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 only exist in folklore 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 were never an accepting bunch.
Being different was deemed a threat to the human society and in order to ensure their safety, they would not mind 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 that of their loved ones.
Not just Nita but others belonging to various races had done the same and now, moving forward numerous generations in the future, humans believed that they were the only 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 do not stand out too much was what they expected from life.
In every aspect, they were better than humans; be it appearance or strength, or intelligence.
However, it was necessary for them to keep others 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 that was not so, many centuries ago.
'Creatures of the night', that was what they were referred to in the tales written in human folklore which was passed down to the future generations.
When humans believed that other creatures existed among them, they sought them out actively 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 to not get caught around one.
This caused the creatures to seek a better alternative rather than shedding their blood in their 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 even were well-versed with their ways of life.
Thanks to the changes they enforced on 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 truth.
One such family was the Valkens who came from a long line of pureblooded 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, still was 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 to not get too close to a human which might threaten her identity from being revealed before someone who was not trustworthy.
After all, the need to safeguard their futures were 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 the 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, the vampire race had adapted to living in the human society a long time back but 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 the best friend for vampires, making it impossible for them to live without it.
In the same way, 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 but 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.