Prologue

♠️ Prologue ♠️

IVORY

The terrifying rays of the sun painted the sky few shades darker as it began to set. Soon, the shadows of darkness with its kisses of perils would embrace the horizon. In the past years, nights had gone colder and less comforting for most people...for most humans, but not for the likes of her. After all, they were the creatures who claimed that night was the only time of the day they owned.

Ivory was sitting on her mattress when she heard two knocks upon her intricately adorned, vintage door. It was unlocked anyway, so the gesture was merely out of courtesy. Seconds of waiting in silence but the door didn't open, not even a creak. With this strange absence of movement, suspicion twisted Ivory's guts.

Then on the balcony, a black cat with velvety fur and playful crescent-shaped eyes appeared and purred at her. It stayed there and engaged in a staring contest. The animal flashed its white, feline fangs as it simpered towards Ivory's direction. The lucent fur and the naughtiness reflected in its eyes were vital elements that gave the shifter away.

"What do you want?" Ivory asked as she raised a brow to the sleek creature.

The calculating kitty leaped in front of Ivory and only kept its distance by a foot. At the time the cat's fore toes landed on the cold floor, they were replaced with two pallid feet of a human.

There's the shifter—glistening orbs and sly smile. It held her gaze like there was some secret it wanted to get through space to her.

"Loosen up a bit, will you? I just I enjoy experimenting with my other forms these days," Velvet, the youngest of the three siblings, declared.

"What's up with your corporeal switches?"

Lately, Velvet had been shifting from one corporeal switch to another, so the unusual pattern of her activities raised that question. It was a bit odd since her sister never had this much interest in form-switching for ages. She was usually laid-back, so even her subtle approach of goofing around meant that she must be up to something.

"I was hoping—well, more like trying to turn myself into a bat aside from my other forms." Velvet grinned and slouched on the other side of the bed.

"Into a bat? Ridiculous. Our options with our corporeal switches are limited and unfortunately, taking a bat's form is not on the list."

A mischievous grin stretched over the youngest's lips.

"But Ivory, don't you know that humans thought we can turn ourselves into one of those nocturnal, flying mammals?"

"My sweeting, I shall complement their vast imagination and rational comparison," Ivory stated with barely hidden sarcasm. She would have applauded humankind's creativity had only those ideas were not idiotic.

"Who uses 'my sweeting' nowadays? It's amusing how awkward you sound when you speak freely. Looks may not reveal your age but your medieval vocabulary certainly will. You need to fix your slips before they get really contagious." Velvet teased.

It was true that in some ways, Ivory's still bound to the medieval times. Old habits resurfaced here and there as she made minor slips of her archaic lexicon. The vast changing world evolved so fast and it might have been strategic to swim with the tides, but it could be psychological that to her, language was a crucial component to one's identity.

With her standing in the society, the feeling that she should not shirk the responsibility to carry on the primitive customs were still present. Faint but it was undoubtedly there.

"You shall not mock—"

Velvet interrupted and fished something out of her ripped, skinny jeans. "Look what I've got!"

How rude, indeed.

Her sister jiggled the object and squealed like a kid parading a present. Ivory instantly bristled at the sight of that fake, rubber thing with blunted ends, and shot the troublemaker a glare.

"Are you out of your mind?! You're exploring too much without regard to the rules! You shouldn't have brought that here. Pray thee stop being reckless!" she unconsciously slammed her palm against her thighs due to the sudden surge of emotions.

There were some rules and guidelines about the attachment or wandering of their kinds in the living society. One of those rules:

You shall never patronize any object, practice, or belief that intended to mock, harm, or provoke the existence of 'The Exiled'—the two words represented the undead race as a whole.

And guess what Velvet proudly brought inside the room? A damn retractable, prosthetic fangs!

"What? Ain't these cute?"

"Intentional or not, bringing faux fangs in a palace full of midnight creatures will count as an offensive deed. We are royals. We, above all the others, must abide by the rules. It's our utmost responsibility to uphold the law, not to mock and break it."

Many times in the past that Ivory ruminated over their eldest sibling's contribution to Velvet's devil-may-care behavior. Their eldest, Ebony, always tolerated the little devil's schemes. It was her way of showing love for the youngest of the family—giving a slap on the wrist for most of the troubles Velvet got herself into.

It was highly doubtful that the word chastise was ever ingrained in Ebony's brain. Hence, the incorrect execution of leniency resulted to Velvet's disobedience and recklessness. In almost every aspect, their eldest sibling was Ivory's polar opposite.

Ivory snatched the mocking toy and expertly threw it towards the fireplace. As soon as the fire engulfed the rubber, it began to sizzle and melt.

Velvet stood up and rushed near the hearth, she grabbed the fire poker and prodded the burning coal, hoping to salvage her pathetic excuse of a fang. But all she's left was a sticky, molten plastic that dangled at the tip of the metal rod.

"What the hell? Why did you do that? It costs me my one-week salary at the coffee shop!" she whined, eyes brimming with questionable tears. The tears were obviously staged but there was no faking her thin-lipped irritation.

Please spare me the drama, Ivory thought.

"Why did I do that? It's the same logic as to who's the idiot that's gonna buy a play money with real one? Ugh, children these days wasting money for the things they don't need. Now, scram! I want to rest." Ivory waved a dismissing hand and laid down her soft mattress.

Velvet shifted back to that cat with velvety fur. But before it jumped off the balcony, it looked back to Ivory's direction. The moonlight illuminated those intense round pupils planning an attack as it hissed in displeasure. A blink and the cat was gone.

Seriously, Velvet needs to stop watching that hit Vampire series on TV. It's not helping her draw a line between the different races.