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Chapter 4 HE IS NOT YOURS, HE IS OURS.

No one knew for sure why Supremes are Supremes or why living vampires (a.ka. Abnormals) didn't have a very strong affinity for blood, but some said that the Supremes have a direct blood line to that of the first vampire, Count Dracula and that's we have the dialled up strength, speed and additional powers I was yet to even discover.

As for the Abnormals, they were not weaker than the ordinary vampire. In fact, the only difference between an Abnormal and an ordinary vampire were that the Abnormals had a weaker thirst for blood—allowing them, to an extent, to eat normal food before they must drink blood in order to sustain their living, and they were visibly less pale than the ordinary vampire. Abnormals and ordinary vampires had equal strength levels and speed (except of course practice helped to increase ones strength)

Light filtered through my lashes, 'I'm I dead?' A buzz filled my ears, a low buzz that was changing and was slowly becoming the sound of Tia's voice. My head felt like the right side of it had caved in. Good thing the back of my head was rested on something softer than the bed I lay on.

The buzz was clearing up now, and I could make out Leya's childish whining and Jereum's harsh tone as he scolded her.

"What's happe...?" My voice trailed off and I could her Tia shushing everyone else. I forced my eyes open, and a bright light entered my eyes. I winced and I heard Leya apologize quickly.

"Are you alright? Do you remember anything?" Tia asked, and if not for the fact that I couldn't move more than half of my face I would have glared at her.

The light dimmed and I saw four faces above me, the closest being Tia's. They all wore worried looks except for Jereum; his face looked as if he had had a double dose of good old sunlight to start the day. And it didn't look as if it was healing. I tried raising my hands but felt the weight that was upon them. 'What?'

I felt a bone snap back into place, and then I could feel muscles pull and stitch themselves back together. The right side of my face was beginning to feel more alive.

Then I remembered, 'That tyrant!'

The anger from before was returning to me.

"Stop!" Said Jhan, and somehow I knew he was talking to me. He had been in my mind or had just sensed my shifting emotion.

"What do you me-ean?" I asked.

"Your insolence and stubborn behaviour is what put you in this state."

I could now feel my teeth beginning to grow back.

"I'm sho-shory." It was really hard to talk with more than half of your teeth smacked out of your mouth. Jhan didn't answer, I could see him from my peripheral vision, he pulled Leya, and Jereum followed, out of wherever we were and I heard a door shut behind them.

I felt Tia's warm touch on my face. I had forgotten she was still here and it had just occurred to me that my head was rested on her thighs. I looked up, at her. She looked worried. I jammed my jaws together—all my teeth had grown back.

My face felt good as new, except for my right eye ridge. I could put my head up now, but I liked resting on her thighs. As much as I hated to admit it, I enjoyed her company too.

She gently stroked a line down the side of my face. I felt a rush of warmth fill me up and my heartbeat started to pick up. 'No, I can't be enjoying this.'

I tried lifting my head, but a sharp pain at my neck cancelled out the thought.

"You were stabbed with a six inches long stake." She gently touched the sore area.

"It takes longer for wood inflicted injuries to heal," She said. I grunted in reply. The last thing I remember were the words 'insolent child.'

Could have that not been a tyrant and instead a member of the higher court?

There was silence around me, and for a brief moment I felt just pure anger at myself. But I still needed to get answers.

Glancing at Tia, who was looking down at me, I asked, "What happened after I... Who was that person?"

She didn't answer; instead she drew her brows to a frown and looked intensely at me.

"That was an adjudicator for the higher court. A person who represents them and settles conflicts between rival clans—" she glanced away"—she was also a supreme.

"She?" I spat immediately. A haughty looked covered her face.

"Of course she or you think girls aren't strong enough—" She said firmly but gently.

"No, no. That's not what I meant...er...it's just that I didn't see her clearly."

I watched her from the corner of my eyes, she returned to her normal calm expression.

"Where are we?" I asked her.

"Well... You are to be detained here, in this cell, until your penalty has been evaluated."

I looked around the room, a cabinet, well painted red walls, a wall clock, a study desk and lamp with a chair. Looked more like a bedroom to me

"Penalty? For what?" I asked, contorting my renewed face with disgust.

"For attacking an adjudicator," She said simply.

She continued stroking the side of my face slowly and it didn't bother me, in fact, I liked it. I felt her other hand fiddling with my hair and put together with her soothing voice, it was rather calming.

I was nervous to ask the next question, "Will they err... Kill me or—"

"No, never!" She said grimly and I saw the flash of a red glint in her eyes. Silence fell between us again. She was warmer than usual, her temperature was higher.

'Your temperature is up," I said.

'It happens when we drink blood," She said, 'first you feel the warmth in your tummy, and then it spreads all over your body."

'Oh…" I said, 'So if we drink blood we get warmer?" I asked.

'Yes but it also depends on the quantity and type of blood you drink; you see human blood is the best, and it rises our temperatures the fastest, unlike animal blood that does the job a lot slower."

She held the side of my face in her palm so I was looking straight up at her, she was breathtakingly beautiful. I stared into her eyes and for a moment I felt completely safer with her.

"Tia, when you said that we couldn't feel love or care; what did you really mean?" I asked her. She seemed taken aback by my question.

"Well... What I actually meant is that, we don't readily show those emotions Kaldar. In fact, we rarely fall in love—"

"So we can fall in love?" I asked her.

"Yes," She said simply, and I was more than satisfied with the answer.

I felt the touch of her fingers on my chest, and that's when I realized that I wasn't wearing my jacket or shirt. They must have removed it to tend to the stab wound. She slowly drew circles with her fingers on my chest. I tried as hard as I could not to look at her.

She trailed up her hand and used her thumb to gently brush my jaw line. She was still looking down at my face though.

"Are you with Jereum?" I heard the question like it was someone else who had asked it not me.

"No, no he's my distant cousin."

"What!?" I asked, clearly shocked on knowing this.

"Why would you even think that?" She asked perplexed.

'Well maybe because of the way he looks at you or the way he hate-glares at me whenever you are being nice to me.'

But now that I thought about it, i had had no solid proof that they were together in anyway.

A rush of shame and embarrassment washed over me.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" I asked her, but I was glad when the door suddenly opened. Tia didn't stop caressing my face with her fingers as Jhan approached us.

He stopped just right in front of us, seeming not to notice what she was doing as he looked straight at me and not at Tia.

"I handled the issue with the higher court, and given the fact that you are still very young and was acting on impulse, they have agreed to press no charges on you." He walked closer to me and, with one hand, squeezed a side of my shackles till the cast iron broke right off.

He did the same for the other and I lifted my hands, rubbing my right wrist with my left hand.

"Put on your jacket, we still have to introduce you to the higher court and the other clans." He walked out if the room, closing the door behind him.

I looked up at Tia who was looking down at me. We locked eyes and for a moment just stared at each other till she averted her eyes. I thought I saw a glint of guilt in her eyes and I knew it was because of the question I had asked last. I slowly brought my head up and sat on the bed.

Tia stood up and walked to the cabinet where my jacket was hung, something I hadn't noticed before.

She picked up the black long sleeve shirt I wore and tossed it to me. I caught it and wore it quickly. I stood up and walked to her. She had the jacket in her hands, turning around she looked up at me. It was funny how she was the one looking up at me now.

"Wear it, no one will notice the hole on the left shoulder pad," She said as she pushed it to me. I collected it and wore it, right hand first.

Jhan opened the door and stepped in, "Let's go."

I walked behind Tia and the three of us walked through a tight corridor before we got to a staircase that led higher up.

I climbed the stairs one at a time, 'This would all be over soon...' but no matter how much I told that to myself I knew that this wasn't going to be a brief meet. I didn't notice her stop, so I accidentally bumped into Tia. She turned and looked at me, then, without a word, turned back.

"Stay close to me, Kaldar, and avoid eye contact with anyone." He pulled open the door in front of him and I walked, behind Tia, into a large, dimly lit room.

Several groups of vampires, about five or even reaching eight in number, stood at small clusters at every corner of the room all wearing either black or brown jackets. I locked eyes with a few but then quickly turned away. I sped up and caught up with Jhan. We walked towards a large, high podium which, on it, sat seven vampires, cladded in silver and crimson embroidered robes, behind a long table.

Many chandeliers hung way high up; the chandeliers gave enough light for me to see the faces of everyone in the room clearly, which only made me feel more uncomfortable.

The vast hall was quiet except for the sound of our shoes against the white porcelain floors. We stopped just in front of two red robed adjudicators, they hung their heads low so I couldn't see their faces. The room was filled with mild indistinct chatter. I looked up at the higher court, all their faces were old. An adjudicator appeared at the edge of the podium. A woman.

She looked down at us for a brief moment before she looked at the crowd of clans and raised a hand, shushing the chatter and silence fell upon the room.

She cleared her throat and put both her hands at her back, "The clan of Jhan has brought a new member onto their ranks, Kaldar."

"Kaldar?"

"I looked up at her."

"Do you consent and devote your life to serving the higher court?" She asked.

I didn't know what to say, was I even supposed to answer the question? She was still looking at me with a bored expression.

"Yes, yes I do," I said nervously and she continued immediately, speaking as if reciting a statement she has said over and over again, "Very well, come up here and place your loyalty."

I looked to either side of the podium, no stairs. 'How was I supposed to get up there?' Without any warning, Jhan grabbed my arm and leaped with me. I was pulled into the air, about a twenty meter jump and then we descended and I landed upon the podium. On landing I felt no shock or force on my knees. It felt like landing from a foot of height and I knew that was not going to be the first bizarre things I would find out about my new form.

CHAPTER 4 — HE IS A SUPREME II.

Still slightly fuzzy from the high jump, I looked to either side nervously. The adjudicator walked to the back of the podium, returning with a small green bottle in her now gloved hands. She produced a small silver knife from nowhere and that's when I started to feel a little uneasy.

"Now I shall inscribe the mark of the higher court into his flesh by the silver knife, tip dipped in sacred waters."

"Take off your jacket," Jhan said.

‘What!?' I thought.

Reluctantly, I took of my jacket and the long sleeve shirt I wore and the adjudicator stepped forward. She put the tip of the silver knife into the mysterious bottle and, when she brought it out, the tip of the knife glistened with the dim light from the chandeliers above.

She stepped closer to me. "This would hurt," She whispered to me with a smirk as she touched the knife on the skin of the area just above my left chest. I groaned slightly in pain, it felt like something was eating deeper and deeper away at my skin.

She was drawing a pattern and she dipped the tip of the knife into the bottle again and continued with whatever she was drawing on my skin.

The pain was becoming unbearable; I almost stepped away at a point but kept still under Jhan's glare. She stopped and I could feel my skin mending itself. She produced a mirror in front of me and I saw what looked like five converging lines tattooed onto my skin.

"Kaldar, of the clan of Jhan, is now officially the newest member of our society and shall now be treated like one of us." There was uproar of cheers and clapping from the crowd below.

A person, adjudicator, landed on the podium. She walked to a member of the higher court, a man seated at the right edge of the table. A low bow and whispered into his ears. His eyes widened and then glower up slightly.

The eyes of all the other members glowed up as well and then, as off on command, they all turned and looked at me. I looked at Jhan, whose eyes also gave the same whitish hue.

A member of the higher court, a woman who was seated in the middle raised her hand. Silence fell in the vast room.

"Jhan?" The woman said.

Jhan bowed lowly.

"There is something you omitted when you cleared out your youngest blood's actions."

My heart skipped a beat and I felt that sinking, void feeling in my chest.

She didn't wait for Jhan to say anything, "Your clan's newest member, Kaldar single handedly attacked and defeated four members of the Dallas clan, yes?"

A low hubbub filled the room but disappeared as quickly as it came.

"On the bases of self-defence great one," Jhan said, but I knew, we knew that that wasn't where she was driving at.

"And when attacked by one of the tyrants he was stabbed with a wooden stake but still went on in defeating two more of them showing little to no sign of weakness towards the stake that was embedded beside his neck, yes?"

"Yes." Answered Jhan again.

"You," She turned to me, "Are you a supreme?"

The question hit me like a stab to the heart.

"I-I..." I didn't know what to say.

"Very well then we shall have a more practical demonstration..."

The same cracking sound and before I could even move a muscle to react a force hit me and I felt myself falling off the podium. I hit the ground and I heard Tia shriek my name and I felt her cup my face in her hands.

I stood just in time to see the adjudicator, that whispered into the man's ears, land crushingly a distance in front of me.

The adjudicator seemed to slide across the ground at a very higher speed grabbing me harshly by the throat and easily thrusting me away. I flew through the air, slamming my back against the base of the high podium, crashing into it and feeling a number of bones and organs shatter inside me.

Gasping in pain, I staggered to my feet. She slid across the ground again, this time I was ready, so I ducked to the side and her fist broke into the wall behind me.

"St-stop," I said. I staggered a few places backwards but in a flash she grabbed me by the jacket, lifting me off and throwing me up into the air.

I heard the wind whiz past my ears as I ascended. I caught a glimpse of her red robe, and just for a moment everything seemed to slow down. I saw her form flipping over in the air but before I could react her boot collided with my mid-section and I was kicked back down. I crashed into the ground below, caving into the hard floor. Blood spurted out of mouth, something I thought I didn't have, and trailed down the side of my face.

I didn't even try to get up, I wasn't even sure my bones were still in a state to carry my weight. There was no one part of my body that wasn't aching.

I heard the clicking on metal boots against the ground. "Weak," She sneered and I immediately recognized her voice, she was the same adjudicator who had knocked me out.

The adjudicator raised her boot up and slammed the force of it onto my face. I screamed as the pure silver of her boots singed away the skin of my face. She did it again and again and again, this time slamming the force unto my chest, until I was sure she had broken every bone in my chest. More and more blood flowed from my mouth and nose until I was almost gurgling on the thick liquid.

I saw Tia at a distance, there were two other red robed vampires were holding both her arms and preventing her from moving. The force of the adjudicator's boots slamming upon my chest knocked all the air I had managed to breathe in out of me, accompanied by the sound of crushing cement under me.

Pain was the only thing I felt all over. She stopped for a moment, before saying, "One last one..." And she raised her boot into the air but then very suddenly all the pain I was feeling disappeared along with everyone and everything in the room.

I saw Jhan standing over me. He looked at me with disdain.

"Jhan? What is this, why are they—"

"They want you to fight Kaldar. It's why I didn't tell them you area a Supreme, they always do this. It's like a test. They are trying to push you to your breaking point—to your limit."

"But, I can't. I can barely move... Help me Jhan, tell them to stop," I pleaded.

"Unfortunately there is nothing I can do for you now Kaldar, it's either you fight or you wallow in humiliation from this day onward..."

I saw the flash of a woman's face, dark skin, short hair and big eyes. I had seen this same face before. It brought along a buzz of energy that soon turned into a billowing energy in my chest that spread around my body, filling me with an unreal heat and power I didn't know I had.

Jhan disappeared from my vision and everything returned back to normal, the adjudicator's boots was still in the air and as she brought it down I flung my left hand into the air and grabbed her foot. A loud gasp filled the room and flung my hand, along with her body towards the base of the podium.

She hit with a thunderous sound, caving into the thousand year old concrete, and I felt the bones in my chest begin to snap back to place. I struggled to my feet.

The adjudicator was adjudicator was already on her feet and fast approaching me, a wild look of seething rage on her face, "HOW DARE YOU!!!" She bellowed and was about to send her fist into my face but then.

"STOP!"

The voice came from the woman on the higher court. The adjudicator stopped right in front of me, her fist just an inch from knocking me out cold. My vision was all kinds of wrong; blurry, doubled, distorted.

Blood dripped from my face and landed on the ground beneath me. I dropped to my knees and I felt someone—Tia—hold me from behind.

"Oh my. I'm so sorry. I'm so-sorry," Tia said over and over again. I wasn't sure if she was actually crying.

The whole room went silent. The only sound being that of my heavy gasping.

"Yes, Kaldar of my clan is a supreme," Jhan's voice was filled with so much pride and confidence.

An even louder gasp from the crowd and then a member of the higher court, a man that was seated at the right edge of the table stood up.

"Then he shall join our elite force of marshals immediately—"

"With all due respect great one, Kaldar is a member of my clan and is still very young, I shall decide what is best for him and which paths he shall take."

"Do you dare challenge the word of the higher court!?" The man bellowed, his booming voice filling the room. And just then, from where I knelt, dazed, on the ground, I noticed that he was completely bald.

The woman in the middle raised a hand into the air and the man didn't utter another word.

"Perhaps Kaldar is too young and needs proper training now. He is too much an amateur to be thrown among our elites," She said, "but, also perhaps, we shall be keeping a closer watch on you Jhan, and also on your Supreme, you have been tasked to train him and you prove obsolete in this task then I'm afraid we will have to take him from you."

She talked about me like as if I was some kind of weapon, their weapon, to be exploited to the advantages and to go but only their bidding. I had a life of my own, I should be choosing my own decisions but by the way she said it, it was like I had no choice. Like this was normal code of conduct that they have been doing for thousands of years, if you are a Supreme, it's either get on board or get out of the way.

Jhan nodded stiffly.

"It was nice meeting you Kaldar," She said, and from the state I was in, I could barely nod. Tia pulled me up and I rested a bulk of my weight, by one arm, on her shoulder.

Jhan was beside us in no time. I spotted Leya appear from a corner of the building—holding a partially blind Jereum with one hand and guiding him through the crowd of clans that were whispering, gossiping and staring wildly.

We were all here, my whole clan. We walked towards the entrance that we had come through and as I leapt away, my clan with me, I couldn't help but ponder on who that woman, whose image had flashed through my mind giving me zeal, was. My mother?

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