Wood-Bank, Oregon.

Ember had always been an early riser and her mornings were usually filled with running through the woods with her two older brothers. Although today was a particularly cold day, a tell-tale sign that winter would soon be arriving, they still ran. It wasn’t something that varied with seasons, it was something they had done every morning since they were young. Of course at that age their mother used to join them but they had stopped, their parents were with another pack in the area. She wasn't too cold, her warm fur coat something that always made sure she kept warm regardless of what weather decided to be. The soft ground was always a nice reassurance on her paws, something that always made her happy, no ifs ands or buts. She glanced beside her at Liam, her eldest brother, as his tongued lolled out of his mouth. She looked at him with a goofy expression on her face, well as goofy as a wolfs facial features would allow before she made a small noise in the back of the throat, telling him that she felt it raining. She saw him nod and before she knew it, the three of them were heading back to their house which was located at the beginning of the woods. She ran as quick as she could, feeling her strong legs stretch out beneath her, her breath coming out in small huffs.

She soon arrived at the house, transforming back into her human form; the sickening sound of bones cracking and small grunts of discomfort filled the air. She draped her clothes over her body and walked into the house, meeting up with her brothers pushing their way to the kitchen for some food dressed only in a pair of boxers. She rolled her eyes before going upstairs to take a quick shower and get dressed into a skirt and a tank top with a light sweater, the temperature still not bothering her much. She grabbed her cellphone and read Gabe's text with a grin on her face. She flipped her phone open and answered him swiftly.

I slept great. Had nice dreams too. (: What about you Love, how was your morning? I just got back from a run ;)

She then opened a new window on her phone before sending a message out to Ivory, Requiem and Anna. She was bored and had a feeling the and wanted to know if they were going to the party tonight. She had a feeling Ivory and Anna would be together and that Requiem would be at work. She was bored too and wanted to amuse herself so she would hang out with them. All of them had known each other long enough to be able to go to each others houses' whenever they wanted.

Heyya Girlies, what are ya doing? Wanna chill? And who's heard of that party tonight, seems like a good thing to drag our bf's along to >:D And Anna, I'm coming over (:

She sent the text and then put it in the pocket of her sweater, running back down the stairs to the kitchen. She opened the cupboard and scavenged for something that looked edible, all of it filled with scary looking things that her brothers had decided to make. She sighed and eventually grabbed something that resembled some cookies before turning to them, the two of them sitting at the kitchen table, still stuffing things down their throat.

"Liam, Evan, is this what I think it is?" She asked them, a small smirk on her lips.

"If you're thinking brownies," Evan started off, a grin forming on his face. "Then you're absolutely right," he finished off. Ember groaned before plopping down at the large table, shooting him a glare. He started to laugh before Liam smack him upside the head.

"They're cookies, don't listen to him," Liam smirked and Ember nodded before popping one in her mouth. They weren't as bad as she had figured but then again, her expectations weren't very high when it came to food cooked by the two of them. She managed to finish it up, looking at them with a sheepish smile on her face. Before any more comments could be made on the cookies, the twins ran down the stairs, their voices mingling together.

"Chris woke me up," Drew mumbled sleepily as he yawned, rubbing his eyes to get the sleep out. Chris just laughed and went over to Ember, snatching the cookie she held out of her hand. He put it in his mouth and chewed it for a few seconds before putting the rest of the cookie back in her hand with a disgusted look on his face. He made a few noises of disgust before relocating himself to the cupboards to search for something with the help of Drew. Ember just rolled her eyes and put the cookie back on the platter, not knowing if she could stomach another. Liam and Even both glared at the twin, insulted that they didn't enjoy their cooking.

But then Alice came down the stairs, her small body making more noise than any of the boys could have tried. "You guys need to learn how to be quiet in the morning, you’re all too annoying.” She mumbled under her breath, her hair stuck out in random directions.

Ember stood quickly, not in the mood to deal with her sister’s wrath that morning. With an apologetic smile she grabbed her purse and got ready to leave. She fled, laughing when she heard the word Traitor thrown at her, ignoring it before starting her walk to Anna’s house, something that was only a ten minute walk.

She closed her eyes at his thumb stroking the surface of her skin and she would take a deep breath, letting it out as her eyes opened, glittering lightly under the light of the ceiling. She would swallow and sigh. "I'm afraid of alot of things, Winter... I'm afraid of Spiders. Natural disasters. I'm afraid for my mother... but... it doesn't feel like it's a dream. It feels like it's a vision, in all honesty, Winter." she said, her face slightly paranoid as her lips were stretched in a worried frown. She would close her eyes again.

"It feels so real... I can just feel my breath running out, and the sweat on my face. The growling, The cold air around me, the leaves crunching beneath my feet. It's so real to me. And I wake up like I just jumped out of it. And I want to know what it means, Winter. I can't keep sleeping like this. It's driving me to exhaustion." she said, yawning again before she waved her hand towards the cafe area. Her friend Laura nodded at her, getting ready to bring her over a small coffee with plenty of caffeine.

"Well the exhaustion is real enough." Winter said, nodding slowly and watching her as she yawned. He wasn't sure quite what to think. Inwardly he was unsure; it wasn't usual for ordinary humans to have 'visions' in the true sense...but then Requiem wasn't an 'ordinary' human, that's what had appealed to him in the first place. And besides, he gave her a significantly higher degree of credibility than most people, and had learned to make a policy of taking seriously what she said.

"If it is a vision," he said eventually, "then see it as an opportunity to be prepared. The only thing you need truly fear is the thing you don't see coming."

With a comforting smile and another squeeze of her hand he added, "But hope springs eternal that it is just a particularly vivid dream, in equal measure to you especially verdant imagination, OK?"

She looked at him as he spoke, and she looked down at their hands together and then she smiled softly at him. She nodded and then her coffee landed beside her. "Okay." she said, nodding in response to him. She would keep smiling at him and then she bit her lip softly before she glanced around the cafe and she saw Dave staring at her with an irritated look. ... It was time to help him out, since more people were slipping into the store and the line was starting.

"I have to get back to the counter... do you want to come back there with me? Or are you just going to read until the shift is over... or what's the plan?" she asked, tilting her head at him with a curious look, biting her lip still but then she would pick her coffee up with her free hand, sipping it lightly. She never liked coffee much but she only drank it when she was tired. And right now; she was quite tired.

Winter was about to reply, when his eyes rolled down towards his pocket as he felt his phone vibrate once again. What on earth...? Just a single rumble, so it was only another message, but that was the second one in ten minutes. Still, he stuck by his decision to wait until he was done here before checking it...though his curiosity was being piqued further.

“There may be some things I have to look into.” he said as she finished off her coffee, “Probably turn out to be nothing at all, as usual. But better to placate the powers that be than to have them breathing down my neck.”

For propriety’s sake he released her hand as he walked with her back over to the counter area, past the slowly forming line. He stopped on the shop side of the counter as Requiem moved across to the other side. Overcome with an uncharacteristic urge to spontaneity, Winter glanced around the room. There was only a handful of people in the store, most of them engrossed in a book, their laptops, a coffee mug or something mundane like their watch.

So before Requiem got as far as the cash register he took her hand again to stop her, and smirked across at her co-worker who shot him a look back. But then Winter stood upright and put on a quizzical expression, looking at a point in the room somewhere behind Dave. The bluff worked, and Dave (and a few of the shoppers) turned to see what Winter was looking at. Whilst they were looking away, Winter leaned over the counter and placed a brief, discreet kiss on Requiem’s lips, before reverting to an at-ease stance just in time before Dave looked back. Nobody noticed.

“I’ll come back before you finish work.” He said, a slightly smug look on his face. “Hope it doesn’t get too busy.”

The scent of brimstone and sulfur burned Lancelots nose, causing him to open his eyes and jump up into a fighting stance, just in case there were enemies around. Brimstone and sulfur usually meant that something from the deepest pits of The Demonic Realm had appeared somewhere nearby, so naturally Lance was extremely alert. He looked around, he could barely see, but wait, where was his bed, or his room or his anything for that matter. Where was he? He closed his eyes for a brief second, reopening them to look around with his true Demonic eyesight, something that all Demons had. He peered into the Void, or what his Father, damn his soul, used to call a Fafnir, an elemental spirit dragon. The humungous beast was glaring at him, focusing so hard that it looked as if it was staring into his unheavenly soul. Suddenly, the beast lunged forward, and the world around Lance collapsed.

Lance awoke on his bed, basically drenched in sweat, he'd obviously been like this for hours, and he groaned. He pulled himself up, and off of the bed he went. He stretched, doing his usual routine, then, suddenly, a thought occured to him. The Fafnir was warning him. Lance closed his eyes, reopening them with a blaze of red that washed over his body and melted his skin, revealing his demon form. He stretched his wing, and exercised the talons on his right hand. Today he would have to be careful.

Lance finished drying himself with the towel and chucked on some clothes, picked up his phone and texted Ivory.

Hey babee, whaddaya doin?

Requiem tilted her head towards him with a curious expression, as she watched his eyes roll down to his pocket. She raised an eyebrow, curious and quizzical but she didn't ask what was going on. "Alright, Winter... I understand. I hope nothing is wrong." she said, smiling softly at him. When they reached the counter, she felt him take her hand again and she smiled softly at him.

But when she saw him staring at Dave, she looked but then she felt his lips press quickly against her's and her cheeks went slightly red, like they always did and her stomach would do a little flutter... and she loved it when her stomach fluttered. She felt his lips pull away and she smiled at him happily, before leaning over and kissing his right cheek and then she saw the line growing just a little longer. Only 3-5 people waiting...

"Alright, hun... I'll miss you while you're gone." she said, smiling at him and then she turned to a customer that walked up with a few books and she began to ring them up, but her eyes didn't move away from Winter, and they kept glancing at him over and over. She loved to look at Winter; he was a huge part of her world.

With a parting squeeze of her hand Winter stepped back to allow her to attend to the customers waiting. He turned and moved slowly towards the door, reaching into his pocket and producing his phone. Sure enough there were the two messages, and his face gravened as he saw that they were both from the Council. The first one simply read:

All Council subjects to be aware of convergence of hostile factors in the North Western States. Be ready.

The second one was more direct:

Hostilities confirmed. All Council subjects to present themselves at their regional chamber for briefings starting an hour after midnight. No exceptions.

He stepped out of the store and cursed. The Oregon chamber was unhelpfully located set into a mountain near Craig Lake, almost a three hour journey away by car. What on earth were they talking about, 'hostilities'? Hostilities from another caste of vampires? Unlikely, the clans were fairly united these days, it would take very serious provocation to create trouble between them, and he'd have heard about that before it got to the stage of hostility.

So what then? Another race? Werewolves? That was a bit more believeable. They'd come to blows in this part of the country before. But what could possibly have erupted so quickly as to require his immediate attendance at a chamber meeting tonight?

He thought about the plans he'd made for tonight already. He'd not realised quite how much he was looking forward to the experience, and even if the party did not have sufficient appeal, he was loathe to pass on the opportunity to spend some time with Requiem.

With a grunt he deleted both the messages. If the Council were so aggitated by the threat of some unspecified 'hostilities', then they would be too preoccupied to notice that one member failed to attend a regional chamber. And if anyone tried to contact him, they obviously weren't that preoccupied...and besides, Winter planned to be uncontactable...

Requiem watched him go outside and then she sighed, turning back to her next customer. She tucked some hair behind her ear before glancing at Dave who grinned at her and she stuck her tongue out at him, before ringing two books up and stuffing them into a bag, handing them to the lady who smiled and left with a thank you. Requiem hated her job sometimes; since she was always bagging books and working at the register. It wasn't a very fun job. Boring mostly but it was the only one she could find right now that would hire her quickly and actually needed help. She sighed as she rung up some more books and then finally when the line was gone, she took out her book, reading once more.

Her eyes kept flicking to the door, wondering if he was going to come back inside. She could tell from his dark figure he was focused on something else, but she didn't know what and she just wanted to go outside and drag him into the rain and run into the distance and just be alone with him. She hated how she was always busy, always working or always taken away by school. It was hard for Requiem to deal with at times, since she felt like... it just wasn't fair at all. She yawned.

"Excuse me!" Requiem jumped, looking towards a grouchy woman with a bony face and sharp long nose.

"Ah... sorry, maam. Eh... what can I help you with?" The woman dropped three books on the counter and Requiem rung them up, punching the little keys on the register. "45.67" she said. The woman swiped her credit card, Requiem did the rest and then bagged the books, and the lady snatched them away and walked out. Requiem made a face at her and Dave grinned as the Lady caught Requiem in the act and Requiem grinned, quickly looking away.

"God... you are such a child sometimes." Dave said, laughing as he was putting two books in a bag. Requiem looked at him with a smirk and then raised an eyebrow. "But that's a good thing. We all need to have a bit of child in us. That lady has none." he stated. Requiem sighed and leaned her elbow on the counter, looking back towards the doors but then looked down at the book she was reading.

Romeo and Juliet.

Anna raised an eyebrow at her phone and was about to reach for it when her cat suddenly jumped towards it and took off carrying the device in her mouth.
Anna let out a small sigh and was very close to yelling when she saw Ivory come through.""This is the largest dork in the world,". Anna turned her small body towards her friend and raised an eyebrow."That may be true but this dork did indeed help you pass your civics exam last year.....if I remember correctly ." Anna gave her a very small smile and then turned her attention towards where Luna had gone off too."Enjoying yourself?"Ivory asked as she grabbed the mug Anna had placed for her on the counter.

"Of course! Jeopardy is fun to....oh hell I sound like an old woman. You watch! Next time we see each other I'll be sitting in my rocker knitting you a pair of socks!" Anna grinned over towards her friend and then led her towards the living room so they could sit down on the couch. Luna was sitting on Anna's sofa with an almost satisfied expression on her feline face."Bad...cat..." Anna said as she reached over to grab her cellphone and check the messages.

One from Ali, one from Ember, and....one missed call. Her forehead grew tight and she frowned as she looked at her phone. Who besides Ali or her friends would be calling her on a weekend? She glanced at the area code and then immediately tensed up.It was an Alaska area code. There was only one person in Alaska Anna knew would ever call her.

"Ivory go ahead and watch tv or do whatever in here. I gotta make a quick call first and I'll be back. There's cookies I made yesterday in the big cookie jar if you want any."

And with that the young witch quickly escaped out of the living room and out into the backyard where she immediately called the number.
It took a few minutes of waiting before a voice responded sounding both tired and irritable.
"So now you pick up your goddamn phone huh?I had half a mind to use the mirror to contact you Anna."
"Good afternoon to you too Adam. Now how in the hell did you get my number?"
There was a small amount of hesitation on Adams side, as if he was contemplating lying to Anna.
"I took a peek at your phone at the last Coven gathering. I couldn't help it alright?"
Anna let out a sigh and then glanced towards sky. Several rainclouds were forming and it looked close to raining even more then usual.
"Fine. What do you want?" Anna was eager to get this conversation over with. She and Adam were both witches(or a warlock in Adams case) and had known each other since birth. They were the Covens most experienced and talented witches, both being born from strong bloodlines. They dated for a year and after which Adam broke it off with Anna, deciding it was better that they both saw "normal" people for a bit. It was a long story and Anna was too tired to think about it
"I'm coming down there....to..help you."
Anna raised an eyebrow and then shook her head shaking the phone along with her."Help me? Adam what in the Creators name are you talking about?"
Adam let out a long and heavy sigh on the other end of the line."I can't explain on the phone. All I can say is SHIT will hit the fan and you will be screwed ok? So before anything happens I'm coming down there."Before Anna was even able to put up any sort of fight the phones dial tone went off.

"Shit."

Ivory stuck her tongue at Anna. Her fluffy cat was perched on the couch, looking unbearably smug with Anna's phone in her mouth. When it began to vibrate, Anna snatched it. A look of surprise came over her face, followed by dismay. Ivory frowned, but waved her away when she went to answer it.

Good afternoon to you- was all she heard before Anna disappered around the corner. She shrugged and eyed Jeopardy for a few moments before getting up and switching to the newsstation by hand. Death, destruction, drugs, wars... it was all too much for Ivory, whom believed in partying more than warfare. Her purse was on the counter beside the T.V., so when it vibrated Ivory hesistated for a second, wondering if walking over to the table was worth it. Yeah, it was. What if it was her mother or Blake?

It was Ember.
Ivory sent a quick text back, just;
Def. good idea. At Anna's too. We have coffee. And Jeopardy.
Her phone just finished sending when it vibrated again.
It was Lance. A small smile overtook her face.
Hey babee, whaddaya doin?
She flipped open the small device and typed a quick;
Not much. @ Anna's w/ my coffee. Talking about the party tonight. Confirmed go with most of the group. (:

Winter drummed his fingers on his chin for a moment. He was steadfast in his decision not to attend the chamber tonight, but something in him was still curious to know what had the council so on edge. He glanced back at the shop; Requiem was alternating between serving customers and reading. In a way he hoped that it would get a bit busier, so that her shift would seem to go faster for her. As for himself, he needed to fill the time somehow, and he thought he knew a way to pass the time and potentially get a little information while he was doing it.

Putting up his umbrella again, since the rain was scarcely letting up, he made his way across town and into the run down residential district. The apartments here were small and dingy, and the only people who lived here were people who were either down on their luck, or who simply wished to be overlooked by the city. The person he was intending to visit belonged to the latter category.

His knocks were greeted with a curt “Who is it?”

“Winter Rheims. We spoke at the last chamber meeting.”

“Yes we did.” The voice replied, “And you suggested we should meet up and I suggested we shouldn’t. What do you want?”

“I want to know why you won’t be attending the chamber meeting tonight.” Winter called.

There was a pause and the door opened, revealing a gaunt, dishevelled man who appeared to be in his fifties, but in every way looked positively ill. Rüdiger had not taken well to living on a human diet, and city life had not been kind to him.

“Who says I’m not going?” Rüdiger hissed.

“Nobody.” Winter said. “But people don’t normally travel three hours to hear something they already know. And I’m sure you must know what this business is about.”

Rüdiger cursed and opened the door to allow the younger vampire in. Winter looked around at the tiny apartment, cluttered with boxes, books and various other curios...all completely lacking in taste and not even possessing an eclectic charm. But it seemed like more than simply untidiness...

“You moving somewhere?” Winter said obstusely.

“I’m getting out of town.” Rüdiger croaked. “And you’d want to think about doing the same. There’s a war coming, and there’s only going to be one side left standing. Which isn’t so bad when there’s only two sides, but in this case there’s going to be four.”

“Four sides?”

“Vampires, werewolves, witches and demons.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah I know, pretty convoluted huh? Not the sort of business a guy my age wants to hang around for.”

“Strange thing for an undead to say.” Winter said with a sly smirk.

“Why should being undead deny me the right to some peace and quiet in my twilight years?” Rüdiger barked weakly. “I’m heading south. You can tell the chamber if you want, they won’t care enough to come after me. They’ve got bigger fish to fry than chamber absentees.”

“Then I don’t suppose they’ll miss me either.” Winter replied with a shrug.

“So you’re skipping town too?”

“No.” Winter shook his head. “I’ve got things to stick around for. If war comes, I’ll do what needs to be done...I don’t see how jumping through the Council’s hoops will make us any more or less prepared anyway.”

“You’re a young fool Winter,” Rüdiger sighed, “but if you want to stay and jerk the Council around just as things are about to get ugly, that’s none of my concern.”

Winter smiled. “I hope your journey fares well brother. I don’t suppose I’ll see you again.”

“With any fortune at all,” Rüdiger said wistfully, “nobody will.”

With a nod, Winter turned and left the apartment. There was still a couple of hours until Requiem got off work, so he decided to look around town for a while. He wasn’t sure if he’d be expected to bring anything to the party later, but something for him and Requiem to share afterwards seemed like a good idea. Once he picked up a few snacks and a bottle of nice wine, he slowly made his way back to the bookstore.

Nogond was meditating when he felt something smell of brimstone. He quickly looked around to see where it came from. Behind him he saw an portal used for communicarion between the Earth and Hell. He walked closer and knelt in front of it. He saw someone in the other end of the portal that he identified as Baal leader of one of the Royal Families.
"What is your wish my lord?" Nogond said wondering why Baal had contacted him.
There have been a change of plans which will benefit you. The royal families have finally agreed to start an invasion of the Earth and you will be it's vanguard. When the main body of the invasion force arrives you will also become it's general."
Nogond could barely believe his ears. The invasion was the ultimate plan the demons had harbored for untold ages and now they had chosen him to be it's vanguard and general when the time comes.
"I understand my lord. What do you want me to do before the invasion begins?" He said barely containing his excitement.
"You will secure the so called town of Wood-Bank by killing all of it's supernatural inhabitants and afterwards we will send some demons to enslave the human population. Afterward we will send the rest of the army and the Earth will finally be ours." Baal said with a calm voice.
"I will not let you down my lord" Nogond answered before the portal disappeared.
Nogond still couldn't believe what he had heard. But this wasn't a time to celebrate he had many things to do before the invasion such as killing Lance and all other supernaturals.

The sound of Lance's phone vibrating was the only sound in the room, besides the sound of struggling coming from the bathroom, which was paused briefly, and suddenly there was a crash, and a figure in black came crashing through the wall that seperated the bathroom and the main room. The figure stood, sending firee at Lance, who stood his ground in his slightly weathered jeans. Laance promptly dodged the ball of flame, and noticed a familiar smell.

Brimstone. This guy was a demon.

Lance kicked at the man, sending him into the wall, the man tried to use some fancy hand-to-hand combat, but Lance easily dodged his hits. Lance grabbed him by the neck, and slammed them into the floor. The figure got onto their knees and bowed their head. "Go on, finish me! Send me back to hell, where I belong, brother". The figure looked up, and stered into Lance's eyes.

It was Lance's brother, Axel.

Axel smiled. "The throne has been usurped, and the new 'King' Baal sent me and other assassins after you, to destroy our bloodline. Do not let him delete us. Now, finish me before I do something I regret, as is our families creed!" Lance knew what he had to do, so he lifted his leg over Axel's head, as high as it could go. Then he slammed it down onto his brother, completely and utterly disintegrating Axel's head. Blood splattered everywhere, and it seemed that there was no end to the amount of blood. Lance looked down, noticing something glinting in the redness. He picked it up, and realise what it was.

The Royal Insignia of the Quinnzeill Family. It was stained with the blood of a Quinnzeill, and Lance knew that he was the last remaining member of the family that has not perished. Lance picked up his phone and read the message, and texted Ivory back.

Coming over soon, just need to do some things 1st, will b at the party 2nite, luv ya =D

With that, Lance sat next to his brothers corpse, and started to cry...