She held her head in her hands as the raven stream cascading down her shoulders curtained her face from the view. Her quite stature seemed to merge with the darkness of the room, appearing as a single entity.

She found comfort in the shadows of the dark room. Seclusion had never scared her. It had been her only companion through the difficult years of her life but things had started to change since his arrival. He was always there to help her in the hour of need, as if she were a delicate damsel in distress. His damsel in distress.

The world had been cruel to her, like it has always been to its loyal tenants. She had become accustomed to its fierceness over the years but then came a cold medieval Lord turning her world upside down. He unveiled her most vulnerable pieces to him. He made her feel at home. He made her experience things she had never felt before. She didn't even realise how, in such a short period of time, he became her salvation. 'How do I leave him?'

A knock on her door made her sit upright. She hurriedly wiped the dried tears away from her cheeks.

"Come in." She croaked in a hoarse voice.

The door opened without making any sounds. She looked at it expectantly hoping it'd be him standing on the other side of it.

Her face dropped seeing Henry standing at the entrance of the room. "Milady."

"Yes?" She asked looking down in her lap.

"I'm here to escort you to your apartment in the city as per Milord's orders."

Her head shot up at his statement. Her lips trembled as she called out his name in a small whisper, "Henry..."

His emotionless facade broke into a worried frown. "I can't do anything about it, Milady."

She stared at him with glistening eyes for some seconds before breaking the eye contact, "Go. I'll come out in a minute." He immediately did as she told her.

She gripped the bedsheets in her hands, wrinkling the expensive silk. 'If this is what you want,' She thought as she stood up, grabbing her bag and phone, 'I'll respect your wish.'

Walking out of the room, she stopped for a moment, gazing longingly at the end of the dark hallway.

He didn't come to say goodbye.

~*~

They shared a mutual agreement of staying silent during their journey. Both of them lost in their own thoughts revolving around the same person.

Henry glanced sideways at her Lord's beloved. He had been reluctant to perform this job. He knew about his Lord's deteriorating health. He had been insisting for weeks on bringing Faith to the castle to live with them. His Lord, on the other side, was adamant on staying alone. Henry believed everything would be better once the girl arrived there. The bond would force them to put their differences aside. But things didn't go as planned. His knuckles tightened on the steering wheel thinking about the messy situation.

"Henry!" Faith's voice brought him back to the present.

Through the windscreen, he saw a big log blocking the road before them. He pressed the brakes immediately, merely avoiding a collision with it. The car came to a halt with a screech, jolting them forward in their seats.

'Why is there a log in the middle of the road?' He climbed out of the car walking towards the big stump.

He was bent over it, about to move it out of the way, when he sensed something wrong. He tried moving away but it was already too late. He was thrown to the side with a sheer force that left him gasping for air. His back hit the ground with a heavy thud knocking the breath out of him. Blood dripped down the side of his mouth as he lay there motionless, absorbing the impact.

The ringing in his ears stopped after some moments. He registered a woman screaming in the background. His eyes narrowed. 'Milady..'

Placing his hand on a nearby tree, he helped himself up slowly. His body had started healing but the impact itself had left him dazed. He walked on staggering steps towards the car. He couldn't find Faith sitting in the backseat anymore.

Just before he reached the car, something knocked into him from behind, throwing him on the ground with a hard force. He tried standing up but someone held him in place with their weight pressed to his back. His hands were clasped tightly in an iron grip. He pushed back, trying to wriggle out of his captor's hold but it turned out to be futile. The person was far too powerful than Henry.

Henry closed his eyes trying to detect the origin of the presence above him. He couldn't sense a strong scent on them. Their heartbeat was too slow as compared to that of other living creatures. His blood froze at the realisation, 'Pureblood..'

The pureblood on top of Henry gripped his hair, forcing his head up. Henry glared at the red eyed creature with contempt.

Faith peered at the scene, hiding behind the car's trunk. Despite her screams, the pureblood had paid no attention to her. His sole focus was catching Henry off guard—which he had done successfully.

"What do you want?" Henry sneered at the man.

"Hello to you too, Ares' dog." The man let out an empty chuckle, sending a shiver of disgust down Faith's spine. He dragged his nail down Henry's cheek drawing blood. Henry kept glaring at him without blinking, unaffected by the blood oozing out of his wound.

"Trying to be tough, dog? Let's see how long you can keep up with the act." The man took something out of his pocket. Faith squinted her eyes trying to look clearly. It looked like a.. syringe.

"Thinking about your master's reaction on your burnt corpse makes my insides roll with pleasure." Faith felt her stomach churn at the man's insane speech. 'What is he going to do to Henry?'

She looked around desperately to find something she could use to hit the maniac with. She tried opening the trunk with as less sound as possible. It opened with a light pop. Her eyebrows creased. She looked at the man. He was busy injecting something inside the syringe. She had to act fast.

She put her hand inside the trunk trying to grasp anything in her reach. Her hand made contact with cold metal. She pulled it out immediately to find a wrench in her grasp.

"What do we have here, now?" She screamed as she turned around abrubtly, falling to the ground in the process. The man was looming over her like an omnious presence. He smiled brightly at her like a madman. She held the wrench tightly in her trembling hands. She had no idea what to do next. He clearly wasn't a human. She had intended to catch him by surprise after attacking him from behind. But this formula couldn't be used now.

"I had sensed your little heart thumping inside your fragile body long before I hit that rabid dog," He paused to point towards Henry, "I planned on dealing with you after I was done with him, but you were becoming a pain in the a$$." He jabbed his fingers in her soft cheeks, squeezing her jaw tightly in the process. She tried hitting him with the wrench but he pushed it aside like it was nothing.

"That's all you got?" He asked smiling. His fangs poking out of his overstretched lips. She closed her eyes, scared witless of the dangerous creature.

Suddenly, his hold on her loosened. She opened her eyes when she didn't feel his clutches on her anymore.

"Run, Milady!" Henry screamed as he tried holding the man down with utmost effort. Faith was frozen in her place. She couldn't leave Henry behind to die.

The lunatic pushed him off with a sudden jerk. He took the same injection out of his pocket, stabbing it inside Henry's arm before he had the time to react. Every resistance left Henry's body at the very instant. He turned still on the gravel. His body lay sprawled on the ground for many seconds. A silence washed over the whole forest.

It was the calm before the storm.

She watched as his eyes rolled back. He opened his mouth roaring with pain. The forest rang with his painful cries. In another second, his body started spasming on the ground.

A loud scream left her lips as she dashed blindly towards Henry's convulsing body. The pureblood caught her wrist before she could reach him. "Nuh uh. It's meal time."

She tugged at her wrist continuously, watching Henry writhing in pain. She couldn't take her eyes away from Henry's painful state. He was always stoic. Silent and composed. Seeing him in this condition was tearing away at her heart. She couldn't think of any way to help him. The only one who could help them in this situation was.. Ares. If only he were there.

The pureblood yanked her towards himself, exposing her neck forcefully. She pushed at his chest, calling the only name stuck inside her mind at the moment. "ARES!"

She called his name like a drowning man called for his last chance at help. She called his name with all her might, screaming at the top of her lungs. She kept crying his name till her throat turned sore, "Ares! Ares!"

"A mere human calling the Vampire King so casually, interesting." He clutched her neck in his large hand.

"I'd love to hear the story behind it but," his sinister grin turned into a straight line, "I'm too hungry to care." She scratched at his hand furiously as he brought her closer and closer to his sharp fangs.

She kept struggling in his grasp before a strong gush of wind passed by her. She fell on the rough pavement with a small thump. Patting at her bruised neck, she gazed around confused. 'Did.. did Henricus wake up?'

She found Henry unconscious some feet away from her. She ran to him gripping his shoulders lightly. White foam was coming out of his mouth. A familiar voice turned her attention towards itself.

"Who. Sent. You.?" His pale hands clutched the pureblood's neck as if he were about to snap a twig in half. His tall stature stood imposingly in the middle of the road. He faced away from her. His broad back, cladded in black, shielded most of the view away from her eyes. The gasping sounds told her that the pureblood was losing consciousness with every passing second.

Faith registered a blurry movement, before the pureblood was thrown to the ground like a rag doll. The man strolled like a predator towards the pureblood on the ground. He held a syringe in his hand—the same syringe the pureblood had used on Henry.

His ambiguous features became clearer as he turned around walking towards the slumped pureblood. His crimson eyes shown like red rubies in the dark. Any traces of tiredness that she had seen back at the manor were removed. In there place only one expression remained— bloodlust.

The pureblood tried running away but Ares had already predicted it. With one swift move, he grabbed the back of the pureblood's head, slamming his skull hard to the rough surface of the ground. There was a sick crack. Faith covered her mouth as she felt bile rising in her throat.

Ares grabbed the pureblood's arm, turning him to face the death himself. Blood oozed out of the pureblood's gash matting his hair in a crimson mess. He held the syringe right before the pureblood's eyes.

"These petty tricks never change. Do they?" Ares uttered every word with a venomous voice.

He pulled the pureblood's hair without caring about his injury. "I'll ask again. Who sent you?"

The pureblood looked at Ares with a sinister grin. "If you're here, that must be because you have sensed that dog's slave contract breaking after his death. I only gave him half of the dose. Who knew the dog was too weak."

Ares turned his head to look at Henry's unconscious body sprawled on the asphalt. The pureblood continued to speak, "I killed your loyal dog, Ares. I killed him!" He sounded triumphant.

Henry broke out into a coughing fit at the same moment, uttering coherent words. The pureblood's eyes widened hearing Henry's weak voice.

"He didn't die? Then how would you know..." He trailed off looking at a shivering Faith crouched beside Henry. Recognition crossed his hazy eyes. He started laughing hysterically like a maniac.

"Weakling beloved of ," He managed to say in between his fits of laughter, "Cyrus would be overjoye-"

Ares grabbed his chin cutting him off midsentence. "No one touches my people! No one touches what's mine!"

The pureblood's hysterical chuckles echoed around the silent forest. Ares roared as he twisted the pureblood's head in an unnatural angle. The pureblood's eyes turned blank as his body fell on the ground with a loud thud. Ares took out a silver dagger out of his coat's pocket plunging it deep inside his heart. The pureblood's body gave a last jerk before falling limp.

Faith watched as Ares stood up from the ground, staring at the pureblood's corpse for some time before walking silently in their direction. He crouched down looking at Henry's passed out body. He touched Henry's neck lightly, probably checking for his slow pulse. Tearing his own wrist with his elongated fangs, he let some cold drops drip down Henry's throat. She stayed still beside him during all this, not uttering a single word.

"Are you okay, Faith?" The mention of her name surprised her. She gazed up at him inquisitively.

"You came on time, for Henry." She gave him a weak smile.

His ruby eyes turned back into shiny emeralds as he stared back at her blankly."I came for both of you. I came for my family."

Tears pooled in Faith's eyes at his statement. Her defense came crumbling down as she threw herself in his arms, every event of the harsh night taking its toll on her.

After some moments, he lifted his hand slowly, placing it on top of her head. He stroked her hair gently as she tightened her hold on his back. "H-Henry.. H-he.." Her tongue wasn't supporting her words.

"He's fine." He replied sensing her unsaid concern.

Her tense body relaxed in his arms, "Don't leave me, Ares. Don't ever leave me."

"I'm here now."

His words comforted her on a level beyond her comprehension. She buried herself deeper in his chest, not planning on letting go for a long time.

A wave of exhaustion washed over her whole body as if she had just finished running a marathon. Her eyelids became heavy.

"My King." Her words came out muffled as she felt herself drifting into a deep sleep, unaware of the fact that he had heard those words leaving her mouth. Just like he always did.