Dark Moon

Chapter 2

AN: I´m sorry it´s been a while, but here is the next part of the story! Hopefully it won´t take four weeks until next time. Hope you enjoy it!
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She realized she had dozed off when she heard a knock on the door.
«Yes?» Her voice was as sharp as a knife blade. She didn´t care much for disturbance, she preferred being alone. The social butterfly had never been a personality trait fitted for her.
«I - I´m sorry, miss,» a low voice said, and Beatrice could her a creak as the door opened. A young and petite woman came through the door, and Beatrice didn´t even need to look at her to know who it was.
«Padma.» Padma nodded and walked up to her, and Beatrice gave her a quick look. The young, Indian woman standing in front of her, had her long, black hair messily tied into a French braid, and wore a pink night gown. Her face was unusually pale, almost sickly, and while she normally looked innocent and sweet, she now looked like a wreck.
«What do you want?» Beatrice looked straight into her brown eyes, and Padma turned her head quickly away, before she turned it back again against her.
«Ralph wants you. Well, not only you, he wants everyone. House meeting, he says,» she said. Padma was known in the house as Ralph´s servant, secretary, personal assistant and bloodbank. No one dared saying anything against her, and therefore she had more power in the house than any other human. Not many of the vampires dared saying anything about her or Ralph either (at least not in one of them´s presence), in fear of the wrath of the king.
«House meeting, huh?» House meetings were rare, and not very exciting. They usually happened whenever a vampire or human had done something extremely stupid, and new house rules were to be implemented. «When? Where?»

«Living room, first floor in ten minutes.» Padma smiled at her, and walked towards the door, but stopped when she stood in the door frame, and turned against Beatrice again. «Oh, and Ralph says to nurture yourself before you come. It may take some time.»
A couple of minutes later, she was about to walk downstairs. She had changed into a blouse, a pair of black jeans and a colourful scarf around her shoulders, and black boots.
Not very vampiresque, she thought to herself as she took a loose grip around the gold plated railings of the staircase and slowly walked down.

When she walked into the living room she saw she was the first one there. The living room was the biggest room in the entire mansion, and according to Beatrice, also one of the prettiest. The lighting were dimmed, although the room had as many as six huge, golden chandeliers - all of them decorated with big and breathtakingly beautiful diamonds, hanging down from each of the chandelier´s arms. Only one of the walls had windows, and those gave the stunning view of the park that the mansion had - the green grass and bushes, the fountains - and the distant, tall mountains one could see in the horizon.
The living room itself had oxblood coloured walls, decorated with gold framed portraits of earlier kings and notable members of the coven. In the middle of the room there were a long dinnertable with twelve chairs, where the humans ate and the Board had their negotiations and meetings. Apart from this the room were divided into four sitting groups - each with two beige, heart shaped sofas, and four matching armchairs and a mahogany coffee table.
«I´m impressed! You´re actually early.» A sharp voice said behind her. She already knew the voice belonged to Ralph, and as she turned around to greet him, she met his charming smile. He ran a hand quickly through his golden hair, and winked at her.
«I´m going to take a seat, Beatrice. Please join me». His tall silhouette walked silently over to one of the sitting groups, and took his place in one of the chairs. She followed him, and sat down in the sofa.

«What kind of stuff are you going to bore us with today,» she asked, as Padma gave him some papers. A couple of them he signed, and gave back to her, and the rest he kept.
«You know what the humans say, Beatrice: he who lives shall see.» He chuckled and she stared blankly at him.
In the following minute their little sitting group were filled up with the rest of the house´s members: the eldest one in the house, Clara (or the black widow as she sometimes was called), the Russians   Irina and Dimitri, Alessandro and Georgina. Everyone were mumbling, and to Beatrice, it seemed like no one knew what were happening. Then, all of a sudden, Ralph raised his voice.
«Quiet!» He said, and everyone stopped talking. «This meeting is one of the most important one´s that I´ve ever led, and I want everyone to be fully attentive as to what I have to say. The announcement I´m going to make is going to make the way you think, the way you act - and the way you until now has led your vampiric life at, change completely. The announcement I´m now going to make is based upon a history as long as the vampiric race as we know it.» He sighed, and Beatrice could see that what he was now going to say took a great toll on him.