Veritas

Chapter 18

As soon as the dagger was pulled from the vampire's chest, Aislinn half expected him to strike. Fortunately, it seemed her gut had served her well, and the vampire didn't move so much as a hair as he waited for her to decide how to proceed.

She looked at her blade, her eyes not as great in the dark as if she'd had her wolf; but, still good enough to see the clean blade. While she knew there'd be no blood, it was still a bit shocking for her to see that it had come out clean. Vampires drank blood to sustain themselves; but, their own blood had long since dried up and ceased coursing through their veins. A vampire would turn to ashes when killed, and when stabbed with silver they would revert to the physical strength of a human. Aislinn knew all of this, and yet vampires were a bit of a taboo topic, so she'd always been curious to know more about them.

The vampire spoke, snapping Aislinn from her thoughts. "Thank you for trusting me. In general, I would recommend never trusting a vampire...In this case I appreciate that you did" he said, holding his hand out to shake hers. "My name is Drystan Astra, originally of the Moon Thread pack."

Aislinn surprised herself, and smiled at Drystan while shaking his proffered hand. "Pleased to meet you, Drystan. My name is Aislinn Jones, originally of the Tranquil Waters pack."

Drystan's face was as cold and smooth as marble, as if he'd long forgotten how to show emotions; but, his eyes betrayed that lack of emotion. When Aislinn mentioned the Tranquil Waters pack, she could tell that some complicated emotion ran through him.

"What is it?" She demanded, frowning at the vampire.

"...Nothing. I have just heard tales of the Tranquil Waters pack" he explained vaguely.

"Tales like what?" She pressed, unwilling to accept such an unsatisfactory answer. "Why would anyone be talking about such a small pack, so that you'd hear of them?"

Drystan stared at Aislinn, as if trying to determine what to say. Finally, he seemed to come to a decision and offered a better explanation.

"One of the...Benefits of my situation" he began, gesturing to himself in reference to what he meant. "Is that I am able to blend in amongst vampires, and my presence is tolerated by most witches. Due to this, I overhear a great many things...And I have heard several things about your old pack" he explained.

"Like what?" She demanded, almost afraid of the answer.

"Like your former Alpha, the fool that he was, had made a deal with vampires" he stated bluntly.

"What?!" Aislinn shrieked, then realizing that Ryan and Rei were still asleep, she checked to make sure she didn't wake them. Realizing a beat too late that, of course she couldn't wake them, she shook her head and refocused on Drystan. "What do you mean? What deal?"

"The vampires wanted to test a new device...I'm uncertain of what Waters received from the deal, but he had apparently agreed to letting them attack his pack to test their device" Drystan explained calmly; although, he was aware he was upsetting Aislinn and it seemed to bother him.

Aislinn was stunned into silence. The attack that had killed her father...Is that what Drystan was referring to? Had Alpha Waters been complicit in her father's death? Was that why he had treated her and her mother so poorly, and without a real trial? She had so many questions, but didn't know what to ask first.

Drystan could see the complicated emotions swirling in Aislinn's eyes, and the ones crossing her face. He felt a bit bad for having brought up such a topic, but for some reason he felt she should know the truth...Even if it hurt.

"I apologize...Perhaps we should discuss something else" he offered.

"No...No, I need to learn more. I just have so many questions" she explained, her voice wavering from both rage and sadness. "Do you know any more about the attack?"

"I have only picked up bits and pieces. One of the reasons that Waters is so infamous is that he jealously gave permission to kill his top warrior if he was to appear at the battle. The story goes that he believed this man was plotting to challenge his rule as Alpha, and Waters decided he was better off dead...The warrior's mate was the top female warrior, and she fled...Without these two, who also trained the new guards, their already small and weak guard grew smaller and weaker...Supposedly this has allowed the vampires to continue to experiment on the pack, whether Waters agreed or not...What could he do? Tell the Alpha King that he had made a deal, and the vampires were now being unfair? He'd have been slaughtered...Although, another rumour is that the Royal Pack is not so innocent in how the vampires have become more...Aggressive in their tactics" Drystan answered honestly, easily laying out information that was essentially world shattering for Aislinn.

She sunk back on her butt in absolute disbelief. Her Alpha had betrayed not just her family, but the whole pack, to the vampires? That was also treason against the crown, wasn't it? But the Royal Pack could be complicit somehow? None of this made sense.

Shaking her head to clear her own shock, Aislinn looked up at Drystan. How could she be sure he wasn't lying? The things he was saying aligned with her experience, didn't they?

She then thought of her mother's journal. Quickly, she dove into her own belongings to find it and frantically flipped through the pages of her mothers' thoughts and memories since that fateful day. One of the entries her mother had made, had detailed a strange device she'd noticed in the mouth of the rogues who'd been killed. Was it possible this was "the device" that the vampires were testing?

She read her mother's writing, then looked back at Drystan who was simply watching her in silence. As she'd never interacted with a vampire before, she was struck by how statuesque he was...With no real need to breathe, blink, or much else, she could have almost forgotten he was there with how still he remained.

"I just need to say it's creepy how...Unmoving you are" she commented, in an effort to calm herself down.

Drystan was able to hear her racing heart, and recognized the distraction tactic she was trying to use on herself. He nodded, offering an apology. "Apologies. It has been a century since I had much reason to act as though I am among the living...I will try to do better, to make you more comfortable in my presence."

Aislinn just gave him a half smile, but nodded in acknowledgement. "Thanks...So, what do you know about this device the vampires wanted to test?"

"Nothing, I'm afraid...Would you like me to try to discover more?" He asked, trying to follow her pattern of blinking to make her more at ease.

Aislinn picked up on the small gesture, and her smile grew. She didn't know why, but the fact he was making an effort to try to make her more comfortable around him made her happy. "Could you? It would be helpful...My father is the warrior who was killed...My mother died because we were banished...I need to get to the bottom of this for them" she explained.

Drystan nodded once. "Very well, I will see what I can do. I will find you when I have more to share."

"Thank you, Drystan...And, next time, could we let Rei and Ryan meet you, too?" She asked, motioning to her sleeping companions.

Hesitantly, Drystan nodded. "If you believe they will not try to harm me, that can be arranged...Until next time, then, Aislinn Jones" he said, standing up.

"Until next time, Drystan Astra" she replied, waving as he melted away into the darkness of the night.