The Half-Blood Princess by Mihaela Bogdan (best books to read for self improvement TXT) 📖

attack the town. Since it is midnight, everybody will be sleeping so all they had to do is bust inside their houses and take them by surprise.
  The clock tower beat four times when the massacre was over. I and few female vampires filled the barrels with blood, while the males done the dirty part of the plan. While they broke down the doors and windows and try to kill their prays, the people were screaming terrified, begging for mercy. No one was left alive. From the youngest to the oldest, from the richest to the poorest; they all have been killed without mercy.
  I only killed two persons: Amen’s parents. Before doing so, I informed them that their son is waiting for them and then ... may they rest in peace.
  -Fellow vampires, gather around and let us get back to the castle. It is four in the morning, meaning that the sun rise is close. Tomorrow night you will do whatever you want to this town. You can choose to either destroy it ... or better! Make it into your own new place to live.
  Saying so, the vampires, after few minutes of debating, decided to settle in this town and make it into their new homes. Only ten or twenty came with me and my four companions to help us carry the barrels back. After that they returned to the town.
  The basement door closed with a noise and Cornelius said that he was tired and went to his bedroom. Scarlet and Rose took the bedroom near mine.
  Miranda stayed a little longer to tell me my new schedule until the duel with Dragomir:
  -I will personal wake you early, when the sun is setting, every day. You will drink only the blood from those barrels and you will train hard until you drop dead tired. My daughters will be your opponents during your training battles. They will show you no mercy and neither should you. After you finished learning all my lessons, you will have to pass a special test. It is too hard for you?
  -No, I was hopping for you to make my training a living Hell. Dragomir has more experience than me, therefore he has an unfair advantage. I would endure all the pain to prove myself in front of everyone. If I want to take father’s place as ruler of the vampires, I must be strong and feared.
  -Excellent! Remember the words you said now when I will not be pitiful with you.
  Miranda went two rooms ahead mine and entered the bedroom. The castle’s places were known by me perfectly. The room Miranda entered belonged to grandpa. Between her bedroom and mine was Scarlet and Rose’s bedroom. Cornelius decided to sleep at the end of the corridor, letting us ladies sleep near one another.
  I entered my bedroom, changed into my night dress and got into my soft bed. The sun began to rise, but the covered glass doors kept the sun beams outside my room. I close my eyes trying to get some sleep, thinking of the last events that took place since I saw Dragomir committed father and grandpa’s murder.
  Even now I can’t believe that he was able to do such a thing. Luckily Cornelius turned out to be a kind and careful person. Amen surprised me when he confessed he liked me because he thought I was wealthy and he can live a good life by becoming my husband.
  I guess I’m not good at judging people. Everyone that I met so far turned out to be the opposite of what I thought they were, except grandpa Daniel, aunt Linda and ... FATHER.
  Even Miranda and her daughters seemed to hate me when I first met them, but to my surprise they turned out to be Cornelius’s aunt and cousins; and the three of them behaved nicely towards me, as if I was a part of their family.
  Soon my tired eyes closed and I went to sleep, asking my self how hard Miranda’s training will be. To my surprise, I wasn’t scared of the unknown.
  I hate to admit it, but since I became a vampire, my personality changed as well. I was no longer the naive and shy little princess that faints every time she sees blood or gets embarrassed easily in front of everyone; I became a cold blooded ruler who doesn’t hesitate when it comes to fight someone or to kill them.
  Like the rest, I was shocked after I realized what I’ve done to Henry. Seeing him all injured, it made me want to cry and apologize, but I didn’t, my vampire instincts told me to have no mercy.
  Thinking of it, Dragomir was right at one point: a strong vampire does what he has to do. And that is to merciless murder everyone who dares to stand in your way. Still, is it right to do so just to obtain respect and power?! I am not sure. XXIII/23

The next morning, Miranda kept her word and woke me up when the sun was about to set. Her unusual way of waking someone up did bother me a little. She came into my bedroom, slamming the door against the wall and poured a bucket of cold water on me. After I jumped out of bed, she threw a red dress from my wardrobe at my feet and said to get down in the hallway in less than five minutes. I did as she said. If I wanted to learn quickly the art of fighting with vampires, I must obey Miranda’s orders. She is my teacher now and I am her student, which means that I must not doubt her methods no matter how hard or strange they seem to me.
  She must have lived over a hundred years and her rough training will be a piece of cake comparing to the fight with Dragomir that awaits me. This is the reason why I trust her and let her give me orders, at least until the duel is over. After that, she will have to obey me again like the rest of the vampire community.
  When I arrived in the hallway, Miranda was talking to Cornelius. She saw me coming, without any hesitation and ignoring Cornelius’s question, she ordered me again:
  -Your first lesson will be hunting animals. Since you are a newbie in the vampire world, Cornelius will help you with some tips. Your assignment for today is to hunt a rabbit. Tomorrow we’ll move on with bigger and stronger animals.
  -Come, my princess! Let us go into The Black Forest to see if any rabbits are there! Cornelius said and run away.
  -Run after him! Miranda shouted.
  To my surprise, my legs felt as light as feathers and I catch up with Cornelius in a few seconds. My father told me that vampires run ten times faster than horses, but until now I didn’t believe it. Who needs a carriage or a horse when you have fast legs? So far, my new powers delighted me and I was curious to see what else I am able to do.
  Cornelius saw my amazed face and said:
  -Maybe we should practice your new physical conditions before hunting. Your body is different now and so is your stronghold, although you could not notice it. You need to get used with the new you!
  -The new me! I said in a whisper, approving his idea.
  Half of the night me and Cornelius run around The Black Forest many times and stop when he thought I got used to the vampire speed running. Then he helped me practice my strength by making me throwing big rocks, first the size of a human, then the size of a house, almost. After that, I had to jump from a tree to another like a squirrel without too much effort and less noise as possible.
  I had to use my agility and flexibility to climb fast on the top branches of the trees. From there I tried to levitate few seconds in the air, above the tree’s crowns. Cornelius showed me a trick in how to land on the ground without a sound and graceful like a swan. When I was almost near the ground, I had to land on the tip of my toes, not on my entire feet bottoms. For doing so, he gave me an advice to take off my shoes.
  The shoes I choose to wear didn’t have any heels, but I must admit I felt comfortable doing levitation skills without them. After that, I had to put them back on because my feet got cold and dirty. Heeled shoes were not made to be used in the wild, therefore I must make some time to obtain better ones, without heels. Some lighter boots maybe.
  In the end, Cornelius decided to take a break. I took the opportunity to ask him about my progress so far:
  -How am I doing?
  -Fine. Why do you ask?
  -Because morning is almost here and I didn’t catch a rabbit yet! It is April, which means summer is near and the nights are going to be shorter.
  -A good reason why my ‘so-called-dad’ choose to duel you at the end of May. If the nights are getting smaller, you will have less time for training, leaving him another huge advantage.
  Without any more time to lose, I went to search in the forest for a rabbit. Using my fast running skills, I manage to catch a white little rabbit. The poor thing was trembling while I was holding him by his big ears in my right hand. He had red eyes like mine. But as a vampire, I must learn to have no mercy, no matter how cute and innocent my victims were.
  -Sorry, little one! I must do this to become stronger. Trust me, if it was my decision to follow, I would let you go. But my teacher won’t be pleased by it.
  The rabbit stop trembling as if he understood me and I, without hesitation I broke his neck. Warm blood started streaming on my hand. The rabbit’s sweet odor tickled my nostrils in a pleasant way and my eyes felt hot, as if I had two burning coals in my eye holes. I licked my dry lips. The desire of satisfying my thirst for fresh blood was huge.
  Just when I wanted to take a little sip from my dead pray, Miranda’s words appeared in my mind, telling me that I must hurry back and to leave the rabbit alone because I did what I had to do.
  Cornelius took me back at the castle without asking me what I had in mind to do with the rabbit, where Miranda was waiting for us. From the look on her face, she seemed upset.
  -Where have you two been? How much time do you need to catch a