Young Writers Society

Following the others down the hall, Paige noticed her senses heightening, pretty confident of the fact she'd been drugged now. Though those thoughts left her mind when she heard a child's voice coming from a suit of armor. She approached the front of the group.

"Is there a child in there?"

Adrid twitched, cursed herself for it, then resumed standing like a dignified post.

Siren sprung forward. Rather than slipping from James' hold, she pulled him with her.

Adrid froze, and stared in (dignified) horror at the bloody-mouthed, frog-footed fish-creature.

"Jamesjamesjames," Siren whisper-cried, pointing excitedly at the suits of armour, "There's things in there!"

James felt the beginnings of the tug on his arm and quickly corrected his balance, managing to correct the angle of his glass so that it didn't spill everywhere when he was pulled forward. He was surprised at the speed of his own reflexes, but happily so.

He tried to keep a poised posture and expression, but with Siren leading him with the excitement of a child, he found it difficult. His mouth cracked barely, as he fought back a smile.

"Oh, yes, Siren," he said quietly. "It seems there is a person in there." Then, he directed his voice to the person in question, hidden in the armor. "You can come out and meet us if you'd like, stranger."

Lorcan moved to help the child that was apparently in the suit of armor, but Second slipped in front of him and held his arms out.

"You should probably keep back," Second advised. He glanced back at the others - Télos shifted uncomfortably when his gaze briefly fell on them. He was still trying to figure out just what was going on. "Everyone probably should."

Lorcan took a step back.

"...Why?" he asked.

Second gave a tiny smile.

"You'll understand in a moment," he said. Then he turned back to the suit of armor and helped the person who had been inside of it out: a little girl who couldn't have been older than nine, with an slightly large shirt, pants and boots. It looked like all of her clothes were hand-me downs. Her light brown hair was in two long braids that trailed down her back, and her eyes were a gentle amber.

But Télos didn't really notice that.

What he noticed was how hungry he suddenly was.

...And how good the other end of the hallway smelled.

Kaito took a step forward beside him, only to stop and cover his mouth when he realized what Télos took far too long to realize himself.

The little girl was a human.

"I'm sorry for putting you in there," Second softly apologized. The little girl looked at all of their faces, then quickly ducked behind Second's armor-clad legs. "But don't worry - they're not going to hurt you. They're with my friend."

Second looked over at Lorcan.

Lorcan, who was covering his mouth with his hand like Kaito was.

They stared at each other.

"...Are you really a..." Second started, only to falter when he glanced at the rest of the group. Lorcan gave a little nod. "...Oh."

Neither one said anything. Télos didn't know what to say, either. He could barely focus over his growing hunger, and he knew Kaito was feeling the same way.

"If you have any blood with you, you should drink it," Second said. "If you don't, you'll want to drink her blood."

Kaito and Télos looked at each other.

Télos knew his reluctance was clearly written across his face, but what other choice did he have? He could either try to uphold his morals and fail to stop himself from drinking the blood of a little girl, or he could make a sacrifice so he didn't have to worry about her.

He downed his glass.

A second later, Kaito did the same.

Lorcan followed suit near Second and the girl.

James had stepped back when instructed with Siren.

The little girl was human.

Gods, he almost wished that were him. Almost, because if he had been thrown into the party as a human, he might've been dead within moments. Unless the vampires at this gathering were different than he thought.

The only other vampire he knew was Kratzer, and Kratzer seemed adept at suppressing any urges he felt. James didn't feel it would be right to assume that all vampires were so overeager as to drain a human of their blood the very moment they saw one.

Besides, how had this little girl been brought here in the first place? She wasn't in the same situation as everyone else. Otherwise, she'd have been made a vampire as well.

James watched Kaito and Lorcan as they downed their drinks with narrowed eyes, but he too felt a faint hunger stirring up on the inside. It was the same kind of hunger he felt when he hadn't eaten for a long time, but for blood.

Well, that was unsettling.

Though he'd already had one and a half drinks already, he took another sip from his glass. This was going to be interesting.

"What's your name?" he asked the girl. "How'd you get here?"

Paige smiles softly at the young girl.

"I'm Paige," She begins, dropping to sit on her knees, placing her hands in her lap. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I've had special training in my past to suppress any sort of urges I may have."

She looks like Jamie. Paige frowned for a moment, before regaining composure and curving her lips back to a friendly smile.

Daisy had to look away when she saw the little girl. It was beyond weird. She wondered if she had some kind of stomach bug, like that time the meat had been spoiled at the Jones' annual cookout. This didn't feel like that, though.

Her eyes accidentally met those of the angry girl with the purple- no, her glasses were blue. Her eyes were glowing red. Daisy was about to say something then those glowing eyes rolled like coals swirled around the bottom of a bucket.

"Fucking wimps," the girl muttered before going to the girl.

"Are you all determined to crowd the poor girl?" she asked the group sharply, then, before waiting for an answer, turned her attention to the little girl. The glow in her eyes softened with her tone as she leaned against the wall, a good distance away from the girl, "You only have to answer the questions you want to," she said gently. Daisy saw her gaze flick over to James accusatorily, probably because he had asked multiple questions at once.

Kaito had barely been able to think before he had drunk the blood, but now everything became so much more clearer - he could actually think about how strange this situation was. Not the vampire part; Kaito had already been thinking about that. But a human in a place full of vampires didn't make any sense, especially when he couldn't even see a bite mark on her neck.

The little girl looked up at her armored protector, then ducked back behind his leg.

"You weren't scared earlier," Second softly said, "when you were just talking to me."

"There's a lot of people," the girl informed him, a completely serious tone to her voice. Her grip on his leg tightened. "Can...Can you tell them, Mister Second?"

Second exchanged a look with Lorcan.

"Sure," Second promised. "I can."

He turned back to the rest of the group.

"Her name is Estelle," he explained.

"My mommy calls me Essie," the little girl added, only to duck back behind Second's legs a second later. Kaito knew he needed to focus, but it took all of his concentration not to give a quiet "aww" afterwards.

"Her mom calls her Essie," Second confirmed, giving a tiny smile. He put his hand behind her back. "Her family hunts vampires. They heard that the vampires were having some great party, and thought that something was up. When no one wanted to go, Essie decided she would sneak off and try to find out what they were doing."

Essie gave a big nod.

"But when she got here, she realized she didn't know how to avoid vampires. I heard her out in the hallway when I was waiting for Lorcan - I went out to investigate and found her."

"But you got hungry," Télos realized, "so you had to put the armor on so you couldn't suck her blood!"

Second nodded. "And when we heard you approaching, I thought it would be a good hiding place for her. The armor is old, so it does have a strong smell."

James was already starting to piece things together in his brain.

This girl had snuck out, she needed to be brought home. They couldn’t let her get hurt. Her parents were vampire hunters- so that meant if they showed up on their doorstep, they’d all be slain on sight, worse case scenario. He didn’t think it would be a very bad way to go, considering, but he also had Siren with him.

That changed things. He couldn’t toy with his mortality so freely around people he cared about.

Either they needed to bring the girl home, or they needed to figure out the purpose of the party. Considering the size of the group, it was possible for them to do both. And they should probably figure it out soon. He didn’t know if their absence would be noted or their presence missed, but if a group of vampires broke off into the hall, he didn’t want to assume anything. He felt his sense of urgency was reasonable.

A human was among them. That put them all at risk. Even if she could be a valuable source of some contextual information for this world, it was irresponsible and cruel to shove a child into that role. Her life was more important than how she might be able to serve them.

“That makes sense of things,” James replied, his tone carefully crafted to be kind and soft, considerate of the scared child present. “I guess that means Mr. Second and, perhaps his friend, should escort you home. As I’m sure that it’s already been made clear that it is not safe for you within these walls,” he said, looking down at the girl.

“Whatever is happening at this party, I assure you the rest of us will get to the bottom of it. That’s actually the very reason why we came. So you can go home in confidence that the mystery of this party will be seen to.”

"I can bring her home," Paige piped up. "I know where an exit with no guards is. I came in through it earlier. And I'm sure I can sneak her out to the woods and get back in easy"

After receiving confirmation Paige took Estelle's hand and walked with her down the halls, keeping her in front of her so no one could sneak up from behind. She instructed her to be quiet, listening for any footsteps or conversation until she got to the door. She took the handle.

It was locked.

She told Estelle to stand back. and grabbed an axe on display, swinging it at the lock on the door. The wood splintered, but the second she attempted to step through the door, she hit a barrier. An invisible one.

She walked back to the group, holding Estelle's hand the whole way.

"There's a barrier surrounding the castle. We can't leave."

The group hadn't moved much since Estelle and Paige left. Télos had been in situations like this before - though it hadn't involved becoming a vampire - and he knew that it wasn't so easy to leave wherever you had gone to. Maybe it was because he was the one who had formed their massive group, or maybe it was something else. But he wasn't the only one who stayed still; no one else left.

It wasn't like the entrance was far away, anyways.

Now that they were back to the group, Estelle immediately broke free from Paige's grip and went running back to Second's side - giving his now unarmored leg a tight hug.

"I'm back, Mister Second!" she announced.

Even though the barrier was a problem, Télos heard Kaito give a quiet "awww" that he had probably been holding back since Estelle showed up. Télos was trying - and failing - to fight the urge to do the same.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Lorcan asked. "If we can't get through the barrier, then..."

He glanced over at Estelle.

Télos followed his gaze.

None of them had the urge to drink her blood right now - at least, Télos didn't think they did - but they weren't the only vampires. There was an entire room of them just a short distance away. If they weren't careful, then...

Télos gulped at the thought.

"There has to be some way to get the barrier down," Kaito said. "Right? The vampires wouldn't want to be stuck here."

"Maybe it's to keep people out instead of keeping us in," Second mused. He absentmindedly put his hand on Estelle's back and gave it a little rub. "Estelle probably got inside before they put the barrier up."

"But we still don't know how to get the barrier down," Lorcan pointed out. "If we don't know how to get out, how can we..."

He glanced back over at Estelle.

Télos decided to take matters into his own hands.

They didn't really have any options here. He didn't want to ask Estelle a bunch of questions, but it seemed like she was starting to warm up to the group. If he was himself, he was sure she would like him and want to talk to him.

He walked a little closer to Second and crouched down in front of Estelle.

"Hi," he said, giving a wave and a warm, friendly smile. "I'm Télos - god of gold and ruler of the End because democracy takes way too long to be put into place."

He was completely oblivious to how both Second and Lorcan stiffened at his introduction.

Estelle, on the other hand, loved it. She still clung to Second's leg, but she had a bright, curious look to her eyes as she studied Télos. "That's a big title," she commented.

"It is," he agreed, grinning.

Crouching was more uncomfortable than he thought, so he gave in and sat down on the cold floor instead.

"We're all a little new here," he admitted. "And even though we look like the other vampires, we're all pretty nice. We definitely don't want to hurt you or your family, but we can't help you leave right now - unless we get the barrier down. Did you ever hear your parents talk about someone who could make something like that?"

Estelle thought long and hard on the question.

"I did!" she exclaimed. "Mommy and Daddy said that the vampire's queen was really powerful. And that if I ever met her, I should run away as fast as I can so she couldn't catch me."

Télos looked back up. Second and Lorcan weirdly weren't meeting his eye anymore, but Kaito thankfully still was. Kaito, who looked more than a little worried about the prospect of facing off with a vampire queen - or queen of any kind.

"So we need to find the vampire queen," Kaito quietly said.

Vampire queen. Kate was going to show that bitch exactly what she was the queen of. This fucking glitter-drenched stereotypical bullshit was getting on her nerves.

"Let's find this queen then," she kept her voice calm so as not to scare the kid, but she couldn't do anything about the steadily growing, furious glow of her eyes.

She turned abruptly and scanned the walls. Weapons - medieval, because of course they were - decorated the walls, and Kate had every intention of getting in a fight. A match made in the dreary back-alley between dimensions that was this rotting place. She wanted a cutlass, but she couldn't hide that in her skirts and besides, these were probably vamps like in those fucking stories Connery liked to bring up. Wood or silver. She couldn't fucking believe she had to deal with this sparkly bullshit.

She marched up to the wall, grabbed a decorative spear, and snapped it into hideable pieces. She picked the sharpest of them and hid them in her skirt - discovering, in the process, that her dress had pockets deep enough for a baguette. The three stakes went in those.

She picked up the spear tip and went back to the kid, offering it to her, "You want a good luck charm, kiddo?" she asked. The dress she was in didn't quite like her kneeling, and the correct beneath it certainly wouldn't allow her to do anything as horrifying as bend over, but she made an effort.

James had been slowly distancing himself from the group when Paige left with the child - making it look like he was wandering down the hall as he finished off his glass of blood slowly. He let Siren follow, hand-in-hand as she pleased, but was careful to keep a close eye on her.

Though he was some distance away, he was close enough to overhear when Paige and Estelle returned with the bad news. His hearing was never normally so keen, and he was still getting used to it being so enhanced in his vampiric form. It was useful, but he didn't know if he liked it. He was picking up on little, unimportant noises (like the shuffling of feet and clothes, or the slurping of blood from far away) that he was used to being filtered out through dull senses.

There was a barrier around the castle, or the palace, or whatever it was (he couldn't very well tell how big it was from the inside) that was probably magic in origin, and they needed to find a way out. The person who was responsible for the barrier was probably the queen - and if she wasn't the person who made it, she was the person who authorized it and would know about it. So, that meant they had to find the queen.

Regardless of the dangers of facing a queen uninvited and with little knowledge of her power, it was the logical next step. The child practically tossed it into their hands.

Unwittingly, she was their informant. It was a pity, though, that they were taking their leads from a child - not because she was knowledgable, but because she was the one at most risk, being so young and so human.

This was probably one of his least favorite out-of-world experiences thus far. The Masquerade was better than this. At least he'd had friends there, and...

He blinked slowly and intentionally. The vampire queen. Find the vampire queen.

Without a word to the others, and already being far off, he continued to wander at a leisurely pace as they talked and grabbed weapons. He gestured to Siren to follow but did not want to draw attention to himself at the risk of leading what could very much seem like a small (though unimpressive) army through the halls. Once out of their line of sight, he hastened.

He couldn't imagine the queen was somewhere amongst the crowds, mingling with the common-vampires. She was probably somewhere else in the palace, where she would be safe until she made a formal appearance. If the monarchy of this world worked anything like the kinds he was familiar with, he had a gut feeling he was right.

The hall went on for some time with unremarkable passageways that led back to the main room or to rooms that didn't seem to hold significance. He didn't have time to check every door, and he didn't want to look suspicious either. He aimed to look like he was exploring with a purpose.

He did not find his purpose until the hall took a turn and he spotted what he was looking for: further down, there were two grand double-doors, gold from top to bottom with ornate patterns engraved on the face. Two stocky guards were stationed on either side with spears in hand, facing forward with an expression he was very familiar with.

Attentive, but bored.

As he approached at a casual pace, the doors suddenly drew inward with a faint but distinct creak. He could only imagine how heavy they were, and he did not envy the guards or servants who had to pull them open.

He watched as two more guards emerged ahead of a pale woman with white hair, crowned with a halo of gold, and wearing a finely structured suit that looked both practical and elegant. She had a sword strapped to her side.

He... probably had to talk to her before the other idiots ran up to her and tried to kill her or something. The truth was, he really didn't know what they would do - be it problematic or productive - but the uncertainty worried him.

Seeing as he wasn't very far from her and the guards at her side, and he wasn't hidden, he continued to walk up to her, making eye contact before giving a deep bow from his hips.

"My queen, it's a pleasure to see you this evening," he said with a silver tongue as his head was bowed. He then straightened up. "The name's Tiberius Hemming. I'm sure you have matters to attend to, but I was wondering if you had time-" his eyes flickered to her sword. No queen carried a sword that didn't know how to use it. "-for a duel. With stakes, of course. It'd be no fun otherwise."

The two guards stepped forward, but the queen held a hand up to stop them.

Both of the guards paused. They exchanged looks with each other - as if for, just a moment, they were thinking of objecting to the decision. But neither one of them ultimately did. They both stepped back and joined the two guards over by the doors to the throne room.

The queen, meanwhile, studied her challenge with a certain glint to her eye. She had business to attend to. She knew that there were intruders in the castle. But she also knew that a fight here and now would be an interesting one, and that she had never been able to deny the opportunity to duel.

"You have me intrigued," she said, her fangs glinting in the light of a nearby torch as she gave a smile. "What kind of stakes were you thinking of?"

James turned his mouth up into a smile, still highly aware of his pointed teeth that protruded just a little more than the others. He rested a hand lightly on the hilt of his sword. Though he was outwardly presenting confidence, he had no idea how skilled of a swordswoman the queen was. James had been highly trained, and at one point, had been considered the best among all his peers when he was once a soldier.

But that meant nothing at a time like this. His reflexes were still sharp, but with a sword? He was rusty. He figured whatever higher power brought him here and slapped a sword on his side had to know that, but it was given nonetheless.

“If I win,” he said, still smiling - now with a hint of friendly competitiveness. “Then you must answer any question of my choosing with unfiltered honesty.”