Darkness

Darkness! Once again Theodore found himself floating in a vast unending space of darkness but this time, he couldn't see anything, couldn't feel anything, it was a terrible feeling for Theodore who had sworn to himself never to get scared of anything ever again.

But at this moment, he couldn't help but be scared, he couldn't feel anything, his legs nor his hands nor his face.

The darkness he was so terrified of, in a way seemed to be a part of him and at the same time a completely strange element to him.

It was like he was one with the darkness but at the same time the darkness was rejecting his existence.

' is this what death .... feels like?' he wondered.

But he wasn't sure he was dead, he might have over exerted his body but he wasn't sure it was going to kill him.

Then again the bloodlust technique he used was dangerous, he had to speed up the rate of his heart forcefully to physically dope himself and then force his brain into feeling like he had surpassed the limit of the human body, although there were some hormones involved, the adrenaline was a crucial hormone in the technique.

' maybe my heart and brain sustained damage? ...But I'm not a human, so I'm not sure it would affect me much, even so, can that really be said about me? I mean I can be considered human as well based on my physical appearance and not to mention I'm a Norm. '

Theodore continued thinking to himself, as different questions arose.

He wasn't even feeling incorporeal, neither was he sure how much time had passed, he was slowly going insane, he wasn't even sure the scenery was going to change like it had always done.

As the seconds trickled by Theodore tried to feel a connection with the darkness, since he was entirely jobless right now and couldn't do anything.

At first nothing happened when he tried to will the darkness to himself, he was trying to feel the darkness but he realized that it wasn't going to work, he couldn't even feel himself so how was he going to feel the darkness?.

With that in mind he opted for another option, instead of trying to feel the darkness, he willed himself to it, letting the darkness consume him and his mind, everything. He just let himself get lost in it without resistance.

He was at least noticing a tiny bit of change, he still couldn't feel himself but instead the range of his senses in the darkness increased. And that's when he noticed it...

A faint ripple in the vast space of darkness, the ripple swiftly increased, drawing closer at a terrifying pace.

Theodore felt like he was being strangled, he didn't know how it was happening seeing as he was currently non-existent in the space of darkness but he knew it had something to do with his physical body.

And as if he was forced to leave the embrace of the darkness by the terrifying unknown force, his eyes shot open.

His gaze fell on a figure seated lazily on his throne above, his laid back attitude did nothing to hide the regal and terrifying aura around him.

Theodore flinched back, his body trembling against his will as he gazed at the current monarch of the vampires, Damian ráu Vlad.

Biting his lips till he bled, he gazed at his side, there were other vampires present, their gazes were on him, there was disgust present as well as a weird kind of expression, something between fear and awe.

Besides him Cassie and Aiden stood motionless, it seemed like Cassie didn't have the time to change her clothes cause she was still wearing the one from their battle which Theodore's dagger has beautifully designed.

Rising to his feet he clenched his fist in an attempt to suppress his fear and stop his trembling body.

With an exhale Theodore spoke first, his face impassive.

"Greetings to the monarch of vampires, I was informed you requested an audience with me, do pardon my disheveled appearance."

Damian raised a brow, surprised at Theodore's action, most individuals would have paled just by being in his presence but the child in front of him not only composed himself but was even bold enough to speak.

'interesting'

Damian thought inwardly, but his face remain uninterested.

He turned to Cassie with a displeased look on his face

" I asked you to bring him to me, I never asked you to bring him in a half dead state, you've disappointed me greatly Cassie. "

Cassie's eyes widened.

"M.. My lord I apolog..."

"... Cassie's not to blame here, I was the one who initiated the fight."

Theodore's reply was swift, interrupting Cassie's apology.

An audible gasp was heard in the halls, they all stared at Theodore some with interest in their faces while most had looks of disgust on their faces.

A vampire elder seated at the last seat close to the knights of the vampire empire, suddenly spat with disgust on his face.

" How dare you interrupt a conversation between the monarch and a vampire knight?!!"

Theodore glared at the vampire elder with a murderous look but quickly composed himself

" I believe the monarch called me here to have a conversation, your name wasn't mentioned in the invitation, neither did I get pulled along to witness the monarch scolding his subordinate, so just sit there and observe like you're meant to."

The monarch scowled.

" You do realize that you just abused a vampire I personally deemed an elder of the kingdom..."

Theodore replied with a dead pan expression.

" I am fully aware of that fact, however it was well within my rights to do so, he interfered when it wasn't needed, besides I knew you were trying to test me, you sent Cassie with the intention of having her rough me a bit..."

He paused

" I take it, you've already heard about me from Aiden and how he didn't go unnoticed when he spied on me, so you wanted to test me yourself, to confirm whether or not of his evaluation of me was an exaggeration."

Damian couldn't help but smile, he leaned closer, a look of interest on his face.

" Hmmm, nice intuition.. but all the same I never meant for Cassie to injure you greatly, not to the point of rendering you unconscious."

Theodore's face remained impassive, but his mind wasn't, it seemed like the monarch actually cared for him, or maybe he didn't want his guinea pig to die before he gets used, Cause there was no way a vampire would accept an abomination like him.

He stared at Cassie, she was trying not to show her fear but it was very evident, the monarch didn't seem like a cruel person but that would be the point of view of a naive kid, the most dangerous kind of people were his type, relax, overconfident and unreadable.

Theodore lingered for a moment before he decided to talk but was very careful on what to say.

" It's not Cassie's fault, my unconscious state was the drawback of the battle technique I used against Cassie."

Damian swiftly commented

" That begs the question, why did you fight with her to begin with?"

Theodore's reply was a short and unexpected one, just three words.

" To get stronger."

His face had no expression on it, even as he said something so surprising.

Everybody was dumbfounded at his words, it was known that out of all the knight captains Cassie was still one of the strongest with only a few of them surpassing her in strength.

The hall fell into an awkward silence and they all looked at him like he was crazy, he knew why, The version of the Cassie he fought was not the same version that was standing behind him, if he had fought Cassie in the mystic realm then he would have died, very miserably even, he wasn't even sure he'd have been able to put a scratch on her moreover she was stronger in here while he was feeling weaker in this place, like he was shackled.

He couldn't help but remember the scenery of the crimson river and the shackled beautiful wolf in the heart of the blood river.

"To get stronger you say, what is it that drives you to get stronger, what could a kid like you possibly need strength for?"

Damian questioned, still taking a relaxed pose on his throne but his demeanor had slightly shifted.

Theodore had a grim expression on his face as he recalled the day his parents died.

" To destroy the organization involved in the murder of my parents, each and everyone of them, I won't stop till I erase all traces of them from the face of the world as well as those afflicted with them, I'll kill them all without fail, every single one of them will perish."