Darkness.

That was the first thing Arin saw as soon as he opened his eyes.

"Where the hell is this...?"

Arin raised his guard, after all, he didn't know where he was or what was going to attack him.

Within seconds, his eyes began adjusting.

And finally, he was able to see clearly again.

He quickly looked around, taking in his surroundings.

He was in a large, spacious room with brick walls and pillars. The ceiling was high. Really high.

A throne was present, and a figure was seated on it. Though, he couldn't see who it was because a certain kind of darkness covered the figure.

Arin's eyes instantly found Kiara. She was standing beside one of the pillars in the room.

She stared at Arin, her arms folded.

"I'm sorry. I had to bring you here forcefully."

Arin remained calm, though he didn't dare to bring his guard down.

He looked behind him and spotted Riya, Roxanne, Draka, and Landon.

'It seems they somehow followed me here,' Arin thought, his gaze lingering on Landon for a few seconds.

"Haha! Arin Vale!" Landon flashed Arin a smile.

But as soon as he took the first step...

BOOM!

Draka appeared behind him, his claws placed a few inches beside his neck.

"Don't move."

Draka's words were fierce, leaving no room for opposition.

Riya and Arin's eyes met, and as usual, they were able to understand each other.

'Hm, he doesn't know what this place is...' Riya thought, already understanding what the look in Arin's eyes meant.

As Arin was about to turn back to look in the direction where Kiara was standing, he suddenly felt a slight shift in the wind.

And in that moment...

"Stay put, leech..."

Kiara said, already standing behind Roxanne.

Just like Draka, her claws were placed beside Roxanne's neck.

"Let go of her," Arin said, his gaze unwavering.

When Draka threatened Landon, he didn't do anything.

But this time, it was Roxanne. Someone he didn't take for granted.

It wasn't like he didn't care about Landon, after all, he was genuinely curious about the reason why Landon wanted to see him in the first place.

But Roxanne was more important to him.

Now, Arin's attention was divided between Roxanne and the figure on the throne, who for some reason was yet to say anything.

'That person's silence is disturbing,' Arin thought. 'Is that the "mother" Kiara has been talking about?'

That was the only possible theory Arin could come up with.

Kiara's gaze softened as she looked at Arin.

"She's a Vampire... Her people did this to you. They turned you into one of them."

Kiara's claws moved closer, grazing Roxanne's skin.

"She deserves to die."

Roxanne kept looking at Arin, her chest heaving up and down.

'Should I attack her, or should I wait for Arin to do something?' she thought.

She didn't want to do anything that would complicate things further. Moreover, she didn't know who these people were and how they were connected to Arin.

But she knew one thing for sure.

They weren't Vampires.

Kiara's words angered Arin even further.

Without even knowing it, his eyes began glowing red.

He clenched his fists as he glared at Kiara.

"I. Said. Let. Go. Of. Her."

He said every word individually in a heavy tone, making it obvious that he meant it.

At this point, it was obvious that if Kiara didn't leave Roxanne, he would do something.

Silence.

The silence in the room was suffocating.

Kiara's claws were still beside Roxanne's neck.

One second.

Two seconds.

The silence stretched out, heavy enough that even a pin falling would have sounded like an explosion.

Three seconds.

Four seconds.

And then...

WHOOSH!

Arin disappeared.

He appeared again beside Kiara, his hand that was covered with Blood Energy already moving towards her.

But then...

"Stop."

A single word.

That single word felt like a boulder.

Arin's hand froze, almost as if it was held by an invisible force.

His eyes widened as he slowly turned his head towards the direction of the throne.

'W... What the hell...? Her voice... just her voice was enough to make me freeze?...'

Arin's legs and hands began trembling. He noticed it, but he was more focused on the person seated on the throne.

Through the voice, he could tell it was a lady. Though, he still couldn't see her because of the darkness.

The lady continued,

"Kiara. Let go of the Vampire."

"As you wish, mother," Kiara instantly said.

'Yes... So she's the mother Kiara was always talking about...' Arin thought.

Kiara began walking back to the pillar where she was formerly standing.

As for Arin, his eyes never left the lady seated on the throne.

Suddenly, she raised her hands and removed the black veil covering her figure.

Arin squinted his eyes as he finally saw her appearance.

She looked at Arin with her purple eyes as she stood up from the throne, making her hair—which was a mixture of red, blue, green, and black—flutter.

Arin had expected her expression to be fierce. But now, what he was seeing was the complete opposite.

There was a wide, genuine smile on her face as she looked at Arin.

Her eyes held a certain kind of happiness that was obvious to everyone present in the room.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

It was almost as if she was too happy that she couldn't even say anything.

'What is going on...?' Arin thought. 'Why do I feel this way?'

He couldn't describe the feeling he was getting just from merely staring at this woman.

The rate at which his heart was beating instantly increased. He began sweating profusely, and his breathing became uneven.

'What is happening to me?'

Arin's eyes widened. He could feel something stirring inside him.

An amused smile appeared on Landon's face.

"Why do I feel like something amazing is about to happen?"

Draka looked at him from the corner of his eyes, his claws still near Landon's neck.

"Don't even think about moving..."

Landon smiled. "Sure, Mr Dragon."

Draka squinted his eyes. "Something is off about this boy."

The Queen of the Dragons continued looking at Arin, still unable to speak.

She just didn't know how to start.

As for Arin, it was already getting worse.

His body was trembling, but he knew that it wasn't out of fear.

Something else was causing it.

As his thoughts were in disarray, he suddenly felt someone hug him from behind.

"Hey, stay calm..." Riya whispered in his ears as she wrapped her arms around him from behind. "It's okay. Breathe."

Arin nodded shakily.

He began taking in deep breaths, trying to stabilize himself.

"Good. Just like that," Riya continued whispering into his ears. "I'm here. Roxanne is here. We're here for you."

She didn't know what was making Arin unstable like this, but she knew she had to do something.

And now, this was the only thing she could think of.

Roxanne decided not to move. Since she was a Vampire, anything she did now would be suspicious and could cause trouble, so she decided to allow Riya handle it.

Riya was a human, so they would be a little less suspicious of her.

Finally, Arin calmed down and he stopped sweating.

He raised his head, staring at the lady.

And then, the first word that came out from his mouth was...

"... Mother."