Quote: Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
-The King James Bible (Exodus 20: 12)

Chapter One: Death

(London, England ~ 1663)
(Charles' POV)
"The hunt is back! The hunt is back!"
I jumped from my seat in the parlor, completely forgetting I was in the middle of my studies with my mother, as I heard a child yelling through the streets that the hunting party had returned. I immediately turned to run out the door.
"Charles!" my mother called after me, I turned back to look at her. She silently pointed to the seat I had abandoned.
"Please mother? Let me go greet the hunt?"
My mother smiled, "You mean let you go greet Carlisle. I know you don't care about anyone else in that hunt."
"That is not true, mother" I protested, "I just don't care about anyone else in the hunt as much as I care about Carlisle."
"Sit, and continue working on your lesson while your father and I go and greet them" my mother said as the sound of horses reached our ears. "I'll send Carlisle in to see you."
I went back to my seat and continued working on the reading I had left as my mother walked out into the hallway, where she met my father. I worked silently until I heard the sound of boots come into the parlor, I spun around with a smile on my face, expecting it to be Carlisle.
It wasn't. It was my parents. My mother looked heartbroken, and was clutching to my father like he was the only thing keeping her standing.
"What is it?" I asked, looking back and forth between my parents. "Where is Carlisle?"
"Charles" my mother said, her voice cracking over unshed tears. "Carlisle was attacked."
"What?" I asked, jumping from my seat once again. I glanced back and forth between my parents
"Your brother found a vampire on the hunt" my father said, "The monster ran, and your brother gave chase, with the rest of the hunt behind him. The monster turned and attacked your brother first."
"No…" I said, trying to keep from crying, and losing the battle with my tears.
"The rest of the hunt tried to help, but the monster turned on them. He killed two hunters, and made off with a third."
"And Carlisle…" I said, fearing what my father would say next. "You said he was attacked, but…he is just hurt isn't he? He will be home soon, after he has recovered?"
"I am sorry, Charles" my mother said, the tears falling freely down her face. "The vampire killed him."
"No!" I yelled, although I feared that would be the truth, "No! You're lying!"
"Charles…" my mother said, reaching out to me. I dodged her hand and ran out of the house. The hunt was a little ways away, at the house of one of the other men of the hunt. I heard the loud wail of agony and saw a woman crumble to the ground. A man ran out of the house, and kneeled next to the woman, who clung to him, just like my mother had been clinging to my father. I ran to the stables attached to our house and saw Carlisle's horse in its stall. One of the men from the hunt was cleaning and feeding it. He looked down at me with sympathy in his eyes.
"I am sorry" the man said
I nodded to him, and then turned to leave. I went back to the house. My mother was weeping in the parlor, with my father next to her. I didn't join them. I ran up the stairs to Carlisle's room. It was clean and orderly, just like he always left it, even if he would be back within an hour. I stretched myself out on his bed and sobbed. He wouldn't be coming back again. He was dead…and it was all my father's fault.
That thought stirred something within me. It was my father's fault that Carlisle was dead. Carlisle had not wanted to hunt. Carlisle had wanted to stay here, but he didn't dare tell our father no, because our father had repeated the fifth commandment to us until we could not get it out of our heads. Honor thy father. Carlisle had just been doing our father's bidding. Our father was too old to lead the hunts anymore, so he sent Carlisle to do it for him. If our father hadn't been so set on hunting these monsters, Carlisle would still be alive.
Downstairs, I heard my father speaking to my mother, and a surge of hate directed at him went through my body. He was responsible for me losing my brother, my mentor, my confidant, and my best friend.