by Rayne Reilly
The European Vampire High Council had been located here for the last one hundred years. Before that, it had been in Spain, France and even Eastern Europe at one time. It was moved to different locations as new council members joined and others left. It was always hidden and accessed only by turned-vampires and Pure Ones.
Their reach was wide and the choices of just twelve Pure One vampires decided the fate of their species without leaving the safety of their community and homes. Indeed, it surprised Oroc that the Pure Ones had managed to go undetected for so long in a country that had grown in humans by the millions. But they had managed it and remained in Rome, in their own compound secreted away from the prying eyes of a less and less private world.
In just under one hour, they had arrived at the location of the European Vampire Council Compound. Oroc was escorted from the vehicle directly inside the main building. The red tiled roof and white architecture let him know that he was certainly in Italia once more. Once inside, he was escorted to a waiting area outside the Council chambers. The seats were plush and comfortable. The building's architecture had been created specifically for the Pure Ones and he noticed that the doorways, though arched, were well over ten feet high. Oroc sat upright in a green satin chair as he waited to be seen by the Council. He wasn't surprised that they had chosen to see him right away and prepared himself for what was to come.
After about fifteen minutes, a turned-vampire female with short brown hair approached him.
"The Council will see you now," she said quietly.
Oroc nodded and went to the large wooden doors of the Council chambers. Opening one of the doors, he stood tall and proud as he made his way to the center of the room. A semi-circular table ran the width of the room and all the seats were filled with both male and female Pure Ones." There weren't many female Pure Ones left and to see three of them sitting on the Council surprised Oroc. He stared straight ahead, waiting to be addressed by the most senior member.
Aurus, the Senior Councilman, spoke in an almost musical tone as he addressed Oroc.
"Lord Oroc Bestile of North America. Welcome to our European Council. What brings you to us this night?"
Oroc's voice was confident and strong as he explained what was happening back in Portland, Oregon. When he announced the deaths of all the council members except him, there was no look of surprise and he wondered if he was too late appearing before them. He attempted to listen to Aurus's mind but there were too many voices to make out any one of them clearly. He did not know who, if any of the council members were telepaths like he was so he did not reach out for long, just in case.
One member, one of Oroc's generation named Crane, questioned Oroc asking for the exact details of the night Dimitri was killed. "Was anyone with you that night?" he asked suspiciously.
Immediately, Oroc felt a distrust for the Pure One.
"I went alone to the headquarters because Dimitri Megalos called for an emergency meeting. It had come to light that he was – through his company scientists – experimenting on shifters. This came to the awareness of human and shifter authorities and I went to ask him to stop. He had already killed the other members when I arrived, leaving only himself and two others who were allied with him. Dimitri and I fought. I was forced to take the lives of him and the two remaining Vampire Council members. They had committed crimes against our laws, I was within my right to eliminate them."
Oroc watched as most of the Council nodded in agreement, including Aurus. Crane Carruthers and one other member scowled at him. Oroc knew in that moment who had sided with Dimitri. He clasped his hands behind his back and glanced around the room.
"Dimitri's hubris gave him a feeling of invincibility. He is the reason that our kind have been revealed in Portland. It has come to my attention that he had local Pure Ones committing acts of violence against shifters on his behalf. He may have failed in his plan to create the shifter serum that takes away their abilities, but the Pure Ones that followed his agenda are still out there causing trouble. Before I left Portland, several vampires had already been killed. If the Shifter Alliance Council has their way, we will be warring soon. I fear the shifters are planning to rise against us," Oroc disclosed.
Crane spoke up loudly, his face angry. "If this is true, then perhaps Dimitri was correct in wanting to dispatch our enemy. You have gotten in the way of that and if what you say is true, our kind are now in more danger."
Oroc pushed his shoulders back, putting his arms at his sides. "The danger was there because of Dimitri and his agenda. This killing of us and the turned-vampires will not end in America. The shifters are in Europe just as they are in North America. It is only a matter of time before they rise up here as well. We need to work together for the common purpose of peace between our races," Oroc proclaimed.
Lord Aurus spoke while motioning with one hand toward Oroc. "If the shifter race is planning to fight us once more, we need to do something now to protect ourselves. How do you propose working with them when we know they cannot be trusted?"
Oroc pressed his lips together. He knew that in the past during the 'purification wars,' there had been some on the shifters' side that wanted peace. He felt sure the same sentiment applied today. Julie and Jake were proof of that. He paused before responding.
"Just as most of the Pure Ones and vampire kind wish for peaceful lives without protest, there are those shifters who feel the same. This does not have to escalate. I have come tonight to seek your help in stopping this. You have resources and families indebted to you all over the world. Surely someone can stop the media from broadcasting the truth? Then we can deal with those elders on the Shifter Alliance Council who are causing the problem. Perhaps meet with them or have someone sit down with them on our behalf?" Oroc stated calmly. He did not want to mention Julie or Xander at this point mainly because of Crane and the other disapproving Council member. He blocked his thoughts from any telepaths that might be on the council.
Crane stood and pointed at Oroc. "You killed the only council that could advise and protect vampire kind. For that, you must be executed. You have no place in our society if you cannot be realistic. There will never be peace among our races."
Oroc felt a chill go through him. It was as he feared. Some High Council members wanted this war with the shifters. They had lost so much in the past and still harbored ill will against those who had murdered their loved ones. He watched as most of the Council members shook their heads while just one nodded along with Crane.
"Killing me will not stop this fight. We must do something! You must do something. Now!" Oroc said in a deep voice as he was approached by two of the vampire guards.
"Take him to the cells," Aurus said as he looked at Oroc.
Oroc was led away without resisting. He hoped that those on the Council who saw things the way he did would be able to reason with Crane. If not, his death would be the beginning of a blood bath that would include not only the deaths of Pure Ones but of humans too. The last time that Shifters and Pure Ones fought one another, many humans had been caught in the middle of their war. Oroc hoped that Xander's role in the prophecy was real and that he would somehow create a peace between the races before it was too late.
***
Oroc had never seen the holding cells in the basement of the Council's headquarters before. The holding cell in which he was placed had walls and bars made of the strongest metals on earth. Even if Oroc had wanted to escape, he could not.
Oddly, the guard did not take his cell phone and Oroc wondered if that was just an oversight. He assumed that cell phone service in such a place would be impossible anyway.
Oroc took a seat and leaned back, closing his eyes. He had left instructions with his staff in France that Xander would inherit everything if he did not return. He had refrained from telling Xander because he knew that the idea of him not returning would upset him too much. His hope was that Xander and Julie would somehow do what he could not, and stop the impending war.
After waiting
for a half hour Oroc heard a door open in the hallway. He stood and waited to see who was coming to deliver the news of his fate. It was Aurus, the senior Council member.
"Hello Oroc. I got here as soon as I could. I apologize for the ruse," he said quickly as he unlocked the cell door and opened it.
"Ruse? What's going on?" Oroc asked inquisitively. He stood and approached Aurus.
"There are those of us on the Council who do not agree with Crane. I was given instructions to send you here when you showed up to stand before the Council. There is someone who needs to speak with you. Follow me."
Aurus's face revealed a look of excitement and tension. He hurried down the corridor in the opposite direction of the main door. Oroc followed him silently, unsure of what to think of the situation that was unfolding.
Minutes later, the hallway came to an abrupt end. A large stone wall blocked their path. Oroc watched as Aurus reached out his palms and touched the barrier. He muttered a couple of words under his breath and the stone wall moved aside. Aurus rushed forward and waved for Oroc to accompany him. Oroc shook his head and followed without a word to the senior Council member who had freed him.
Turning several times down various dimly lit hallways, they walked down another long corridor before stopping at a plain wooden door. Aurus knocked hastily without looking up at his companion.
Oroc noted that Aurus was slightly hunched over rather than standing upright as most Pure Ones did. He did not know Aurus personally, having only dealt with him on Council business but he found him to be of good moral fiber.
However, there was something odd about him that Oroc didn't quite understand how to put into words. It was as though he harbored a great secret that even he should not know. He looked somewhat burdened. Oroc listened to Aurus's mind for a moment to get some glimmer of what was going through the Pure One's mind. It surprised Oroc to find that Aurus's mind was calm and serene.
Aurus tapped his temple twice and turned to face Oroc.
"You can't get inside here, but I assure you I mean to help you. You are about to meet someone who is known by only a handful of Pure Ones to still exist!"
With that, the wooden door opened slowly and someone appeared before them, smiling.
Oroc felt momentary shock when he saw standing before him one of the first and original vampires. He knew with every fiber of his being that it had to be Alel, the Oracle.
Oroc bowed his head in honor of the being in front of him. He had heard of Alel but never expected to meet the seer who had spoken of the 'prophecy of peace.' The Oracle stood before them looking much older than both Oroc and Aurus. Alel was shorter than they were by about a foot and was bald with a thin, spindly body. Not at all the image that Oroc had conjured in his mind as a young Pure One who had heard the stories of Alel and the visions he would receive.
"Don't just stand there, come in!" Alel spoke emphatically.
Oroc's eyebrows shot up when he realized that the Oracle was a female. He and Aurus stepped into the small chamber and closed the door behind them. The space had only the light of lamps and no windows. Though Alel was as pale as Oroc and other Pure Ones, she did not look exactly like they did. Her eyes were white and clouded with a filmy substance. He realized in that moment that she was blind.
Looking more closely at her features he could see that she looked more human than Pure One. Oroc was puzzled by not only the turn of events this evening, but by this unexpected meeting. He stood with his arms at his sides waiting to see what would occur next.
Alel moved her arms in jerky movements as she spoke. She urged the men to have a seat while she stood waving her hands in front of her. The Pure Ones remained standing. Aurus gazed at the floor while Oroc stared straight ahead.
"I've been expecting you. Good to see you made it to Italy." She directed her comments at Oroc. He cleared his throat unsure of what to say in response.
"I have asked Aurus to bring you to me because you know about the prophecy.You know the young man who will bring peace to our kind," Alel stated firmly.
Oroc tilted his head to glance at Aurus, who was now looking directly at Alel in silence. Oroc wondered how Aurus had come to know Alel. Had he been the one protecting her all these centuries?
Oroc responded calmly. "That is correct. I know of the prophecy and of Xander. What can you tell me about his role in the prophecy?" Oroc asked.
Alel laughed and bounced up and down. "Oh yes! This is so exciting! It is! I have waited since our creation to see this come to pass. Now after millenia, here you are. Where is Xander? Have you not brought him with you?" Alel asked.
"He did not come to the Council with me. I thought it too dangerous."
Alel put a finger to her lips and nodded. "Yes. Dangerous indeed. However, I must speak with him. You must bring him to me. I have things to tell him."
Oroc wasn't sure why that was necessary and wanted to know more.
"You can tell me whatever it is you wish to tell him. I will communicate it to him myself," Oroc insisted.
Alel spun around in a circle on her feet and waved her hands in front of her laughing loudly. It was apparent to Oroc that she had gone slightly mad from being locked up for so long. He wondered how much of her memory remained intact.
She stopped and looked in Oroc's direction.
"I remember things just fine! I might look frail and be blind, but I see more than all of you up there!" she pointed toward the ceiling.
Aurus let out a small chuckle and Oroc narrowed his eyes at him. Aurus smirked, unaffected by Oroc's admonishing gaze.
"My apologies, I meant only that you must be very lonely being hidden away down here?" Oroc said to Alel.
Alel shook her head and waved her palms at Oroc dismissively.
"So down to business, yes?" she asked.
"Can you tell me more about the prophecy of peace?" Oroc asked, since she was clearly not interested in passing along the message for Xander. He would at least find out what he could of the prophecy.
She began to speak clearly and for the first time, in a normal tone. Oroc was a little surprised at the sudden change in her as she recalled the memories of the past.
"During the purification wars when so many of our kind were being killed, I was sent a message from the gods. One evening as I prayed at the altar, I was shown a scene of a child being born to a human mother, who then died in childbirth.
"The child's father was shown to be a Pure One. In this vision, the child grew strong and brave. As the years flashed before my eyes, I watched him grow older and fall in love for the one and only time in his life. The next moment he was standing over his father's body with a sword in his hand.
"Time rushed forward once more. I was thrust far into the future, farther than I had ever gone back then. I witnessed the fighting of shifters and Pure Ones. It looked futile, as if there would be no end in sight until all were dead. Humans too, laid dead from being caught in the middle. When all seemed lost, a golden-haired young woman appeared in my vision. The gods spoke to me and told me she was the Golden One...the one born of all three races, shifter, human and Pure One. With all the best qualities, strength and abilities of each. She would end the fighting between all the races. She would do what we could not."
Alel's voice was filled with emotion as she finished speaking. Just as quickly, she was back to flailing her arms about and moving back and forth on her feet. Oroc pressed his lips together for a moment as he pondered what she had just told him.
"I thought that Xander would create peace among us?" Oroc questioned, already having pieced it all together.
"He has already created it. An embodiment of peace that symbolizes unity of all. The shifter woman that Xander loves, she is with child."
Alel was still and calm once more. It was as though she were two people. One calm and wise. The other anxious and excitable like a child.
"What you are saying sounds impossible. How can a child bring peace?"
"You mean, how can a female child bring p
eace, do you not?" Alel smirked knowingly.
"I mean, the prophecy states a male child will bring peace." Oroc stated firmly.
"Do not be embarrassed by your ignorance. It is to be expected, even among our kind. There are so few Pure One females that the males forget that they are just as strong and just as powerful. Now, about the child. She must be protected and hidden from the Pure Ones until she comes of age to stand up to the Councils," Alel said waving her hands in front of her.
"But that will take years, will it not?" Oroc asked.
"Shifter children and Pure Ones grow at an advanced pace. This young woman will not take twenty human years to become an adult. It will happen in a third of that time."
"But what of the fighting that has begun occurring now? We may not have seven years." Oroc was beginning to see that there was no quick fix to the current state of things.
Alel shrugged. "I know only what I saw. The present problem is not for me to solve. The vision was clear. Peace will come to Pure Ones and the shifters when the Golden One unites them. You must leave now. Return with the young man and I will tell you more."
Alel turned away. It was clear she would not speak any further.
Aurus stepped forward. "It's time to go," he stated.
Oroc turned to leave the room. He had more questions than answers but he would do as she asked. He would bring Xander to meet her. Perhaps then, they would find a way to stop the escalation of animosity between the shifters and vampires.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Julie woke up as pain tore through her abdomen causing her body to contract into a fetal position. She breathed out a slow breath and clutched her belly. Another wave of pain shot through her causing her to let out a low groan. She pushed herself up off the bed and slid her feet to the floor. Padding to the bathroom she stood with her hands on the cool counter top and looked at herself in the mirror. Her skin looked pale and her forehead had broken into a sweat.
