Chapter 14 - Meeting

We barely slept that night. Everyone was too busy taling and catching up to sleep. But we did eventually go to bed to have at least some rest for the meeting with the Council today. After getting dressed, I went down the stairs and found Aeryk standing alone in the living room.
"Hey," I said. He looked up at me and smiled. "What?" I asked.
"British vampires are...weird. Not to be racist or anything," he said, the smile still on his face. I smiled back at him and walked over to him.
"Yeah, Derek and Evan are pretty strange. But you should be prepared for the meeting with the Council today. The higher members are very strict. Maybe it would be best if you just didn't talk while we're there."
"I am completely okay with that."
"I bet you are."
"I hope you're okay with this," he said and kissed me before I could say anything. He put his hands on the small of my back. I kissed him back and put my arms around his neck. I was definately okay with this. Then, I heard stifled laughs from behind me. I reluctantly pulled away form Aeryk and turned to see the twins sitting on the stairs, watching us.
"Evan! Derek!" I picked up a wax apple from the bowl on the coffee table and chucked it at them. They had already begun to run up the stairs so the apple missed them and just bounced off the wall. Joshua came down the stairs then and picked up the apple. He brushed it off and tossed it back to me. I caught it and put it back in the bowl.
"You know, you really shouldn't do that when they're within a ten-mile radius," he said.
"Yeah, we've kinda figured that out," I said. Daren, Patrick, Evaline, Mary, and Riley came down then.
"Okay, everybody get in the limo," Patrick said.
"Whoa, a limo?" Aeryk said.
"Yeah, a limo, Patrick? We're just going to meet the Council," Daren said.
"Oh, we're seeing the highest members. I told them about your situation and they really started paying attention when I mentioned the name 'Alexander.'"
"Yeah, turns out he's an over 10,000 year old Red vampire. No one has even come close to catching him," Daren said.
"Oh, really? That sounds like an interesting subject to study." Patrick and Daren went out to the driveway and Aeryk just looked at me and said, "Cool, I get to ride in a limo." I laughed and hugged him. We walked out of the house to see this huge stretch limo in the front. We got a ride, which Aeryk enjoyed greatly, and walked into the Buckingham Palace. The Council HQ was right underneath the palace and you needed an authorization card to access the "special floor" that the elevator had a button for. We stepped into the elevator and went down. All the way down. When the doors opened, we saw a fancy conference room. It had a huge table in the center that looked like it would sit at least twenty people. Some of the seats were already taken by Council members and around them were more members talking to eachother. We walked in and a vampire that looked like he was African looked up and said, "Ah, Patrick, you're here."
"Yes, sorry but we kind of have a big group with us," Patrick said, pointing back at the rest of us.
"Oh, that's ok. My my, is that you, Rayne?"
"Um, yes," I said, I had no idea who he was.
"Why, you look like you've turned into an excellent vampire. Your eyes tell it all. They're ice blue. Practically glowing."
"Thank you," I said, still feeling a bit akward.
"Well, don't you remember me, Rayne? Ah, surely you do, Daren."
"Um, sorry but we don't," Daren said just as akwardly as me.
"Oh, well I guess it has been 1,000 years. Let me introduce myself once again. I am Benjamin Trason. You may call me Ben, of course. I found you when you were bitten, along with MacGuire." Now I remembered. Good old Ben. We hadn't spent as much time with him as MacGuire. Ben had been the newborn hunting trainer. He taught newborn vampires how to hunt and not to overhunt.
"Oh, now I remeber you!" Daren exclaimed.
"Haha, see? You just needed a name." I smiled and gave him a hug while saying, "Oh, it's Ben. I had forgotten about you since we don't really hunt."
"Oh, that's okay. Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of the members. If that's okay with you, Patrick."
"Yeah, sure, it's fine," Patrick said and then went over to another member and started chatting with him.
"Follow me," Ben said and started walking into the crowd of members. He stopped at the closest vampire, a woman, and said, "Rayne, Daren, this is Denise Wilson. She joined the Council some hundred years ago. She is the best power trainer we have."
"Oh, thanks, Ben. You're the best hunting trainer we have," Denise said.
"Thank you, Denise," Ben said and introduced us to most of the rest of the Council. After about a dozen members, Ben introduced us to the head of the Council, Jaque DuFraunt.
"Jaque, I'd like you to meet some old friends of mine," Ben said.
"All right, who are they?" Jaque asked.
"These two are Rayne and Daren Jackson."
"How nice to meet you," Jaque said, shaking Daren's hand then mine. He looked as if he were about twenty-nine years old but I knew that he was much, much older. He had sky blue eyes that were comforting yet strong. His voice was smooth and ageless. He seemed like the type of person that wouldn't hurt a fly. But I knew this wasn't true, he was a vampire.
"Mr. DuFraunt here founded the Council almost 20,000 years ago," Ben said to us.
"Oh, please, you two can call me Jaque," he said and smiled. He looked at the clock then and said, "Well, it has been excellent meeting you but I believe it's time for the meeting to start. Would you two mind sitting next to me? Afterall, this is about you."
"Sure," Daren said and then Jaque started speaking.
"Everyone, it is time for the meeting to begin," Jaque announced. Everybody in the room ended their conversations and sat down. We took our seats next to Jaque, Ben sat next to Daren and the vampire from before, Denise, sat next to me. Everyone else was a member. The Blake family and Aeryk were standing in the back corner of the room. Jaque started speaking again.
"Now, I'm sure you are all familiar with the matter at hand. We quite possibly know the whereabouts of the immortal criminal, Alexander Manden." There was some murmers from the members then Jaque continued. "This girl, Rayne Jackson, was a victim to him. He will not leave her be. He haunts her, tortures her and the people that are close to her and love her." I saw Aeryk tense. "She and her brother have come to us for help. I think that we should. I know that some of you think that the members that have gone, have gone to America. Now that we know that Alexander is in America, this may be true. If they meet Alexander, all Hell will break loose. So many Red vampires should not be in the same place at once. I have decided to do whatever I can to help this girl, even if it may mean war. I urge you to do the same. I am not forcing you to. Many will be hurt. Some may die, so to speak. Just, please, ponder this. I hope you choose to help."
"Sir, why should we risk ourselves for this girl? She has not done anything to benefit the Council," a member near the center of the table stated.
"How do you know this, Smith? She could have done something. And like I said, I am not forcing you to help her."
"I am sorry, sir, but I choose not to," Smith said.
"I respect your decision," Jaque said. I saw Aeryk tense again and a frown appeared on his face. Jaque spoke again.
"If you choose to help, please see me in my office." He stood up and everyone else stayed in their seats, silent. Jaque left the room and it was filled with the same question from everyone: What are you going to do?
"I'm going to help them of course," I heard Ben say. He got up and left. Denise stood up and said, "Me too," then left just as Jaque and Ben had.
"As am I," Patrick said then left with Evaline and Joshua. The rest of the Council was still trying to make a decision. Aeryk walked over ot Daren and me and said, "I'm gonna help you, you know that."
"Yes, I do, but I don't want you to," I replied.
"Why not?"
"I don't want you to get hurt again."
"I'll be fine. I'll try to convince my dad and the other werewolves to help if there is a war." I concentrated on his face. He looked serious.
"Okay," I said, but didn't really mean it.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment