Chapter 33 — No Excuses

Ardo Dawson huddled in his room. He covered his whole body with a thick blanket. Ever since seeing Alex's pathetic corpse, he had become so scared like this. Of course, he doesn't want to become a victim of the brutality of a figure who calls himself the Black Shadow.

His conversation with Alvaro and Nick this afternoon, for some reason, didn't escape his mind. He thought that the possibility of Cliff's culprit was very high. Ardo remembered that he and his two brothers and Nick had done too much harm to this poor young man who, unfortunately, was the son of Rowan Dawson, the leader of their clan. It's only natural that Cliff hates them so much and comes back for revenge. Even though he repeatedly convinced himself that Cliff had died at the hands of the vampires of the Kirrin Clan, the fact that he had never seen Cliff's body startled him. Of course, it is possible that Cliff is still alive and has returned to take revenge on those who have hurt him.

Ardo held his head while biting his lower lip, his face scrunched up with his eyebrows interlocked. He was so scared now. He was afraid that he would suffer the same fate as Alex.

In his fear, he suddenly heard a scream of pain. He believed the owner of the scream was his brother, Alvaro. He swiftly lowered the blanket that covered his whole body. He got up from the bed and stepped steadily towards Alvaro's room to see what was happening, so his brother screamed. Even the sound of his screams could be heard in his room, considering the distance their room was quite far.

However, the image of Alex's pathetic body suddenly stopped his steps as he was already standing in front of the bedroom door with his hand on the door handle. Suddenly his body trembled, and he was frightened again. What if the Black shadow is in Alvaro's room right now? he thought.

Like a coward, he snuggled back on the bed, not forgetting to cover his whole body with the blanket earlier. He was shaking inside the blanket, teeth grinding together as his body trembled more intensely.

However, when his ears caught the sound of Alvaro's screams for the second time, he finally tried to fight his fear. Without thinking, he opened the bedroom door and walked quickly to Alvaro's room.

"Al, Al, what are you doing? Why shout? Did something happen?" he asked repeatedly after he stood right in front of the door to Alvaro's room. There was no response from within, making him take the initiative to put his ear to the door. Silence and silence he heard. He didn't hear a sound in Alvaro's room.

“Al! Alvaro, open the door! You're all right?!" he shouted again. This time his hands did not remain silent, also pounding on the door roughly, again getting no response from within. Finally, Ardo worked up the courage to break down the door, which was locked inside.

After four times he tried to break down the door, he finally succeeded. The door opened, and he was surprised when he saw the figure of someone he knew so well standing right in front of his brother's helpless body on the floor.

"Y-You! I-Impossible, you're still alive?" he stammered with his eyes fixed on Cliff's figure, who was staring intently at him. Ardo's gaze darted over Cliff's head, kept going down, and stopped at Cliff's right hand. Ardo glared with his mouth agape when he saw an object Cliff held, which he believed was Alvaro's heart.

"Y-You, you killed Alvaro?" he asked, accompanied by both feet, starting to step back with both eyes bulging in disbelief.

"Originally, I planned to give you one more day to breathe fresh air. But since you came to me yourself, I changed my mind. Besides, it would be good if I immediately hunted my two prey tonight. I don't need to waste my precious time anymore," Cliff said, instantly making Ardo freeze where he stood.

Cliff stepped to approach Ardo, but Ardo swiftly ran away. He ran as fast as he could. I don't know. He's not confident enough to face Cliff head-on, so he prefers to run away. Ardo could see the drastic changes that had occurred to Cliff's figure, which he thought was very weak before. He could quickly kill his two brothers, who were pure-blood vampires with excellent natural abilities. Ardo realized how strong Cliff was right now. Compared to his two brothers, Ardo's natural abilities are not very beneficial for long-distance combat. He can hypnotize his enemies at close range. However, considering Cliff was also holding a sword in his hand just now, Ardo knew that fighting him at close range would be suicidal.

Ardo continued to run aimlessly inside his family's luxurious and spacious house. Now he is the only one left in the house. Both of his parents died because they died in the war against the Kirrin Clan several years ago. He only lives with his two brothers. Now that his two brothers are gone, only he occupies this house. No one can save him now.

Ardo entered a room, his eyeballs rolling left and right to find a safe place where he thought he could hide. In the room where he was currently, which was the room of his late parents, there was only a king-size bed, a wardrobe, a table, a chair that looked expensive and elegant, his mother's dresser, and a small chair in front of it, and a door that opened. I will lead him to the bathroom in that room. Ardo started to stutter when his ears caught the sound of footsteps that he believed were coming from Cliff getting closer. He crawled across the floor and into the narrow gap under the bed without thinking.

His heart raced when he heard the door creak open. He swallowed his saliva hard when his eyes caught the movement of Cliff's feet, who started to enter the room. His head and eyes rolled along, following where Cliff's feet went.

"Ardo, I know you're here. You think you can run away from me," said Cliff, which instantly made Ardo cover his mouth for fear of making a sound that would make Cliff realize where he was hiding.

"I remember you and your two brothers used to be so arrogant and haughty. You look down on me just because I'm mixed blood. You often mock me, insult me, laugh at me, and torture me without mercy. You will laugh out loud at my suffering. Where did the arrogant and ruthless Ardo Dawson go? Why are you now turning into a chick that has lost its mother? Hahaha, what a shame, even your two brothers are much better than you. At least they dare to stand up to me and not commit cowardly acts like you." Ardo felt his heart heat up hearing all of Cliff's insults, especially when Cliff called him a coward. He is a coward because he prefers to hide rather than fight Cliff head-on. He cares too much for his life. He was not ready to catch up with his two brothers and parents.

Overthinking made Ardo not realize that Cliff's voice was no longer heard. He started to panic when his eyes couldn't find Cliff's feet, who had been walking around the room all along. He had thought maybe Cliff had given up looking for him in this room and had gone to another room. Even though he thought so, he was still afraid to leave his hiding place.

ARGH!

He screamed pretty loudly when suddenly he felt something stab his back. Apparently, without Ardo's knowledge, Cliff was crouching on the bed, and then he stabbed his sword from the top of the bed until it penetrated downwards and stabbed Ardo's back.

"Tsk, tsk, Ardo. It seems that apart from being a coward, you have become an idiot now. Have you forgotten that we vampires have a very keen sense of smell? Do you think I don't smell your blood? Do you think you can hide from me? What an idiot," cried Cliff.

When Cliff drew his sword, Ardo swiftly crawled out from the gap in the bed. Even though he felt an excruciating pain in his back, he ignored it and ran again and left the room. He ran without looking back. All he could think about now was one thing, he would get out of his house and ask for help from Nick or whoever he met outside the house later.

However, unfortunately, before he managed to find a way out, he suddenly heard gunshots, and soon he felt the pain again right in his right thigh. He collapsed on the floor because he couldn't bear the pain and coldness that radiated from his thigh that was shot. Ardo glared when he saw the bullet that lodged in his right thigh make his thigh freeze and turn into ice, and a few seconds later, the ice shattered by itself.

ARGH!

His scream was no less loud than the scream before when he felt unbearable pain in his right leg, which had been crushed just by being hit by a single shot. He was confused about why something like this could happen.

"My gun, a special weapon. The bullets are capable of freezing anything." Ardo crawled backward when he heard Cliff's voice, who, for some reason, had been standing not far from him.

"D-Don't come any closer!! Please don't kill me. I apologize for all my actions in the past. I beg your pardon, "asked Ardo with tears in his eyes, inviting laughter from Cliff, who witnessed it.

"In the past, I also begged like you. I beg you to stop torturing me. I expected your mercy but remember what you did to me?" asked Cliff, while Ardo couldn't answer when he remembered how cruel they used to be to Cliff.

"You guys laughed at me when I screamed in pain and fear. The more I screamed, the more you guys tortured me cruelly. And finally, your actions are truly unforgivable." Cliff looked up at the ceiling. Then he closed his eyes as if he was remembering all the dark events in the past.

A few minutes later, Cliff opened his eyes again and looked at Ardo with a red face. It was apparent how angry Cliff was at this moment. Ardo crawled back again. He could no longer stand because one leg was crushed.

"Your biggest unforgivable sin when you barbarously disgraced the only girl I love. Don't beg me for mercy but beg forgiveness of Ariana, whose life you destroyed."

"Forgive me, I'm sorry. I never wanted to do it, either. I had to do it because Nick ordered me to. You know that, too, right? Everything I did to you and Ariana was because of your brother's orders, not mine. I had to do it, Cliff. Really." Cliff tilted his head to the right and left until he heard his bones loosening. His feet continued to take steps closer to Ardo.

"You see this?" he said while showing Alvaro's heart which was in his grip on Ardo.

"T-That's Alvaro's heart."

"Exactly right. This is your brother's heart. You remember, right? You used to torture me. You told me to swallow the heart of one of the women you killed before you hypnotized me to make me see the face of the woman you killed was exactly like my mother's. Can you imagine how I felt at that time? I saw my mother being killed before my eyes, and you forced me to swallow her heart." Again Ardo swallowed hard. Of course, he remembered his past cruelty to Cliff, including the incident that Cliff had just mentioned.

"I-I'm sorry about that incident. I'm sorry." Cliff smiled bitterly at that and took another step to stand right in front of Ardo.

"I don't need your apologies."

"I'll do anything to make you want to forgive me," Ardo asked again, linking his hands in front of his chest. He was begging for mercy from Cliff now. He had even forgotten the fact that he was the owner of the highest caste in the vampire world. He didn't care what others would call it because he was terrified. All Ardo wanted was for Cliff to leave immediately and spare him.

"You will comply with all my wishes?" Ardo, without thinking, immediately agreed to Cliff's question with a nod of his head.

"Then take this heart and eat it." Ardo stared at him in disbelief. Eat the heart of his brother? Instead of eating it, he can't even imagine it.

"B-But we aren't cannibals eating raw meat. Our food is only blood. I can't eat it. It's disgusting. Ask for something else," he said firmly. Of course, he didn't want to put anything in his mouth except blood.

"Open your mouth and eat this heart, or you die this second!" Cliff's voice sounded cold and sharp, making Ardo have to comply.

Ardo opened his mouth as wide as he could. When Cliff put Alvaro's heart into Ardo's mouth, in that instant, he felt something pushing out of his stomach. He couldn't take it. He wanted to vomit.

"Quick bite, chew, and swallow this heart, or you die!" Cliff's commandment is undeniable. Finally, Ardo could only surrender. He bit into Alvaro's heart, chewed it with difficulty, and forced himself to swallow the heart. A second later, he could no longer hold back his nausea. He vomited back Alvaro's heart which he had swallowed earlier.

As if he had no heart, Cliff again brought Alvaro's heart still left in his hand to Ardo's mouth. It didn't matter that Ardo continued to vomit. He didn't give Ardo a chance to stop his vomiting activity.

"Hurry and eat!!" he said firmly. Ardo finally bit back into the heart, chewing and swallowing it.

"That's enough. I can't take it anymore," Ardo said after the umpteenth time he vomited again.

"Her heart is still not exhausted. If you want me to spare you, you must eat it all up." Ardo panted. His nausea was excruciating. However, again he had no choice but to comply with Cliff's wishes.

He opened his mouth wide, and Cliff put all that remained of Alvaro's heart in his hand into Ardo's mouth. With great difficulty, Ardo returned to chewing and swallowing it. Of course, he was vomiting again soon after.

"How does your brother's heart feel?" Cliff smiled sarcastically, then grinned afterward.

"I have complied with your wishes, now go and don't come back here again."

"There's still something else I want from you."

"Especially?!" Ardo asked with a little snap.

"You snapped at me. You want me to change my mind?" Ardo gasped at this and quickly shook his head.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. So what else do you want?" Again, he could only surrender in front of Cliff, who was so scary and cruel in Ardo's eyes.

"Your blood. I want your blood." Again, Ardo was stunned. But he had no intention of asking anything. He tilted his head, allowing Cliff to bite and suck his blood.

"Drink my blood, but please control yourself, don't drink my blood," he said, inviting a smirk on Cliff's handsome face, full of dried blood. Cliff's face was full of wounds from Alvaro's previous attack. Only minor wounds that are left untreated will heal by themselves.

"You're not asking why I want your blood?"

"Without asking, I know that your goal is to drink my blood because you want to steal my natural ability," Ardo said without looking away.

"Then I'll change the question. Don't you wonder why I stole your and your two brothers' natural abilities? Oh yes. Niki's natural abilities too." Ardo turned his head so that he was now facing Cliff again. He didn't say anything, but the look in his eyes beckoned Cliff to continue.

"I will use your natural abilities to kill Nick, Rose, and Rowan Dawson." Ardo was shocked to hear that. He wasn't surprised to hear that Cliff intended to kill Nick and Rose, who had hurt him so much in the past. But by killing Rowan, Ardo doesn't understand why Cliff intends to kill his father, who Ardo knows loves Cliff so much.

"I don't care," Ardo finally said and tilted his head back, giving Cliff access to drinking his blood. It seemed that Cliff was no longer interested in continuing their conversation. He put his mouth close to Ardo's neck. He was opening its mouth wide to reveal two sharp fangs. Then he buried his two fangs in Ardo's neck and greedily drank Ardo's blood.

When he felt his eyes heat up and the new power from Ardo's blood was radiating to his eyes, that's when Cliff stopped his activity of drinking Ardo's blood.

"Now you're satisfied. You have mastered my natural abilities as well." Cliff nodded in response to Ardo's question.

"Then go, and don't appear in front of me again." Cliff knit his eyebrows, didn't like Ardo's words, and kicked him out sarcastically. He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly before turning his body so his back was facing Ardo.

Ardo took a deep breath and exhaled slowly because he was too relieved to see Cliff starting to walk away from him. He closed his eyes. He was happy because he managed to save his life.

However, what an unfortunate Ardo Dawson. Before he could open his eyes again, Cliff swiftly stabbed his dagger into Ardo's heart. Ardo breathed his last with his eyes still closed.

"I guess I haven't told you I swore not to spare a single Clan Dawson vampire. I will kill all of you, including yourself, Ardo. A happy reunion with your two brothers in hell. Hahahaha..." Cliff's laughter rang out in the luxurious mansion of one of the vampire lords. The poor house that all its inhabitants have abandoned.

Cliff pulled out the dagger stuck in Ardo's heart. Then he walked steadily out of the luxurious house. He was determined not to waste any more time. He would soon be hunting for his other prey today as well.

"Ariana, the three bastards who desecrated you have already been sent to you. They will beg your forgiveness in the other world. Please wait a minute, I'll be back to send that jerk who is the source of your suffering. Nick Dawson, you're my next hunt," he muttered like a madman because he was talking alone, even though Ariana might have heard it from a world where Cliff couldn't yet come.

Cliff continued the steps that had been stopped. He put all the weapons back into their sheaths. His gaze was sharp as he stepped without hesitation toward the castle that used to be his residence.