The world contained numerous inexplicable phenomena, which the human race was still oblivious about.
One such phenomenon was the existence of creatures outside of this world's natural order.
The creatures deemed to be mythical or believed to exist only in folklore that humans thought they had created for their entertainment were living right in their midst, but the humans knew nothing of it.
All over the world, there were such creatures, not included in the category of humans, yet were living amongst them in secret.
They made sure to conceal their true identity as humans had never been an accepting bunch.
Being different was deemed a threat to the human society and in order to ensure their own safety, they would not hesitate before wiping out every trace of the other entities.
This persecution was exactly what had caused Nita's ancestors to go into hiding, blending in with the rest of the human race so as to protect their lives and those of their loved ones.
Not just Nita, but others belonging to various races had done the same, and now, moving forward numerous generations into the future, humans believed that they were the only intelligent inhabitants in this world.
As long as they continued to live under this pleasant delusion, creatures like Nita would continue to live a happy and safe life.
Thus, regardless of which race they belonged to, they had survived on the basis of one motto taught from old.
Gone were the days of the survival of the fittest; now, making sure that you did not stand out too much was what they expected from life.
In every aspect, they were better than humans, be it appearance, strength, or even intelligence.
However, it was necessary for them to keep humans at a distance, as one step too close and they might reveal their secret, that they weren't as normal as they pretended to be.
Over the years, they worked hard and were able to blend right into a crowd of humans but this was not the case many centuries ago.
'Creatures of the night', that was what they were referred to in the tales written in human folklore, which were passed down to the future generations.
When humans believed that other creatures existed among them, they actively sought them out in order to wipe away their very existence.
Even if these creatures were living in seclusion and trying not to meddle with the other humans, the latter would always justify their motives for killing them as "saving the world from the evil clutches of these creatures."
Having endured such gruesome attacks from the humans, these creatures of the night had realized that standing out would only make matters worse for them.
They might have greater strength when compared to humans but they would always lose when it came to population.
Humans outnumbered them at any given point so it was absolutely essential for them not to get caught around one.
This caused the creatures to seek a better alternative rather than shedding their blood in a futile attempt to compete with the humans for a higher position in this world.
Thus, to continue surviving, they had gone into hiding, moved to newer places, and even changed identities in order to blend in with the rest of the humans around them.
It surely was difficult to adjust to this new way of life at first but over the next few hundred decades, things had changed for their kind.
Like every other living creature, they too had adapted to keep up with the changing times.
They groomed themselves to appear as human-like as possible and were even well-versed in human ways of life.
Thanks to the changes they enforced upon themselves, with every new generation that arrived, the better they got at concealing their real identities.
Right now, the world was thriving with many such creatures of the night who were living among the humans but the humans had no clue about their existence.
One such family was the Valkens, who came from a long line of pure-blooded vampires and were one of the few true vampires left in this world.
Most of the rest had either been eliminated by humans in the past or had assimilated themselves with the human beings, no longer keeping their bloodline pure.
However, there were still quite a few who stayed true to their birth and did not physically associate with the humans who had always been their enemies.
The Valkens were one such family, who despite maintaining a high position in human society, was still distant from those around them.
There were two main reasons for this: the first being that humans were a vampire's natural enemy, while the second was that the distance between them was meant to protect themselves from exposing their real identities to the rest of the world.
From a young age, Nita's parents had taught her numerous times not to get too close to a human as it posed a threat to her identity being revealed before someone who was not worthy of her trust.
After all, the ability to safeguard their futures was in their hands and they should not forget the efforts their ancestors had put in so that the next generations might be able to live a better life in the future among the humans.
Nita sighed as she never had a problem with living a silent life, keeping human contact to a minimum.
Not to mention that she had been doing exactly that for the past nine years as well.
However, now to learn that her elder brother had most likely been taken hostage by someone who knew of their secret identity was a troublesome matter to her.
If a silver bullet was used, then it was obvious that someone knew of their weakness and had not shied away from using it against them.
After all, while the vampire race had adapted to living in the human society a long time ago, their weaknesses had also modified and were carried forward to the next generations.
They might not turn to ashes the moment they step out in the sun, but they did experience a bad case of heat rashes and sunburn if they stayed out for too long.
SPF 50 and above was not an option but a compulsion for them if they did not wish to turn red the moment they stepped outside.
This was why sunscreen was a vampire's best friend, making it impossible for them to live without it.
However, there were still some weaknesses they had not yet been able to overcome entirely.
One such was the weapon used against Detrim.
Silver was a metal that, from times of old, had been a harmful weapon in the arsenal used against vampires.
Not just vampires but every creature of the night was susceptible to this precious metal and would be affected by it even at the slightest touch.
Thanks to evolution, vampires had grown stronger over time yet the pain experienced after coming in contact with silver remained.
Even a slight graze could make them bruise so imagining that her brother might have been shot with a silver bullet was making Nita grit her teeth in outrage.