II

140 10 1
                                    

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Walking into the Unity building, I can feel the gaze of everyone on us. Although I'm used to the stares, they never fail to make me feel uncomfortable. Almost like going back to the worst days of my life; living in imprisonment.

Ignoring the fresh-faced assistants incessantly trying to appease us with tea or a biscuit, Sebastian pushes through the familiar doors of the conference room and ushers me in first, then follows behind.

There seated on the big square table, were some of the most heinous people I've ever met.

First, there's the representative of the vampires, Mrs Marion Worthington. Glasses perched on the tip of her pointy nose and bright red lipstick which never seems to smudge; no matter how much tsking she does. Before the war, our acquaintance with her was reasonable as she used to work alongside Sebastian at Oxford University. The divide of species due to the war, however, has not exactly put us in her good books. She became the vampire rep around 20 years ago and to say we were surprised to see her would be an understatement.

Next would be Marcus Sinclair, Alpha of the Lux pack and local representative of the werewolves. Given we were once having these meetings with his grandfather, father, and soon to be his eldest son, I would say we knew his family well, yet not at all. The first time we met Marcus was when he was a toddler sitting in on a meeting, but though seeing him grow into a respected alpha all I've ever seen him convey was a scowl. He never fails to make it clear that all we were to him was an abomination and a blood traitor.

There was a smattering of the other, less influential, officials present; although they were only there to appease themselves and their followers. Every species represented twice over, except of course the sirens.

"Now that we are all present," Marcus says, "let us start our meeting. To begin, we need to make a very important announcement to the both of you."

Mentally I groan in annoyance and I can feel Sebastian clench his body. These kinds of declarations from the board never turn out well for us, and even less so for me. While vampires are top dogs of society, you would be hard-pressed to find a siren abiding the rules of society and not holed away in fear. I'm an anomaly, which is why they hate me so much.

"This has been in discussion for many years, and we have only now come to this agreement which will benefit all species in our world."

Seriously doubt that.

"In the coming weeks, we will be implementing a new integration policy, relevant to all communities represented here today; including your kind Mrs Rowe,"

Lucky me.

"We have lived separately for now 77 years since the end of the war, and now is the time to put an end to that."

What?

"We are officially welcoming those whos species or person fought on the wrong side of the war, back into our society."

As Alpha Sinclair pauses, Seb and I cling to each other almost hopefully, waiting for the penny to drop on how we will be affected by this.

"Mrs Rowe, we want you to be the figurehead for this change, which we have all decided will be most effective if we start with our school system."

What are they asking?...

"We would like to send you into our local high school to show the youth of today how much you really are like them and desensitize them for the future rise of mer-folk in our society. We are sending you into The Lux School for the Supernatural Inclined."

Looking at the other member of the board, we can tell who opposes the idea and who supports it by the looks on their aura. Some auras are darker than usual and angry, I'm assuming because their stance on the matter was not followed through with, while some are lighter and hopefully, that this will be the catalyst to bring us together again.

Personally... I think its the stupidest idea I've ever heard in my entire life, and it been a bloody long one at that.

Sebastian is as shocked as I am, slowly looking around the table till his eyes land on me. His eyes are narrowed and jaw locked as he looks at me, trying to glean how I'm feeling.

Our silent communication as we try to understand why they want to send a 253-year-old to high school is suddenly broken by the heinous bitch sitting in front of us.

"Well?" *tsk* "Are you going to respond or just look at each other like a couple of feeble-minded loons?" Mrs Worthington spat, condescension dripping from her pores. From her darkly brewing aura I can tell she loves the idea just as much as I do.

"Well," I begin, rising from my chair and pass my gaze icily over the representatives, "My response would be, that if integration is what you're wanting, this is the most ludicrous way to go about it. Alpha, I have lived five of your lifetimes, just because I may look like a teenager doesn't make me one. I refuse your offer."

Easing away from the shocked and stuttering council, I gently place myself back in my chair. Seeing Seb in my peripheral calms my beating heart, despite his pale pallor and stiff demeanour following my outburst, I can tell he feels the same way as me. 

Locking eyes with the Alpha, his expression never wavered, still so sure I would do what he wanted; but he's wrong, nothing in this world would make me want to join that pretentious cesspool of drama and hormones. 

"That's a shame Mrs Rowe, I know how much your husband was enjoying his teaching position, but if you two are unwilling to co-operate..." The Alpha lets his sentence trail off and he narrows his eyes in triumph. nothing would make me want to go to the Lux high school, except that.

"When do I start?"

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

SirenWhere stories live. Discover now