Post by silent.lullaby on Jul 12, 2010 11:06:46 GMT -5
Dusk .::Chapter 16::. Tribunal
Now you might be thinking the Tribunal would be held in the dungeon of a big, black castle. That the Elders would all be dressed in cloaks that would have put any cult to shame. That the only light would come from candles, and you couldn’t be more wrong.
The building was modern, and looked like a business office. When we walked in, we were greeted by the receptionist, a pretty petite blonde with long wavy hair and big blue eyes. “Mr. Asher, it’s about time you returned.” She greeted while standing and walking around the oak wood desk. “And who might she be, such a little cutie pie,” she said pinching my cheeks and I instinctually swatted her hands away rather than take it. Which for me was odd. I was passive, if the little petite thirty-something blonde wanted to pinch my cheeks, fine. I’d get over it. But that wasn’t what happened.
She held her wrist and stared at me, her eyes misting and I realized something in that moment. She only had one heart thumping away in her chest. Pumping, thumping, pushing blood through her system and I realized she was human. Shit.
“Sorry, I just re-acted.”
The misting in her eyes turned to tears and Calum held her wrist in his hand and put an arm over her shoulder, “we’ll take you to the infirmary Amy.” He looked over his shoulder at me, “wait there.”
“Amy,” I whispered and I could hear the slightly bitter tone in my own voice. He’d called her Amy, she was the receptionist, what did he have some form of relationship with her? Did it matter? Maybe he just knew her because he worked her often. I mean, he could have friends... I’d just prefer it if they weren’t the most beautiful little package ever. That and I wish she wouldn’t have treated me like a child...
I thought about it, anyone else, any other situation, I would have let it go. I would have taken the cheek pinching, and the ‘cutie pie’ and just put up with it. Beside Calum, the last thing I wanted was to be a ‘cutie pie’ or to get my cheeks pinched like I was some child. I was sixteen, that’s not to young. Sure as a vampire I was practically a baby, but she’s human, she just...
I kicked my foot, she just didn’t understand.
“Come on,” Calum’s hand was around my upper arm before I had realised he was there and he was dragging me toward the elevators, “we’re going to be late.” He pressed the ‘up’ button and we waited till the elevator dinged, the golden plated doors slid open and he pushed me forward first in and stepped in behind me.
He let go of my arm and pressed for the 50th and top floor. I crossed my arms over my chest in the corner and he paid me no mind.
Shocking.
He was always doing this. Being completely attentive, hinting towards more, a relationship of some sort. Then he goes all distant, and sometimes disappears all together.
“Nervous?” he asked.
In all honesty, with my mind on Calum, on being angry with him, I’d nearly forgotten to be nervous for the tribunal.
“What difference does it make?” I asked and the door dinged again as he stood staring at me through his bright blue eyes he studied me, the door opened and I turned toward it and we walked out together.
The roof was tinted glass, the sky was a dark blue the clouds slightly greyed by the tint. The room had white and grey marble floors, a semi circle of desks. Each one had one of the Elders behind it, all dressed formally, and I felt under dressed in my school duds of a pair of faded out blue jeans and a slightly too big t-shirt and black running shoes. I fiddled with the hem of my shirt nervously.
“Aerabella Lithe Williams.” The elder in the centre stood, “welcome to the tribunal. Please come forward, Michael.” He waved my father over as well.
My father put out his hands and I looked to the elders before placing mine over his, like the age of my childhood, my hands were still dwarfed by my fathers. “Do you sware that all that you say shall be the truth you know, the truth you believe?” My father recited, “do you sware on your Covenant?”
Most courts ask you to sware your truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God, and you place your hand on your chest and on the Bible. Not for a tribunal of vampires though. Most either don’t believe in God, or believe we are the damned.
For vampires, our Covenant is our extended family, keeping them safe is important, and they will keep us safe. Your Covenant is holy, is sacred, and is life its self. Swearing on it is not taken lightly.
“I do,” I replied nervously.
“Calum, bring forth the accused.”
I stood on the left side facing the Elders with my father. Calum came forward with Scarlet, she looked like a wreck, her fangs were out, her eyes sunken in all colour had drained from them the blood vessel in them were larger making outside of her iris completely red before the black and white void of the iris and pupil. Her breathing was wrong, more of a laboured breath, panting, her hair was devishily wild, she was wearing the same outfit of the last time I seen her.
I seen an elder with similar physical characteristics and knew it must be her great-many greats grandfather. He looked like in this life he was in his forties, same high cheekbones, a toned down greying red mop of hair, eyes like hers before this madness. He looked away from his great-many greats granddaughter and looked saddened.
“Miss Williams, please tell us all you know pertaining to this case for all the Elders of the Tribunal to hear.” The Elder in the centre said to me.
“I know no truth. I can only speculate based on what I’ve seen, and what I’ve heard.”
The Elder in the centre nodded patiently.
“Scarlet was just suddenly seeing Ethan, that’s the human boys name,” I specified. “It was a little strange, they hadn’t really spoken before at least, not that I’d seen.” I swallowed hard forcing my nervousness down. “My friends and I were curious, and Marlowe Shae of our Covenant, she asked Scarlet how they came to get to know each other. Scarlet declared they’d met one night where we were with her, we’d been at her house party and one of us had been with her the entire time. The human boys, Ethan, Kayleb and Duke had found their way to the party, and... and Zakia Phorence, Faust DeEnico, and I each took one to erase their memory of the party, the location and of the entire night. They shouldn’t have been there, they weren’t invited.” I sighed, “some of the other’s there were... acting too much like what we are for humans to be around. We needed to get them to leave, no questions, no memories.”
I paused and looked over at my friend whom was staring at me through those void eyes. I swallowed hard and continued. “On the Monday, they were ‘going out’ Ethan’s totally gone over her. That’s all I know.”
“Very good Miss Williams, you may go now.”
“But... what’s going to happen to Scarlet?”
“That’s for us to decide, and it’s not of your concern.”
“She’s my friend!” I cried out before I realized who it was I was talking back too.
“It’s time for you to go Miss Williams.”
I looked over to Scarlet, “what did you do to her?”
“Honey, leave. Now.” My father ordered but I ignored him stepping forward before he could grab me.
“What did you do to her!” I shouted angrily, and Calum was the one who caught my arms.
“Put her in a cell for an hour Calum, for sheer insubordination.”
I tipped my head back to see Calum’s face of stone he started dragging me and I shifted my weight forward trying to combat his pulling. “Let me go Calum! Let me go!” I wiggled more trying to wrench myself free. “Dad!” I cried out, but he looked away from me.
“Newborns,” I heard one of the elders scoff.
Now you might be thinking the Tribunal would be held in the dungeon of a big, black castle. That the Elders would all be dressed in cloaks that would have put any cult to shame. That the only light would come from candles, and you couldn’t be more wrong.
The building was modern, and looked like a business office. When we walked in, we were greeted by the receptionist, a pretty petite blonde with long wavy hair and big blue eyes. “Mr. Asher, it’s about time you returned.” She greeted while standing and walking around the oak wood desk. “And who might she be, such a little cutie pie,” she said pinching my cheeks and I instinctually swatted her hands away rather than take it. Which for me was odd. I was passive, if the little petite thirty-something blonde wanted to pinch my cheeks, fine. I’d get over it. But that wasn’t what happened.
She held her wrist and stared at me, her eyes misting and I realized something in that moment. She only had one heart thumping away in her chest. Pumping, thumping, pushing blood through her system and I realized she was human. Shit.
“Sorry, I just re-acted.”
The misting in her eyes turned to tears and Calum held her wrist in his hand and put an arm over her shoulder, “we’ll take you to the infirmary Amy.” He looked over his shoulder at me, “wait there.”
“Amy,” I whispered and I could hear the slightly bitter tone in my own voice. He’d called her Amy, she was the receptionist, what did he have some form of relationship with her? Did it matter? Maybe he just knew her because he worked her often. I mean, he could have friends... I’d just prefer it if they weren’t the most beautiful little package ever. That and I wish she wouldn’t have treated me like a child...
I thought about it, anyone else, any other situation, I would have let it go. I would have taken the cheek pinching, and the ‘cutie pie’ and just put up with it. Beside Calum, the last thing I wanted was to be a ‘cutie pie’ or to get my cheeks pinched like I was some child. I was sixteen, that’s not to young. Sure as a vampire I was practically a baby, but she’s human, she just...
I kicked my foot, she just didn’t understand.
“Come on,” Calum’s hand was around my upper arm before I had realised he was there and he was dragging me toward the elevators, “we’re going to be late.” He pressed the ‘up’ button and we waited till the elevator dinged, the golden plated doors slid open and he pushed me forward first in and stepped in behind me.
He let go of my arm and pressed for the 50th and top floor. I crossed my arms over my chest in the corner and he paid me no mind.
Shocking.
He was always doing this. Being completely attentive, hinting towards more, a relationship of some sort. Then he goes all distant, and sometimes disappears all together.
“Nervous?” he asked.
In all honesty, with my mind on Calum, on being angry with him, I’d nearly forgotten to be nervous for the tribunal.
“What difference does it make?” I asked and the door dinged again as he stood staring at me through his bright blue eyes he studied me, the door opened and I turned toward it and we walked out together.
The roof was tinted glass, the sky was a dark blue the clouds slightly greyed by the tint. The room had white and grey marble floors, a semi circle of desks. Each one had one of the Elders behind it, all dressed formally, and I felt under dressed in my school duds of a pair of faded out blue jeans and a slightly too big t-shirt and black running shoes. I fiddled with the hem of my shirt nervously.
“Aerabella Lithe Williams.” The elder in the centre stood, “welcome to the tribunal. Please come forward, Michael.” He waved my father over as well.
My father put out his hands and I looked to the elders before placing mine over his, like the age of my childhood, my hands were still dwarfed by my fathers. “Do you sware that all that you say shall be the truth you know, the truth you believe?” My father recited, “do you sware on your Covenant?”
Most courts ask you to sware your truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God, and you place your hand on your chest and on the Bible. Not for a tribunal of vampires though. Most either don’t believe in God, or believe we are the damned.
For vampires, our Covenant is our extended family, keeping them safe is important, and they will keep us safe. Your Covenant is holy, is sacred, and is life its self. Swearing on it is not taken lightly.
“I do,” I replied nervously.
“Calum, bring forth the accused.”
I stood on the left side facing the Elders with my father. Calum came forward with Scarlet, she looked like a wreck, her fangs were out, her eyes sunken in all colour had drained from them the blood vessel in them were larger making outside of her iris completely red before the black and white void of the iris and pupil. Her breathing was wrong, more of a laboured breath, panting, her hair was devishily wild, she was wearing the same outfit of the last time I seen her.
I seen an elder with similar physical characteristics and knew it must be her great-many greats grandfather. He looked like in this life he was in his forties, same high cheekbones, a toned down greying red mop of hair, eyes like hers before this madness. He looked away from his great-many greats granddaughter and looked saddened.
“Miss Williams, please tell us all you know pertaining to this case for all the Elders of the Tribunal to hear.” The Elder in the centre said to me.
“I know no truth. I can only speculate based on what I’ve seen, and what I’ve heard.”
The Elder in the centre nodded patiently.
“Scarlet was just suddenly seeing Ethan, that’s the human boys name,” I specified. “It was a little strange, they hadn’t really spoken before at least, not that I’d seen.” I swallowed hard forcing my nervousness down. “My friends and I were curious, and Marlowe Shae of our Covenant, she asked Scarlet how they came to get to know each other. Scarlet declared they’d met one night where we were with her, we’d been at her house party and one of us had been with her the entire time. The human boys, Ethan, Kayleb and Duke had found their way to the party, and... and Zakia Phorence, Faust DeEnico, and I each took one to erase their memory of the party, the location and of the entire night. They shouldn’t have been there, they weren’t invited.” I sighed, “some of the other’s there were... acting too much like what we are for humans to be around. We needed to get them to leave, no questions, no memories.”
I paused and looked over at my friend whom was staring at me through those void eyes. I swallowed hard and continued. “On the Monday, they were ‘going out’ Ethan’s totally gone over her. That’s all I know.”
“Very good Miss Williams, you may go now.”
“But... what’s going to happen to Scarlet?”
“That’s for us to decide, and it’s not of your concern.”
“She’s my friend!” I cried out before I realized who it was I was talking back too.
“It’s time for you to go Miss Williams.”
I looked over to Scarlet, “what did you do to her?”
“Honey, leave. Now.” My father ordered but I ignored him stepping forward before he could grab me.
“What did you do to her!” I shouted angrily, and Calum was the one who caught my arms.
“Put her in a cell for an hour Calum, for sheer insubordination.”
I tipped my head back to see Calum’s face of stone he started dragging me and I shifted my weight forward trying to combat his pulling. “Let me go Calum! Let me go!” I wiggled more trying to wrench myself free. “Dad!” I cried out, but he looked away from me.
“Newborns,” I heard one of the elders scoff.