Pyre (Frerard, Rikey, Ryden, Petekey)

22: Sometimes Answers Only Create More Questions

Lindsey shifted her feet irritably, physically gritting her teeth together to stop herself from interrupting Bert as he introduced yet another new vampire to the coven, another orphan, another lost child who now had a home, but his safe arrival only had Lindsey wondering how many more of their kind were still out there. It was most likely in the hundreds, if that many vampires had managed to survive on their own for so long, and fuck - despite the happiness Lindsey felt over the finding of three of her lost brethren, her heart ached at the thought of the ones they had yet to discover.

It didn't help that this one looked much worse for wear than the other two that had preceded him; he seemed to be on death's door actually, even though he swore he was okay, just tired, but his rail thin frame and weary eyes spoke a different story, his weakened countenance causing Lindsey to squeeze her eyes shut so she would stop pondering over how terrible his suffering had been, even though it was over now, hopefully.

Lindsey felt so useless standing there, nodding along to everything Bert said even though she didn't agree with half of it, because she should be out there helping people like Gerard, she could be guiding them to a safe haven right now, but no - she was stuck here, all because of Bert's foolish rules and her own dismal failings.

A sudden rush of survivors guilt bubbled to life inside of Lindsey's chest, her breath catching in her throat as she did her best not to project her distress to the newcomers, but Lindsey's brain was far away from the proceedings happening in front of her, instead, her heart was in the expansive wilderness surrounding them, her mind drifting into the past, and what she could have done differently, and what they should be changing now.

Lindsey had fucked up with her own coven, she knew that, the hunters attack was bitter proof of her misdeeds, but Lindsey had learned from those mistakes, and she wanted to try again, she ached to be free from Bert's old fashion ideals so she could actually make a difference in the world instead of rotting away underground.

Lindsey wanted to atone for all the deaths that had been caused by her negligence by saving those of her kind who had no idea that covens still existed, the desire had flared into existence recently, and although she had taken small steps toward her goal, she hadn't made much progress.

There was a large obstacle standing in Lindsey's way in the form of Bert, because he would never allow Lindsey to wander free looking for refugees, hell - he didn't even like it when she went into town alone, and his constant pandering to the despicable humans who had almost eradicated them had Lindsey silently seething, because even though his methods had worked in keeping them secreted away, it was the plan of a coward, and Lindsey's initial gratitude toward him was ebbing thinner by the day.

Lindsey did understand why Bert held so firmly to his carefully constructed rules, because despite the humiliation they brought with them, they did work, and the humans remained clueless about the nest of vampires located right outside of their city, but that wasn't the way it should be, the humans should be cowering in fear because of them, not the other way around.

But Bert didn't see things that way, he metaphorically bowed down to the humans, avoiding their large gatherings, hunting far from the nearby town in the hopes of drawing attention away from their true home, consequentially trapping them in the coven during all hours when they should be out ruling the night like they used to in the past, and fuck - Lindsey wanted that life back, but it was never going to happen if someone didn't take the first step down the road which would lead to the revival of the vampires.

It wouldn't be easy of course, Lindsey wasn't stupid, and she knew the humans far outnumbered them by this point, but now the vampires had the element of surprise on their side, hell - two-thirds of the population believed they were fictional creatures that didn't exist outside of the silver screen, only the hunters knew of them, but a few carefully orchestrated strikes against their main bases would even the odds in their favor, so it was possible, if only Bert would understand that.