Blood for Blood
The Council of Elders

They are all here. My dad, Victor; Link and his dad Ralph; Sam and his father Alexander; Josh and his dad, Kenneth; Rose and her Father Peter; and Danny with his father Raymond. Normally the Elders would not have their children with them at such an important meeting, but this has to do with all of us. Especially ME!

When I enter the room they all look at me with something close to reverence and remorse. They all know Aurora was planning on being my mate, and all of them had been happy for us.

“We are so sorry for your loss, Justin,” Alexander says from across the table.

“Such senseless violence!” Ralph grumbles, shaking his head in dismay. “She was such a lovely little thing, too.”

“And as much as this hurts you, Justin, it is so much bigger than just you and your love,” Raymond says gently.

I have a feeling they are all waiting for me to fall apart. But right now I am still too numb to feel anything but emptiness. I feel hollow. MY LIFE IS NOTHING WITHOUT HER IN IT!

“I understand,” I responded hollowly, nodding my head in agreement… Not that I can actually agree with anything at the moment other than someone needs to pay. My voice sounds as dead as my soul at the moment.

“Because of the nature of her death, we are all in danger,” my dad says.

I look at him and nod again. Because, yeah. Not only was her body torn apart like a rag doll, but she had fang marks in her neck… Whoever killed her didn’t bother to hide the fact that she was attacked by a vampire.

Peter paces the floor. “Do we know anything else about the attack?”

“Only what was there. She was stabbed and bled to death. Her arm was torn from her body…” i choke. I clear my throat. “But I have a theory.”

“Go ahead, son,” my dad encourages me.

“Uh.. Due to the fact that her parents say she received a phone call that evening…” at this I try to steel myself for what I have to say. “And the state of her undress..” I choke at this, blinking back my tears, I force myself to continue. Thinking of my beautiful Aurora being taken advantage of literally kills me. “I believe that she knew her attacker, and they tried to rape her, but she fought back. I think the knife wound may have been an accident. But I don’t know for sure… It seems like someone was trying to threaten her to hold still… But she wouldn’t… I think someone she trusted tried to take her blood…” I can’t finish my thought, and my voice breaks on a choking sob.

“This sounds very likely the case,” says Kenneth, who happens to work for the local police department. “I saw the report and I believe your assessment is correct,” he briefly looks at me with understanding in his eyes. “She was not raped, thank the stars, but it looked as if that was the intent. And, it was also evident that she did try to fight back, but due to the fact she was a human, she was easily overpowered.”

“I want revenge,” it slips out on a growl.

“And you will have it!” insists Alexander. “Our most honored law is blood for blood. You will get your revenge for your Chosen, Justin! Not one of us would deny you that!”

“Thank you,” I say weakly. My whole body is shaking in shock. I want to rip someone apart… I just don’t know who… YET! But when I do, no one will stand in my way!

“Now, we must be extra cautious, since we don’t know who it was that killed her. Does anyone have any ideas?” asks Rayoned.

“Not yet. The police are still looking into the knife, which may have been planted for all we know, but it is, nonetheless, our only evidence from the crime scene,” responds Kenneth.

“I think it was one of the turned!” declares Link.

Shock runs through the group. Nobody would make a declaration like that unless there is some evidence to support such a wild claim… And so far, I hadn’t seen or heard anything that would point me in that direction.

“What?!?” explodes Sam. “We had nothing to do with this!”

“How do we know? She was overpowered by someone she knew… Justin said she was going out to meet someone, and she knows all of you. Plus, hybrids don’t need the blood!” insists Link.

He had a point, but still something seemed off with his crazy accusation.

“Maybe she was out to meet someone else, and before she could make it to her car she got stopped by someone else from another clan passing through?” suggests Josh. “We didn’t have anything against Aurora.”

“She was our friend too,” adds Rose, whose eyes, I’m surprised to see, are brimming with tears.

“That is something we can look into, too,” insists Kenneth. “Maybe it was just her being out after dark and she was caught unaware..”

“That may be so, but I still think it was one of Sam’s posse,” insists Link.

Something about the way Link is acting is sending off warning bells, but I just can’t figure it out. Why would he blame the turned? They were our friends too.

“What do you have against Sam?” I ask Link.

“Yeah! You tried hitting on Steph the other night! I don’t want Aurora, and never have! What is your problem, Lincoln?” demands Sam.

“You guys are stronger than a hybrid! You could have easily overpowered her and torn her apart!” yells Link.

“So could you! You may not be as strong as us, but you still have the ability to hold down a human if you wanted to. Plus, Aurora was a tiny thing! Anyone could have held her down… Even a human!” raged Sam. Then his eyes flicker over to mine with grief. “Sorry man, but it wasn’t one of us! We wouldn’t hurt her! I promise!”

I believe him. But I don’t say anything because my voice has escaped me again. I just watch. They both have their points. But something is off about this whole thing, and it isn’t just that my girl is dead. This shouldn’t have happened. Nothing like this happens in our little town, which is why our clan had settled here. It is safe… Until now.

“This is getting us nowhere! We need to make sure nothing like this happens again! If we aren’t careful, the whole town will go on a witch hunt for vampires and we will have to move! We can’t allow this to happen. We have been safe for 15 years in this town, but we may not be anymore,” my dad states.

“You are right, Victor! The turned and the hybrids must watch out for anything that is off. Anyone new to the area, or someone you know acting strange, let us know,” says Kenneth.

“Alright, let’s hope we don’t have another emergency meeting anytime soon. We will meet back in a few weeks time to see if we have found anything, if the issue hasn’t been resolved by then!” Ralph says dismissing us.

I turn to leave, but Rose comes up and gives me a hug.

“I really am sorry about Aurora,” she whispers.

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“Thanks, Rose,” I say, returning the hug. I really needed it right now.

I had not expected the show of affection. But somehow the small show of support from one of Aurora’s friends helps me feel as though I can be strong enough to pull through this… At least until I find my revenge!

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