Alek charged towards the doppelganger in anger, but the figure vanished into thin air. Alek muttered to himself, "You're jeopardizing Aleksander; what audacity!" He disappeared and reappeared in the woods, where he had met Lydia in the house.
Alek's face twisted in a snarl, his eyes blazing with fury. "Whoever uses my name," he growled, his voice low and menacing, "will pay." He walked out almost immediately.
Meanwhile, in the quarters, Jake sat across from Silas, engaged in a discussion. "How do you intend to subdue a group of primordials?" Jake asked.
Silas smirked. "If anyone knows about that family, I should be the one. They're a bunch of paranoids, and that will work in our favor. The one we should fear isn't part of the family anymore. I know they can't be killed, but that doesn't mean we can't subdue them. Silver will weaken a primordial, and a werewolf's bite will cause a fatal blow."
Jake raised an eyebrow. "Silver and a werewolf's bite, that's all?"
Silas leaned in. "Don't worry, I might have already taken the first step in our plan."
Jake's curiosity was piqued. "And what's that?"
Silas's smile grew wider. "You'll find out when we take down the Count."
Marie's voice echoed in Silas's mind. "What about the werewolves?"
Silas responded, "Kill Jake, their alpha. They only gain power when a beta wolf kills their alpha, and the power is transferred to them. If you kill him yourself, there will be no new alpha, and the wolves will be left without a shepherd."
Marie chuckled. "Affirmative, my lord."
Silas walked out of the room, where vampires and werewolves awaited his command in the courtroom. His eyes gleamed with a cold, calculating light as he spoke. "Let the war begin," he whispered, his voice dripping with malice.
---
Caleb entered the room, sitting down at the dining table with his siblings. He noticed their battered appearance and mocked, "So you met Alek too? Guess I'm not the only one who can get beaten up by our brother."
Ethan gave him a long, stern stare. "Come in," he said, and two ladies entered, carrying a tray with three cups. They had slit their wrists, and blood gushed out as they poured it into the cups.
Caleb's eyes lit up with lust. "Thank you," he said, taking a cup.
As they drank, the two ladies suddenly collapsed, their skin turning a bluish-gray hue. Lisa rushed to their side, checking their pulse. "Argyria," she exclaimed.
Ethan's eyes widened. "Argyria? If they died from silver poisoning, it means—"
Lisa finished his sentence. "We've been poisoned."
She began coughing up blood as Ethan's ear started bleeding. Lisa tried to stand, but her vision blurred, and she fell to the ground. Caleb glared at her. "You got us poisoned."
Ethan's face twisted in anger. "No human would kill themselves with silver just to poison us too."
Pain coursed through their veins as black veins appeared on their skin, partially paralyzing them.
Outside, Silas stood alone on the patio, proclaiming, "Good evening, Counts. Hope I pay my proper homage."
Caleb struggled to stand, but Silas entered the living room, patting him on the back. "You shouldn't struggle, dear Caleb D'rion Count. I think you've been poisoned."
Ethan's eyes blazed with fury. "You poisoned us!"
Silas smirked. "Of course I did. You feel invincible because no one has ever tried to kill you."
Lisa glared at Silas, her eyes filled with anger. Silas walked over to her, his voice dripping with malice. "I never meant to hurt you, Iron Lady."
Silas proclaimed, "I came to achieve the impossible: kill the Counts! And if I don't kill them, I'll subdue them."
As he spoke, vampires and werewolves entered the room, surrounding the Counts. Silas sneered. "Let's see what you can do."
Ethan stood, his eyes blazing with fury, and grabbed Silas's neck. Silas retaliated with a punch to Ethan's chest, sending him crashing into the dining table.
Silas taunted, "Who's stronger now?"
A cold, chilling aura filled the air, making the vampires and werewolves cower in fear and confusion. None of them had ever felt this type of aura before. Ethan smirked, and at the gates of the mansion, Aleksander appeared, walking slowly with a smoke aura emitting from his body. His eyes gleamed with cruelty, and his smile was menacing.
"Welcome to the Count's Mansion, dear vampires and werewolves," Aleksander said, his voice dripping with malice.
The vampires and werewolves murmured among themselves, giving Aleksander a wide berth as he entered the living room. He bent down to examine Caleb, waving his hand in mockery. "Hello, brother!"
Caleb glared at him, his voice laced with venom. "You bloody bastard."
Aleksander stood, his eyes scanning the room. "Vampires and werewolves, let's end this charade, shall we?"
He walked towards Silas, his voice dripping with malice. "Even the Christians' Judas Iscariot, Silas Deane, plotted to kill my own siblings. Brilliant! You should have done better. There's always room for improvement and change, but I suppose change is a term that makes up for your inadequacy."
Aleksander clapped his hands, his eyes gleaming with amusement. "You must be the alpha, werewolves. As gullible as ever."
Jake growled, his eyes flashing with anger. Aleksander held up a hand, his voice dripping with malice. "Nah, nah, nah! Did you ever ask yourself why werewolves were bound to be the only Christians worshiping among mundanes?"
Aleksander walked back to the center of the room, his eyes scanning the crowd. A vampire jumped towards him, but Aleksander reacted quickly, smashing him to the ground with a shoulder throw.
"How old are you?" Aleksander asked, pointing to one of the vampires.
The vampire replied, "203 years old."
Aleksander pointed to a werewolf. "And you?"
The werewolf answered, "57 years old."
Aleksander chuckled, his eyes gleaming with amusement. "I know many of you haven't met me before, but this will be your first and last time. I am Aleksander D'thane Count, the primordial Hellese."
The crowd was shocked, murmuring among themselves. Aleksander continued, "Did your king, Silas Deane, tell you about himself? A poor teenager I saved from dying on the battlefield in 1505. That 17-year-old boy who fought in the Landshut War of Succession... did he tell you he was my sire?"
Aleksander's eyes locked onto Silas, his gaze piercing. "I didn't forget your betrayal, Silas."
Aleksander walked back into the crowd, his voice dripping with malice. "If you want to attack my family, kindly do so. I'll have more corpses to hang as souvenirs, and more blood to drink. By the way, do you know vampire blood tastes better than human blood?"
Jake interrupted, his voice growling. "You killed one of our own. Werewolves pay blood for blood."
Aleksander smirked. "Indeed, but I'll give you a fact: I never killed any werewolf recently. If you're still looking for the killer, you should start looking for the lax bastard posing as me."
Jake gave a sly grin, his eyes locked onto Silas. "We'll leave now."
Aleksander nodded. "As you wish."
Jake and the werewolves left the mansion, and Silas sneered. "Aleksander, always the cunning snake."
Aleksander smiled, his eyes glinting with malice. "I never beat the allegations, Aleksander D'thane Count, for you. Next time, I'll kill you myself."
Silas left with the vampires, and Aleksander turned to watch his siblings, who were already beginning to heal. He sat down, and Ethan said, "I knew you'd come back around."
Aleksander laughed, his voice dripping with malice. "No one gets the right to kill you three bloody bastards, even though you can't die. I'll kill you myself when the time comes. I only spared you because you're part of my plan to take New Orleans, and when I'm done, I'll decide whether to kill you guys."
Lisa asked, "Why didn't you kill Silas?"
Aleksander smiled. "Some battles are won with intellect, not brute strength."
He stood up and walked out of the door, vanishing into thin air. He reappeared at his house, where Lydia waited, looking at the woods as if anticipating someone's arrival.
Alek approached her, his eyes narrowing. "You should know you can't follow a vampire's speed; you're mundane."
Lydia smirked. "I wasn't waiting for you."
Alek raised an eyebrow. "Why are you here?"
Lydia's heartbeat increased, and Alek noticed. "You know, human heartbeat increases when they lie."
Lydia's smile faltered for a moment before she regained her composure. "I was waiting for your brother."
Alek's eyes gleamed with curiosity. "What do you want with him?"
Lydia's smile grew wider. "That's none of your concern, Alek."
Alek chuckled, his eyes never leaving Lydia's face. "You're playing with fire, Lydia. Be careful not to get burned."
Lydia's eyes flashed with anger, but she kept her cool. "I can handle myself, Alek."
Alek shrugged, his eyes glinting with amusement. "We'll see about that."
As they spoke, the scene shifted to nighttime in New Orleans. The city was alive with music and laughter, people celebrating St. Joseph's Day. A hooded figure walked down the pavement, carrying a large bag. Another hooded figure watched from a balcony across the street.
The figure on the balcony seemed to be soliloquizing, and then he disappeared into an alley. He walked to the far end of the alley, muttering to himself, "Two more." He pulled out a corpse with the same mark as the previous ones and hung it upside down.
As he mocked the corpse, he suddenly stopped and began speaking in an ancient language. The hooded figure from the balcony appeared, grabbing him by the neck and slashing his throat.
The attacker removed the figure's hood, revealing a being with a muddy, sticky face and no eyes or nose. There were trigram symbols on his eyelids and mouth. The attacker removed his own hood, revealing Ethan.
Ethan's eyes widened in shock. "You're not human. What are you? Why are you killing?"
Ethan stood up, looking at the hanging corpse. "Poor human."
As he walked away, another hooded figure appeared, carrying the dead creature's corpse. They vanished into thin air.