Chapter 5 Breaking Pact

It's early in the morning at the Constantine Manor and already I'm being treated like royalty again. Not to complain but I have HEAPS of food on my side of the table, laid on me. It was an all american breakfast, it's like they did a reading on me and had all the grub and stuff I like made just for me.

We have the belgian waffles to fluffy pancakes topped with maple syrup, to eggs benedict, strawberry and raspberry muffins, bagel with cream cheese, freshly baked cinnamon rolls, french toast with sides of blueberry, bacons and eggs, hashbrowns with an omelet and a large healthy frothy parfait. Topped that off with drinks which are chocolate banana smoothie, hot mocha cinnamon cappuccino, soy milk if bearing any illnesses for dairy and the classic orange juice.

I was sitting alone at the table, eating by myself when Eleanore joined in for breakfast, pronouncing good morning in a very good mood. She usually sits down on her same seat with Sebastian already in tow, serving her meal which is, the meat-shall-not-be-named. Moments later, Dmitri strides in taking his usual sitting, extra grumpy as ever. I was about to move to the next seat when Eleanore insisted I shouldn't scoot over, encouraging me to eat more because it was the start of the first day of breaking the pact.

Not more than 5 minutes, Dmitri protests his opinion of me being treated like royalty, side-eyeing both Sebastian and Eleanore. He then expresses why I have so much food for me on the table while he gets the 'meat' everyday, pointing out one of my foods is okay to eat but he can't tell their individual names. Sebastian corrects what he's pointing out is a hashbrown, which Dmitri grunts back.

Eleanore gave him acknowledgement and said, "For the last time, human food isn't 'okay' to consume and I forbid you to raise that topic ever again ... AND for your encephalon can muster, Theodore over here needs to consume those 'food' to prepare himself after, our first day of activity starts after breakfast, so better EAT your food or endure yourself with an empty stomach"

Dmitri didn't retort back, slumping in his seat and playing with his food. Sebastian takes his meal and replaces it with a new plate, the same old 'meat' but warm and kind of presented looking like eggs and bacon. He pats Dmitri by the shoulder but he slaps it away, snickering at him to shoo away.

Then she continues on, saying, "Despite his antics, Theodore, I curated the perfect food conscription for you, to help with the activity afterwards, and with the help of Sebastian over here since he is part human after all, a 'hybrid' if you will as you humans called when playing with genetics, he came up with the idea and prepared it, even though I'm against it, but I will approve the best approach to make sure our goals are met sooner rather than the latter" She said, sipping her black tea.

I was flabbergasted as I looked at Sebastian. "Y-Your HALF-VAMPIR? Wha-? How is that possible- IS IT POSSIBLE? Incredible!" I said, keeping my full excitement contained.

I kept looking at Sebastian, to Eleanore than back at him. He recalled and said, "I am a hybrid of two worlds Theodore and as a matter of fact, I -Uh?--" He cut himself off as he looked at Eleanore, giving him a very threatening look.

Sebastian composes himself, finishing off, saying, "I apologize but I cannot disclose my origins or even the possibility of it all, Theodore, the details about it are very prohibited to tell so ... Forgive me" He said and apologized to me.

Since I have extra food here and I'm kinda against Eleanore's overreaction, I slide the eggs benedict and fresh muffins to Dmitri, saying, "Here, you can have some of this, I have extras if you want" I said.

Dmitri looks at it, slightly showing a smug smile, saying, "Don't mind if I do ..." He said, reaching out to grab the muffin.

When suddenly, his hand stops moving then a dark orange-like tinted aura radiates out, his hand flings the muffin away then forcibly swipes the eggs benedict and the other muffin off the table, making a mess with smashed plates shards all around. Dmitri looks at the front, it was Eleanore, standing and hand outwards, her hex emanating.

"HOW DARE YOU DEFY ME! How bold of you to commit such disobedience while I'm in front of you all, is my instruction not clear, Dmitri, we VAMPIRS are NOT ALLOWED NOR PROHIBITED to consume those disgusting comestibles of any kind!" She shouted angrily at him.

She then looks at me as I slowly eat my food like nothing is happening, saying, "Theodore, I confess I'm not indignant towards you nor raise negative consequences on our agreement but THIS serves as a warning for this insubordination ... Even so, you showed a gesture of goodwill towards Dmitri, but we have to stand to follow our natural order, this includes the consumption of food, which like I remind is prohibited, even looking, admiring or smelling is UNALLOWED"

I apologize for sharing it but I commented that she was being too harsh to her brother, even if it's prohibited or not, being too brutish even. She let Dmitri's hand go, then glares at me threateningly, saying;

"You oversharing your meaningless and baseless thoughts to me and how you criticizing my way of handling my siblings will land you to imminent death but as I am a woman of my word, I'll let this slide too for the sake of everyone, so you human, better stay in your lane or I might not be as patient and merciful as before" Eleanore said.

She composes herself, sitting down and continues on eating her meal. Dmitri and I soon follow, eating quietly. Just then, Lannister striding in the dining room, yawning and notices the remnant of the commotion that happened, saying;

"Did something eventful happened that I missed out?" He said, seeing the shattered plates and scattered food. Eleanore deeply sighs and yells at Sebastian to clean up the mess immediately before she loses inner peace.

After that one eventful breakfast, everyone headed to the Grand Ballroom under the manor, a new place to explore. And can I just say, it's another spectacle to marvel, it's like its carved on the bedrock of the cliffside, with white marble all around, ornate walls, embellished pillars extending to the ceiling, with that large chandelier to complement the room and the outer balcony overlooking the scenic waterfall outside. Eleanore stands in the middle of the large empty room, calling out everyone.

"Alright everyone! Gather around, today we mark the first day of lifting the wretched curse off of Theodore and Dmitri, one that is binding them together indefinitely and it's our job to rid this sooner and will do everything in my power to shatter it, so I prepared an activity that will go on until the pact is dissolved" Eleanore said.

One flick of a finger, Sebastian pulls out a large metal trolley out from an alcove, it's covered with a large white cloth, hiding inside the activity Eleanore prepared. She grazes her hand on the metal, mischievously smiling herself then looks at everyone, saying;

"Inside this cloth is the activity I've prepared to break the curse and hoping sooner" She said.

With her nodded gesture, Sebastian pulled the cloth off the metal trolley and out comes what's hidden, revealing series of large, sharp and deadly weapons of all kind, objects that Eleanore as she explains is the first method in a series of steps that both me and Dmitri will try and she expresses that one the objects laid organized in the metal trolley will break the pact. I step away a bit as Eleanore brandishes a very familiar looking dagger. Waving it around, she was about to say something when I spoke, saying;

"I remember that dagger, it's from a display case back in the rooms, how is that going to help 'lift' the alleged curse we're in?" I said, rather cautious.

"A dagger owned by the disgraceful befallen champion, I found this item very useful for us today, since this dagger was once used by our kin to vanquish curses which are humans so why not take this out for a demonstration and seek our luck? It might've just worked since it holds valuable historical significance" She replied.

I disagree and said, "Even so it holds history, I don't find your tactics effective since I for a fact know that those weapons are going to be used against us so I rather not risk accidentally dying from your hands than come through to what you're planning to for today, not that I don't trust you but I have my reasons, I don't want to die today" I remarked on my defense.

Eleanore laughs at me, saying, "How imbecilicly incompetent do you think I am? Foolish Theodore, don't underestimate my vast intellect, one which even your alleged Albert Einstein can't comprehend ... I deeply disagree, this activity is fool-proof and very effective in solving our problem and if dying is a concern ..." She said and shouted Lannister's name out loud.

Confused, I asked, "What does Lannister have to do in solving our problem?" I said.

Lannister quickly came, coming down from above and landing as dashingly as he can, then said, "What's happening? I'm in the middle of something, why have I been summoned? Oh, the human is in the premises, I need to charm death so he couldn't get Theodore right out of my grip, I should be the one doing the deeds" He said, looking at me.

Eleanore dismisses his comment and tells, "The reason why you've been summoned by me is that our humanoid creature over there is afraid of dying by my elaborate scheme of breaking their curse, I find your set of hexes the key for Theodore's urgent solution of the problem. You see, Theodore, Lannister here possesses a power that I won't be describing in full detail but he has the hex we need to keep you from the impending death you fear of experiencing, in short for your mind to comprehend, he can perform revival and healing at a whim" She explained.

Vampirs have their own special powers or hexes as they call it that help them in some various ways. But I'm an idiot for sleeping in on Dmitri who I remember was revealing some details about his and everyone's hexes last night. Lannister leans in to whisper something to Eleanore, but I heard a bit of it, hearing;

"I haven't mastered my healing hex yet but if somehow I didn't perform my due, I'll just corrupt the human and try to save the young inane brother of ours some other way, since he disobeyed orders and all ... I already have the opportunity for our food not to escape and use my other hex that I prefer using" The only few I heard.

Eleanore saw me looking intently and nudged Lannister who smiled at me and said his good mornings. I returned the pleasantries as he was convinced his healing hex is very mediocre and might complicate some issues if done incorrectly.

She glares at Lannister, saying, "If you foolishly made an incidental accident, then I will have no choice but to give you a punishable consequence by taking all of your preserved carcasses, specifically the ones you've been curating for days and saving for some apparent reason ... All of it will be discarded by burning them into ash if you slip up intentionally" She said threateningly as it possibly can.

Lannister got on his knees, holding Eleanore by the gown, saying, "Please Eleanore, don't confiscate my preserved carcasses, I've been curing them for days to perfection and accurately then precisely to the right taste specifications to be enjoyed in the future ... No offense to your kind, dainty human" He said.

I just pass my regards of not being offended, kinda the opposite, more scared for my life feeling. Eleanore acknowledges his plead and likewise gave him a push to leech him off her, saying;

"That is no way to negotiate your stance against your own and uphold some dignity for yourself and not for your obsession with consuming food as a hobby, this is in no way in acceptance how a bestowed title of your caliber act, so attain to recondition yourself and cooperate as you engage a guarantee full affiliation with our activity" Eleanore said while smoothing out her gown.

Lannister did as he's told and composed himself, standing in perfect posture and kept vigilant by the sideline. Dmitri snickers at him for being a total pushover, by sighing deeply. With that, the Countess comes to recall the attention of me and Dmitri by telling;

"Yes, how unmannerly you are Lannister, but you do have your quirks cut out for you ... Anyway, right back onto our activity, after my 2nd brother's unshockable and very pathetic obsession with 'meat', unrueful in his worst insolent behavior, we must go back to the important activity at hand, which is breaking the curse, now with everything in order, let's begin our series of activity relating to shattering the pact" Eleanore said as she lifts a menacing looking knife.

The series of montages begins, one in particular starts with me standing blindfolded somewhere at the large ballroom and I think from hearing the voices around, Eleanore is in front of me from a few distance, holding the very same poisonous dagger from the display case and knowingly she's precisely aiming at weak points of my body.

"How is this safe for me when I know you're holding that dagger of knowing to behead somebody?" I argued.

"Silly Theodore, you knew me too well, getting more predictable are we? As instructed, Theodore you firmly stand there while Dmitri, who to pay more attention to would grab the poisonous dagger before it pierces to Theodore's fragile body" She said.

"Do I have a say in this whole dangerous ordeal? I'm not onboard with this first round" I retort for an explanation.

"You don't have a say in this, Theodore, you feeble human, I should remind you to keep quiet before I throw this dagger at you without warning" She said, feeling her positioning her aim.

With a swift elegant throw, the dagger lunges fast but Dmitri wasn't fast enough and the poisonous dagger pierced right onto my shoulder, crying out a loud wince of pain, simultaneously along with Dmitri. Eleanore forbids me to touch the dagger, mentioning that if I did, the poison might inject itself willingly by a wrong gesture of hold or pressing a secret button. I took off the blindfold as I knelt by my knees as Dmitri slowly walked towards me, very angry looking and yanked out the dagger out of my shoulder. Thank goodness, I'm not dying from the poison as I check the puncture, no residue to the bloodstream but I might suffocate from loss of blood. Eleanore grimaces with a disappointingly loud sigh and moves on the next activity.

With her power, Eleanore uses her levitating hex to raise a few sharp pointy swords above my head and various parts of my body, aimed to kill. She calls to relay the instructions, telling;

"A simple one, Dmitri with speed, you must deflect the swords away from Theodore before it impales him to his death, it will simulate an effect which we need to break the curse" She said, set to ready the swords all over me.

"Dmitri, can we put aside our differences and somehow deflect the swords in time?" I said, shaking already.

He didn't reply back but readied himself to position. With Eleanore's flick of her finger, One after the other, the sword flies through the air, heading towards me when Dmitri somehow deflects one sword away from where my lungs are going to be, next one almost comes close to my stomach, he deflects it in time. He's somehow smirking at the fact he's not failing, one after sword to the next came to be, seeing Eleanore smile for a while as I see changes of aura out of me, but I spoke too soon when one sword coming in fast strikes true. Dmitri being all too presumptuous, he outplayed the last one by showing off and misses of holding the sword's handle, escaping his grasp.

Dmitri catches the sword's handle but it was too late, the barrier came out right as the tip of the sword made contact with it, breaking it to metal shards and sending Dmitri flying off and smashing to a nearby pillar. One again, with that shock-wave, I'm found on the floor, in pain and in deep suffering. Eleanore huffs madly and sighs deeply not even wanting to take a look at what happened and demands to do another attempt at it but so far it fails miserably. We move on to the next one.

In another one of the series of rounds, this involves Sebastian as he carries a large metal sheep-headed war maze. He aims it above my head, ready to swing it down to my already fractured skull. Again, Eleanore took front and center, instructing us by telling;

"This time, with our esteemed Head Steward helping us, Sebastian will swing at Theodore's head and or body indefinitely as you Dmitri pushes Theodore away from the impending carnage, THIS IS FOOL PROOF THAT will work!" She said very confidently.

"I disagree with this, but is there some other way without getting me into any sort of trouble to break the curse, how about jumping off the cliff or playing with small knives? skydiving?" I said.

I was about to say something more but at this point, who would listen. With Sebastian at the ready, Eleanore gave the signaling nod and he lifted the metal mace and swung it down towards me. With a flash, Dmitri quickly grabs it in time, before it hits me, looking very proud of himself but he doesn't know, I wasn't in below him. From the very disappointed sound of Eleanore by the corner, Dmitri looked down below and saw me a few inches away from them. He was very confused but I confess by saying;

"I moved away ..." I said.

I was a few feet away from them. With that, Dmitri's aura came out of him then glances back at me, looking all menacingly deadly, saying;

"Why ... did ... you ... MOVE AWAY!?" He shouted.

"I just thought you might not catch the deadly maze on time before it hits my head and ensure a permanent brain damage on me so ... I move away, I confess even I felt Lannister might not heal me from taking a painful hit to the head, no offense Lannister" I said, looking at him.

"None taken, silly human because you might or might not have a point though" He replied.

Eleanore commands Sebastian to hit me again, but as he swings I dodge out before Dmitri saves me. Eleanore blasted me with negative remarks of why I dodge the deadly demise, I have my own reasons that's why. As I dodge and swerve away from Sebastian's hits, Dmitri decided to stop and was unable to control his rage. He took the mace from Sebastian and started swinging it right at me. The commotion starts as Dmitri keeps on swinging the mace to me with pure anger, damaging the very ornate marble times, making Eleanore shouting in dismay and utter misfortune. He swings, I dodge and the barrier shows and disappears right out of me. As Sebastian and Eleanore came to dissolve our conflict, Lannister kept on laughing, commenting;

"This is the most disastrous, destructive and very comedic portion of the activity yet! I can't stop laughing, even I have to admit, my healing hex can't fix those broken and very expensive ornate marble tiles" He said and continued on laughing.

Dmitri and I played parry for more than I can dodge away and his swinging caused huge damage to some parts of the ballroom, especially the floor tiles. Lannister blew a whistle with a comment of the damages seen after the tempestuous carnage. Dmitri finally stopped, sitting on the floor and taking a breather while Eleanore sat on a chair Sebastian was ordered to get for her.

She grimaced for the last time and said, "This was very eventful and we're NOT even done, I can't even bear to look at the 'damages' caused so ... E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E indulge yourselves to TAKE A BREAK before I change my mind" Eleanore said, rubbing her forehead. I took the liberty to go first ahead of everyone because like her ...

I need a freaking breather myself.

After that series of unsuccessful turn of events, I scurried over to the grand kitchen to get something to drink. Inside, I checked out the kitchen for the very first time since the last tour was brief and supervised. Still it's a spectacle of its own, with the intricate paneling of the walls, cabinets and countertops resembling the royal aesthetic and the old regal design all around with the golden-encrusted chandelier above. Some vintage but modern looking appliances are scattered around the place, I even saw a very expensive 50's looking gas oven that I didn't see till now.

Upon investigating the inside of the fridge, a surprisingly putrid odor came my way as containers upon containers of the unusual 'meat' stacked atop the other with names written on each individual Vampir, filled most of the space of the fridge. I shiver in disgust as I lean closer to inspect anything that can be chugged safely. For sure since Sebastian is half human, there is bound to be something worth human in here, and to my surprise, deep within the vegetables and nearby an ornate plate with a human heart placed on it is an orange juice carton.

As I was about to reach over to get the carton and trying my best to not even brush my hand to the other human parts inside the fridge, like the thigh and hand adjacent to it, an alarming voice resounds, saying;

"What a pleasant surprise, the very infamous human is here in the kitchen in the flesh, I never expected for you to be here of all places but here you are, fresh and alive for me to fester and look upon"

I scramble to retract my hand out of the fridge and even knock my head on the side, closing it like I haven't even opened it. As I turned to look at the person, it was Lannister, leaning on the archway, smiling menacingly as he did. To be honest, I never liked him at all even though he hasn't done it to me unlike Dmitri. So for him to be here with me, just us alone is very deadly for me mostly.

"Oh you know, I'm just observing the contents of the fridge you had, nothing to worry about ... What are you doing here, Lannister?" I replied.

He smiled, putting on his charming look and stride inside the kitchen.I got all defensive and he notices, giggling at himself and stops in the middle of the room, still never letting that charming gaze on me go.

"I came here to find you, silly human ... Our dear Countess ordered me to locate you, that's why I'm here and not to cause too much trouble" He said but the way his voice resounds speaks otherwise.

His tongue licking the around the corners of his lips, this is a sign that I'm in a huge heap of trouble. I look at him, determined and said;

"Oh, is that so ... then you found me, this is all just a misunderstanding, I was just getting something to drink that's all, we should get back to the ballroom before everyone notices we were gone" I said.

But that didn't stop Lannister from continuing to walk closer, approaching me with deep intent, sinister even. He commented, saying, "If that's the case, then I was going to get something too, one involving something on someone that I'd like to sapor with" He said.

"Then you have the entire kitchen to find that for yourself, since Eleanore is finding me and Dmitri might be suspecting where I've gone and get irate at me for being unseen for too long ... So I better head out and you take care of what you need to do" I said.

Lannister laughs rather disturbingly, continues to approach me, saying, "You make me laugh, Dmitri? My immature little brother doesn't take or listen to orders from anyone, and even goes as far as to give concern to the likeness of a human, like you. I was genuinely taken aback by your sentiment towards Dmitri, which is another laugh at best due to the fact he's unstable and berates authority, have you seen how he caused imminence damage at the ballroom because of his uncontrollable resentment he possess, specially towards you and your unnecessary heroic action" He said, mockingly so.

"Even so he's like that, in my own action, it was never a mistake of mine to rescue Dmitri from certain death by being run-over, adn to what I said that I didn't want to do it, I never meant any of it, it was just my way of defending myself because I was being slandered by his words, yet what I did to him, pushing him over, it isn't a mistake and I would risk doing it again if I had to, no one has to die without reason, that goes to humans or the supernatural" I said, defending myself.

Lannister laughs again, getting closer as he goes, I was stepping back away from me as he got nearer. He goes on, replying, "How marvelous, your reason is as comedic as it is pathetic, that unusual recognition to my young naive brother is a waste of time and energy, that goes for your action of rescuing him is also a shameful waste, since we Vampirs are subject to immortality, so the fact of dying by being run-over is unheard off, it would never kill him that way, and it might be the opposite ..." He said, getting closer.

Recalling his brother made Lannister filled much rage, expression shown in his face how he very disliked him. Continuing on, he said, "I could even heal him even though he doesn't like it because of pride and upholding his ancestry's name which his illusion he never sustain to do, so it's pathetic to see you all fond of to the imbecile rather than a real Vampir" He ratified.

"How dare you talk to your brother that way, your much more worse than Eleanore, i think I get it now why Dmitri is very vexed at you and your sister because of this bad mistreatment of everything he does, this is why he's very distant, the reason why he's like this is what you do and say takes a toll on him, to be honest, his anger is very justified and now I understand why and even I'm ashamed of you and it is more shameful of you berating him while he's not here to defend himself, luckily I'm here to do it" I said, standing my ground.

He's laughing at me and much louder, he's clearly insane. "Wasteful and needless admiration, a human thing a Vampir would never appreciate, you and your defense against my schmuck halfwit little brother is a waste of energy and that needs to be channeled somewhere else to be used properly, like myself perhaps .... I'm the kind of Vampir who you can adore, due to the fact I'm cunning, charming and not a disgrace like my ungrateful brother, so how about you put that energy to me and give me a sip of your blood, surely Dmitri wouldn't mind or even care at all" He said as he closes in.

I move back even more but I'm starting to lose space as he closes in on me. I'm backed against the fridge and unable to escape or even fight my way out of a powerful Vampir like him. I try to tell Lannister to get away from me and will face retribution from Eleanore from how he's acting.

"There is no point of resisting, come succumb your blood to me, your fresh potent blood in my system" Lannister said.

I looked around the area and saw a knife nearby and grabbing it, defensively pointing it to him. "I know how to use this so BACK OFF!" I said.

"Oh humans, Eleanore was right about your kind, lack of intellect and simpleminded of all things, same as Dmitri, my dimwit, demented, doltish little brother, how he waste a specimen like you, I'm going to enjoy myself" He said.

Pushed back with no place to run, Lannister quickly grasped my hand and pinned it to the fridge with a loud thud. Staring at me, slowly leans down, going after my neck. I try to budge and wiggle out but he's that stronger than me. This is it, I'm in trouble and my blood gets sucked against my will, when ...

"What did you say to me .. Brother?"