1 Chapter 1: The Prince of Blood

"Have you heard the story?" George asked, wishing that Akeldama did not know it.

"What story?" Akeldama responded without looking at George. his voice carried obvious signs of disinterest but George was too dull to pick them.

George's eyes shone with joy and the chance to talk to this new boy filled him with the uncontrollable urge to narrate a story. He looked at him but Akeldama continued to read the book he had been reading till now. George waited for him to show interest. he wanted the new boy to ask "What is it? What is it? Can you please tell me? Pleaseeeee..." but to his surprise the boy remained silent.

George wanted to narrate the story but he acted as if he was disappointed at Akeldama's lack of knowledge. "Don't you know?"

"No." Akeldama replied softly, without lifting his head.

"Fine, then let the master story teller give you, his friend, a free service, Akel."

Akeldama looked up at him at last. His eyes were dark as the sky of the moonless night and looked extremely lonely just like the sky who did not have the moon to accompany him. But even in that lonely eyes of his there were twinkles of excitement. George had never seen such a beautiful pair of eyes before and he was absolutely mesmerized. "Those lonely eyes, the dark pools of motionless water that were his eyes, oh how beautiful they are!" George wondered. "Is he really a boy?"

George's eyes moved from Akeldama's eyes to his face then travelled all over his body. His skin tone was white, not that it was uncommon in Eastern Europe, but it seemed to extraordinarily white. His physique was thin and delicate yet very graceful and elegant. His jet black hair that was neatly parted to the right side danced gently with the wind flowing into the enormous classroom through a window that complemented the size of the classroom.

This trance was broken when suddenly Akeldama got up from his seat, pushing back the chair and making a slight noise. George said, "What, I haven't started yet."

"I am sorry." Akeldama said, bowing a little. "But please excuse me. I have some urgent work to attend to." He did not allow George to say another word and left.

George sighed. "What a kill joy!" he wondered. "But his eyes...how lonely they looked yet so beautiful..."

Louis De Loferstein High School was unique, not only in terms of its way of teaching but also in its way of handling the students. The most outstanding feature was the school building itself. Standing tall, overlooking the vast fields of lush green grass that served as the playground of the school's students, was this castle of the Lofersteins. The Lofersteins had ruled the lands of Travanier ever since its existence. They were dedicated rulers and had spent a considerable amount of their fortune to develop Travanier.

The castle that was once inhabited by the prestigious family of Loferstein had now become a school which was maintained by the school's very own Board of Directors called "The Seven Bloods". As to why they were called "The Seven Bloods" still remains a mystery. The students found the name to be cool rather than odd. The name seemed to have given life to the students' wild imaginations and they had created the image of these people based solely on this name. The immense funds generated from the school was equivalent to what the government of Travanier earned in two years. The school, overtime, had grown to become a globally recognized institution. It was internationally recognized as one of the top three schools and had also established a few blue chip companies that were famous for employing only the best students of the top three schools. But needless to say they were considerably lenient when it comes to students from the Loferstein high school.

The students of the school had to live in the dorms provided by the schools and everything starting from their food, clothing, living expenses were taken care of by the school. They were also equipped with the state of art technology and modern methods of education. There was obviously someone at the very apex of the entire administrative mechanism of the school but no one knew his identity, except the Seven Bloods. Each student was provided with a personal dorm room and there are nearly two hundred students in the school.

Akeldama had transferred to the school last month. It was quite obvious to the others that Akeldama was of high birth, through the elegance and gracefulness of his activities. He never spoke much and seemed to lack social skills, but even his silence was so sophisticated. Although quiet and seemingly naive, Akeldama could judge characters pretty well. He had never made any friends nor had the skills to make one but he knew well that most of the boys and girls who wanted to be friends did not want to be his friends. They wanted to be his friends based on their assumption that he was from an influential and rich family. he had formed a wall to repel these unwanted guests with his quiet and reserved attitude. This had given birth to a few rumors but he did not care.

Akeldama had a mysterious and veiled past and was more matured than the others but he was still a child of sixteen years and the sixteen years old heart of this child still yearned for the warmth of love and friendship.