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The Midairne Castle

Liz found her sometime later still in the washroom, "You ready?"

Serena had rested her hands on the sink and was looking at herself in the mirror. What exactly was she? That vampire had a point. She couldn't be human. What human could create forces of energy that burst from their body to destroy everything in its path and kill people? None that she knew of.

And why did it kill her father, while Chace was merely knocked out? Was it because he was already dead? What was it exactly?

"Serena? You ready?" repeated Liz, watching Serena's features as an inner struggle unfolded.

She snapped out of her reverie and looked at Liz. "Yeah," she breathed.

"Ok…" Liz said, not entirely sure, opening the door for Serena.

They made their way together down the hallways of the fourth floor but instead of turning towards the kitchen, Liz led her towards a common sitting area and took the stairs from there.

"Liz, where are we going?"

"We can't go through the worker's quarters; we have to go to the main floor to reach the basement."

Serena stopped. "THE BASEMENT?"

Liz sighed, "Not that basement. There are two levels beneath the floor. The first is for the elder's judgment, training, weapon production and whatever else. The cannibal vampires are even deeper beneath that, at least a couple of miles beneath the ground. You have nothing to worry about."

Serena breathed a sigh of relief. "Ok…" Should she just run anyways? What if Liz was lying?

As they approached the 3rd floor, Serena could hear shouting and laughter.

"The 3rd and 2nd floors are basically the partying floors. Think of it as a frat house," Liz whispered as they continued down the stairs to the main floor. For each flight of stairs, part of the floor that they led to was revealed. As they passed, Serena saw groups of gathered vampires around. Some were laughing, some were fighting, others were dancing, and some were practically having sex…

The two women continued quickly, "Don't make eye contact Serena, and keep going."

Serena did as she was told and they made it to the 1st floor without incidence. They were in what looked like the front hall; huge double doors with intricate engravings reaching almost 30 feet in height were directly in front of them. Serena was almost certain those were the front doors. If she ever managed to sneak out of her room unnoticed she doubted that she would be able to open just one on her own. She'd need an accomplice…or two.

It was a fairly large open space in the front hall. She guessed three of her apartments could have fit into it and another three could probably have been stacked on top of them, there was that much room. The marble floors and beautifully decorated walls must have cost thousands upon thousands of dollars and Serena once again wondered how vampires could have gathered so much money. Even if they lived longer, they must have made the money some way.

There was also another pair of double doors, not as tall but just as amazingly designed to the right, and a hallway to the left.

Liz pushed her slightly towards the left, and they didn't see anyone as Serena was once again nudged lightly to turn right. She opened a regular sized door and saw a flight of stairs leading downwards.

Serena hesitated slightly before descending down them.

"Remember everything I told you Serena?" whispered Liz.

"I…I think so," she replied entering a vacant hallway. It was different then the upstairs of the house. There seemed to be no color anywhere Serena looked. There was another set of stairs off to the right, and a door just a couple of feet in front of her to the left. Michael stood there, waiting for them. His eyes lit up upon seeing Serena, but she ignored it.

Liz walked towards him, opening the door and ushering them through. "Good luck."

"You're not coming?" freaked Serena, grasping the other woman's arm tightly in fear.

"Serena, I can't. I'm not a member of the coven. Only they are allowed to witness the procession." Liz hugged her tightly before pulling away. "Just tell the truth." And with that, Liz left, closing Serena inside a dark room with Michael looking at her worryingly.

The thing about the truth is that people would think it was a lie, she thought to herself.

Serena tried to calm herself, but wondered why she was even putting in the effort when the hundreds of vampires on the other side of the door could hear her rapidly beating heart anyways.

Michael cleared his throat and Serena's gaze snapped to his. "What?"

"Serena, they can sense your fear…"

"You think I don't know that?"

"Just trying to help," protested Michael, frowning slightly, his hand moving towards the ring on his index finger.

She noticed the movement, but didn't feel the rush of love that she had before. Perhaps this 'spell' was broken when she became aware of it? "I know," sighed Serena, "I'm just so scared."

Michael pulled Serena in for a quick hug and was surprised when she kept holding on. "Liz told you everything right?"

"Yeah, eye contact but not too much, stand in middle, don't look at anyone else, hands by my side, don't speak unless spoken to…" she mumbled into his chest.

"Yeah, and don't fidget, head down and just let the mind reader in…"

"MINDREADERS!" snapped Serena in a hushed breath, her breathing coming in staggering breaths as she pulled her head up to look around the room.

"I thought you said Liz told you everything?"

"I guess she failed to mention that part!"

"Ok, ok, one of the elders just touches their hand to your forehead and looks into your memories. It's not painful, but if you refuse they would find you guilty no matter what they saw in anyone else's head…"

Serena felt like crying. This mind reader was going to see her power and expose her to everyone. They were going to kill her for sure, she could feel it.

"Are you going to be alright? I know that Chace will be found guilty, you shouldn't worry."

"Yeah, yeah sure," she whispered, hugging him tightly. "Listen, if I don't make it out of this…"

Michael was about to protest but she kept going, "I'm happy you were so nice to me, even if you were just looking for something to do."

"I wasn't…"

"It's ok. Whatever you were doing, I forgive you." She said, pulling away from him and opening the next door.

Michael reached out to her, but she stepped forward into the dimly lit room. It was a huge wide room with a high ceiling, but with this many vampires filling it, it seemed much smaller. She couldn't see anything through the sea of vampires surrounding her.

There was so many, all completely different from the other. Some were tall, others short, some gothic, others preppy, some nerdish, some sluts, but all were beautiful. They all had something about them that made their best qualities stand out in their appearances. Was it the fact that they were all vampires? The living dead?

Each and every one of them looked at her as she entered the room, eyeing her up and down. She, the mortal that had been attacked by one of their own, whose owner was now charging that same vampire, was walking among them, still living! Many of them couldn't care less that Chace was being judged by the coven, most wondered how the hell she was still walking after that sort of encounter.

The clusters of vampires parted before her, revealing the long, elegant, and slightly raised table at the end of the room. Tall columns spread down the length of the room elegantly, 3 on either side of the table. Each contained the same engravings as the other main doors, all glowing slightly as she hesitantly walked into the middle of the room trying to look anywhere but at the six vampires before her.

She could feel the vampires behind her crowding back together, leaving her trapped in the middle of the room. Now she was surrounded by bloodthirsty killers with no way of leaving unless she hoped to defeat all of them in an effort to escape…

Serena wanted to crawl into herself and die. Her heartbeat accelerated once again and she heard a taunting snap of teeth. She tried not to let it affect her and stood tall; placing her hands at her sides like Liz told her to. She waited for someone to speak, but was disappointed in having to wait for the words that would no doubt bring upon her death. She tried not to fidget, or shift her weight back and forth, but she couldn't take it any longer.

She refrained from speaking but looked up at the table. To her surprise, David sat to her far right, slouching slightly with his head on his fist and his feet propped up. He grinned widely and winked at her when she looked at him.

Serena felt a sneer making its way onto her face and glanced away quickly, only to notice that there was already a disgusted look directed towards him from the opposite end of the table.

There was an empty seat on either side of this red headed demon at the left side of the table. It looked like her arrogant, narcissistic aura could have been the reason. Serena wondered if the 3 dead elders were because this woman killed them. She shook her head and took in the vampire's appearance.

She was beautiful, with long, flaming unnaturally curled red hair, pale skin and a magnificent body covered in a cream colored Victorian dress. But her face was contorted as her brilliant green eyes flashed daggers at David from the other side of the table. This made her seem far older then she probably would have liked, perhaps 37 years old. Serena briefly wondered why David didn't seem to notice that this woman wanted his head on a stick…

Serena turned her gaze to the next vampire in line after the red head, and she almost gasped out loud. She was taken aback by his look of complete seduction. It seemed as if he wanted to devour her, literally. He had shoulder length chestnut hair and stared over his folded hands with penetrating honey eyes right at Serena.

He smirked slightly as they made eye contact and continued to stare when she felt herself shift uncomfortably under his gaze. Even if he were still a man he would have been much older than her. 34 or 35 years old she would have guessed by the looks of him, but he was aging…or had been aging well. Serena inwardly shook her head and looked back to David. He was still grinning.

Serena rolled her eyes and looked at David's right to a woman with dark hair and stunning blue eyes. She had a cute, round, young face and a relaxed expression. She was most likely the youngest at this 'elder' table, probably turned at 27 years old with an average sized body.

She regarded Serena with curiosity, and no glares. There was another empty seat to the vampiric woman's right, and another woman so captivatingly beautiful that Serena felt she would do anything to have this vampire look back at her. This woman was elegance and grace embodied with long curly light brown hair, natural streaks of blond running through it, pale skin and huge observant hazel eyes. It seemed like this vampire had lived a long life, even before she was turned at 29. Although there was no emotion in this woman's face, a deep sadness rested in her far off eyes. But she seemed to remain alert and on guard for whatever was to come.

Serena fought to tare her gaze away from this woman to look at the last vampire at the head of the table, but she finally did. In the middle with four chairs on either of his sides, sat the most intimidating man…vampire, she had ever seen.

She could tell right away that his word was taken for law in this place of the undead. He was built, extremely built, more so then any other vampire she had seen in the room, perhaps more than the vampire that kept trying to bite her…and he was rugged. Dark messed up hair that spiked upwards on two sides on his head gave him an almost wolf-like appearance. The glare of hatred that seemed to be permanently etched onto his face didn't make her feel any different about her comparison of this man to a wolf.

His deep vibrant green eyes somehow seemed familiar to her though, but she couldn't place them. Liz's words echoed through her mind, that she shouldn't stare, but Serena couldn't look away from this vampire. She knew him, that was for sure, but she knew she had never met him before.

She would have remembered seeing this vampire; his presence was so overwhelmingly powerful. Who the hell was this? Why did she feel like she knew him? He looked to be about mid-forty, maybe slightly younger but she was sure she hadn't have ever met him before, no matter how old he really was.

Who knew how long these vampires had been alive for? How many decades they had seen…

"Serena," said a voice to the right of that vampire. Serena's gaze snapped over to the vamp that who had been undressing her with his eyes mockingly, to the leader's right (Serena's left from the center of the table). "The one human the elders were willing to make a member of the coven."

Serena didn't say anything, but looked at him in shock. What? They were going to make her an actual member? She glanced around, hoping to spot Michael, but she couldn't see him in the mass crowd of vampires surrounding her.

He smirked when she continued not to say anything, in approval she hoped, of her superior knowledge of not speaking unless spoken to…

"I am Lestat," he said, bowing his head slightly, "And we are the elders of Midairne."

Lestat? Her mind screamed. The Lestat from the Anne Rice novels? The FAMOUS Lestat? Why is he speaking and not the obvious leader among them?

"We maintain control over the coven by rewarding and punishing those that deserve it." He paused and looked down the table to each of his comrades. "You are here today to lay witness to the prosecution of Chace Meakins, age 243, sired by the late Elder Markus," he continued in a bored tone, as if reading a slip of paper.

"May his suffering be painless," the room chanted. It took Serena a minute to realize that they were talking about this Markus, not Chace. This Elder Markus must have died...or had been killed. Serena thought she remembered Liz saying that 3 elders were murdered…hence the three empty seats at the long Elder table.

"Bring in the guilty," Lestat said, waving a hand forward.

"He is not yet found guilty, Lestat," hissed the red head from the left side of the table.

"We will see Merishka," retorted Lestat to the burning haired woman.

Four guards barged in through a set of doors to the right of the room, each carrying a limb of a shriveled, pale and red eyed Chace. He looked horrific. His veins were black and popping from his bluish gray skin, making him seem only half alive...or half whatever he would have been described as. His eyes were closed as he was brought to stand a couple of feet away from her in the center of the room. They snapped open to show a glowing red, taking in the appearance of the room and all those in attendance inside it. Then he saw Serena. He automatically began struggling against the restraining guards in an effort to attack Serena once again, throwing off two before they managed to hold him back.

Serena didn't flinch away but stood her ground and glared at him. If she had any control of her powers she would have knocked him out again.

"Bitch!" he snarled, still flailing wildly.

"Chace Meakins, you have suffered blood deprivation, having been accused of attacking Miss Serena last night at approximately 400 hours. Knowing that any handling of another's slaves is strictly forbidden unless given permission, how do you plead?"

"Not guilty," Chace snapped.

Lestat continued on, making a note on the piece of paper in front of him. "If found guilty, your punishment will be decided by the elders collectively. If innocent, the dealing of the slave, Miss Serena, will be yours solely and we would ask that you accept our humble apology.

"The accusation is given by Michael Krasimir, if he would please step forward," continued Lestat's voice.

Serena's eyes had flared at the mention of slave, but she forced herself not to say anything, or to turn to look at Michael who had come to stand beside her.

"Aye, Sir," Michael said from beside her, bowing his head slightly.

"You have stated that you found Miss Serena and Chace Meakins on the fourth floor kitchen; Chace being unconscious at the time while Serena was fully awake with minor bruising."

Minor? She thought. She would have bruises for weeks to come from that little encounter last night. Couldn't they see them all over her neck? She asked herself angrily.

"That's right, sire," Michael responded.

Everyone turned to look at her in surprise. Whispering spread through the crowd at the news,

"How could she have survived?"

"He's a vampire! No way she won that fight."

"Is she even human?"

"How did she knock him out?"

Lestat clapped his hands, and the noise within the room suddenly ended. "Jadis," he said, nodding to the woman with soft features beside David.

She stood smoothly, gliding towards them to standing in front of all of them, her back to the raised table. She a few of inches shorter then Serena at 5'6", a red corset top hugging her hourglass figure very nicely and black gypsy skirt flowing around her making her appear as if she had been floating through the air as she walked towards them.

"Michael first," Lestat spoke.

Jadis smiled slightly at Michael, making her seem all the more attractive. Michael smiled back and knelt down in front of her. She raised her hand to his forehead and closed her eyes. Her eyelids fluttered slightly before she stepped away from him. She smiled again to Michael and stepped towards Serena.

Serena tried to smile, but she felt herself grimace instead. Jadis, however, offered an encouraging smile while Serena mimicked Michael and knelt down.

Jadis's cold hand came to rest on her forehead and Serena looked up at her. Nothing happened, but Jadis's eyes fluttered once again before she stepped back. A brief look of shock flashed through her eyes, but she smiled anyways and made her way towards the restrained Chace.

He glared at her, struggling against his restraints, his teeth snapping at her descending hand. As she flinched her hand out of reach, he was hit in the head by a guard and forced to kneel. Jadis didn't smile, but frowned, forcing her hand to his forehead. Her eyes closed briefly before they snapped open. She recoiled her hand as if burned. "To Chrozon with him!" she shouted.

Lestat, David, and Merishka rose to their feet quickly. "What is it Jadis?" Lestat asked.

"He has used a blocking spell on his mind. Any with a soul will be burned inside out if they try to read what he wants to remain hidden. What he has failed to cover with this spell, however, is the fact that he has been in league with the lycans for some time now. He has been leaking information to them of our coven's whereabouts, stealing from the treasury, and has been planning to overthrow the elders to create anarchy!" she sneered down at Chace, her eyes turning to a lethal red. "He also tried to kill the young girl, suspecting she was the one from the prophecy."

A collective gasp sounded throughout the room as Jadis finished. Serena looked at Chace in shock, the girl from the prophecy? What prophecy was this? She thought to herself. These people…vampires still believed in prophecies?

"To Chrozon," spat Lestat.

"Chrozon," repeated Merishka, Jadis, and David. The remaining two of the coven stayed silent, the wolf looking man and the vampire goddess. They seemed to be just witnessing the ordeal, rather than taking part of it.

"That is majority, to Chrozon with him," stated Lestat, a dull glow rimming his eyes.

"NO!" shouted Chace, fear finally creeping onto his face. "No! She will kill you all! She will bring destruction and chaos to our coven!" He spat at Serena as he was carried from the room, closely followed by Jadis. "You saw her power!" he snapped at Jadis.

Serena watched, standing tall, still in the middle of the room. She wasn't going to die.

She felt arms circle around her, and realized Michael was as relieved as she was, hugging her tightly. When he broke away from her he acknowledged the rest of the room, "Elders! Members of the Midairne coven, may I formally introduce the newest member! Serena," he bowed to the table before holding her arm up in the air.

A group to her left gasped, but not because of Michael's announcement. The mysterious vampire, who had bitten her and had tried to again only an hour before, had pushed his way through the crowd to stand on the edge of the circling vampires. "No!' he shouted. "There is no addition!"

Michael stepped defensively in front of Serena, to face the vampire. "What the hell Jared?" snapped Michael. "She is under my protection and I've initiated her into our coven, why do you object?"

The once nameless vampire, who had brought her mere seconds away from death, walked to the center of the circle, only a few feet away from her and Michael then turned to the remaining elders. "She is mine," he declared.


Things are going to get crazy from here on out.

If some of you are wondering why this story is M, it will become clear very soon.

-Maddly Riddled