1 Chapter One.

    It was a simple task, to find a ship over to The America's, cramming as many people as possible within one rickety ship stabilized by sloping planks of snakewood upon the bow and stern. To take out a ship of close to 700 would be a bit more of a challenging task, especially detecting which were sick- which to feed on, which to leave. It wouldn't be long until the illnesses began to sink in, bodies hauled overboard. The five immortal siblings sat underdeck, the space large yet seemed so minuscule, sailors pressed shoulder to shoulder. Children cried out, the sounds of coughs echoing through the silent air only interrupted with the sounds of sickening waves crashing harshly across the sides of the boat. Azul Santoro sat with his head pressed to the wood slick with the soaked in condensation of sweat from famished patrons.

His brother, Adrián, sat beside him, tossing a bundle of cloth within his rough fingertips. Their father remained on deck, laboring to keep the boat somewhat functioning and cleanly. Women and children were sent below deck, although the Santoro brothers didn't look too young, they remained with one another below the surfaces. Hell, they didn't even look as if they were from Spain, all paled mismatching individuals. Azul himself didn't even know his mother and father's origin, how they became if they were turned or perhaps one of the first to roam the earth beside the DeLuca's. In a world ruled by mortals, Camoflauging became a natural instinct. Their appearances all inhumanly attractive, their features eternally young, yet sprouting from their back? Two powerful wings were held, the dark membranous structures like a bats or perhaps insects. Even if they had the unique ability to disguise themselves, they never were anything like witches, sorcerer's, warlocks- whatever the church labeled them as.

The term Vampyre was only recently revealed, used to accuse one's neighbor of slaughtering their farm or perhaps placing hexes upon them. Azul would've been impressed if they had actually ever educated themselves on who his family and he was-- more of what they were. Little did those on the ship know who dwelled upon them. The thought of blood-lusting upon the innocent made Azul's stomach turn, his lip curling upward in distaste.

"What's the issue? You look... more bitter than usual." Harlow chimed from beside him, bundled in rags to hide her young freckled features and draping blonde hair.

The only woman left in their family. The only sister, the successor of the safe-haven the Santoros would build- or planned to. Their mother was slaughtered only three nights prior to the grouping making a run across the seas, Kronos DeLuca himself sending his mutt of a eldest son to hunt them down. Santoro's may have been strong, but no one was a match for a DeLuca. Easily, the eldest son of the DeLuca's could've wiped out all six of them- however, DeLuca's loved a show. They enjoyed the hunt, the chase, the kill. They made it slow, painful, traumatic. They were monsters, monsters who would kill their own young if they weren't strong enough. Of course, they showed no mercy on the matriarch of the fleeting Santoro's, the impact of losing their mother in such a gruesome way sending a catastrophic wave of shock through all of the Santoro siblings.

Part of Azul assumed his father wanted to work on deck alone to cry, to mourn the loss of his soulmate away from the watchful and lost eyes of the five siblings. It only got worse, putting Harlow as the unexpecting heiress.

A hum left Azul's lips as he peered to the hooded figure of his sister. "No issue, it's just a bit... damp. In here," he explained, clearing his throat, looking across to the opposing wall where his brother Antoni sat.

Antoni had slept the four days they had been on the ship, being the eldest and always offering to help haul the sick, dead bodies overboard into the hungry ocean. He was his father's Heir, the one who indeed knew their priorities and never hesitated. Some would consider him cutthroat, too strict. Azul didn't understand how he had the stomach to fulfill some actions, yet was grateful it was Antoni taking lead and not him.

"It's obvious he's been saving up his appetite, that's his plotting look," Harlow mused, the sound of her slight smirk evident in her voice. Azul simply took a glance at his eldest brother, sucking in a tense breath of contaminated air. "Any day now, he's going to signal it." Harlow reminded her brother.

"I just don't see the point in... disposing of everyone. Why not just brainwash? There's really no need-" A scoff leaving Harlow's lips interrupted Azul's low and troubled thoughts.

"You know why, disposing of everyone isn't optional. You know what would happen if just one of them suddenly remembered the events that'll take place?" The blonde commented, always being the logical reminder, perhaps even the one Azul seemed to lean towards the most.

"They'd be trialed as a witch, probably burned at the stake," Azul muttered, his stubborn opinion not wavering.

An irritated sigh left Harlows lips, her hands moving to balance her wrists upon her knees, focusing on digging dirt incrusted beneath her nails out. Azul simply shook his head, looking amongst the dim, torchlit space. His eyes caught Antoni's, the crackle of a nervous swallow sounding in Azuls ears, his body going unnaturally still. He knew he was holding his breath, watching as his brother, waved a hand before his face, shadow filling the room; Smothering the torches into nothing but dark. Dark that Azul could see in, that all the siblings could. yet, even without sight, Azul knew exactly what was taking place the moment a bloodcurdling scream cried out, panic spreading.