Chapter 2: The List

The forest was completely calm. The wind made the leaves shiver; their sweet and delicate song covering the place. Some stags were slowly walking in the sleepy forest of Fontainebleau. The night and the sky were clear; the stars were shining brightly over the castle. The darkness was peaceful and calm.

In the castle, the peacefulness was broken by the feeling of a cold anger. A little light could be seen from the outside. It was coming from a room in the basement. The window that let the light escape was very wide but not very high. It was just at the floor's level. Male voices could be heard, angry voices, like the night Henri had come back.

Henri approached the castle alone. When he came in, Lance was waiting for him in the hall.

"Where are they?" he'd just asked.

Henri did not answer and went directly to Richelieu's room. His sire was sitting at his desk looking at the door. He'd felt Henri's return and waited to see Coraline and her husband. When the door opened, he could only see Henri. Richelieu understood that she had failed. Henri sat in front of his sire and told him that Coraline was dead and that her husband didn't belong to their bloodline anymore.

Lance came in the room, without asking permisson.

"Where's Coraline? Where is her husband, Henri?

Henri didn't answer and looked at his sire. François, followed by the three other brothers came in the room too. They were all looking at their younger brother, who was still sitting in front of the desk. He was now staring at the floor; he could feel fear running through his brother's bodies.

François, the oldest, went to Henri and put a hand on his shoulder as support. Lance was standing between the desk and Henri was looking at him with disgust. He saw François who wanted to assure his youngest brother. It made him even more angry and said in a cold voice:

"Speak now Henri!"

François looked at him and answered:

"Silence Lancelot!"

Lance clenched his teeth and fists; he hated when his oldest brother played the good one.

Henri said without looking at his brother:

"Coraline's husband isn't from our bloodline anymore. He was turned after he took the cure."

"And where is Coraline, Henri? Where?"Lance's voice was shivering from anger.

Henri was still staring at the floor. He said in a very low voice:

"Coraline is dead. Her body is in my car."

The words echoed in the little room, where all the brothers were standing behind Henri. Their faces blank from the shock. Their sister was dead. Then, like as though they realized what Henri had just said, Jean, Jacques and Guillaume ran out of the room to the car. Only François and Lance stood in the room with Henri.

Richelieu stood up from his chair and looked at Henri. His face was cold and a scowl appeared on his face.

"We need to make a reunion. We have to know who killed her and decide the punishment."

Lance smiled and François nodded.

The brothers were now sitting in the room, talking at the same time. They knew who had killed Coraline; it was Josef Kostan, the one who had saved her twice. It was a terrible insult to their sire. That vampire had no power to decide if Coraline should live or not. Only Richelieu and the six brothers could decide of the future of each other. It had been so in the bloodline for hundreds of centuries, and it had to stay that way.

Richelieu came in the room, and the noises died into silence. He sat at the middle of the table. After they knew who'd killed Coraline, Richelieu had decided to punish Kostan in the worse way. He wanted to destroy his bloodline and there was one way to do it; the war. With the help of Lance, they'd made a list with all the names of the vampires living in the USA, who had once a contact with Josef Kostan.

That list had been sent to the police, but not just to anyone. It had to be someone who already had a contact with Josef in a way. That man was BenjaminTalbot, a district attorney. He was just perfect: young, ambitious and he had worked with Josef's friend, Mick St-John. They could touch both Kostan and St-John in one shot. It was only a question of time before Josef Kostan would hear of that list. But before that, Richelieu and his sons had to be ready to attack them directly. He was ready to avenge his daughter, Coraline, the only vampire who'd really counted in his eyes. Of course she'd had her flaws, but she'd been like him.

Richelieu looked at Lance, who was the only one smiling. This situation was his dream: a war between vampires and finally a chance to touch Kostan and Mick St-John, who he hated so much. Lance stood up, the list in his hands, and opened the meeting:

"Here are the names that I sent to Benjamin Talbot. I made another one which, this time, has the names of the vampires who are on our side. I'm glad to say that we have good numbers coming from our country and some from in the USA. We have to be ready to fight when it'll be necessary."

François lifted his hand and stood up: "Excuse-me, but is it necessary to go to war?"

Lance smiled coldly and answered: "Our sister is dead. Don't you remember? That Josef Kostan killed her."

"I do remember, Lancelot. But may I also remind you that some of his parents were killed by our hands in the past? There wasn't war then. Father, can't we just ask him to come here and find a fair way to avenge her death?"

A dark figure appeared slowly from the dark shadow of the room. The brothers hadn't noticed its presence. The figure approached the table, floating like a demon. It had a black cloak that hid his face. A cold voice began to talk, so cold that all the brothers shivered and the walls could have been covered by ice.

"A war is necessary François. Kostan's bloodline is getting powerful."

François still standing, shivered before he answered:

"He isn't that powerful. His sire is dead and he doesn't have so many parents like we have."

The figure took a step forward, approaching ever closer to the brothers. Jean, Jacques and Guillaume were looking at him with scared eyes.

"His sire may be dead. I was the one who gave the order to kill him, but Kostan is more powerful that we think. That's the reason why we have to stop him and all his bloodline."

François was going to say something but Richelieu finally stood up. "Please sit down my son. We are going to have this war. I understood your point of view and you'll understand soon enough why we have to do this." Richelieu turned his eyes to the figure and said:

"Lancelot is going to send the list to X and begin his work."

The brothers could guess a terrible smile in the shadow of the cloak.

"Good, the only thing to do now, is to know our ennemy better."

Lance, still smiling, was enjoying the meeting. He stood up, not afraid of the figure:

"I already made a list of what each is capable of, but I think that we should ask Henri directly. He surely knows St-John and Kostan better than us."

François, shocked, looked at Lance who had a strange cold smile on his face. He understood that everything was going in a bad way and that Henri would be the first victim.

****
The place was as silent and cold as a tomb. It was one part of his punishment for her death that would be his burden for eternity. Henri was sitting there, alone. Silence was surrounding him but he could feel a strange feeling coming to him; it was anger. His brothers were at a meeting, again.

Henri tried to concentrate and he began to hear some voices coming from the room he knew so well. It was the one where they were sitting in when there was a big decision to make or someone to punish. For him, it had been both…

Sitting in this chair in front of his brothers was pretty disagreable. The purpose was to make him feel uncomfortable, like they'd done with Coraline. They were all looking at him, angry, furious. Jean, Jacques and Guillaume had found her body and brought it back in the castle. They were all shocked by her face, all except François who'd noticed the little smile on her face. It had been two days and he was sitting in front of them, waiting for his punishment.

Henri had to explain everything and he had to be in this chair, with their eyes upon him. He was waiting for someone to begin speaking. Of course, it was Lance who stood up first:

"Why was she killed Henri?"

Henri didn't even look at Lance. He'd never showed any interest to his sister before. He was so jealous. Instead of it, Henri was looking at Richelieu, because he was the only one waiting for an explanation: "I'm not sure when it really began, but Coraline became another person." He explained how she became mad after discovering that Mick had been turned by Josef, and how he killed her. When he'd finished, no one was speaking. Richelieu showed no emotions, only Lance that stood up one more time.

"How could you let him kill her?!"

"He promised me that he'd try to bring her to me. Coraline didn't want to come back here! She wasn't ready to live without her husband. She wanted to die, Lance. She wasn't the Coraline we knew! And look at her face, she seemed peaceful… I've never seen her like that before. Maybe once, when she was human. And Josef gave her a soft death, I can't blame him."

Lance was going to say something when François interrupted him.

"I believe Henri. We haven't seen her there, what she did. Concerning her death, I agree with Henri. We can't blame him – "

Richelieu finally stood up: "Thank you François. Henri did his best, but it seems that Josef Kostan had decided to kill Coraline anyway. He'd brought a syringe full of silver… so I think that he wanted to stop her, and for that he has to be punished."

It was that night that Lance had called Benjamin Talbot in front of all his brothers. Henri was now sitting in this room trying to hear what his brothers were talking about. He knew that his sire was going to involve a human in this story and he was worried. He knew that a list had been sent to Talbot, but he didn't know exactly who was on it. He never could have believed that a war was going to happen because of Coraline's death. She'd never wanted a war between Kostan and her family. One thing though gave him comfort; he didn't tell them that their sister had turned that woman she'd kidnapped.

A war, it was the only word he'd reached from the noises. It was the worst thing; a war. He thought that only humans were capable of stupid things because of their feelings, but Coraline's death made him realize what kind of family he had. Suddenly footsteps were approaching, until the door of his room opened. Guillaume was standing there smiling, "They want to see you." Henri stood up, and followed him to the room.

They reached the place where all the brothers were sitting. The chair. In the middle, for him. He sat on it and faced the eyes upon him. Lance, stood up and began to talk:

"Henri, as you know we sent a list to Talbot, but we need you to describe Kostan and Mick St-John."

He wasn't listening, just let them think that he was listening. He was tired of Lance, of them, of all of this.

"Yes of course, whatever you want. They have to pay for her death."

"Good Henri" said Lance, "I can see that you had time to think of it."

Yes he'd had a lot of time to realize that he wasn't a part of this family. He had to leave this place and warn Kostan of what his family was ready to do. But before he needed to let them think that he was on their side. "What do you want to know?"

Henri was now in a real room, his old one. The meeting was over and everyone went to their freezer to sleep. It was early in the morning, he could hear the birds singing outside. It was a rainy day, the kind he liked, with a grey fog over the green trees. On these days, there was a special scent; it smelled like wood, ground and water. It made him so melancholy, but he liked the feeling. Coraline used to laugh at him when he was walking alone in the woods in the rain.

It was now or never. He had to leave when they were all sleeping and he would have time enough to take a plane to the USA, before they would notice his absence. Henri took some clothes and slowly his room. The corridor was calm and the morning light came inside through the large windows in front of the doors'rooms. Everyone was sleeping in the castle. No sounds were to be heard, only his steps on the old parquet floor.

As Henri went outside in the rain to his car, he didn't notice the dark figure looking at him through a window on the third floor. The vampire was staring at Henri starting his car and drive away. A smile appeared on his old and slashed face. Still looking at the car moving away from Fontainebleau, the man said in a voice coming from the bottom of the darkness:

"He has chosen his side."

Richelieu came to the window next to the dark vampire: "Yes, I'm afraid so. He has always been the weakest of them. It was Coraline who gave him the strength to stay with us."

"Well, he'll be useful to us my son. Call her and tell her to keep an eye on him. He'll give us what we want without knowing it."

******
The darkness is surrounding the place, only the little lamp on the desk and the one in Mick's hand gives living light in the dark house. I'm holding myself on the beam as the little blond girl lifts her face and looks at me to show him where I am.

Darkness…

I float slowly down and look Mick in the eyes. I take the little girl by the shoulders, holding her close to me.

Darkness…

My voice "I knew you would come…Here we are Mick, finaly one happy family." I see his scared face.

Darkness…

I feel something piercing my chest… He looks at me… he has done this to me… I'm paralyzed

Darkness…

I see the flames covering everything… I jump on the window… I suffer… it is burning me… I see Mick taking the little girl… He leaves me alone…

Darkness

Beth suddenly opened her eyes, her breath coming fast. She realized where she was and opened the freezer. She was completely stressed out by her dream. What was it? It looked like the night she'd been kidnapped 23 years ago, but that dream was different. She'd dreamt so many times of that night when Mick had saved her, and everytime she'd been the little girl seeing the vampires fighting in front of her. For the first time she'd seen the scene from another view.

As she left the freezer, she suddenly realized that she'd been in Coraline's body. Yes, it made sense, the way she felt, the voice coming from her mouth, the pain in the flames, she'd experienced the kidnapping from Coraline's point of view.

Beth was still confused by the images she'd had all the night. It had been more than just a dream. She'd felt everything like if it had really happened. She'd not only felt like Coraline, she'd been her. Beth's skin was still feeling warm like if she'd just come out of the fire.

She went to the bathroom and took a very cold shower to get rid of the feeling. When she was finished, she was still thinking of what she'd seen. She was now feeling Coraline's emotions: hope, love and sadness. From then she'd always felt anger against the woman who'd captured her. But for the first time she saw what happened from another view. Maybe it was more than just a dream? Maybe the turning had done something more?

Beth had to talk about it to someone. She dried her hair and picked out some clothes. She went to the kitchen, drank a glass of blood and took her car's keys.

As she drove, images from her dream were still coming forth in her mind. The worst part was the fire. Was it because she was now a vampire? The stake in her breast was an awful feeling, that made her think that she didn't want to experience it again. She stopped the car in front of the building and came in. She hadn't seen him for a week, since she'd moved to her apartment, but he was someone who could explain what it was.

"Well, well, look who it is! Are you coming for a male freshie?"

"No, not yet. Maybe later, but I'm not ready for that now…"

"Too bad… I would love to see you drink from a freshie!"

Beth was looking at Josef smiling to her. He was so proud of himself, making people uncomfortable. He went to her and let her sit at the new table in the corner of the office.

"So what do I owe me the pleasure of your visit?"

"I had a dream…"

"Of me? Yes, I know Beth that I have that power over you, but Mick is my friend you know and- "

"Stop it!" she growled. There were still times where Beth had difficulty containing her emotions. Josef shut his mouth and looked at her, smiling.

"I came because I had a strange dream where I was Coraline."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I dreamt about the night she kidnapped me when I was a little girl. But it wasn't the same dream I used to have. No, this time I was Coraline. I mean, I was feeling everything, I was talking, I was burning-"

"Burning?"

"Yes, Mick burned the house, remember?"

"Ah yes, … I remember. So you were burning?"

"Yes, I was! When I woke up, my skin was still feeling warm. I had to take a shower!"

Josef was grinning and ready to say something when she said: "Don't say a word about the shower!" His face went back to serious and thought for a second.

"And you came here to tell me that?"

"Yes, I need to know what it is. Is it because of the turning?"

"No, I don't think so. Maybe your mind isn't quite ready to handle the turning. Your body has, but you're still under the shock of what happened that night."

"I don't know. I feel fine.. I mean I feel better than the first week. I'm a vampire and I've accepted the new part of my life."

"Well, mood doesn't always show everything. You think you're okay, but this says the opposite. And why do you tell that to me? Don't you have another vampire friend?"

"I do, but I know that he would be completely worried when it may not be so important. So you don't think it has something to do with the turning?"

"No, I don't. I've never heard such a thing in 400 years, so I bet that you're still under the transition."

Beth didn't answer, she wasn't satisfied with his answer. But she knew nothing of life as a newly turned vampire, so maybe he was right. After all, she was still having pictures of her turning running through her head.

Josef felt that she was worried about her dreams so he decided to change the subject one more time:

"So, how is your life in your apartment. Don't you miss your loving vampire?"

"It's fine. Thanks by the way, for the freezer and the blood. I called the guy and I'm going to have a new fridge in a few days."

"Filled with fresh blood!"

Beth was going to answer but her phone began to ring. The screen showed Talbot's name. She'd forgotten to call him back since the messages he'd left, so she decided to answer the call.

"Beth Turner?"

"Newly turned" said Josef in low voice that made Beth smiled and gave him a kick on the shoulder.

"Hi, it's Talbot. You haven't called me back."

"Yes, I'm sorry, I hadn't had time."

"I need to see you right now. I have something that I need you to see. It's really important."

"Okay, I'm on my way."

She hung up and stood up leaving Josef in his office. She reached her car and drove to Talbot's office. On her way, Beth realized that she hadn't been there in a while. Last time she was in his office was after the awful case with the dead babies.

She stopped her car and went to the building. She was walking among humans and she could smell each scent. Beth was surprised at herself for not wanting to bite them. Hopefully because she'd had a long training with Josef and Mick before she'd moved to her apartment.

She walked in the corridor to his office. The door was closed but she could smell him inside. She discovered his scent; she knew that he was using expensive cologne, but for the first time she could smell his natural scent. He was nervous and excited at the same time. Was it because of her? She would know it soon.

Beth knocked on the door and opened it. As soon as he saw her, he stood up. Yes he was nervous because of her. It was funny to see this new side of people and Beth enjoyed it.

"How are you?" he asked as he gestured for her to have a seat. He was looking at Beth sitting and noticed something different about her, but he couldn't definite what. He first thought that it was her look, but she was wearing the same type of clothing. Her complexion, maybe? No, her skin was the same. But there was something different about Beth, he was sure of it.

"Fine, thanks. So you told me that you had something important to show me?"

Talbot sat at his desk and looked at her right in the eyes.

"Well, there are two things that I want to share with you. I know that you quit your job at Buzzwire and you're a good reporter. Your work on the Andrew's case was excellent, you know where to look and you know how to speak to people…"

As she heard Andrew's name, it reminded her of that horrible night when they'd had driven to the beautiful house. She'd never been so afraid in her life, but it was before her turning. Hearing that vampire fighting with Mick, while she'd had to find the baby, had been really tough. She remembered then that she'd thought that she would never like to be turned like that woman. Becoming so crazy was something that she hadn't understood. But now, she was a vampire, and she was surprised that she didn't go crazy like that woman did. Maybe it was thanks to Josef and Mick.

" So, would you like to become a civilian investigator?" Talbot's voice awoke her.

"Uh, but I'm not a cop…"

"You don't have to be, but you would have to work for me."

"Is that a job offer?"

"Yes, so? Do you accept?"

"Uh I don't know… Yes?"

"Okay fine! It takes me to the second point."

Beth couldn't believe that she just accepted to work for Talbot, as a vampire. She needed a job, but was it a good idea to work as a vampire in the DA's office? It would be difficult… but exciting, exactly what she liked.

"Yes? The second point?"

Talbot's face became serious. He opened a drawer and took out a file. He put it on his desk, opened the file and took from it some pages. He chose the first one that he held out to Beth. She took the page and looked at it. There were names she didn't know untill she read Grigori Rasputin and Gaius Julius Caesar. She was surprised and she looked at him to see if it was a joke: "Is it a joke? Rasputin? Caesar? I don't know what I can do for you.."

Talbot was looking at her and took the last page from his list that he held out to her.

This time it was different. She knew the two first names that showed Emma and Jackson Monaghan. Beth felt her blood getting colder, she let her eyes running down, and her fear was confirmed when she saw Coraline's name. But the worst was at the end when she saw the last names: Logan Griffen, Josef Kostan and Mick St-John.

"Do you still think it's a joke?" Talbot's voice echoed in the office.

Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think of it :)