“Does that mean you’re a vampire then?”
“No, I still have a very loud beating heart and I do not thirst for blood. Elizabeth Grey gave my bloodline all the powers and abilities of the vampire but none of the cons. As for the rest of your families’ lines, you are each blessed with something different. Jackson’s family comes directly from Elizabeth Grey’s bloodline and so he possesses the same magical qualities she did. And I am sure with proper training and continuing your lessons, you all will become great minds and warriors to help aid this world.”
Smiling and turning on my heel, I hooked my arm back into Jackson’s, leaving poor Eric still dealing with his own embarrassment, while we headed to take a walk along the grounds. The house, although old and full of its own history, would always be my home. It was the place where I grew up, alongside other children my age, and we watched in awe as my parents took charge of everything, imposed the rules and laws of our clan on everyone.
The gardens had started to bloom beautifully and smelt of roses and freshly cut grass, and a few younger recruits were sitting on one of the lawns carelessly reading and relaxing. It was nice to see, but also made me question how the house was being run. It was a rare sight while I trained to see anyone relaxing in the morning sunshine or even appearing to enjoy themselves.
“Jackson, why don’t the new recruits know of our history?”
“Sophia only wishes to discuss our heritage with the older, more trained recruits.”
“Well, that isn’t happening. They need to know where they came from and how this all began. And in order to do that, they must learn from the beginning to that moment Van Helsing drank the blood of the alpha, and we were put on this path of honour and duty”.
“You know, you sound like your father, and that's ironic coming from you. You fought him every step the way and I’m pretty sure you are still fighting his ghost now. They will learn our history, but it will just be later.First, they need to train their bodies, and then their minds will come next.”
“If you ask me, it sounds as if they won’t learn any of the history at all and will just become mindless killing machines, just as Sophia wanted.”
Letting go of Jackson and taking a few steps ahead of him, I could feel my anger begin to appear as I thought about why Sophia was suddenly deciding how the history of our clan was being taught. I wondered what other things she had changed without my permission. I would need a good argument to bring it up in front of the council as to why it is important to learn our history correctly and fix anything else she had suddenly stopped.
Coming to the back entrance of the manor there appeared to be more cars, many of which had blacked out windows and small icons of which household they belonged to. Van Helsing had many children before he died and created many allies with other supernatural households, including Witches, Ghosts, Sirens, and elementals.
Many creatures who had been written in human history as evil creatures, but most wisely allies to humans and helped keep the peace and monsters at bay.
“It appears the council has started to arrive; we should get you prepared and ready for the meeting. It’s paramount that you stand tall and show your leadership as I fear it may be questioned today.”
Heading back inside, Jackson and I went our separate ways as I went up to my quarters, hoping to not be stopped on my way, and also to check in on some of the lessons going on in the classrooms, to listen and hear just what everyone was being taught. If my leadership was going to be questioned, I would need to be squared up on everything that was going on.
2
Arriving at the council hall in what could only be described as some silly formal dress, which I despised, and I hated Jackson for suggesting I wear skinny jeans and a t-shirt instead but that just couldn’t do as I still needed to make a good impression.
If I were my father, I would have been able to arrive still covered in the blood of monsters and have my gun strapped to my hip, but as a lady, we are required by clan law to dress formally.
“Next time, I am wearing a suit and the sexist rules will be gone.”
“Yeah, I know, and I fully support you on it, but you know what the elders are like. They wouldn’t take kindly to you questioning the old ways.”
“Well, the old ways need a face lift, as does everything else around here.”
Jackson had joined me on the main staircase and, as usual, linked arms with me and led me down to the main hall, as was the custom. I was the last one to arrive and thankfully, everyone requested to join this meeting. I had spent most of the afternoon waiting around for them, watching, and listening in on lessons within the classrooms.
Lessons about spell casting, creating healing potions, knowing what weapon to us, to know when to hide, when to fight and most certainly, know what to do when your team is losing. I felt the lessons were okay, but I also felt the spark of learning gone. That thrilling feeling of knowing when you may make your first kill, who your teammates might be for the foreseeable future, and of course, creating your first fire potion was always fun.
The hall was brightly lit with multiple chandeliers and candles, a warm environment if you were a simple outsider, but I knew this was going to be some form of interrogation and I wasn’t looking forward to the conversations that were going to arise around the table. As I arrived at my seat, all council members rose from theirs in respect and once I sat down, they took their seats again. Sophia remained standing while she waited for the mumbles and whispers to slowly disappear.
“Welcome all to the council gathering of the Van Helsing house. I thank you all for travelling so far and wide at such short notice, and I am sure you’re wondering why we have called you here.” She paused and looked directly at me as if I were the clueless one.
“There has been a rise in recent attacks within the city and outer rim of RavenBlack, and our sources have confirmed that it is the alpha vampire and her group of misfit vampires and werewolves.”
“I’m sorry, did you just say ‘HER’ group? I thought the alpha vampire was male.” One of the council members spoke up and I noticed it was one of the younger members, part of the German district.
“Yes, I did say she. Our sources have confirmed that the previous alpha vampire, whose name escapes me, has been dethroned.”
“Louis. His name is Louis.” I spoke up and the room fell silent. “He was disposed of by his own vampire family about seven or eight years ago, and he has been in hiding ever since, licking his wounds. I am sure he will build an army to retrieve his crown from his child vampire. Her name is Angelique.”
“Nevertheless, she is a formidable foe and one that has managed to escape every trap we have left her. She is the one commanding the vampires to murder or change the humans who fall prey to her ways, and I’m sure the werewolves are also in on it.”
There was silence within the room as many began muttering to themselves, and then it felt as if the pin dropped, and all eyes landed on me. Did I have an answer to give them? Surely if Angelique had avoided so many traps before, it would take a lot more to get her. I had only met her once, and that was when she was a little vampire, no more than a few hundred years old.