A/N:Sorry it's taken ridiculously long for me to update! I've had other fics to work on and a pretty hectic couple of months at work.
"How you feeling?" Emily probed as she and Katie slowly walked up their street, dragging their heels as they approached their house. It was still early in the morning and neither girl had been home all weekend. Their mother would kick off with them long before they could open their mouths to explain what had happened.
"Hungry." Katie grumbled as she wrapped her arms around herself. She'd had some more pig's blood before they'd left Naomi's house, but as a fledgling her thirst would be insatiable. Her eyes were red from crying and framed by deep dark circles; she looked like hell. "And terrified." She admitted as she stopped abruptly at the end of their drive. Emily took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly as the front door opened.
"Would it have killed you two to give us a phone call?" Rob Fitch snapped as he swiped the paper up from the doorstep and glared at his daughters. It was the wrong choice of words as Katie broke down in tears again. Rob's expression instantly changed as he rushed out of the house and over to his eldest child. "What happened? Are you hurt? Was it a boy?" Rob was frantic as he took hold Katie's shoulders and checked her over for injuries.
"Dad…" Emily tried to answer, but his attention was fixed on his sobbing daughter who couldn't form a single word. Emily began to tear up herself as Katie collapsed in to her father's arms, burying her face against his broad shoulder.
"What's happened luv? Tell your dad-"
"Rob…" Their uncle Samuel stood at the front door, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes narrowed on his oldest niece. "I'd back away if I were you, slowly."
"What are you on about- OW!" Rob recoiled away from his daughter as her fangs sunk in to his neck, ripping open the flesh.
"Katie!" Emily screamed at the same time as Samuel darted out of the door, pulling Katie away from Rob. Her mouth was smeared with blood and her eyes were wild and unfocused as she struggled to get free from Samuel's grip. Rob held a hand to his still bleeding neck as he stared up at his oldest daughter; his little princess.
"Katie?" His voice cracked as tears ran down his cheeks. "What happened to my baby?"
"Rosenberg. He thought she was me and he tried to kill her. Katie cut him and some of his blood got in her…" Emily answered as Katie fell still against Samuel, the horror of what she'd just tried to do to her own father finally hitting her. The dead vampire's name left a bitter taste on Emily's tongue.
"He's dead." She added as she watched Rob ball his fists up. "Katie is too if we can't talk the Council around."
"Rosenberg turned many." Samuel nodded in agreement as he kept a firm grip on Katie's arm and led her towards the house. Rob followed behind them at a snail's pace, his eyes glued to the young woman who had once been his little girl. He jumped as Emily slipped her hand in to his, squeezing it like she had with Katie earlier.
"It'll be ok Dad."
"No, it won't luv." Rob wiped at his eyes, he had never cried in front of his girls before. "This is my fault! I should have killed Rosenberg the other week! And I should have made her train harder! I shouldn't have given her a choice-"
"She's alive because of you Dad! She's alive because she used what you taught us. She fought him… She needs you to be strong for her right now. She's scared and confused and she needs her dad…we both do." Emily broke down again as Rob wrapped his arms around her.
"Your mum's going to kill me." Rob sighed as they finally pulled apart and headed in to the house. A piercing scream from inside announced that Jenna Fitch had just discovered what had happened to her eldest child.
In the hours that followed there was more sobbing and screaming than the average episode of Jeremy Kyle.By the time night fell the family had calmed down somewhat and Katie sat curled up on the sofa with her mother. She'd managed to keep her fangs to herself. Emily sat on the floor by the living room door; a million miles away as she only half listened to Samuel and her father talking about how they would approach the Council to petition for Katie's life. She was still thinking about everything that had happened with Sophia the previous night. She'd had no choice but to go to the older vampire for help, but in doing so she'd made a dangerous arrangement with her that had effectively turned her in to a walking meal. She understood why Naomi was mad at her for doing it, but faced with the same choice over she would do it again. Katie meant the world to her; she would do anything to protect her twin, even if it meant risking her own life.
"Katie shouldn't go to the Council; if the verdict goes against us we won't have a chance to get her away." Samuel stated the obvious, but Rob shook his head in disagreement.
"If she doesn't show up they'll know we're hedging our bets and they'll condemn her straight away. We need to show we trust them-"
"Trust them?" Jenna spat, her accent thick and her voice dripping with contempt. "The Council are a joke! Murderers and monsters the lot of them! I'm not leaving my baby's fate in their hands! We run and we do it now!"
"Jenna-" Rob sighed, knowing how strongly his wife felt about vampires and the council that governed them.
"She might be right." Samuel surprised them all by agreeing with Jenna. "Katie's a hunter's daughter; it might be seen as favouritism if the council allows her to live. Marcus may sentence her to death to make a point. Jenna should take the children out of the city, maybe even the country. Rob and I can-"
"I'm not going anywhere." Emily was finally pulled out of her daze as she realised they were going to try and ship her off. "I witnessed Rosenberg die, I can speak for Katie-"
"You were there?" Rob hadn't asked about how the vampire who had attacked his daughter had died, he'd been too shocked to think to ask, but with the initial shock wearing off he finally had more questions for his youngest daughter.
"I went to Sophia and asked her to kill him for me-"
"How could you be so stupid?" Just as Emily had never seen her dad cry before, she had never seen him so angry either. "Have you forgotten what she's done to you? What she wants to do? Do you think this is a game Emily? Do you think I want to lose anotherdaughter?" His cheeks were red with anger and his fists were shaking because he was clenching them at his side so hard. Emily felt her own anger rising as she got to her feet to shout back at him. Katie spoke up before she could though and the room fell deathly silent.
"You didn't lose me, Dad." Her eyes were wide and one again brimming with tears as she looked between her parents. She was a dangerous predator capable of drinking a man dry, but as she sat there sobbing she looked more vulnerable than Emily had ever seen her. "I'm not dead."
"No, you're not luv. I didn't mean- Emily!" Rob had turned his back on his youngest for just a second and she had taken the opportunity to slip out of the door. He chased after her, but he heard the sound of her moped revving in to life before he'd even reached the front door. "You get back here right now!"
"Get Mum to take Katie somewhere safe, I'll meet you and Samuel at the Council in an hour!" She ignored her father's protests as she sped off on the moped.
It didn't take her long to get to where she was going and when she pounded on Naomi's front door she promptly opened it. "Ems, is everything-"Emily didn't let her finish her question as she crushed their lips together in a searing kiss. It felt like it had been ages since they'd shared such a passionate embrace, and Naomi was in no hurry for it to end as she pulled the smaller girl inside. She closed the door behind them by pushing Emily up against it as her hands found the smaller girl's waist. They only pulled apart as Gina appeared at the kitchen door and cleared her throat to get their attention. Emily blushed and offered the older blonde a sheepish hello as she untangled herself from her daughter. The pair followed Gina back in to kitchen while she put the kettle on.
"How's Katie luv?"
"Mum and Dad took it about as well as we expected." Emily sighed. She stood at the door with Naomi's arms wrapped protectively around her waist. It felt nice, like things were back to the way they had been before she'd discovered that Naomi was a vampire. She wished they could have just said goodnight to Gina, gone upstairs and climbed in to Naomi's bed for the rest of the night; but she still had Katie to think about. "We're going to appeal to Marcus and the Council tonight…I was wondering whether you and Naomi could help? Maybe speak on her behalf?" Naomi had hinted that Gina was close to the head of the Vampire High Council and as far as Emily was concerned Katie needed all the help she could get.
"Of course." The older blonde replied, though her smile was a little strained as she shared a look with Naomi. "Marcus and I are old friends." Given that Marcus was thought to be the oldest vampire in existence Emily was willing to bet they were very old friends. As Gina went upstairs to let Kieran know where they would be going it left the two girls alone in the kitchen. Emily sighed as she turned to face Naomi and cuddled in to her.
"I've missed you…I've missed us."
"Me too." Naomi mumbled in to her hair, her tone was sincere but Emily could tell she was preoccupied.
"It doesn't mean anything…Sophia feeding off me. It's just blood." She tried to put on a front and act like her deal with Sophia really didn't mean anything, but neither girl could ignore the elephant in the room. Naomi cupped the smaller girl's chin, tilting her head back as she leant in for a gentle kiss. She wore a sad smile on her quivering lips.
"We're vampires Emily, blood is everything."
"Where are we going, mum?" Katie had been sitting in silence in the front seat of her mother's car for almost an hour before she finally asked where they were headed. Almost as soon as Emily had walked out the door Jenna had kicked in to action, packing a couple of bags and throwing them in the boot of the car before bundling Katie and James in to the car. They'd broken most of the speed limits getting on to the motorway and had managed to put quite a bit of distance between themselves and Bristol in a single hour. Jenna's knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel so hard and the usually calm and collected woman seemed entirely dishevelled. She couldn't bring herself to turn and look at her oldest daughter and they both knew why. Katie was one of the creatures Jenna and her family had devoted their entire lives to killing. The only oblivious one in the car was James, who had been kept in the dark about his big sister's transformation. He sat in the back with his PSP pressed under his nose. Jenna glanced at him in the rear-view mirror before answering.
"We're going to stay with your Nan for a few days."
"What about school?" James piped up from the back. He wasn't particularly fussed about missing school; he was just fishing for an explanation to their sudden departure from the house.
"Nan's not well, so we're going to look after her for a few days."
"Why isn't Emily here? Why does she get out of it?"
"She's got an exam tomorrow." Katie lied. They wouldn't be able to keep him in the dark forever, but they could try and shield him from what had happened for as long as they could.
"That's right." Jenna nodded, her gaze still fixed on the road ahead. Their Nan, Jenna's mother, lived in Glasgow and it would take half the night to get there; Katie could already feel her hunger rising in the pit of her stomach. She would need to stop and feed at some point. Samuel had filled a hot flask of blood for her, but she couldn't exactly pull it out in front of James. She didn't think her mother could stomach watching her drink it either. Katie herself still felt queasy at the thought of drinking blood again. The part of her mind that hadn't accepted the change still recoiled at the thought of feeding on human blood, but she knew the second the blood flowed over her lips she would devour every last drop.
She had expected blood to taste foul, yet when she'd sank her fangs in to Effy the other girl's blood had been like an explosion of taste on her tongue. It was tangy yet sweet and quite easily the most delicious thing Katie had ever tasted. The blood bags Samuel had given her to feed from had paled in comparison. She felt a different hunger growing inside of her at the thought of the other girl. It was hard for young vampires to separate their cravings; Blood, lust, love and sex typically rolled in to one overwhelming desire.
Katie took out her phone and stared at it as she tried to think of what to say to Effy. 'Sorry I tried to kill you' seemed a little inadequate. She wouldn't even be able to speak to her properly in the car with her mum and James, so she'd have to settle for a text. How was she supposed to convey everything that was boiling up inside of her in a text? She sighed as she let her nimble fingers loose on the keys of her phone.
'I'll be back soon. Love you, K xxx.' It was the best she could manage and Effy understood the sentiment. A small smile crept its way on to Katie's lips as her phone went off, signalling a message from Effy. The other girl had never been one to waste words and her reply was just as short as Katie's message. It said more than enough.
'I know. Stay safe. Love you back xxx.'
Katie slumped back in her seat, watching the endless fields flanking the motorway whizz past her. If the Council decided she couldn't be allowed to live then she would never be safe again. She would have to run a lot further than Glasgow to escape them.
"The decision has been made." Marcus Caecus was a large and imposing man, the size of a small house. In his previous life he had been a soldier of the Roman army, stationed in Britain during the Emperor Hadrian's visit in the early second century. He was the oldest known vampire in existence, and as such he sat at the head of the Vampire High Council, the ruling body of the vampires composed of the three oldest vampires. It wasn't known who had turned Marcus, though the rumours went that a Celtic beauty had stolen his heart and drained him dry; she'd then turned him out of guilt. "Rachael Adler was the last legitimately turned childe of the vampire James Rosenberg. All other offspring are a direct violation of the Treaty of Brixton and are sentenced to be eliminated…Katherine Fitch is no different, and the council hereby issues the warrant for her death…"
The warehouse that housed the council meetings erupted in to chaos as the gathered vampires and humans either agreed or disagreed with the verdict. All vampires and hunters were invited to attend Council meetings, though with the meeting being called at such short notice there were less than three dozen people in the warehouse; most were locals and vampires. The few hunters that were there had all known Katie and Emily since they'd been born and had watched the twins grow up. They were not happy at Markus' verdict. "You're just making an example out of her because she's a hunter's kid!" One of the older hunters snarled, he was an embittered old man in his late sixties and had been one of the finest hunters in his time; he had also been a close friend to Jenna's father and the twins knew him as Uncle Hugh.
"The law is the law! It can't be bent for one hunter!" A vampire sitting on the other side of the room objected. He was a weedy little man who looked more like an accountant than a vampire and if Emily had a stake on her she would have been happy to drive it through his chest; it was probably a good thing she didn't as the incident could have sparked a war. The peace between vampires and hunters had always been strained at best and the tension in the room was mounting as Rob stood up to address the council.
"With all due respect Markus, this is different. Rosenberg is dead, you have the power to let my daughter live in his please. I'm not asking as a hunter…I'm asking as a father, please?" Emily sat squeezing Naomi's hand as she watched Markus mulling over her father's words. The council had not been happy at Katie's absence to start with and things had been going steadily downhill.
"There's no proof my maker is dead!" Rachael Adler stood up to object. She was a young blonde woman with an ample chest and Emily could guess why James had turned her.
"I saw him die myself!" Emily had held her tongue for long enough and stood up to address the council herself. She'd already given her testimony to Markus, but it was clear no-one believed her.
"So you say." Markus' cold dark gaze settled on the tiny teenager. "I find it hard to believe that Sophia of all people would kill one of her own to help a hunter. Her feelings on the treaty are well known. You say she killed him to protect you, why would she do that?"
"Because Emily is mine." A hush fell over the crowd as Sophia appeared out of thin air. She'd slipped in among the crowd undetected and had been silently watching the scene play out. With all eyes on her she made her way to the front of the warehouse and up on to the low stage where the three council members sat. The other two vampires on the council were less than half of Markus' age and one of them, Arianne, was his own childe. She regarded Sophia with disdain as she stood in front of her. The other woman had replaced Sophia's maker Jonas on the council when he'd been killed by Emily's grandfather. There had never been any love lost between the two of them, but Arianne's hatred of Sophia was nothing compared to Markus'.
"Sophia, so glad you could join us." He forced a smile on to his lips as he addressed her, but his gaze was hard as stone as he tried to stare her down. "I wasn't aware you'd made claim on the young Fitch."
"Well that's why I'm here Markus, to make it clear that Emily Fitch is off limits to any vampire." Her eyes landed on Naomi as her lips curled in to a smirk and Emily felt Naomi stiffen beside her. "Poor James didn't fathom that out in time and unfortunately I had to separate his heart from his chest."
"You fucking bitch!" Rosenberg's childe, the busty blonde erupted as she shot out of her seat and used her speed to appear on the stage in the blink of an eye. She intended to avenge her maker's death, but Sophia was too strong for her and she sent the blonde flying off the stage as though she was batting away an irritating fly. Rachel landed on a group of vampire sitting by the stage, who grumbled but had more sense than to challenge Sophia about it. Emily began to feel an odd mixture of excitement and cold dread washing over her as she realised just how much pull she had amongst the vampires. She really could help her save Katie; but at the same time Emily couldn't help wondering whether anyone could save her from Sophia.
"Rosenberg attacked my property; I was within my right to kill him. As the taker of his life I request that Katie Fitch's life be spared in exchange."
"That's all very well, but the council have made their decision-" Markus started, but was cut off by Gina, who finally spoke up on Katie's behalf.
"Perhaps the council might want to reconsider, given Sophia's testimony?" She wore her usual friendly smile, but there was a strength to her tone that demanded the attention of the room. Markus looked visibly shaken, as though Gina had just declared her intentions to stake him in public.
"We cannot make exceptions simply because the girl is-" Markus tried again but was interrupted by Naomi this time.
"I challenge the council's decision!"
"On what grounds?" Markus growled, irritated by such a public challenge of his authority. Everyone knew the other two members of the council were just his puppets, he was effectively the council.
"On the grounds that my maker is older than both Arianne and George." George, the third member of the council, had previously been a knight in the court of Henry VIII. He was a quiet man who looked bored by the proceedings, but sat up straight in his chair as his position was challenged.
The room fell silent as both the vampires and hunters looked between Markus and Naomi. Every last person in the room knew that Gina was older than them. Though none of them knew exactly how old she was, it was rumoured that she was almost as old as Markus himself. When the council had first been formed it had been chaired by Markus, Jonas and Gina, but her views on abstaining from human blood had left her ostracised from the vampire community for many years. A lot of vampires who were pro-abstinence wanted her back on the council and Markus knew it. His eyes narrowed on the older blonde, as though waiting for her to make her challenge. It was Sophia who spoke up though.
"As am I. Perhaps it's time Gina and I took our place on the council?" She dropped her voice as she leant in low to whisper in Markus' ear. "Imagine how hard it would be for you to get anything done then? With Gina wanting to save every last human and me wanting to kill them?"
"I've made my position clear." Gina caught the attention of the room again as she spoke. "I don't want to be part of this council and I am happy that Arianne and George are more than qualified to sit on the council, I would like to ask a favour of an old friend…honour Sophia's request and spare Katie's life."
The older vampire wrestled with the decision for a few moments as he weighed up the humiliation of publicly relenting against the horror of having his puppet councillors replaced. "Very well." He sighed and the hunters erupted in to cheers, led by an overjoyed Rob Fitch. "But let it be known that the girl is under no special privileges. She will obey our laws just as every other vampire does and if not her death warrant will be issued and carried out by this council." Happy that he had managed to save face Markus dismissed the meeting with a wave of his hand as he rose from his chair.
Emily felt her legs almost give way with relief as the decision sunk in. Luckily Naomi's strong arms were wrapped around her, holding her up. "We did it, we really did it!" She grinned and crushed her lips against the blonde's. "Thank you, so much." She turned to Gina to give her a hug before she flung her arms around her dad. She failed to spot Naomi slipping off and heading to find Markus.
Rob laughed as he spun her around like she was still a little girl. "We did it kiddo!"
"Congratulations." Rob froze as Sophia joined them. He stood in front of his daughter, his muscular frame defending her like a brick wall as his eyes narrowed on the vampire who had caused his family so much pain and heartache. He surprised them all by offering her his hand. Sophia looked at his hand like it was a snake poised to attack her before she slowly took it. Rob nodded at her, his jaw clenched tight. "I appreciate what you've done for Katie…but I know what you're planning for Emily. You try and turn her and I will end you."
"You'll try." Sophia shot back with a smirk. "Nice to see you again Emily, we'll have to do lunch soon." She threw the smaller girl a wink before strutting off.
"I'm not a great believer in violence." Gina declared as she narrowed her eyes on the younger vampire as she walked across the warehouse. "But I should have killed that girl a long time ago." Half of Emily agreed with her; but the other half acknowledged that without Sophia, her twin would be dead.
At the back of the warehouse Naomi caught up to Markus. He was flanked by other vampires who guarded him, though as old as he was there were few people, either hunter or vampire, who were a danger to him. She asked for a private word and he dismissed his entourage. "I'm sorry that I had to do that, but Emily means a lot to me. I had to help her sister. I promise Katie won't put a foot out of line, I'll help her-"
"Naomi, do excuse me, but I've seen the product of you rearing a childe. If Cook is any indication to go by then I think the best thing you could do is let Gina help the Fitch girl." The younger vampire felt her anger bubbling up as Markus dismissed her so flippantly. He had issues with Gina and he took them out on her childe.
"Well we both know how good a mother she is…don't we brother?" She challenged and watched as the blood drained from his face. He hastily looked around to check no one had overheard her before he stepped in close and growled at her.
"You'd do well to keep your mouth shut!Lest you forget the last favour I performed for Gina was sparing your life the last time you fell of the wagon and almost bled a girl dry!"
Few people knew the truth about Markus and Gina. Many presumed that he was Gina's maker, and that was the way Markus liked it. If anyone knew that Gina was in fact the vampire who had turned him then he could lose his position as head of the council. Gina was far older than anyone realised. She had been born in Britain around 86AD and had lived among her people in a small village in the North. Gina had never told Naomi how she herself had become a vampire, she rarely spoke about her early life with Markus and Jonas and Naomi had never pushed her to talk about it.
Markus was a narcissist who enjoyed being vampire royalty and to lose his power would be a terrible blow to his inflated ego. Naomi wasn't fazed by his outburst. She had her own trump card to play. Gina had shared enough with her over the years to give her some leverage.
"I wonder if Sophia would spare your life if she knew you were the one who had her maker killed?" Markus glared at the younger blonde and if looks could kill then Naomi would have been reduced to a pile of smouldering ash on the floor. He didn't know just how much she knew about what had happened to Sophia's maker Jonas, or how the treaty had really come about. "You were working with Emily's grandfather years before the treaty happened. You gave him help to kill vampires, vampires that threatened yourauthority, and Jonas was one of them. Mum turned him the same year she turned you, which made him your equal…except she loved him more. It killed you, didn't it? Always coming second best to him?" Naomi added the last part, twisting the knife in deeper as she watched Markus seethe in front of her.
"Jonas was a sadistic murderer who tortured his victims for the hell of it. He stood against the progress our kind needed to make…His death helped build the treaty which keeps our kind at peace with the humans today! I did what I did out of necessity!" Markus tried to defend himself, but they both knew he had acted out of his selfish desire to have Gina to himself; even though she'd rejected them both centuries earlier. It had been her rejection that had sparked Jonas to reject everything she had taught him about living in harmony with the humans and had turned him in to the twisted killer he had eventually become. He had brought Sophia up to be the same and then Sophia had passed that wisdom on to Naomi and Cook. For decades the four of them had slaughtered the innocent to feast on their blood and live on their riches. It had been a dark time in Naomi's long life and she was happy to keep the full extent of it hidden from Emily. Markus changed his tact as he smoothed out his voice and put a firm hand on Naomi's shoulder. His hands were wide and cracked from centuries of wielding a sword. "I spared the Fitch girl's life…We have no reason to squabble little sister; and we each have our secrets to keep."
