2

THE VAMPIRE HEADQUARTERS

Scott, the vampire leader for the past one thousand years, sat at the dining table along with some elders of the clan who helped him in ruling the clan and making sure everything was in order. He had just received another letter from the head of the human clan of the nearby village about his daughter, Sarah, and he felt sad. Why wouldn't he?

He was the vampire leader and he had made the rules but his daughter was the one breaking those rules with no regard for his reputation. If it had been any other person who did it, perhaps, it would not hurt Scott in any bit but for his daughter to break those rules means that he would lose his authority as the leader if he didn't curb her on time. He fingered the letter again and thought about the letter he had received in the past with the same report about his daughter. He also wondered how many more letters he would get if nothing was done to stop the reason behind the letters.

Scott kept fingering the wordings in the letter that had been written to remind him about the deals between the humans and the vampires. One thousand years ago, after Scott's father died from the war of dominance that had broken out between the humans and the vampires, and Scott became the vampire leader, he went to the human leader and made a pact with the man.

As long as the humans tolerated the vampires and they were allowed to live among them, Scott had assured the human leader that no vampire would ever feed on human blood again except that of animals.

After he had succeeded in convincing the human leader and elders, Scott had returned home and had given the command that no vampire was allowed to drink from humans from that day on. The rules had become effective immediately and no vampire had broken that rule until his daughter came into the picture.

"Get a bottle of vervain," Scott commanded one of the servants in the room.

"My lord." One of the elders at the table said,

"She's your daughter." Another one said as he tried to discourage their leader from the decision he was about to make.

"Exactly why I need to make an example out of her," Scott told the elders at the table. "Get the vervain and make sure to mask the smell and taste." The leader commanded the servant he pointed to.

"Yes, my lord." The servant said and walked out of the room.

"Please, reconsider your decision, my lord," Rex, who was also one of the elders, said. He was the youngest of the elders seated at the table with only a few years older than the leader's daughter but he had merited the position with his bravery. Scott knew that the young man was trying to dissuade him because he liked Sarah. So many times, Rex had caught Rex professing his love to his daughter but Sarah never gave him any chance which was a pity since Rex wouldn't mind a son-in-law like Scott.

"Only if she understands the errors of her ways and promised to change, then I'm willing to give her a second chance," Scott assured the man.

The vampire leader got up and began to pace around the room, waiting for his daughter to return. He hoped that she would regret her actions and plead for forgiveness of her sin since he wasn't enthusiastic about losing his only daughter and child. The servant returned with the vervain and set it on the table. Scott walked over to it and smelled it. When he was certain that Sarah wouldn't be able to determine the smell, he dropped it back on the table.

While the vervain doesn't kill vampires, it weakens them completely for a certain amount of time which makes them vulnerable to the enemies during those moments. They had the door cracked and they all turned to see who it was, just in time to see Sarah pop her head in before the rest of her body followed.

"Hey, dad," Sarah greeted her father while she ignored the rest of the people in the room like they didn't exist. She had only taken the first step for her room when her father's voice stopped her.

"We need to talk, young lady," Scott told his daughter in a voice that left no room for arguments.

"I am not young," Sarah grunted at her father as she returned to the table where everyone was seated.

"You are only 300 years old. Of course, you are young to me. Just like humans consider their children babies, no matter their age," Scott told her. Compared to his one thousand and five hundred years ago, Sarah was still a baby to him.

"Do not compare me to those pathetic humans," Sarah told her father. Her black eyes gleamed of the hatred she felt for them despite their blackness.

Scott walked back to his seat, sat down, and held the letter up before he said anything.

"It's those humans we need to talk about, young lady. This is about the seventh letter I would be receiving from the human clan over your deeds," Scott told her. He dropped the paper on the table and tapped it lightly. "How would you explain killing those innocent people, Sarah?" Her father asked.

"You worry too much, dad. Why do they need to report in the first place? They should come after me if they can," Sarah retorted and made to leave.

"I'm not done, young lady. So, where are you going?" Scott asked his daughter.

"I don't have time for this, dad," Sarah told her father. "They are just food, so don't concern yourself over them." She said again, then she picked up the letter and read it. "Why did they report again since they already placed a reward on me?" She asked in an amused tone.

Scott shook his head in surrender. His daughter was already too set in her ways and there was nothing else that he could do to reform her. It was a good thing he had made plans concerning her already.

"Sit down, young lady. The elders and I were just discussing how to change the rules I had set about not drinking from the humans. How dare they set a reward on my daughter's head?" Scott said in an angry tone.

Sarah sat down immediately and Scott asked the servant to get his daughter a cup. When the servant arrived with the new cup, Scott poured his daughter a cup of vervain. Sarah picked up the cup and gulped down its entire content immediately. She dropped the cup with a loud sigh.

"Now, you are my father." She told her father with a point of her middle finger at him. She watched in horror as the finger lost its motion and dropped. "You poisoned me?" She asked as she slumped into the chair she sat on.

"Come in," Scott commanded. Some vampires trooped in with a coffin. "Put her in." He commanded them.

"My lord, please reconsider," Rex said and rushed over to Sarah. He stood protectively over her to prevent the vampires from taking her.

"Stand down, Rex," Scott commanded. When Rex didn't move, he spoke again. "That is an order." He told the younger man.

Rex left Sarah's side in regret. He watched as the men took out their extracting weapons and began to pull each of Sarah's fangs out. She couldn't scream. She couldn't resist despite the pain Rex was sure that she was feeling. When they were done with the removal, blood dripped from the open spaces where the fangs once belonged to and stained her dress in just a few minutes.

The men carried Sarah and dropped her into the coffin without a word. The vampire priest went over and covered the coffin. She began to chant some incoherent words as she sprinkled some things on the coffin door. In five minutes, she was done with whatever she was doing and she turned to the vampire leader.

"It is done, my lord." She announced to him, bowed slightly, and went out of the room.

"Take her out," Scott announced to the vampire men who had brought the coffin in. They bowed to him, picked up the coffin on the four edges, and went out of the room also.