Chapter One: Intensity

I sighed looking up at the night sky. Whenever I look up at the silent, clear night, somehow I felt at peace. My eyes strayed into the far distance, skimming through the clutter of twinkling stars, until I found it.

Cassiopeia.

The constellation.

But it was faint, the urban lights blocking the natural glow of the 'W' shaped constellation. I smiled, feeling happy, yet sad inside. It felt good just lying here, on the roof, watching the night go past.

It felt peaceful.

Just doing this, it makes me forget everything. Every responsibility, every trouble I was supposed to overcome. For once, I was happy.

I continued to stare into the night, thinking about the story of Cassiopeia, refusing to close my eyes and sleep.

As my eyes fluttered close, I smiled at Cassiopeia, the constellation which I was named after.

-----

 I was woken by soft hands shaking me on the shoulders. My eyes opened, first blurred then the grim face of my brother, Dante, materialized.

He smiled slightly. “We got to go; Father wants us to help him again,” he helped me up and put his arms around my shoulders.

“Again? This is like the third time this week,” I replied weakly, rubbing the sleep off my eyes as we descended from the spiral staircases.

Dan chuckled to himself. “He will never stop until he gets his revenge, not after Mother...” he trailed off as we entered the spacious living room, where Father was already waiting, a black open briefcase where all the equipments were, was lying by his feet.

He nodded at us briefly, then walked past us towards the front door. Dan looked at me, and shrugged. We know the drill.

He quickly picked up one of the metallic objects from the floor, a black gun with a small red crucifix emblazoned on the handle, loaded and ready. He looked up and threw it swiftly at me; I nodded as I caught it.

Dan armed himself with a pair of arm-length, silver daggers, with an emerald snake coiling at the blade and a black gun, slightly larger than the one he gave me.

I picked up another gun, almost alike to the first, then a short dagger, which I strapped by my leg, hidden by the cloak I was now wearing.

“Let’s go,” he said shortly, the pair of daggers now hidden by his long black cloak. I followed him out of the front door and into the incoming dawn.

-----

The three of us swiftly made our way through the darkening streets. I watched as the lights from the houses dimmed as people closed their curtains upon seeing our arrival. This is something they don’t want to get involved in.

“Cassiopeia,” my father said, addressing me, but his dark eyes remained focused on the endless street before us. “Go to the roofs and watch out from up there...”

Damien and I exchanged glances and nodded. The pair carried on forward while I silently veered to the left, heading for the brick wall which separated one of the houses.

Everything was silent. No sound could be heard at all; even Damien’s and Father’s footsteps could not be heard. I watched as the pair vanished, engulfed by the incoming shadows.

I grabbed on one of the brick jutting out of the wall and started climbing, just as the full moon materialized from behind dark clouds its glow providing me with light.

Then the sound of a lone car revved in the distance breaking the deadly silence. I paused as the car rushed past, its sounds fading into silence, then continued on my way up.

At the corner of my eye, I watched as the street was engulfed in darkness. It was as if the night was devouring the street slowly, spreading its darkness into the empty streets.

As I reached the top, I stood still and examined the silent area.

-----

“They’re here...” the boy announced softly, his hands moving the curtains an inch, his eyes locked on the empty street through the small gap.

Behind him the shadows moved, revealing another man who walked swiftly next to him. “How do you know?” he asked quietly, the man by the window smiled to himself and pointed a long finger at one of the houses before him.

“Wha-,”

Then something moved atop the shadowed house. She stood up, black hair swaying against the soft breeze and a pair of obsidian eyes scrutinized the silent vicinity.

Deciding that the streets were empty and no stray humans or other creatures were about, the figure pushed herself off the terracotta roofs with amazing agility.

The two figures watched from the window as the dark silhouette jumped swiftly from roof to roof, barely making any noise, her eyes always shifting from left to right, looking for any movements from behind the shadows.

With a blink of an eye, the figure jumped off the edge of one of the houses, seemingly floating for a few seconds until she was swallowed by the increasing darkness.

-----

I smiled to myself; they probably thought I jumped off the roof already. I shook my head; I already felt their eyes on me before I even showed myself.

I walked swiftly across the roofs, now hidden by the shadows which had now engulfed the entire area. I thanked the Gods for giving me these eyes capable of night-vision; it made life easier at this moment.

I crouched down the roof and watched my brother and father walking beneath me. Damien’s sharp eyes searched the dark, then his head tilted and snapped towards my direction, I nodded slightly, then he lowered his eyes and continued to search the darkness.

I held my breath, no matter how thrilling this job (well I consider it a job now, since father seem to bring us along all the time and I’m getting quite used to it now), it always give me shivers, just the thought of dealing with these creatures...

My head snapped to my left as the dark fog gave way, revealing five figures advancing towards the pair below me. Damien tensed while my father slowly reached into his cloak. I crouched as still as a statue.

As the fog cleared some more, I began to make out pale handsome faces, dark cloaks and piercing red eyes. I swallowed, I had a feeling blood was going to be shed tonight...

I cautiously reached for my gun strapped to my waist, at the ready when chaos arrives.

Two figures stepped out, one of them tilted his head and examined Damien and Father curiously. Damien arched an eyebrow, his hands by his side, his fingers inching closer to the twin blades.

“Mr Sangria,” the pale faced, brown-haired boy (somehow I thought him a girl at first) said, catching Father’s attention. “... Your services are not needed here anymore,” he spoke softly, his voice full of formality.

“We had already disposed of those rogues,” the dark haired boy next to him added just as bright light erupted behind them, at the corner of my eye I watched as the flames rose up and the smell of burning flesh reached my sensitive nose. “So... you may go now...”

Damien smirked. “Do you really think we’ll just leave like that?” he asked, the fire reflected in his eyes.

“Jaejoong, what do you think?” the dark haired boy asked his partner, a smile creeping into his pale face.

The boy called Jaejoong tilted his head and smiled. “Well, if you don’t...” he paused. “... We’ll have to dispose of you too... don’t we, Yunho?”  he directed the last question to his accomplice. At those words, Yunho’s eyes glowed a darker shade of red.

This is bad, I thought...

The five waited, but no one moved.

“Very well...”

At those words, Yunho lunged at Damien, eyes blazing, ivory fangs extended to kill. Damien smirked and side-stepped the attack, and with one swift move, he extracted his blades. The sound of blade slicing through the air filled the night. I watched as sparks erupted from the blade, Yunho’s long fingernails defending against the metal assassin.

Behind the two, Jaejoong angled his head to the three and nodded towards father’s direction. The three started advancing, eyes burning, nails extending... the predators that walked the night.

 I narrowed my eyes; I knew my Father was capable of fighting three vampires all at once, but three against one? It seemed unfair.

Father stood his ground, his hands still deep in his pockets. He only moved when one of the three started lashing at him with long fingernails.

I stood up, ready to jump and help father, Damien seemed to cope well with Yunho. But then Jaejoong suddenly appeared behind my brother, eyes blazing scarlet, fingernails ready to tear Damien apart.

“Damien!” I shouted in warning, before I realized it, I was in front of Jaejoong, blocking his nails with my dagger. “Watch your back,” I murmured as Jaejoong’s eyes looked at me through my dagger, angry at the sudden interference.

Jaejoong growled under his breath, raising his hands ready to strike.

Then before I knew it, a sudden intense pain hit my heart and I crumpled to the uneven ground. At the same time Jaejoong’s eyes flashed, then turned black and he collapsed to the ground beside me, clawing at the floor in pain.

“Cass!” Damien’s voice sounded distant against the pain. “Cass? Cass?!” 

-----

A/N: Okay, so you might be a bit (or a lot) confused by now... But I hoped you enjoyed it and the details and everything will come in later chapters. How is it so far? Comments?