~O~

Whispers rose from the Vampires that were gathered in the main room, and Sinclair caught only bits and pieces of what some of them were saying. Overall, their main reaction to the news that Gillfrey had just dropped was nothing short of confusion, and Sinclair was feeling the same thing as well. How could the Society, the strongest and most influential Vampires in the world, have fallen?

As if sensing the Vampire Lord's confusion, Gillfrey said, "I speak the truth, Sinclair. Do you, of all people, really think I would have turned tail and run to you if it were something pointless?" The Vampire Lord scanned his eyes across the members of his Clan, taking in the lost and worried expressions on their faces. Even though most of them did not agree with the way the Society ran things, it was obvious that they were shaken up by hearing such news that the Vampirian government had collapsed.

Sinclair turned his gaze back to Gillfrey and said, "Perhaps it would be best if you elaborated this situation for me in my study. That way I can have all of the details before addressing the rest of my Clan." Gillfrey nodded in agreement and said, "Only on the grounds that you will have witnesses present to when I tell you, just to make sure that you don't alter the information in your benefit somehow."

He leaned in and added in a whisper, "I know how much you dislike the Society, so I don't want to risk you turning around and using its downfall for your gain. I'm sure you understand that, right, Sinclair?" The Vampire Lord narrowed his eyes at the Count, but nodded in agreement nonetheless. Sinclair glanced over his shoulder at where Alucard, Shun, and the human girl stood, and figured they would suffice. He motioned to the three of them and said, "To my study, now."

They all glanced at one another uncertainly before finally cutting through the crowd and vanishing. Sinclair then looked over at Loran, who had gotten the bleeding on Gillfrey's injured companion to stop. "Loran," he said to get the gray-haired Vampire's attention, "I'd like you present as well, if possible."

Loran glanced down at his patient and gave a thoughtful look before finally saying, "I think he's stable enough right now for me to leave his side for a moment or two. Once I get him situated in a room, I'll head straight to your study." Sinclair nodded and watched as Loran rounded up the help of several other Clan members in order to carry the injured guest out.

The Vampire Lord turned to Gillfrey and asked, "Shall we get a move on?" The white-haired Vampire nodded and said, "Lead the way. This is your domain, after all, and I am simply a guest." Sinclair rolled his eyes. And what kind of formality is starting a fight with your host? he thought sarcastically, but knew better. In fact, Sinclair expected as much from Gillfrey.

The Vampire Lord cut through the crowd before him, which parted like the Red Sea as he walked through. Gillfrey remained close behind. They walked through the cavernous halls of the enclave until they reached the large wooden door to the study. Sinclair pushed the door open and saw Alucard, Shun, and the girl sitting around waiting patiently. Sinclair strode across the room over to the small table where he always kept his crystal bottle of blood. He poured himself a glass and turned around to face his guests.

"Does anybody care for some? Gillfrey?" he asked and lifted his glass as a gesture. Gillfrey shook his head, generously declining the Vampire Lord's offer. Sinclair shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of the blood. Almost instantly the blood began to calm his nerves, making this whole ordeal a bit more tolerable, seeing as he didn't know what kinds of things he was about to hear.

A second later, Loran entered the study. The gray-haired Vampire had blood on his hands and shirt from where he had been tending to Gillfrey's companion. "I'm here. Now, what was it that you wished to speak about?" Loran asked and appeared about to sit down on a chair, then glanced down at his bloodied clothes and decided against it. Gillfrey spoke up and said, "First, tell me if Carson is going to recover fully or not."

Loran appeared surprised by the Count's straightforwardness, but Sinclair was completely unfazed. "Well, right now he's stable, but it's still a bit too early to say whether or not he'll live or not," the gray-haired Vampire stated calmly, "By the way, what exactly caused his injuries? I've never seen a wound as severe as the one he had." Gillfrey squared his shoulders back and scanned his eyes across the room.

"That's what I am about to explain," he said flatly and leaned against the back of one of the chairs in front of Sinclair's desk. The Count took in a deep breath and started on his story. "As I stated earlier, the Society has fallen. Earlier in the night, the Stronghold was attacked, and by the time that I got to the source of it all, most of the members that were slaughtered, their blood staining the marble floors of the Grand Hall," Gillfrey said, his eyes heavy with pain and guilt.

Sinclair shook his head and interjected, "They had to have had an army if they took the Stronghold that quickly. How many were there?" The Count sighed heavily and began to pace around behind the chair he had been leaning again. "That's the thing," he said, "there were only three that I was about to count, and I honestly do not believe that there were anymore involved."

Sinclair shook his head in disbelief. Three Vampires had taken down the Society in one night? "They would have had to have been extremely powerful to accomplish something like that, if that's the case. I just can't believe that three Vampires killed so many of the most powerful beings on the Earth," the Vampire Lord said. It was true. The Society was comprised up of the most powerful Vampires, primarily Pureblooded Nobles, in the world; the Count being the most powerful of them all.

"They were very powerful. At least, their leader was. The other two, I'm not so sure about. But I do know how the mastermind behind this coup d'etat obtained his strength," Gillfrey said and paused for a moment, as if to gather his thoughts, and continued, "He killed and consumed the blood of Lord Larousse and Lady Zaria several nights prior." Sinclair felt his eyes widen, and he quickly turned his attention over to Loran, whose gray eyes were wide and horror-stricken.

All the color had drained from his face. "M-My…My parents…..My parents are dead?" he asked in a trembling voice. The girl, Alice, quickly hurried over to his side to comfort him. Gillfrey looked at Loran and said, "So you're the other child of Larousse and Zaria, huh? I thought you looked familiar, much like your father. But by the way you have reacted to hearing this, proves that you had no hand in all of this."

Sinclair saw the appalled-look in Loran's eyes, on top of the grief and shock. "Why the hell would I have played a part in my parents' deaths?! They might have not been the best parents around, especially my father, but that's no reason for me to have wanted them dead! How dare you even say such a thing!" Alice was trying to calm Loran down, to keep him from lashing out further.

Gillfrey remained composed as he said, "Because it was your brother that killed them. He drained them of their blood in order to obtain their powers and turned to the Society, killing nearly everyone that was present at the time. It's only natural that I assumed that you might have been working alongside somehow." Loran's eyes were fixed on the ground in front of him, his gaze far off and distant.

"Z-Zoran…He…He couldn't have done something…..Something so horrible…..It's impossible." The gray-haired Vampire's legs gave up beneath him, and he dropped to the floor. Tears started to spill from his ash-colored eyes as he continued to shake his head and deny the truth that was just placed before him. Alice was now kneeling down beside him, trying desperately to comfort Loran.

Sinclair had always marveled at the sympathy that humans showed when there was trouble in another person's life; it was one of the many things that separated them from Vampires, for it was in the nature of a Vampire to sometimes turn a blind eye to those who were in pain. Alucard, who had been silent up till this point, finally spoke. "What reason would Zoran have to doing something like this? Did he tell you?"

Alucard asked darkly, never once lifting his gaze from the floor. His black hair hid his eyes, but Sinclair didn't have to see the violet-orbs to know that they were pained; next to Sinclair, Zoran was the only other Vampire in the Clan that Alucard bothered to give the time of day to. So, it didn't surprise the Vampire Lord to see his second-in-command shaken up over this news.

Gillfrey shook his head and told him, "No, he never said what his motive for doing this was. But if you all choose to not believe that Zoran did this, then go back and look at Carson. He took an attack that was meant for me. His injuries are Zoran's handiwork." Sinclair heard Loran gasp, and he turned to see the gray-haired Vampire was now shaking his head furiously. Loran had been there, treating the wounds on Carson, and saw up close how severe they had been. Now, he knew what had caused them; his brother.

"No! No, Zoran couldn't have done this!" Loran shouted at Gillfrey. The Count kept a flat expression. "I saw it with my own eyes. I saw the death and chaos he caused, and how there was no remorse or regrets anywhere to be found within him. He's a monster," Gillfrey said coldly. Alice stood up from Loran's side and turned her gaze on Gillfrey, her brown eyes blazing with fury.

"How can you keep saying things like this in front of him?! Can't you see you're only causing him more pain?! Do you not care that you just traumatized him with this news?!" she shouted. Gillfrey's eyes widened in surprise; he obviously didn't expect to be yelled at by anyone.

Shun reached a hand out and grabbed onto her forearm, holding Alice back. Sinclair heard him tell her, "Calm down before you get yourself in trouble." The Vampire Lord waved a nonchalant hand towards the orange-haired girl and said, "Don't mind her, Gillfrey. She's a human. She doesn't know any of the formalities of the Society."

Gillfrey narrowed his faint, purple eyes at Sinclair and asked harshly, "Is your sense of smell broken, Sinclair? She's not human. She's reeks of Vampire, just like everyone else here in this God-forsaken place." Sinclair turned his gaze back onto Alice, and he saw that all of the color had drained from her face, much the same way that Loran's had.

The Vampire Lord, now curious, took a step closer to her and inhaled the air around her, and found that Gillfrey was correct; there wasn't even the faintest scent of human on her. He stepped backin surprise. "You're right; I must have been too busy with things to have noticed it up until now. But I swear to you she was human not three days ago when we brought her back to the enclave for treatment."

Sinclair then turned his gaze onto Shun. "You didn't Turn her, did you?" the Vampire Lord asked harshly. Shun shook his head, his eyes filled with confusion. "No, I didn't Turn her. Alice is human, she's always been human. Besides, she has an Imprint with me. That can only be done between a human and Vampire, right? So explain that to me. If she wasn't human, then we wouldn't have an Imprint," the raven-haired teen said defensively.

Sinclair had almost forgotten about the Imprint, and now that Shun had mentioned it, he realized that he had a point. Imprints were between humans and Vampires, yet, Sinclair could plainly tell that now Alice smelled nothing like a human, that she, as Gillfrey had said, reeked of Vampire. Alucard, who appeared as baffled as everyone else, shook his head and asked, "How is something like this possible? How could she be human one day and Vampire the next?" Shun interjected, "She is not a Vampire!"

Gillfrey seemed to be giving this some thought. His purple eyes then lit up with realization, and he turned back to the orange-haired girl and asked her, "What's your name? Not just your first, but your last name too." Alice, who appeared extremely uncomfortable by the way she refused to meet anyone's gaze in the room, said nervously, "Alice Gehabich."

Both Sinclair's and Gillfrey's eyes widened in surprise. The girl kept her eyes adverted from everyone, even Shun, who was prying her to tell him what was going on. Gillfrey shook his head and said in disbelief, "I thought all of the Gehabich family had died off years ago." Shun narrowed his eyes at Gillfrey and snapped, "What the hell are you going on about?! What's her last name got to do with any of this?"

Sinclair cut the raven-haired teen a glare, which quieted him down, and said, "So, you're one of the surviving descendents of Arthur Gehabich, the deadliest Vampire Hunter of all time?" Alice, without lifting her gaze, slowly nodded her head. Shun stared at her in surprise. This was all Sinclair needed to hear.

He turned to Gillfrey and said, "I think I know enough of what's going on now in order to provide an explanation. You recall the old story from all those years ago about Arthur, after he was Turned by Countess Lucia? The one where he was rumored to have gone to a specialist to have his powers sealed, but had to settle for sealing the powers of his descendents?" Gillfrey nodded.

"Yeah, I remember that story well. My parents used to tell it to me all the time when I was young." Sinclair glanced back over at Alice and said, "Well, it looks like that story was true. The way it went was that Arthur sealed his powers for his future children so they would not have to suffer as he did. They had no Bloodlust, no enhanced senses or rapid healing. They were humans with Vampire blood, and the only way to have these powers remerge was by if one of them drank the blood of a Vampire."

Beside Alice, Sinclair saw Shun's eyes widen with realization; he was putting the puzzle together. The Vampire Lord turned back to Gillfrey and said, "A few nights ago, she was injured, and in order to save her life, Shun allowed her to consume his blood, unknowingly placing an Imprint on the two of them since he had no knowledge of the matter. And as you may know, Gillfrey, Imprints are instantaneous, meaning that the moment his blood took effect, the Imprint was already there. Only after that did his blood start to reawaken the hundreds of years of sleeping Vampire blood in her veins. She was human when the Imprint was placed, but slowly began to have her Vampire heritage come back after that."

Gillfrey tapped his chin thoughtfully and said, "In other words, the Imprint remained as her Vampire nature started to take back over." Sinclair nodded and told him, "That's the only logical way that I can explain this. Vampires are not supposed to be able to form an Imprint between one another, but I fear that we have just discovered a chink in nature's armor."

Gillfrey glanced around the room, his eyes stopping on every face present, and then finally came to a rest at Sinclair. "What kind of three-ring circus are you running here?!" he shouted, "You have Turned Vampires here, half-breeds, Vampires with Imprints, and a descendant to one of the most dangerous Vampire Hunters that ever roamed this planet! It's all blasphemous! You see, Sinclair, these are the kinds of things that happen when you do not follow the Society's laws!" Gillfrey then turned his enraged eyes over to Alice.

He pointed to her and said, "But I think out of all of the sickening things that I've seen here so far, she's is one of the worst. Not only is she a Vampire that has an Imprint with another, but she is also related to a killer of our kind. And there's no telling what other tainted things lurk in her blood." Gillfrey's words had reached their limit, for Alice stormed up to him and land a well-placed slap on the Count's face.

The loud pop reverberated throughout the study, echoing in the silence of the room. Sinclair looked on in surprise, but felt oddly satisfied by this. He looked on at Alice, who had a river of tears rolling down her face. Her hands were trembling at her sides, despite the fact that they were balled up into fists.

Gillfrey slowly turned to face her, and his pale features revealed a perfectly red handprint on his cheek; Sinclair didn't bother to hide his grin. "Filth," he spat. This sparked new rage in Alice's eyes, and she readied herself to strike at the Count again, but this time, he caught her by the wrist. He held on tightly and twisted her hand, causing her to cry out, and in one swift motion, tossed her to ground.

Alice stayed there, keeping her face hidden out of shame behind her thick hair. Her shoulders shook as sobs racked her body. "Alice!" Shun called out and ran to her side. Gillfrey shook his head in disapproval and said, "I don't know what's worse. That you had the gall to try and strike me a second time, or that he actually cares enough about you to run to your rescue. Either way, it makes me sick and also makes me hate that I was desperate enough to come to such a place for help."

The Count then turned on his heels and left out of the study, leaving behind his wake of emotional damage on everyone, except Sinclair. A moment later, Alice scrambled up to her feet and fled from the study, Shun trailing right behind her and calling out her name.

The Vampire Lord turned his head and looked over at Loran, who was still sitting on the ground in a state of shock. "Alucard, get Loran to his room, will you?" Sinclair asked. His second-in-command nodded and helped the gray-haired Vampire to his feet, and lead him out of the study.

Now that he was all alone, the Vampire Lord looked down into the glass of blood that he still held in his hand. A sad smile then graced his features. "You really haven't changed at all, Gillfrey," the Vampire Lord said sadly and drank another sip of the blood.


Big, big chapter! A lot of stuff coming out into the light and a lot of jumbled emotions from everyone, and it only continues from here. But I hope the whole Imprint/Vampire/Human thing was explained well enough in this chapter too, since somebody asked me about it. Anywho, I hope you all enjoyed, so read and please leave a review on the way out. ~Copperpelt~