The Immortalized Heart (Book 2 Original version)

Stained with colors of black and white and bearing the infamous mask she walked among them as one of them. She held no rank, no official title, but her sinister nature earned her a rank worthy of her power: SS rated vampire. The Pureblood King welcomed this once-defiant immortal with open arms and a place close beside, more so than that of his late wife. Rumor floated that this reaper killed Catherine De Sandres, but people were either too scared or too smart to search for truth to it.

If the king trusted that half-ass-fake then the rest would swallow their opinions. The reaper’s gift was said to be flame in appearance, but the aura she exhibited resembled that of a Pureblood; flame was a power only a Pureblood could possess it was said. How could such be if all she consumed were blood tablets and the occasional cannibalism? The war was becoming more and more exciting with each new development: a one-eyed vampire, the queen of the Nation becoming directly involved, and even the Association seemed to be putting up more of a fight.

Alucard spoke, ‘Quite a name you have made for yourself my child--’

A fire shot flew past his face and hit the wall behind.

“Don’t call me that.” Kira growled, “I’m not your pet, I’m not your servant and I’m sure as hell not your kid.”

Alucard chuckled, ′But you are Catherine’s child and Catherine was my wife, making you my step daughter by human standards.′

"She wasn't my mother, besides, when have you ever cared about human standard?" Kira barked rhetorically.

What a joke, if that was true then he should have opened his door when she was still human; family right? Kira huffed when staring outside the window, she hated being in this house, where Catherine lived. Aside from Elisabeth its not like anyone would miss her, even Alucard was planning on disposing of his traitorous wife. The reason for her experiments was for her to become a Pureblood and to take Alucard’s power for her own. He expected as much and left her alone, uncaring of her attempts because they would all prove in vain--Doctor Addy’s, however, were fruitful.

The woman got what she deserved, however he pitied their daughter--to think her own sister killed their mother; Kira does not see it that way thou. Alucard does not see Kira warming up to their ‘family’, but perhaps she will be one a bit more open after he’s answered her questions. They were peculiar, the questions she asked: what started the war between humans and vampires, where did vampires come from, and who was the white-haired vampire. All these questions were understandable and Alucard enjoyed having a free-thinking companion to talk to; mindless drones did result in poor conversation. Kira possessed the ideals of humans and vampires, a bitter reminder to the Pureblood of his family.

Its ironic how they’re influence has lasted as long as his thou only two of them remain, one being original. Kira was given access to Alucard’s family’s record, thousands of years of text detailing history from their view. She had one purpose in searching these records: find where and why it began. The bitter, blood-soaked, history of this war may hold the key to how to stop it, or at least how to create a lasting peace. She needed this to work, she needed to find the answers now, in her brother’s lifetime. No one would follow a powerless idealist therefore she would also need to increase her power--the flames she harbored were strong, but not under control.

Alucard knew those flames, had felt them before; their weakness and strength; he trained Kira to mold it. She was not their original master, therefore they will be different than before, nonetheless they recognized their brother. Kira found no records of a white-haired vampire, therefore she asked Elisabeth directly and when that failed resorted to Alucard who had been reluctant in giving a straight answer before. Just how far did she have to go to find them? One hundred; three hundred--turns out Eona was born four-thousand and twenty-six years ago. Happy birthday to the most childish vampire out there.

‘His name was Natas, he was an Ancestor that lived ten-thousand years ago and was apart of a family of the First Reign.’ Alucard answered.

The Ice Age, a time when the world froze over, that would mean vampires either evolved separately from humans somewhere in time or they were humans who evolved as a natural survival phenomena. Kira changed to searching for references to the first vampire kingdom. Elisabeth saw her friend rummaging thru books and ancient scrolls in their library and saw how she was not satisfied. Kira wrote ‘Natas’ in every language she could think of and different spellings to find whether the name had a meaning--Natas was Satan spelled backwards; least she knew where ‘Hell frozen over’ came from and a ‘Morningstar’, nonetheless ‘Son of God’ because they were pulled from a history that truly happened.

“Thank you!” The young vampire said eagerly over the phone.

Elisabeth printed out her information, hung up her phone and found Kira drinking tea when walking.

“Have you heard of the Book of the Moon?” She asked, presenting the notes from her fiance to the house's newest resident.

Kira scratched her head--it sounded familiar. A mention of it once maybe when reading about the history of the castle the ball was housed in. Elisabeth said Jake told her about it: a book said to contain the history of the First Reign...before it happened. A history of the future, does that mean members of this family live? Elisabeth and Kira flipped notes and the library itself upside down looking for a reference to the book--if it truly existed then it could tell what is to come and Kira could stop it if necessary. The First Reign...

A curiosity tugged at the older woman, “Elisabeth, how old is your father?”

She pondered for a moment, “He’s over eight thousand if I remember right.”

An Ancestor, no wonder he was rather resistant about answering those questions--he does not want to disclose his age. Nonetheless he allowed her access to his records. At least he was considerate of that, giving the chance for Kira to reach her own conclusion with her own knowledge and not what others have her believe. There is a reason Emily chose Natas’s DNA to conduct the experiment, but the question lies how did she acquire a sample if he’s been supposedly dead for ten-thousand-years? She said to Kira she isolated a gene, but if that was the case could there be someone other than Natas who has the same genes? Could her gift be caused only by these genes or by something else?

Kira concludes either of one of two or both possibilities: Alucard is ten-thousand-years old and was apart of the First Reign or his family was the First Reign and Natas was likely related. If that is the case what does that make the Nation; the victor of some form of forgotten war? How was the Hunter’s Association founded then? Where did their weapons come from and why was Syndicate collecting them? Questions one after the next that out-number answers, but knowing all this is necessary to achieve her goal.

The search for this mythical Book of the Moon began, but progress was nye. There were mentions of it, but as to its location, such was not written down, but rather existed in memory. Alucard said he last saw it when the Reign collapsed and heard the Nightravens had taken it, keeping it safe for a short time, but whatever they did with it was their knowledge alone. Weeks went by like this, talking to different immortals, having nearly unlimited access to record every Pureblood possessed, who were loyal to Syndicate.

Thousands of documents; weeks became months and by the time Kira reflected on the concept of time four months had passed. The book, a record of the Reign, seemed no closer to her grasp then when she first learned of it--perhaps it didn’t exist after all, but vampire history is one of fact, not mystical illusion because they are immortal and the truth is hard to cloud when so many are around to witness it.

The book was somewhere, but no one in the Syndicate knew therefore she would have to outsource to the Nation and the Association. Kira clicked open her phone as she lied on the floor in the room that was once Catherine’s now had become her spawn’s personal study. Ian had texted her again...he does this everyday and every night; good morning, good night and how his day has been always ending in ‘see you later’. She should not have this phone, she should have changed her number, but she wanted a connection to her brother, to one of the last pieces of human she has.

Brother. Telling him the truth was something that would never happen, he could not be dragged into this regardless if he is already a step in. He was apart of her family and that family she would not fail in protecting again. The thirst continues to exist, but it has significantly decreased, despite he feelings reacting in opposition. Kira wanted to be beside Eona, wanted all of these unnecessary things to disappear so they could be together--that was a dream.

“A prison break?” Kira sat across from Alucard as he and the other Purebloods continued, ‘In the Rocky Mountains in the United States lies a prison containing many of our comrades--most of which are to be sentenced to death not long from now.’

Vale drank his home-brought bottle of blood and sipped it in the corner, ‘It will be quite a feast, liberating and feeding all at once, my it is a treat!’

She ignored Vale and slouched back, crossing her arms and growing bored at being dragged into meetings like this. It was unavoidable though, having access to this information and being trained came with a price; freeing vampires and injuring a few humans would not be difficult.

‘Kira, wait a moment.' Alucard motioned for his daughter to remain, 'I’m assigning you with Vale to ensure a certain vampire finds his way to us.’

The immortal raise a brow, “If you’re referring to Adam I doubt he’ll want anything to do with us, he’s not trustful--”

‘And you are?’ The king rose a brow.

Kira shrugged casually, she’s saying that for Syndicate and Alucard’s interests. She means what she says, Adam is a turncoat, always has been always will be. Whichever side he joins is whoever can pay more, things such as morals or loyalty do not interest him.

‘I trust him as far as I can throw him.' He explained, 'But he has information I need and while on his way to hand me that information he was captured.’

She would do as told. There was no gain in making enemies amount Syndicate, but it wasn’t like she cared if they trusted her or not. No one here is loyal out of the goodness of their heart, each member is at an angle or has a goal they could only obtain with power and that is why Syndicate formed--bring the powerful all to one place, give them what they desire after your own is accomplished. Alucard had his reasons and Kira her own and for the meantime their interest crossed allowing for a momentary ceasefire. Some family.