"Where are we going again?" Old Quil asked for the umpteenth time, driving much too slow for my taste.
"The Thornton building. Big, tall, shiny. You can't miss it, it's just around the corner." I replied, bored.
As we took a left, the building came into view. Most people were awed, as it was a rather impressive building at first glance. When you venture inside it's large glass doors, it proves to be even more impressive. To me, though, it will always seem dull, no matter how polished and magnificent it looks. It was only a building after all.
I suppressed a sigh of annoyance as all the Quileute men gasped in unison, excluding Sam. His eyes widened slightly, but he made no noise. We parked across the street and walked over to the front steps, being careful of the many speeding cars and bicyclists. I walked in first, heading over to the front desk.
To the humans of Seattle, the Thornton building was the home of the largest art collection in the state. To the supernatural beings, it was the home of the largest supernatural council in the country, third in the whole world after the Volturi and Witch's Council.
Thankfully, James was at the desk so I didn't have to talk to the usual front desk person.
"Hello, James. I've brought the Elders of the Quileute tribe."
"Password?" He asked without looking up from the computer he was typing away on.
"Dragon's heart." I replied, my all-business voice on.
"The Council is waiting in the conference room, Ms. Dwyer. Marissa has your robe."
I sighed as he mentioned my robe. When I first found out the Council members wore robes to show their race and ranks, I almost laughed. I couldn't help but imagine all the shifters and werewolves riding broomsticks at Hogwarts. As it turns out, they didn't think it was so funny. My robe was purple-velvet with a gold trim, the gold trim symbolizing my 'gift'.
I walked over towards the elevator, four very confused men following me. We got into the elevator and the men looked at the buttons labeled number one through twenty. I pressed the red "fire" button. The elevator closed and we headed down. The digital numbers that showed the floor read "S2" when the elevator stopped and the doors opened.
"Uh, where are we going, if you don't mind me asking?" Billy asked politely.
Before I could reply, Marissa came rushing forward. One arm was flailing around frantically while the other was clinging onto a deep-purple, velvet robe. My robe to be exact. Marissa had shoulder length light-brown hair, which she almost always kept in a neat ponytail on the back of her head. She was dressed in a plain white business blouse, a black pencil skirt, a simple silver necklace, and her green witch's robe. In a way, she was my best friend.
"Bella!" she whisper-yelled while shoving my arm into one sleeve of my robe, "You're half an hour late, and you know how cranky they can get. Hurry up and get in there!"
"Hello to you, too" I mumbled good-heartedly as she shoved my arm into the other sleeve.
I smiled at her motherly scolding before calmly opening the two large, oak doors that lead into the conference room. My robe flew out behind me as I quickly walked in, and Marissa just rolled her eyes at my dramatic entrance. The Quileute men followed me in as well, albeit less dramatically.
The Council was seated at a long, half-circle table set at the end of the long room. It was a hand-made oak table, and it had intricate designs of battles and famous tales carved into it. They all wore dark-purple robes, nearly black, that were close to the same color as the aborigine walls. I walked coolly up to about ten feet from the table, and stopped. The Quileute men nearly ran into me, too busy taking in the room that had an air of power to it.
"Isabella. The Council stands before you to hear your request." came Julian's loud, authorative voice.
"As you all know, I was recently relocated to Forks, Washington. On exploration of the surrounding area I found La Push, which is a Native American reserve for the Quileute tribe. A select few can shift into wolves, and they have a fully formed pack, if I'm not mistaken. You requested all shifters that do not know about the laws of the Council to be brought to you for initiation, so here they are."
"Well done, Isabella." Julian complimented. "They shall stay here until their initiation is complete. Where is the rest of the pack?"
"At school." Sam said from behind me. I nearly jumped because I forgot he was there.
"How old are they all?" Xantara, the woman at the far left, asked.
"Sam's 22, and the rest are 14, 16, 17, or 18." Billy answered.
"How large is the pack?" the woman to the left of Julian, Rae, questioned.
"Eight, including me." Sam responded
"How many women?" Kuri, the man at the far right of the table, asked.
"One."
"Only one? Then you're pack is not complete." Julian decreed.
"Excuse me for interrupting, but according to our legends there are usually only two or three wolves at a time, and always men. Leah has been the first female to phase." Old Quil said curiously.
"Well then, you're legends must be incorrect and the women of your tribe must be unequipped to become shifters." Kuri plainly stated.
Billy and Harry tried to remain passive, although it was a rather low blow, and Old Quil glared mercilessly. If looks could kill, Old Quil would've turned the whole Council into ashes. Remind me to not get on his bad side.
"Isabella, I only have one question for you."
"Yes, Kuri?" I asked hesitantly. Kuri was my least favorite Council member, always so cynical.
"Why did you move onto claimed land? Surely these 'werewolves,' as they call themselves, were sloppy enough to leave a trail."
"I was left no indication of any supernatural presence in the area. I thought the land was unclaimed." I stated simply, annoyed at how oblivious he was to the angry men behind me.
Kuri was about to say something, most likely something stupid and/or offensive, so Julian cut him off. I was so glad Julian was the head of the council, if it were Kuri I think he would ask us to try and take over the world while he laughed manically.
"Marissa, why don't you take the Quileute men and Isabella to their rooms. We must discuss some things in private." Julian said smoothly.
Marissa quickly led us all out of the long room, closing the doors behind her and leading us to the elevator. She pressed the down-arrow button.
"You'll be staying on the sublevel-fourth floor. Bella knows the way."
"Wait, wait," Harry interrupted, "We can't stay here. I have a family that's expecting me home. Can't this wait?"
I sighed. This was the way of the council, forcing people to stay against their will. Super friendly.
"Sorry, Council's orders. Gotta stay here till they give the OK." Marissa tried to console him. "Each room has a phone you can use to call whoever, though. It's basically just a hotel room."
The elevator made a bing sound, and the doors opened. A man walked out in a blue robe, seemingly in the middle of a debate with the air, when a sprite in a pink robe flew up to his side. Probably only a half a foot in length, the sprite man flew gracefully yet had a frustrated look on his face.
"…don't you think they should be able to use it though? They were there first." he argued to the witch.
"Lake Novium is connected to the Flumen Ignis, which the Water Witch clan Hippocampus has claimed. By witch law, they are allowed to use the water for their magic. The Water Sprites are just fussy if you ask me." the witch concluded, walking down the hall and taking a left, sprite in tow.
I chuckled. "More Witch and Sprite problems?"
"It's been crazy around here, as usual." Marissa smiled as we got onto the waiting elevator. "Here are the keys, and" she said as she handed them each a key. "don't hesitate to call if you need anything."
The doors closed and I pressed the "fire" button again. We headed down, all of us slightly cramped in the small space.
"How does that work?" Billy asked, gesturing to the button.
"Thought controlled." I stated.
"Hmm." was his only response as he looked at me like I was crazy.
The doors opened again and I walked out into what looked exactly like a hotel hallway. I had stayed with the Council several times as they assessed my gift, and headed straight to room number seven.
"You're room number is on the key." I said before I turned the key.
The elegant, gold number '7' on the front of the door shined as I swung the white door open. There was another short hallway that led to the bedroom, which had a large maple dresser and king sized bed. A door on the side led to the bathroom, with a giant Jacuzzi tub in the corner next to the steam shower. It was all very elegant and almost everything was white, except for the bed. The bed had a light lavender sheet and an amethyst comforter, with pillows in various shades of purple.
Next to the bed was a simple maple nightstand, with a high-tech cordless phone. I stared at it a second before sitting down on the bed and picking up the phone to call my mother. The phone rang only once before she picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hey mom, I just-" I started.
"What happened? Where are you? Are you alright?" she cried frantically.
"Mom, mom. Calm down, I'm fine. I ran into some Shifters in La Push and had to take them to the Council in Seattle." I explained.
"Do you know how worried Charlie's been? How worried I've been?" She switched from protective mother into angry, scolding mother.
"I know, I know, but the Council is all Council-y and stuff." I tried to explain, wincing at her tone. She could make me feel guilty from a thousand miles away.
"Iz, you know I love you, but you make me go crazy sometimes." she laughed, going back to her usual, carefree, and mood-swingy self. I sighed in quiet relief that she was done flipping out.
"That's my job!" I said cheerily. "I'm gonna get some sleep, it's pretty late over here. Just thought you'd like to know what's going on."
"Sure thing, sweets. Sleep well."
"You too, ma." I smiled, even though she couldn't see it, before hanging up.
I yawned and headed over to the dresser, happy to find my sweats still there. After changing into them, I crawled into the bed and sighed happily. Today was eventful, in a good way, I think.
But the real event started when I drifted off to sleep.
A/N: Hello again! How'd you like the chappie? If you have any questions or comments, don't be lazy, REVIEW!
I also wanted to explain the robe things. They're like the robes from Harry Potter (so basically NOT bathrobes), but color coated to each race. The darker the color the higher the rank.
Psychic Red
Fire Witch Orange
Child of the Moon Yellow
Earth Witch Green
Water Witch Blue
Shifter Purple
Sprite Pink
Vampire Black
Air Witch White