Internal Sacrifice

Come Hell or High Water

It took only forty-five minutes to assemble all the towns people in the square. The confusion for the emergency meeting died down as soon as the Mayor took is stand

"Welcome everyone, I apologies for the short notice and thank you for coming."

He looks off stage at me, hesitation is all over his face

"I have a special guest speaker with me here today, she is someone who needs no introduction, mainly because I don't know how to introduce her, please welcome Kathyrn Albertalli."

There is no clapping as I walk out, just gasps and shocked expressions. Some people even start crying when they finally recognize me

"Hi, I know you all must have questions about where i've been and why I came back, and I promise you it will all make sense after i'm finished."

the crowed remains silent.

"For the past three years I have been living with the coven, along with the other men who also agreed to join. All but me were turned. I am here today as a friend, representing the coven."

"If you're our friend why did you betray us and leave?"

someone from the crowned shouts, murmers of agreement follow.

"I left because I felt alone, I didn't feel like I belonged. You knew me as the sad little girl from the newspaper whose parents died and left her an orphan. When I joined for the first time in my life I wasn't her, I was me."

"Then why come back?"
another person shouts.

"Because I need your help. We need to keep the peace, we need to live in harmony, too much blood has been spilled already. for those who do not know, a few days ago the coven was attacked, resulting in the death of two our gaurds and five of your men, there is no need for this horrific incident to repeat itself. So what i'm asking is for you, for all of us, to simply live in peace. we can call a truce; you leave us alone and we leave you alone."

Whispers fill the crowed. I stand looking over all of them trying to make sense on what they are saying.

"why should we trust you, you abandoned us?"
someone from the back shouts.

He makes a good points, why trust someone when they left you, then I comes to me.

"Because I trust you, I trust you enough to stand up here in front of you risking my own life to simply call a truce. You could have killed me the second I stepped on stage, but you didnt, which means a part of you still trusts me."

everybody is silenced by this, they know its true.

"All in favour of a truce?"

I hear the Mayor say from behind me. I look out into the crowd, more then half raise their hand. I smile in relief

"Then it is decided, a truce will be formed between us and the vampires."

My only hesitation is the glares I get from the half that did not raise their hands.