Bitter-Sweet

Scarlett stared at Dante in horror because the murderous intent he directed towards the vampire that dared touch told her that this was personal.

Scarlett remained silent, swallowing her words as the innocent smile gradually left Dante's face.

Dante redirected his focus on the vampire that was barely regenerating.

Dante walked towards the crippled vampire, even though this was temporary.

The fear in the vampire's eyes was telling, he was scared shitless because he knew what would happen if Dante got him.

He instructed the remaining of his ghouls to lunge at Dante but they were no longer listening to him.

"W-What!?" The newborn vampire muttered, there was no reason for them not to listen to him.

He was their creator! This isn't something that should be happening and yet it was.

Dante stopped mere inches from him, tears well up in his eyes as he tried to beg for mercy but Dante didn't understand a word coming out from his mouth.

Dante looked disappointed that this was what the vampire species had turned to.

They once had shame and were prideful but now they're preying on women for their sexual gratification?

All that power and this is what they use it for?

Dante hated the vampire species and the man before him was justification for that hatred.

Dante snapped his fingers and the ghouls rushed towards the injured vampire.

They held him in place but he was a lot stronger, this meant he was able to kill a good number of them but his injuries, for some reason, were healing at an extremely slow pace.

It was almost like his accelerated healing was gone and the ghouls were eventually able to pin him down.

They dug their hands into his stomach and literally ripped his innards apart, exempting the heart.

The heart was left untouched because as long as it remained, he would remain alive.

He coughed up blood and tried to retain control of his ghouls but to no avail.

He looked Dante right in the eyes and he could see that whoever this man was, he wasn't an ordinary vampire. He wasn't the only one reaching this conclusion as Scarlett picked up on it as well.

"This man… Don't tell me!" Scarlett thought to herself, she heard stories about a legendary vampire that was so strong, other vampires felt like humans to him.

But she thought it was just a myth, never had it happened where another vampire took control of a group of ghouls that weren't theirs.

Yet this man did it effortlessly but this made Scarlett question if he was following.

They met at the store, then in school and now here. He had to be following, there was no way that this was a coincidence.

Scarlett knew she had to remain calm because if he wanted her dead, she would be long dead.

Dante left the vampire to suffer in excruciating agony.

Scarlett thought this was her chance to escape and the moment she turned around to run, Dante was already standing right in front of her.

"I now understand why you feel so familiar… You're a descendent of Genevieve," Dante muttered, he made this connection but how Scarlett had composed herself and fought these creatures.

She also had prior knowledge of them and this was evident by her warning because a girl that has been imprinted cannot resist the command of the one that imprints on her yet Scarlett was even fighting back.

"G-Genevieve?" Scarlett whimpered and she soon felt Dante's cold fingers on her cheeks.

"I won't hurt you. You have my word," Dante said, looking her right in the eyes.

Scarlett felt her tense muscles relaxing but she had so many questions that she didn't even know where to begin, first, they needed to get out of there.

The vampire's heart was soon ripped out, killing him but the ghouls made sure to devour his body before imploding due to Dante's presence.

It was an abomination for ghouls to stand before a vampire as high class as Dante and it was only possible if he allowed but that permission was revoked.

Now they could focus on one another with Scarlett asking the all-important question.

"Who is Genevieve?"

"Genevieve… She was my first love…" Dante said.

-

Dante's past was something that was shrouded in complete mystery but it was a part of himself that died with the discarding of the name that experienced it.

A few years had passed since Arthur met Genevieve and they had taken quite a liking to one another despite her father being vehemently against their relationship.

Arthur's identity was unknown, no one knew he was a vampire due to his being able to walk under the sun.

This made it extremely easy for him to pass as a human and assist in the fight against vampires.

But there was one problem and that was the fact that Arthur was deemed a commoner by Genevieve's father but like everything forbidden, it just tasted sweeter when indulged.

Genevieve began to sneak out of the palace to meet Dante with Hazel covering for her every single time they did.

Arthur didn't understand Genevieve, she didn't hate the vampires or humans as she thought both of their ideals were justifiable and the only way for the fighting to stop was by coexisting but this was a thought she dare not let anyone but Arthur know about.

"Sir Arthur, what do you think?" Genevieve asked for his opinion, Arthur was seated across the table.

They have been secretly seeing each other for months now and despite the growing sexual tension in each meet, Genevieve reserved her virginity for the man who would be her husband.

"I don't think anything. I think as long as free will exists, so will conflict. This is the way of the world, we cannot change it. To change it is to take away free will," Arthur blurted out but all he got in response was a giggle from Genevieve.

The blonde-haired shirtless vampire didn't quite understand what was funny in what he said.

"If I didn't have free will, I would have never felt this…" Genevieve said, looking Arthur right in the eyes.

Arthur raised a brow because he didn't understand the cryptic message she was putting out there.

"I would never have fallen in love with you, Sir Arthur."