VAN HELSING - A Short Story

Part Two, Chapter Six: The Downworld Court

THE BLACK FAIRY 

The young Vampire is asleep now; should not cause any trouble. If the Brethren had not called me this urgently, I would have stayed with her. But I have never seen my sister so mad, even though this was only a fire message.

I laughed. Her stern voice on the verge of shouting was not what I had expected or associated with when the familiar Fae sparkle of the message found its recipient.

She had been madder than usual but that was also a constant mood with her. Raising a child on one's own certainly took its toll. But when thinking about that, even as children she was not easily forced to laugh. The Fairy Godmother was a special case of her own.

I could not even count the meetings we have held in the past week on one hand; that was how much these people troubled us. If they manage to upset Lisa Draculéa and Werewolves, the case is certainly not to be taken lightly.

I was walking up the little hill to the circle of stones created by our ancestors to protect our kinds from harm. Stonehenge was the safest place that the Court could have their meetings in. It was safer than the City of Glass and certainly outmatched the Walking Castle. I was the last to arrive with my sister noticing as it was her fashion.

"Late as usual. We could have started ten minutes ago but you had to wander off into the world again."

She sneered at me but by now, I was immune against her comments and judgemental remarks. How could one not when having lived with such a person one's entire life?

"It is good to see you too, sister."

I shortly replied and she left it at that. I knew that she wanted to continue but firstly, she got easily bored when I appeared unaffected and secondly, she knew that we had to commence with the meeting as soon as possible.

"Thank you for coming, Black."

Alucard greeted me with a smile and I returned the pleasantry with a short nod towards his general direction. He was the one usually moderating these meeting as the head of the Vampire Clans; the largest of the Downworld populations.

The Downworld Court consisted of members of the various heads of the various populations and families within, along with five witnesses accompanying each of the member. The members were ten in total and sixty with the witnesses taken into account.

On behalf of the City of Glass and the noble house of Tepeš, spoke the Vampires Alucard and Kain. Two brothers who rule over England's North and were responsible for keeping the connections to overseas.

On behalf of the Faes, spoke the Fairy Godmother and I. We represented the will of every wisp, fairy and elf that roamed the island's woods. It was our task to protect new Downworlders and introduce them to their new lives and what problems they have to deal with.

Count Vlad Draculéa and his wife Lisa spoke for the highborn family of the same name and ruled over the land's South, keeping connections towards Europe and some parts of Asia. Vlad's brother was their errand boy and scout; their little bodyguard, so to speak. The wife was also the only human in this court but she had proved a more valuable asset – also the most capable healer among us – than some of my Downworld brothers and sisters.

A young Werewolf named Simon spoke the will of the smallest population here. He brought youthful energy and bashfulness to the meetings, promising more than enough potential to lead his tribe to prosperity.

The last members were several Magicks – Witches and Warlocks – that did not speak their names. They were surely the most secluded but also the most powerful among us, yet they did not offer much of that strength oftentimes. I always have the feeling that they think they are too good for us.

"We have gathered together once more to discuss the ever so tiring matter of the hunters..."

Alucard continued and brought me back from my thoughts. We were chewing over the same things every meeting but there was little to do about it. The threat was persistent and more than unpredictable.

"...The Van Helsings are getting more and more self-certain with what they are doing. They are attacking much more openly and also in much more lively areas. What they had lacked in numbers and skill, they have gathered now. More people seem to support their ideology as more of our own are forced into exposure..."

If Alucard would not only ramble on and on about it but offer solutions as to how we could deal with these problems, we could have taken care of the Van Helsings by now, probably. Yet a woman can dream...

"...And our informants are finding it more difficult to tap into valuable information to produce for us; the hunters are getting better at their craft and it is only a matter of time before they gain the upper hand-"

"And what do you suppose we do about this?"

I finally intervened after the rambling getting to my nerves.

"We have to think about-"

"There is no time anymore, Alucard! Who knows how long it takes the Van Helsings to get to us? The longer we sit here and plan, the more people are convinced of their cause and the closer we are to facing extinction."

Alucard sighed loudly. He was the runner-up of people annoyed by me. Close on my sister's tale.

"We cannot rush headfirst into things. We have enough problems to deal with as it is and-"

"I know that we have problems of our own, more than anyone but the problem of facing extinction outweighs those, don't you think?"

I could see that if I should interrupt him another time, he would get angry at me. And I didn't know what I was thinking about posing a question that I will not receive an answer to. But my words sparked at least some reactions amidst the round after all.

"I agree with her..."

Lisa stepped up. Despite her being human and more than out of place, I admired her for keeping her ground. She could easily be smarter than some of my Brethren combined yet life was hard for her too. As a female doctor and scientist, she was just as much hunted by the Van Helsings as any of us others.

"...Humans can be unpredictable and from our experience with the Van Helsings, they have managed to exceed our expectations with each time we have met them. And given from my experience of mending all of your wounds, those become more difficult to manage with each time I have to. It is only a matter of time until I am faced with something that I cannot heal. The time to act is now!"

And Lisa was more than right. With everything she said. What I signed more than anything of her words though was that the hunters always manage to burst every single one of our expectations towards them. That was how it was now.

They came without warning but they came and if she had not addressed it merely seconds beforehand, we would not have known what had hit us.

The Van Helsings attacked us in the bright of day...