Chapter 1. The Unexpected News

It was the darkest of the nights.A strong wind blew outside, the trees swayed under the effect of the huge storm.A loud clap of thunder echoed.I was standing near the window, looking outside with a wine glass in my hand, taking a few sips now and then of the red liquid.The storm always brought back old memories.

"Brother!" I turned around to see my sister Eugene enter my room.

'Ah!To think I could have peace for a tiny moment.Count on my sister to spoil the mood.' I thought to myself.

She had long blonde hair which she usually tied in a bun and had blue eyes.She resembled our mother a lot, not only in her facial features but also in her mannerisms.

"What is it Gene?Better make that quick."I frowned at her.

She pouted at me."But I came here with an exciting news to share brother.Nick is arriving!"she squealed excitedly.

I frowned at her.My younger brother Nicholas.Now why did he want to visit me?We had not met in a hundred years and the last time we met, it didn't end well.I frowned, lost in my own thoughts.I heard a knock at the door, interrupting my flow of thoughts.It was my butler Lance.I gestured for him to enter.He had brought along a messenger.

"Sir, a messenger from the Empire of Nightfall has requested an audience with you.He has a message from your brother, Lord Nicholas."

"I am glad he remembers me." I smiled sarcastically.

The messenger bowed and remarked,"My Lord!Lord Nicholas always speaks highly of you.If you permit, I would like to read out the message he has sent for you." I nodded and the messenger began -

Dear Brother,

Greetings!

I know you would be surprised to hear from me after so long, particularly after what happened the last time we met, but I thought it to be in the best interest of both the Empires of Nightfall and Blackmist that we forget our little tiff and reconcile our differences.Therefore, I will pay you a visit in a week from now.Hope you would eagerly await my arrival.I know Eugene would.

Your Brother,

Nicholas

Eugene squealed happily.I frowned at her and gestured the messenger to leave.He bowed his head and left.

"Aren't you happy Damian?It has been years since I last saw him.I couldn't even talk to him after what took place years ago." Eugene went on happily.

I sighed,"Gene, you can go now.I need some time alone." She huffed in response, turned on her heels and exited my room.

I shook the wine glass in my hand slightly, took a sip and thought what could be the reason of my brother's sudden change in mood?He was never so friendly.He was very different from me.I was the elder one.The one who was meant to be the heir to the vast empire created by my father, The Great Pure Blood Vampire.I was brought up to be responsible, shrewd, deceptive and powerful.My siblings were never given so much attention.My sister was a different case though.She was a female and the youngest of us three and so was the apple of our parents' eyes.

Nicholas was the middle child.He was always a playful, charming man, a ladies man through and through.But that was just a front.On the inside, he was no less an accomplished manipulator than I am. He had always disliked the extra attention bestowed upon me.Though he never confessed it openly, I knew the truth.

Nevertheless, we were brothers who had regard for each other until what happened a century ago.That brought some distance between both of us and Nicholas was not a man to let go of things easily.His sudden change in stance had me thinking.He was up to something for sure.I needed to find out.I took one last sip from the wine glass and went out of the room.

Eugene's POV

I was walking through the long corridors, annoyed by the way my brother had dismissed me.Damian could be very moody sometimes.I reached the door of my room and turned the doorknob.I let out a huge sigh as I entered my room.

My brothers!They were too annoying sometimes.I loved them both equally.Damian didn't think so.I knew that he secretly thought that I favoured Nicholas more but he had never openly accused me of it.But I could see it in his eyes.

Nicholas was always the odd one among the three of us.Damian, being the eldest, was the heir to the Empire our father created so it was only appropriate for him to be showered with much more attention.I was the youngest and the only daughter of The Great Pure Blood Vampire.I was pampered and had every wish fulfilled.But that was not so with Nicholas.He always felt left out as he thought that he wasn't given much attention by our parents.

I felt close to him because of that.Also, he always pampered me unlike Damian who always saw me as an annoying child.Nicholas always paid heed to my views and treated me as an adult.I loved that.But I had equal regard for both of them.

Lost in my own web of thoughts I didn't realize when I came near the window and looked outside at the full moon above the sky.The storm had subsided and everything looked calm.The clouds had receded and I could view the full moon in all its glory.

It had been centuries since the vampires took over the entire human world.My father, The Great Pure Blood Vampire, had gathered his army of vampires and conquered the human population.

He was the one who had increased the population of vampires by turning humans.When the number was large enough, he took over the world.He chose to rule till his eldest son came of age and then decided to become a nominal head.The pure blood vampires stopped ageing once they reached 18 years of age.

Things didn't go as planned as when Damian turned 18, Nicholas, who was 17, revolted against father, demanding a share in the Empire. Damian had to intervene before it led to a war like situation and requested father to divide the Empire into two.That was how the Empire of Blackmist and the Empire of Nightfall came into existence.

Since then both my brothers were ruling their own separate empires and our parents were staying in The Grand Old Castle.I shifted with Damian in the new castle built for him in his empire and Nicholas moved to his other empire.

All was going well till they both had a fight a hundred years ago on that fateful day.After that Nicholas left for Nightfall and I didn't hear from him for a century.But now I was happy, happy to see that he had decided to visit us.

As I was thinking it all, I laid down on my bed and drifted my eyes close, hoping my brothers reconciled soon.