Kill Or Be Killed

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Celestina's POV

In this kind of world we have, you will be considered lucky if your day will last without vampires torturing you. Luckily, I am living in a place where vampires aren't tampering much. Because my dad is a loyal servant of rulers. They were called rulers because they are the ones implementing rules. But they are not the supremacy of their race. Because they are just following orders from the uppermost vampire. And that vampire is who we call, 'Rule'.

He is not just a ruler, he is the Rule himself. He has the most powerful words on this planet. You cannot oppose him because you might get killed. Whatever he says, everyone follows. But Rule is just so mysterious. Like there were only a few people who were able to get a chance to see him. And my dad is one of those people. But that's the least of my concern. I will not care whether I will be given a chance to meet him or not.

I look around at our house because I only have a few hours to be able to be here. I have been here in this place since I was fourteen years old. I have endeared this house deeply. But sad to say, this will be our last night here.

We have no choice but to leave this place because my dad has been buried in debt. I love my dad and I don't want to see him ruin his life in addiction to illegal gambling. Now, we don't have enough money to sustain his luxurious cost of living. We don't have money anymore. He has been hunted by those people who lend him money.

But the saddest part is that I just found it all yesterday. I never knew he was capable of doing it all. I thought he had grown a business that sustained all of our lux. He gave me everything even though I did not ask for it. His debtors are now threatening him. They say that if he is able to pay his debt, they will kill him. Afraid, I am thinking of ways of earning millions in less than twenty-four hours. And the only convenient way is to sell our properties. And this house has the most value for money, so I decided to sell this one, too.

The only property I did not sell is our rest house that I inherited from my late mother. I sigh at the thought of my mother. How I wish she was still here. If she had not been dying, I'm pretty sure that our family wouldn't have struggled like this. Dad told me that he started being an alcoholic and addicted to gambling when my mom died.

I always knew that my dad changed a lot when my mom died. But I never knew that his changes were this serious. He's not my dad anymore, whom I used to admire. I took another deep breath to divert my attention to what I was supposed to be doing.

I am currently sitting on the balcony of my room with a paintbrush in my hand. I am just trying to paint him, as always—for the past twelve years. I remember his features. But the problem is, there's blood in most parts of his face. So, I can't paint him without those red stains on his face. I tried to wash it in my mind but every time I did, it only resulted in different faces. No solid outcome. My imagination sucks when it comes to him.

He's a ruler. I know he's a ruler. I just realized it while I was growing up. He won't have fresh blood and heart in his hand if he isn't a ruler. No other creature can be as cruel as they are.

"Still hoping to meet him?" I heard from the glass door where Drew surely stormed in.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him as I continued painting. I did not give him even just a single glance.

"Mind that I came in?" I glared at Drew and I didn't know if he was just trying to piss me off or what. I saw a smug smirk on his face.

"Is there anything that I can do if you're already here?" I said and I heard him chuckle.

"I just want to say hi...and ask how you feel?" He laughed at his first sentence then became serious on his next words. And I can see concerns in his eyes because of the situation I have. Who would not be concerned and worried about me? I used to live freely without the tampering of rulers because my father had a position. The vampire king gave him wealth that is enough to have power. But now that my dad lost all of his wealth, we have got no more protection from the vampires. Plus the fact that the vampire king did not show up again anymore. I just wonder how it would feel enslaved by their race.

"You aren't here just to ask how I feel, are you? What do you need?" I released the paintbrush from my hold and sat back to where I was already sitting. I just waited for him to speak up again. But instead of answering my question directly, I heard him laugh. He puts his arm over my shoulder before uttering a word.

"You know what, Celestina? Believe it or not, that's all I want to ask you." From chuckling, his tone became serious and I knew that he was now telling the truth.

"Drew Balbuena, get off me!" I exclaimed and elbowed him. He gets his arm off me as I hear him whine because of the brutality I did to him. Well, that's not brutality at all. I am being nice to him, actually. But soon enough, he became serious again. Drew is my best friend and I'm so used to the sudden changes of his mood. But this time is different. I've never seen him as serious as this before.

"Seriously though, are you still hoping to meet that ruler in person?" he asks in my almost done painting of the ruler I always paint.

"Yes! And I think it will be this soon. Soon...very soon. And the sooner the better." My eyes remain at my painting in front of me and I can't help but stare at it. As I was staring at the painting, I could not help but imagine how I would react if I had gotten the chance to finally meet him.

I really had this feeling that I would be able to meet the vampire that helped my mom when I was young. I was able to be with my mom even for a very short period of time. Because after my mom survived the surgery, a ruler killed him. And because of that, I firmly believe that not all vampires are bad and not all vampires are good.

The next morning was quite different. Humans inside our mansion are all busy. Everyone is in mixed emotions with the thoughts of leaving this place where memories were shared. Not only with my dad but also with a lot of humans who helped us with making and making things much easier. I could not even imagine that I would be saying goodbye to them because I have been with them since I was a kid. And now we all need to part ways.

They need to work for their family and I could not pay for their services anymore. We have all enjoyed this place. This is the safest place for many humans. I have been living here since I was fourteen years old, but I think fourteen years is not enough. If only I could ask for an extension, I would. But the only ultimatum they gave us was just today. We need to leave before dusk.

But since we still have the whole afternoon in this mansion, I plan to have a farewell party for everyone. I know how sad my dad was and I hope that this plan can help him ease the sadness he has in my heart. His addiction to illegal gambling was the reason why all of this happened to us. But I am not a bad daughter to emphasize my parents' mistakes. So, instead of blaming him, I would rather make his last day here in this place happy.

I will never bring up his mistakes nor point a finger at him. I would rather work hard so we can retrieve all of the things and money that we lost. Not that all I want in this world is money. I just want us to recover from this downfall.

Because of everyone's busyness, we didn't even realize that lunch was approaching. We still have so many things to do and we need to finish them all before lunch. We need to prepare the foods because if we can't, we won't be eating at the right time but a late lunch instead. I do not want them to feel hungry just because of the wait for the food.

So I did my best to cook everything just right on time. Luckily, after the hardship I did, I did it. And I have never been this relieved. It was almost lunch, so I asked others to help me prepare the table so that we could now serve the food. Everything I prepared just looked delicious and smelled delicious. I hope the taste will not disappoint anyone.

Since we only had a few hours left before leaving this mansion, we started our celebration. We don't celebrate that we have to leave, we celebrate our last day of being together. We will part our ways and God knows if we can ever meet again.

"Thank you everyone for all the sacrifices you made for me and for my dad. We will never forget how much you take care of us. Without you, our lives would surely be much harder. I wish you all the best on your new journey," I said in front of everyone. And I see some of them crying. And they left me in tears, too. Meeting these wonderful and amazing people is a blessing for me. They indeed hold a very special part in my heart and in my life.