Aurora Mortenson's Story

Aurora Mortenson emerged from her bathroom in a cloud of steam. With a sigh, she ran a thick black brush through golden blond hair and sat on her bed, checking the clock. Two in the morning. Not a bad time for a vampire to be just getting ready for bed. Not bad at all, in fact, most of her coven was probably still wide awake. She'd just gotten back from a midnight investigation into the murders and disappearences that had been happening lately . Her findings had shocked her and she'd needed a good bath to think. Now, sitting on her bed, she placed the brush down and picked up the small figurine sitting on her bedside table.

The figure was one of a woman, pulling a bow back, ready to shoot. She closed her fingers around it, squeezing harder and harder until there was a brief second of pain and then the thing snapped in two. Just like that. A month ago, her closest friend had gone missing, vanishing out of no where.

Tonight, Aurora had found the huntress figurine laying beside her mangled body. She had had to use all her willpower to force herself to inspect the wounds and after careful examination, found exactly what she'd feared. None of the marks were werewolf claw marks or bites.

Meaning someone else had done this. Someone who'd left the figurine. Aurora glared at the broken thing in her hand, demanding it to provide her tired mind with a logical answer. Sadly, it did not answer her and she sighed, setting it aside and standing to change into her white nightgown.

As soon as she stood, Aurora was forced to sit again. A blinding white light seared through her eyes, burning her, and making her scream. As a vampire , one of her greatest fears was blindness, but just as she'd thought she'd never see again, the light dimmed and the pain subsided.

Aurora found herself panting hard and she slapped a hand down on her bed to reassure herself that she was okay. Her hand struck paper. She looked down to see that she'd smacked a yellowed letter that had certainly not been there a moment ago. What the hell had just happened? Confused, Aurora lifted the letter delicately and read through it.

She dropped it, letting it float gently to the floor at her feet. For the first time in a hundred years, her hands shook with shock as she quickly threw on her lace nightgown and grabbed the letter. Without even stopping for slippers or a robe, Aurora marched straight down the hall, white lace billowing behind her as she moved purposefully.

She didn't stop until she'd reached Julien's door, her second in command. Outside, she pounded on the door urgently. "Get your lazy ass out here Julien, I don't care what you're doing!" she barked through the door. Another second and no answer. Too long. Without another word, Aurora shoved the door open and stepped inside. "Downstairs in the livingroom now." she ordered impatiently before turning on her heel and heading back up the hall.

As she did so, she made sure to jiggle the handle of each door, giving the others her sign for "get downstairs , meeting.
Once Downstairs in the main livingroom, Aurora selected the largest of the many velvet chairs all wrapped in a "U" shape around the grand fireplace. The fire was still popping soft, bathing the room in a warm glow. The open windows let in the cold night air and for the first time since reading the letter, she realized she was shivering in her nightgown and scooted her chair closer to the heat of the fire.

As she waited, Aurora crossed her legs daintily and thought. What was she going to do? She glanced down at the letter. You know what you have to do Aurora. She thought to herself. Yeah, but is that what's best for my family? The idea made her cringe, but she knew what to do. Based on the letter, it was her only option.

Slowly, the members of her coven started pouring in and Aurora lifted her blue eyes from the letter. She waited until everyone had arrived before speaking, voice as casual as if she was talking about the weather. "We're moving in with the werewolves." She said bluntly, letting hee crystal clear blue eyes make contact with each one of theirs , knowing it would enraged most of them, if not all. "There's a race of humans." She lifted the letter for them to see. "They know our secrets and they're hunting us. These disappearances have been due to them. They're called the Cacciatori and they're absolutely deadly." She lowered her eyes and sighed deeply. "I don't care how strong you think we are, we can't take them on ourselves. I've received this news from the lost princess Daniel herself." She said, lifting the letter again and raising her eyes.

She rested her gaze on Julien's, then the others one by one challenging them. "I'll hear your protests out, but you won't change my mind. I don't like this just as much as you don't, but it has to happen or we"ll all die. Anyone who doesn't believe me can read the letter." she looked up to Julien for support. He was her right hand and no matter how crazy he drove her sometimes, he was good at his job otherwise she wouldn't have chose him.

A cold breeze flooded in through the window, cutting through Aurora's nightgown , making her shiver. Silently, she hoped it wasn't a bad sign .



Caprice Mornelli sat in her office, a stack of files in her lap. Her clock read two in the morning, and as she worked, she held a cup of coffee in one hand, heels propped up on her desk almost carelessly. Large brown eyes scanned line after line of tiny 8 pt font, not even tired despite the late hour. She was used to late nights. Not only was Caprice a workaholic, but there was also no better time to catch a vampire or slay a werewolf than two or three in the morning.

Or apparently read files.

A disturbance at her door made Caprice look up, one eyebrow hooked upwards as if to say: "can't you see I'm busy?" At her door stood her messenger. He wasn't good for much, but he knew how to protect himself at least. Sad really, what became of her fellow Cacciatori members who really had no skill. "What is it Albert?" She asked rather impatiently.

"Its Bryce, Miss Mornelli. The man said sheepishly.

"And? What about him? Because short if him being dead, there is absolutely no reason for you to bother me while I'm working." She said annoyed. As if to prove a point, Caprice stood, towering over the man.

"uhm.. Actually.. He is dead. Killed by a vampire just now."

And with that, Albert scampered out of the room barely missing the vast that was pitched at his head when she'd registered what he'd said . "WHAT?!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs, the photo on her desk rattling violently. Bryce was dead? How? He was her top man. Her right hand. She shook her head. Dam vampires, if you wanted something done right you had to do it yourself.

Sitting, Caprice managed to calm herself again and think logically. Papers forgotten, she grabbed for the phone. The secretary's voice came, adding her who she wanted. "Chandler please." she said an waited a minute. Since most agents were at the office either for last minute paperwork or a late night hunt, it only too Bryce's brother a second to answer. "Chandler , yes, its Caprice . I'm so sorry to be the one to tell you, but Bryce has been killed by a vampire. I would like you to take his place as second in command. It would do your brother proud." Her voice was pleasant and sympathetic as she spoke. Sure, she could have chosen her own sister to take bryce's place, but she hadn't. Mila was too soft for the job, and while she loved her, probably the only person Caprice ever had loved , she wouldn't give her a job she couldn't handle.

It was a beautiful night. The moon was shining gently and an owl let out a mournful hoot on the old oak trees outside his room. A few daring moonlight danced on the male face as he turned his head and let out a grunt before grasping the pillow and put it over his face to prevent it from waking him up. He didn't want the damn thing to ruin his sleep more than it already did. He let out another grunt as he snuggled deep into his warm bed, and let out a content sigh as he quickly realized he had successfully avoided that damned moonlight. Al was sleeping, blissfully unaware of the urgent matter that would happen to him a few more minutes. He really, really needed his precious sleep. From a far distanced outside his room, Al heard some noises but he was too sleepy to care about it. At least, he didn't care about it until it practically slammed into his eardrums with a shrilling noise - a very familiar noise, too.

"get downstairs, meeting."

The leader of the coven - his cousin - Aurora Mortenson had waken him up from his beautiful slumber...again. How many had she done that already? Ten? Twenty? Al let out a loud grunt, trying to fall asleep again but it was no use. He had received his order and by the sound of it, about a pretty serious matter, too. Yawning loudly, the lazy coven member opened his eyes and let out a mighty yawn. 'Well, this sucks. I really shouldn't have partied so hard last night' He thought with one hand rubbing his eyes, trying to shake the sleepiness out of him. Finally, deeming himself good enough, Al grasped his white, button-up shirt as he hastily put it on. After that, he put on a pair of black jeans and looked at the mirror image of himself before smiling brightly. Well, he did look dashing today. Al turned the doorknob and walked out. He hoped it was some good news. Maybe they had captured some new humans for him to toy with.

But... his spirit was quickly crushed as he heard his leader's words. "We're moving in with the werewolves." She spoke curtly and Al resisted the urge to shout in anger. What kind of decision was this? Did she even think what they would think of this? 'This is ridiculous! There is no way in hell I will stay with those hairy creatures!' Al thought as his eyes flashed in anger. Had she gone mad from leading for too long or what? She made eyes contact with him or at least, she tried to. Alphonse refused to look at her as he huffed and crossed his arms, willingly let himself listen some more of her nonsense. "There's a race of humans. They know our secrets and they're hunting us. These disappearances have been due to them. They're called the Cacciatori and they're absolutely deadly." She said as she lifted some kind of yellow paper and Al felt his anger nearly got out of control again. What a stupid, dimwitted, laughable statement! There was no other races as strong as the Children of the Night! "I'll hear your protests out, but you won't change my mind. I don't like this just as much as you don't, but it has to happen or we"ll all die. Anyone who doesn't believe me can read the letter."

Al reached out his hand in an attempt to read the letter but stopped himself as he heard Julien spoke again "Aurora, why do you smell like--" He paused and began to choose his words before he spoke again, this time his voice was gentler and more hesitant and for the first time, Alphonse realized his cousin was smelling like her friend "Did you find her?" Before Julien or Aurora had the chance to speak anything, Alphonse cut them off with a harsh voice "What? You guys are all gonna just...agree to this?" He waved his arms in frustration as he tried to convert his words "Do you realize how stupid this sounds? It reeks of those...those hairy creature's scents!" He pointed at the letter and continued, raising his voice subconsciously "This must be some kinds of traps from those...disgusting creatures! There is no way mere humans can know about our weaknesses! It is not like we have written our weaknesses inside a damned book or anything!" He ran a hand through his messy hair as he tried to calm himself down "Dude! Think rationally! Are you telling me that we have been targeted by the humans? The things that we hunt everyday?" He spat the word 'humans' like it left sour taste in his mouth as he sighed and spoke in a much softer tone "We all miss her but you must let her go...maybe she has been killed by the werewolves and the letter...the letter is a faked one...to lure us right into their dirty, filthy camp and to destroy us once and for all"

He slammed his fist on the wooden table and said in a quiet voice "Think, my friends. Think! Do you really believe those...hunters as you have just said...will be stupid enough to leave a clue behind...if there're even hunters like them. I mean, if I am the hunter then there is no way I can let the letter fall into your hand this conveniently." Al ended his speech with a heavy sigh...They were digging their own tombs, he just knew it.

Cassie was curled up in bed, dreaming sweet dreams, when the jiggling of her door woke her up, Cassie groaned and slowly got up, streaching, and slipping on her white fluffy slipers, that matched the white tantop she was wearing and the pajama shorts that were a light blue, almost white color, even once she woke up, in the middle of the night she looked great, of course she was already wearing a bra, but the tanktop showed off her curvs nicely, and the pajama shorts showed off her long slick perfect legs, even her hair was perfect, falling down in back in dark curls. Cassie shook her head and slowly made her way down stairs, already useing her power to listen in to everyone's thoughts.

She froze.

"We're moving in with the werewolves."

Cassie stood in the door way, focesing in on Aurora's thoughts, she watched the secne play over in her head, most likely because it was playing over and over again in Aurora's mind.

The snapping of the figure, the blinding light, the moments of fear and pain, then the letter. Aurora had acted fast, and as far as cassie could tell, she was making the right choice.

Cassie slowly turned to Alphonse scrowling before she went over and stood next to Aurora. She had always felt like Aurora was like a sister or even mother to her, she always and would always want to defend her. " I agree with Aurora, this is dangures. The...Mutts are our only hope, we could help each other...stay alive." Casie said smiling weakly at Aurora, who had no idea she was singging zippidy do da zippidy day, my oh my what a wonderful day over and over again in Alphonse head to get him to shut up.

"Think, my friends. Think! Do you really believe those...hunters as you have just said...will be stupid enough to leave a clue behind...if there're even hunters like them. I mean, if I am the hunter then there is no way I can let the letter fall into your hand this conveniently." Al ended his speech with a heavy sigh, making Cassie frown.

" Your an idiot. They enjoy the hunt, any hunter dose, and their humans, it could be one of three things, their calling card, a warnning to us, or a stupid human making a stupid mistake like they so often do. Either way, do YOU want to go walk up to the HUNTERS and be like 'Heyy i'm in a large vampire coven, and I wanted to know if you kill vampires, oh by the way I might suck your blood.' I'm sure that would go over nicely." Cassie said, sacasim pretty much dripping from her voice as she spoke. Cassie shook her head, her curls bounceing as she did so and sighed loudly turning to her brother, before she froze again and turned to Aruora copying her bother's words.

" Did you find her?" Cassie whispered.

Belle leant back on the bed and giggled coquettishly, batting her blue eyes at the human man sat before her. Of course, it had the instant desired effect and the man's eyes filled with lust and want. Then again, which human man would be able to resist a vampire's laugh? Their voices were beautiful; all velvet and smooth. And their giggle was even more beautiful. Almost… Irresistible.

The man smiled back, reaching a hand out to touch her bare thigh. Of course, Belle was still all dressed up. Tonight's outfit choice had been a fashionable white dress with her signature black, leather jacket to dress it down and a pair of black heels. Her hair was pulled back into a loose but carefully styled ponytail, held back with a black clasp. Her makeup was all still perfectly in place. There wasn't a single mistake. She flicked her gaze to his hand on her leg. The man's skin was a couple of shades more tanned than her own pale, creamy flesh but they looked as smooth as her own. Obviously, he did a job that didn't involve a lot of manual labour, she concluded. But why was she worrying about that? It didn't matter about him. She didn't even remember his name. All that mattered was he wanted her. He was showering her with compliments and paying her the attention she desperately craved.

It didn't matter who he was really. He was just some man she'd called because she was lonely. And she couldn't be alone. She just couldn't. Really, she had no intention of either feeding on or sleeping with him; which was unusual for a vampire. Myths told of evil creatures, obsessed with blood and sex. Of course, both of those things interested her. But, she preferred what came before. When the person, whoever they might be, paid her attention. Complimented her. Made her the center of attention. That was what mattered.

She could've found one of the coven members to talk to. But, as far as she knew, all of the others were still locked away in their room, doing whatever it was that they did; it didn't matter to Belle. Usually, she would have gone into her brother’s room and demanded his attention. Even though he was arrogant and self-obsessed, they were each other's equals. For every unsavoury quality of hers, he was able to match it with one of his own. They made the perfect siblings. She loved him and, although the attention she got from him wasn't worth as much as other peoples as they were family and he'd always have time for her, she still enjoyed being with him. But tonight, Belle had decided to call someone else. Tonight, something seemed to be wrong in the coven. She wasn't sure what, but it was definitely wrong.

Belle raised her gaze from her thigh to meet the man's eyes. He was attractive, of course. Blue eyes, dark hair, tanned skin. Although, she was a vampire, if she couldn't persuade someone attractive to spend time with her then who could. Also, she never spoke to unattractive people, as a strict rule.

"So..." the man begun suggestively, but Belle heard no more than that. She pressed a finger against his lips to silence him.

Then the jiggle of the door handle came. Yes, she had been right. She had heard Aurora, their coven leader calling to her second in command, and now she was making her way down the hall, by the sound of it, signalling to everyone that she wanted them.

She turned her attention back to the human. "You can go now," she told him dismissively, removing her finger from his lips and standing up. She straightened her clothes and checked herself in the large mirror by her bed. It was only her coven, but she always had to look perfect.

"But-" she heard the man protest behind her.

Belle spun back round on her heel, cutting him off and fixing him with an icy glare. "I said, you can go now," she said coldly.

He needed no more persuasion than that. In fact, that was a particular talent of hers; some even called it her 'gift'. She was incredibly persuasive, almost always getting her own way. It was least effective on vampires, followed by other supernaturals and she had to work a little harder with them. But to humans, she could simply say the word to most and they wouldn't even question it.

The man stood up obediently. "Bye, Belle," he said with a smile, and left.

Belle followed him out, making her way along the corridor when Aurora had gone. She knew she didn’t have to walk him out and make sure he left, he would do exactly what he was told, she was sure of it. When she arrived in main living room a few members of the coven were already there, wrapped in the soft, comforting arms of the huge velvet chairs. Belle found her own seat and sat down into it. She smiled slightly at the feel of the soft, luxurious velvet against her skin. It was perfect.

Belle turned her attention to Aurora. Studying her for a couple of seconds, she was amazed to find that their coven leader looked almost… Shaken. But when she spoke, her voice sounded calm and casual.
"We're moving in with the werewolves. There's a race of human. They know our secrets and they're hunting us. These disappearances have been due to them. They're called the Cacciatori and they're absolutely deadly. I don't care how strong you think we are, we can't take them on ourselves. I've received this news from the lost princess Daniel herself."

Belle’s instant reaction was to shudder violently. The dogs? They were moving in with the dogs? In her mind, endless images of big, salivating wolves, fur dripping with mud and water, flashed through. How disgusting. She was about to protest, but Aurora beat her to it.

"I'll hear your protests out, but you won't change my mind. I don't like this just as much as you don't, but it has to happen or we’ll all die. Anyone who doesn't believe me can read the letter."

Instantly, there was a flurry of complaints. Al begun an impassioned speech on how it was all just a trap. Cassie tried to calm the complaining vampires. But, there was something that really caught her attention. Julian, their second in command had mentioned her. Belle sniffed the air lightly, honing in on Aurora’s sent. Julien was right… Over the top of Aurora’s familiar scent was another. One she hadn’t smelt in a while. It was her… The slightly sweet, yet slightly bitter scent of the vampire that had gone missing a month ago; Aurora’s closest friend. But laced through her scent was another. Blood. The cold, metallic tang of vampire blood.

Belle cast her gaze towards her brother, catching his line of sight for a second before turning back to stare at Aurora, waiting with baited breath for an answer.

It's funny how when you work in the dark for so long that's all you see. Your days become small vapors before your life is completely consumed by the darkness that lay awaiting, hungrily. That's how Chandler Hamilton's life was, how it always had been since a very young age. He was drowning in the darkness, choking, without a way to scream. Then again..Why would he want to? He had become one with the night, it was probably better that way. He was not worthy of the sunlight, and prefered sleeping during those tedious, bright hours, anyway.
For the night being, instead of darkness Chandler was drowning in research and reports. Reportings of the latest unsolved murders, patterns that followed, and so forth. A deep crease seemed to have permanently settled into his forehead, just above his brows. He was in deep concentration, like always around this hour, if he wasn't out slaughtering some God forsaken immortal, that is. The thought of them use to make his skin crawl. Of course, that was when he was younger, naive, afraid. Now the thought simply pissed him off, made him want to beat the living crap out of something; preferably, someone. His large, slightly calloused hand hovered over a file. He had read over it three times already. With the rough exhale of air past his lips he finally gave up, reaching down and flicking open the cover of said file. The name of the immortal was unknown, but their picture resided on the paper in front of Chandler. In this picture they were- she was clearly, not aware of a camera nearby. He snorted in digust at how innocent the creature looked. Defenseless. As if.
He rolled his eyes towards the ceiling off his office, smashing the file shut before carelessly tossing it across his desk. You could not see the sturdy, oak piece due to the many papers that littered its surface. Time for the nightly work out ritual, he thought. With another sigh Chandler pushed away from his desk and went to stand up when the telephone on his desk beeped, button blaring red.
"Mr. Hamilton?" the secretary's voice, loud and high-pitched, called.
"Yes?"
"Caprice is on the other line, she-"
Chandler cut the annoying woman off as he picked up the phone swiftly, cradling it between his right shoulder blade and ear. "Caprice?" He answered in his regular, deep, unconcerned monotone, as always.
"Chandler, yes, it's Caprice. I'm so sorry to be the one to tell you, but Bryce has been killed by a vampire. I would like you to take his place as second in command. It would do your brother proud."
He almost didn't hear the rest of what she said as the phone began to numbly slip from his fingers. Byrce. Dead? He swallowed hard, gaining a tight grip on the phone. A deafening crack confirmed Chandler had, once again, cracked the phone. However, this time it was not from dropping it accidently when he was getting worked up over something. This was from his own firm grasp.
He cleared his throat, quickly finding his voice. When he spoke, it remained cool, calm, and collected, as if she had just spoke of the weather. "Of course, I'll gladly take his place, Caprice. Should I-.." He trailed off momentarily, running his free hand roughly through his hair. "Should I come by and pick up anything I might be needing?"
Ever since the age of eight Chan was taught to keep his emotions on lock down, at all costs. Ever to show weakness, not through body language, monotone, and definitely not through tears. He had not cried since he was seven. The sudden assault on his eyes was maddening. Bryce was honestly the only member of Cacciatori Chandler gave a rat's ass about.. And now?
He swatted at the tears before they could actually fall, clenching his jaw; it felt as if his teeth were about to shatter.
".. Bryce has been killed by a vampire."
The words mingled along his thoughts, swam through his brain, causing him to move the phone away from him briefly so he could take a deep breath. He didn't know which vampire killed his brother. But it didn't really matter...
They all were going to pay.


It was one of those never ending nights where there was absolutely nothing to do. Keira Delgado was doing what she always done, guarding the house- mansion? For the time being she resided in the main living room, not her room, laying by the fire. She was in her wolf form, like she was most of the time. The fire warmed her pelt and she was becoming a little too comfortable, on the verge of drifting off into a deep sleep. Her large head laid on her heavy front paws, ears flicking once, twice. Her eyelids began to droop..
She knew the coven, well most of the members, were not too fond of her. It was because of the obvious reasons. Half of her blood was that of a werewolves. What she was suppose to be. But now, of course, that werewolf blood of her's mingled with the strong blood of a vampire's. Keira didn't really mind it. She felt strong, she felt..Good. However, it had just caused her problems, and she did feel a bit lost.
She tried putting herself in the coven's shoes though. If she was a vampire.. And a werewolf was secretly thrown into her home, then accidently turned.. Then her problem for the rest of their life, she would be..Angry too, to say the least. But still. When the coven was around she tried staying in her human form to leave them with more ease. Only when she was "on patrol," alone or around Aurora did she reside in her wolfy body.
Sleep had stolen Keira away, but only for a short period of time. Before she knew it yelling was heard. Her ears pricked forward. Then began the distinct jiggling on door handles. A meeting.
She hopped to her feet and spun around, for the moment looking like she was chasing her tail. Then, the large, thick-furred wolf began to transform. Its body contorted and morphed, in its place appeared a young, smooth-skinned woman with wild hair. She brushed a few strands of the chestnut mass from her face, smiling timidly when Aurora entered the living room. Only the slightest wince confirmed the shift had been a semi-uncomfortable one. Keira immediately took the seat to the coven master's left.
Feeling just a little uneasy as the rest of the coven filed in, she tugged up her long legs into the chair, which were covered by a simple pair of black sweatpants, holding them to her chest. You would think after almost four years of being with the vampires she would feel better, and she sort of did. In a weird way they were her family whether they liked it or not. She rested her chin on her knees.
Once everyone was there and the meeting started all Keira could do was stare at Aurora in shock. Move in.. With the werewolves? She blinked once, twice, three times, slowly glancing at the others. They were definitely not happy. Biting back a whimper, she sunk more into the soft, velvety cushion of the chair. The members clearly, openly shared their disliking of the werewolf species. It almost made the wolf feel bad. However, she put on a brave front.
"Aurora, when must we move in with them?" she asked, voice full of curiosity. She cocked her head fully to the left, a wolfish gesture. She had the right to know, right? Keira wondered, however, if she shouldn't have spoken at all. Usually, the coven forgot about her, but speaking up didn't help them do so..

(Sorry my posts are short, it's late, I'm tired. @__@ Next post will be much better, promise! :) )

Aurora took their complaints in silence. Being a vampire, it was hard for her to bite her tongue while being challanged. Especially as a coven leader. But Aurora had two hundred years of practicing patience on her side so she listened to them all, letting them each speak their minds. Her face, as she listened, was passive and one could easily say that she cared as much aboutthe conversation as what color the sky was. That was just Aurora. Always cool and hard. Like an icicle, she was delicatly beautiful, and yet hard, cold, and needle sharp as well. Untouchable she made herself seem. Men were either frightened of her or excited by the challange of being the "first" to crack the ice queen. Sometimes she let them. Other times she remained impenatrable.

So she sat with a winter cold demeanor. Not cruel, just calm and collected. Perfectly put together even in the dead of night after having seen the death of her oldest friend. "Aurora why do you smell like--" The question on Julien's voice froze her. Her body stiffened as he paused. Of course he would smell her. She'd just spent an hour inspecting her wounds. She'd been foolish to think that a bath would hide that scent. "Did you find her?" Of course he would be the one to ask that question. She turned to look at him and her facade slipped ever so slightly. Something caught in her blue gaze, her eyes always her tell, and she lifted her hand to fiddle with her necklace as she often did when upset.

Silently she willed herself to answer him, but thankfully, Alphonse began his onslaught of objections to her plan of action. Not soon after, Cassie stood up to defend Aurora, always on her side faithfully, but again that tedious question came up. "Did you find her?" She glanced around the room as silence fell over them. Beside her, Pup spoke up, asking tentativly when they were going to move in with the werewolves. Again, the room was silent as Aurora struggled to find the right thing to say. She squeezed the letter in her hand and averted her gaze from them to look down at it's yellowed surface and scrawled lettering.

She'd made many mistakes as their leader, but always did her best to do right by them. She glanced at their faces, awaiting her reply. She wasn't even related to any of them, except Alphonse through some distant cousin-ship, and they trusted her with their leadership. Was it because she'd been around so long or they honestly believed in her? It didn't matter. She had no doubt that the threat in the letter was real. She'd seen it with her own eyes, and as much as it pained her, if they needed her to recount it in order to see that she was doing the right thing, then she would give it to them.

She lifted her eyes and looked at Julien, finally finding the words to speak. "Yes." She said a little softly. Her face was calm, but her eyes shined with the threat of tears. "I found--" Just as Julien had, Aurora caught on the name. Charlise had been more than just a close friend. She herself had changed the girl a hundred and fity years ago and had helped her rise to power as the leader of a nearby coven. When her home was destroyed mysteriously in a fire, the Coven of Rose City had given her refuge until a month ago, she'd gone missing. "I found Charlise." Even though she said it, her voice wavered on the name. "By the time I reached her, she was already dead, but there was a man. Retreating into the trees." Her hands shook and she tucked them under her legs to hide it. "I killed him in blind rage. He'd dropped a little figurine. Of a huntress. I'm not sure what it means, but I know it's a symbol for something." She paused and ran her fingers through golden blond hair. "When I'd reached Charlise's body, I took extra care in-" she winced "inspecting the wounds. Gold burns and holy water. Nothing a werewolf would have done. We've been blaming the werewolves falsley all this time. I'm not saying they're not disgusting creatures, but I am saying that whatever's out there is dangerous and we need their protection as much as they need ours."

Aurora stopped to breath and propped her elbows on her knees, dropping her head into her hands with a deep sigh. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd been so shaken up. When she lifted her head again, she met Alphonse's eyes. "I'm not asking you to like it. But I am asking you to trust that I'm doing the right thing by you." She let out a sigh and leaned back in her chair, ice cold facade slipping over her again as she crossed her bare legs calmly and twined her fingers. "If you don't want this, have it your way. Find yourself a new coven." The threat hung in the air and her eyes challenged them. Even if it was wrong to throw them from their family, she would do it, they knew she would. There was no other way to convince them. Sometimes being leader was glorious, other times it was nothing but stress and pain. All Aurora wanted to do right now was head into the city and distract herself with the humans. Maybe find a man to bring home, let him think he'd cracked her ice-cold shield. Or maybe she would just go on a frustrated slaughter. A good, old-fashioned hunt like she used to in the old days. Before the coven. When she was on the path to self-destruction.

A knock at the door yanked her from her thoughts and Aurora raised her head. She could smell them before she'd even stood. Humans. Unless this was one of the coven's persistent human visitors, most likely hers, Julien's, or Belle's, no human would dare disturb their household in the dead of the night. So she decided to ignore it and leaned back into her seat.

But the knocking grew louder, more rapid and she honed her sense of hearing in on the door. Heartbeats. Pounding away as if the owners had just run a marathon. Well that was interesting. Unless they'd sprinted all the way here from the city, she doubted they could have gotten their heart rate that fast. A little too persistent perhaps? Maybe she should tie off a loose end? As the pounding grew more rapid, Aurora rolled her eyes. "All right all right. Shut the hell up!" She shouted as she stood and simply disappeared, reappearing before the door. "You humans never do st-" Her fangs had already slid out and she'd been ready to attack, but she was stopped up short in shock as she looked down at the two faces behind the door. "Well you're not an obessed lover." She smirked and stepped out into the night, closing the door behind her.

"What the hell are you doing here Gabe? I told you not to come here. Not even Julien knows about you and after the bomb I just dropped on them, dragging the two of you into the mix would practically put me on their hit list." She jerked her hand towards his sister, Sam. "Speaking of which, why are you bringing her? She doesn't know about us. Our little agreement was based on secrecy." She advanced on him slowly, white lace billowing about her knees as a breeze shifted by, making her shiver. "Don't make me end that." She glanced at the house. Her coven would be asking questions by now. No doubt they'd already smelled the humans. "God dammit Gabe, you really couldn't have picked a worse time."



Caprice felt the pain in his voice like a knife, feeling temporarily sorry for him. "Of course, I'll gladly take his place, Caprice. Should I-.." At that moment, he paused and Caprice smiled. Albert also seemed to think it would be a good time to come rushing in, panting and out of breath. She held the phone slightly away from her ear.

"Was the vase not a good enough indication that I would like you to stop bothering me Albert or would you like a stapler too? I won't miss this time." She quirked one eyebrow and tucked the phone between her ear and shoulder, lifting the stapler in one hand and popping it open. "This better be good."

Albert shifted nervously and contemplated telling her. Caprice rolled her eyes and raised the stapler. It had the desired effect and got him to get on with it. "Bryce's partner just returned. We know who killed him."

Caprice smiled. "Good boy. Bring him here." Alber scampered off and she turned her attention back to Chandler on the other end. "Hang on Chandler. Dealing with something." She placed the phone on the wood of her desk, not handing up, but not talking to him either, as Bryce's partner entered the room, looking shaken. "You said you know who killed Bryce. Well?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "It was a bloodsucker for sure. We were out hunting and found this one... She was familiar. You remember that old coven we'd burned a while back, a few cities off? She had been their leader. Apparently she got away." He paused, whether for dramatic affect or to irritate her, she didn't know. "So that's who killed him?" She rolled her eyes. "No ma'am. He killed that bitch, but as he was retreating another one showed up. I was well gone by then, but I turned back to see what was taking so long. When I'd arrived she was crouched over his body, holding his Artemis lucky figurine. Then she just took off. I'm lucky to be alive."

Caprice groaned. "That's great, but you do realize if it had been you and not Bryce I would still have a second-in-command? Now who killed him? I might forgive you if you give me a name."

He looked shocked, but stepped forward to the files on her desk. He shifted through the vampire ones before he came to two blond girls. Here he hesitated and Caprice leaned on the edge of her seat. One was the vampire coven leader herself and the other was Isabelle, one of the coven members. After close consideration, he selected the picture of Aurora. "This one." He stated plainly before turning and leaving.

Caprice held the photo in her hand with a smirk, them went back to the phone. "Alright I'm back."

"Should I come by and pick up anything I might be needing?"

Caprice thought a moment. "Yeah. I've got the file of your brother's killer here. Why don't you come down to my office and we'll talk." And withou another word, she disconnected with a sigh, thunking her head on her file-littered desk.

Not a second later, the phone rang again and she groaned loudly. "UGH!" She hissed and picked up. "WHAT?!" She barked impatiently. "Mama Eagle, this is Renaissance Man. The Men's blood Bank is closed for business, repeat, the Men's blood bank is closed for business. Got the trash in the bag and the house is shiny." It was Priestly. Great. Just what she needed. And was he talking in code? Where was he? She rolled her eyes. "Awaiting orders, Ma'am."

"Priestly, your code talk is a little obvious don't you think? No one refers to their mother as 'mam eagle'." She gave a sharp laugh and sighed. "Anyways, good job. Hmm, why don't you come down to my office and I'll give you an assignment. Don't keep me waiting." She hung up the phone and sat up to clean off her desk, putting away all but two files. The file of Aurora Mortenson and the file of Emmanuel Cross.

Al didn't even bother listening to the others as he solely focused on his cousin, his leader as she seemed to keep her calmness with those beautiful blue eyes. He took a deep breath, waiting patiently for her to speak her words. "Yes." Aurora spoke softly as her eyes saddened. Oh, no...Al felt his breathing stopped as he closed his eyes and buried his head into his hands, a tired look on his face. "I found--" She stopped, seemingly still trying to get over the shock at whatever the hell she had seen tonight. "I found Charlise." Al heard her voice wavered and he knew she was hurting...very badly...but then again, so was he. He never said it out loud but he had had a crush on the woman...a childish crush, but it was a crush nonetheless. It had taken him a long time to forget her and...for the lack of better words, move on. He always hoped she was bored of the life with the coven so she had gone somewhere else...he had hoped that she was still alive but the way Aurora said her name, the brokenhearted look on her face told him that...that Charlise had really gone...for good. He felt his hands trembled slightly and he gripped them tightly, hoping for the shaking would stop. He wouldn't want himself to appear so weak in front of them.

But even so, Alphonse forced himself to listen...to hear the rest of the story, what had caused Aurora to decide such thing without telling anyone like that. "By the time I reached her, she was already dead, but there was a man. Retreating into the trees." Al nodded at that, trying really hard not to urge her to continue as quick as she could. He took a shaky breath. Okay, so...there was nothing Aurora could do when she found Charlise. It wasn't her fault that she had not reached her in time. "I killed him in blind rage. He'd dropped a little figurine. Of a huntress. I'm not sure what it means, but I know it's a symbol for something." Al cocked his head to one side. A symbol? Now, that was a lead! Maybe they could track that symbol down or something. Or maybe they could try to locate that group. "When I'd reached Charlise's body, I took extra care in- nspecting the wounds. Gold burns and holy water. Nothing a werewolf would have done. We've been blaming the werewolves falsley all this time. I'm not saying they're not disgusting creatures, but I am saying that whatever's out there is dangerous and we need their protection as much as they need ours."

Holy water?...That was not possible, was it? Everyone with a decent brain would know that werewolves couldn't touch holy water...and by the way Aurora was describing things, it seemed...Al grimaced in distaste as he forced himself to think that thought. '...maybe I was wrong about the werewolves... but that doesn't mean they are not disgusting creatures.' He looked at Aurora in the eyes, trying to search for the slightest signs of a lie in her voice and in her eyes but he found none. She was telling the truth or at least, she was telling them what she believed was the truth the entire time. "I'm not asking you to like it. But I am asking you to trust that I'm doing the right thing by you." She told them...or him, Al didn't really know for sure. But she had looked at him in the eyes. Maybe she was talking to him.

Finally, he took a deep breath and opened his mouth. He was going to regret this, he knew it. "I trust you and your decisions with my life, cous-leader." He gave her a smile and said, the mirth slowly returned to his voice as he turned back into the bright vampire the coven used to know. "and I'm staying...you guys will probably need me to save your ass if anything goes wrong, huh?..." He tuned her out, a thoughtful look on his face. Well, he had said it...now, he would have to get used to the ideas of co-operating with the flea bags.

There was someone knocking at the door, the noise annoyed Al to no end. Al's nose began to move slightly as he sniffed the air around him...the scents, it was familiar. 'Humans!' He thought with a sneer as his eyes shone silver with hatred and hunger. As Aurora stood up and opened the door, talking something he didn't notice, Al said cheerfully to his coven "...look like someone comes here to be our meal willingly...I wonder who that is...they sure are stupid..." A grin stretched his face as his fangs lengthened. Oh, he would welcome a meal or two right now.

Cassandra Astra Le'Rouge

Cassie looked around, most of the members were shocked, but she felt..sad. Charlise is..dead.. Cassie growled at unwanted thoughts entered her head, why couldn't everyone just keep their own thoughts to themselves??

"Alphonse you demented creeper, stop thinking about eating people." Cassie snapped before plopping down on one of the chairs staring at nothing as she focused in on the humans thoughts, One seemed.. panicked and the other..sleepy. Cassie couldn't really focus in on the panicked one's thoughts, they were thinking to fast, but the other one was easy to read. She was confused, and she wanted to go back to sleep, and she was wronging why they were talking about death... Cassie shot upright a new voice swarming into her head.

" We need to find somewhere to go," she jumped up and headed outside, passing Aurora and the humans as she did so. "Be back later, going for a walk!" she lied heading towards the forest, there was someone else out there.


{{ Sorry it's so small i'm useing my phone, but Cassie is coming towards you crybloodredtears}}

Dead The word echoed over and over in Julien's mind. Charlise... dead. The two just didn't seem to go together. When she went missing, of course that they all suspected... but Julien hadn't realized until that moment how much he didn't want to admit it. He hated the look in Aurora's eyes, the crack in the ice. Julien sat up, shoving his hand roughly through his hair. Of course, Fox reacted to that, scooting closer to him and draping her arm around his shoulders. He snarled at her and she slid backwards faster than a human eye could see, her own lips curled back over her teeth. He didn't want to be touched right now. "Just fuck off for a minute, Fox," he snapped. He scrubbed his hands over his face, trying to gather himself. He just about had it together when the pounding began on the door. "...looks like someone comes here to be our meal willingly...I wonder who that is...they sure are stupid..." Al said happily. Julien gave a half-hearted smirk.

"You just refuse to play the game. If you would spend some time playing with your food before you went for the kill, you would have dinner pounding down your door." He winked at Belle, who liked to seduce her victims like Julien. The two of them went hunting together sometimes in the city. "Right, Belle?" He was just starting to get himself back under control, when Cassie jumped up and flew outside. Julien jumped to his feet, but by the time he was up, she was already out the door. "Cassie, where are you going?" He headed after her, his emotions caught somewhere between annoyance and panic. He heard her barge through the group, telling Aurora that she was going for a walk. Julien swore and went to go after her, but he paused with his hand on the door because he heard his name.

"Not even Julian knows about you..." He stood there, stunned, listening through the door to their conversation. Woodenly, he pulled the door open and stepped through. The humans were nothing special. Thin and panicked. Julien didn't care. He didn't acknowledge them as he leaned in close to Aurora to whisper in her ear. "I don't like it when you keep secrets from me, Aurora," he whispered, "especially when you know all of mine." He paused to let that sink in. "I'm going to get Cassie, she doesn't need to be out alone. I hope that when we get back, you'll talk to me. Keep them out of the house if you want to keep them. Al's mouth is already watering." He stalked away then, running down into the forest. It didn't take long for him to catch up with his sister. He took hold of her arm.

"What the hell are you doing, you little dummy," he snapped without any real heat. Without much of a prelude, he pulled his sister into a tight hug. Charlise just died, Cassie. Could you please just spare my nerves not go out alone for a while? he thought, because he was sure he couldn't say it. He stepped out of the hug just as abruptly as he hand initiated it. "If you want to go hunt, I'll go with you," he said casually, though his voice was a bit rough.

---

Fox didn't particularly care that Charlise was dead. She was a pretty girl, but then, Belle was prettier and more fun, so at the end of the day it didn't really mean much. Still, the news made Julien draw away. She tried to follow him, but he snarled. She snarled back, annoyed at his behavior, first with the little tramp and now this. She humphed at him and then vanished, reappearing a moment later just behind Keira. She pressed her hands to the glass on either side of the hybrid girl's. She liked Keira. She was refreshingly timid in a house full of people as arrogant as vampires.

"Is little Lassie coming, too? Will you play nicely with the other puppies?" she asked. She question wasn't really meant to be answered. "Are you eavesdropping, Lassie?" She cocked her head to see past Keira's mane of hair and through the glass. The two humans on the step were still alive, which meant that Aurora had some sort of purpose for them. "Mistress won't be happy," she said quietly in a singsong voice.

Cassandra Astra Le'Rouge

{{Sorry for the bad spelling, i'm posting this in class on my phone, lol i'll edit it when i'm home ^___^}}

Aurora watched him push his twin sister behind him defensively and gave a wry smile, about to keep going until he threw a hand up. He was brave to cut her off, especially in her current mood, after the night she'd had, she had to give him that. “Aurora, I found out more information on Charlise’s death like you told me to, But Sam and my life got threatened..if you..if you promise to keep her safe, I’ll tell you everything." At this Aurora raised one delicate eyebrow and stopped in her tracks.

Again, she was about to open her mouth when Cassie rushed outside, running off into the woods. Aurora instinctivly stiffened, but the girl didn't seem to care that she hadn't killed the two humans yet. Her second instinct was to charge after Cassie and drag her back inside. After what she'd just talked about she was going to go out alone? I don't think so. Aurora took a step forward, ready to spring after Cassie, but this time a voice stopped her.

"I don't like it when you keep secrets from me, Aurora," Julien's whisper tickled her ear and she shivered briefly before raising her blue eyes to his, the same expression a guilty puppy wears when it's been caught projected on her face. "especially when you know all of mine." The truth of that made her break eye-contact. Not something she did often. "I'm going to get Cassie, she doesn't need to be out alone. I hope that when we get back, you'll talk to me. Keep them out of the house if you want to keep them. Al's mouth is already watering."

And then he was marching off and Aurora was left feeling guilty. How had he managed to make her feel so terrible with just a few words? It's not like the humans were a huge secret. She groaned and rolled her eyes. He wanted to talk to her when he returned. She could only imagine the fight they would have. Sometimes their fights got heated, other times they were over before they started, but they were never pleasant, and, being in the mood she was in, she had a feeling her temper wouldn't last very long if he said anything to piss her off.

Trying not to think about it, she turned back to Sam and Gabe, reconsidering their offer. "Gabe, I hope you know I'm not going to let you stay with us because you're blackmailing me." She stepped up close to him, placing a nail gently to the vein in his neck. "You know that if I wanted to, I'd have no problem getting my information from you. Don't try to outsmart me. I've lived two-hundred years, I know every trick in the book." She stepped back, giving him his personal space again and sighed. "But quite frankly, I'm not up for torture right now, and what kind of person would I be if I didn't help someone who helped me?" He eyes landed on Sam. "If she stays, you do. I have a hard time believing she'll adjust to us without you around. Oh. And this will most definitely piss off my coven so I suggest you keep your head down. Got that?"

And with that, she ignored Julien's request to keep them outside and turned towards the door. What was she supposed to do? Make them sleep in the gardening shed? No, her vampires would have to behave themselves. Inside, she found Kiera with her face to the window, Fox just behind her. Were they spying? Guess it didn't matter so much now. With a sigh, she gestured to Sam and Gabe, announcing them to the coven while at the same time, searching their eyes for any silver, a sign that they were hungry.

"This is Gabe and his twin sister Sam. They've been helping me investigate the disappearances that have going on lately, not just Charlise's but everyone's. I've had a weird feeling it wasn't werewolves for a while so I got Gabe to do some investigation on the human side of things. Anyway, these Cacciatori have threatened him so now we're taking him and Sam in. No questions. If you don't think you can handle yourself around them, try harder. The first one to lay a hand on them answers to me." She turned away from them and back to Gabe, pointing to the stairs. "Those are the stairs. Head on up and pick an empty room to get some sleep in for now if you want or just hang out. Don't get to cozy though. We'll be leaving in a few hours anyway."

Now she turned to Fox and Kiera. "Fox, stop teasing Kiera, I actually have a job for your uselessness." She said with a smirk. She liked Fox, and actually didn't mind having her around, but she never missed the opportunity to snark about her hanging around them. Since Fox wasn't exactly part of the coven, Aurora couldn't order her around, but she never objected when Fox wanted to stay and never complained when she left so she doubted Fox would refuse her. She held up Danielle Cabelle's letter. "Take this to Emmanuel and tell him my plan to move in with them. Tell him I wont take no for an answer and he'd be stupid to refuse. I don't care what you say, convince him it's the only way." Fox was perfect for the job since, like her, she could teleport so it wouldn't take ages.

She turned to Kiera. "Pup, sit up for a while and wait for Julien and Cassie to get back. When they do, tell Julien if he wants to talk, I'll be in my room. If it takes them more than a few hours, come find me." And finally, she turned to the rest of them. "As for the rest of you, you may either go back to bed, go hunting, or pack, but we'll be leaving a little earlier than ten tomorrow."

And with that, Aurora turned on her heel and went up to her room.

Once safely inside, she plopped down onto her four-post bed and dropped her face into her hands with a deep throated groan. Sometimes, when she was alone, she wondered if being coven master was really worth all the stress, but she quickly pushed the thoughts aside and lay back on her red silk sheets, golden hair splashed across her pillow. Her crystal blue eyes examined the ceiling as if it held the answers to her problems while she waited either for Julien, or Pup.



It didn't take Chandler long to show up, and she smiled when he did. Prompt as always. Her smile dropped though, when he looked her up and down. Big, innocent-looking, brown eyes caught his and she smirked, raising from her desk and crossing to the counter on the other side of the room to fill her coffee. She knew he wanted the file to his brothers killer and nothing more, but she rather enjoyed keeping him waiting. "You know Chandler, women will only distract you from your duties." She said with a smirk, returning back to her desk and taking a seat.

"Besides, short of you killing every Immortal in Rose City, there is nothing that would make me sleep with you. So don't waste your time." She laughed lightly and lifted her mug, eyeing him over the rim as she took a sip. "Don't get me wrong, it's not your looks." She said, placing a hand gently on Aurora's file and pushing it towards him.

"That's Aurora. The woman who killed Bryce. Ironically, your brother had been trailing her for weeks. She was his target." She shrugged. "Guess he turned into hers." The cruel joke hung between them, but she hadn't expected him to laugh. "Anyway, you may take her case, but the tricky part is this: I don't want her dead. She's a coven master. At least a hundred and fifty years old. Think of all that information. I want her brought in for imprisonment. Bryce had been busy trying to figure out a way to do that when he'd died. Getting a coven leader away from their coven is a tricky thing. It's what makes them so hard to catch."

She placed her coffee down and leaned back in her chair, lacing her fingers delicately over her stomach as she looked up at him with large brown eyes and tilted her head slightly, crossing her legs daintily. Everything about her spoke of innocence, delicacy, and softness, but Caprice was a double edged sword. For every drop of sweetness her appearance and voice held, she had a gallon of wickedness and mischief. "Any ideas or are you just going to wing it?"

Julien humphed, but didn't say anything about Cassie's annoying nickname. He was secretly relieved that she would rather hunt with Al. He would kill anyone who threatened his sister, but that didn't mean he wanted to know everything about her. He scanned the forest carefully with his eyes and ears. There was some shifting and shuffling, but nothing too alarming. He wondered who could be wandering around and what about them made Cassie need to go out and find them.

He was only half paying attention, though. Really, he was still seething. Of course, he wasn't stupid. He knew that he didn't know everything there was to know about Aurora, the same way she didn't know everything about him. But that didn't mean that learning about her secrets so suddenly didn't make him angry. He trusted Aurora. He had thought that she trusted him in return...

She has her reason's..those reason's being Al and Chris. Trust her and help her if anything..i know how you feel about humans..but not all of them are bad..please..at least try. Cassie whispered in his head. Julien rolled his eyes. It was so like her to always try to play peacekeeper, even when no one asked.

"Mind your own business," he mumbled. He pulled out his phone and started texting people, asking questions of the few vampires he knew could be trusted, his private little spy net. Everyone else in the coven thought he was useless and lazy. None of them, save Cassie and Aurora, even suspected that more than half of the intelligence that the coven utilized came directly from his team. If they were going to do this, move in with the dogs just to keep themselves safe from some band of insane hunter humans, he wanted to know everything about what they were going up against, both human and werewolf. He could probably ask Fox what she knew about both, the girl had been around for forever afterall, but with Fox, getting information was a tricky game. You had to extract what you wanted to know without giving too much away. There was never any telling where her loyalties lay at any given moment.

"Anyway, what's so great about humans anyway? They taste good, and under the right circumstances, they're good company. What else am I supposed to do with a human besides eat it or... you know..."

Suddenly, a cat streaked by. Julien didn't spare it a glance. Unfortunately, Cassie snatched his hand and dragged him along behind her as she sprinted off after the thing. It wasn't long before they burst into a clearing, a young woman with a thick mane of raven hair cuddling the cat from before. Julien quirked an eyebrow at Cassie. "I thought you said you'd rather hunt later," he murmured.

---

Fox twisted away from the window to see Aurora as she came in. "Fox," she said, "stop teasing Kiera, I actually have a job for your uselessness." Fox wrinkled her nose and rose delicately to her feet. Aurora Mortenson had no power over her. She wasn't her leader and Fox owed her no debt. But life was easier for Fox when she was in Aurora's good graces and could come and go in the coven mansion as she pleased.

"Your poor mistress," Fox said to Kiera, patting her head like a dog, even though she was in human form. "What would she do without Lassie and Foxy?" She gave one of the locks of Kiera's hair a sharp yank, hard enough to hurt, but not enough to really harm the girl. He skipped away, giggling, before Kiera could react. She plucked the letter from between Aurora's fingers. It smelled like old magic, the kind that had gone out of style centuries before. Curious, she held it closer to her face and breathed deeply. She wished she had paid more attention when Aurora had been talking before, but it wasn't easy for her to focus on things that bored her as profoundly as coven business did.

"Convincing Emmanuel is one of my favorite activities," she said with a wicked smile. "It will be done as you say, Aurora Mortenson." She vanished.

She reappeared a moment later in Emmanuel's bedroom, a place she knew well. It was another place where she was not always tolerated, but as always there was no way to keep her out and she didn't particularly care that Emmanuel might be angry. He was sleeping soundly in his bed. Fox crept forward a few inches and then pounced on the bed.

"Wake up, darling, I have a message for you," she crooned, bouncing happily.

[I guess now we're before the current scene with the wolves. Ashtonwolf, we can do this scene and then it'll be how Emmanuel knows about the vampires coming]

”Yes. I found Charlise. By the time I reached her, she was already dead.”

Belle felt breath rush sharply in through her lips in shock at Aurora’s confirmation of everything they’d feared. She felt like she’d been kicked in the chest. Belle hadn’t known Charlise well. They’d had a few conversations while she had been here, shared a table. She thought she may even have borrowed one of her necklaces, but that was the full extent of their friendship. But that wasn’t really what made Belle’s beautiful blue eyes widen in shock. It was that she had been one of them. Even though she hadn’t been with their coven for as long as many of the members had, she’d still been one of them. Even though she knew vampires could still be killed, she’d begun to see herself as far superior, almost untouchable. But this sudden death of an old and powerful vampire, especially one as close to the leader of their coven as Charlise had been, was a shock. And to be killed by werewolves, the conclusion Belle had instantly jumped to without thought or consideration, made the blow all the more sickening.

But Belle had no time for anymore thought as Aurora carried on. ”But there was a man. Retreating into the trees I killed him in blind rage. He'd dropped a little figurine. Of a huntress. I'm not sure what it means, but I know it's a symbol for something. When I'd reached Charlise's body, I took extra care in inspecting the wounds. Gold burns and holy water. Nothing a werewolf would have done. We've been blaming the werewolves falsely all this time. I'm not saying they're not disgusting creatures, but I am saying that whatever's out there is dangerous and we need their protection as much as they need ours."

Belle froze. Wait. The werewolves weren’t the ones responsible? There must be some kind of mistake. But… Werewolves couldn’t touch holy water, everyone knew that. Suddenly, Belle felt weak. Weaker than she’d ever felt before. As a vampire, she’d always felt strong. Faster, stronger, more powerful than the humans she ‘played’ with. Even though she’d always seen the werewolves as a very real threat, she’d always truly believed that they, the vampires, were better than those mongrels and, in a fight, would come out on top. But suddenly, it wasn’t werewolves that were the threat. Instead, it was humans. The race she’d always felt more powerful than, never threatened by.

"I'm not asking you to like it. But I am asking you to trust that I'm doing the right thing by you. "If you don't want this, have it your way. Find yourself a new coven."

A new coven? Now, that thought scared Belle more than all of the rest of the night’s talk put together. A new coven? That meant alone, at least until they found another coven. She couldn’t do that. She’d rather spend an eternity with a werewolf, dribbling all over her perfect blonde hair, than be alone.

Belle heard Alphonse sincerely pledge his trust to Aurora’s decisions before making a joke to soften the tension.

“Okay, whatever it takes,” Belle promised, shuddering involuntarily as she spoke at the idea of having their filthy fur within a hundred metres of her. Although, she did feel a little of the tension slip from her body at the confirmation she was still safe in a coven. “But, please don’t let that one with fleas near me…” she added, her expression twisting into a grimace.

Although, mere seconds after the last word left her lips, there was a sharp banging sound on the door. She recognised the scent instantly. Human. And at the most inconvenient time. It couldn’t be hers from tonight. She’d sent him away, absolutely certain he wouldn’t return. She was yet to see a human resist her powers of persuasion, especially for such a simple command. But that didn’t stop Belle from taking another sniff of the air, just to confirm what she already knew. Of course, she was right. There were two humans, a male and a female. They had similar scents, indicating some kind of close relationship or a blood tie. And thudding hearts, like they’d be running or were very frightened. Nevertheless, the scent did not belong to her nameless man from earlier in the evening.

The banging carried on, more rapid and persistent. “Alright, alright. Shut the hell up!” Aurora shouted, rising to her feet and disappearing from the room. The heard the sound of the door being opened and voices. Belle didn’t catch what they were saying though, her attention had already returned to the other vampires surrounding her.

Her eyes flicked towards Al as he sniffed the air, a grin stretching across his face and his fangs lengthening. "...looks like someone comes here to be our meal willingly... I wonder who that is... They sure are stupid..."

A meal. Now there was something that really captured Belle’s imagination. A meal would make all this a whole lot better. Maybe, if Aurora didn’t want these humans she’d let Belle have them instead. She listened for the voices. The man’s sounded interesting. She was hopeful, he sounded as if she could have some real fun with him before she killed him.

"You just refuse to play the game. If you would spend some time playing with your food before you went for the kill, you would have dinner pounding down your door," Julien said. Belle felt a smile dance across her lips. She liked Julien. He had a similar attitude to kills as she did; the longer you play, the sweeter the payoff. They'd hunted together in the city before, and Belle often thought smugly that they made a good team. 

He winked at her, "Right, Belle?"

Belle smirked back. "You should try it, Al. Although, it takes a certain finesse..." she said, shooting Julian a look and raising her perfect eyebrows slightly.

But she was torn from her friendly teasing of Alphonse by Cassie. She simply leapt up, throwing some comment about just going outside behind her as she flew out of the room. 

Julian leapt to his feet, calling something after her. He froze for a few seconds. The silence allowed Belle's attention to wander to the conversation out in the hallway. She caught Julian's name, in conjunction with the mention of something he didn't know. So that's why he was frozen, Belle reasoned. But by that point, Julian had left the room as was talking to Aurora. But it was just a whisper so she couldn't catch a single word. Belle's hearing was good, and Julian knew that. He was whispering on purpose so no one else would hear him. It made Belle wonder what it was that was going on out there that was so important. She begun to listen more carefully. 

“Aurora," Belle heard the human man say,  "Gabe, I hope you know I'm not going to let you stay with us because you're blackmailing me."

Now that statement really caught Belle's attention. Maybe this man was more than just a plaything.

Belle turned to Alphonse, the only other vampire left in the room. "Aurora's letting a human stay with us? Now, of all times?" she said, even though she was certain he had been listening to the conversation just as she had and knew exactly what had been happening.

Belle listened to the conversation for another half a minute before she heard Aurora approaching, with the humans in tow.

"This is Gabe and his twin sister Sam," Aurora stated. "They've been helping me investigate the disappearances that have going on lately, not just Charlise's but everyone's. I've had a weird feeling it wasn't werewolves for a while so I got Gabe to do some investigation on the human side of things. Anyway, these Cacciatori have threatened him so now we're taking him and Sam in. No questions. If you don't think you can handle yourself around them, try harder. The first one to lay a hand on them answers to me."

Belle repressed and irritated snarl. She wasn't hungry as such, she just felt like a meal to relive the tension of the evening. And now she'd seen the human man, she only wanted him more.

Aurora gave out a few more instructions. One to the human twins, another a gentle scalding of fox for teasing the hybrid thy had somehow ended up part of their coven. One for Fox regarding their... Alliance, if you could call it that, with the werewolves. And the a final one for that hybrid regarding Julian.

"As for the rest of you, you may either go back to bed, go hunting, or pack, but we'll be leaving a little earlier than ten tomorrow."

Belle nodded, wishing the members of the coven that she liked goodnight before making her way up the stairs.

She sat down on her large, luxurious four-poster bed, her body sinking into the white sheets. The quite enveloped her as she realised she was alone, something she hated. The smell of the man from earlier was still strong on them, which only made Belle more eager for a meal. She bent down reluctantly to slip a heel from her finely boned foot.  But she froze for a second and sat up, leaving the black heel still half on her foot. She reached out for her phone that lay on her pillow as a memory of taking the man's number, should she not have finished with him that night, flooded over her. Without looking down, she pressed her foot back into the heel and raised the phone to her ear.

"Yes, it's Belle. I've changed my mind. Come back. We'll pick up where we left off."

(Sorry it's late and the start of my post you've already gone past. I have exams I'm meant to be revising for at the moment, for which the book has lain open on my desk all night but I've never actually looked at... Also, the second half of the post was writen on my phone so I appologise for any mistakes, I'll edit in the morning because it's nearly half 12 at night here.)

Having been caught eyeing Caprice, Chandler gave a boyish grin, as if he'd been caught with his hand in a cookie jar before dinner. He cleared his throat, having his arms tightly crossed over his chest. His blue eyes challenged her own brown ones when she stood and moved towards the counter. She looked so innocent, almost like an immortal, in a weird sense. Completely alluring but once you got close to them they were deadly; fatal. He tried reminding himself of this known fact often. He watched her fill up her mug patiently, wondering if she was ever going to speak, ever going to mention the file.

"You know Chandler, women will only distract you from your duties."

Chan's lips twitched, hinting at a grin. Oh, how he knew that. Watching her smirk deviously he simply shook his head, letting a broken chuckle tumble past his lips. "Besides, short of you killing every Immortal in Rose City, there is nothing that would make me sleep with you. So don't waste your time." This made his laugh stop short. At first, he was a bit offended. He straightened his shoulders, nodding once.

"Of course, I-"

"Don't get me wrong, it's not your looks." Chandler exhaled when this was told. Of course it wasn't! You do not mix business with pleasure, naturally. His gaze flickered to the file Caprice pushed towards him. Without thinking he moved forward in large strides until he was across from her at the desk. He did not pick up the file right away, simply reached forward with a large, rough hand, carelessly flicking open the cover. He caught his breath, but only for a short second. A female? He didn't think..- How foolish of him, of course it was a woman! Bryce was always doing cases that involved feminine immortals. He was worse than Chandler himself. Though, Chan admitted, his brother had good taste. The woman in the picture in front of him was fairly attractive; most vampires were, however. "That's Aurora. The woman who killed Bryce. Ironically, your brother had been trailing her for weeks. She was his target." He glanced up in time to watch his leader shrug nonchalantly. "Guess he turned into hers."

Tension immediately set in between his shoulder blades as she spoke, only the slightest clench in his jaw confirming she had hit a cord. It was like Caprice to say something like that. "Ha ha," he grunted sarcastically, picking up the file, gazing along the information set in front of him.

"Anyway, you may take her case, but the tricky part is this: I don't want her dead. She's a coven master. At least a hundred and fifty years old. Think of all that information. I want her brought in for imprisonment. Bryce had been busy trying to figure out a way to do that when he'd died. Getting a coven leader away from their coven is a tricky thing. It's what makes them so hard to catch."
Chandler gave a snort. You don't want her dead? He thought acidly, stony stare of the leech's picture once more. What if I want her dead? he wondered, of course, he did not speak this aloud. "I always like a challenge. You of all people know I like the chase. And dragging them into imprisonment? Mmm! Gets me every time!" His voice was thick with heavy sarcasm, yet his light blue eyes shone with goodhearted humor. He wasn't there to piss Caprice off.. This time. He watched curiously as his leader placed her coffee down and leaned back. What was it with women, and moving the way they did?? Chan tucked the file in under his right arm, grinning wolfishly. She screamed everything fragile and soft, but his instincts knew otherwise, they screamed.

"Any ideas or are you just going to wing it?" Caprice then asked him.

He was already brewing up an idea. Remembering a rather brutish vampire he brought in a couple weeks ago, one of the oldest in the line, an idea punched him in the gut. It was risky, yet. Foolish? Maybe just a little. Everything would be on the line. His humanity, most of it taken. His life? Maybe just that. But to avenge his brother.. ?
Chandler placed both his large hands on Caprice's desk, leaning forward, closer to her. His blue eyes danced with amusement. Maybe it was because of how simply dangerous he felt. Moving close to Caprice was like slinging yourself into a horde of bloodthirsty vampires. He didn't mind though. That's what his plan consisted of, anyway.

"Believe in or not, I actually do have an idea." The left side of his mouth curved into his signature, lopsided grin. "Just promise you'll listen to all of it before you go crazy on me?" he pleaded, blue eyes smoldering. It was something no other Cacciatori member ever thought of, dreamed of doing. Chan took a deep, needed breath.

"Remember that rogue vampire I brought in a couple weeks back? The one cursing in a different language? Real strong.. Took at least five guards to hold him off?" He didn't wait for her to confirm she remembered, he launched into his plan full force.
"Well, I'm going to need him after all, his blood. You want this Aurora girl aliv-.. Well, un-undead, right? I know how I'm going to do it. How I'm going to get myself close to her to bring her in. Doing so, however, I must become.. One of them partially." He leaned back an inch or two just in case she wanted to start swinging. The Cacciatori never thought of becoming one of the vile scum they devoted their life to hunt and kill. The mere thought made Chandler's own stomach clench and twist. He had to do this.. For Bryce. "I know me saying it aloud sounds completely idiotic, but just hear me out, Caprice." He used her name for effect.
"Bryce, obviously, done everything he could think of doing to bag this vampire. Everything but going behind enemy lines. You know I can do this. All I have to do is inject a vial of vampire blood. It would mask my human scent, making me, yes, a h-half breed.." His voice wavered just barely, causing him to mentally kick himself. "But it will get my foot in the coven's door. I can say I'm a loner, a rogue they needs a coven. Caprice, you know I'm strong.. Think of if I had leech blood running through my veins. Practically unstoppable," Chandler was tooting his own horn, naturally.

"Once again, I know it is risky. It will be a lengthy process. I will have to earn the head leech's trust, but it can be done. Plus, I can feed you back information behind the lines. And! Think of all those immortals we can wipe out after awhile." Chandler did not even mention the cons to his pros. His life on the line, none of that really mattered. Once injecting vampire blood he would be damned anyway. Leaning back Chan nodded slowly,

"So, what do you think, boss?"




Keira was entertained by watching the humans and Aurora. She found herself absently leaning closer to the glass, eyeing the male carefully, then the female. They had to be related somehow. Cousins, maybe? By the way the male, obviously known as Gabe, pulled the female behind himself, the word "siblings" mingled along the hybrid's thoughts. She smirked a little, only to stiffen when two dainty hands appeared to either side of her own. Resisting the urge to snarl when the faerie spoke, her hands slowly curled into fists.

"Is little Lassie coming, too? Will you play nicely with the other puppies?"

Keira went to answer with a snide comment, more than likely going to say, "Oh yes, but I cannot be quite sure that you'll not be my next chew toy." Alas, Fox began talking once more before she had the chance.

"Are you eavesdropping, Lassie?"

She wanted to scream, "I'm not a dog! Not. A. Dog! I'm a person too.. A girl! I have feelings.. I have- I don't need to..-" Her own thoughts began to jumble together, not able to form a coherent sentence. Her shoulders were still tense as she tried drawing her attention back to the scene that lay in front of her. "- most definitely piss off my coven so I suggest you keep your head down. Got that?" Keira came in on the end of Aurora and the human's conversation. What would piss them off? Her emerald eyes shone with curiosity as she twisted around to face Fox.

"Mistress won't be happy," Fox had just finished saying to her.

"At the moment I'm not happy you're in my face, Tinkerbell." Keira grumbled, eyeing the floor. The hybrid called Fox Tinkerbell, since she was called "Lassie" by Fox. She figured they had a Disney theme going. Keira eagerly turned towards the door when Aurora walked back inside, trailed by the humans. The male was much bigger inside the house, and both their scents were much stronger due to the fact the hybrid had smelling fifteen times better than the average bloodhound. She watched with piqued curiosity, eyes dancing, consumed in liquid silver; she couldn't help it, it had been almost five days since she last "fed."

"This is Gabe and his twin sister Sam. They've been helping me investigate the disappearances that have going on lately, not just Charlise's but everyone's. I've had a weird feeling it wasn't werewolves for a while so I got Gabe to do some investigation on the human side of things. Anyway, these Cacciatori have threatened him so now we're taking him and Sam in. No questions. If you don't think you can handle yourself around them, try harder. The first one to lay a hand on them answers to me."
Keira shuddered at Aurora's threat, eyes trailing back to the curious humans. She couldn't help but feel slight fear, which was odd. Humans were nothing. Yet, with these new found "Cacciatori" she was starting to believe otherwise. She listened to their heartbeats, placing a slim hand of her own to her chest. No heartbeat resided there. The vampire blood had provided her with that much, at least. She forced herself not to frown, eyelashes fluttering as she peered up at Aurora when she spoke to Fox. Keira did not hide the cocky grin that crossed her lips, glancing at the faerie as if to say, "Ha ha," Yet, what was said next killed her sudden buzz.

"Pup, sit up for a while and wait for Julien and Cassie to get back. When they do, tell Julien if he wants to talk, I'll be in my room. If it takes them more than a few hours, come find me." What the "Pup" really wanted to do was get back to her peaceful sleep. But, she did not reject to Aurora's wishes. You do not bite the hand that feeds you. Her silver gaze roamed over the humans once more, swallowing hard, glancing at the rest of the coven. Moving in with a bunch of werewolves, now this? What else??
Keira snorted gently, shuddering as the familiar tingling sensation started at the tips of her toes, then shot upward. That tingling turned into fire, consuming her spine. Giving a slight whimper she took a step back. In this motion her human form wavered. The dainty, smooth-skinned girl was replaced with a rather large, thick-furred wolf. Her eyes were still silver. With a huff she turned towards the door, plopping down so she could watch it intently, waiting for Julien and Cassie to return. Though, her predatory gaze strayed towards the heartbeats here and there.

"Uh. Yeah. The vampires are going to be moving in with us a bit later today." Blink. Blinkblink. What.
The usually cucumber-cool Damien couldn’t deny that he was surprised. In fact, this may be one of the biggest surprises he’d ever gotten. This just couldn’t be real. He turned to look around at his pack-mates, about to tell Emmanuel that he was being ‘very funny’ but that’s the biggest load of bullshit-
"I've gotten a message from Aurora; There's a band of human hunters after us. She got a magic letter from the lost Princess Danielle Cabelle that explains how strong they are. She's convinced that the only way to stay safe is to join forces."
Damien had to plant his feet and grit his jaw to steady himself as he stared at Emmanuel, unblinking. This couldn’t be real! Living with those shiny leeches? Their people were enemies! And for what? Because some humans were a threat? How could those scrawny people be dangerous? No, no, not a funny joke at all. What day was it? April first already?
Damien moved to the back of the room behind the chairs and couches to where he could pace. He walked the distance from one wall to the other. Stared at Emmanuel. Walked back. Glanced at his family’s faces. Continued walking.
Humans. Powerful humans. They must have some kind of technology, to get Immortals. How could they even find the Immortals, let alone hunt them? Immortals were incredibly strong, powerful, smart. How long had this gone on? Were all the recent deaths really at the hands of the Vamps, or these humans? He didn’t go into the city much, but when he did, no one had ever suspected anything of him and the pack. The last time he went, no one was on edge. Perhaps these people weren’t even known to the general public? That means they’d have to be small. Not very numerous ranks. Well that was a relief. But what wasn’t was that even though small, they must be powerful to take out even a few Immortals...
Damien stopped walking, and glared at the wall with burning eyes. Even the thought of those blood-sucking freaks made his throat tighten and his eyes narrow. His fists closed. He shook his head as if to shake away the oncoming headache. How how how could mere humans take Werewolves and Vampires down?
Damien took a breath, hoping it didn't sound like a gasp. He hoped his pack mates hadn't overheard his reeling thoughts... he stood a minute more to calm down, then turned again to the room just as Emmanuel spoke again. "I'm going to go ahead and trust her on this one. Aurora and I have hated each other for two hundred years, but hey, if this turns out to be a trap, they're all just that much closer right? It'll be easy to finish them off if things go sideways."
Damien made his way quickly to an empty chair and practically fell onto his rear. He slumped down, arms crossed. Shook his head slowly, eyes rolling to the ceiling. Emmanuel believed her. And Damien trusted Emmanuel. But how could they know anything for sure? Damien didn’t know if they could wait for time to tell.
He wondered what Aurora’s coven was thinking. Were they just as surprised as he was, or readying attack plans? But if these humans really were the threat that Emmanuel and Aurora, and that Danielle princess made them out to be, maybe it could work. If they could possibly work together, they would be incredibly strong.
Damien sucked a breathful of air into puffed cheeks, let it out silently through his nose, and sat up. He glanced at the pack. He was itching for more information, but held back.
“Okay, so when?” He asked, voice taut.



((While yes the whole pack is in the room, I've only tagged the people directly spoken of in my post. This is okay, I assume?))

Chandler arched a brow, blue eyes swarming with curiosity as Caprice stood, and made her way around the desk. The muscles in his stomach immediately tensed as he crossed his arms over his wide chest instinctively to keep his hands to himself. Whenever she got close, which was rare, he always reacted that way.

"Okay." Chan's eyes widened, tripling in size when he heard that simple word. He could have swore she would start swatting him, cursing and saying how foolish he was. But she did not. "It's risky, but we could kill almost all of Rose City's pests." He nodded, almost mechanically like, watching his boss. She was close enough to touch, yet he wouldn't dare unless he wanted to lose a few fingers. Then again..He would have seven more if that happened. Nah. However, her next words blew him out of the water, and he had to swallow hard, keeping himself from gaping like a fish. "Maybe I will have to sleep with you."
Chandler immediately met her challenging gaze, a wolfish grin slipping across his lips.
"Oh, if you have to, I don-.." Chandler began, yet trailed off as Priestly barged through the door. Tension immediately set in between his shoulders as he glanced over at the dancing monkey. He grinned a bit.

"Ah... I'm interrupting something." What was your first clue? Chandler thought, but he did not say it aloud. Instead, he decided to play along.

"Of course you did! I was about to ravish her body, and have her right here on this desk!" He tossed his arms into the air to add effect before laughing huskily, shaking his head. He turned back to look at Caprice, blue eyes now bright, swirling with amusement.

"Alright, well. I'll let you do this, but if you get in trouble and have to sink ship." Inclining his head forward, he listened as she went on. "Don't take me down with you, because if you do..." Chandler watched her stand, sighing inwardly. Here came the threat. He dropped his arms to his sides casually, letting her go on. His eyes followed her nail to his firm chest. "So help me God, if you take my opperation down, I will jump in there, save your ass, then drag you back here and make sure you get the slowest, most painful death I can provide." When she spoke her voice was deadly, but Chan could not help the grin that crossed his lips.

"Will you be wearing one of those sexy, leather outfits while punishing me?" he asked, trying to break the sudden tension in the air. Once again, taking a step back, however. He watched her sit, then reached forward for the file she pushed his way.

"You can go."

Chandler gave a casual nod. Same old Caprice. "Yes, ma'am," he teased gently, turning and moving towards the door. He took slow, deliberate strides, pausing with his hand on the gold door handle. Glancing over his shoulder, his eyes fell on Priestly. "Hey, Priestly," he called, waiting for him to look at him before he continued. "If me injecting this vampire blood turns me into a mindless monster, kill me, alright?"
Chan didn't wait for an answer though, simply left the room, letting his words hang in the air like a light fog. He wasn't afraid to die, not really. He was afraid, yes, of what he was about to do. How stupid can I be? He wondered, thinking of what Bryce would say. What he would do. Bryce would call me an idiot, try kicking my ass, and he wouldn't let me do it. Chandler thought with a slight grin, making his way down the hallway, towards the elevator.

Once inside said elevator he pressed the button with the large number ZERO printed on it, heavily black. Floor zero was where the Cacciatori kept their prisoners. No, they never saw the light of day once down there. Chandler leaned back and when the doors slid open he stepped out, being met my two Cacciatori members who always guarded the prisoners.

"Chandler! You're back! .. Empty..Handed?" Shawn, the shorter, red haired guard shouted as Chan came into view. He just shrugged, walking over to a long strip of counter space to the left. It was right before you got to the cells where all the prisoners were. From there Chandler heard growling and screams, causing him to roll his eyes upward, towards the ceiling. Did he really want to become one of those monsters? Could he..Do it? By this time he was rummaging through a cabinet, pulling out a syringe and a couple needles. Of course I can does this, I'm Chandler Hamilton.

"Chan, man, what are you doing?" Marcus, the tall, dark skinned guard asked, behind him. Chandler sighed, not liking to be questioned. He scooped up the supplies in his hands, turning around.

"Is it really any of your business?"

"We're not allowed to let you back with the prisoners unless you give us a good enough reason." Shawn called from the gate him and Marcus guarded to keep the immortals in, people out. Marcus just nodded, crossing his overly muscular arms. Chan snorted, walking past him, going towards Shawn and the gate.

"You'll let me in or I'll notify Caprice, and your asses will be grass." he stated with a devious smirk. At the mention of Caprice both the guards stiffened. Shawn turned, quickly unlocking the gate, and stepping back.

"G-Go on in," he stuttered. Chandler chuckled lowly, walking past him sporting his cocky, lopsided grin. Once he began walking down the line of cells the immortals began calling, screaming, growling, and hissing.

"Chandler Hamilton," a sickly sweet voice purred, getting a mere glance from him. It was the vampire Chan brought in exactly a month ago. Female. Vampire, small brunette with chocolate brown eyes. She had almost got the best of him, but he, naturally, won in the long run. Walking straight ahead he came to a quick stop at the seventh cell to the left. Slowly, he turned on his heels, smirking at the immortal inside the cell who was starring back at him. It a swift, sudden motion the vampire lurched forward, slamming into the bars of his prison. His eyes glowed silver, and when he spoke his voice was a loud, angry screech that hurt Chandler's ears.

"Te! Te misellus excusationem ens! Rapiet tibi cor, et illud convivium ante oculos tuos!! Et ut vita tardius leav-" Chan held up his hands, and the vampire immediately stopped screaming, puzzled.

"You're speaking Latin," he murmured nonchalantly, and the vampire snarled, as if offended. "I researched it a few days after I brought you in." He went on, moving closer to the bars. With the motion the rogue vampire hissed like a frightened cat, backing up a bit. Chandler laughed, dropping his hands back to his sides. "I need to take some of your blood.." This statement did not go over well. In the next second the sickly pale vampire had its body slammed up against the iron bars again, arms through as he reached for Chan's neck. Mr. Hamilton did not move.

"I will kill you!" he screeched, causing the hunter to quirk a curious brow.

"So you can speak English." he joked, shifting his supplies to one hand as he ran his free one through his short, thick hair. "Just listen to this proposal," Chandler had always been a smooth talker.
"If you let me draw some blood, I'll let you go.." This piqued the rogue vampire's interest. He stopped trying to break Chandler's neck, easily leaning forward some, face pressed to the bars.

"I'm listening," Chan smirked.

**************

Almost twenty minutes later the elevator button made a soft 'tinging' sound as Chandler Hamilton made his way back up above ground. In his right hand he held a clean needle and a syringe full of crimson liquid. On his left jacket cuff was a quarter-sized blood stain from the kill he made not ten minutes ago. It was safe to say he did not let the vampire go. Outside he took a deep, soothing breath, glancing down at the syringe. Inside, held the main object of his plan. Walking over to his smooth, black Camaro he slid into the driver's seat, tossing the other file in the passenger seat, yet he didn't shut the door. Slowly, Chandler shrugged out of his leather jacket, opening the small packet that held the needle. I can do this, He was trying to convince himself, popping the needle in the syringe, in place. Holding out his right arm he squeezed his hand into a fist, relaxed it, squeezed it into a fist once more, working up the large vein in his arm.
After three minutes the vein bulged, and he was ready. Raising the syringe to his mouth his pulled the cap on the needle off with his teeth, spitting it in the passenger seat of his car. Chandler was giving up more than half of his humanity. Possibly his life. And what about once this was done? Cacciatori was his life. If they didn't take him back because what he was..He would belong nowhere.

Enough thinking.

In a swift motion Chandler plunged the sharp needle into his skin, sucking air in fiercely through his teeth at the immediate burn. And then he pressed in the end of the syringe, injecting the vampire blood into his system. It happened quickly. He jerked the needle from his arm, slinging it across the car as he cringed, yanking back. His blood had to be on fire. On fire and coursing through his veins like wild horses on a rapid race. "Ahh!" he cried out softly, leaning his head back. His body twitched and twisted, black splotches dancing before his eyes, threatening to take away his vision. He. Was. On. Fire!! His heart was beating way too fast. He could hear it pounding in his ears like a quick drum. Chan groaned, head lobbing to the side.
The pain had started to ever so slowly subside, but his heart..It was still rambling at a terribly fast pace. Then..It just stopped.

It was weird, hearing your own heart stop, yet not dying. Feeling yourself take your last breath..Surely he was dead. But he wasn't.
Chandler blinked once, twice. His vision had increased tremendously. He took a unneeded breath, turning his head at the sudden attack on his nose. All the scents.. And the burning! It had left his body, yet was settling in the center of his throat, smothering him. Get to the Coven's House. he thought immediately, reaching forward. His body moved too fast for his mind to comprehend. Chan snatched his hand back momentarily, blue eyes wide. It was so strange.
Reaching forward again he typed in the address of the leeches mansion in his GPS, he had it memorized. Now, all Chandler had to do was convince the coven master he wasn't a newborn vampire, just a rogue needing a place to stay. A coven. This was just perfect.

******************

Chandler didn't drive his car up the long driveway up to the mansion. Instead, he left the Camaro down by the main road, slightly in a ditch, and disappeared into the woods. His speed was exhilarating. He felt as if he could run forever and ever, not getting tired once. He wanted to try it. Yet, the burning in his throat was so distracting.. He decided against it. I have a job to do. He reminded himself sullenly, appearing beside a tree back behind the coven's mansion. Looking at the looming building Chandler crossed his arms, leaning against the elm tree he was beside. He scented the air, taking in the scents in the house. More vampires than anything-he thought- but there were other smells too. One smelt absolutely mouthwatering, which made Chandler disgusted with himself. He rubbed the back of his neck. Now being partially what he hated, he felt extremely dirty. Gazing along the building he eyed a balcony, perfect climbing distance, jutting out just enough. Instead of simply knocking on the enemies door, he was going to swing into their home.

With a boyish grin Chan ran, grasping the ivy going up the side of the mansion. He then began climbing, halfway up leaping, grasping hold of the ledge. Being in the physical state he was he easily pulled himself up, hopping over the balcony's railing. He landed with a soft grunt, not the graceful of hybrids, apparently. Having the success of making it up, Chandler easily strode towards the double doors leading into the bedroom the balcony was outside of.
Both hands on the doors, Chandler stopped short, blue eyes widening the slightest bit. Two figures were in the room. Two vampires. And one he recognized from a certain picture: Aurora.

Amused, lopsided grin falling into place, Chandler dropped his hands from the door handles, giving the coven master an easy wave.

Oh shit.. Was his only thought..



Keira's ears had pricked forward, and she lifted her head from her paws as Julien entered. He looked annoyed. "I'm going to find Aurora. I don't care if she told you to tell me not to," Assumptions confirmed, she tilted her large head to the left, watching him pass with the roll of her eyes. Once he was up the steps she stood, shifting back into her human form. Doing so it seemed as liquid fire shot up her spine. She gave a slight hiss. Damn, She thought sourly, glancing around. Alone at last.

Keira moved towards the living room, running both her hands back through her thick hair. Her mission was accomplished, it was time to wind down, she hoped. Then again, I should pack.. The thought was quickly veto'd as she sunk into the soft, velvety love seat. It caressed the visible skin of her long arms, causing her to yawn. She was more tired than she thought. Everything that had happened was a lot to take in. Everyone was off on there own, and the hybrid was left by herself once more. It was honestly nice.
She leaned her head back on the arm of the love seat, still silver eyes gazing upon the ceiling intently. For some reason she felt like wrestling. A good, just-because fight. The sudden want for it surprised her, but it was easily ignored. No one wanted to bother with her at the time being. She didn't even want to bother with herself! Keira's eyes traveled to the fireplace, its flames licking the inside. Watching the flames dance with one another, her eyelids began to grow heavy. She turned on her side, curling up into a loose fetal position.

A nap wouldn't hurt..

Earlier...
(Vamp time)

Fox's reply to his harsh questions was a pout. Why was he not surprised? "Must it always be business first between us, Lover?" she said. "I haven't seen you all day. Didn't you miss me?" He just looked at her. Sure, he was being rude, and he had missed her, but he wasn't about to admit that. He was angry with her for waking him up at four in the morning. She then leaned forwards walked two fingers up his arm to his shoulder and then heaved herself so that she was draped across his lap.

The smile she flashed him was innocent and angelic, and he finally gave in. "You're right Fox. I'm sorry." He said and gave her a slight kiss on the cheek. "I missed you, now can you please tell me what this letter is about?"

"Although, maybe you're right. I'd hate for either of us to be distracted... Now, what was it that I was supposed to tell you..." She tapped her lips for a moment as she thought. "Oh right. Aurora Mortenson proposes a deal. She will be here tomorrow morning to join her Coven with your Pack. You will protect each other from these humans, these Cacciatori. And she said something as well about princesses and that magic letter, but I wasn't really listening. Either way, she was not asking. She'll be here at ten."

That had caught him completely off guard. Aurora just expected to show up at his house and move in like everything was okay? They'd been fighting for almost two centuries and she expected him to just throw up his hands and let her bloodsucking family in his home, near his pack? He shook his head. "Tell her no." He said plainly. "It's not happening." He held up the letter. "How do I know this isn't a trap?"

Presently...
(Werewolf time)

“Okay, so when?” Damien asked, not objecting, but clearly not happy about it either. Emmanuel breathed.

"Ten." He said, glancing at the clock. 9:30 am. "Half and hour."

"So, let me get this straight..." Emmanuel turned his eyes on Alex. "We're going to let a coven of powerful, blood-sucking vampires who have always been nothing but trouble for our kind into our home in order to protect ourselves from a secret group of 'human hunters', all because of some magic letter? Look, Emmanuel, I trust you with my life man, but this is crazy! All of this just screams 'trap!' to me! Why take the risk? Haven't we lost enough to them?"

Now there was the argument he'd expected. Emmanuel sighed. "Look Alex," he held up the letter "this letter is real. It even smells like magic and old age." He shook his head. "Even if Aurora is just trying to pull one on us, there is no way she could have faked this letter. And if she does try anything, we'll be ready. What if we do what you say Alex, and refuse them," he paused, "And you're wrong." He shook his head. "If these humans are out there, we will need them whether we like it or not."

"Are you two insane?! I mean,Emmanuel I love and trust with my life but,come on. Humans tiny little humans can not know how to kill us. How do you know that this isn't a trap,you wouldn't just be putting my life in danger but more importantly you're putting your life,my cousin's,your sister's, Adrienna's, and my brother's lives all in danger. Hell,if I die I couldn't care less but if I lost you guys to those bloodsucking demons I would have nothing left. " Natalie's sudden outburst made Emmanuel jump a bit and he turned to look at her. "I trust you almost as I trust Alex but,we have all hated those spawn of Satan ever since we changed and now you and that blond headed witch are trying to get us to play nice!? Look this is crazy and damnit haven't we lost enough already!"

And with that, she stormed out of the room, cherry red hair trailing behind her. The slam of the door rattled in the silence and Emmanuel pushed his hands into his pockets, looking at the ground. That question again. Haven't we lost enough already? He sighed and looked up. "I'm not asking you to agree with me, but we have to do this. You'll see. I wont let them stay here long if nothing happens, but if Aurora's telling the truth and this group of hunters is after us, we'll need everyone we can to finish them off. They're a huge operation and we've lost a lot of pack members to the feud. Not that I don't want to fight." He grinned mischievously. "We just need a common enemy. Think of how unstoppable we'd be."

"And afterwards," he added, "if you guys want, we'll kill the vampires. Rid ourselves of all possible threats. Rose City and Moon Forest would be ours. Not to mention, we could take their house." He said with a slight laugh. While the werewolf mansion was massive, the vampires's made it look like a hovel.



The look on Priestly's face instantly changed in that way of his. Now, instead of being a goofball, he was giving her a sensual, smoldering stare. It shocked Caprice and she looked at him, confused. What had she said...? "Well it depends..." Oh. She should have guessed Priestly would make a joke out of her comment. "Why kind of show do you want?"

She didn't respond, merely leaned back in her chair with a slight smile as he did his little dance. When he finally composed himself, she simply looked at him and quirked up one eyebrow. It was hard not to laugh. "You done?" She asked with a smile.

"I guess there's a time and a place for everything." She laughed lightly and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but your judgement of that seems to be completely mixed up." She smiled.

"Speaking of time and place... I brought pie!" Pie? She watched with brown eyes as Priestly brought a pecan pie over and placed it on her desk. She'd been half hoping that it would be raspberries, so that she could throw it at him and complain about how she was allergic. Pecan however, was her favorite so she was forced to give him a smile and a thank you instead.

After giving her the pie, he sat on the other side of her desk and looked suddenly serious. His ability to switch moods so quickly annoyed Caprice, but he was always good for a bit of amusement if she ever got bored around the office and there was nothing to hunt. He threw a file on her desk and Caprice lifted it open with two fingers and looked at it. Veronica. She dropped it again and looked at him, listening. "Anyway, that's all the data I got on my latest kill. She had the same contact as the others and the same code pattern as the other texts. I'm not sure what it means exactly, but I have a theory. I think it might be some kind of... secret... Vampire... spy network. All of the targets were from different covens and I doubt knew about each other. So it's nearly impossible for it to get back to their leader... this "Big H", this Vamp must have a good amount of influence." Spy network? She'd never heard that one. Interesting... "Every time Ive tried to contact Big H, about 7 minutes later, the phone disconnects. I did it twice now, once on the others phones." He placed a phone on her desk and Caprice reached forward, grabbing it and looking it over for a second before setting it down again and returning her chocolate gaze back to him. He looked apologetic and sincere. "I'd be able to give you more, but as you stated earlier, I'm not very good with codes. That's all Ive got.....sorry."

It's true, she wished he had more, but he had done a good job so she just nodded. A gesture that could be taken either way. Not a second later had he gone straight back to the Priestly that annoyed her. "Umm, right, yeah anyways. You said you had a new assignment for me? Oh yeah, that thing Chandler said.....WHAT?! Why did he say he was injecting himself into Vampire blood?! Were you just okaying that!? WHAT IS GOING ON!!!????" He then immediately changed his posture to one completely at calm. "You know.....if you can."

"Not that it's any of your buissness..." Caprice said with a small smile of amusement as she leaned back and crossed her legs. "But Chandler's going undercover. And yes. I agreed." She shrugged. "As long as he doesn't use his new gifts to kill innocent humans, he's extremely valuable to us. Not a target." She pushed the file on her desk towards him.

"Anyway, as for your assignment, I think we've let up on the werewolves a little too much lately. You're going to be going after Emmanuel Cross. Their leader."



Of course Aurora heard Julien coming, but she didn't care. She just stayed where she was, gloden hair splashed across red silk sheets as she stared up at the ceiling. And that's exactly how he found her. "So, let's just get straight to the point. Who are they?" He said plainly and she sat up, moving to the center of her huge bed and sitting there, looking him over. He was going to argue with her. Why not? As if her night hadn't been stressful enough. At least it would feel good to yell at someone.

"They're humans." She smirked, blue eyes challenging, daring him to fight with her. "Or could you not tell by the smell?" She rolled her eyes and quirked her eyebrows. She knew that hadn't been the answer he was looking for, but she didn't care. "Spies." She said with a shrug. "I hired the boy to do some looking into things. To see if something was... suspicious. The Cacciatori found out and threatened the sister." She pretened to yawn. "Are you mad that I brought humans in or that I didn't tell you?"

She rolled her eyes and flicked her wrist dismissively. "Men." She said plainly. "Always think they have to know everything. You know Julien it's not th-" She was cut off short.

Standing on her balcony was a man. She looked at him in confused shock as he gave her a little wave. What the...? A cold breeze floated in, rustling her sheets, tugging at her nightgown and hair, and bringing Aurora the mans scent. Vampire. But not a full vampire... She tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow at him. He'd interrupted her argument. She'd been so looking forward to screaming at someone.

"Who the hell are you?" She hissed, trying to control her boiling anger. "And why are you here?"
"You better have a damned good reason."