It begins.

00:01.

[Y/n] stared up at Nyais, her eyes big and thankful. A long sigh escaped her. She'd made it. Her pain would be over now. She would be safe with Nyais. They, together, stepped into the corridor and stared down it. All six of the boys stood at the end, staring at her with their own take on the situation.

Laion's eyes were clouded with betrayal, Aytsa's with bereavement. Seishin stared darkly at the pair, his teeth gritted. Mitzu looked quite dull; empty. Draka looked down at himself as though directing the blame inwardly. Kori stood behind them all, observing coldly.

"What will happen to us, then?" Seishin finally asked.

"You're to spend three days with seniors who have selected you to go through a brief training program before being returned here. Unlike most of the vampires, you were moved to the suite of a group of elites. I've convinced the king to let you remain here as you are likely to be moved here regardless in the near future," Nyais explained.

"What does that mean?" Laion questioned, his brow furrowed.

"It means you're the strongest young vampires I've seen in a while," Nyais frowned. "You'd probably fair well against some of our newest elites already, but I wouldn't recommend rushing into a duel. Your seniors will explain all of this for you so I don't have to," he shrugged.

"Who will we be with?" Draka put in.

"You and Mitzu will be with Senior Elite Ray. You're lucky; Ray usually hates young people but you captured his interest," Nyais explained. "Laion and Aytsa will be... you'll be with Dr. Rayne. Good luck." Laion and Aytsa looked at one another - Aytsa seemed excited, Laion seemed concerned. "Seishin and Kori will be with Senior Elite Kaist," he finished. "You're also pretty lucky... but Seishin, I should inform you; Kaist is your father. He has high expectations of you." Seishin's eyes widened slightly before returning to their usual glaring state.

"Is that all, Nyais?" Seishin responded, spitting Nyais' name like venom. None of the boys looked at [Y/n]. Their gazes were all murderously focused on Nyais.

He nodded and opened the one door that [Y/n] had never been through before shutting it behind him.

"Wow," was [Y/n]'s first response.

The corridor they stood in was grand. The walls bore many paintings of many people, all looking glorious and mighty. A plaque sat under most of them, detailing the person's feats and contributions to vampire society. The walls were painted a rich, warm purple. The floor a soft, cranberry red carpet made out of what [Y/n] could only assume was velvet. Lustrous chandeliers hung from the cream ceiling, illuminating the place. [Y/n] quickly picked up on the lack of windows.

"Are we underground?" she finally asked. Nyais nodded. "How do we breathe?!" she asked in surprise. A chuckle escaped the brunette beside her.

"Look up there," he said, pointing up to a small crack-looking thing in the ceiling. There were quite a few of them. "Air vents."

"Those don't look like any air vents I've ever seen before," [Y/n] laughed.

"That's because they're specifically designed for this place. I believe Ritou designed them," he hummed. [Y/n] quirked an eyebrow at the name. Nyais took her hand and kept her walking. Her eyes occasionally flicked to the paintings. Suddenly, she stopped as one caught her eye. It was of a man with brown hair and purple eyes. He held two long blades in his hands, standing tall as they sat by his sides. They were bloodstained but he didn't seem to notice.

"Nyais... is that you?" she asked quietly. Nyais' cheeks flushed a little and he tugged on her arm in an apparent attempt to keep her moving but she didn't. She stayed put, her eyes glued to the painting. It was in a colosseum like setting, crowds roaring behind him.

"Yes, that's me on the day I became an elite. Every elite who has done something 'remarkable' has their portrait in here. Mine was of the day I became an elite as I chose to fight the strongest elite there was in an attempt to prove myself. I won, unscathed, despite the odds. It was thanks to my hearing," he said softly. [Y/n]'s eyes widened at this.

"Wow," she hummed. She was about to read the plaque under his painting but he continued pulling her along, stopping at a small corridor that branched off the main one. A woman walked down the corridor, her black hair cropped short in a pixie cut style.

"Hello Mira," Nyais dipped his head. She smiled at him before giving [Y/n] a curious look.

"You're the little human everyone's been in such an uproar about," 'Mira' hummed, leaning close to [Y/n]. Nyais pulled [Y/n] a little further away from the female vampire, who let out a laugh at his actions.

"Wow. Protective much? There was a meeting a few hours ago held by King Olli stating the rules on how your little pet needs to be treated so don't worry. I don't really want to die," she laughed. [Y/n] grimaced at being called a 'pet' but she supposed that's how most of the vampires would treat her from now on so she needed to get used to it.

"Good," Nyais responded shortly, beginning to walk with [Y/n] in tow once more. The [h/c] haired female wondered whether she would always be treated like a 'pet' or whether vampire society would eventually warm to her.

Once Mira was out of earshot, [Y/n] tugged lightly on Nyais' sleeve. "I thought female vampires were solely here to reproduce? She had daggers in her belt," she said quietly. Nyais nodded.

"There are a few female vampires like Mira who prove to be stronger than some male vampires. She's the only female elite in history, though." [Y/n] nodded, taking that in. "She's by no means the strongest elite but she's certainly formidable."

At that, Nyais paused before a door, pulling some keys out of his pocket and unlocking it. He opened the door and gestured for [Y/n] to go in before him. [Y/n] did so. The room was dark so she allowed her hand to pat against the wall in search of a light switch. Eventually finding one, she flicked the lights on.

It was tidy. Very tidy. Pristine, even.

Nyais appeared beside her, a small smile on his face. "You can look around if you'd like," he said tenderly.

Her new home - their home. She stared at it for a while, her hand wrapping around his. "Can you show me around?" she asked dulcetly, looking up at him with big, excited eyes. She felt like a child at Christmas. So happy. So, so happy.

"Of course," Nyais grinned back at her, one hand raising to gesture to the room they were currently in. "This is the hall," he began. It was a large spacious square-shaped room with two corridors branching off the far right corner. The floor was wood panelled, a light beige colour. It was smooth - one of those annoying floors that you can't walk across in socks. In the centre of the room was a green mat like a small patch of grass which gave a bit of life to the room. On the back wall a closed wooden door. Finally, a cream sofa sat on left wall.

"It's so clean," [Y/n] said quietly.

"When I'm at home I have a lot of time... but I'm rarely at home, so I guess I just don't have enough time to mess it up," he laughed. This didn't seem quite true, however. Based on the aroma that hung in the room - the fresh, clean, breezy aroma that reminded [Y/n] of the park - this room had been cleaned relentlessly again and again. No musty scent tinged the air. Just cleanliness. Regardless, [Y/n] decided not to comment on Nyais' white lie and instead wandered over to the wooden door on the far wall.

"What's in here?" she asked, her hand pushing down on the door handle. Nyais didn't need to answer, however. Despite the difference to its human equivalent, this was quite obviously a living room. An L-shaped sofa bordered the far left corner of the room, a circular glass coffee table by it. On the left wall, a bookshelf: [Y/n] recognised a slightly tattered version of Animal Farm, undoubtably the one she'd read. She smiled a little.

"I thought I'd keep it for the nostalgia," Nyais chuckled, following [Y/n]'s gaze, "the boys certainly did a number on it, though." At the mention of the boys, the smile on [Y/n]'s face dropped slightly. Nyais noticed this and placed his hand on her arm. "You don't need to worry about them anymore. I'm sure their mentors will kick the rebelliousness right out of them." [Y/n] nodded.

"Thank you, Nyais." He gave her a smile in response, which really was all [Y/n] needed.

The pair continued to explore the house after a while of [Y/n] wandering aimlessly around the living room. Down the corridor was a kitchen. It seemed extremely new, smelling vaguely of cement and freshly cut wood.

"I had this built the moment I decided I was going to try to bring you back with me," Nyais explained, "so it probably still smells a little strange. Don't let that put you off the food, though," he laughed. [Y/n] nodded with a smile.

On the left and back walls was a long counter. The far right corner had an oven - it was an old gas oven clearly from the 80s. [Y/n] would have to rework a lot of her recipes to suit it, she realised. A newer fridge was on the left wall at the end of the counter.

A door in the right wall puzzled [Y/n]. She must've made this facially evident as Nyais walked over to it and pushed it open. "I believe you call these pantries?" he stated, though it was more of a question than anything. "If you ever need anything restocked or added just ask me. I'd be happy to retrieve anything you desire," he smiled.

"Thank you," [Y/n] smiled softly. She walked over to the pantry. It was dark, even with the light on, so she only just made out the shelves packed with dry store food. It was tall - a ladder allowed her to access the higher shelves. Looking up made her dizzy so she stepped outside.

Nyais took her hand and led her to the next room, down the corridor, taking a right down the other corridor and a right again into the best room [Y/n] could imagine - a three story high library.

"This is my second favourite room in the house," Nyais explained with a grin, clearly elated at [Y/n]'s obvious appreciation of the room.

"Second?" [Y/n] echoed.

"I'll show you my favourite next," he said cryptically, his eyes holding an element of mischievousness to them. [Y/n] tilted her head in response to his words, allowing him to tug her along to the next room. He pushed open the door.

"I finally get to call this our room," he said softly, his face bright with contentment. [Y/n] felt a blush dust her cheeks as she glanced around the room. Unlike her last room (which was brimming with objects placed here and there) it was minimalistic. Clean. The carpet was a creamy white, the walls a soft dove grey. The bed had grey sheets and two light oak bedside tables sat beside it. In the near right corner of the room was an L-shaped desk and chair. Stacks and stacks of paperwork sat atop it.

"That's... a lot of paperwork,"[Y/n] observed. Nyais bore a nervous smile as he walked over to the desk, beckoning for [Y/n] to follow him.

"Most of this revolves around you," he laughed, "I've got to plan for your whole stay here - that being your whole life," he explained. He picked up a single piece of paper and sighed. "This is the contract."

The first thing [Y/n] noticed was the handwriting. It was... unreadable. At first [Y/n] thought it was bad handwriting but it soon dawned on her that it was actually an entire other language.



"A-are you e-expecting me to be able to read this because I'm really sorry but—"

[Y/n] was cut off by soft laughter from beside her. Nyais gazed at her adoringly, shaking his head. "Don't worry. This is a language only a few vampires can speak. It's mainly spoken by elites and royals but some of the more intelligent individuals of lower classes know it too," he explained.

"S-so uh... what does it say?" [Y/n] asked softly. She watched Nyais' eyes scan across the sheet of paper. He let out a sigh.

"It's pretty dismal," he laughed, "basically, you're not allowed to leave this place without my permission and constant supervision. You have to drink something soon - it's a requirement to do this within the first week. It's labelled here as 'Dr Rayne's Elixir of Life' - I'm sure he'll explain this better than I can, but that also means you'll have to meet him," he huffed, looking down, before returning his gaze to the contract. "You're not allowed to challenge or be challenged by a vampire," he continued.

"What does that mean?" [Y/n] interjected.

"To climb ranks and status you need to challenge a vampire to a duel. The person challenged has no right to deny the challenge (but they can try to convince the challenger to revoke the challenge). Then they fight - they agree the terms before the fight; more often than not it's to the death. If the individual of a lesser rank wins, they climb to the rank of the person they fought. If the higher ranked person wins, things stay the same. This would be unfair on you so it's been forbidden," he explained. [Y/n] nodded her head.

Nyais looked back to the contract, taking in a breath before continuing. "You have to give a little blood once a week. Not much - don't worry." He paused. "You're also not allowed any contact with the human residents here. The children's ward is a forbidden area for you." He then winced. "It says 'disobedience can cost you anything your partner or guardian sees fit.' Not really sure what to make of that," Nyais sighed. "A-and here it says that your life can be ended at any time should you become a burden... damn Olli, no need to be so blunt," he muttered.

As he spoke, [Y/n]'s mind raced. The contract was surprisingly less strict than she'd imagined. For some reason she'd expected there'd be stupid rules like 'you can only talk for five minutes a day' or something but, in the grand scale of things, it was pretty lax so far.

"The last three rules are that you're not allowed any contact with your friends or family, you're not allowed out of the kingdom and the contract can change at any time and you have to be okay with this." [Y/n]'s eyes widened a little at the last one.

"I take it this contract is non-negotiable?" [Y/n] sighed softly.

"I'm afraid not," Nyais responded.

"Then I guess I haven't got a—" [Y/n] paused, being cut off by a yawn. "Choice," she finished, stretching her arms out in front of her. Nyais looked at the clock on his bedside table. It read 0:58am.

"You must be tired," Nyais said gently. To answer his question, [Y/n] leaned against him and shut her eyes. He chuckled and scooped her up in his arms, walking her over to the bed. [Y/n] hardly felt herself sink into the mattress as sleep engulfed her.

Phewsh. Random fun fact: the contract is actually written in a language I've been working on for five years now. ;3 Next Chapter: Forever and Ever