The Night Belongs to the Moon | Taeyong

3 | Blood of the Ten Thousand Rats

'What is there to fear when you are living in the Lord's house?' Doyoung yelled, completely different than his usual calm self.

'The Main Hall of the Lord's house is drenched in blood. How is this not terrible?' yelled a vampire dressed shabbily in the servant night suit. He was tall with lean shoulders but his voice was heavy and deep.

The entire staff of the Night Mansion was standing in the Main Hall which was covered in blood. Doyoung was trembling with anger, and his fangs were bared; he was dressed in his night gown with his hair dishevelled and seemed to have forgotten his glasses.

'Threats like these are common in the Lord's house,' he hissed. 'But that's all that they are – empty threats and nothing more.'

'Please, we are all scared but there is no need to start a ruckus over this,' a woman's voice came from the corner.

'Placating me won't help,' the tall vampire from earlier bellowed louder. 'Where is the Lord?'

'You called for me, Sunghyun?' A voice, assertive yet calm, silenced everyone at once.

Taeyong stepped forward into the warm light of the Main Hall, dressed in a velvet blue night gown. There was no panic, or fear in his eyes even when he saw the entire floor of his Main Hall shrouded in blood. The other vampires stood in the corner, covering their noses due to the pungent smell of this foul blood.

'The blood of the ten thousand rats,' Taeyong scoffed, looking bored already.

There was a saying in the world of vampires – Even the blood of ten thousand rats cannot satisfy a hungry vampire. One would assume it comes from the belief that a hungry vampire is insatiable but that is not the case. In the vampire realm, only the poorest would resort to feeding on the blood of something as common as rats on the street. A respectable vampire would rather choose to die than drink such rancid blood. And that's how the blood of rats became a bad omen among vampires. It was one thing to send the blood of ten thousand rats to an enemy to wish them bad luck, but to send it to the house of the Lord meant much more – It was to wish doom upon the Lord and served as a warning that their empire was in danger. This was a threat that the Vampire Lord will soon be thrown out of power.

Taeyong knew of this threat very well and so did everyone else because he himself had shrouded the Main Hall of the previous Vampire Lord with this blood before he rose to power.

Taeyong lit a cigarette and took a drag out of it before he turned to Sunghyun, 'Is there something you wish to say to me?'

'I-I, my Lord... no my Lord, I don't wish to say anything,' Sunghyun managed, bowing his head down.

'If there isn't anything you wish to speak, then shut that fucking mouth of yours,' Taeyong growled then turned to the others, his night gown flowing behind him, 'If there is fear in anybody's heart, then you are not fit to serve in the house of the Lord. I can easily make arrangements for your departure. So, I ask again, is there anything anybody wishes to say to me?'

Taeyong paused, taking another drag out of his cigarette. All the heads in the Main Hall bowed down and the staff said in muffled unison, 'No, my Lord.'

'Very well then. Doyoung,' Taeyong called out.

'Yes, my Lord.' Doyoung was instantly by his side.

'Get the staff to clean this up. Report to my chamber after that. And where is my Familiar?'

'My Lord- I mean, Master, I'm here,' came a soft voice from a dark corner. Dal-ae was still dressed in her Familiar's uniform, only her hair was untied falling over her back.