The Blood Nexus
Bonus Chapter: News
^V^
Ace and I woke up the next morning… uh, I mean evening… feeling well-rested and ready for the day… um, night. We went through our routines and headed for the study where Ace says he does his "princely work". It sounds pretty boring to be a monarch: doing paperwork, heading tedious ceremonies and letting everyone do everything for you. You'd think being a vampire prince that the job would be a little more exciting for him.
It was about to.
"Your Highness!" A little servant-guy ran up to us holding mail. He seemed nervous, like it was his first day on the job.
"What is it?" Ace asked calmly, as if he knew this guy freaked out all the time.
"I-I'm sorry, sir, b-but there's an important message for you that n-needed to be delivered r-right away!" He handed the envelope to his master.
"This better be imp… that seal…" Ace saw the seal on the melted wax that kept the envelope closed (I didn't know they used those anymore) and it put a shocked expression on his face. "Fuck, they know already!"
"Whoa, what's going on?" I asked. Ace didn't curse like that unless he was really angry.
"That will be all." He said to the nervous servant, then took my hand and pulled me into the study with him.
"What happened?" I asked again, obviously getting worried.
"It's the damned Senate!" He said, angrily reading the letter. "They know about you."
"Wha- about me?" I replied. "But what is the Senate?"
"The ones who rule over all vampires." Ace sighed, seeing that I was still confused. "My mother and father were rulers of a section of Atmos, not the whole of it. They were in charge of local regulations. The pureblood vampires of the Senate rule everyone." He clenched the letter in his fist. "I was hoping they wouldn't find out so soon."
"But… how?" I took the crinkled paper from his grip and opened it. "Did someone here tell them?"
"They simply have their ways." Ace cringed. "They are bastards, liars… they wrote those ridiculous history books you read!"
"Well, if they 'have their ways,' should you be bad-mouthing them?"
"They already know what I think of them." He sat down at the desk, wiping his face. "At least they haven't done anything too horrific… that I know of."
Dear Prince,
It's come to our knowledge that you have acquired an astounding new friend, of which I hope we can become friends with as well. A few members of the Senate would like to drop by tomorrow evening to talk with you. And don't bother cleaning up; we won't be too long.
Kastor
"They certainly do sound creepy… but are we in any danger?"
"No. Not yet." Ace said half-heartedly.
"Hey, why didn't they talk to you about Cyclonis?"
"Heh, don't know… maybe they just didn't care about a 'family feud.'"
"Jeez, this is crazy." I sat across from Ace, putting the letter on the desk.
"An understatement." He replied, surprising me as he took the letter and used his electricity powers to set the letter on fire in his hand. What was even more surprising, though, was the look in his eyes… the same furious, yet depressed look he had when Cyclonis was alive. Even though she was gone, someone else has taken her place. Vampires who have more power than her? And now they're after us, too?
Why can't we have a normal happy ending?
^V^
"They have arrived, Your Highness!"
"Bring them in." Ace sat at his throne, keeping his sharp, serious eyes on the front door. He wore a suit with a frilly white shirt underneath, and a black cape that was so long he was sitting on it and it fanned out on the steps in front of him. I didn't feel right sitting in the Queen's throne, so I just stood off to the side with a few soldiers.
And then they entered – the vampires of the Senate. There were four of them: the first was an older-looking man with a white, well-trimmed beard and matching hair, the second was a pale-blonde woman, the third was a well-built middle-aged man, and the fourth was a tall, spiky-haired teen that looked really short-tempered. They all had suits with a pin on the collar that looked like the seal on the letter they sent. They stood at the foot of the staircase. The old man and Ace stared at each other before exchanging cold greetings.
"Your Highness." The old man sneered.
"Kastor." Ace sneered right back. This was the man who wrote the letter.
"Where are your manners, boy?" Kastor asked. "You should say, 'Welcome to my home,' at least."
"You're only welcome when I invite you, not when you invite yourself." Oh no, I didn't want Ace already causing problems.
"Then you should have invited us sooner." Kastor replied calmly. "You know how interested we are in the wonders of our world. We just couldn't wait any longer." He looked right at me. He knew who I was already. "Now won't you introduce us to your special friend?" Ace grunted and stood from his throne. I met him at the bottom of the staircase.
"This is Aerrow." Ace introduced us.
"Aerrow…" Kastor took my hand and bowed, touching his forehead on my hand. I could tell Ace didn't like that at all, and I didn't even have to look at him. "I am Kastor, a high-ranking member of the Vampire Senate." He let me go. "These are my associates, Skovia…" The woman bowed her head. "Mr. Parr…" The built man bowed next. "And Renzo." The teen bowed last.
"It's nice to meet all of you." I bowed too, making sure to watch my manners.
"Ah, such a charming boy." Kastor smirked.
"How about we all sit down in the parlor?" Ace said through gritted teeth, taking my hand and leading us all to the next room. There were plenty of places to sit; Ace and I took the loveseat while the other four vampires sat on the couch and chairs.
"Hm… Aerrow… that name is familiar…" Kastor mused.
"The vampire hunters' kid." Mr. Parr spoke in an earth-shaking, deep voice.
"That's right, the one that got away." Kastor stared at me. "And now you two have found each other and became friends. What a dark and romantic story." Tell me about it.
"That's behind us now." Ace explained. He obviously didn't want to talk about it.
"You don't expect us to let you rebuild those disgusting hunters, do you?" Skovia said in a thick accent. "Especially after you liberated us all, Dark Ace." She said that with admiration. She called him Dark Ace? I thought that was just his school nickname.
"I don't." Ace said bluntly.
"But what about the boy?" Kastor asked, still staring. "Does he want to rebuild his family?" They all stared at me now, waiting for my answer. I thought carefully before speaking.
"I don't think humans should be hunters anymore." I said. "I believe vampires should take care of their own kind."
"Very well spoken, Aerrow." Kastor leaned forward. "Your master must be proud."
"Ace does not own me." I raised my voice slightly. "I'm with him of my own freewill."
"Is that so?" Kastor actually seemed surprised. "That's unbelievable."
"Alright, that's enough." Ace stood up. "What do you want from us?"
"Always so short with us." Kastor stood up too. "We simply want to learn about Aerrow, Ace. Nothing more, nothing less. Just show us what he can do." Ace and I looked at each other. I nodded, telling him it was okay.
"Fine. But then you will all leave immediately, understand?"
"Of course, Prince." Kastor bowed his head. Even though he wasn't looking at me now, I could still feel his stare burning into my eyes.
^V^
"Amazing!" They all gasped in awe as they looked upon my white wings, which the Moon highlighted beautifully. Even Ace was still in amazement, and he's seen them already.
"Uh… I'm not the best flier, yet." I said before flapping my wings in an attempt to get my feet off the ground. I hovered around a little to get my balance and took off, gliding a good twenty feet above the ground. I flew around in a small circle and landed where I started.
Time to show them my power. I took a deep breath and got in a solid stance before summoning the air around me to create a tornado. I used my hands to push the tornado out into the field, watching it slow down and eventually disappear. The vampires of the Senate actually clapped for me; I didn't like that. I felt like a one-man circus freak show.
"Outstanding!" Kastor smiled. "Such purity… I've never felt anything like this boy's aura: those… human emotions…" He sounded very possessive there, like he wanted to eat me alive.
"I also can walk in the sun and read emotions." I said, trying to get his mind off of whatever he was thinking.
"Read emotions? Ah yes, that hunter power." He pushed Renzo forward. "Read his." I looked into the guys eyes. He wasn't too hard to read, but then again, all vampires are pretty easy.
"Anger, stubbornness, self-absorbed, annoyed." I gave my list. Kastor laughed hysterically.
"Right on the money." The old man said after his short laugh. Renzo gave me a rotten look. "Ah, what a brilliant boy. You certainly are lucky to have him, Ace."
"Like Aerrow said, I do not own him." Ace corrected Kastor's thoughts. "But, yes, I'm quite lucky." He put his arm around me.
"Please, let us take you to our facilities. You'll only be there for a week, two weeks tops. We must obtain more research on your kind, Aerrow." The older man asked as nicely as he could. I thought about it: it was true that there was hardly any knowledge about the 'Katharez', and I would certainly like to know more about myself. And if anything would go wrong at all over there, I would leave immediately. It all sounded simple to me.
"Don't trust them, Aerrow." Ace penetrated my thoughts with his. "Their methods of research are not at all like what you think they are."
"It will be fine." I thought back to him. "The vampire world needs to know more about me." I looked at Kastor with assertive eyes. "I'll do it, but only if you let Ace come with me."
"We wouldn't have it any other way." He gave a sly look to us. "We'll see you tomorrow then, bright and early."
"We'll meet you there." Ace said. "I am not prepared to have guests sleep here."
"Very well." Kastor smirked. "Good day, young ones." He bowed his head, then walked past us, his minions following close behind.
"I hope you realize what you've agreed to, Aerrow." Ace was very upset with my decision.
"Sorry, but I just…"
"I know." He looked at me with concerned eyes. "I just wish there was another way."
"Yeah, me too." I shuddered from the cold night air blowing through my shirt. "Come on, let's go get ready. I can't wait to get in the shower." Yeah, so I could wash those creepy eyes off my body.
^V^
Yay, done another chapter. Maybe just a few more and that'll be it. I want to write other things. Thank you, bye, please R&R!