The Vampire's Siren

Chapter 16

"Carmen!" I hear my father's voice cut through my daydreams.

"In here!" I call, standing from the windowsill I was reading in.

"Oh thank the gods." He sighs, as he walks up to me.

"What's wrong?" I ask, seeing his tense form.

"Where's Jackson?" He asks, looking around. He takes my hand and pulls me out of the library and we walk towards a meeting room.

"I think in our room?" I think back on what he said he was going to do today.

"Okay, I'll have someone get him." He says tersely.

"What's going on?" I ask again. We get to the meeting room, and Alistair sits me in a chair, before going to the door.

"Gregory, have someone get Jackson and my family. This is urgent." He says seriously.

"Alistair." I say sternly.

He finally looks at me. His face is tense with stress and panic.

"What is going on?" I ask one more time.

"Please, Carmen." He pleads. "Let me wait until Jackson and the rest are here." He runs his hands down his face.

"Alright." I say, folding my hands on the table.

After a few minutes, Beverly and her kids filter through the door. It takes a few more minutes to get Jackson in the room.

"Okay, everyone take a seat. Pay attention, I don't want to say this more than once. And I will have to go soon." Alistair says as he stands at the head of the table. Everyone sits down and looks at him in anticipation. "Alright. So, first off. Thank the gods you are all safe. I will be increasing security at the border and the palace. As of right now, I'm going to place the palace and borders on lockdown. I will have the guard go house to house to make sure we don't have any unauthorized visitors."

"Why?" Calvin asks, looking as worried as the rest of us.

"I'm getting there, Cal." Alistair sighs. "As you know, I just had the meeting with the other Supernatural Leaders."

"Oh, yeah. How'd that go?" Beverly asks kindly.

"Well, overall... It was fine, until we got to the Vampire's Leader. Lord Ryland." Alistair looks at Jackson for a moment.

"Ryland?" Jackson looks startled.

"Yes." Alistair breathes. "He was acting very weird. He wanted to know the names of the people that Susan had turned, and when I wouldn't tell him, he wanted to know where they were. He looked wrecked, like he was going through withdrawal."

"Shit." Jackson breathes. "Yeah. Put it all on lockdown."

"Agreed." Beverly says, making notes.

"Exactly." Alistair says. "I'm going to be meeting with Alpha Jenkins, and King Kai to see what else we can do. We have to take him down."

"Absolutely." Jackson says. "Do you have someone to take over as the leader of the Vampires afterwards?"

"Honestly, no. Not yet." Alistair sighs. "To be frank, there will likely be a war. We have to get that Black Market shut down. We were all suspicious as to why that was not his first thought."

"That would suggest he's not only aware of it, but involved." Jackson says thoughtfully.

"Our thoughts too." Alistair says.

"So, full lockdown, search, and increased security." Beverly reads off her notes. "Anything else, Dear?"

"Not at the moment, Love." Alistair smiles gently at her. "I'll be going to meet Alpha Jenkins and King Kai now. I'll be back before dinner. Please let me know if anything else happens before I get back."