Chapter 57: The House of the Count

The iron gate groaned loudly as it slowly opened.

The metal scraped against the frozen ground, the sound echoing through the quiet night.

I stepped forward cautiously.

As soon as I crossed the gate, a bright floodlight snapped on above me.

The sudden light forced my eyes to narrow.

For a moment I could see nothing but white glare pouring down from above.

Then my vision adjusted.

And I saw him.

The figure standing on the other side of the gate.

Under the bright light, his face was now completely visible.

The terrifying creature I had seen a moment earlier—the one with the swollen dark veins, pitch-black eyes, and rows of monstrous fangs—was gone.

His face had changed.

Now he looked like a normal vampire.

Pale skin.

Sharp features.

His eyes were no longer pitch black, though they still carried a cold, unsettling intensity.

He still looked frightening… just in a quieter way.

But something else caught my attention.

The expression on his face.

It wasn’t anger.

It wasn’t hostility.

It was… guilt.

A heavy, uncomfortable guilt.

I frowned slightly, confused by it.

The man stared at me for a long moment before finally speaking.

“I thought you were dead.”

I tilted my head slightly.

“Do I look dead?”

He didn’t smile.

Instead his expression darkened.

“What are you doing here?” he asked quietly. “The last place you should be… is here.”

His warning didn’t change my mind.

I took another step forward.

“I can’t keep running from him for all eternity,” I said.

The wind moved softly across the snow between us.

I looked him straight in the eyes.

“Now…”

I paused.

“Can you take me to him?”

The man said nothing more.

He simply turned and started walking.

I followed behind him.

The moment we passed through the inner gate, the scale of the place became clear.

The estate was enormous.

Massive stone paths stretched across the grounds, leading between rows of large gothic-style buildings. Tall towers rose above the rooftops, their dark silhouettes cutting into the night sky.

But what surprised me most…

Was the noise.

Laughter.

Music.

Shouting.

As we walked deeper into the estate, the entire place opened up into a wide central courtyard.

And it looked like complete chaos.

Hundreds of vampires filled the grounds.

Some were gathered around long wooden tables, drinking from dark bottles and blood-filled glasses while shouting and laughing loudly.

Others were moving at supernatural speed across the rooftops. I watched as two of them sprinted across the top of a building and then jumped off the roof, landing effortlessly on the ground before racing off again.

In another part of the courtyard, a group of younger vampires were firing fireworks into the sky.

Bright explosions of red, green, and gold lit up the darkness above the estate. Some of them even fired the fireworks directly at each other, dodging them with laughter before the sparks exploded overhead.

Right in the center of everything…

Was a giant bonfire.

Flames towered high into the air, lighting the entire courtyard with an orange glow. Shadows danced across the surrounding buildings as the fire crackled and roared.

The whole place looked like a twisted festival.

A celebration.

I frowned as we continued walking through the crowd.

“What’s going on?” I asked the man walking in front of me.

He didn’t slow down.

“They are celebrating,” he said.

“Celebrating what?”

He glanced slightly over his shoulder.

“Your death.”

I stopped walking for a moment.

He kept moving, forcing me to follow again.

“More than a month ago,” he continued, “a royal guard of the Count returned here carrying your body.”

My brow furrowed.

“He claimed the Dhimpir who had been prophesied to end the vampire race… was finally dead.”

Another firework exploded above us.

The vampires around the bonfire cheered loudly.

“And since then,” the man said quietly, “the celebration hasn’t stopped.”

He looked at me again.

“Seems like he was lying all along.”

“…because here you are,” the man finished, glancing back at me, “alive and in the flesh.”

We continued walking through the estate while the celebration raged around us.

“I thought it was my sister that brought the fake body here,” I said.

He shook his head.

“They both came up with the story,” he replied. “But he was the one who carried it out alone.”

His voice carried a mix of disbelief and irritation.

“I can’t believe they played all of us for fools.”

I exhaled slowly.

“They did come to my house,” I said. “We fought.”

He looked at me with interest.

“I easily overpowered them,” I continued. “But I underestimated my sister.”

We passed another group of vampires cheering around the bonfire.

“She’s a witch too,” I added.

The man’s eyebrows lifted slightly.

“I let my guard down. She cast a spell that knocked me unconscious.”

I shook my head faintly at the memory.

“When I woke up… they were both gone.”

Fireworks burst again above the courtyard, painting the sky in bright colors.

“Since then,” I said quietly, “I vowed to find out who they really are.”

The man slowed his pace slightly.

“She saved your life,” he said.

“Yeah,” I admitted.

“But I can’t figure out why.”

For a moment he didn’t answer.

Then he spoke again.

“You two are more alike than you think.”

I looked at him.

“If not for this damn prophecy,” he continued, “you probably would have been inseparable.”

His words lingered in my mind as we walked.

For a brief moment, I imagined it.

Growing up here.

Living in this massive estate.

Training alongside my father’s other children… my half-siblings.

A life where I belonged here instead of being hunted by it.

But the thought didn’t last long.

I pushed it away.

Because that life never happened.

And it never would.

I looked at the man walking ahead of me.

“What do you mean me and her are alike?” I asked. “You don’t even know me.”

He slowed his steps.

Then he turned slightly, looking at me with an expression that was almost… tired.

“I knew you when you were still a little kid,” he said.

I frowned.

He continued walking, but his voice was quieter now.

“I was the one who took your mother to my parents’ house so they could take care of her… and you.”

My steps slowed.

What?

“I was also the one who told her about the prophecy,” he continued.

The noise of the celebration around us suddenly felt distant.

“And I helped her escape Oyo with you.”

For a moment I just stared at the back of his head while we walked.

This man.

This strange, frightening vampire with the pale face and sharp features…

Had helped my mother save my life.

If he hadn’t warned her…

If he hadn’t helped her run…

I would have grown up here.

Or worse.

I might not have grown up at all.

A strange feeling moved through my chest.

Confusion.

Shock.

And something close to gratitude that I didn’t know how to express.

He suddenly asked quietly, “How did your mother die?”

The question snapped me back to the present.

“Bandits,” I said.

He stopped walking.

I could see the shock on his face when he turned around.

“She was killed on the mountains by bandits.”

For a moment he didn’t speak.

Then he lowered his head slightly.

“I’m… sorry.”

I didn’t respond.

There was nothing to say.

We continued walking in silence until we reached the largest structure on the estate.

It was a massive building, taller and darker than the others, its stone walls rising like a fortress under the night sky.

This had to be where the Count stayed.

We stopped at the base of the wide stone steps leading to the entrance.

The man looked at me again.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked.

His voice carried real concern now.

“I can take you back to the gate,” he said. “You can leave. Nobody has to know you were here.”

For a moment the sounds of the celebration echoed behind us.

Then I shook my head.

“I can’t keep running.”

Without waiting for another word, I walked up the steps.

I reached the door.

And pushed it open.