CHAPTER-17: DINNING WITH DISASTER
Rido sat calmly looking out of the huge stain glass window in the thrown room of his castle, watching the sun set.
"Is everything prepared?" He called to Shizuka who had just waltzed into the room.
"Of cause my Lord. Our plan is currently being set in motion and Shinobu will be arriving at his destination shortly." The vampiress replied contently.
"Very well. And how are Misaki's surprises for my nephew coming along?". The pureblood lord quizzed the silverette.
"Excellently. I am to believe he is almost finished with his current project and if all goes well then we will begin Preparations for the next faze." She answered as a smug grin inched onto her face.
"Good. Now leave". The dark lord ordered her.
"Very well, my Lord." She replied and nodded respectfully before exiting the room.
"Ding-dong" Chimed the old front door-bell to the Kuran manor.
"Good evening Lady Annabel". Thank you so much for excepting our invitation for tonight's dinner." Haruka greeted his guests.
"Good evening Lord Kuran." She answered before walking straight past him and into the hallway with her associates following.
"I'm sorry about Annabel, my Lord. She's just been terribly concerned with all of this Hybrid business." Tomas told the older vampire respectfully and Haruka just nodded his reply before they both followed Annabel and the other vampire's into the sitting room.
"Now where is the boy? I wish to meet him." Annabel stated confidently as she removed her coat and threw it at Tomas, who caught it clumsily.
"He is currently with my son. He is just getting the lad ready." Haruka informed her already becoming irritated.
"Zero, please come out." Kaname pleaded through the bathroom door which Zero had locked himself behind, but received only silence.
"Please Zero. You don't have to dress up as a girl again." The brunette tried unsuccessfully. "I promise you I wont let anybody hurt you and you can stay by my side the whole time. You can even hold my hand if you want to." The pureblood reassured and smiled happily when he heard the lock in the door click.
His smile only grew when the door opened and he saw Zero looking up at him with unsure amethyst eyes. Placing a hand on Zero's shoulder, Kaname led the boy towards the bed where a pile of clean and freshly ironed cloths lay in wait.
Slowly Zero got changed. Kaname helped him as much as he could when he thought it was needed and turned his back at certain points to give Zero his privacy. Once Zero was fully dresses in a crisp white shirt, a pair of black trousers and new black shoes, Kaname walked to the doorway and waited expectantly for Zero. The boy hesitated momentarily before walking to the door and standing beside Kaname.
Just as the brunette was about to walk out into the hallway, Zero's small hand reached up and latched on to his own tightly making Kaname smile at the gesture. They walked downstairs hand in hand ready to face all that was yet to come their way.
"Good evening, Lady Juri. Are you well?" Tomas asked the mother vampire cheerily.
"Indeed I am, Tomas. Thank you for asking. And yourself?" Juri replied returning his smile.
"Excellent, my Lady." Tomas answered.
"Please excuse my Tomas, but I must speak with my Husband." Juri excused herself and hurried over to Haruka.
"Is everything ok dear?" She asked her husband seeing the look of pure agitation written on his face.
"Only the fact that that woman is the most infuriating I have ever met and what more she has practically brought all of the powerhouses in the vampire council to dinner." Haruka stated while glaring at Annabel. Just at that moment Kaname appeared in the doorway with Zero at his side. A silent Kain lingering behind them.
"Ah, Lord Kaname. Thank you for finally joining us." Annabel greeted sarcastically when she saw him. "And this must be Zero?" Her eyes lighting up at the sight of the boy.
"Indeed he is." Kaname answered her sternly as she leered down intimidatinglly at the boy.
"Well, Kaname do you have any more information that we may find useful?" The red headed vampire inquired while studying the boy's features intently.
"In fact I do. We shall speak in private about the matter later." Kaname told her with hard eyes and a firm grip on Zero's hand as the boy looked up at them with concern.
"Excellent." She replied to the pureblood before returning her attention back to Zero. "And how are you feeling my boy?" Annabel questioned with fake concern in her tone. When Zero failed to answer she turned back to the brunette.
"Why does he not answer?" She quizzed annoyed at being ignored and her anger only grew when Kaname just shrugged a reply. But just as she was about to voice her displeasure, one of the Kuran butlers who had been hired for the night stepped into the room and politely asked everyone to take a seat at the dinning table.
Haruka sat at one head of the overly long table with Juri sat to his left. Next to her sat Yuki and then Kain. On the other side Kaname sat to his father's right with Zero protectively at his side, followed by Cross. And the rest of their guests followed suit to the other end where Annabel toped with Tomas to her left.
As they dinned the conversation soon started flowing, following many different trails from politics to vampire society, and from culinary skills to hunters curses, until just after they had finished dissert when Annabel grew boarded and decided to try her luck against the Kuran's again.
"So Zero, how did you play your way into the hands of the Kuran's?" Annabel's confident voice silenced all other noise in the room. And from across the table you could have heard a pin drop at the silence that follower instead of a reply and the boy just glared daggers at her instead.
"Is the boy incompetent?" She questioned the whole group amusedly at the boy's glare. "Why won he answer me?".
"Probably because you're not worth giving an answer to." Kain informed her before anybody else could get a word in.
Kaname's face grew into a huge grin as a shocked and angry look flooded over Annabel and he began to change his mind about Kain. "I think I'm beginning to like this guy. Ok, so he was a bit arrogant at first but there aren't many people who can make Annabel's face nearly as red as her dresses." Kaname thought amusedly.
"Why you-" Annabel began to retort but was cut of by Tomas trying to get her to calm down. She reluctantly took a deep sigh and regained her composer . " And who might you be?" She asked turning her attention to Kain.
"Kain Akatsuki, I'm new. And judging by your ego you must be Annabel Hiko, vice president to the vampire council. Most people would have to earn a position like that, but I guess we cant all have our daddy's council chairman." Kain told her not hiding any of the resentment in his voice.
There was a gasp of shock echo around the dinning room as another flare of anger hit Annabel's features. Standing up from the table she locked eyes with a very amused looking Kaname.
"Kaname, I wish to speak to you in private. Can we talk in the study?" She asked refusing to look at any of the still shocked council members.
"Of cause, Annabel. I will meet you there momentarily." The pureblood replied trying unsuccessfully to hide the grin on his face. And with that the red head stormed out of the dinning room and towards the study.
Glancing to his side he saw the slight smile on Zero's face turn into a placid tired look. Sighing the brunette stood up and leaned down next to Zero's ear.
"Come on Zero. Let's get you to bed, you look tired." Kaname informed the boy and Zero nodded in reply and gladly took the hand the pureblood offered him. And with that they wished everybody goodbye and left the room.
Ok, once again another chapter finished.
Sorry it took a while to update but I have just started writing some other stories, and I kinda got some writers block on this chapter.
This chapter may have seemed a bit slow, but I can promise that there will be a lot more drama and suspense in the next.
Please review. XD.