Chapter VI . Crippling fear

Someone rose upright from the coffin, his bright vermilion eyes bored into Josette's soul as he tilted his head. At that moment, Josette knew she was staring death in the eyes, and her lungs momentarily shut down.

The vampire's eyes left Josette's frozen ones and trailed down to her neck, he watched as her jugular vein pump slowly and rhythmically, it was then that he realize how dry his mouth was and his stomach.

He pulled her stiff small figure to himself then he forcefully slanted her head, and sank his fangs in her neck. Josette broke out of her shock with a loud, ear-deafening shriek.

She tried to push the vampire draining her but her strength failed her. The vampire pulled her deeper into his embrace, squeezing Josette's slim waist.

The other two girls could only watch in horror as the vampire drained their friend. The vampire that woke up looking no better than a skeleton started recovering his body as he drained the poor Josette.

His long jet-black hair was blurring his face so the girls couldn't be sure that he was the king, moreover, no one their age has seen the king since none of his portraits were hung up in the castle.

It was not that the girls didn't want to help Josette but they discovered that they couldn't move their limbs, they couldn't even blink as tears freely flowed out of their eyes. The resurrection of the vampire came with a crippling, dark aura, even the air felt toxic to them.

Josette became so weak that she couldn't continue to push away the vampire or carry her weight but the vampire's tight grip kept her from falling to the ground.

She felt heavily lightheaded which was caused by the fangs drawing out her blood. She was not healthy to begin with, yet the vampire chose her. "Spare… Spare me, milord…" She whimpered weakly.

The vampire promptly stopped and drew out his fangs from Josette's skin. He retracted his head so he could see the face of his barely breathing prey, a flash of silver light swept through his eyes as he stared at her petite face.

She was beautiful but he was also hungry, he let her go which sent her crashing to the ground. He stepped over her limp body and began to walk out of his former prison.

He moved with a stagger in his steps, his head was pounding, and all the sound of the night came alive, he could hear it all and in an amplified way. He could feel something strong calling out to him from behind the doors he was staggering too.

He pushed the door with both hands but it was locked from the outside, he growled getting annoyed by the obstruction. He exerted some more of his vampiric strength which was enough to break the heavy locks on the twin doors.

Immediately the doors spread open, the powerful rays of the red moon welcomed him. He looked up and stared up to the moon, his dull vermillion eyes brightened more than they did when he saw that beauty.

Under the rays of the moon, his skeleton body began to change like he was feeding. It was when his body started regenerating that he felt the stake planted in his chest. He looked at it and pulled it out in less than a second without flinching.

He threw the stake that was covered in his blood away, as the stake came out of his chest, the hole it left behind closed until it left a fair, spotless chest.

His bent backbone straightened up, giving him his original titan height. His hollow eyes and sunken cheeks plumped up until it was back to its former glory. His whole body kept regenerating until he could stand properly.

He shut his eyes and hoisted his head up, spreading his arms apart as he enjoyed the energy that the moon was feeding him.

"Who is there? State your name and how you got here, intruder," the vampire heard someone say.

He squinted his eyes but refused to open them, he intentionally ignored the disturbers who were just two Nakaris. Their scent wasn't particularly enticing to him but if they didn't leave, he would make do with them.

"I said state your business here!" One of the two guards approaching the vampire shouted.

All the hairs on the back of his neck had risen and as they cautiously approached the stranger, they could feel their legs growing weak and their half-dead hearts were beating the loudest it has ever done in a while but the fools refused to take the hint.

They unsheathed their sliver swords, stretching them at the moon-bathing vampire. His patient finally ran thin as he dropped his head and opened his dangerously bright vermilion eyes.

He carefully looked at the two guards who were now frozen with their eyes enlarged . He figured that the one that was talking was the shorter one on the left so he started with that one first. He used his vampiric speed to appear in the guard's front in a heartbeat.

He held the guard's head with both his hands and snapped his neck. The guard's lifeless body dropped to the floor as he sped to the second guard's front. The terrified guard instantly began to soil himself with the urine flowing down the trousers of his armor.

The prudent smell reached the vampire's nose making him scowl. He grabbed the neck of the guard, choking him while he dug his free black fingers through the guard's steel armor and pulled his hand out with a irregularly beating heart in it.

He threw both the heart and its owner far from his space. He formerly wanted to feed on the guard but the bastard soiled himself much to his annoyance.

But that was not the only thing annoying him, the sound of loud music coming from the great hall in the castle contributed, he could hear it even though he was quite a distance from the place .

He became angry at the thought of his siblings having merriment rather than come welcome him themselves. He started walking climbing up the small hill that hid the catacombs.