Prolouge ~*~One Faithful Day~*~

My name, Cassandra Antyin. And my story... hard to explain. You see, I may look 23 years old but the truth is I'm 743 years old, and I was born in Romania in the mid 1300's.
My mother died one night when I was at the real age of 23. I had two children, Jullian a boy of 7 and my 6 year old girl, Marina. Back then, households consisted of about three generations and the house had only two rooms. The main room, and the bedroom. One evening, there was a loud pound on the door. I opened the tall wooden door to an even taller man.
He wore broad shoulder protection made of some sort of black metal with a body plate and legging to match. Before I could speak my eyes locked onto the long 3 foot sword he wore in a hoister at his hip.
That was when I noticed about six other men standing behind him decked out in the same ensemble. The man snorted in a disapproving frown. I looked up at his eyes. Black. A stone cold stare that pierced my heart from the inside out.
"M-may I help you Sir?" I asked, my voice shaking.
"Step aside Miss," the man said in a gruff low voice. After a moment I stepped to the side and let him pass. His armor creaked as he strode onto the tightly packed dirt floor, the men right behind.
" I'd like to speak with Mr. Antyin please," the man said, sounding as if asking were to much trouble. I gulped.
"My father is not in right now. He is at the blacksmith's still."
"Well," the man replied. "Is Ms. Antyin here then? Perhaps I could speak with her instead." I nodded and headed for the bedroom where my mother was watching over Marina and Jullian.
I peaked inside the door. "Mother," I said. Her head turned from the intent watch on the children. Her bold blue eyes shone with instant worry as her light brown hair freed itself from the bun, her curls framing the sides of her face. "Some men are here. They wish to see you." She nodded and walked past me, stopping briefly to whisper, "Keep the children inside, and whatever you do, don't come out of the room."
I gave her a reassuring nod that I would do as I was asked. She left, closing the door behind her. The kids continued to play. I pressed up against the door peeking through the crack in the wood. My mother had a frightened but angry look on her face, her hands resting against her hips.
"What the hell do you think you're doing back here? George already paid his debt to Victor," my mother snapped. The man cleared his throat.
"I'm afraid that is incorrect Madam. He said bowing his head in respect. "You see he has not paid a single pound for almost a year." My mother looked astonished." There must be some mistake," she said. "Every two weeks he's set out with money for that debt," she defended. "Now, get out of my house!" The man, suddenly enraged tore the sword from the hoister and raised it high with both hands and brought it down hard onto her collar bone, as she screamed. I gasped and pulled my eyes away from the wood, not believing what I had just seen.
Marina and Jullian, who had been blissfully unaware of what was going on until now, jerked their heads up and looked at me with fear filled eyes. Peering back through the crack I saw the man now hustling toward the door.
I ran to the window and pushed open the wooden shutters. Silently I motioned the kids to come quickly over to the window. Jullian began to scale the window and was out in a matter of seconds. I lifted Marina up, my hands shaking in terror. Jullian grabbed her from the other side and set her down then back away from the window so I could crawl through.
Little did I know that would be the last time I'd ever see them. Just as I lifted my foot onto the sill, the door burst open and in came the man carrying his sword, now covered in a thick red liquid.
I scrabbled trying to escape but the hem of my dress caught the head of a nail sticking from the side of the wall. That was all the dilemma the man needed, to grab my arms and yank me down.
Stumbling into his arms he threw me against the nearest man. He laughed bitterly. "Looks like we've got ourselves a witness," he said sounding amused. I kicked and tried to pull my wrists from the harsh grasp. The task quickly exhausted me and I stopped the struggle.
The first man walked toward me and lifted my chin, forcing me to look at him. I tore my face from his light touch and looked at the ground. If I was going to die, I wasn't going to die a coward.
"What do you think Bill? Should we give her to Victor? He has been looking for a new..." he grabbed my face again, this time more forcefully, "pretty faced victim." he finished, saying the word 'victim' like a foul tasting word. The second man who held my arms nodded and chuckled like he had just heard a joke.
Without warning he dragged me from the bedroom, past my dead and still bleeding mother and out the front door to a small wagon lead by two horses. In a matter of minutes, they had bound my wrists, my ankles, and gagged my mouth with an old cloth, and stuck me into the back of the wagon. The wheels creaked and the clip-clop of the horses feet gave a rhythmic vibe to the terrifying night.


* * *
Almost two hours later the wagon finally stopped. I was yanked out and dragged through extremely large doors into a Sanctuary fit for a king.
They dropped me at my knees before who I might have first thought was a king. A throne lay before me. The man sitting in it looked displeased. Like I wasn't suppose to be there. He looked about 25, with shoulder length raven-black hair tied back into a tight ponytail. He wore a red velvet shirt with gold and black designs, plain red pants and black cloak. His eyes were black, just like the two men holding me.
"What is the meaning of this?" The man demanded.
"Victor," the first man started. 'Victor' looked angry. "Sir," the first man corrected himself. "She was a witness to the murder of Ms. Antyin."
"Then why would you bring her here? She could cause us trouble," he yelled. His voice shook the room.
"Well," the man said unsteadily. Although he was much bigger than Victor, and stronger as well, he still seemed frightened. "We though you could use a new maiden Sir." Victor got up and walked toward me.
He crouched down to my level, looking me over, then stopping intently to study my eyes. Suddenly, he stood and looked impatiently at the men. "Drop her," he said sternly. Surely enough they reluctantly released me. He crouched back down.
"What's your name Miss?" his voice surprisingly comforting. Up close I could see that his eyes weren't black at all. They were a honey amber color. How could I mistake that?
"M-my name..." I stammered.
"Yes," Victor prompted? I shook my head to rid myself of those beautiful eyes. It was as if they held me in a trance if I watched for to long.
"My name is Cassandra Antyin." I said sternly, testy because he had just destroyed my family.
"Well, Cassandra," Victor said, seeming disappointed I was so spiteful. "I'd like you to come with me."
It happened again. I had gazed into his honey colored eyes for too long. He took my hand and helped me stand up. I followed him, against my conscious wishes, as he led me down a great hall and into one of the rooms.
"Do you know who I am, Cassandra?" he asked. "Or even what I am?" Still entranced all I could do was shake my head. “I..." he paused, "am head of the UVC," he said leading me over to the chair in the corner of the room, and had me sit down. "What's the UVC?" I asked, mildly interested by his touch of secrecy as he gave me a slight release from the trance.
"Do you believe in Vampires, Cassi?" he asked. "May I call you Cassi?" He walked over to a table and took two wine glasses and a wine bottle.
"That didn't answer my question" I said, particularly annoyed at the fact he acted like we were having a party.
"And that didn't answer either of mine." He said, a small smile creeping across his face. I rolled my eyes.
"No, and No," I spat out.
"Well you should." He paused to pour thick red wine into the two glasses, handing me a glass when he was finished. "Because UVC means, Universal Vampire Council." He explained as I took a sip.
I spat it out, partly because of what he said, partly because what he had poured into the glass had not been wine at all. It was blood.
Terrified I dropped the glass, shattering on the grand marble floors. He laughed his mouth open wide, his fangs glistened in the candlelight that lit the room. The chair screeched against the floor as I jumped up from the chair. Victor pushed me back down into the chair.
"Not so fast," he whispered. "You're mine now." He dropped his head toward my neck and before I knew what had happened, I felt a slight pain, and everything went black.