Blakemore

Ch. 7

"What do you mean he's here for me? I don't even know the guy." Clarisse brings out a grimoire and turns to a page with a symbol like the one on Jia's wrist, "Here it is. It's the Bianchi mark. One of the oldest vampire clans in history. One of the first to go to war with a werewolf pack." Jia looks at the pages and sees a photo of her parents, "Who- who are they?" Clarisse points to the photo of Jia's parents, "That's Cedric and Elizabeth Moreau. Cedric was a warlock working with the Moretti pack in South France and Iana was the princess of the Bianchi clan. Her family sired enough vamps to control over half of Europe." Jia picks up the photo and looks to Clarisse, "What caused the war?" "One day, the Moretti pack planned an ambush on the Bianchi clan to take all their land. Cedric's job was to use magic to remove Elizabeth and her parent's daylight rings so the Moretti could lure them outside. Killing them meant killing all the Bianchi vamps they'd sired across the country. Unable to go through with it, Cedric went to warn Elizabeth and her clan and the two ran away together, both with targets on their backs from the Moretti pack." Jia looks softly at the photo, "So what happened to Cedric and Elizabeth? Did they get away?" "For a while, but they were eventually found and fell prey to the Moretti. It was payback for interfering with the almost Moretti uprising" Brayden leans forward, "Wait, how would he even know where to find Jia?." Clarisse began to think, "Jia has anything changed recently? Anything interesting with your powers?" Jia sat back, "No, I haven't even been trained on how to use my powers and I don't drink blood so—" Clarisse interrupted her, "Wait, you're a hybrid?" Jia nods. Clarisse looks at the photos, "Are- are these your parents?" Jia begins to speak, but gets interrupted by Cash's phone ringing, "Hello? What?! Calm down, call a meeting in one hour and we'll figure something out." Jia looks at him, "What's going on?" "There's a monster hunter in Blakemore. He's just killed Henri."

Jia and Cash get into his car and begin driving back to town. They pull up to an old house, "So were those your parents?" Jia looks down and takes a deep breath, "Yea, they were." Cash puts the car in park, "Look Jia I'm sorry about all this. You gonna be okay?" Jia shakes her head, "Yea, I'll be fine. Go check on your clan." Cash opens the door then looks at Jia, "You wanna come?" Jia's eyes widen, "To a vampire meeting?" "Yea, I mean you're a half- vamp so why not?" Jia shrugs and slowly gets out of the car.

They walk into an old house with torn shutters and dust covering the outside. The inside was quite the opposite. It smells of cognac and incense. There is a red velvet rug in the front room that leads to a grand room. The ceiling is covered with chandeliers, there are cream- colored sitting chairs at four long, wooden tables. It looks like a fancy conference room. As Jia and Cash enter, all eyes are on them. Jia recognizes some of the vampires from school and around town. Cash walks with her to the front table and gestures her to sit as he begins to speak, "Alright everyone, listen up! Now we are all mourning the loss of Henri and we will find whoever did this. Sebastian, what do we know?" Cash looks at a tall brown- skin guy with blue eyes and a low fade, "Celeste was nearby and saw what happened. Celeste?" A short, light- skinned girl with butt- length box braids stood up, "I was meeting with Henri to go to Jimmy's, but he never showed. I went looking for him and found him with a stake in his heart. I saw a man in a long, black coat getting into a car across the street." She pushed back tears, "He killed my Henri." She pulls out a daylight ring, "I brought this hoping it would help track down the killer." She gave the ring to Cash who looks to Jia, "Do you think you can read it?" Jia looks up at him, "Wha- me? I haven't exactly been trained on how to use my magic." Cash looks softly at her, "Can you try, please?" Jia sighs and takes the ring. As soon as she grabs it she gasps and looks to the ceiling having a vision. Jia sees Henri texting Celeste when he is ambushed by a guy in a black coat. They fight and the attacker pulls out a wooden stake. Jia can't get a good look at the guy. She sees him stab Henri in the heart. As Henri's body drops she sees the attacker standing over him. It's her father. Jia takes a deep gasp as she comes out of the vision. Cash places his arm around her, "What did you see?" Jia looks worried, "Nothing, um, I just saw him get stabbed. I didn't get a good look at the attacker" she hands the ring back to Cash, "I'm sorry." Cash takes the ring and folds it into a handkerchief, "It's okay. I can take it to Risse. Maybe she can find something to help." He turns to the clan, "Okay everyone, until we can find this guy and stop him I don't want anyone going anywhere by themselves. I want security outside this place around the clock. The last thing we want is for him to find us here. Agreed?" All the vamps nod in agreement. "Alright, adjourned." They all get up and leave the meeting room.

Cash turns to Jia, "Come on, let's get some food." They arrive at Jimmy's and head inside. Jia looks outside to see her dad driving by on his way to the church. A look of worry comes across her face, "You okay, Jia?" She looks up at him, "Yea, I'm fine." Cash looks suspicious, "We can eat somewhere else if you want." "No, no this is fine. I just" she sighs as she contemplates telling him about the vision, "I'm just worried about Brayden, that's all." She decided to keep it to herself until she can talk to her dad herself. There had to be an explanation. "Well, we can go back to Risse's if you want. He should be healed by now." Jia knows Cash will show Clarisse the ring and she'd see the vision, "Uh no, I think I just need to go home and lay down. It's just been a long day." They head to Cash's car and begin the drive to Jia's house. "You sure you're okay, Jia? You just seem a little uh" Jia interrupts him, "I'm fine. Today has just been, uh, eventful." Cash nods his head, "Well, I'm here if you need anything." He pulls up to Jia's house and turns to her, "I'm serious Jia, if you need anything, I'm here." She looks softly at him, "Thanks Cassi—" she sighs, "Cash." They both laugh and lock eyes. Cash leans in, but Jia places her hand on his chest to stop him. It didn't feel right keeping this secret from him, "I'm sorry Cash. I- I can't. I'll see you tomorrow." She quickly gets out of his car and heads inside.