Chapter 15

CW:

I’d been sat on the couch the second we got back. The ride over was abysmally quiet. No one spoke. I got a few kind looks from Tory every once in a while, but the cheerful, almost normal, attitude we had earlier was gone.

I didn’t really want to sit down when we got back because I had so much energy, but Chelsea insisted. She said she didn’t want me breaking something while she made a call.

I stared blankly out at the living room. Tory was in the kitchen doing something. I wasn’t sure what considering her back was turned. I went back to staring at the wall blocking the elevator as my mind started to wander.

I lazily went over the day. Thinking about the sheer enjoyment I got from just hanging out with both Chelsea and Tory. There was no expectation. No evil Chelsea. Just calm. At least until that thing.

That thing? Oh my god! That thing!

I finally remembered what happened fully and that someone should be made aware about the blue eyed person? Monster? Demon? I wasn’t really sure, but, regardless, it was beyond dangerous. That much I could tell.

A wine glass full of a deep rich liquid appeared in front of my vision, blocking my view. I turned to my left to see who it was. Tory’s comforting smile looked back.

“Figured you could use a pick me up,” as she spoke, I sat up more on the couch and took the wine glass from her. I gave her a thankful smile back and sipped. My back had no support right now so the sip was strained from my abs trying to avoid falling. I half expected blood but I was in no way hungry right now. Instead, room temperature alcohol met my lips. I had never been a wine drinker before, but this was different. I could taste the hints of oak as the sweetness danced on my tongue. I thought people were snooty for their ‘wine tastings’ but the explosion of flavor that was happening inside my mouth was making me question my past beliefs. I swallowed the magnificent taste, closing my eyes in the process.

“Enjoying it?” Tory asked with a subtle laugh. I opened my eyes, looked at her, and just shook my head emphatically. I was excited to drink more. My little taste before would be nothing to a large sip. “Make sure you drink it slowly to enjoy it. This is a 19th century bottle.” I stopped moving the glass to my lips.

“A what?!” I looked at her like she was crazy. I may have not drank a lot of wine, but I did know that the older the wine was, the more expensive it was. The oldest bottle I ever drank was like two or three years old. My mom enjoyed a glass or two occasionally and really freaked out over buying a 2013 bottle a few years ago. She went on and on about how expensive it was and how good it was. She’d probably go insane hearing that I just drank something made in the 1800s.

“A 19th century bottle. You a wine connoisseur Belle?” She raised her eyebrow at me.

“Uh, definitely not,” I sat fully up, swiveling my legs over to set the wine down on the coffee table she was sitting on. “I just know that the older the wine, the more expensive it is.”

“Ahh true but,” she paused and tapped me on the nose causing me to wince in surprise, “the older the wine, the better it is.” She smiled and took a sip of her own glass, reveling in the taste. “Chelsea says the old bottles are for special occasions only, and I’m making an executive decision here that this counts.”

I laughed at that. I was thankful she cared enough to do something to cheer me up. I took another soft sip, allowing the spicy kick to settle into my throat.

“So, uh,” she became a little more serious, “you wanna talk about what happened at all?”

I breathed some air out of my nose, amused at how she approached it. “Which part? The crazy Blood Raze thing or something else?” I asked sarcastically. She took my comment a little more seriously than I intended.

“Honestly, about what caused it. One minute we’re all walking enjoying the day, the next you’re fully turned around talking about the world slowing down, then passing out. What happened?”

Her question sobered me up a little. I set the wine back down and looked at her. “Someone or something was following us.”

She looked at me with not so subtle confusion. “What do you mean? Chelsea’s a Pure. There’s no way that something could’ve been following us. Unless…” she trailed off.

“Unless what?”

She started to look uncomfortable. “Unless, magic was involved.”

I figured magic was real at this point, considering everything I’ve been through in the past few days, but I was still a little taken aback. I suppose it made sense and explained the literal glowing eyes I’d seen. Along with the hooded figures identity being shrouded in darkness when the sun was still out.

“What exactly constitutes as magic? Glowing eyes?” I asked. Her eyes went wide. I could see her whole iris. She just stared at me slack jawed.

“Of course glowing eyes count! Could you see someone with glowing eyes?” She leaned forward a little, almost to shorten the distance between us, but it was likely that she wanted an answer quickly.

I relaxed into the couch a little more, distancing us. I nodded. “I felt pain in my neck too. Like someone was clawing their way into my spine. I was freezing cold and my heart was beating back to how it was when I was human. The pain only stopped after I moved out of the glowing eyed figure’s line of sight.”

She chewed on her thumb. “I need to tell Chelsea. This is something she’ll want to know.” I just nodded. There was no way I was going to be able to keep this from her. She’d figure it out sooner or later.

“I’ll be right back,” she said, setting her wine glass back down after she took a hasty sip. She dashed up the staircase, likely going to find Chelsea.

I stared off a little. Looking at the door to my new room. I took a deep breath and sighed. Couldn’t just something go my way for once?

***

It didn’t take long for both Chelsea and Tory to come back down the stairs, but it was definitely long enough for me to lose myself in thought. I’d started to spiral into feelings of self-deprecation and awe at my situation. Who knew I could attract so much trouble?

I took a lazy sip of the wonderful wine as the two approached. Chelsea sat in one of the off chairs while Tory sat back down on the coffee table. Wringing her hands, Tory looked slightly nervous. Chelsea looked calm, but, almost, annoyed? I couldn’t quite place her emotional state. It was somewhere between angry and annoyed, but definitely leaning more towards annoyed.

“Tory tells me there was someone else there when you went into your Blood Raze, correct?” Her voice was sure and almost off. It had lost that friendliness it had earlier this morning.

I nodded, feeling like I was being interrogated.

“Explain. She mentioned glowing eyes and pain. I want to hear your version.” She nodded downward, motioning that it was my turn to speak.

I took another deep breath, this time rather labored, trying to calm myself. I was starting to be on edge. “Everything was normal, then I got really really cold. Like frostbite cold. My hand was turning blue like everything was disappearing out of it. The world slowed down, even both of you.” I saw her eyes go wide for a millisecond then return to their cool demeanor. “I felt aching, terrible pain in my neck and tried to scratch at it. It felt like someone was stabbing at me trying to get into my spine. I turned around and saw a hooded figure with stark blue eyes. After moving, the pain stopped and so did the cold. The thing seemed to come out of its trance then ran away. The world returned to normal speed after that.” I looked at her expecting some type of reaction. She stayed quiet and brought her hands up. Clasping them together, she rested her head in them with her elbows supporting everything.

“This changes things,” she said slowly. “We need to seek the council out now. Tory, call the car. I’ll notify Elric.” As soon as she said the name, she went stark white. Her irises glazed over in a milky color. Her body went rigid and then fully relaxed. I looked to Tory for some reaction.

Tory looked terrified. She immediately bowed her head. Refusing to look up. I could tell from my position that she was breathing hard and had her eyes closed.

“Ahhhhhhh,” Chelsea exclaimed. “I heard my name called.” She looked around like she was looking at the room from somewhere else. The blind looking eyes were the most uncomfortable part. I felt a deep fear settle into my gut. Something had changed. This wasn’t the Chelsea I knew. Sure she could be scary, but this was different. This was unadulterated fear. It felt like something crawled out of hell and sat right in front of me.

‘Chelsea’ twisted her arm out taking stock of her surroundings. “Ohoho, it looks like the little Hudson clan leader made a mistake for once. What could be going on that you said my name?” Her eyes were still looking around but finally settled on me. I felt my whole body light up as big letters flashed in my mind screaming ‘DANGER.’

“And who might you be? You’re new?” The more I heard her voice the creepier it sounded. It was almost like she was being spoken through by whatever was controlling her right now. One voice was a deep voice, with a subtle English accent and the other was Chelsea’s normal voice. She stood up from the chair and walked over to me. Putting her hand under my chin, she forcefully moved my face to look up at her.

“Definitely new, but,” she leaned down and took a sniff of my neck and hair. It felt like she was almost an animal now. “Oooh, but oh so interesting.” She twisted her head oddly, almost like she was in pain. “Ah, I can feel her fighting back. Well, I’ll be leaving you now, little sparrow. I hope to see you again. Let me just leave a quick parting gift.” She moved away from me, but still stood relatively close. She reached out her arm, straightening it. With one swift movement, she swung her right hand directly into the bottom of her left elbow, snapping the bone. The crunch resounded throughout the house and I recoiled in shock and empathetic pain.

I wanted to throw up at the sight. Her arm was twisted in ways it shouldn’t. I could barely tear my eyes away from the disfigured limb to see that her eyes were returning to normal. The dark irises calmed me slightly at the disgusting sight.

“Ahhhh!” Chelsea screamed out and fell down to her knees. She twisted her arm back to where the bones looked slightly normal, albeit, twisted up. Tory was immediately at her side. I didn’t know what to do so I just stared.

“Fucking cunt! I hate that prick sometimes. Ugh,” she sat up a little more. “Tory, grab me a blood bag. I need this thing to heal faster.” Tory was up and running into the kitchen, returning quickly with the requested item. As soon as she got back, Chelsea tore at the bag with her teeth drinking as much as she could. I could see the bones slowly starting to mend. It didn’t look fixed but it looked to be slowly healing. I wasn’t sure how long it would take considering what Nek had said to me when we were training.

“What the heck was that?” I asked. Both of their eyes snapped toward me. Tory looked scared, but recovering, while Chelsea just looked mad.

“Sorry you had to see that. That was El. Never speak that demon’s name. He can be great sometimes, but other times he’s hell reincarnated. I didn’t mean to say his full name, but the situation made me forget myself. He’s the council leader. He’s also one of the few with abilities and, needless to say, he never gets to use it on anyone important because everyone knows about his possessive tactic.”

I looked at her in shock. That was an ability? And he’s the council leader? That terrifying hell spawn was their leader? No wonder this whole world was so frenched up.

“Regardless of his,” she looked at her messed up arm, “charitable ways, we need to go see him. The council is meeting today in an hour and we have to be there. What happened to you could be seen as an attack on all of us. We need to alert the elder leaders.”

“The elder leaders? There are people older than you?” I was shocked to hear that for some reason. I expected Chelsea to be older than old, not have superiors.

She grimaced in pain, then let out a difficult laugh. “There are people older than the elders here. There’s some who date back to the first civilizations. They’re usually off dealing with their own issues and pay little attention to what they consider a ‘backwater civilization, nothing compared to what it was.’”

“They don’t like New York?” I thought it was weird considering how huge the place was.

She laughed. “No, they choose to stay in their older countries. They like tradition. They always have. No one really sees them unless they need to see you. And if they need to see you, it’s not usually for good reasons.” She stood up with Tory’s help. She leaned her good hand on Tory’s shoulder to lift herself. 

I looked a little more at Tory. She’s been quiet this whole time. Concern has been written on her face, since Chelsea returned to normal. She was almost like a puppy whose owner was hurt and didn’t know what to do.

“Tory I’m ok. I swear. It’s just a broken arm. It’ll heal soon. Can you call the car please?” Chelsea’s pained look was wavering, her arm clearly still hurting.

Tory looked unsure, but slowly let Chelsea’s good arm go. She pulled out her phone and made a call.

Chelsea turned to me. “Come on, let’s go.” I didn’t expect to leave so soon after that situation, but, if she was ready, then so was I. I gave a curt nod and got ready.

***

The elevator ride was silent. I’d milled around a bit in the corner trying to keep myself away from the other two. Tory was reacting to every little movement Chelsea made. She wanted to take care of her at every second. Chelsea seemed to let her, even if it was just a little. She made protests, but it was clear that Tory was insistent.

Getting in the car was another quiet matter. I hopped in and waited to leave. We sat in the same positions we were in earlier. Chelsea in the front passenger seat with Tory and I in the middle two seats. We had been driving for a good 10 minutes, before I decided to speak up.

“So, uh,” I paused, letting my voice cut the tension, “want to explain that a bit more? Same to you Tory. You seemed to understand what happened when her eyes went white.”

“Don’t worry too much about it,” Chelsea said from the front. I was still looking at Tory who looked uneasy to say the least. “Like I said, don’t say El’s name fully while thinking of his face and he can’t do anything to you.”

“Then why are we going to see him? Isn’t that how he expands his power?” I asked.

“Yes and no. He has the same power I do, the one that lets me scry–”

“Oh and that’s such a cool one isn’t it?” I huffed sarcastically.

“Well, yes and no. Have I abused it with you? Yes. Did I do it to make sure you were safe? Also yes. We can argue about it all day but regardless he has the same power. Speak his name and he can sense it.”

“That’s still crazy to me. I can just say his name without even knowing him and he can just see through my eyes? Like what is that?” I stared out the window annoyed. The cityscape passed me slowly by as the dark of night had settled in.

“Well you have to know of him. You can’t just say the name randomly without knowing he’s the council leader. Some of the Pure’s have pretty common names. That would make the scrying thing too reactive. If someone hears about you, meets you, or knows of you then speaks your name, then you can scry. No one’s fully sure of the reason behind it or how it exactly works. You’d have to talk to the Researcher.”

“The who?”

“The Researcher. I’m not sure how you haven’t picked up on it at this point. There’s a reason we all use nicknames as vampires. Victoria is Tory. Isabelle, you, is Belle. The Researcher is the Researcher. I won’t say his name because it just gives him the same chance to scry. There’s far too much of that going on, hence the nickname thing. I’d forgotten about it with El. He refuses to take a name like the Leader or the Councilman because it’d ‘dilute his reputation.’” She said the last bit in air quotes. I could see her hands miming them. “In reality, it’s just so he can make everyone slip up by using his name. He’s very…” she paused, “persuasive.”

I raised one of my eyebrows. “Persuasive? What do you mean?”

A quiet voice chirped up to my left, “he gets what he wants, when he wants.” I looked over to see Tory biting her lip. She’d practically mumbled the words.

“Yes, Tory. He can be a vile person, but he’s quite a good leader. He’s almost evil for the sake of it, but then caring for the collective. He’s quite the annoying enigma.” She turned around with sadness in her eyes, “from what I can garner about the situation, he took an interest in you right?”

“I guess? He did walk over to me in your body and say something along those lines.”

“Then we should all be worried. There’s a chance he might become,” she stopped and looked between both Tory and I, “more involved.” I saw Tory physically shudder at the insinuation.

“Ok, so this guy’s worse than anything I could imagine? Worse than what you two have done to me?” I laughed awkwardly trying to both make a joke, gauge their fear, and needle them for everything.

“Oh much worse, dear. Much worse.” She turned around and the rest of the ride was silent. My anxiety was spiking through the roof as we drove further. My only thought was: What if he kills me tonight?

***

I ended up gnawing at the sides of my cheek for the rest of the ride. I swear I about ripped a hole out to the top layer of my skin. Everything felt raw. It did help take my mind off of the impending doom awaiting me ahead.

The car rolled to a stop in front of a massive building. I’d lost track of where we were at this point. The front looked like it was made for movie stars. There was a large royal awning covering the front side drop off area along with a sleek red mat that extended from our car door to the entrance. The awning was the same deep shade of red, lined with beautifully bright lights. I didn’t have the forethought to look at the building. We just kind of arrived. A door man opened my side door to greet me. I quickly realized that all of the doors were opened at the same time with a different door man standing at attention. Each man looked eerily similar, like they could’ve been brothers or triplets that looked slightly off from another. Only the one at Chelsea’s door spoke.

“Welcome Miss Hudson. The council graciously awaits your arrival along with your two most coveted daughters. Elric,” his eyes flashed a milky white then returned to their original dark brown, “most specifically cannot contain his joy for your newest daughter.”

“Appreciated.” Chelsea turned back towards us, “come on girls. Let’s go.” She reached her hand out to the doorman to have him help her down. He chuckled.

“Careful miss. Don’t want to have you injured again,” He said as he reached out to pull her bad hand out from her protected side. I saw Tory tense and get ready to move. It happened too fast for me to comprehend, but Chelsea was out of the car, protecting her arm, while simultaneously holding the man in a death grip by the neck.

“Touch me again trash,” she pulled his face closer to hers, fangs fully extended, “and I’ll rip your throat out.” She relaxed her grip and the man exhaled a sharp breath in anger.

I slowly started to get out of the car, cautious of taking the man positioned at my door’s hand. I opted to avoid it and hopped down, still staring at the scene. Tory, similarly, came out on my side and avoided the same door man. The two that were still standing, closed our doors then returned to the front entrance. The one by Chelsea gave her a venomous glare before returning to where his brothers were.

Tory quickly made her way over to Chelsea. I did too, but for likely different reasons. I felt pain in my heart for seeing her treated like that, but I wanted to know why?

“What was that about?” I whispered to her.

“Nothing, we can talk about it later. Not here.” She said, keeping a cautious eye at the front door the whole time. With that, we made our way inside. 

A concierge greeted us at the front desk that directly faced the entrance. The whole lobby was decadent. There was Calacatta marble lining the whole room. It looked wildly expensive. I’d seen marble halls in my lifetime, but this one was sleeker, more well defined. The front desk had gold trimming lining the details and looked to be cleaned every second. There was a simple seating area to our right, a hallway that led to the elevators, and several doors I couldn’t see through. A full bar was a little ways to our right with another myriad of doorways.

The woman at the front had her dark brown curls pulled back into a professional bun. Her clothing was smart: a simple black dress, lined with white, and a pocket square stitched into the top. It was clearly a fake pocket square, but the white matched the black ensemble nicely.

“Ahhh, Miss Hudson. How wonderful to see you again! I do hope you make use of our bar area this time after the council meeting. It was such a joy to see you enjoy yourself the last time you used it.” She laughed slightly.

“Don’t worry Diana. You won’t have to clean up after me this time. I’m here because of my daughter, not clan business.”

“Oh, if that’s the case, do hurry up. The council should be waiting and I’ll notify them that you’re here.”

“Thanks,” Chelsea smiled. Compared to her reaction to the man outside, it was clear that she liked this woman a lot more. They even had a small history. There was a lot to Chelsea I didn’t quite know.

With a quick nod after talking on the phone for a second, our group made our way to the right towards the elevators. Chelsea pulled out a black card and swiped it on a security box. The light dinged announcing its arrival. The doors were the same pattern as the wall, black diamonds on a brackish brown background. The diamonds were enclosed in a dark black box that offset the background. The doors pulled apart making the patterns that were shown disappear. I took a quick glance at Chelsea and she nodded towards the inside. Taking a deep breath, I made my way into the final obstacle before my date with death.