The Search For Peace 2

Chapter 40

Metal. She hated the smell of metal. Metal stunk like blood, and she hated the sight of blood. She hated it....so much....

In a groggy state, Juliet struggled to open her eyes, the light in the room she was in so dim it was hard to adjust to it. A strand of her caramel hair tickled her brow, and she attempted to lift her hand to remove it, but something was holding it back. She tried again, and heard the odd clinking of chains. What was going on here.

Now wide awake, she hastily turned her head, and saw that her hands were cuffed, as we're her ankles, chained to a block of wood.

"What the hell?!" Furious and afraid, Juliet wrestled against the chains, even though she knew there was no use. One of her ears stung, and the ominous dark room wasn't showing her anything, or anyone.

"You know it's useless," echoed the silky voice of Isabella Enache. Juliet raised her her head a bit and watched her stride in, a candle in her hand. "When you're caught," she tilted her diamond-shaped head, "you're caught."

"You little shit," Juliet spat, her shackles jingling with her fury. "How in the hell did I end up here?!"

"Enough," yelled a new voice, from the shadows. Suddenly, a few dozen candles lit the room, and a few dozen hooded women came into view. "Let us begin the ritual."

"Wait, what?" She knew full well that these people were never going to show her some respect and answer her questions, but she tried anyway. "Hey, what 'ritual'? And who are you morons? Huh? Answer me!!"

But they did not respond to her, and instead, the block of wood she was tied to began to fall back, and the mysterious women around her began chanting. She gulped as the plank lay flat, until she was face to face with a spiralling ceiling.....and the approaching jaws of a very big snake.

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Sir Aiden had been patiently waiting for quite some time now.
He was standing in the ominous study of Filip Enache, the Scorpio Clan leader, by a long velvet couch, and a wide, bronze coffee table.

There was a sculpted copper snake on that table, it's mouth wide open, it's slit tongue sharp around the edges. The Taurus Clan leader watched it intently, but didn't dare touch it, even though it would've looked simply sublime on his own desk back home.

"So," he cleared his throat and lifted his gaze to the bony back in front of him. "You obviously didn't summon me here just to show off your elaborate room."

"Ah, and neither did you come here to witness that." He hated Filip Enache's voice the most, apart from the rest of him. Not only was he a skinny, tall, pale weirdo with slicked-back hair, he also had the most annoying sounding voice Aiden had ever heard.

His Romanian accent was crisp, but his voice was sleek and high-pitched, and it felt like a snake was slithering up your arm when he spoke.

"Let's just cut to the chase, then," Aiden straightened, "my kids are waiting downstairs."

Filip scoffed. "Your kids?" He began to pour himself some blood-red wine, his mahagony desk so organized and clean. The room was poorly lit, candlelight it's best bet, and there was an odd stench in the air, so familiar to the stench of metal.

"Two of them are Virgos, and one of them is your dear cousin," he paused to take a sip. "They are hardly your kids."

"Why do you know so much about them?" Aiden crossed his arms, taking a few steps forward.

"Oh, Aiden," he fought the urge to smack his pointy little face for calling him by his name. "I know everything about my visitors. How do you think I've managed to protect my clan for so long?"

Now it was Aiden's turn to scoff. "Protect? You sent a bunch of highschoolers on a man-hunt. You almost made them kill so many innocent people." His hands shifted to his sides. "You almost killed them."

"On the contrary." Filip raised his glass once more, eying his guest over the rim. "I taught them how to live."