Saudade

Chapter 1 - Under the Moon

The moon was shining brightly, like any other night. It's light made the castle looked like glowing in the dark of night, living up it's own name; Moonlight castle. It was a beautiful night, a perfect for hunting. That's why the castle was half empty, with only vampires, who either already full or just didn't feel like hunt tonight. Blood wasn't really necessary for their survival, after all. That was an old belief of their kind, a false belief to be exact.

One of the remaining vampires here was the princess herself. The daughter of the current king, Hyunseok, the lady that to be said as the one of the most dazzling vampire that ever existed. Her pale hands were both at the balcony railing, as her eyes fixated to the sky. Her dress was as black as the night, with some gold decorating it like the stars on the sky. The only missing thing was the 'moon', and that's why she said she would be looking for the only moon in the sky. Vampires didn't pray, but Haneul loved to do this ritual; looking at the moon and did nothing else.

"Haneul."

A call and she shifted her eyes to the man behind her, her own father, the King. Hyunseok stood there, by the edge of her bedroom door. Just one look at her father and Haneul knew what brought him to her room like this. Almost every night her father would talk to her, about one thing and one thing only.

"I still refuse it, father."

"You can't go on like this forever."

Like yesterday, and any other night before, that was the end of their talk. The Princess refused to talk back to her father on this matter. Her father knew as well, because as soon as Haneul looked back to the moon, he sighed and walked away. For years their princess refused to drink blood, any blood, and never went out for hunting as well. No one knows her reason, and not even the king managed to get her to talk. They still would live forever without blood of others, but it would weaken them. Haneul is the heir of the monarchy, and to rule she would need her power. That's the reason Hyunseok trying to convince her. But as everyone can see, he always failed.

The night breeze brought the smell of flowers, the grass, everything around the castle. Another thing about vampire, their senses were greater than a mere human. It's either a bless or a curse, because Haneul's senses even greater than other vampires due to her royal blood.

Faint smell of blood filled the air, so sudden, without any warning. It's not like Haneul hated the smell of it. She might refused to drink it but her body craving for it deep down. But instead of thirst that came, her body became all tense.

Because the blood she smelled, was not the blood of human preys. It was her people's blood. Vampires didn't just turn into ashes, but actually they quite similar with humans. So they had blood, a black blood instead of red, with a stronger smell for fellow vampires. And Haneul could smelled them strongly tonight. Not just one, but many of her people being killed near the castle. That could only mean one thing; a hunter was nearby. Her father probably hadn't notice it, yet. His senses would be stronger than other vampires, but weaker because of age. It almost time for him to take an eternal rest, but seeing his heir like that, Hyunseok got no other choice that prolong his rule.

Feeling like she should take care of this immediately, Haneul pulled up the end of her dress and jumped down from her balcony. Even without her full power, as the princess of the vampire, Haneul still had the energy inside of her to go to meet the hunter without wasting much time. Naïve, and maybe stupid. But as the princess, she couldn't let a vampire hunter roamed around her castle, the center of the monarchy. She traveled fast and almost without sound, arrived just in time to see one of his men fell down with a clean cut through his neck. And inside her sight, there's a man, standing above the body. Both of his eyes and hair were black as her dress, a long silver dagger on his hand and a gun on his hip. That man is a hunter, a vampire hunter, Haneul even could see the hunter badge on his chest.