CHAPTER 1
It was a late Thursday afternoon, the weather was cold and it was raining for the first time this week.
As I walked to the living room I started looking at the old portraits of my family members; The first one was one of my mother. “Tina Pangbourn, 1975” was written below it, she was standing, wearing a green long dress, it was a corse made of a really rare material, she looked tall and skinny, and more scarier than she ever has, the idea of that painting was for her to look like a real vampire, not as the loving mother she always is ,she was wearing a golden necklace with a lion , a sword and a P .That picture was painted the week after we joined the family.
Next to her, on another portrait, was my brother, he had a red old chair in front of him, he was wearing a black jacket and black trousers with a black shirt below it, his bright blue eyes stood out of the picture, it was what caught my attention the most. On his jacket, he had a golden pin, a lion, a sword and the letter P on it, it was our family crest. Under the portrait, a golden tag said “James Pangbourn, 1975”
And then, after him, there was me, looking as beautiful as ever, but really scary, I looked, as well as my mother, tall and slim, my brown-red hair looked incredibly bright and my eyes were dark coal with a red hoop around them, I remember the night the picture was painted, I was really thirsty, it was my second week as a vampire, and hadn’t gone hunting yet because no one in my “family” would take me. I was wearing a white long dress, it kind of looked like a bride dress, except for the whole fairytale thing the bride’s dresses have, it actually looked sort of dark and scary, looking at myself with that dress scared me, it wasn’t who I was.
Then, on the other side of the hall, the other pictures of my family member’s were hanging, First “Claude Pangbourn, 1968-1975” I never met her, but she was really pretty, black hair, short and skinny, she had an expression of shyness and fear on her face, only by that picture, you could tell she wouldn’t last in the family, she escaped the year I joined, I don’t know why, she got scared maybe?, no one likes to talk about that. Right next to her, a guy called “Andrew Pangbourn, 1970-1975” he, as well, had the same exact expression as Claude, he was tall, big and brunette, his eyes were green and he looked scared, just like the rest of us are when we first join, he, as well, escaped with Claude, then, next to him, “Marie, 1965-1975” she was Andrew’s cousin, she was short and ginger, she, unlike her cousin, had a expression of fearless in her black eyes, of passion and of anger, she ran away the very same year the other two did, according to Marc, she fell in love with another vampire from Argentina called Juan David, when they didn’t agree to accept him in the family, she ran away with him and they have never seen them ever since
“Hi sweetheart” said my mother’s voice from behind me
“Hi mom” I replied
“So, they are going hunting tonight, so..”
“sure, I got it” I interrupted her
My mother, my brother and I decided to give up in killing humans and drinking their blood, we wanted to change and become better…..monsters, or less of a monster, so, we told David and Elizabeth, the leaders of the family, that we rather go hunting for ourselves, so, every time they go hunting, we go as well, because there is this stupid rule that says all of the family members have to go hunting on the same night, on Thursdays every two or three weeks. I personally think that rule is nonsense, but William, the creator of the family, made this rule in the 1200’s, so we have to stick with it. Our family has to be very traditional, after all, we are the vampire royalty or the lead vampire family in Europe
“Tell your brother please, that we are going to the bounders between England and Scotland, there is a big forest there” she told me politely and then she went upstairs
“Sure” I said to myself, though I knew my mother had heard me
I entered to the living room, and James was sitting down on a couch looking at the main and biggest portraits in the room, the ones of William and Anna, the creators of this family back in the 1200, they were the first settled vampires in the world, before that, all vampires were nomads
“What are you up to?” I asked him
“Just looking, just wondering and trying to figure out their expressions” he whispered
“There is not much to figure out” I said trying to look closely at their faces, but I found nothing
They both had the scariest expression in the whole family pictures, both of their eyes were black and red, they showed such an intimidation that it was hard to look at them, they were angry, fearless and powerful, they were the most famous and known couple in the whole world, they were also the most respected one, and everyone was scared of them, they were, in their time, the king and queen of the whole vampire community in the world.
“But, I just don’t get how they can be so angry all the time, I mean, there has to be a reason, they look even scarier than Eliza-“
“James!” I almost yelled, Elizabeth was somewhere around the house, and, I know she knows we don’t like her, but still, we have to respect her
“Look, they are just like that, they were bad people that killed lots of humans, they were the most powerful creatures in the whole world, what do you expect? It’s just like that” I told him
“I wonder….how did it affect the world when they were murdered?” he asked without taking his eyes of the portraits
I turned to look to both of the pictures, below, in a gold tag said “Anna and William, 1201-1578”, they were murdered by five werewolves that attacked them while they were in Africa, it was a big shock to all the vampire community and that’s how the whole hating werewolves thing started, that’s how the war started and it hasn’t stop ever since, I even think that is so strong, that after a 100 years fighting, both of the species were born with a gene that made them hate each other.
“I don’t know, It was a big shock I guess, the war started because of that so….it must have been pretty big” I answered
“Yeah” he sighed
There was a brief moment of silence in the room, and then I remembered what I was supposed to tell James
“So, we are going hunting to the bounder with Scotland-“
“I heard” he said still looking at the portraits
“So, I think it’s time to go, I’m going to tell mom and then we’ll go” I said, and he was still looking at the portraits, he hasn’t looked at me once, I know that the portraits can be interesting, but not that much
“James!” I cried “Let’s go”
“Go and get mom” he told me
“Here” said my mom appearing from behind me
“Shall we go?” she asked
“Let’s” I replied and then my brother turned to look at us
“Come on” he said walking towards the door
