Fangs of Desire (Book II) (Completed)

Chapter III

Emma stared at the pack of books in her hands and carried them over to a nearby desk, which felt pretty lightweight despite the thick pages and the hardcover. It was the second dozen of books that she had searched through this week, most of them having details about the past of some ancients and the clans that had kept on existing until today. She put the books down before pulling a chair to sit on and took one of them from the bundle, pushing away random papers with written notes to open some space. The mansion had a library as old as the building itself and provided her with a wide range of resources to go by.

Despite having a new lead to work on, she had near to no knowledge about the world of the kindred. The more she looked into it the less she grasped the wide sea of unknown around her. It wasn't just the kindred that occupied the world of the supernatural, and although pretty rare there were still some other creatures related to old curses and myths. She knew for one necromancers were one of them along with their thralls, and also ghouls which were basically humans endorsed with vampire blood. Some other myths included creatures like reapers, banshees and maenads, most known to be very few in numbers. It was a strange pattern that kept occuring with every new supernatural she found out about.

Breezing past through several books gave her basic knowledge on the clans and the ancients. The Elders Council consisted of a group of strong vampires that kept hierarchy and order in place, while ancients were more on the chaotic side. They never had any specific information related to their age and nobody seemed to bother them or question their actions. Nehut had been a strict supporter of many anarchist groups throughout the history, as Dominic had mentioned before. There were other ancients like Valeris who had been on the more sophisticated side of the spectrum and Ophen, a current supporter of the council. Emma couldn't help but wonder if she would find Jean's mother in between those names, but she doubted the books had much information about the remainder.

Another few hours into research proved futile to be of any use and Emma sighed in frustration, closing the book in her hands and putting it aside on the ever growing pile. She had started doubting if any of the books in the library had information that would guide her through this mess. She had just finished stacking the books in an order when her attention switched back to the door to see Danielle enter with a cup of coffee in her hands, closing it after her and walking over with quiet steps. She stood next to the table and sipped from her coffee,

"You should take a short break, you've been here for days."

"It's alright, I don't feel tired."

Danielle put a hand on her shoulder,

"Maybe you'd like some company then?"

Emma looked up at her and smiled,

"Sure, I'm not doing any better on my own anyway."

Danielle pushed a few books aside and put the coffee mug on the table, reaching for a few notes and looking through them.

"You've done a lot of research."

She switched through a few pages with interested eyes.

"So there really are other creatures among us huh. I guess it'd be silly to think that vampires exist while no other supernatural does."

Emma nodded, drumming her nails on the wooden table.

"I don't think there's enough information on them in this library though. I've been wanting to have a word with Kat when she comes back, she seems to know more about these."

"Oh?" Danielle switched in her seat, taking a sip from her coffee, "I saw her on my way here, she should still be around."

Emma beamed up at that, almost throwing the notes in her hand aside while sitting up.