It wasn't a peaceful night for Kestrel Redfern. She had been up most the night tossing and turning in the bed. She didn't like the situation at hand. She was in a place she'd never been before, in a room she'd never seen before, surrounded by people she'd never met before. And to top it of, no one had bothered to explain to her exactly what was happening. Everyone had insisted she should just find out in the morning.
Now the morning was here, and she was restless. Pacing around the room she wasn't sure exactly what she was supposed to do. She glanced towards the TV that she had left on. She'd tried to sit and distract herself, but what really irked her was that it seemed like everything on the television reminded her of that driver from the night before. Tobias. If she saw a couple, she'd imagine Tobias with someone, or in some cases even herself. If she saw a man, his face appeared in her mind. Even someone with brown hair would prompt her to compare it with Tobias's. And she wasn't sure why. Sure he was attractive, well, attractive didn't really describe it. He was beautiful. Probably the most beautiful man she'd ever met. She couldn't think of anyone else that even compared to him. All she could assume is that she had some silly girls crush on him. It had happened before. Of course it had never hit her so strong as Tobias, but maybe it was just the adrenaline of the situation that kick started her thoughts. Yeah, that had to be it. Luckily though, Kestrel had taken up a habit of picking out minor flaws in her previous crushes, leaving her to completely shut her off her feelings for them.
Even when she was a child she never really sustained feelings for very long. She could remember as far back as when she was six, sitting in her first grade class with a little lamia boy named Royce. She didn't recall his last name, but she did remember how he made her laugh and caused butterflies to flutter in her stomach. That is until he announced that his favorite color was orange. Kestrel who at the time hated the color orange, found this repulsive, and refused to even speak with him the rest of the year. Needless to say, she'd never actually sustained a relationship. And that's how she liked it.
A knock came at her door prompting Kestrel to swing the door open. Eager to leave the room that felt like a cage, despite the fact that she hadn't actually been locked in. "Hey." Was all that came out of the crooked smile of large black haired man from the night before. Val.
He crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. "We're having the meeting downstairs, Thea wanted to come get you herself, but I beat her up the stairs. Come on." He added finally, a slight look of disappointment in his eyes. Still he gave her a wink and headed down the hall towards the stairs where Thea was only just making her way up. She shot Kestrel an apologetic look, but waited for Kestrel to near the stairs before she turned and began headed back down. A curtesy Val jumped on the bannister and slid his way down. "WOO!" He shouted just as Hannah stepped in front of the stairs with her arms crossed. "You know Thierry doesn't like for anyone to do that." She could be heard telling him sternly.
"Did Rowan and Jade get here?" Kestrel finally asked Thea about halfway down the steps. Thea nodded and smiled a little. "Yes, they arrived very early. I think it was around four this morning? I'm not positive of the exact time though, I was asleep myself." She admitted a little sheepishly. "Not to worry though, we had people up to receive them. They had a safe trip. I think they were sent up to bed for a little while, but they should be on their way down to join us." Thea explained as they made their way into a room that held a large long table and plenty of chairs, though not everyone chose to sit.
Looking around, Kestrel took note of the amount of people. There seemed to be no shortage, but what struck her was that there were several faces that she did notice within the crowd. And honestly Kestrel couldn't help herself from gawking a little as directly at the end of the room, there leaned Quinn. The one everyone feared. Strong, impossible to kill Quinn, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. And beside him? A Human, with her head rested on his shoulder as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Ash had wrote them to tell the sister's that Quinn was a changed man, but this was almost something else entirely. Kestrel had only thought maybe he was a little less murdery. Not a full on human lover.
Quinn's eyes caught with hers. He made no motion to wave or smile and say hello, though he did give a subtle nod of acknowledgement. More than she'd ever gotten from him in the past, though that had always been something she was glad of. Kestrel not back slightly before her eyes traveled further across the room. The next face she almost didn't recognize. It had aged significantly since she last saw it when they were young children. So much so that Kestrel had to squint at it a little before the recognition dawned on her.
James?
She questioned herself. He wasn't looking at her. Maybe she was wrong. Actually he appeared to be looking anywhere but at her. Though the short copper haired girl beside him gave her a small smile and wave, though abruptly stopped upon James leaning down and whispering something to her. What's his deal? She wondered before frowning and shaking the thought out. She would ask Ash more about that one later. Surely he knew what stick had been stuck up James's ass. After all, sure Kestrel used to torment him and taunt him when he visited as a child, but they were just kids. And after all, they were cousins, isn't that what family did? Then again, Kestrel wondered if maybe she and Ash did take it a little too far at times. Teasing James when he visited had been one of the very few things that they ever seemed to enjoy doing together.
"You can stand over here, if you want?" Suggested an angelic voice from behind her as he brushed past Kestrel to get around. Just as he did so she felt a static shock that caused her to wrinkle her nose a little in annoyance just as she caught a look at the man's profile. Tobias. "What? Not reserving the spot for your girlfriend?" Kestrel asked sarcastically as she began to follow him. Tobias smirked a little to himself. "I don't have girlfriends. Amanda wasn't too happy to find that out this morning and left."Tobias replied with a sort of mean laugh. 'So he's that guy.' Kestrel thought to herself with a roll of her eyes.
Kestrel leaned against the wall beside Tobias and tried to look as casual about it as she could. He was just a boy. A stupid, beautiful, yet obviously pig headed boy. Yet something in her still wanted him to look at her, without him knowing that she wanted him too. He didn't. His eyes now remained fixed on the table before them, waiting for the meeting to start as the last of the crowd filed in.
"KESTREL!" A familiar high pitch voice squealed that made Kestrel snap her head up to look in the direction it came from just in time to catch view of a head of white blonde hair tackling Kestrel into her arms and squeezing as tightly as she could. "Jade! I'm glad you got here safe, but you have to let go." Kestrel demanded as her face burned red with embarrassment. She never had been the touchy feelings type. Least of all she hated physical displays of affection. Finally jade released her, and Kestrel was able to focus more on her next sister that had come to stand by the two.
A pleasant smile adorned Rowan's face, and despite probably lacking on sleep, and having traveled hours the previous night to arrive, she looked as elegant and graceful as ever. It was times like this that Kestrel envied her sister. Sure Kestrel thought herself beautiful, that was just apart of being her species. However something about Kestrel always frightened other people. She had often been described as having something wild about her at all times. Rowan was never like that. She always held this presence that made you instantly trust her. She had even seen boys be awe struck by her sister, who oddly enough, never seemed to notice the pull she had with people. "I was worried when about you when they came to get us. They said they sent Ash to get you, and I know Ash is capable, but I just couldn't help but worry." Rowan stated with a frown before shaking her head a little and regaining a pleasant expression. "But I'm glad you got here. I wanted to come and see you as soon as we got in, but I didn't want to wake you."
Kestrel almost wanted to roll her eyes. Rowan worried too much. "I was worried about you guys too, but by the time I knew there was anything to worry about, Ash had already gotten to me." Kestrel admitted with a glare set in the direction of the doorway as she watched her brother saunter in, an arm draped around Mary-Lynette. She hated to admit that Ash saved her. Honestly it almost made her resent her brother all over again. Now she owed him one. Kestrel wasn't one to enjoy owing anyone anything.
"Oh um, This is Tobias, he was with Ash when they picked me up." Kestrel introduced after a moment of silence. Tobias only nodded at Rowan, seeming to be completely unimpressed by her older sister. That's weird. She thought to herself, though it seemed that not everyone was immune to Rowan's charms as sure enough not two seconds later, the large mass known as Val had made his appearance.
"I was there to rescue the damsel as well, and now my services will be at your disposal…my lady." Val went about introducing himself to Rowan. Even going so far as to get down on one knee and take her hand to kiss it. "I'm Val." He said as he looked up at her with the same charming grin he had tried on Kestrel. Only unlike Kestrel, Rowan gave a small laugh and smile. She seemed to actually enjoy the attention. Kestrel was quick to scoff. "I'm not a damsel. I was only caught off guard." Kestrel insisted, shooting him a sharp glare whilst Ash began to laugh.
"Yeah Valentine, She could probably kick your ass!" Ash taunted him now, causing Val to jump up and throw his hands up in a fighting stance. "THAT WAS A SECRET REDFERN!" He shouted above everyone as Ash released Mary-Lynette and got into his own stance. The two began to circle on another. "What was? OH? VALENTINE?!" Ash shouted back with a grin. Kestrel sighed and leaned against the wall, though she couldn't really hide the smirk she had as she watched the events unfold before her so quickly. Nothing was more exciting than a good fight.
"Sit down!" Called a voice that had only just entered the room. Ash and Val were quick to look up and then quick to both sit down. Ash even patted the seat for Mary-Lynette to sit beside him, though his eyes stayed fixated on the voice at the head of the room. Thierry. Kestrel had never met the man personally, though she did recall seeing pictured before. He had even been mentioned numerous times in some of the papers that were sent to the enclave. She recalled how her parents had always had terrible things to say about him. "I swear it's like dealing with children every time we have a meeting." He chastised as the rest of the room fell silent. "Can we proceed like adults?" He questioned though received no answer. He seemed to take this as a good sign.
"People are dying. And so far, the only things we know are that it's a pack of shifters, we don't know what kind, and also that the only connections between the victims seem to be circulated around the Redfern family tree." He began, Kestrel frowned. How could they all be connected? Kestrel had heard of anyone dying.
"First we lost Head of the coven, Grandma Harman. Next, Madder Rassmussen, sister of Alder Redfern, and Jasper Rassmussen, husband of Madder, Blaise was attacked just one week ago. A Harman, and two nights ago we received word that Alder and his wife Elodie were attacked within their own enclave….and did not make it out." Thierry said, his eyes traveled towards where Kestrel and her sister's stood just behind Ash as if to see if there was any emotion to be concerned with.
Kestrel pursed her lips. She could feel eyes traveling between herself, her sister's and she could see eyes darting between them and James. She wasn't even really sure how to feel. She didn't feel much for her passing aunt and uncle. She had only met them a handful of times. Usually they would drop off James to stay a weekend so they could travel, half the time they wouldn't even leave their car. Her own parents were complicated to say the least. Maybe she would feel more in time, but as off now all Kestrel felt was irritated that everyone was looking at her. Even Tobias was giving her a side eye.
It didn't help that she could hear Jade begin to sniffle. Rowan looked to be about to embrace her sister though she was beat to it by Mark who threw an arm around Jade and pulled her closer to him. Rowan glanced awkwardly over to Kestrel before taking a step back to stand closer to Val.
"We just can't seem to figure out why these attacks are occurring-" Thierry began again only to be cut off by James. "What do you mean you can't figure out why? He's sitting right there, it's obviously something about Ash. He's a terrible person and now someone is out to get all of us because of him. Just like I said would happen if we let him join." James insisted, giving Ash a death glare while Ash only crossed his arms and glared right back. "I highly doubt it's me! If it were me, don't you think they would have attacked before now? I haven't done anything to anyone since I met Mary-Lynette!" He defended himself though James didn't look convinced in the least bit.
"And how do we know it wasn't you, James?" Quinn surprisingly chimed in to defend his friend. "You're not exactly Mr. Personality." He pointed out. James only shot him glare that made Kestrel want to giggle. She held it in, though she couldn't help but think of when they were kids how James would give she and Ash the same nasty look as they teased him.
Thierry rose from his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's enough, I don't want to hear anymore squabbling." He stated, gaining everyone's attention once more. "It might be Ash, it might be James, it might have nothing to do with any of you at all. We don't know yet, but I'm not willing to take a risk on this and lose more people. I'm sending The Redferns and their soul mates away to a safe house. James, you and Poppy will go as well because of the connection. I can't disclose the location, only a few team members that I'm sending out as security detail know the exact coordinates. Tobias, Quinn, and Rashel have all agreed to go So I think if everyone began packing immediately-" Thierry continued on to explain his plan when he was cut off by a surprising source.
"I wanna go!" called Val from the corner he'd made his way into. He was met with surprised and honestly confused silence. "I want to go." He repeated.
"I don't know if that's a good idea…" it was Hannah that began to speak and trailed off. She had a deep frown on her face.
"Why not? I'm a changed man! And you're sending Quinn, he's done WAY worse stuff than I have! Plus you're sending away two of my best friends! Tobias and Ash won't make it out there without me!" Val countered, Tobias scoffed beside Kestrel but said nothing to either discredit or encourage Val's statement.
Thierry and Hannah didn't look so convinced. "Oh let him go, he's been here months now, and he hasn't given me away. You can trust him." It was a red headed fierce looking woman that spoke. Kestrel somewhat had an odd feeling of recognition, though she couldn't quite put her finger on where she had seen her before.
"It's more complicated than that. We can't move you, it's too risky to have a wild power out there, he's been pretty clear he's loyal to you, but not to circle daybreak. " Thierry elaborated causing Val to scowl in offense. "It's just too risky. I'm sorry Val, we can find something else for you to do maybe, but I can't risk anymore lives with someone that whose loyalty I'm not sure of. " Thierry said decidely before he began to stand up. "As for everyone going, you know who you are. Get your things to the cars and leave immediately. As for the group that arrived last night-" He added as people began to leave the conference room while looking directly into the direction of Kestrel and her sister's. "I apologize for forcing you to leave so suddenly, and I apologize that you haven't had time to adjust yourselves. However I wouldn't insist on this if I weren't absolutely certain that every single one of you is in danger."
Kestrel was almost taken aback by how formal this man sounded. She almost thought she must be in some midevil age movie, listening to a conference given by a king to his knights. "Best get a move on." Were the last words Thierry said to any of them before turning and departing out of the doors, his expression almost stone like with seriousness while Hannah at least gave the girls a small smile before departing just behind him.
"Guess I'd better get your things."
It was Tobias who spoke beside Kestrel, though he hardly made an effort to move from his spot against the wall. "Don't hurt yourself rushing like that." Kestrel replied sarcastically before turning her back to him and heading for the door herself. "Don't bother, I can get my own things." Kestrel added, casting a harsh glance behind her at Tobias. She wasn't one to readily except help, especially not from someone that she had a feeling would expect something in return. Not even for something so small as what little items or clothes that she possesed. And while Kestrel could honestly say that Tobias was still a stranger to her, she had a feeling that he wasn't the type to do anything if there wasn't anything in it for him.