Overcoming

Chapter 11

I wake up suddenly, but I don't open my eyes right away. I feel pain on the left side of my face, and there's a ringing in my ears. Above the ringing I can hear voices, but can't make out what they're saying. I can still smell breakfast, so I know I haven't left the room. Finally the ringing dies down, and I open my right eye. My left eye is swollen shut.
Everyone is standing against the walls. The table is still sitting on it's side, but it's been moved, probably by the Elder and Council member that were sitting beside me. I stare at the ceiling for a bit before I tune in to what people are saying.
"She can't go to the vampires looking like that," a voice says from my left, but I can't see who it is.
"There's no one else."
"It looks like she's waking up."
"Hannah, Hannah."
"Yeah," I finally answer. "Where's the girl?"
"A guard took her away."
I groan, and finally sit up. The pounding in my face gets worse.
"Hannah, I'm sorry." I look to see who said that. I have to swivel my head nearly all the way around to see out of my right eye. It's Bruce. "I thought I was doing the right thing. The pack's been in debt for the past year. Colorado was offering us a loan if they married. I did it for the good of the pack."
"Bruce," I leave off the alpha title. "I thought I was doing the right thing helping the Species Guard. I was full of self righteousness. But people died. People are still dying. You have to look at the whole picture, not just the bigger one. I thought it was worth it to do what I did. So did you. But every detail counts. There is no such thing as an acceptable casualty. We are made up of our smallest parts."
"Well said," the words come from the door way. We all turn to look at who's come in. It was someone old. Really old. Old enough that I couldn't tell if they were male or female. Papery skin showing veins beneath stretched and bunched around facial features. Long hair sprouted from their head came around eyes so hooded it was a miracle that they could see. "I heard there was a meeting here to discuss the fate of the world," the old one said.
"Who are you?" Bruce asks.
"I am the first. I came before vampires. I came before werewolves. I came before humans. Humans are my dream, just as you are theirs." The old one walked to a downed chair and righted it before sitting down. "Do you know what that means?"
No one says a word. What is there to say? We're all lost.
"It means that humans exist because I will it. You exist because the human's will it. They made up stories of vampires, fairies, werewolves, and mermaids. They wanted you enough that you came to pass. Lately zombie movies seem to be all the rage. So now there are zombies."
"The humans didn't create us they aren't magic," A councilman says.
"They are so. They have the power of creation in their grasp. Dreams become reality if enough of them want it bad enough. I should know I added that creative bit."
"Who created you?"
"Where did the universe begin? How did it begin? You can study the reality of matter and find that out. The question is why did it begin." The old one shifted in their seat looking about the room. "No one knows. Not even me. Maybe I'm someone else's dream. Maybe it continues on like that forever."
"Do you know how to fix this mess?" I ask.
"Which mess? The mess in the room? The mess where you're bonded to a male who blindly followed his Alpha father into a marriage he hates? The mess of New York and a cloud of ash that can kill?"
"Any of them."
"A few helping hands and trash bags can fix the room. A new treaty, and an annulment can fix your bond. And if you want it bad enough your hard work can fix New York.
"I will tell you this child. The vampires aren't the problem. The virus didn't come from them." There was a gasp in the room. "It came from Despair. It's a thing, an entity. It's corrupting the chain. It can't get me. I'm too old, too set in my ways. I've seen and experienced too much, but it's going after the humans. Making them feel like they're not enough. If it corrupts them too much the rest of you will cease to exist."