Stepping into the meeting hall I can see the kaleidoscopic colours that make up my sister’s auras filling the room as each one enters and takes their seat around the large circular table in the centre of the room. The table is gargantuan in size. Has to be to fit all one hundred and one of us. Hiranur and I take our seats and once everyone has gotten settled, our sister Imak, with her soft celadon aura and glittering gold hue stands to address us all. Aside from the unique shades, all of my sister’s auras have a gold glittering hue, which I’ve learned is unique to our species.
Among us, there is no leader or chief as we handle things equally, but when it comes to overseeing meetings we do take turns. It just keeps things more balanced that way.
I can hear the sound of rustling paper as I watch Imak, pass out dossiers. Once my dossier makes its way to my hands, I open it and begin running my fingers over the small bumps that fill the page. Naturally, I’m the only one who has to have a separate dossier that’s done in brail. They’ve never complained about the little accommodations they have to make for me, and I’m very grateful to my sisters for that. If anything they act a little more protective, but never overbearing. I’m blessed to have such a loving family.
“First order of business,” Imak begins, “Two mutolupus packs are having a land dispute in Argentina and Alpha Filipe of the Angatupyry Pack has reached out seeking our assistance as it seems the Luison Pack has threatened to go to war over the matter.”
“It says here they established and agreed to their pack borders three centuries ago. Why the sudden feuding over territory?” asks Kelebek.
“The Angatupyry Pack has grown a great deal in recent centuries making it the third largest pack in Argentina. They need to expand their borders in order to make more room for their growing numbers. However, as you can see from the maps included, if they expand to the east, west and north of the pack, then they’re crossing into human territory and it’s a risk they don’t want to take. They feel the only logical option is to expand south, but that then means they’re cutting into Luison territory. Luison are a smaller pack, known for rarely letting in new members, preferring to allow members who find their animais outside the pack to leave the pack instead of welcoming their soulmates in. They don’t wish to relinquish any of their land. Angatupyry has offered to pay for the land, but that seemed to just infuriate Alpha Bautista who responded by threatening them with war,” Imak explains.
“That seems like suicide. Luison has 604 pack members, whereas Angatupyry has 1438. Declaring war on a pack that is more than double theirs is just idiotic,” says Lale in disapproval.
“While they do have fewer members, their warriors are, however, elite. There’s no guarantee they’ll win, but they would certainly cause a great deal of casualties in their attempts at victory. Either way, it would be senseless loss of life. This doesn’t need to result in war. We should step in and ensure a peaceful resolution,” argues Sanem.
“All those in favour, raise your hand,” instructs Imak. I watch as the auras of seventy-three arms are raised into the air, my own included. If we can prevent even a single life being lost, then we should always do so.
“Then it’s settled,” says Imak.
I listen as she pulls a glass bowl towards herself. This is how things are done here. Instead of anyone feeling excluded or anyone being overworked, our names are drawn out of a bowl to keep things even. Everything we do is about keeping peace, that includes amongst ourselves. I listen as Imak’s hand rustles around inside the bowl, and I wonder whose names she will pull out.
“Derya. You shall go to the packs to ensure a peaceful resolution,” announces Imak.
Derya nods, “Consider it done.”
“Next order of business is a unique one,” says Imak as we all turn to the next page. I fail to hide my surprise as I feel the words under my fingertips.
“A visum?” Nuray says, her voice carrying the same surprise I, and I’m sure many of us, feel. I can’t remember the last time we had to handle a situation regarding a visum… actually I can’t recall ever having to do that.
“I’m as surprised as you are, but it would seem this particular visum hasn’t learned from past mistakes,” Imak says gravely.
Many supernatural beings were created by the Gods in an attempt to save and preserve human life, but some species didn’t have such humble beginnings. Visums are one of them. Visums were once human beings who found themselves targets of the Goddess Merlos. Merlos is the Goddess of Darkness and Shadows, with the ability to see the darkness within people. When she encounters humans with a great amount of darkness inside them, who have committed serious and repeated acts of betrayal against their fellow man, she curses them to become a visum. Forced to spend eternity granting a wish to anyone who touches them. An eternity forced to do for others, as penance for their misdeeds.
“How on earth has a visum earned the attention of the Delegation?” asks Setia in confusion.
“I suppose after centuries of a cursed life she got fed up. It seems she is intentionally allowing herself to come into physical contact with unsavoury people so that she can grant what she knows will be devastating wishes. As we know, visums can only grant one wish to the people they become tied to, but she appears to be making quick work of them. Moving from one to the next. After some investigating, it would seem she recently granted the wish of a young human man who… at the time was wanted for stalking a young woman. The visum in question granted his wish and while we can’t be certain what he wished for without asking, if you keep reading you can see what the end result was,” Imak says gravely.
My fingers fly across the page as I read the report and I can feel the blood drain from my face and my stomach turn. I’ve been around for tens of thousands of years, and I’ve witnessed all levels of depravity this world has to offer, and yet it never gets any easier. The poor young woman this man was accused of stalking was found mutilated beyond recognition in his flat. Her body parts covering his bedroom wall like some grotesque Ed Gein-inspired wallpaper. Police officials in England are still at a loss for words on how he managed to do it, but there’s no denying his guilt. They’ll never know magic was the cause but finding a woman’s body parts covering every surface of a man’s room leaves little debate for reasonable doubt. Human laws need to take stalking far more seriously. Even in the supernatural world stalking occurs, and the results can be catastrophic.
“It is important we step in and bring this visum to justice. If we don’t I’m sure Merlos herself will handle the matter and I’m sure it won’t be pretty,” says Imak in warning.
“So? This woman is seeking psychopaths so she can grant their wishes and cause suffering and chaos. Let Merlos deal with her, she deserves a fate far worse than anything we can arrange for her and I’m sure Merlos can get creative. Plus, she created her, she should fix it,” says Ceren, disgust coating her words.
“We can’t be certain if or when Merlos would intervene. If we sit back and wait more people could be hurt, and things could get worse before they get better. We should capture her and place her in the cells, then have mother reach out to Merlos and see how she wishes to proceed,” suggests Defne.
“All those in favour of Defne’s idea?” Imak asks.
I watch as eighty-four hands raise into the air, mine included. I’m all for Merlos punishing this visum for their crimes, but Merlos rarely bothers with matters on earth, so who knows how long it could be until she decides to do something, if at all. It’s best we nip this in the bud immediately.
“Then it’s agreed,” says Imak as she again rustles her hand inside the glass bowl. “Kelebek and Feray, you will be handling the matter,” she announces after drawing their names from the bowl.
“We’ll have her brought back as soon as possible. We may ask Arthwin or Aulen to assist us in tracking the visum down,” says Feray.
“Good idea,” agrees Imak, “Now, final order of business,” she says as we all turn to the next page in our dossiers, “As you can see there has been an unusual spike in sanguidae attacks in Auckland, New Zealand.”
“New Zealand? They’ve never seen a high number of sanguidae there ever, maybe a handful, but nothing that warranted our intervention,” says Zehra.
“To be fair our intervention has almost never been required,” I argue.
“Yildiz is right, for thousands of years whenever there’s an increase in sanguidae numbers, by the time we show up the situation has already been dealt with, we just never knew by who or why,” says Aiyla, finishing my train of thought.
Over the thousands of years sanguidae have existed there have been spikes in their activity which means an increase in their numbers. But whenever we arrive to handle it, we find they have disappeared off the face of the earth or a small number were left dead. We’ve looked into it time and time again but never could understand what was happening. Either way, the situations were being handled and efficiently, so we didn’t feel compelled to overanalyse it.
When a sanguidae goes on a killing spree, as vicious as the attacks are, the chances of humans ever discovering them is slim to none. Humans hold to their folklores very tightly, so what they know about what they call ‘vampires’ is vastly different from their real life counterparts. So a human is only likely to think ‘vampire’ if someone shows up exsanguinated with two puncture marks on their necks in the dead of night, which as comical as that is, does allow real sanguidae to operate in perfect obscurity.
Irshiusts are walking encyclopedias for the supernatural, and yet the origins of sanguidae are entirely unknown to us. We have asked our mother numerous times, but she remains tight-lipped about it. What we do know is they are immortal, with blood red irises and an unquenchable need for blood. They’re bound by their hunger that brings with it a ritualistic compulsion to drain the blood of their victims and eat their hearts. Becoming a sanguidae is not as simple as you might think. You see, when they feed, their saliva carries the… condition, I’ll say, with it, into the victim’s bloodstream, but with the body drained and heart gone there’s nothing for the condition to take root in. However, if the heart is left unconsumed, the condition is able to take over turning their victims into a sanguidae. It’s rare, but it does happen, and it seems it’s happening a lot right now in New Zealand.
“Forty-three victims in the last three days alone have been found in a city centre in Auckland. From the severe wounds authorities first thought animal attack, but given the removal of the hearts, they’re now looking for either a serial killer or a terrorist group,” says Imak.
“Terrorists? Really? Since when do terrorists drain people of blood and rip out their hearts?” scoffs Ceren.
“It’s not that unrealistic for them to consider the idea of a terrorist cell. A few years ago in Australia a terrorist cell was caught who had planned to go on a killing spree beheading people, which is far more gruesome and unexpected than their usual style of bombings,” argues Elif.
“Regardless, these are without a doubt sanguidae attacks. It’s unclear how many there are. It’s possible this could be the act of one sanguidae in the middle of a blood craze, or this is the work of a newly formed sept. Only one way to find out. I think for now, two of us will be enough to assess and handle the situation, but should more of us be needed then naturally, more of us will step in,” says Imak. Imak once against places her hand in the glass bowl and rummages around drawing the selected names. “Yildiz and Beste,” she announces.
“Yes!” Beste cheers making many of us chuckle.
“Yildiz, given your recent work with the nagata you’re welcome to decline, and I can pull out another name,” Imak offers.
“No, I’m happy to do it,” I say with a smile.
She nods, “Very well. Keep us up to date on how things go. Chances are this may end up being another case of us showing up only to find the situation already handled.”
“We’ll let you know,” says Beste.
“Then this meeting is adjourned, and everyone is dismissed,” declares Imak, as everyone rises from their seats and proceeds to leave the room.
I’m probably a bad person for hoping whoever has been dealing with the sanguidaes all these years doesn’t make an appearance. It’s incredibly selfish, and I’ll never admit to it out loud. I just fear if I stay here dwelling over my mystery animai I will truly go insane. “Yildiz?” I hear Beste call, pulling me from my thoughts. “Hmm?” I ask, standing and turning towards her, her stunning coquelicot aura with its gold glittering hue shining around her. “You seem a little distracted,” she observes. “I have a few things on my mind, but it won’t interfere with the mission, I promise,” I say sincerely. “That’s good.” I can hear the smile in her voice as she wraps her arm around me, her delightful scent of warm sugar and fresh rain enveloping me, “Let’s go get dressed and then grab our toys,” she says with excitement. I chuckle, “Still calling weapons ‘toys’ huh?” “They are to me,” she says with a grin in her voice. We each go our separate ways, with me returning to my room to shower
“We’re definitely dealing with a sept,” muses Beste. “Six I’d say, based on the scents I’m picking up. Not counting the decomposing bodies,” I say solemnly. Sanguidae scents are much like everyone else’s, but theirs has a distinct metallic undertone that defines them from other species. We’ve only been in Auckland for thirty minutes, and we’ve already stumbled on another pile of bodies. There has been no attempt to hide the bodies from the public, they’ve just been mutilated and discarded. Left here to rot like trash. I know a blood craze can rob a sanguidae of their humanity, but I’m starting to believe that’s not the case. If even one, let alone all six were in the middle of a craze the body count would be much higher, and given how close we are to people, we’d more than likely hear screaming and a city fleeing in fear. “There’s something else I’m noticing,” says Beste. “What’s that?” “I can see why the authorities assumed an animal did this. These poor humans were savagely att
I take off, continuing to follow the trail and it’s not long before the scents begin to get stronger. As the scents get stronger I begin to pick up the sound of people conversing. I slow down my approach as their words become clearer, and it becomes obvious I’ve found the people I’m looking for. I sniff around, assessing my surroundings; smelling the trees around me. I click my tongue to discern how far away they are and walk over to what sounds like the nearest tree. It feels large and sturdy. I make quick work climbing up high into the tree top calculating how high I am as I climb so I can calculate how far the drop will be, then perch myself on a branch. From here I can easily spot the group of sanguidae I’m after. They’re a short distance away, all six of them. Each one illuminated by their different coloured auras, but each aura is outlined by a hue of blood red – common in the auras of sanguidaes. They’re laughing and enjoying themselves despite the fact they just murdered innoce
My body has become a livewire, every synapse firing at hyperspeed sending my senses into overdrive. My body feels hot and flushed as if I’ve been basking in the sun for hours. My heart has picked up speed and my mouth is salivating. My body is in such a state of overload I can’t move. I’m completely frozen, as a thousand questions race through my mind. Now that I am in close proximity to his scent, I can pick up the metallic undertone in his scent, but far more intense than what I’ve scented before.My animai is a sanguidae?! Why is he here? Why did he stop me? And how in the name of the Gods did his body shatter my sword?! I might have killed him! I have so much I want to ask I don’t know where to begin.“Not her,” comes his deep and warm voice that elicits a shiver from me.“What?” I whisper, trying to process that fact I’ve finally heard his voice and what he meant by what he said. I take what’s left of my katana and place it back in its scabbard.“I can’t let you hurt her, and as
An animai. A fucking animai. Has Zarseti lost her fucking mind?! How is that even remotely possible? This was meant to be a simple retrieval; how did this all happen? I had sensed the newly made sanguidae as soon as they turned. As the first, I am connected to each and every one, so I can feel when another comes into being. A fact that shames and disgusts me to my core. They had someone guiding them, so I didn’t interfere right away, but once I knew their supposed leader was as dumb as a doornail with the traits of a serial killer, I knew I had to step in. For thousands of years, I’ve managed to get to them before the Delegation could, but for once they beat me to it, but I never could have expected things to turn out this way. The moment I appeared; her scent overtook me. It nearly threw thousands of years of self-control out the window. Her scent was the most glorious thing I’ve ever smelt in my entire existence. She smelled of warm vanilla and orchids fresh on the vine at the pea
I disappear only to reappear in front of a large white double door. With no effort on my part, I push my arms in front of me blasting the doors open as my hands connect with the wood. I storm through the pristine 14,000 sqft villa of all white, turquoise, and deep blue accents with marble floors. I pass the living area, pass the kitchen and storm right out to the backyard. I step out into the oceanfront oasis seeking my target. I make my way through the white stone paths that divide the many swimming areas, proceed past the palm trees and up the stone steps until I get to the pool at the far end. As I reach the top platform, I look down into the clear turquoise waters at the woman I seek, her 7’1” curvaceous frame lazily floating on the water’s surface. Her fuchsia hair sprawled out around her and her white bikini clinging to her bronze skin. “Is there a reason why someone who can pop in wherever he likes, felt the need to break down my front door?” she casually asks, her eyes remain
After Beste and I returned to the Kartheca we debriefed our sisters on what had happened regarding the venator and sanguidae. I was sure to explain to my sisters about meeting the very first sanguidae and how he has been the one behind the disappearances all these years. That definitely got them all hyped up. I left out the part about him being my animai though. Omitting the truth is as close as we can get to lying and I am giving it my all these days. As soon as the formalities of the job are out of the way, I excuse myself and return my weapons to the armoury, being sure to clean them before putting them away. Except for the katana which is now just a handle with the remnants of a broken blade protruding from the handle. I then rush to my room, close the door, and take in a deep breath. “MOTHER! Mother, please. I need to speak to you. I don’t wish to question the gift you’ve given me, but I need to understand what’s going on. I need your help,” I beg as I sit down on my bed. I los
It’s taken a couple of days, but I’ve finally gotten the newborns settled at the safe house. It’s a 36,000-square-foot house I acquired in Sweden, so they’ve got plenty of room to wander and avoid each other if they have to. They’re struggling with their hunger but it’s to be expected. They’re at least willing to learn control. Either way, taking care of them is definitely keeping me distracted from thinking about a certain gold-glittery mocha-skinned beauty. For thousands of years taking care of newborns was an obligation, now it’s a welcome interference. While the newborns are doing well, the only person not adjusting – or trying to adjust – is Simon. He picks a fight with everyone and tries to act dominant. Which might go over better if it weren’t for how clueless he is. I’ve been meaning to have a chat with his maker and find out just what the fuck happened, but none of them were in a state for me to leave. They can’t kill each other, but they sure can inflict a lot of injuries on