The boys kicked me out of the palace quickly. They wouldn’t even explain to me a single detail about how they were going to get my room cleaned. I was being kept out of the loop, and it bothered the living hell out of me. Why wouldn’t any of them just tell me? This was a contributing reason as to why I hated secrets.

Isaiah and Anthony were standing at their posts, both laughing and hitting the other numerous times. They were just extremely happy people.

“She’s alright!” Anthony smiled as he waved at me.

I turned around, to see if they were talking to someone else, but nope. It was to me. “Eh?”

They both dashed to my side, taking opposite sides. Anthony’s blue eyes seemed to get darker while Isaiah’s green eyes lightened.

“We smelled that vampire from a mile away,” Isaiah told me.

“Quickly informed the butlers,” Anthony continued.

“Would’ve taken him on ourselves too, but we couldn’t leave our posts. They could have entered the palace or had a team of stragglers. I hate stragglers,” the other growled.

“Stragglers?” I was confused. New term for me to learn.

“That’s what we call the bitten humans who turn into vampires,” the blue eyed brother told me.

“Gave them a special name because they are a special breed,” the jade eyed of the two continued. “Think about it this way. Vampire blood in humans will cause a disruption in body function. And so, the human will die a slow, painful death. Far worse then what you could possibly go through normally.”

“I’m not the best educated on vampire facts, boys,” I nodded. “I’ll pretend to know what you’re saying and just nod here.”

Knowing that Isaiah and Anthony were actually hundreds of years old than me didn’t matter. I will always see them as the two idiots who never let me in the kingdom without a trivia or quiz of some sort. They are the funniest duo I had ever met. I continued to joke around with them. And their extreme amount of knowledge from their lifetime was worth more than a library.

“Ooooh story time!” Anthony screamed like a little girl. “I loooove story time!”

“Ready?” Isaiah grinned.

“Ready for what?” I turned my head slightly to the right.

“For a brief introduction on human and vampire relationships!” Anthony answered my question.

I sighed in my place. It seemed like I needed thousands of books just to get through the gist of vampire facts. But with these two, they were so precise and clear with their wording and explanations, it wasn’t needed.

“Vampires have a special kind of venom. One that is capable of overpowering any other sort of blood in the entire world. It will spread like a virus, overpowering and destroying every other cell until what was only left was converted ones. These result in stragglers,” Isaiah started the story.

“Venom? Like a snake?” I asked.

“Precisely, but… far worse. And far more dangerous,” Anthony replied. “As soon as every cell is damaged, destroyed, or converted, that’s when one begins to feel the symptoms of being a vampire. Now, this transformation will take either a week to a month to fully progress—depends on how much venom was emitted into one’s body and how good one’s health is when bitten. Too many variables to purely calculate a timeframe. The human will feel cold to the touch, like a dead body, because their body is simply… deteriorating from the inside-out. Their heads will give them nothing but aches and illusions, driving them to insanity and further injuries. Their hunger will no longer be fully sufficed through human food, and will crave the warm blood of others.”

“This is when idiots give a bad name to all vampires. Stragglers will attack anything and everything breathing and alive in their path. They do not have an ounce of humanity or remorse for any of their actions, for their minds are not in their proper states. That’s what most vampire hunters are utilized for,” the green eyed brother added. “To kill and eliminate all stragglers for the betterment of the vampire and human worlds.”

“But stragglers are also used for their enhanced abilities. As pureblood vampires, Isaiah and I are pretty damn strong. But with their vampire blood mixed in with human blood, they are about ten times stronger,” Anthony said. “They are quicker. But are extremely hard to control and are very reckless.”

“Don’t forget stupid,” the other brother added.

“Yeah, stupid too,” the blue eyed one nodded.

“Then what happens after that week or month is over? When every single human cell is… gone?” I questioned.

“Then they die,” Isaiah replied. “They’ve been experiencing nothing but pain for that long, and so the body has been killing itself the whole time. The straggler will just simply cease to exist.”

“Then how could the Queen be alive? Wasn’t she given venom?”

“Only way to survive being bitten is by being given a vampire’s blood. Extremely quick healing and such,” Anthony answered. “Plus, don’t forget, the moment a vampire is willingly given blood by someone, they become a full fledged one—forever frozen in time and if lucky, with a special ability to boot.”

“So when she was given Tablo’s blood after being bitten…”

“She completely didn’t have to endure the pain of being a straggler,” Isaiah finished.

“Stragglers…” I whispered and repeated in my head. Over and over. There were so many variables with vampired. You couldn’t just simply become one.

If you were a human, who got bitten and turned into a vampire, your life was a ticking time bomb. And you were going through intense pain and are not in a stable state of mind at all, you are basically giving up. But you don’t know it. Your entire life is slipping away from your grasp. And the hunger for blood takes over, to where you are nothing but a monster. A monster who will attack anything and everything in its path. And the only way to save you is to become a vampire, to be given the blood of a true vampire. If you knew what you were, would you beg for the blood or beg to be killed? Which side of the fence looks greener?

If you are a vampire, one that has been one since birth, you age quickly. You are presented with supernatural abilities including agility and strength. Yet, you are stuck living a life of luxury with no one else to love most of the time. You are given the choice, mate with a vampire or simply expire. Wars are a normal thing in your life. Enemies are those other vampires from other families from other kingdoms on other nations. Most simply mate with another vampire, just to get the immortality and the special abilities, if lucky that is. But others, who have fallen in love with a human, simply age and wither away. Even given the opportunity to live forever and roam this earth, those who choose to die view it as a curse. It’s not a glamorous life. It’s not the best life.

“Interesting…” I suddenly stated.

A horse neighed in the distance, followed by the clanking of hooves on the stone pathway leading into the kingdom. Isaiah and Anthony turned to the gates, realizing that a carriage was waiting for it to be open. The horses were beautifully dressed, in beautiful dark red and black garments, pulling behind them a metal carriage. The carriage itself was heavily curtained, so you could not see who was inside. And the courier was extremely focused on steering the animals.

“Welcome home!” Isaiah and Anthony yelled at the carriage before bowing.

“How many times do I have to tell you,” King Tablo’s voice echoed from the carriage. “Stop bowing to me! It’s extremely creepy and disturbing since you are both older than me. And my great something grandfather’s brothers.”

He exited the carriage first, wearing an all black suit. The King wasn’t wearing his crown, or any jewel for that matter. It looked like he just came back from a funeral. His arm extended itself into the carriage, awaiting the hand of another. A small, wrinkly, and pale hand soon grasped his. The King slowly and gently pulled the old woman out of the carriage. It was Mrs. Moon.

“We have to stay in character, Tabi!” Isaiah patted the King on the head.

“The two of us can’t suddenly be informal to you, or else rumors will start,” Anthony poked him numerously.

“But bowing,” Tablo pushed them away. “It’s just… ugh. Never liked it and never will!”

“Thank you,” Mrs. Moon ignored their conversation and handed the courier a bag of coins. “This should cover a month. Thank you again. You may return home now.”

The courier nodded as he took the bag. His eyes expressed surprise, I guess he expected the dark red bag to be lighter. He whipped the horses to drag the carriage back to the stables, right next to the kingdom walls.

I stood still, trying to figure out what to do. Might as well say hi. “Hi Mrs. Moon! King Tablo!”

“Oh Sophia!” Mrs. Moon tried to prance her way to me. But her fragile little body took about the same speed I do when I’m walking. She wrapped her flimsy, wrinkly arms around me for a hug. “How are you my dear?”

“I’m fine, how was your trip?”

“It was alright. We had to go through and finalize a lot of trials. And do some initiation ceremonies.”

“But the Queen told me there was an emergency,” I was worried.

“No no! No need to worry!” Mrs. Moon slapped my shoulder. “Tablo handled it with great success!”

King Tablo patted Mrs. Moon on the head. “I need to talk to Sophia alone, if you don’t mind, Auntie Mimi.”

Auntie Mimi? Times like these I forget that they’ve known each other forever. I guess they were both so comfortable around me that they finally dropped the formality. Auntie Mimi has such a nice ring to it.

“Oh yes, no problem,” Mrs. Moon nodded. “Boys! Boys! Help an old lady walk all the way to the staff headquarters please!” She called for Isaiah and Anthony, who appeared by her side in a blink. They both offered their arms and they danced down the stone walkway towards her home.

“Auntie Mimi, always the same bright girl,” King Tablo smiled.

“You’ve always called her Mrs. Moon… this is so… different,” I told him.

“Well, she told me that she finally told you her story,” the King clarified, “so I can drop the Mrs. Moon and just call her what I’ve always called her, Auntie Mimi.”

“It’s sweet,” I giggled. “And I think it’s cute.”

A moment of silence between us. We just stood there for a few seconds.

“Sooooo…” I trailed off into my own world.

“Sophia, do you mind me asking you a personal question?” he abruptly asked.

“Uh… sure?”

“Are Jun and Catherine your real parents?”

My heart skipped a beat. I… I never told anyone that. Not even Damien knows. Only my parents and I know the truth. That’s impossible… How did he find out? I was so young when I was… found… no one questioned my parents when they suddenly ‘had’ me. My mother didn’t show her face a lot after Queen Jenny’s disappearance. It wasn’t a problem. I grew up knowing that I wasn’t their biological child. But we always told others I was, even the kids think so. They raised me with their own hands and money. They were my parents.

“I… uh…”

“I apologize,” he bowed. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to ask something like that. I shouldn’t have. Please forgive me.”

“No need to ask for forgiveness, sir,” I tried to make him stop. “I just never thought anyone would find out.”

“I didn’t do any searching or anything!” he continued to bow. “The urgent duty I needed to tend to was something involving you.”

“What did you find?”

“What do you know?”

“Honestly,” I sighed. “Nothing other than I was left on their doorstep when I was a few weeks old.”

“You know nothing of your real family?” The King sounded so surprised. His voice cracked.

“Nothing.”

“So I know more than you do, about who you truly are?”

“I guess so, sir.”

“Would you like to know the information I’ve learned?” he asked me.

“Is it worth knowing?”

“It is only if you want to know about your ancestors.”

“Quite silly to want to know about my ancestors, when they are the ones who didn’t want me,” I held back my tears. “All that matters to me now is that I have a family, a true family, one that loves me unconditionally for who I am.”

“Is that why you work so much? Is that why you were so willing to go through hell just to support them? As a thank you for raising you and not disposing of you too?” His questions were on point. It was all true. I worked in every environment just to find a way to pay them back. It was so easy to throw me away. It was so tempting back then. Yet Jun and Cathy didn’t. They… they took me in with open arms and raised me as their own. How do I even begin to pay them back? How do I say thank you properly? How do I show them how much I love them for their sacrifice?

The King wrapped his arms around me. He patted the back of my head gently. I just cried on his shoulder. I couldn’t stop myself at that point. My past had finally gotten to me. I was alone in the world. I had a cancer that was going to take my life in a few weeks. I had no real blood relatives. I had killers going after me.

My entire life was falling apart before my eyes.

Was working here a mistake? No. It wasn’t. I… I need some time to think. I need the truth. I wanted to know who were my real parents. I’ve wanted to meet them for as long as I could remember. I had a list of things to ask them. But does finally figuring out who they are lead to a better future for me? What do I gain from it? Will I turn my back to my family now?

What if I’m still not good enough for my real parents? No. Stop. I needed to know. I had to know. I’ll travel great lengths to find them and to finally know the real me.

Who am I… really?

“Tomorrow,” the King told me. “Tomorrow, we’ll head to headquarters together. So you can finally get the truth about who you truly are.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DUN DUN DUN. I know I haven't properly lead to this mystery. but i did drop tiny hints here and there. Did you guys ever wonder why Sophia truly worked so much? This was the truth. and the truth will be revealed in the next couple of chapters! I wonder what you guys think. 

What do you guys think her past is? Why would she have been abandoned? And how would King Tablo know and not her? And why is her past so first priority when the information came from the vampire hunter headquarters? So many questions to think about, right?!

I'm not sure if I'll be answering it soon, for I have a special treat in store for the next chapter actually. 

Don't forget to vote and tell me what you think below! I will answer comments when more people reply! :D