"
"So why don't you go? Why are you still here?"
"Because I have a house here. It's a waste of money to go outside and buy
another one again."
"Then why did you open a charity school if money is your concern?"
"It was long ago"
"Doesn't change the fact that you did"
"Well, I was..bored" Rose replied helplessly, doesnt know what else to say.
"Aren't you bored now too?"
Rose stayed silent. Vincent makes a small sigh, before instruct the woman
behind him.
"Emma, show her."
"Are you sure?" There was doubt in her voice. She was the most anxious from
the rest of the hooded people. It seems to Rose that Emma cannot wait to get out of
the place soon enough.
"Yes." With that she slowly walk closer to Rose and hesitantly reveal what's
hidden beneath her cloak. Rose peer through the blankets, and a pair of golden
eyes stare back at her.
A baby. Rose thought as she stare intently at the honey coloured eyes that
shut as it yawned away the sleepiness. A vampire baby. Things are gathering in her
mind, connecting one thing with another. A castle bell, The Shadows, a vampire
baby Could it be..?

"Is that bell, your doing?" She asks without moving her attention from the
small creature wrapped in the blanket. Silence. Noticing the lack of response, she
diverts her gaze to the man.
"A treason, huh?" Rose answers her own question warily.
"It was by the order of the King himself." He replies calmly.
"Which king?" She carefully ask the question.
"It doesn't matter which one"
"Yes, you are right, of course. Because I will not have anything to do with it"
"We want you to raise him in your care"
"What?" She blurts out the question out the ridiculous favor he was asking.
"You are kidding." She adds, not believing what she just heard. Vincent stays quite.
"I'm no mother, I don't know anything about child bearing."
"We are not asking you to become his mother. We want him to grow in an
environment where he can accept both human and vampire as equal being."
"Any mixed-race school can give him that environment"
"He won't have enough protection in any of those schools"
"Then give him to a childless noble family"
"No nobles are on neutral ground"
"Then the merchants. Those people are not interested in siding with anyone"
"They don't know the way of the political courts"
"The bastards! The woman born as a bastards sure as hell know the way of
the courts"
"She will misuse him"
"Why are you so adamant about this!?" Rose finally burst in anger. "What can
I give, that other people cannot give to him? Tell me!" Then it hit her. It's not about
him. Not entirely. It was about her, an Aurora. Even though they can control the
upbringing, education, or safety of the boy, they cannot control the Aurora he will
choose in the future. Every vampire needs a partner that he/she can feed from. And
this partner cannot be anyone that only capable of providing biological necessities,
it have to be someone the vampire is emotionally connected to. It is less of a
problem if the vampires were an ordinary one. They could take any human that they
befriended to. But for one specific kind of vampire. No ordinary human will do.

They have to be an Auroras, a kind of human that have different speed of lifespan
once they're bitten by vampire. Because of the demand of Auroras, there are rarely
any unbound Auroras around. They are sought after, and even of the dozens
unbound Auroras are all already targeted by the nobles. Except for one, and she is
standing still gawking at the hooded man denying the possible request he has to
her.
"Don't tell me.you. want me to.." She doesn't have time to finish her
sentence before flashbacks rush to her sight. Men in uniforms barging through the
doors, people are forcefully drag outside their homes, fires, swords, screams, fangs,
fear, distraught, desire, pleasure, pillow, sheets, dagger and blood. Blood splattered
across her vision, on her hand, on her dagger, and on the chest of a man who
smilingly mouth her name.
Rose's past memory slowly dissipated as the images overlap with the hooded
man in front of her. Time seems to stop, and everything surrounds her blurred as
she takes out the metal stick that holds her hair together. Everything move in slow
motion as she takes one, two and three step toward the man and raised her right
hand behind her head and her left in the air to collect the force of balance for the
action. She presses a hidden button on the stick with her thumb and at the same
time bring it down toward his face. A needle glean at the corner of her eyes as the
stick drew closer to his face, and somehow the more close it gets the slower the
movement seem to feel. The movement slowed until it suddenly halt with
something hard that holding her wrist. With her arm unable to move, the time
gradually return to normal and her senses are back to her once more. When her
vision has cleared, she realize she was facing Vincent, not hooded any longer, but a
pair of golden eyes with the needle few inches from his face. Unlike the baby's eyes
where the colour are deep and sparkle with life, his iris colour are washed out,
yellow and hollow, resembling a coloured glass that light easily pass through. He
has high cheekbone, thin lips and low eyebrows, with brunette curly hair that
disheveled from the hood. In one glance he seems like a young attractive men, but
regarded him long enough, there are something that are dangerous and menacing
air surround him. He directly stares at her, unflinching even with the weapon
quavering not far from his eyes.
"How dare you How dare you!" She struggles to force forward the thin stick
toward his eyes. A hand that grip her hand tighten blocking the progression.
"Do you know what I went through? Huh?! You scum!"
"Should I break her wrist?"
"Yes, just break it, I'm no more than your tool anyway. Am I not right?"

"You used me when it's the most convenient, stored me away when you don't
need me anymore. And when the time is right you took me out from the storage
and used me again despite how rusty it is."
"More than me, how dare you drag an innocent boy into your circus freak?"
"He's just an infant! He barely came out from his mother's womb and you are
planning to stain him with my blood? How heartless can you be?"
"We are asking you because we don't have any other choice"
"I rather die than becoming anyone's Aurora"
"Then prove it" He slides out the metal stick out of her grip with a simple flick
of his hand. He eyed the others to release her and sheath their swords. Rose rubs
her wrist and glare at the man.
"You are not living for anything. Why not ending it now, won't make any
difference." He offers the heel of the weapon to her.
She stares at the metal, and back to him. She takes the metal, and point the
tip to her heart. The metal quiver in her hand. Is it how her life suppose to end? A
suicide out of self pity? Running away from life?
"Huft. coward"
Rose is about to move before a warm hand gently cover the top of her
knuckles.
"Rose" She look up at her friend's hazel eyes
"Forgive me, my dear Rose"
Mary take the stick out of her hand and put it on the ground. She approach
the woman holding the baby, and offer her hand.
"May I?"
Mary hold the baby close to her chest.
"There there handsome man, Mary got you" She smiles to him, and in return,
he giggles and clutch strands of her hairs. Vincent looks at Rose expectantly,
waiting for any kind of rejection for the request.
"I will take him, with conditions."
"He will make his own choice of who he will bond with"
"Regardless. Of what you wat you want"

"Alright"
"And you will not appear before me or the boy before the awakening"
The hooded figures jumped one by one through the walls of the garden,
leaving Vincent alone.
"Thank you. Once again, Rose" With that, he sprint toward the wall, jumped
over and disspaear in the night.