I look out the window and watch the sun begin to set, its golden rays will soon vanish behind the trees. I shift in my seat. My back hurting from being in this limo for a long time. I was starting to question if there is actually a final destination or if we would just keep driving forever.

"Finally," Elissabeth voices. "We're here."

The limo turns down a road just as the sun fully sets and night takes over. I look out the window again and am left awestruck by what I see. A large estate- it's windows illuminated by the light inside- was straight down the road. It was four floors, maybe even more.

The driver parks in front of the steps leading to the grand estate doors. We all climb out and as soon as everyone is out of the vehicle, the driver drives off. Iago rushes up the outside steps ahead of everyone else and holds open the doors. I'm going to assume that's all he does.

We enter one by one with me entering last. I couldn't help but be amazed by how well decorated this place was with its ancient and no doubt expensive antiques. They were beautiful and tied the very large room together nicely.

"Don't break anything." Elissabeth speaks as if she was reading my mind.

"I wasn't planning on doing that." I defend.

"That look of amazement on your face only screams trouble to me."

I glare at her as she chuckles, clearly enjoying the power she has over me. She looks around the room as if she was pondering her next move.

"This is where we will be living for the time being so I guess you need to be shown around." She says.

"What do you mean for the time being?" I question.

She looks at me, "We will only be staying here for a couple of months before going to the homeland."

"Homeland? What for?"

"So—"

"So that her excellency, Elissabeth, can take part in the Crowning Ritual and truly take the throne!" Iago loudly announces.

Elissabeth rolls her eyes, "The loud man whom you've already met is my Majordomo, Iago. He is head of care for my estate and does the service of announcing things to people."

"I wish he would be a lot quieter with his announcements." Azulah says as she enters the room.

"And this is Justiciar Azulah." Elissabeth begins. "She oversees all matters having to do with the council and any other political issues."

"In other words, I make her life easier."

"That she does." Elissabeth states. "You can already guess my knights' purposes. Just stay out of their way."

With a single nod, she dismisses her knights, allowing them to return to their normal duties. In synchronized fashion, they exit the room. Elissabeth begins to walk away herself, expecting me to follow. I do so but keep a distance.

She stops, "There are four floors: this floor, the first floor, contains everything from the dining room to the infirmary."

She gestures up, "The second floor is where all the bedrooms are and yes, you are never to bother me in my room and no, I don't sleep in a wooden coffin, I'm undead, not uncivilized."

"I wasn't going to ask any of that."

"It doesn't hurt to be well informed, Xavier." She smirks.

She continues, "The third floor is the ballroom. It stays locked at all times. Then there's the attic with nothing but dust and—"

"Why does the ballroom stay locked?" I interrupt.

She stares at me, clearly angry by my many questioning outbursts.

"Alright, message received." I state.

I shove my hands in my pocket and look around the room, trying to avoid being the focal point of her anger.

"It- it was my mother's..."

I turn to look at her. She held herself sternly, crossing her arms defensively over her chest, but I could see that the anger was gone from her eyes. She wouldn't look at me as she scanned the room.

"This whole estate was her's." She continues. "She used to throw lavish parties in the ballroom before I was born. She loved that..."

"What was she like?"

"I wouldn't know," Elissabeth responds. "I've never met her, she died a short while after I was born. All I know of her is what people tell me."

"Huh..." I quietly chuckle. "You have no idea how much I relate to that..."

Before we could say anything else a tall and slender woman with brown hair and glasses rushes over to us, squealing with excitement and yelling words I couldn't understand. She began to exam me, getting real close to my face as she looked me over with her big brown eyes.

"Julia, please relax." Elissabeth speaks.

"I'm sorry it's just!- Ooh, look at you!" She gushes. "I never would have guessed the descendant of Reginald Baxter and the son of a baker would be so... well built and muscular!"

"Wait, son?" I question, ignoring her last two comments." Mai's just my aunt... well she's not really my aunt, more like she's a friend of my mom..."

"You're an orphan, how fun! Elissabeth's an orphan too! I wonder—"

"Julia!" Elissabeth yells.

"Right!" Julia adjusts her glasses. "I'm Dr. Julia, I work here in the infirmary... alone. It helps me think. I'm very well versed in human biology so if you fall ill don't be afraid to come to me, I won't bite, see!"

She opens her mouth to show me that her fangs have been smooth down. She closes her mouth and gives me a big grin.

"You file down your fangs?" I ask.

"Yeah, I have a nasty habit of biting my lip when I'm stressed and working so I thought why not cut out the middleman." She laughs. "By the way, how tall are you? I'm like a good 6'5 with my heels on- 6' without them, though you'll never catch me without my heels on- so you have to be like 6'1, maybe 6'2?"

"Umm..." I mumble. Did she just answer her own question? "I- I'm sorry but why are you wearing glasses? I thought vampires had perfect vision, perfect... everything."

"Oh, Elissabeth wasn't kidding in her text messages when she said you were clueless." She adjusts her glasses again. "When vampires were forced into hiding, there weren't many opportunities to go up to the surface and feed. Our kind became week and open to ailments. Those ailments that killed them became inconveniences for us like having allergies, being near-sighted, or having an abnormal eye color- like Elissabeth."

"Abnormal?"

"If you haven't noticed, there aren't any other vampires walking around with purple irises." she chimes in. "It's from my father's side no doubt, I couldn't have gotten the trait from my mother... she had brown eyes."

"Who was your dad?"

"He was never in Queen Annalisa's life," Julia speaks. "He must have been some kind of hit-it-and-quit-it guy!"

"Alright, that's enough!" Elissabeth yells as she begins walking up the grand staircase. The sight of her annoyance was almost enough to make me laugh.

Julia laughs before turning her attention back to me, "I do hope you enjoy your stay here."

"There is no doubt in my mind that I will not be enjoying my time here."

She laughs again, "You're funny Xavier, I like you. I wish my fangs were still sharp enough so that I could just bite into you!"

"...Thank you?" I question, a little worried about that comment.

I watch as Julia shifts from being bubbly and humorous to a more serious demeanor, a frown on her face causes me to worry.

"I don't know if she told you this but, please, don't go into the basement." She informs, gesturing to a bolted door behind the grand staircase.

"She didn't mention a basement," I respond. "What's down there?"

"Hell if I know," Julia responds, staring at the door. "Every time I walk past that door, a chill creeps up my spine, and not much really scares me."

"Is it really that bad?" I ask.

She nods, "I hate to introduce you to the thought of something like this so soon but if you're gonna be staying here, it's best you know. Something is down there, something that frightens even the knights."

"Something evil..."