Thorin glanced at the wide range of photos Dwalin placed on his desk. He browsed through them impassively.
"So it seems the vampire made himself comfortable around my heir." He spoke bitterly looking at a photo of his nephew hugging the vampire in public.
"I'm surprised Fili dropped his guard." Dwalin noticed coldly.
"I wonder if it's the fault of his going out of Erebor or our for letting him take the leech with him." Balin spoke curiously glancing at his lord.
"Back here it seemed he broke the vampire." Dwalin noticed coldly. "I have never seen any vamp survive so much pain."
"Are you sure the vampire has no manipulative powers?" Balin asked thinking of every possibility.
"He passed all the tests negative." Dwalin replied.
Thorin remained silent as they talked about the problem. He saw with his own eyes how badly his heir treated the vampire, and despite the seemingly happy pictures he could see the submission in the vampire's eyes. He knew Fili well, and despite the close relation to the vampire, he doubted his heir forgot everything he was taught. He doubted his heir forgot the brutal death of his parents.
"I trust Fili and his judgment." Thorin suddenly told them. "If he thinks he can control the vampire, I trust him."
"Are you still counting that this vampire will lead us to a hidden coven in Glasgow?" Balin asked worried.
"There is a group of people protecting them." Thorin spoke slowly pronouncing every word. "If we destroy the system protecting them, we will get rid of them forever. I have a feeling this boy might be the key."
"What do you want me to do?" Dwalin carefully asked.
"Trace back to Glasgow, check his ID again. Then go back to St. Andrew's and follow his every move." Thorin told him firmly. He glanced at the photo of the vampire smoking on a balcony and talking with a man.
"Find out who this is." Thorin said in a sleazy voice. "Don't fuck this up, this might be our only chance to get them."
The next day after the party Dori arrived at Elrond's house with a slight hesitation. He knew Elrond years ago, and back then he was one of the few people, people like him could turn to for help. We would supply blood, he would help get papers and support financially. Then after he started a family he continued, but with a low profile and using many affiliates. He created a smart impersonally system full of shipments and support, but without taking part personally.
"It's a pleasure to see you here." The tall black haired man appeared at the door. "Please come in."
Dori extended his hand. "It's been years."
"Follow me." Elrond guided him to his office. "My daughter told me you moved here suddenly, I do admit I thought you were residing permanently in Glasgow now."
"Many things have changed in the last twenty years." Dori slowly told him taking a seat in the comfortable office. "If it were my choice I would stay in Glasgow, but as you know my illness requires frequent change of location."
"Is the climate better here for your skin condition?" Elrond joked provocatively.
"Much better, fewer sunny days up North." Dori sniggered in a mockingly polite tone.
"I see you haven't lost your famous sense of humour." Elrond smiled honestly. "So do tell me how are things, how is your family and what really brought you here."
"It's a long story." Dori gently told him.
"You know how much I love stories." Elrond noticed.
"True." Dori chuckled. "Well as you know our group settled in Glasgow, and we've been fine the last twenty years. Thanks to your medical help of course." Dori stressed the notion. "But several months ago one of my closest friends went missing."
"Did you find out what happened to him?" Elrond asked gently.
"Only yesterday." Dori replied in a grim voice. "He survived being locked up under the mountain." He spoke in a riddle only someone well into the sphere would know.
"I've never heard of anyone who could survive that predicament, how on Earth did he manage that?" Elrond's voice was tense.
"I'm not sure, but he seems broken. Damaged." Dori told him slowly. "He said he wanted to die. And he stressed we should stay away for our safety. Even when in danger he would think of saving us and protecting us."
"Surprising. You're kind is not known for loyalty, quite the contrary." Elrond noticed.
"That one is very special." Dori slowly told him. "He believes in rules and in order. He would die to protect us, and I'm serious when I say that."
"Interesting, do you know what made him like that?" Elrond asked.
"He's been living among normal people all his life, and he really learnt how to adapt." Dori explained. "He rarely talks about his past, but he's way older than me, and way more powerful."
"How old?" Elrond's eyes narrowed.
"He's probably one of the oldest around in UK." Dori stressed the notion. "But he's different, he's way stronger mentally. It's like the notion of his problems never hit him, it never occurred to him. He's naive and youthful, a real optimist."
"He's worth saving you mean?" Elrond stressed the idea.
"But he's still in their hands." Dori spoke in a gasp. "The heir is keeping him close and abusing him. He's like a lifeless doll, obeying every order always silent. I have no idea what he had to endure, but he's not himself anymore."
"If you want to oppose them it's a huge risk for all of us." Elrond noticed in a stern voice. "The question is, is there a chance to actually help him and will it bring any good."
"We want to help him." Dori stressed. "And his human friends will want to help as well."
"I fear this might bring great danger to our doorstep." Elrond noticed seriously. "I have to think it over, I'll ask my men to gather more information."
"What's bothering you?" Legolas forced Aragorn to sit down.
"I saw you and Arwen had a small fight last night." Gimli added sitting down next to his best friend.
"It's not that." Aragorn told them grimly.
"Then cut the crap and tell us what's wrong." Gimli insisted.
"We've been friends for years." Legolas tried to put more tension on Aragorn. "We've stood by your side for better and for worse, we had you back in the most crazy situations ever. If there is anyone in the world you can trust it's us." Legolas spoke in a firm tone.
"It's complicated." Aragorn told them bitterly.
"When you say complicated, you can't even imagine how much that applies to my life." Gimli told him grimly. "Cut the crap."
"My family story is pretty much fucked up." Aragorn told them bitterly.
"Just tell us for heaven's sake! Drop it off your heart!" Gimli insisted.
"My grandfather was pretty compulsive." Aragorn began. "He had a fight with a man about a ring, and despite being pretty rich, he was obsessed to have it for some strange reason. Anyway they had a fight and the man killed him."
"So he was murdered?" Legolas summed up.
"Yes." Aragorn admitted. "But the real problem was how he was murdered."
"Meaning?" Gimli insisted.
"He was bitten." Aragon told them slowly.
"By a snake?" Legolas asked curiously.
"By a vampire." Aragorn answered in whisper. Both men glared at him and there was a grim silence.
"A vampire you say?" Gimli asked in a low voice. Legolas glared at him as well.
"Why do I get the feeling both of you aren't all that surprised." Aragorn noticed.
"Well you can say my family has been dealing with vampires for centuries." Gimli spoke in a low bitter tone.
"Same as mine." Legolas whispered and both him and Gimli glared at each other.
"You go first." Legolas insisted glaring at Gimli and with a strange feeling in his gut.
"I'm from Erebor." Gimli told the magical name.
"Erebor?" Legolas gasped with terror.
"What does that mean?" Aragon was oblivious.
"They hurt and kill vampires." Legolas told him in a deadly voice.
"What about you?" Gimli glanced at the tall blond, seeing him in a different light.
"Mirkwood." Legolas gasped.
"The Woodland Realm?" Gimli gasped in shock.
"What does that mean?" Aragon insisted.
"That basically means we're mortal enemies by default." Legolas spoke in a bitter voice.
"Just fucking great... Next to realising I'm surrounded by vampires, I find out my two best friends knew about them all along and now consider each other enemies for who knows what fucked up reason. Just fucking great!" Aragorn exclaimed.
"What do you mean surrounded by vampires?" Legolas asked in a low voice.
"I know of one around, and he's harmless." Gimli added curious.
"We had two here at the party. The boy your cousin came in with, and my Economy teacher." Aragorn added in a low voice.
"He's a vampire?" Gimli asked surprised.
"So you did not notice anything strange about the boy?" Aragorn insisted.
"He's the one I knew about, my family treat it like the biggest scandal ever. You know my cousin actually letting him out of the dungeon and keeping him as a pet..." Gimli chattered, but stopped seeing the deadly glare Legolas sent his way, and the utter shocked glare he got from Aragorn. "It's not like I can do anything about it, the boy is better off here even as a pet, than back in the fucking dungeon." He shut up finally.
"He shouldn't have landed in any dungeon in the first place." Legolas noticed bitterly. "Not all of them are bad." He told the startled Aragorn and enraged Gimli.
"Save it." Gimli told him.
"So what about your teacher?" Legolas asked after a moment of silence.
"He's a vampire, I'm pretty sure of it." Aragorn told him.
Gimli's eyes went narrow. "Did he and the boy talk yesterday?" He asked in a grim voice.
"I'm not sure, but they did look at each other in a strange way." Aragorn told them. "Is it possible they could tell what they were?"
"Of course, it's like a natural ability." Legolas told him slowly.
"If they talked... and if they knew each other before... that could mean Fili's in danger..." Gimli gasped.
"You just said the boy was his pet..." Aragorn noticed.
"It's not that. Vampires always lives in covens..." Legolas added. "If your teacher is a scout, we could have a whole groups of vampires on our heads soon, and they would not hesitate to kill in protection of one of their own..."
"Honestly speaking, I have severe doubts what to do next." Gimli told his friends slowly. "My family insists on a point of view, but what my cousin is doing is like the tip of the ice berg."
"I do admit not all vampires are nice. Some kills ruthlessly, but the organized coven always deal with rouges." Legolas told him. "We protect those worth protecting, we help them managed the ranks."
"I never knew that." Gimli told him slowly.
"So where did your cousin pick up his pet?" Legolas spoke in a spiteful tone.
"Glasgow I think." Gimli added slowly.
"My teacher transferred from Glasgow." Aragorn slowly told them. "He worked at the University there."
"Fucking shit! So they must know each other." Gimli realised.
"The Glasgow University Group." Legolas spoke slowly. "I have heard of them." Both men glared at him curious.
"I've heard about them as well, there were series of murdered like twenty years ago." Gimli told them. "My father investigated them."
"They had three rogues on their territory and they hunted them down a long time ago." Legolas informed them.
"So the whole investigation into Glasgow was pointless since these vampires regulated the problem themselves." Gimli added in a grim voice.
"What can you tell us about them." Aragorn glanced at Legolas who seemed best informed.
"Not as much as I'd like. I just know the group isn't very big. And their ranks change all the time, they move between many universities. They have no real leader, it's more like a club than a coven." Legolas slowly told them. "They are probably the most pacifistic of all vampire covens I've heard of."
"Just fucking great, and now my uncle is hunting them down." Gimli spoke in a bitter tone.
"It's funny you both think the same, but represent two opposite groups." Aragorn noticed with a smirk.
"Do you think we can talk openly to your cousin?" Legolas asked Gimli slowly.
"Fili has been indoctrinated deeply, raised by uncle in a fashion your group would never comprehend. Personally I think it's damaged him and changed him. But the recent events, can either mean he's liberating, or worse he's becoming more manipulative." Gimli told them slowly.
His friends looked at him taking in the information. "I've always liked him, but he's been rather strange all this time." Aragorn spoke slowly.
"No matter Fili, do you think there is a chance to talk to his vampire?" Legolas spoke in a low tone.
"Monday during classes. I've got the key to his flat." Gimli told them with a smile.