First Meeting

In a narrow alleyway, a few children were laughing and pointing at a small curled up figure on the ground.

"Why didn't you do what I said?" A young boy currently stood in front of the small figure, looking down at her.

He scrunched up his nose from the lack of reply, "I only told you to pinch that old fart's wallet. It's not that hard for a small thing like you."

"Gus, I reckon' we should teach her a lesson," One of the boys standing at the side spoke up, a cynical smile on his face.

"Yeah, I've been itching to have some fun these days," Another boy agreed with the earlier comment, his enthusiasm clear in his voice.

In addition to these 3, there was 1 other boy and 2 girls standing around, making a total of 6. Although silent, they too inwardly agreed with the others.

"Do you hear that?" Gus bowed his head to talk to the hunched girl, "They want to punish you."

The young girl, however, did not say a thing, continuing on with her silence.

One of the boys couldn't take it any longer, stepping forward and yanking the young girl's hair, causing her to fall to the floor miserably, "What's the point of you having a mouth but staying silent? You might as well die so there's one less mouth to feed."

The young girl groaned in pain, causing the groups satisfaction to rise.

Gus gave a smug smile, happy at getting finally getting a reaction, "Alright, look. I'll give you another chance, just go and nick the old man's penny and we'll let you back under our roof again."

The young girl finally looked up. Her face was slightly dirty and her arms and legs had a few red scratches and marks, both old and new. She firmly shook her head and honestly said, "I can't."

Before anyone could say anything, Gus gave her a swift kick to the stomach from anger, making the poor girl topple back on to the ground in intense pain, "Why?! Why can't you do it? We've all done it before so why can't you?"

"He's.. uck.. he's a nice man, he says hello to me every time I see him," She tried to explain amidst her coughing and groans.

Gus scoffed upon hearing her answer.

Nice? There was no one that was purely nice to anyone in this world and soon she would learn from that.

The rest of the children looked over at Gus waiting for his command.

Gus stared at the small girl beneath him, who was currently catching her breath, before looking back at his group and giving a small nod.

Once the signal had been given, the rest of the group rushed towards the young girl, serving multiple kicks and punches. Her hair was not spared either, various hands were pulling the strands of her hair in different directions. All that could be heard were the reverberating cries and groans of the girl. Tears had thoroughly wet her cheeks but the pain was still ongoing.

A good few minutes later, Gus' slightly high pitched voice echoed towards them, "That's enough. I know that I'll do anything but one thing I'll never do is murder so you'd better stop."

The group promptly stopped after hearing his command. Their chests still heaving from their vigorous activities.

Gus slowly walked towards the hunched figure that was crying on the ground.

"Tsk, I told you they'd punish you," His eyes roamed over her dishevelled and now bloody figure.

To make matters worse, Gus started to pull down his trousers. Soon, a trickling sound could be heard, echoing through the narrow alleyway walls.

Once he was done with his business, he pulled his trousers back up. The rest of the group walked forward, snickering and smirking as they admired his work.

"Hey! What are you doing over there?" A loud shout startled everyone.

"My jobs done. Don't let me see you in front of me again," Gus warned the girl before running away with the rest of his group.

The owner of the loud shout hastily walked into the alleyway, while the rest of the young children sprinted past the person without looking back.

The person looked on as the children ran away before hurriedly walking in further.

In front of their eyes, sat a young child. Her hair in disarray, bruises forming on the surface of her skin while blood stuck to the corners of her lips. Not only that, they could also smell a foul smell emanating their body. The only thing the person could compare it to was urine.

Crouching to meet their eyes the person asked, "Are you ok?"

The young girl heard the unknown person's question, her tears continuing to flow, she whispered some words.

"What?"

"I just wanted to live," The young girl repeated in a clearer voice.

"Your life… has been hard," The person gave the girl a pitiful, sympathetic smile.

"What about your mother? Where is she?"

The girl froze before slowly answering, "I'm an orphan,"

"I see…" The mood had somewhat plummeted even further.

The person put on a gentle smile in an effort to comfort the young child, "And what's your name?"

The girl looked up, finally gazing upon the person's features. In front of her, crouched a young woman. She wore a barmaid's dress, a cotton piece of cloth serving as a head wrap on top of her head. The handle of a basket was currently nestled on her arm, the contents including vegetable's and cheap cheeses.

"I'm…I'm Olivia," The girl timidly replied. She felt comfortable talking to the woman, her soft smile easing the pain from her bruises.

"Is that so? What a pretty name! My name's Mandy," The woman introduced herself in a jovial tone.

Olivia slowly opened her eyes. The small amount of sunlight slid through the minuscule window, brightening up the room.

It had been quite a while since she had recalled the past. In fact, it had been some time since she had started dreaming again.

When she spent her time as a captive, little did she dream, if at all. Most of the time, she would close her eyes and dream of nothing. The darkness in those moments were her solace, a place where she could conjure up thoughts and imaginations but never delved deeper into the 'What ifs'.

Slowly sitting up, Olivia massaged her temples, getting rid of her depressive thoughts.

On the other side, Alexander had a not too joyful conversation with Julian.

"You're rather brave aren't you?"

"Hmm? What do you mean brother? Why can't I follow?" Alexander replied.

"Don't play games with me Alexander. You dare mention such things in public?"

Alexander gave a playful smile, his finger circling the rim of his cup, "Ah, you mean the Seat of Elders? My, my, word reaches you fast."

"How's that little girl of yours? Such a pity you aren't using her. Mind if I take her instead?" Julian asked in a taunting manner.

Alexander's expression did not change, he merely took a sip of his cup. His crimson pupils glittered as he looked at his brother with hooded eyes, "Go right ahead brother, that is, if you think you have the means."

Julian continued to scrutinise him. This brother of his never learnt to be soft spoken, threats always reeling off the tip of his tongue.

Alexander, however, thought nothing of his brothers thoughts, opting to get down to business, "I heard The Order are now doing public speeches."

"Indeed. It's not that this is anything new, except they're now holding them more frequently, especially in rural areas," Julian informed.

"Well, the uneducated are the key to success, if used correctly," Alexander muttered.

He swirled around the liquid in his cup, "And what do the Seat of Elders suppose?"

"Nothing."

Alexander furrowed his eyebrows deeply upon hearing his answer.

"The Order haven't actually done anything, at least anything that ties it back to them, so nothing can be done against them otherwise it will lead to public outcry and unrest."

The study then became silent for a moment. Both brothers deep into their own thoughts.

Alexander then happened to recall his earlier conversation with Julian a few days prior, "And on the Royal Family's side?"

"Still… observing," A flash of irritation swept past Julian's face.

"It's not like they can do anything under your nose. Rest well brother, you're starting to look hollow these days," Alexander walked towards the door, giving Julian a small grin. If Olivia were to see such a mischievous smile, her cheeks would surely flush in admiration of such a handsome face.

Once he had finished, Alexander quickly closed the door before the book Julian hurtled towards him, hit him square in the back.

Weeks had passed since Olivia first entered the De Vere household. In fact, 2 months had since passed. Today, like always, Olivia and Alexander had been busy at the bureau.

Because he had more work than usual, Olivia had missed lunch when they had arrived back. Dinner was also nowhere near being ready to serve yet, so she had no choice but to join the maids and servants in the kitchen as they often had their meals after the masters of the household.

Knowing the way there herself, Olivia walked towards the servants quarters. As she neared the room, she could hear the quiet chattering's of the servants and maids with the occasional chuckles. To Olivia, it seemed that the workers had a close enough friendship with one another.

Once she had stepped foot into the room, however, the atmosphere took a plummet. Silence slowly crept in as one by one everyone stopped talking, staring at the person currently standing in the doorway.

One of the maids hadn't paid attention to the changing atmosphere, still chatting and laughing, before the person next to them gave a firm nudge, "What? What is it? Why is everyone so…. Oh."

The maid looked up to see Olivia awkwardly standing there, her hands clutched together.

Coincidentally, Olivia recognised this maid. If she remembered correctly, this was the first maid she had encountered when she arrived here. To be precise, the one who had handed her the clothes she currently wore at this moment.

As Olivia continued to stare at her in remembrance, the maid shot her an unfriendly gaze before turning to talk to her friend again, "So what if she's here, it's just another Giver. Anyway…"

After hearing the maid's outspoken statement, the rest of them felt that what she had said was quite logical, so they continued to once again chat amongst themselves, some looking at Olivia every once in a while.

Olivia, on the other hand, felt bewildered at what just happened. 'Wasn't I just standing here without saying anything? How did that turn into me being classed as a Giver?'

"Olivia! Over here!" At sound of a familiar voice, Olivia quickly looked around, her eyes landing on the corner Ivan was sitting at.

Once she found a space next to him, she sat down and deeply thanked him.

"How could I not help you out when you looked like a little lost child?" Ivan chuckled.

He stretched his arm and got a clean plate for Olivia, placing pieces of food on it before handing it to her.

Thankfully, everyone near them ignored her presence so Olivia was able to eat her food in peace.

"If it wasn't for me coming back here late, would I even be eating here?" She sulkily shoved a piece of bread with cheese into her mouth.

A maid sitting next to them could no longer hold on to her curiosity asking, "Are you really a Giver?"

Olivia looked surprised at the fact that one of the maids would actually initiate a conversation with her while Ivan jumped to reply to the question, "Does she look like a Giver? Don't just listen to everything Peggy says."

The maid stared at Olivia with her scarlet eyes, probing so deep that Olivia started to feel uncomfortable, "If she wasn't a Giver then what is she?" She muttered quietly, slowly munching on her food.

"How was the dinner party you were invited to? Fancy?" Ivan asked, curiously.

"…quite a handful," Olivia chose to cleverly summarise.

"Of course. It wouldn't be a noble's party without drama," Ivan ridiculed.

The maid, eavesdropping on their conversation, immediately spoke up, "You went to a dinner party?" She looked up at Olivia with sparkling eyes.

Olivia, although confused as to why she looked so passionate, nonetheless nodded her head.

"How lucky," The maid sighed with a starry gaze.

"And what's good about going to a place full of pompous people," Ivan retorted with a snort.

The maid quickly rose to defend, "Who wouldn't want to be noble, rich and dignified!"

Olivia, listening to their back and forth conversation, became increasingly interested in this particular maid, "I thought nobility was only admired by humans?"

The maid paused for a moment, her wooden spoon swirling her porridge, "I was only converted 3 years ago, it's not like I forgot about everything human," She replied in a quiet voice.

Olivia took the word 'converted' as another way of saying that she was turned into a half-vampire.

"Let's not talk about such things. Let me introduce myself instead. My name is Lila."

Olivia gave her a smile, allowing her to change the subject, "My name is Olivia."

"Everyone in the house already knows your name by now. Quiet the infamous one aren't you?" Lila chuckled before turning to focus on eating her food.

Olivia took his time to turn to Ivan, "And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"When did you… convert? Or were you born like that?"

"I was converted a long time ago. It…wasn't a pretty story either so let's not discuss it lest we bring up bad memories," Ivan replied, his head bent at a low angle which caused Olivia to miss the odd glint that flashed through his eyes.