Fortis

I heard a knock on my door. "It's Luis and I, Lord!" Brody said behind the door.

"Come in!" I didn't bother looking up from my paperwork.

I heard the door open then close.

"I have a job for you two. I need you two to offer two wolves a job. Two wolves that are fighting, make sure they can fight. I prefer them to be related. And make sure they don't have any immediate family. Tell them this job pays well, and if they want more information to go you with you two.

"If they refuse, it comes down to kidnapping, and if it does come down to kidnapping. Do it quickly and quietly. No need to cause a fuss; that will get back to the wolf king. He doesn't need to know that there were two vampires in his town.

"Once you have them, bring them back to the castle. And throw them into separate cells. I'm giving you a day to do this, but if you need more time than it's granted, just ask. Any questions?"

"Yes," Luis said. "Why do you need these wolves, and what do you plan on doing with them?"

His idiocy will get him killed.

I hired Luis as Co-Captain because he was ranked second, and he knew how to take orders. Bottom line, he gets the job done. But he's not very bright.

Brody is smart and strong. He's ranked first, so that's why he is Captain of the guards. As long as Brody is working with Luis, things should go fine.

I looked up at Luis; I sighed and glared at him. "Luis, that is none of your business. Any other-" My eyes landed on a bruised Brody. His face was blue and purple. "What the hell happened to your face?"

"Luis beat me in combat." He explained. I almost believed it, but I looked over to a confused Luis. He's lying. But I said nothing about it. "If that's the case, then it seems to me that Luis here needs to be Captain of the guards."

"Are you kidding?" He growled. "He's not the brightest tool in the box!"

Luis scoffed. "Rude!"

"Watch your tone with me," I said curtly. He had a point, though.

"Sorry, Lord," Brody said.

"You're right though, I guess you could keep your current position," I told him.

"Thank you, Lord."

"Do you guys have any questions about this?"

"Yes, why the hell did you pair me up with Luis again?" Brody asked.

"Why not? You both work well together? You get the job done. I only trust you two to do this job, so don't tell anyone."

"That's true. It's only successful because I'm in charge. I'm smart and strong. Luis is just strong." Brody said.

"I think he's getting stronger, considering that he beat you in combat." I joked.

Brody nodded. "Oh yeah, definitely." He joked back.

"Now, get out of here, you two!" I joked again.

"Love you two, boss," Luis said as he and Brody left the office.

I smiled. I actually joked around with my employees today. I'm proud of myself. Scarlett and I did have a goodnight together. That's probably why I'm in a good mood today.

Stephen beat Brody; I remember seeing Stephen's knuckles cracked.

I remembered Stephen saying the guards handled him and Maya roughly. Then he said Brody disrespected him after he found out they were traitors.

Could he have beat Brody because he didn't tell Luis to be less rough while handling Maya, and Brody was being disrespectful to him?

He did it for respect; he put him in his place. That sounds like something I would do.

My son may be more like me than I realize; I'm going to let him in on my plans. But the plans need to stay between us.

Brody

Luis and I walked into wolf territory. Then we approached the gates and entered the town. We walked through the town and looked for people fighting. We walked past an alehouse.

Luis stopped. "We should get a drink." He suggested.

"Nope." I shook my head and didn't stop walking.

"Fine." Luis caught up to me and crossed his arms.

"Stop pouting," I told him.

"I'm not pouting." He grumbled.

He's pouting.

I turned my attention to a fight. It was two wolves, a male, and a female. They looked the same, so I concluded that they were twins; that works. They had brown curly hair and blue eyes.

I looked over at Luis. "Looks like we just found out targets."

"They're perfect; let's approach them after the fight," Luis suggested.

I nodded. "I see why he only gave us one day to find the targets," I said sternly. "But the work is far from done. We still have to convince them and bring them back to the castle."

"Psh, that should be easy; we got this." Luis playfully punched me in the shoulder.

"I don't know. Something tells me they're going to put up a fight."

Soon the duel was over. Flaunting one's talents can either be good for them or bad. It all depends on who's watching. In this case, it was bad.

"Nice show, guys," I said to them as they walked by.

"Thanks." The brother said. They've might've put two and two together already. "We should get going." He told his sister.

"Not so fast, we have a job offer for you. It pays well, and if you want more information, you may want to come with us." Luis said professionally.

The twins just looked at each other.

The girl twin said. "Not interested." We let them pass by us and watched them walk away.

We tried the easy way, and that didn't work. Now it's time to be the bad guy. We're going to keep following them; they're our targets now.

Jayden

We walked back to our house.

I got a weird vibe; I think those guys are still following us. I told her as I looked behind me, then faced forward again. I didn't see them anywhere. But I know they're around here somewhere watching us.

Hazel looked back for a quick second. I agree. What do you think they want with us?

I shook my head. I don't know. Since when do we have vampires so close around?

Hazel shrugged her shoulders. Beats me.

Once we made it home, I felt safer. Hazel and I made dinner. After we were done eating, Hazel washed dishes because it was her night. We alternate chores.

I heard a knock on the door. It startled us. It started me because we weren't expecting anyone. Hazel stopped washing dishes.

I thought back to earlier; when those vampires gave us a weird vibe.

I grabbed a knife. I started towards the door.

Don't answer it! Hazel said. She grabbed a towel and dried her hands. Maybe if we don't answer, they'll go away. She walked towards me.

They're not going to go away. Since when do you shy away from a fight? I inquired.

If I were fighting a wolf, I wouldn't back down. But a vampire? Oh yeah, forget it. She shuddered.

I'm opening the door. I told her as I walked up to the door. Hazel stayed back in the kitchen and also grabbed a knife.

I hid the knife behind my back and opened the door to find the same two men from earlier—the blonde-haired buff guy with blue eyes and a blonde-haired lean guy with brown eyes.

"What do you guys want?" I growled.

"We're gonna give you one more chance to come with us willingly."
Buff vampire said.

We can't trust them; run towards the back exit when I say so. I told Hazel.

She nodded. Ready when you are.

I threw a punch at the blonde-haired buff guy and hit him in the face. He wasn't expecting it as he stumbled back and clutched his nose.

Now! I tell Hazel.

She ran out the back door.

I see the lean vampire disappear. Shit, he's going after Hazel, I realized.

The buff vampire was back on his feet in an instant. I tried to stab the buff vampire before me with my knife, but he dodged it. I lost my grasp on the knife.

Shit, shit, shit, shit!

"Why even try?" The vampire asked me.

I glared at him but didn't respond. I threw another punch; instead of hitting him, he grabbed my fist and put it between my shoulder blades, causing me to yelp in pain.

I heard Hazel cry out.

If he hurt her, I swear it! I will kill them both!

The vampire had his arm wrapped around my neck, ensuring that I go nowhere, I tried to break free of his grasp, but it was no use. I gritted my teeth.

"Yeah, that it; stop fighting. That will make things easier." The buff vampire hissed. "That's what you get for being difficult; you should've just gone with us the first time we asked. We could've avoided this whole ordeal." He said.

"Well, I am a fighter." Was my response.

"I figured you would put up a fight." He said.

The lean vampire came through the back door with Hazel. She struggled against him as he held a knife to her throat.

Hazel! Are you alright? Are you hurt? I heard you cry out earlier? I bombarded her with questions.

I'm fine. Are you okay? She returned the question.

I'm alright, thanks for asking. I told her. I'm glad she's okay.

"Let's head back to the castle." The buff vampire said. I figured he was in charge.

We started walking out of the town. It was nighttime, so no one was really out. And if people were out, they looked the other way.

Cowards, no one wants to be a hero, huh.

I bet a bunch of wolves could take two vampires.

We left the town and walked west towards the forest. Then we walked over the bridge and soon a castle was in sight.

What the hell? When did they build this? Hazel asked me.

Must have been recent; it looks new. I told her.

More importantly, why weren't we warned about these vampires?

Undoubtedly king Henry is aware of this castle, considering it is only five miles from theirs.

Hazel

What the hell is going on? I asked Jayden as we walked into the castle.

I'm just as clueless as you are, sis. Jayden said as we walked into the dungeon.

They're going to put us in cells.

I guess we're done fighting back? I asked Jayden.

We are; it would be unwise to, we wouldn't get anywhere. He explained.

Just checking. I told him.

I watched as the buff vampire unlocked a cell for Jayden and gestured for him to go in. Jayden Obeyed. Then they locked the cell.

The lean vampire unlocked a cell for me. I hesitated before going in. He locked my cell.

I wondered how long we would be stuck here for.

The vampires tell us nothing, so we're stuck guessing.

"This is your new home for the next few days; so get used to it." Buff vampire said.

Then he and the lean vampire left the dungeon.

We were in the dungeon for three days. After lunch, the Buff and lean vampires came back.

Buff vampire smirked. "We're finally going to let you out of here to stretch your legs. But you gotta put on these first." He held up some chains.

I think there was a joke in there somewhere.

After we had the chains on, they walked us through the castle corridors. I began to memorize the path we took.

Fortis

I sat on my throne, waiting for Brody and Luis to bring the prisoners before me.

I watched as the door opened. The scent of wolves filled my nose, a wet dog smell.

A curly brown-haired girl with blue eyes and a boy with curly brown hair and blue eyes walked into the room, escorted by Brody and Luis.

Once they were close enough, I spoke. "You don't know who I am. But I bet you know that I have a lot of power."

"You're the vampire king." The boy said. I realized they were twins. I guess Brody and Luis can follow directions. They looked about eighteen years old—props to them.

I nodded. "Yes, king Fortis is the name. Thank you for coming." It's not like they had much of a choice; I smirked at that. "Sorry you had to spend three days in a cell, but I thought I would give you guys some time to cool down and think while you were in there. Also, I am a king and very busy. I take it you two are related; how old are you, and what are your names?" I questioned.

"That's Hazel, and I'm Jayden. We're both eighteen years old. Born on the same day." Jayden said.

"Nice. I'm going to release you guys in a bit, and you'll be free to roam the castle, and you'll have rooms to stay in. But first, let me explain what I need you to do. Tomorrow, I need you both to head over to the Jensen's castle and get a job there. Then report back to me. I wouldn't try to escape if I were you. That would be stupid."

"What makes you think we'll come back after we leave this castle to go to the Jensen's?" Hazel asked.

I glared at her. "Good question. I will have my vampires hunt you down and kill you if you do not return here by sundown." I told them.

"Do you have any parents?" I asked them.

They both looked down at the ground.

Jayden answered this time. "Both of our parents are dead, Lord."

I'm not going to ask how and open up old wounds. "You two are dismissed. Brody and Luis, show them to their rooms."

Brody and Luis took off their chains and dropped them on the ground. Then they escorted the wolves out of the throne room.

I sat back and sighed, content with my work. My plan is beginning to come together aimlessly.

~Dominique