Wrong time to wake up

====Rubert====

He started regaining consciousness as memories of what had happened started appearing in his mind. He was asleep in Mr. Chester's alley, even if she wasn't supposed to, but this was the only place he could rest without people finding him.

He was alone for half his brief life, as his mother had died of some disease. They were too poor for her to visit a doctor or get medicine.

He had tried to make a living by helping others in the town, but although most people, even at first, seemed friendly, they shouted at him every time he did something wrong.

His last job was of a very creepy guy who had asked him to do a delivery. He did the delivery, but it seemed like he also had to take something from the person he delivered it to, but nobody mentioned this. They had put him in a room by himself, and he could hear the person and some other creepy individuals for what they should do.

Fortunately, the room they locked him in was somewhat damaged and had a small hole that Rubert could force to get wide enough for his tiny figure to pass through.

He couldn't leave the town, as he didn't know where to go, so his only option was to hide for now.

He had reached the alley and hid between the trash or the 'treasures' of Mister Chester, as Mister Chester called them.

He was used to the smell, having lived in places like that for most of his life.

At one point, he needed to go to the bathroom, and he didn't want to add this to the smell, so he got out of the 'treasure' pile. But he saw a person heading towards the asleep figure of Mister Chester.

The person seemed to notice him as he turned towards him, and then darkness.

As his senses returned, he felt a big headache and pain in the back of his neck.

He raised his hand to see where he was and noticed that he was tied by a robe on some pillar. He was in a vast hall, and in front of him, there were multiple figures.

He saw Mister Chester unconscious while a beautiful but very pale lady was holding his head by the chin. Many other figures seemed pale, but not as much as the lady. He also noticed that most were female. Next to the beautiful lady, he also noticed the man from his memories, who was over Mister Chester's body.

They seemed not to notice that he was awake as everyone looked at the beautiful lady.

Then, the lady moved some of Chester's long hair that was in the way so that she could see his neck. She then opened her mouth and bit his neck, as Rubert noticed some of her teeth to be longer and more pointy than they should be.

He had heard stories about them, but he had never met one. He knew that this was a Vampire.

He didn't want to scream, but a small scream left his mouth before he could control himself.

One of the nearby female individuals turned towards him.

"Oh, you are awake already? Well, we can't have your screams disrupt our lady's time of getting some food. So how about you SLEEP."

The last word of hers, Robert heard it loudly in his mind and could listen to it repeating itself. He felt his eyes getting heavier and tired, and wanting to sleep.

But then something inside him held him from falling asleep, and he opened his eyes as wide as he could. That seemed to surprise the woman, as she didn't expect what she tried to do not to work.

But then he felt a familiar sensation at the back of his neck as the darkness returned.

===Vlad===

The boy impressed him.

Not only did it get his senses back sooner than he should, but he also resisted Ramona's charm ability at such a young age.

Ramona wasn't an Elder or even one of the soldier Vampires, but she was among the oldest vampires they had other than the Elder Gareth. She was old enough to have been alive when the King was still around, but she was just a kid back then.

As most of the other Vampires there were here, she had been taught by the Elder how to use their Vampire abilities and their Element. Usually, this was something that only the ones belonging to the military or the Royal family. Still, after the war between the humans and the 8 Races began, the Elder considered this rule impractical.

He knew their Charm ability wasn't as strong as it used to be, but it shouldn't have gotten that weak not to affect a child like that.

He had a plan for the child's fate but wasn't planning to force him into it. Even if they were at war with humans, he didn't hate all the humans. As with his people, there were some good humans, and he believed that children like Rubert were especially among them.

He focused back on Princess Pyre's feeding, and fortunately, he did just in time as he had to stop her. Another moment, and she would have killed the man they needed alive to sustain her for a more extended time. Vlad acted swiftly, stopping her before it was too late.

"Take him away," Vlad ordered his men, his voice steady but sharp, before addressing Pyre. "Rest, Princess. You've had enough for now."

With the crisis averted, Vlad turned to the boy, untying his bonds. His thoughts were already racing ahead to his next move. He gestured for Ramona to follow while a plan was forming in his mind—one that he knew would be a gamble. But his instincts, honed by years of experience, told him this would work.

"Come," Vlad said, his tone leaving no room for argument. He led the boy upstairs to one of the quieter rooms. If this didn't work, it would be a waste of time. But deep in his gut, he was certain: this boy was worth the effort.