Blood Runs Red

Chapter 1 - Anastasia

The sun was shining it's last rays of the day.

"What an annoyingly bright sunset..."

"You're up early, early bat!" a cheerful voice called from the hall as I walked out of my room, I didn't need to see those short golden strands of hair and those familiar blue eyes to know whose voice that was, he was my best friend after all.

"How are you so damn cheerful this early in the evening?" I asked closing my bedroom door behind me.

"Somebody has to make sure you wake up." He shrugged nonchalantly "And I'm the less likely candidate to get killed in the process."

"That is true." I admitted walking up to him "It still doesn't explain how Yuri Alekseev manages to be so cheerful this early in the evening."

"Because you're the moon that brightens my night, princess." He gave me a way too dramatic bow and I walked past him.

"Call me princess again and I'll kick your face in, smartass." I warned, but I don't think I managed to hide the amusement in my voice, not with him, but to be absolutely honest, I don't think I was actually trying.

"Shivering in my fangs." He joked, quickly catching up with me.

"I'm serious! I'm in an amazing mood thanks to my mom! Stupid conference." I was in a really sour mood, for some reason my mom had demanded me to attend this stupid conference with the wolves! Why? I probably will never understand, but I was surely not happy with it. Stupid wolves.

"Who knows, Anny? Maybe this is it!" Yuri, the eternal optimist, but then again, one of us has to be...

"Yeah, right... It's just another farce. Just another way to poke for weak spots... I don't think this war will ever end and even if it does, it will certainly not be in our lifetimes." It was the cold truth, but what else was there to say? Vampires and Werewolves will never get along and we're too equally matched for one to overpower the other.

With the conversation me and Yuri were having, we quickly arrived at the great hall where my mother, the current matriarch of the Vampires, more commonly known as the queen of the Vampires, was waiting for me sitting at her throne at the top of the long dining table where several papers were laid out orderly "Good luck." Yuri whispered to me before the door closer between us. This was a Dracula matter and he wasn't allowed in.

"May you have blood, mother." I formally greeted.

"May we have blood." She replied from the height of her position "I trust you know not to show weakness in front of wild animals." She got up as an ice crown started to form over her long blond hair and, without any sign of slowing down, passed by me with her icy blue eyes.

"Of course, mother." I immediately followed her "Wild animals will strike where they sense weakness and we are neither weak nor wolf pray."

"That is correct, Anastasia. Now come, we must go meet with the beasts." My mother instructed without ever slowing down on our way to the carriage.

It had always been like that, she never slowed down for me, not even when I was younger, I was always the one that had to keep up, if I didn't there would be consequences... Now it came as naturally as breathing...

On the ride there we reviewed what I knew on the wolves, their weaknesses, how they were organized, their usual battle plans and strategies, etc... My mother believes that the Werewolves are beneath the Vampires but, even tho I am a pure blood Vampire, I'm not blind, I also know their strengths, I read them in my father's journal, he didn't underestimate the wolves! But then again... They killed him... So I wonder sometimes...

"Stop daydreaming, Anastasia, it's unbecoming of a Dracula." My mother's sharp voice snapped me out of my thoughts, we had arrived.

I couldn't stop myself from finding the location ironic, an old church. The elegant building was covered by trees, flowers and all kinds of other plants, it had been taken back by nature, like most of what was once stolen by humans, but the irony wasn't there, the irony was that both the Vampires and the Werewolves were once thought to burn if they stepped on holy ground, like a church. I couldn't decide if that was each species wishing the end of the other not so subtly or them stating that this peace conference would only get everyone burned.

To make sure that both leaders were in equal safety, the church was as far from the wolf pack as it was from the castle, so the moon was already up when we arrived, and both the Alpha and the Queen would take their children as a sign of good faith, hence why I'm here... The explanation didn't leave my mood much better, tho...

As we got through the large arcades to the inside of the church, we saw the Alpha and his son at the altar lit by the moonlight coming from a hole on the ceiling. The Alpha demanded respect just with his posture, even with the cigar in his mouth that contaminated the freshness of the night with the sickening smell of smoke, as mine and my mother's footsteps echoed though the ancient monument.

Getting closer, I noticed the Werewolf standing beside the Alpha, his son. He had black messy hair and was wearing very practical and comfortable looking clothes in shades of purple and black, he locked eyes with me and I felt a strange pressure in my chest, like there was a rabid animal inside, trying to get out, throwing themselves against my chest--- Wait! Was my heart beating?! No way! It can't be!

Trying to figure out what was happening, I tore my eyes off of his deep green ones, but I couldn't stop myself from glancing back at him, he was looking at the piece of paper over the stone podium and I could see the scar on his left cheek...

"What are you doing, Anastasia? Focus! You're imagining things! Get a grip!"

So I did, I got focused on what I had to do – analyze the wolves, study their every move. Even the slightest information could turn the tables in favor of the Vampires. We've been at war with the Werewolves for way too long, since the original Vampire and Werewolf, Dracula and Lupin. Things slowed down considerably during the Human Empire, but it gained full strength after the nuclear war. Now Werewolves and Vampires wage an undeclared war for the top species... I'd like nothing more than to see the Vampires win this, but I'm also not naïve enough to believe this will ever end... Vampires will always hate Werewolves and Werewolves will always hate Vampires. That's just how the world is.

Like I knew from the moment I heard about this peace conference, it was a show to learn weaknesses and show off strengths, utterly boring. What I didn't expect, however, was to find myself looking at the Alpha's son... He looked to be about my age... Contrary to human belief, Vampires age, and so do Werewolves, we just do it in a different rate... I guess that's why we look immortal to them... Could this... Interest? Be a rivalry based one? I mean... It's the first time I see the son of the Alpha... What am I saying? What else can it be? It has to be because he's my equal. My rival. My opposite. Yeah! That' it! A beating heart isn't THAT uncomfortable. It can't be! That must have been something else. I can't be sick, I'm a vampire. So yeah! That's it. He's my rival.

"Anastasia! How many times have I told you to stop with your ridiculous daydreaming?" my mother's cold voice snapped me out of my thoughts as we got home.

"I'm sorry mother." I apologized as we left the carriage.

"That incessant daydreaming was what got your father killed!" as sensitive as a silver stake, as usual...

"Yes mother." I answered as I followed her into the castle. This would be a LONG night...