"So this is the place?" [Y/n] questioned, looking over at Laion. The boy nodded his head, finally closing the distance between them and the doors.

"State your business," one of the four guards, Zeron, demanded. Laion didn't know much of the man other than his fiery temper and his notoriety when it comes to fights. Laion, certainly not wanting to get on his bad side, dipped his head respectfully.

"[Y/n] requests an audience with the king," he hummed. Zeron's eyes narrowed as he watched [Y/n], before he clicked his tongue. Laion didn't want them to stay there any longer than they had to - the heavy gaze of Zeron on [Y/n] unnerved him more than it did her. Eventually, Zeron let out a snort of laughter.

"The king? See a human? You've got to be kidding me," he laughed dryly. "You're one of those six kids, aren't ya?" He took a threatening step forwards. "You think you can beat an elite, pipsqueak?" Laion respectfully shook his head.

"I don't want any trouble," he said softly. "The king wrote [Y/n] a contract and some of the terms were unclear, so she wishes to get a better understanding of what is expected of her," Laion explained. [Y/n] was shocked that he was trying so hard for her. She'd expected him to turn around the second Zeron had laughed.

"Oh yeah? And why should I believe you? That thing's a human. For all we know, she's gonna try do something weird to the king like she did to Nyais," Zeron snorted. Someone cleared their throat from behind him; [Y/n] peered over his shoulder to see a man who looked quite familiar - cropped brown hair and reddish-brown eyes. Zeron turned to look at his superior with wide eyes. Rarely did the man speak.

"Allow her entrance, Zeron," he spoke calmly, his voice authoritative yet gentle.

"But General—"

"Now," the 'general' responded, staying fixed to his post with little intention of moving. Zeron hung his head.

"Just because his friend's your son," he grumbled under his breath with a cold glare directed towards Laion. Laion stepped forwards beside [Y/n] as Zeron opened the doors, though he was quickly stopped. The brunet who'd allowed them entrance now had his hand on Laion's shoulder, his grip tight and imposing.

"Was it not [Y/n] alone who sought for an audience with His Royal Highness?" the man asked. Laion paused. He'd heard a lot about him - Erda was his name. The general. Rayne hated him for some reason. Rayne hated a lot of people though, so it wasn't too much of a surprise. [Y/n] looked over her shoulder as Zeron ushered her inside, trying to hide the relief from her expression as Laion was prevented from joining her. Slowly, the doors closed behind her - a lachrymose creak calling out into the room like a mournful wail - and she turned to stare down the hall. King Olli sat on his throne, twirling a strand of his long silver hair in one hand. He ceased the action at the sound of the doors closing, getting to his feet. [Y/n] curtsied immediately.

"[Y/n]. It's good to see you again," Olli hummed, much to [Y/n]'s surprise. "How are you holding up?" His tone of speaking was far more casual than it had been the first time they'd met. She raised her head to meet his gaze.

"Um... I've been... better," she said quietly.

"And I assume your toils are what bring you here today?" he questioned, though his voice was absent of any interrogation. She nodded. "I see."

"Please..." she whispered. "I can't live with them any longer. I need to escape... please help me!' [Y/n] cried out, all her fear and emotion coming out at once. When she realised just how loud she'd been one hand shot over her mouth. "I- I'm sorry," she added quietly, bowing her head in shame.

"[Y/n], you understand that expressing an interest in leaving this place puts you in a very dangerous situation," Olli said levelly. "If you were to leave and spread word about this place, no doubt our lives would become much harder, and we would be forced into a state of war with humans." He paused. "That would lead to the annihilation of your kind," he pointed at her, "and thus the starvation of mine," he sighed, lowering his hand to his side once more. "So, I can't let you go. And if you express too much interest in leaving, then—"

"I understand that I can't leave! Please, I don't want to cause you trouble," [Y/n] blurted out. Olli had never been interrupted before by anyone other than Nyais. He was surprised, but let her continue. "You stated in the contract that I had to stay with someone, so please... anyone, I don't care, just not them."

"You'd risk a lot to escape them," Olli sighed, "you may think life with them is hell but I assure you, there are many people who would be much worse," he said quietly, seemingly entering a state of thoughtfulness. "You've already met Dr Rayne. You'd be surprised by how many people are inspired by his practices." [Y/n] paled a little, looking down. "Though I empathise with your situation." [Y/n] sighed, understanding this was a stupid idea. No wonder Laion let her come. He knew that she had no chance of a better life - that she'd be sent straight home after her meeting with Olli. She dipped her head.

"I understand, I'm sorry for the interruption," she said quietly, though Olli seemed to be in the middle of jotting something down on a piece of paper that seemed to have appeared from thin air - though on closer inspection [Y/n] spotted an individual in the corner of the room who appeared to be dressed as a butler, and in his arms was a stack of parchment.

"Hm?" Olli raised his head when he noticed [Y/n] was awkwardly looking around, preparing to be excused. He then registered what she'd said as he'd been writing and a small smile touched on his lips.

"Do you know how carers are selected?" Olli questioned. [Y/n] gave him a slightly confused look.

"I think... I think Nyais mentioned blood pressure," [Y/n] mumbled.

"Right. On top of being a delicacy, your specific blood pressure is highly nutritious for us," Olli hummed. "So much so that it can increase the power of the consumer." He looked away. "I wish not to admit it, but I see no harm... right now, I am in an unfortunate position. Allowing you to stay with us has caused much civil unrest. Many people now want me dead," he shrugged. [Y/n] gave him an apologetic look, though he waved his hand as though he might swat her guilt away. "Don't worry about it - there's always someone who wants to kill the king. Their numbers have increased a little is all," he laughed. He seemed so different to how he'd been when she first met him. Wow, maybe first impressions aren't always everything.

"I have an offer for you," Olli continued. I will allow you to live here, on the condition that you allow me to take some blood from you once a day." He looked away, seeming a little guilty. "I won't bite you - I understand that it's not exactly... pleasant. You're alright with needles, right?"

[Y/n] couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. Was she alright with needles? Fuck no. Did she care? Fuck no. This was her chance to escape the boys, and it was being handed to her on a silver platter. Okay, maybe not silver - these are vampires... but a fancy ass plate nonetheless. She nodded her head in response to his question after internally screaming victoriously. Maybe now she'd be able to help Nyais, too.

"Good. I'll have a room readied for you immediately," he said simply, waving his hand over at the butler in the corner of the room, who promptly lowered his gaze and scurried away, quietly calling on some other workers of the palace to aid him after leaving the room.

Something about all of this seemed too good to be true. [Y/n] rubbed the back of her neck.

"Is there really no catch?" she asked quietly. Olli raised a brow.

"Is losing some of your blood every day not a catch?" he questioned. Not compared to what I've just been through, [Y/n] thought to herself morbidly. She shrugged her shoulders, her fingers intertwining nervously.

"W-well... I guess I'm just surprised. You... you don't seem to bothered about all of this," she said quietly, her previous confidence now succumbing to her insecurities. Olli watched her carefully for a while. Had he given off any bad signals? He'd tried to make her feel comfortable here, but she still seemed scared... then his memory flicked back to his behaviour when they'd first met. Right. He'd been an ass and he'd bitten her on their first meeting - of course she'd be confused as to why he was being less of an ass now, as well as telling her that he wouldn't bite her.

"Is this about our first meeting?" he asked, not really good at 'treading around the subject' as one might put it. [Y/n] looked down a little, so he had his answer. "Our first encounter wasn't a test for you, it was a test for Nyais. I figured that if Nyais liked you, there was nothing to worry about regarding your personality and such. My worry was that Nyais would get overprotective of you around other men, especially after what happened to his wife," he sighed. [Y/n] looked a little confused (which surprised Olli as he thought she'd know everything about Nyais) but nodded her head. "I needed to make sure he wouldn't defy me, even if I was acting strange with you. A harsh test, I understand, but a necessary one." [Y/n] nodded her head slowly.

"You... um, you mentioned 'what happened to his wife'," [Y/n] said quietly. Olli let out a low hum.

"That's quite a long story, one we don't really have time for now," he said calmly, "though I'll make sure to explain everything soon." He looked over as the butler returned to the room, head bowed.

"Your room is ready, miss," he said quietly. [Y/n] looked over at Olli, who beckoned for her to follow the butler, beginning to walk over to his throne.

"I'd come with you but I'm obligated to sit in this boring room for a couple more hours, so I'll join you later. I'll have Calen prepare a meal for you in the meantime." [Y/n] vaguely recognised the name 'Calen' - had one of the boys of Nyais mentioned it before? She couldn't remember. She nodded her head to Olli, beginning to follow after the butler, walking in silence.

How she'd ever get used to these corridors was completely beyond her.

* * *

Letting out a deep sigh, Damien turned his head lethargically to stare at his buzzing phone. 'No caller ID' it said. He really needed to get his phone checked - every single call, even ones in his contacts, came up with no caller ID. Answering the phone was Russian roulette. Hesitantly, he picked it up, pressing the green answer button.

"Why have you been ignoring my texts?" Tara's voice questioned sternly. Damien remained silent. He did not have the patience to talk to her right now, especially when all she wanted to do was plunge herself headfirst into a death trap. "Damien? Wow, silent treatment now? The heck's up with you?"

"Tara, enough is enough," Damien sighed. Tara went quiet for a moment. "I know you want to find [Y/n]. I do too, but—"

"If you do too then why the fuck are we still here?!" Tara snapped, and it was only now that Damien heard the wobble in her voice. She was crying. "You know something... you wouldn't have gone all weird if you didn't. So tell me what you know, and we'll go help her!"

"No!" Damien snapped. "We can't. You've never met one of them. You don't know what it's like. They'll kill you before you even see them. And that's if what I think is correct," he growled out. Tara huffed.

"Damien, please... just explain," Tara said, quieter now, her anger fading into something more melancholy. Damien was quiet for a while. Explaining was probably the only way she'd see how ridiculous this whole thing is, so he drew in a breath and thought long and hard about what he was going to say.

"My mother ran away from Ku— um— the kingdom she was from, because the system was... messed up. Women always die in childbirth, and if you can't prove yourself to be stronger than a man then you have to have children. She wanted a child, but she didn't want to leave it, so she ran away to adopt one. Because all the mothers die, they need to find surrogates, but they can't use the existing female vampires as they're all working their assess off already." He paused. "In stories, you hear that vampires like certain blood types, right?" Tara nodded, even though he couldn't see it. "Well that's almost true... we have a preference for lower blood pressure. Some humans have particularly low—"

"[Y/n]—" Tara interrupted with a sudden flare of realisation. "S-sorry, continue," she said quietly.

"These humans with very low blood pressure are selected as 'carers'. Their job is to look after a group of infants," Damien explained. Tara nodded again, still in vain but at least she understood.

"So you're saying [Y/n] was selected as one of these carers?" Tara questioned, suddenly hopeful. Damien let out an 'mhm' sound. "So she's still alive!" Tara realised, a grin on her face.

"No," Damien said, his voice now lowering to a whisper. "She'll be dead by now." Tara took a moment to process his words. A long silence greeted Damien, so he continued. "Vampire children age quickly - a year a day. By the 21st day, they finish maturing, and the carer - if still alive - has their blood extracted and dies." Tara placed her hand over her mouth.

So [Y/n] was gone now? Just like that?

"I'm sorry Ta—"

"Where the fuck is this place, Damien? Take me there," Tara spat out, suddenly burning with anger.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Damien hissed. "I'm of human strength and you've never even beat me in an arm wrestle. These guys are hundreds of times stronger than you! You'll die before you even get within fifty miles of Kutelo!"

"Kutelo?" Tara echoed. 'Shit,' Damien cursed inwardly. "That's in Bulgaria, right?" Damien didn't speak for a while. "I'll book flights. You can come if you wanna, but if you don't then I'll just go alone," Tara shrugged, hanging up.

Damien really had hoped things wouldn't come to this. But if Tara was going, he'd need to go too. He wouldn't live with himself if he didn't.