Black Blood

We were back in the meeting room, and I sat at the end of the table there. Claude, Adrian, Ami, and Jean were to my right. Arthur and Clair were to my left. Arthur sat between Clair and I, of that I was thankful for.

Claude had explained the dream I had experienced, and the fact that Edward Blackblood had made an appearance. I was glad he had done the talking, but now the room had exploded into conversations held in French. I assumed they were discussing what to do next.

I knew there was nothing to do, exactly, except wait. I sighed and rested my chin in my hands, and met gazes with Adrian. He was excluded from the conversation and just watching me.

"What?" I said, eyebrows raised, He shrugged and made a face.

"Would it be odd to say, I'd like to see your ability in actin again?" he asked. My eyebrows lifted even higher at that. It was odd. "Not on me, of course." He added.

Adrian then gestured around the room, and I looked. A smile came to my face when I realized what he was suggesting. He didn't like these new vampires anymore than I did. I patted Adrian on the arm, and he didn't flinch that time.

"Nice try," I said. "But I'm not going to do that to these guys. As... annoying as Clair is."

Adrian smiled and shook his head.

"I could have just stayed home," he sighed. "Let Claude handle you and Edward Blackblood. He seems like he knows more than I do, anyway." I shrugged again.

"At least you had the option," I said. "I don't get a say in any of this. I'm really starting to regret choosing to walk around at night. If I hadn't been doing that, I wouldn't have been abducted. I would be living a normal, blissful life- free from the knowledge that vampires exist."

"You don't know that," Adrian said. "You may have ended up getting abducted by vampires no matter what you decided. You've got Blackblood blood running through your veins. Ah... try saying that five times fast." He chuckled, and I smiled again. "I could almost say that this here is your destiny."

"Don't say things like that," I said with a sigh. "I don't want reminders of how hopeless wishing is. Anyway, we're here now. No sense in daydreaming about what could be..."

Claude pushed his chair back and stood, slamming his hands down on the table. Arthur pushed his chair back and stood as well. Claude's jaw was set, a glare focused on Clair that would have made me shrink back, but Clair held her head high.

"It's final," Claude said. "Leave if you can't accept it." Arthur held his hands out, one toward Clair and the other toward Claude.

"Please, let's not do this here," Arthur said. "Clair doesn't have to leave. Right, Ami?" Arthur looked to Ami. Claude sat down in his chair again, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest. Ami said nothing.

"It's fine," Clair said. She pushed her chair back and stood slowly. All the while she kept her gaze on Claude. "I'll go. I don't need to be here, anyway. I have more important things to attend to."

"What could possibly be more important than this?" Claude asked, but Clair ignored him.

She looked at me a brief moment, before turning on her heel and exiting the room. Arthur stared after her a moment. He looked to Claude, then back to the door. He shook his head and followed after her.

"Not such a happy family, are we, then?" Adrian asked. He had both his eyebrows raised. Claude turned a frosty gaze on him.

"It doesn't matter," Claude said. He looked over to Ami, the anger in his gaze dying down a little. "I'm taking her to see the king. We need to be prepared for Edward Blackblood to make an appearance, and the king is-"

Claude stopped short. Ami nodded her head, but I was lost. The king was- what? Something about it all felt ominous. It was getting harder to fight the urge to run and hide all the time. I shook my head and sighed, hoping I wouldn't have to hide given my abilities.

"Your strange ability has never been heard of before," Ami said, her attention on me. I jumped and looked up at her, nodding at her. "You may be able to catch him off guard. But I would- be careful. That man... has become truly corrupt and dangerous."

I nodded again. I could feel it, in the dream I had. A million different things were off about him. Perhaps what he had said couldn't be trusted.

"We're going now," Claude said. He stood again and looked over to Jean. "Join us if you wish, but be quick about it. Adrian, Chloe; let's go."

I watched him make his way over to the door, frozen in my seat. Finally Adrian stood and grabbed my arm, hauling me up. He led me over to where Claude was waiting, and I gave Ami and Jean one last glance before we left the room.