New leader

In Old-Vine Town, a place where mostly the old resides, Kathryn walked in a fast pace, heading towards the Blackburn mansion which was the oldest and tallest of all homes in the town and the old women on the way who knew who she and her family was, greeted her, but Kathryn only responded with a wave of her hand. Though she looked young to them, she has lived for over 120 years and it is a fact that most of the people at Old-Vine knows. The people are the only ones who accepts them for who they are and whenever a stranger make inquiries about them, they all pretend that they are a normal family.

Kathryn marched to the front of their doorstep and one of their servants who already sighted her coming, quickly opened the door for her and stepped aside immediately so as not to meet her wrath. The woman of the house had just died and she was the next in line since her older sister, Caitlin, had cut ties with them and refused to come home.

On getting inside, her Coven members, which were also members of her family line, all looked towards her direction and seeing that she was alone, they made to talk but Kathryn quickly took a sharp turn and headed for her room before they would increase the wrath in her.

“How stupid!” she said with anger when she got inside and pulled her coat off before throwing it aside. “All she needed to do was to trust me. Of course, I would never allow my own daughter die for the people who are not worth saving. Humans…” she groaned and pushed her head to the back as she paced about the room. “Vampires are much more worse dying for. We do not deserve it.”

“Kathryn?” a small voice called and Kathryn lowered her head to look in the direction of the entrance where a young girl stood with a tray in her hand.

“Oh Bathilda,” Kathryn released a sigh and motioned with her hand for her to move closer.

“I brought you tea,” young Bathilda said and she took the cup from the tray before handing it over to her.

Kathryn took it and gulped down the blood tea in one go before releasing another sigh. “Now that feels much better,” she said and placed the cup back in the tray.

“The Elders are all furious because aunt Caitlin is not with you,” Bathilda said. “Why is she not with you? Is it because of her daughter again?”

“What else could it be?”

“They were talking about the sacrifice when you left,” Bathilda let her know and Kathryn gave a mocking laugh which died immediately.

“I guess they all can’t wait to sacrifice our only grand-daughter,” she said and took in a deep breath. As she released it, she said, “It is time to go talk some sense into the heads of those family of mine.” And with that, she exited the room.

Kathryn sat at the table with her Coven members who all held a displeased expression, but she simply ignored them and stared ahead of her, at one empty seat which once belonged to her mother.

When it seems as though they would be quiet forever, one of them spoke up, “Are you not going to tell us the reason Caitlin is not here with us?”

“Yes, we all need to know what her decision is so we know the next step we are to take,” another one agreed and murmurs soon arose in the room where they are.

Kathryn took in a long sigh and finally spoke for the first time since a long while, “Sorrows. Sorrows.”

They all went quiet immediately and one of them asked, “Is that the message she sent to us? And what does it mean?”

Kathryn shook her head at that and looked at each of them seated at the table. “I was merely mourning the death of my beloved mother. Her spirit must be very disappointed in all of you.”

“And who are you to say that to our face? Have you lost your respect?” An older woman said in a scolding tone.

Kathryn smirked and bore down her eyes at the woman as her expression soon turned serious and dark. “Who are you to talk about respect when you are not giving my mother one after her death?”

“I am your mother’s sister, young child…”

“And I am the next in line, the new leader of this Coven!” she raised her voice as she banged her hand on the table, clearly pissed that she was referred to as a ‘young child’. “How shameful!” she cursed at them. “To think that you want me to pass the message of my sister when in truth, what you want is for her daughter to be here for the sacrifice, is it not?”

Kathryn could hear some of them harrumph and one spoke, “We were still going to talk about that one way or the other.”

“And now that you have brought it up, which we didn’t,” another spoke, “when is the child coming?”

Kathryn stared hard at the woman and she looked at the rest of the members who seem to be waiting for her to speak about it. She gritted her teeth inside and could feel the rage in her rising. She stood up and placed her palms flat on the surface of the table before speaking to them, “I will not allow my daughter’s fate to be determined by a book. So, know this and tell my family that if anyone dares to even take my daughter for the sacrifice, I won’t hesitate to put a stake through their heart.”

The Elders all looked at one another and held a confused expression and when Kathryn guessed they were about to start murmuring again, she said, “Those were the warnings of my dear sister to you lot. Even I, am not exempted from it. But tell me, is this what we really want? Are we killing each other now, and a child at that all because we want to live on? We already have a long lifespan than the humans, is that not enough? Or tell me, are we any better than the humans?”

“Those humans murdered our people and if not for Lord Rexius, do you think this war would not have went on forever?”

“It is because we started the war! We killed their people because we are not like them. We used their blood. We were scared of being known and they were scared of what we would do to them. That is even! And take a look at the people of this Town. There will always be good people among the bad.”

“Why don’t we talk about the main reason of this gathering?” another spoke.

Kathryn inhaled sharply and said, “My mother will be buried this night and as for Caitlin, don’t even expect her back. She already cut ties with her family so she does not belong here anymore. As the new leader of this Coven, I say no more questions, not only on this matter but also on my authority. Are we good?” she raised a brow and looked at all of them who kept quiet. “Good,” she said and furrowed her brows before sitting back down.

“Is there news about what the other Covens are up to recently?” she asked after few minutes of silence.

“Yes, I believe they may have caught a whiff on the book of prophecy.”

Kathryn blinked her eyes as a frown appeared on her forehead and she looked at the one who spoke. “How is that possible? Only the members of the Blackburn Coven know about the book of prophecy. Is someone betraying us now?”

“That can never happen,” the oldest woman said. “What is discussed among us remains among us. We do not betray each other here, not now, not ever, even though we may have our own difference. We are wise enough to know not to trust the other Covens after what happened during the reign of the man who committed blasphemy.”

“Is the father of Caitlin’s daughter not a human?” one curious member asked and Kathryn shot her a glare.

“People must have trouble understanding what not to talk about,” she said and relaxed her back on the chair.