Author's notes:


2021-08-31: Hey, a short preview of the next chapter is here. I wanted you to know what I'm currently working on.

2021-09-06: Hey, it has taken a while. Sadly, it is not as long as I anticipated originally; however, it means that you can expect a new chapter soon. I have decided to split the plot into 2 separate chapters. Anyways, let me know what do you think about it :D

Don't forget to comment. I really appreciate your feedback.

As always, I would like to thank you for everything. See you soon :)

Changelog:
[2021-08-31]: A preview was released.
[2021-09-06]: The chapter was released fully.

Info: The top4 of the previous poll. Each of these will receive a new chapter. Maybe, just maybe, I will choose one additional story for update of my liking.
- My home is where my heart lies
- The family tree
- The rise of the Blood Moons' servants
- Will you look past my mistakes?

Schedule for the nearest future:
1. The rise of the Blood Moons' servants.
2. Fully original story.

Bonuses' section:
A new story taking place in the Warhammer 40k universe.
A story regarding KaiKali (aka Akali x Kai'sa) (Will you look past my mistakes?).
Sometimes it's just better not to know (possibly rewrite).
Kiss the rain (more than likely rewrite).
Whispers in the Dark (extending beyond 2 chapters story).
Story of one lost soul (translation of 2 of my old texts - previously written in polish).
Story of one lost soul: The war call: rewrite.

*bonuses will be worked on when I don't feel like writing the chapters pointed out in the schedule :D

** It is possible for me to change the schedule a little. So stay tuned for the upcoming information.

Song reference:
Metallica - Master of Puppets

Vote poll (for September):
Service: strawpoll
Hash: h5q1ebwe6


End of authro's notes.


It took Vayne a couple of moments to realise that she was holding her breath for some time by now. Of course, she was under a lot of stress. The pressure only recently had started to take its toll on her. After all, the officer was left alone to face her demons. It seemed like a cruel extension of the nightmarish events that had taken place years ago. It was so cruel to ask her - of all people - to face her nemesis, demon, nightmare, a vampire. Only a couple of moments separated her from meeting the most influential vampire in the city, potentially all over the world. These moments needed to be utilised to calm down, to collect her mind.

A heavy sigh escaped the tightened throat of Vayne. In front of her, the door of ebony could be spotted. It was most likely the only thing separating the stressed RDT officer and Miss Tepes. The unfortunate realisation was that Shauna was not really ready for that encounter. All of her bravado, all of her strong will, seemed to fade away. The council's leader knew about her presence and potentially knew about her fear. The second detail was much more concerning. After all, the vampires were known for using their enemies weaknesses just for the sake of their own pleasure.

The raven-haired officer seemed to be unable to take this one additional step. Even though she was right before the door leading to Miss Tepes's office, she could not muster enough courage to move forward. Shauna could feel her hands getting sweaty; her fingers moved on their own, remaining in a constant movement. Her tight throat got dry in what felt like a moment. A couple of coughs were forced by her current state. The officer was just a step away from her current destination. Her goal was at her hand's reach, yet she was unable to take it.

She was brought back to reality when she heard a clicking sound coming from Miss Tepes's office. The raven-haired woman shook her head a couple of times, trying to regain some control over her body. The decision was made immediately. Without delving into the matter deeper, she took the last step, knocking on the door.

"You can enter, Miss Vayne," an emotionless voice replied nearly instantly.

Not without conflicted feelings, the officer opened the door, then entered the room.

She must have admitted that its design made her speechless. Even though the interior was not glittering with gold – as one could think considering Miss Tepes's position in council – she felt overwhelmed. The floor was made of shining tiles of the colour of the darkest onyx. Of course, these could be dyed marble, but who was she to tell for sure? Right in front of her, the large red Persian carpet was located. As far as she could tell, it was the only place where the depthless darkness of the tiles was being hidden under something. A few steps past the carpet, the massive desk could be spotted. It was made of thick, chestnut wood, intentionally leaving its rings in full display. Not many items were lying on it, though. There were only a couple of documents and a pen. Or, at least that much she could tell from her current standing. The elegant throne-like armchair was moved slightly to the side. It was upholstered in leather as black as night. Behind it, there was an enormously large window, or more precisely speaking the glass wall. Currently, it was entirely stained by the heavy droplets of the rain. There must have been a breathtaking view coming from it. But, of course, when the world was not covered in darkness and greyness.

"It took you a lot longer to get here than expected. For a second, I thought that you would end up standing right before my doors for the entirety of the night. But, I am glad that I was mistaken," the same stoic, emotionless voice came from her right.

"Good evening, Miss Tepes," Shauna greeted the vampire, trying to sound polite. Then, within a fraction of a second, she turned around to face her speaker. "My apologies for running late," she added.

At first, she could not locate the council's leader. Based on her last words' source, she would have to stand beside the furthest wall; however, she was nowhere to be seen.

"Miss Vayne, I think we are both adults. So, we can skip pleasantries; I know how much you hate my kind. How much you despise us," Miss Tepes whispered into Shauna's ear in an amused tone.

The raven-haired officer's reaction was immediate and instinctive. She jumped forward, turning around mid-air. Though, she could not deny that she shuddered. A shiver ran down her spine. But, she was not entirely sure whether it was caused by the possible danger or the rich, extremely attractive voice of Miss Tepes.

"Can we agree to have a conversation under such conditions?" the vampire asked, smirking openly at the RDT officer.

When Vayne gaze fell onto Miss Tepes for the very first time, she already had known that she had lost. The beauty standing just a couple of steps away from her was tantalising her openly, alluring. Her facial features were sharp, defined, perfect. Below a tiny nose, kissable lips covered by crimson-red lipstick were presented, smirking at her. The eyes of an apex predator were fixed upon Shauna. They were freely switching colours between the bloody red and silver. Her long white as snow hair was allowed to stream down onto her back in cascades. Miss Tepes was slim but not fragile. It was evident that under the thin skin of milky colour, there were defined, strong muscles. Even without heeled boots, the council's leader would have towered the officer. She must have been taller by the head's length, maybe a little less. It was challenging to say with certainty. The vampire was clothed just like one of the sexy businesswomen that usually covers the very first pages of magazines. On top of the elegant silverish shirt, there was a blazer of graphite colour. The top two buttons of her shit were left undone, highlighting exposed skin and a beautiful necklace. It might have been dragon's head; but, Vayne was not entirely sure about it, and… more importantly, she did not want to be caught gawking at the exposed cleavage of Miss Tepes. The blazer was not buttoned at all; it seemed the vampire preferred comfort over formality. The skin-tight black formal trousers matched the rest of the outfit perfectly. As for the boots, the council's leader chose silvery heels, but they were not as high as one might have anticipated.

Only after a couple of moments, the RDT officer realised that she omitted one major detail. On the swan-like neck of Miss Tepes, there was a black lacy choker. Underneath it, the bite mark must have been hidden. And… it meant that Miss Tepes was not a pure-blood which had a shocking effect on the raven-haired officer.

"I would strongly suggest you stopping starring at me," the white-haired vampire huffed. "First of all, it is impolite; secondly, I do not consider myself a piece of meat to be gawked upon," she added, raising her tone slightly. "So, please stop looking at me like you are doing for at least a couple of minutes by now!"

"I'm sorry, Miss Tepes," Shauna immediately started to apologise. There was something exceptionally off going on here. It was a second time she seemed to be caught in time, not really realising what she was doing.

"I told you, drop that façade. It is not needed here," the council's leader uttered emotionlessly. "Can we proceed with your case, Miss Vayne? Or… do you want to continue staring at me for the rest of the night?" At first glance, it would appear to be a somehow polite question, but underneath the facade, some mockery was going on.

"Yes, we can proceed… Miss…"

"Call me by my name – Akali," the vampire interrupted the officer. "I told you, drop the pleasantries. I know how you feel about me."

There was a mischievous smirk playing on the kissable lips of the vampire. The council's leader knew she had the upper hand, an advantage over the RDT's officer.

"You're talking about dropping the pleasantries, formality; however, you're still referring to me as Miss," the raven-haired officer dared to say aloud after a couple of moments of silence.

"Oh," Akali hummed. "You are starting to regain control, as I see," she commented. "Good."

"What did you do to me?" Vayne demanded the answers with a cold-stone voice. "I felt that something was off the moment I entered this building. What kind of trickery is that?"

"You have finally noticed. Very well. Can we proceed to the business?" the vampire asked emotionlessly, turning around, heading toward her desk.

"Don't pretend as if you don't have your schedule cleared for the night," the raven-haired officer scoffed. "So, answer my questions first, then we can talk about businesses."

"You have an audacity… I must give you that," Akali replied without even looking at her. "It is true that my schedule was cleared due to your surprising request. However, it does not change a thing in the greater scope of things. I still have other matters to tend to. So, Vayne… I would hurry up if I were you."

"Why is she acting like a complete bitch?" Shauna asked herself rhetorically, deep inside her mind. "Fine; let's focus on business," she referred to Miss Tepes, sighing heavily.

"I am all ears, then," the white-haired vampire uttered, situating herself on top of her throne-like armchair.

"I assume you don't give a shit about the living conditions of humans, so…."

Before she could even blink, her throat was held in an iron grip. She was effortlessly picked up from the ground, hanging a couple of inches above the floor. Her skin was burning; so was her throat. She could hardly breathe. The heavy cold sweat came upon her brow as soon as she felt the razor-sharp claws of Akali manifesting. A quick unpleasant shiver ran down her spine once her skin was pierced in a couple of spots.

"I would recommend talking with me like that, Shauna Vayne," the council's leader's eyes turned red whilst her tone was colder than the ice. "Though the council's actions rarely are announced openly, I can assure you that we take care and responsibility for the humans. Even if the others did not, I would still do so," she continued to whisper.

Without a moment of hesitation, Akali's grip was loosened but not gone. She maintained it until the RDT's officer was put down onto the ground. As soon as it happened, Vayne exhaled deeply, happy that the pressure was gone. Her fingers started to look for the small wounds that the council's leader inflicted. Just like expected, there were 5 of them, all shallow.

"I could kill you right now," Miss Tepes uttered coldly. "Though, I feel like it would be just a waste. Can we continue, or do you have other inappropriate things on your mind?"

"No… we can proceed," the officer hoarse replied.

"Very well."

"I don't know what situations are being reported directly to you, Miss Tepes," Vayne started slowly. "There was an accident recently that needs a further investigation. But… without the council's found it's impossible for us to progress," the woman tried to explain the situation without giving too many details.

"I would not call it an accident," Akali commented emotionlessly. "It was a slaughter; there is no other word explaining it better."

"You knew about that?" the RDT's officer asked, shocked.

"I was informed a couple of minutes before your arrival," Miss Tepes replied politely. "Please, sit down. I would like to hear your perspective of the story," she added, pointing out the ebony chairs that were being located near the wall.

Without uttering a single word more, she turned around, making her way back toward the desk.

"Aria, please unlock the default terminal for me," she spoke coldly. "Also… transfer the classified data of levels 3 and 4 to my personal storage."

"As you wish, Miss Tepes," the AI replied instantly. "The terminal unlocked, up and running," she informed. "The estimated size of requested files is around 5 TB. Would you like me to obtain all of it, or only a fraction of it, Miss Tepes?"

The next couple of moments were filled with silence. The council's leaders seemed to be analysing something inside her mind. She frowned. In the meantime, Vayne picked up one of the chairs and brought it to Miss Tepes's desk. The raven-haired woman sat on it, curious what would happen next.

"No, it would take too long," Akali responded emotionlessly. "I want the data from last 2 days, sector A4. The longer logs can be truncated; the nested data can be flattened," she added.

"Affirmative, Miss Tepes," Aria replied politely. "Estimated size can be neglected," she commented. "Establishing secure connection; opening the stream; downloading; done," the AI was reporting the process's progress.

"Thank you, Aria. That would be all for now," the council's leader uttered.

"It was a pleasure, Miss Tepes. If you have need of me, please just call," Aria responded.

As soon as the AI's voice faded away, the holo terminal appeared on her left. It was covering a decent part of the empty wall. In the beginning, it was displaying dozens if not hundreds of directories named with some sort of pattern. She could not make any sense of it. However, it seemed that for Miss Tepes, these hashes made some sort of a sense. Without wasting even a moment, the white-haired vampire started to delve deeper into the tree-like structure.

The next couple of moments passed in what felt like a blink of an eye. It was evident that the vampire knew more or less what she was looking for. She was not wasting nearly any time looking over the files. Just one glance, then another nested directory was being checked.

It took her maybe 15 or so minutes to find what she was looking for. As soon as it happened, a console was opened. Then, within a fraction of a second, some commands were executed, filling the entirety of the display with outputs. The texts moved so fast that Shauna barely could keep up with the cursor.

Soon enough, the single word was printed in the output. Then, just a moment later, the familiar photos related to the case started to open up, filling the monitor. The RDT's officer did not need to be reminded of the horrors lurking there. Still, she was not asked for her expertise.

"You suspect that one of my kind did it, do you not?" Miss Tepes sounded for the very first time in like 20 minutes or so.

"I'd say so. Or, at least the bite marks suggest it," Vayne replied.

"I am not that convinced," the white-haired vampire uttered. "However, you will be given additional resources to continue the investigation."

"Thank you, Miss Tepes," the raven-haired woman uttered, nodding slightly. "If it's all; I'd like to return to the HQ. There's a lot of work ahead of me," she added.

"You are not going to the HQ. At least, not for now," Akali responded coldly. "You will accompany me to personally inspect the bodies," she informed the officer. "And… as you might already expect, there is no way you get out of it."

"Aria, inform the garage to prepare one of my cars," the council's leader uttered her request toward the AI.

"Of course, Miss Tepes," the synthetic voice replied immediately. "Do you need a driver or you want to drive yourself, Miss?" she asked.

"I will be driving," the vampire responded. "Ah… I would forget. Please, transfer additional resources to the RDT."

"Affirmative. What amount do you mean, Miss Tepes?" Aria asked.

"It is stored in a file in the current path on my terminal," Akali nonchalantly said. "I think you have already looked into it. So, proceed with the transfer, and prepare me the car."

"Of course. The ETA 3 minutes, Miss Tepes," the AI informed the council's leader.

"Splendid, thank you, Aria," the white-haired woman acknowledged, standing up. "Hurry up, Vayne. As you have said yourself, there is a lot of work to be done," she added before heading out, not sparing a single glance toward the confused officer.