The Dead of Night

War

Chapter Twenty Three: War

The Vampire dragged me through meetings with the Council-seven, if my memory serves me as it should. In such meetings, the dryness of the topics made me want to chew my own arm off! The Vampire, however, was stuck in my thoughts, and every time a thought such as that would pop in my head, he would pull my arm away from me, so my hand was resting on his desk or knee. However, during the eighth and last meeting before 'lunch' was called; the Emperor looked over to the Vampire and I-our seats were normally very far apart, and he, undoubtedly, noticed something was amiss since we sat right next to each other! "O.G. King of Vampires" the Emperor said, his low, booming voice breaking over the rest of the din in the room. "Why ever are you and the Queen sitting beside each other?" Asked he, leaning down to face the both of us. The Vampire stood, and, therefor, made me stand as well; he bowed to the Emperor, making me bow as well, and then began to explain.

"As you may know, oh imperial Emperor of the Night, I am the master of Mademoiselle Queen of the Vampires....and, as such I see to it when she is to be given punishment for acts of which are out of line. She disobeyed, and this is her punishment." He explained, lifting our arms up to show the room our wrists, handcuffed together. The Emperor laughed.

"My, my! June, Queen of the Vampires, what in the name of God did you do?" He chuckled, and my cheeks burnt vermillion, the embarrassment of everyone staring at me in the room stung worse than any burn.

"I...I left his side." I said meekly, and the Emperor's laughter dissipated.

"....Well, O.G., it is a very acute punishment for the crime-June, you must not wander away from your master, especially when he gives explicit rules to not leave his side; the Vampire Cave is a dangerous place for little half-vampire royalty to be meandering alone, especially being a woman. However, from the color of your cheeks, I'd say you already knew that." Said he, and I nodded quickly, bowing my head to him once more. "O.G. King of Vampires, you may now unlock the handcuffs and relieve her aching wrist from its prison-she has learnt her lesson." With that, the Vampire unlocked our bondages and let our wrists free, ending my punishment.

"M-Merci, Monsieur Emperor" Said I, breathlessly. I bowed my head again, and he did as well; before ordering the Vampire to his seat. The Emperor then spoke to all of us at once-apparently, we were at war.

"I wish, in all of my unbeating heart that it did not have to come to this, my brothers and sisters. But the shape shifters have made their move; as of last night, they've wiped out a city of vampires, who were on their way to this very cave with demons of a flying nature. This was my worst fear of them-they have succeeded in combining human and shape shifting DNA to make the ultimate creatures-some say one of these flying....monstrosities are stronger than ten Vampires." The Emperor paused and rubbed his graying eyes, a frustrated sigh passed between his lips. "We have the Lycans, Mermaids, Dark Fairies, Witches and Elementals on our side; however, on their side they have the half-beings, demigods, these monstrosities, ghosts, and some of the mutants.

"This, as predicted by our war analytical team....this will be a long, grueling and bloody war. I can only ask, my brothers and sisters, that we take care of ourselves and fight for our kind as we have done in the past. We will win against this threat-we will win, even if we must tell the humans of our existence-we will conquer!" He cried, standing and lifting his cane into the air. All of us (the royals) cheered and stood with him; he fell down, into his chair, and motioned to let the public in.

Within five minutes, the room was filled with creatures of all kinds, and the Emperor waved his hand, silencing all of them. When he broke the news to the rest of the population, groans of agony and cries of horror rang out all over the room-they didn't want another war, no one wanted another war. But the shape shifters wanted the Vampire territory, and we wouldn't let them take it! Even with the Emperor's words of reassurance and encouragement, the moral of the room was deathly low; everyone was tired of war and real death-war, no matter how big, small, short or long, was always nightmarish.

I made my way over to the Vampire, who let out a decompressing growl and closed his eyes. "I'm going to have to go, June." He said, a grave tone taking over his velvet voice. "I have to command troops."

"No! You're-you're the Vampire King! They shouldn't make you do that! You're royalty!"

"They made me in the last war, Junie, I have no doubt they will again." He said simply, he turned and flashed a smile, giving me his arm. I took it and he walked with me, out of the dining area and to the fighting chambers, to where we sat on the bleachers together; watching Dustin throw punches at a bag.

"Will they make me leave?" Asked I, touching his hand softly; he squeezed my hand and shook his head.

"You're only a half vampire, they shouldn't make you-and if they try, they won't for long." Said he, I glanced at his eyes when he said that, and they flashed red! He blinked and looked at me, wobbling a little. "Blood" he said urgently, pulling me up. "I need blood" He hissed and I nodded, glancing around, however, he grabbed my arms and shook his head. "Your blood-I need your blood!" Said he, lowering his head, but I pushed him away a little.

"H-Here? You know what it does to me!" I protested and he nodded.

"I know, but I need it, no time to move-no time!" He growled, ripping one side of my shirt off of my shoulder and chowing down! I gasped and held tight to him; my eyes fell to a close when euphoria radiated from where his teeth dipped into my skin. I covered my mouth with one hand, attempting to hide my moans, before my legs began to tremble and I relied totally on him to keep myself standing!

My heart pumped in my chest, slamming against my ribcage when he laid me down on the bleacher beneath us, his body atop mine-he was still feeding! I wrapped my legs around him and no longer hid my moans; my entire body trembled with ecstasy and I whimpered, causing his teeth to dig ever deeper into my neck. Moments filled with pure pleasure passed before I began to feel woozy and I tapped his head. "O-Okay....oh...m-master t-that's....oh god! B-Blood boy t-that's...that's enough.."

I breathed, and as the last word left my lips, he pulled his fangs away, kissing where the puncture marks were on my skin. He sat up above me, my blood lining his lips, and a grin set on his teeth. My eyelids, however, were half closed, and there was a smile on my lips. "If we have nothing else, June, we have feeding time." He winked, lifting me up carefully, so I wouldn't get too dizzy and vomit. However, after he lifted me up, I spotted Sebastian skulking around the ring, watching us with pure hatred in his eyes.

**We left for 'lunch' a little while after-Dustin had also seen the entire thing unfold, and couldn't stop grinning at the two of us! Especially since, at his angle, he saw how soaked I was. After we sat and began to eat (the Vampire and Dustin drank blood-I had actual food) the Emperor asked to join us! He shuffled up from behind me and got our attention by tapping his cane softly against the floor-he sat beside Dustin, for the Vampire sat beside me, with his arm stretched around my waist. "We need leaders, O.G., leaders for the troops for this war. And you are a leader." Said the Emperor; the Vampire puffed out his chest and I shook my head.

"No, no!" I said, turning from him, to the Emperor. "Things have just began to get settled and good, he can't-"

"I must" said the Vampire, rubbing my back softly. "It would be an honor to serve my people once, twice, why, it's more than any Vampire King could hope for." He added, turning from me, to the Emperor. The Emperor smiled and nodded, before looking to me.

"Of course, Mademoiselle June, you may also go with him; you seem to be quite the leader yourself." Said the Emperor, but, before I could say anything, The Vampire chimed in.

"No-never. She will not go to war."

"Why ever so not?" The Emperor asked

"Because she is not even a vampire, your highness! She is a half! She does not know hand-to-hand combat-she cannot even punch!" The Vampire protested and the Emperor chuckled.

"She seemed to handle herself pretty well in your fight with Sebastian." Replied the Emperor with a smug grin-quieting the Vampire. "And, as for not being a vampire, you, as her master, and, as it seems, lover, are ordered to make her one."