Chapter 9

Elizabeth looked up at Heather, whose face was oddly animated.

' Where are we going?' she asked her, struggling to keep up.

Heather stopped walking and turned around to face Elizabeth. ' Oh, nowhere. The Council just wants to introduce you to everyone else officially.'

Elizabeth mulled over this reply for a long time because she sensed something else underneath Heather's answer and her perfectly composed poker face. ' Oh,' she finally said and remained silent for a long time.

They arrived at the end of the endless carpeted hallway to a big double door with many intricate carvings. A huge chain was hung over the golden knobs. Heather pushed the door open and stepped in imperiously, as if she owned the place.

Elizabeth followed her quietly, feeling small in the big room, which was more of a ballroom. The floor was made of shiny marble and the walls were paneled in light coloured wood. A huge chandelier made of thousands of shimmering crystals and diamonds hung from the ceiling. At the middle of the room,right under the massive chandelier, was a large polished mahogany table, with plush cushioned chairs surrounding it. The chairs were all occupied, except for one seat, which Heather promptly took.

Charlie Rafferty, the head of the Council, was standing at the end of the table, looking grim and Elizabeth suddenly felt fear. The rest of the members of the Council also wore the same grim expression. It was awkward for a few minutes and Elizabeth felt uncomfortable just standing there.

Then, Charlie cleared his throat as if preparing himself. ' Esteemed members of the Council, today, we have gathered here to address a problem that we thought had disappeared centuries ago,' he began.

Heather stared at Elizabeth as he spoke and enjoyed watching the growing fear forming on her face. She imagined her life without Elizabeth and having Will all to herself. Trying to hide her smile, Heather switched her attention to the new male vampire hired to help the council. He was quite cute, with dark brown hair and maybe a little too excited for the job. Heather waited until he met her eye and winked at him. A blush coloured his cheeks and he dropped the pile of papers he was carrying. Heather laughed lightly to herself.

Elizabeth listened in horror as Charlie started addressing the Council.

' Centuries ago, we were all united, a family,' he began. ' We had much rules to keep ourselves hidden, away from human life and the sweet scent their blood gave. We only had to hunt animals from the wilderness, where we lived, because we knew that once we set foot out of our Sanctuary, man would be on us as fast as lightning, killing us, for we were like demons to them. Monsters.' When he said the last word, there were snarls from all around the room.

' We were fine. Fine until one day, when the arrival of a woman, disrupted our community. She was like us, pale skinned and beautiful, as was our nature. She had many special abilities, when our kind only had one ability each. Quickly, she became friends with everyone, all of the women....and all of the men. Her name was Danae.' Again, the room was filled with outraged snarls and hisses. Charlie's voice twisted around the name and even Heather looked angry.

' One of Danae's abilities was to influence people,hypnotise them into doing...things. One night, under the full moon, she influenced the males of our family to lead an illegal hunt into town, where a ball was being held. Danae just sat back and watched thousands of innocent people murdered. To her, this was fun. This was entertainment. Danae also participated in the massacre but her purpose was different. She wanted to look for one person who she could transform into a vampire and carry her inherited abilities. Nobody knew why she did this but apparently, she found her victim.

' We disposed of the guilty males involved in the massacre but we didn't find the victim Danae chose. Our community broke up because of the deaths of many of the families. The new vampire was as dangerous as Danae, and probably even more dangerous than Danae. Every time we found a new vampire who remembered things from the past, we had to execute them. We had no other choice.' Charlie ended his story and Elizabeth no longer felt scared.

She felt terrified, horrified, scared and frightened.

Charlie turned to Elizabeth, his face sombre. The rest of them did the same and Elizabeth knew what was coming next. Her death.

Quickly, Elizabeth tried to come up with something to save herself. ' Wait,' she pleaded, holding her hands out. ' You said you killed those who had memories of their past, but I don't have any memories of my past.' The Council stopped in their tracks and Heather felt her plan blow up into dust.

Charlie slowly turned to face her. ' Is this true, Heather?' he asked and narrowed her eyes.

Heather stared at Elizabeth for a long time and had to tell the truth because sensing lies was Charlie's ability. ' She has not had any recollection of her past life,' Heather answered. ' Yet.'

Charlie seemed to be pleased by this answer and retreated towards his chair when a member of the council stood walked forwards and placed his strong hands around Elizabeth's neck. It all happened so suddenly but Heather was pleased by the turn of the events.

' What are you doing, Madoc?' Charlie asked him, his voice low and deadly.

' Are you going to believe this girl just like that?' Madoc yelled, his fingers tightening.

Elizabeth fought for air and tried to pull away from his grip but it held her there.

' She had no recollection of her past,' Charlie declared,' therefore she does not carry Danae's essence.'

Madoc appeared furious. ' Danae was a lying witch. How do we know that she isn't the same?'

Elizabeth saw black spots in front of her eyes and felt herself quickly drifting away when suddenly, Madoc ripped his hand away from her neck. When Elizabeth opened her eyes, Madoc's hands were blistered, as if they came in contact with fire. A slight scent of smoke lingered in the air.

The room was silent for moments, until Charlie chose to break the silence. ' Well, will you look at that?' He was smiling. ' Proof that she isn't Danae's descendant. Danae hated fire, remember?'

Madoc glared at her for a long moment and then stormed out of the room, the door slamming on the wall behind him. Heather followed him after a while and then the rest of the members also exited, casting Elizabeth awed and suspicious glances.

Charlie walked over to her and on his face was a sheepish expression. ' I'm sorry for trying to...get rid of you earlier on,' he apologised. ' You don't know how extremely dangerous Danae can be.'

Elizabeth looked at him curiously. ' You sound like you know her well, sir.'

Charlie looked away, a distant expression in his eyes. ' I did. She was my wife.' Elizabeth's eyes widened. ' We fell in love as soon as she came into our community but she was always flirting with the other males of the family. I kept quiet for a long time and kept telling myself that she was who she was.'

' How did she look like?'

Charlie smiled, a faraway look still in his eyes. ' She has golden hair, very wavy. Her emerald eyes were always glittering with mischief, probably why I fell in love with her in the first place.'

Elizabeth smiled along with him until his words sank in. The way Charlie described Danae, it was as if he was describing Elizabeth.

But before Elizabeth had time to feel alarmed, the door of the room swung open and William walked in. He was smiling broadly and looked animated and happy for the first time since she met him again. She was in his arms before she had time to react, her face pressed onto his chest.

' What's this for?' she asked him, her voice muffled.

William sounded like he was smiling when he replied. ' Because you're safe.' Then, he released her and held her close to him. At that moment, she didn't think about anything else, other than being with him.

Until she saw Heather standing at the doorway, glaring at her before stalking off.




Elizabeth stood at the corner of the large room, feeling awkward and uncomfortable. Everyone there were stealing glances at her, looking suspicious and some angry. Slowly, she exhaled and rubbed her neck, trying to lessen the feeling she had as if someone was watching her.

'Having fun?' someone said and Elizabeth's grip tightened around the glass. Turning around slowly, she came face to face with Heather, who wore a sickly sweet smile on her face.

Elizabeth tried to speak but it was as if she lost her voice.

'What's the matter, Lizzie?' Heather continued, stepping closer, causing Elizabeth to step back. Heather dropped her act and took another step forward until they were face to face. ' Listen to me very good, Elizabeth Davenport,' she said, almost snarling. ' I don't care if you were with Will in your previous life or whatever, but if you don't stay away from him from now on, you're going to regret ever coming here. This is my game, Elizabeth and I will win.'