Chapter 16:

I don't own anything

As soon as Amelie was certain her father was out of earshot – something confirmed by Oliver going out and heading in the direction of Bishop's scent – she moved, heading for her bedroom and her papers. She had been working on a plan, yet she had refrained from telling either Myrnin or Oliver until this point, for fear that when her father visited, he would torture them into telling…or if they chose to turn on her.

That was unlikely to happen, but in her existence thus far, Amelie had learnt that one does not rely on what one believes likely to happen; keeping things quiet until the last possible moment – or at least, the safest – was the best way to ensure a positive outcome.

At least, she hoped.

"What do we do now, Amelie?" Myrnin pressed, following her down the hall, up the stairs and into her room; there were no boundaries between them, not in the sense of propriety and custom of the current day. "What are your plans?"

Slightly amazed that Myrnin had presumed she had plans, Amelie stopped for a full five seconds and stared at her friend, her eyes wide with shock. "You…you presumed that I have a plan?" she said, her voice betraying her feelings.

Myrnin smiled. "Yes, my lady," he replied, as though it would be obvious that Amelie, indeed, had a plan. "You would not have suffered him otherwise, and I know your technique: you refrain from telling myself and the idiot until the last possible moment, to ensure that the details do not have a chance to be ripped from our minds through physical – or mental – torment."

Amelie was stunned that Myrnin had paid this much attention to her and how she conducted herself in the face of their enemies; she had thought that he merely turned up to discover what he had to do, and would much rather be playing with his chemicals. This was, indeed, a great surprise. "I never knew you paid this much attention, Myrnin, it is something that has shocked me, yet in a pleasant way," said Amelie in response, looking away from Myrnin as she searched for the document she desired.

Whilst it was risky for her to write down anything, Amelie preferred to have a written version for her to finalise the details, before she then shared it with whomever she was fighting alongside; then, she would destroy it. It would be suicide, to leave it for anyone to find, even if she successfully defeated her father's entire army – for all she knew, he could have converted every vampire in existence to his cause, save for the three in her home.

"Here," she murmured to herself, finding the sheet she desired mixed within a number of loose pages from one of her first Bibles; she had kept the pages merely because it was one of the only relics she had left from her mother's existence, and they provided a good hiding place for her private papers. "I have devised a plan that involves us having a very short period of time to change tact, and involves an awful lot of murder." She knew that her voice betrayed her sadness at having to kill so many of her kind who were, for the most part, innocent…but she was
going to kill dozens of innocent Elders – it shouldn't matter how old the innocents were.

By the time Amelie had the paper on the table and was beginning to explain it to Myrnin, Oliver appeared, having completed a more thorough search of where Bishop's scent had been, prior to his visit to Amelie's home.

"He went to three homes," Oliver said grimly, throwing his hat deftly to land on Amelie's coat stand. "And killed in one of them – the maid. There is no link to us whatsoever; he, at least, had the courtesy to disguise the killing by making it seem as though she had stabbed herself, and had left a note of suicide. The other two homes merely had been visited, as far as I can tell."

Amelie nodded slowly. "Thank you, Oliver – now, come and listen to the plan…"

~x~

The plan was simple: Amelie, Myrnin and Oliver would fight alongside Bishop and his army, yet staying more on the backlines – Myrnin, in particular, would be doing this. Amelie's father would not be aware that they were hesitating; he would engage with Jonathan, and whilst he was doing that, Amelie would ensure that the Elders had been destroyed.

At this point, Oliver and Myrnin would fetch the fire torches and create rings of fire around those vampires Bishop considered his. This would allow Amelie the chance to attack whilst her father was still weak from defeating Bishop, and not allow him to call on his army to destroy her – she could defeat him, she knew, but not at the same time as defending against his army.

Whilst she was destroying Bishop, they would be sifting through the army, deciding who was far too loyal to Bishop to be allowed to survive – there were always some – and discovering who would follow Amelie as their new leader, in a world where the Elders no longer made the decisions: it was just Amelie. She would have absolute power, should she choose to use it – but the plan ensured that her two friends stressed the fact that, unless it was to save their entire race, she would not do such a thing. She had no interest in being a control freak, as her father surely would if he was allowed to take the position.

"The question is, do you think it will work?" Amelie asked quietly, her voice the only sound in the room; since she had begun to explain the plan, there had been no noise from either of her friends, save for their necessary breaths. As she looked at them, their features darkened due to the lack of light in the room, she hesitated, waiting to see whether or not they felt that her plan could work.

After what seemed like an eternity, the duo smiled in tandem, and Amelie felt her fears fading. "It is well thought out and is definitely a viable plan," Oliver said, whilst Myrnin merely said, "we will win."

And that, Amelie felt, was the greatest endorsement the plan could get.

"Prepare for battle, gentlemen," she said, turning around to find a candle. "We do not know when the next meeting is; let us only pray that it is soon."

After lighting the candle, Amelie lifted the plan to the flickering flame and watched as it licked up the paper, causing the words written to disintegrate into nothing but ash. "Oh, how we must pray," she whispered to herself, and it was that moment that her friends departed, without a word from her.

They do know some things, she thought to herself, almost amused.

~x~

"We must be able to fight," Bishop said to the number of his vampires who were close to him, having returned to his base after seeing Amelie. "You must fight alongside my daughter and her friends – right until the final moments." He took a moment's pause, for dramatic effect.

"Then I want you to capture the three of them, and once I have defeated Jonathan, bring them to me. I will be teaching my daughter a lesson – to obey thy father – and I shall need her imbeciles alive to do that."

He smiled wickedly. This had the potential to be the greatest day of his life.

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(the next chapter will contain the final fight.)