Valerius, the girl and I made our way up the stairs after breaking the chains. Each and every step of the way, the girl looked at me, her red eyes glowing intensively.
"Is there anything you need from me?" I asked her, trying to let my nervousness go away.
"Mmhm," she hummed as she shook her head, still keeping her eyes fixated on me. "Are you… Are you the boy they're looking for…?"
"The Apostles? Yeah, I suppose I am the one…"
"What makes you…special?"
"Enough," Valerius commanded. We walked up the rest of the stairs with nothing but our footsteps having sound.
We exited the church without issue. The ruined grounds mixed with the coldness of the outside air felt refreshing.
"…Mm…" a sob came from behind me. I turned to see the girl on her knees. Many more sobs came from her, until eventually turning into a full-on cry.
I didn't know what to say.
I didn't know what to feel.
I understood what she felt like.
"You'll… Everything's fine now," I calmly said to her as I bent over to be on level with her. "My name is Jacob Lavua, I'm a vampire attending Umbra Academy. And this here is Count Valerius…"
"I—It's…It's nice to…meet you, Jacob," she said as sobs continued rolling down her cheeks. "My name is…Elara Theroux."
"It's nice to meet you, Elara," I said, placing my hand on her shoulder.
I've never gone through this situation before. Even if I had…I'd probably would've failed at it.
I felt disengaged from my own words, as if the words I had spoken had come secondhand. Her sadness meant nothing to me, but the human part of me wanted to try and comfort her.
She grabbed me with both arms, hugging me tightly as she cried. I rubbed the top of her head trying to comfort her.
"Let it all out."
The tears came and came. Until eventually, coming to a halt. She let go of me, her face red as a turnip. Her eyes were puffed.
"Thank you… I really needed that."
"Why thank me?"
"When I get home, I'll have Father pay you both ten-fold," Elara said with a weary confidence.
"I don't need money, Ms. Theroux," Valerius calmly stated. "I needed to talk with your father anyways. This gives me the perfect opportunity."
"What are the Five Leaders…" I said quietly as I recalled the words he said to the group of Apostles, and after toward the girl.
"You don't know…?" Elara said to me, a dumbfounded look on her face.
"Yeah, I'm… I'm kind of new to being in this type of world…"
"Okay, I understand. I didn't learn until I turned eight. I'll explain it for you so you can understand."
The Five Vampire Leaders are just one of the many groups out there that control their respective areas. Vampires, Werewolves, Slimes—all have their own respective five leaders governing their rules and beliefs.
Valerius, Ishavel, Theroux, Mornic, and Vestra. Those are the five houses that govern the Vampires, each with their own beliefs and reasons for being there.
Valerius is the most powerful and respected, being only Valerius himself. He is a one man army, with the power and influence to back up any decision he makes.
The Theroux's are the diplomatic section, with influence second to Valerius. They deal in politics according to humans. Laws, elections, corporations, odds were there was a member of the Theroux inside.
Then there's the Ishavels. A house based fully around studies. They had no warriors, with little influence, but if another Leader needed information about a target, they'd go to them.
House Mornic, on the other hand, was full of brutes. A family with strength second to Valerius. They focused on martial arts, as well as how to optimize their vampiric abilities. They had no problem with unleashing their bloodlust on the first opposing enemy.
And finally, there's House Vestra. They were a secretive group, with little to no family members tied to them. Elara did not know much about them, or how they even became one of the Five.
"And that's about all I know…" Elara said as she took an extended breath.
"Thank you for informing me about them," I said wholeheartedly. "I'd seen people like Arian Gigamona, and heard about how they have "royal" families. Is the royalty basically just the leaders?"
"Basically," Valerius interrupted. "We shouldn't talk about any of the other species' leaders."
"Why not?"
"Information. Like how you know nothing about them—some know everything, and they prefer that way," he calmly stated. "I once got into a fight with Gigamona because I breached too much into his family."
"That sounds…immature," I let out.
"Sure was. Barely was able to win." Valerius gave a pause before speaking again, "Ms. Theroux, Mr. Lavua. We should get going… Hold my hands, you two."
Elara and I followed the instructions he gave as we held his hands. She grabbed his left, while I was on his right.
"Translocate."
After the effects of the ability wore off, I got hit with a breeze of humid air.
The ground beneath me was not grass nor dirt, instead being stones made into a trail. At the end of one side of the trail was a mansion. It was huge, reaching around the size of an American Football field.
It was made with a darkish tone of wood, with beams of concrete and steel littered about giving variation.
I looked over at Elara, her strawberry hair flowing against the air. Her hair shined brightly in the newfound sunlight. The more I looked at her, the more I found her to be extraordinarily beautiful.
Wherever we were, it was surely far enough away to have a vastly different time zone.
"This air is still as groggy as ever," Valerius said with a hardy sigh. "Come."
We started our trek down the path, the mansion slowly growing larger with each passing minute. After around twenty minutes, we arrived at the front doors.
The door swung open, and a man leapt toward Elara with great enthusiasm.
"Elara!" the man screamed, tears streaming down his face as he picked her up effortlessly. "I'm never allowing you to go into the city again. No way. Never!"
"…I'm okay, dad…" Elara said as a blush spread across her face. Her hair and her head looked the exact same.
The man looked up at us. "Sir Valerius! Oh what an honor it is to see you," he said as he quickly wiped off the tears streaming down his face. "And who's this young vampire you've brought? He smells of an Apostle."
Before I could say anything, Valerius put his hand in front of me, as if he was guarding me. "Before you try anything, he is quite capable and knows how to handle trivial matters."
"Calling me so weak I cannot even defeat a young vampire who looks as if he can not even control his claws?" Elara's dad said with slight annoyance. "Ahem… My name is Sebastien Theroux, leader of the Third Family."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Theroux," I said as I gave a slight bow.
"You gave this one manners, huh? Good job, Valerius," he said in a mocking tone.
Valerius gave a slight cough. "Mr. Theroux, we have many things to discuss. May we?"
They walked off toward one side of the mansion, leaving Elara and I standing in the main entrance room.
We both sat in silence for a moment, the sound of Valerius and her father's footsteps slowly fading with each second.
She turned to me with a small, almost bashful smile. "Um… Do you want me to show you the back garden? It's the only decent place in this entire house."
"Sure," I said faintly.
We walked down the corridors of the mansion, each other hallways containing endless amounts of doors, presumably leading to a corresponding room—for guests or workers, I didn't know. We eventually reached a larger door, one distinctly different than the rest.
"Welcome," she said as she slowly swung the door open.
A soft breeze followed the door's opening. Brightly colored flowers—a mix of purples, whites, vivid blues, as well as deep reds were laid gently across a huge plot of grow beds.
"Wow," I said as my mouth laid agape.
"I know, right?" She started walking down a neat stone path amidst the flowers. Her legs flowed gently through the motions, as if she was bathing in her emotions. I followed, matching her speed. "My mother used to tend to this garden every morning… That was before she became gravely sick."
She put a halt to her movements, and gently pointed toward a double-window located on the second floor.
"That's my parents' room. I'm forbidden to go in there, so I can't even see my own mother." Tears wellowed up in her eyes. It took a moment before she composed herself once again. "Ever since she became sick, I've been taking care of the garden. For her."