The harem was gone, Lucian was bored and no longer wanted them. His days now consisted of roaming the cavernous castle that was the Eliade family home. His grandparents lived here before they were murdered and his infant mother was kidnapped. It was a sad story of treachery, his grandfather's brother sought the crown and it ended with their death, his mother missing for the first eighteen years of her life. It was so bad for her that she couldn't live in the castle, the memories of never knowing her birth parents hurt her greatly and she opted to live elsewhere. When Lucian turned one hundred he moved to the castle, deciding that he could no longer handle being around the ever growing brood of siblings. He thought his parents were like rabbits, breeding constantly. Of course that was a vampire trait, a high sex drive. Some would see it as a curse, some would see it as a blessing. At the moment, Lucian saw it as a curse. Lucian sat in his favourite lounge, a black velvet wing back, seated right beside the white marble fire place. Over it sat the picture of his grandparents and his infant mother, the day of her christening, five days before their untimely death. He would like to hide the picture in the attic, but he knew it could not be removed from the wall. It hid a secret door to a room filled with very old and very important scrolls. No one was to know of it and therefore the picture remained. The clearing of a throat broke his melancholy thoughts. The butler, Theodore stood at the threshold. Like many of the staff that served in this house, they worried for their master. They knew it wasn't their place to do so, but they had been known to secretly wash his drugs down the drain, many bottles of alcohol would disappear as well. But like always, their efforts were in vain, more would appear. It was like a vicious circle of abuse and they did all they could to try and stop it. Theodore stood at the door, wondering which Lucian he would get. High and happy, drunk and morose or sober and angry.

'Sire, your mother is here to see you.'

Lucian turned to Theodore, bright eyed and seemingly sober. Theodore was pleased that his master had managed to find clean clothes to wear. Knowing the staff were banned from his bedroom, Theodore knew it was a task for the maids to ensure he had clean clothes. Of course being banned from the room didn't stop them from going in there when he wasn't around. They searched out items of clothing to wash and put in his draws, pretending they were always there. To add to the illusion of it, they left some items behind, always hoping he wouldn't notice they had disobeyed his request. They couldn't handle not cleaning, they didn't want their master getting around in dirty clothes just because he was trying to hide his addiction from them. The maids also cleaned his room with a certain subtly that their master wouldn't notice. They also went searching for the vices that they knew their master hid in that room, disposing of whatever they found. Lucian had managed to find clean clothes in his robe, a simple shirt and jeans. His face was plain and gave Theodore hope that a brighter future might be on the horizon.

'Of course, uh in the parlour, maybe?'

'Certainly.' he bowed and left the room.

With great relief Theodore scuttled through the house. Lucian was sober which he knew was a requirement of his mother for when she visited and as a bonus, he was in a reasonable mood.

Lucian knew not to bring his mother into the room with that picture. It upset her. She too would like it in the attic. As he crossed the entry toward the parlour, his mother entered from the rear of the castle, walking toward him with a smile.

'Hello darling.'

She kissed him sweetly on the cheek.

'Mother, what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?'

Alina smiled at him again, her eyes flickered with uncertainty.

'Because I know how you dislike this place.'

He pushed open the door and waited for her to pass. Lucian wasn't overly fond of this room, mostly because he had spent a lot of time with Ariella in here. The room was cooler than the lounge, the fire place was half the size as the marble one in the lounge and didn't heat the room as well as the other one did. But still, it was a pleasant room to be in, the furniture was more modern in this room and it had a grand piano. Lucian had looked upon it many times when he had dated Ariella and thought that he should make her teach him how to play it. But he didn't and now it sat there idle.

'Yes.' she said softly as she sat on the oversized cream lounge, flicking her dress out. 'I came to speak with you about a conversation I had with a human and a subsequent agreement that has been made.'

'Oh?'

'Well this particular human is a director, music videos and such.' she waved her hand rather dismissively. 'He has a new music video that he has to shoot and the band wants a gothic castle.'

'Right.' Lucian knew where his mother was going, instantly he felt anxiety.

'It's a whole medieval, gothic type video.' she crinkled her face. 'I don't know really, so they'll be here for a few days.'

'Here? Why not your castle?'

'Not the right look apparently, they want this one.'

'Fine, whatever.' he huffed.

'So uh, also they might be here overnight too.'

'What?' Lucian hissed. 'You want me to entertain them overnight too? They do realise this is a house full of vampires right?'

Alina laughed.

'One vampire and his small group of staff does not equate to a house full.'

'It's enough, mother, especially when they are hungry.'

'Well the nearest hotel was too far away and they were wanting to do night time shoots as well, so they politely asked and I agreed. And I am sure that with your new found sobriety you will find their company most welcoming.'

'Somehow I doubt that.' he muttered.

'Well you will just have to deal with it Lucian. You are on thin ice at the moment and you would do well to remember that. I still own this house, I still put money into your bank account. If you want to continue your destructive lifestyle, then maybe you should move out and get a job.'

Lucian groaned rather loudly as he looked up at the ceiling.

'So when are they going to be imposing on me?'

Before his mother could answer the buzzer went off for the gate. His head snapped to his mother's as he whispered no. She gave him an apologetic smile.

'Sorry, they wanted it done rather quickly. A window of opportunity has arisen for them and they want to take it.'

'Fine...' Lucian saw Theodore scurrying past. 'Theodore.'

The man paused at the door.

'Sire?'

'Make sure the guards check them thoroughly, including every single item they bring in.'

'Of course.' he bowed and continued on his way.

'Because it could be a trap.' he looked at his mother with a frown.

'Oh don't be ridiculous Lucian.'

**********************************

Lucian held a quick meeting with his staff while the guards checked everyone and everything. He didn't want an incident so the staff were to ensure that they were well fed at all times and to ensure that the fridge was well stocked with bagged blood. It would only be for a few days he reassured them as best he could, not that he believed it, he didn't know what to believe. The staff were understandably uneasy. But to their credit, they set about readying rooms for the guests and stocking the cupboards with sufficient food.

He was in the midst of talking to the head of the security guards when his mother floated into the room, a small hoard of humans following her. Lucian wanted to shake his head with dismay, she was giving them a tour.

'Lucian darling, this is Bill the director.'

Bill was reasonably well dressed considering his grey hair was the complete opposite, it was greasy and unkempt, just touching the collar of his shirt. His eyes looked tired, time had worn its mark into his skin and made him look older than what he was. Lucian politely nodded at the man and then his gaze snapped to the raven haired woman to his side. Shit. He thought as he looked on at Danika, her brother behind her.

'Hey it's the vamp from the concert.' Brendan chuckled as they wandered over.

His mother and the director continued through to the dining room, leaving the band behind.

'Man, your wife is totally hot.'

Lucian felt the anger swell quickly, his eyes darkening.

'That's not my wife, that's my mother.' he hissed.

'Oh... awkward.' he quietly half sung it.

'So that chick that was with you?' one of the other members asked.

'My youngest sister.' he frowned at him. 'Barely eighteen, do I make myself clear?'

'Oh yeah sure.'

One of the maids appeared making her way around the exterior of the group. The band members looked at the sudden appearance of the woman, her long willowy body framed in business like black dress. Her hair was soft, a pale brown pulled back into a loose bun. Even though they knew they were walking into a house full of vampires, they were still uneasy at the prospect of being here. This woman was just one of an unknown amount of them to worry about. She seemed human, she had a lot more colour to her skin than the man in front of them but once she opened her mouth and the fangs appeared, they knew she wasn't human.

'The rooms are prepared your highness.'

'Thank you Elena.'

She curtsied as was required and quickly left the room. The chuckles of the bass player echoed through the room.

'Your highness?' he snorted as he laughed.

'Do you have a problem with the way that my staff address me... Spencer, was it?'

Spencer rolled his eyes in a very dramatic fashion. He hated how the vampires had a certain arrogance about them, thinking they were better than the humans. And as for having the staff call him like he was some royal person, he thought it was just wrong. It was like treating them as if they were dirt.

'You're acting like you're some high and mighty royal.'

'That would be because I am some high and mighty royal.'

Lucian turned on his heels and left the room, he knew if he stayed there one of them would be on the floor, drained of their blood. Or maybe a snapped neck. He hadn't decided but knew that neither would be wise.

Danika scoffed at Spencer, poking him in the arm.

'Onya Spence, why don't ya just piss a vamp off, don't you like living?'

'How was I supposed to know?'

'Well one look at the place would say enough to maybe wait and find out, yeah?'

'Yes.' he rolled his eyes again, hoping that next time he decided to put his foot in it, he would survive.

*******************************

Lucian reluctantly joined the guests for dinner. His fascination for human food had died off about two hundred years ago and now only ate when ultimately necessary. But his mother insisted that he play host and behaved himself. Lucian would have liked to make them sleep on the lawn in tents but all he got from his mother was a frown. He thought he was being generous, he would prefer the tents on the gravel driveway rather than killing the grass. Lucian sat at the head of the table looking down it with dismay. Bill was to his left and Brendan to his right. Danika was beside her brother, Baz opposite. But right down the very end was Spencer, it was like a contest of who could narrow their eyes at each other for the longest.

They all sat down to a very pleasant meal, Lucian thought that his staff had outdone themselves considering that no one under this roof ate human food. The noise coming from the male members of the group was deafening for Lucian, all he could hear was the monotonous sounds of their talking. They laughed too loud, they spoke words that could make a sailor blush and they had terrible eating habits. Bill was quiet, eating his meal and saying nothing and then there was the other little mouse at the table. Lucian tried not to look at her too much but couldn't help it, she was fascinating. He still couldn't get into her mind, she had one very strong wall in there. Lucian resolved that whoever taught her had done a damned fine job at it. He picked up his glass filled with a thick red liquid. There were several screwed up faces when Theodore put it out for Lucian, his reply to them was that he could forego the glass of blood if any of them were offering their necks. They all promptly shut up which was just the way Lucian liked it. As he sat quietly drinking his vital sustenance, his eyes washed over Danika. Her hair looked so soft, something rattled through his mind that he wanted to touch it, to see if it was as soft as it looked. The black had a blue tinge to it, shining under the light from the chandelier. Lucian had never seen such a colour before, thinking it was odd but for some reason, he knew it suited her. Her eyes looked up and met with his, instantly she blushed and darted her eyes back down at her plate.

************************

Dinner was far more painful than the meal with his family, at least he could talk to them if he wanted to. These humans were too boisterous for him, he had nothing in common with them. Bill had suggested that filming would take about a week but he held concerns about the weather for the external shoots. He needed a clear night to get good images of the castle, if the moon was out then he would be a happy man. Lucian wondered if Bill was expecting him to offer a big scary moon with the snap of his fingers. No, there was no ordering the moon around nor the weather. If it rained Lucian knew he would have his loud guests for a lot longer. He prayed that the weather behaved itself.

Lucian's only consolation was his scotch in his favourite chair by the fire, surrounded by his sad memories. His head ached from the lingering hangover and the humans that were way too loud for his liking. So when he decided to retire to the lounge for the evening, he hoped for a moments peace and quiet. His luck however would not allow that to happen, on his favourite chair was one green eyed woman, picking away at her guitar.

'You're in my chair in my lounge, out.'

She looked at him, almost like she was challenging him. Her lips pursed together with a sly smile as she flicked her legs off the chair and leaned down to get a cord off the floor. Lucian was faced with an amazing view of her cleavage and instantly his mind was shot, he now found himself wanting intimacy again. But not with any woman, it had to be her. She plugged the cord into the guitar and into a little amplifier by the chair and flicked the switch. As she nestled herself back into the lounge, she began to play on the guitar again. Loudly. It was almost deafening for Lucian. Anger flickered through Lucian as she ignored him, she was doing her utmost to push his buttons. A low growl emanated from him as he turned on his heels and stalked out of the room, upending his scotch and throwing the glass against a wall. Danika just shook her head. She wondered what did that poor glass ever did to him to deserve that. Her pity for the glass turned into a chuckle, finding that it was easy to bait Lucian. She knew this would be a fun couple of days.