Vampyre Fete

Hela paused outside the massive double doors leading into the dining hall of Orlock's castle and listened to the voices she could hear coming from within.  She could only pick up two , one male and one female, but she could sense a total of five people beyond the solid wood, one of whom was their host this evening; Maxmillian Orlock.  Hela knew of him a great deal more than she cared to admit.  In fact, she had known of him when the vampire council had been in power, knew he was once a member of that same council.   She sighed as she remembered those long lost elders; Gilles de Rais, Elizabeth Bathory, St. Germain, Barbara de Cilly, better known as Carmilla, and Grigorie Rasputin.  Many of them had been dear friends of hers and had even invited her to join the council but she had no interest in vampire politics.  Then, the council mysteriously vanished; the only member that remained was Orlock.  She believed that villain was somehow behind the council's disappearance, but there was nothing to be done about it.  With the council's fall, chaos had ensued.  Every day was a war against rogues of their own kind on one front and humans on the other with all three sides losing.  That reason alone was why she had finally accepted Orlock's invitation to this 'dinner'.
Straightening her shoulders, she pushed open the doors and made her way into the hall, using her mind to reach out and feel where objects were so as not to walk into anything.  She didn't need her sight to know that all eyes were on her, studying this new addition to their gathering. "Hela," Orlock greeted her, taking her hand and leading her to a chair near the head of the table to his left, "how good of you to join us."
"Yes, well, I believe dinner between old acquaintances is a nice change during these troubling times, though I must admit that I don't sense any others that I am familiar with." She said pointedly.
"Ah, then allow me to introduce you.  The young man directly across from you is Manos de Invisibles."
"How do you do?" The other vampire asked and Hela felt him feeling about the edge of her mental barrier.  She sensed little more than curiosity from the brush of his mind against hers, but regardless she reached out mentally and smacked his thoughts away just hard enough to smart and leave him with a small headache before she verbally addressed him.
"You should know I don't appreciate it when people try to invade my thoughts without permission, regardless of their intentions."
" Sorry," Manos said, "I was just…"
"Wondering if I could see?" Hela finished, "The answer is no.  My eyes cannot see anything, though my mind is quite capable of seeing things my eyes could never hope to."
"It won't happen again." He said.
Hela contemplated a moment before she sent him a metal message. 'All is forgiven if you will lend me your eyes to see the others present.'
'By all means, I would enjoy the opportunity to experience a possession.'
Hela couldn't help the smile that made the corners of her mouth twitch. 'You're a strange one, aren't you?' She said as she slipped into his mind to see through his eyes.
'Not at all, I simply enjoy the pursuit of knowledge.  I consider this an experiment.'
'Sorry to disappoint you, but you will still have complete control over your body. I'm merely an observer.'
"Whoever heard of a blind vampire? Who is she anyway? Surely she can't be a monarch like us, not in her condition." The female voice Hela had heard while outside the doors said and Manos turned to his right so Hela could see who was speaking.
"The young lady beside Manos is Miss Paige Peterson." Orlock said to her body while she observed the other female from within Manos.
Paige looked like a child of about ten, possibly twelve years of age.  Her eyes were golden in color and her raven hair hung in ringlets just past her shoulder blades.  She wore a black evening gown, though what design or style Hela couldn't say because it was forever moving and changing shape as if made of living shadows. 'So she can control darkness.' She thought to herself.
"Hush you stupid girl. Doncha know who you be talkin' to?" the vampire to Paige's right said.  He was dark skinned and wore his hair in dreadlocks.  His eyes were green and reptilian looking and, upon closer inspection, Hela saw that every last one of his teeth were fangs.  She guessed him to be Jamaican from his accent and a shape shifter from his appearance.  "Dat be Hela, one of de oldest vampires alive.  She don take kindly to dos dat disrespect 'er.  You be wise to be on your best behavior." Then he turned to Hela's body with an apologetic smile. "Forgive de liddle one, mum.  She a bit cocky and has a smart moud on her, but she a good girl at heart.  I be Baraka by de way."
Paige crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. "Hmph.  I don't fear some ancient I've never even heard of."
"You really ought to," a new voice said and Manos turned to the door. Another vampire had just arrived.  This one had a long hooked nose and wore a ridiculous plaid suit.  He had beady black eyes with a barely discernable red tint to them and carried an instrument case in his hand. "You have no idea what she can do with that mind of hers." He finished and turned to Hela's body. "Hello Hela, how've you been? It's been ages."
Hela hissed angrily in Manos's head at the sight of him. 'I take it you know him.' Manos said, stating the obvious.
'Frankie Gammyfoot, possibly the greatest illusion using vampire in existence with the exception of maybe Orlock.  However, unlike Orlock, his power doesn't come from his eyes but from the instrument in the case.  The music it emits is hypnotic even to someone as resistant to psychic abilities as myself.  I battled him once., before I lost my sight.'
'Over what?'
'He invaded my territory in Northern Germany and lured 130 children away to his territory in Romania with that pipe of his.  I was trying to bring them back.'
'Who won?'
'A draw obviously since we're both alive.  It wasn't until years later, after all the families of those children had died off that he finally told me where he'd taken them.'
'Where were they?'
'Transylvania.'
'Why does all of this sound familiar?'
'You ever hear the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamlain?'
'Yes.'
'That's him.' She said and retreaded from Manos's mind as she stood from her seat to face Frankie.  "Why are you here, Piper?" she asked, her voice hard and frozen in anger.
"Orlock invited me of course and when I sensed you here as well it brought back such fond memories of our last meeting."
"You could have petitioned me for the money, Piper.  You lured the children to spite me."
"Oh please, Hela, we both know you would have denied me payment for my services.  Besides, I needed food for my long journey home."
Hela's hands fisted at her sides as her ire rose. "The rats were your doing in the first place, another one of your pipe tricks."
"True, but I enjoyed watching you squirm."
Enraged, Hela lashed out, slamming Frankie against the wall with the full force of her mind.  It had been centuries since they'd last met and he was actually stunned at how much more powerful she was.  "I will not stand for this insolence, Piper." She said, coming to stand in front of him, her telekinetic abilities holding him so hard he couldn't even twitch a finger let alone reach for his pipe to counter,
"You're stronger than I remember." He said trying to sound light hearted.
"Much has changed in that time." She said, her tone clipped.
"I'll say," he agreed and took a closer look at her. This was definitely not the same vampire he'd faced down so long ago. He remembered her with the sky in her eyes and sunbeams for hair. Now, her spun gold locks were pale blonde and her eyes were lifeless. "you're blind." He finished, even more stunned and very upset that he had been bested by someone who couldn't even see him.
"I don't need my sight to finish you." She said and laid her porcelain hand against his cheek.  "Goodbye, Frankie.  Parting is such sweet sorrow." Everyone in the room watched as Frankie turned scarlet and began to choke and convulse violently. Liquid filled gurgling sounds came from his throat when he opened his mouth to scream and blood began to flow from the sides, his eyes, ears and even seeped out from his hair follicles. It was over in only a few moments and deftly, Hela tossed his body onto the table and took her seat again, breathing a little heavily.  A fine sheen of sweat covered her flushed face and her now vibrant blonde hair shone despite the low lighting.
"What the hell was that!?" Paige exclaimed, shaken by what she had just witnessed.
Hela ignored the girl, instead focusing on bringing her breathing under control and cool her feverish body.  It was a weakness she could never let anyone discover; when she used that power she regained her sight, albeit temporarily. 'That was impressive.' Manos said in her thoughts and she peered at him through her hair. Her sight was fading again, fast, but she wanted to see him once as he couldn't very well look at himself while she was in his mind. She was just able to glimpse blonde hair slicked back and a black Armani suit before her vision vanished entirely again, leaving her alone in darkness once more.
"Well now this is unfortunate." Orlock said.  "I'd hoped to include Frankie in the proposal."
"Want me to dispose of the body?" Another male voice asked.
"It is rather unsavory to leave him there. He'll be in the way of dinner. Don't you agree, Amon?"
'Lend me your eyes once more?' Hela asked Manos.
'Be my guest.' The vampire said and Hela entered him once more in time to see the only remaining vampire reanimate Frankie's bloodied corpse long enough for it to walk to a window, burst into flames, and plunge headlong out said window.
'A necromancer and fire user, dangerous combination.' Hela said.  Amon had brown hair cropped to brush his shoulders and violet eyes.  He wore a long muddy duster and combat boots over ragged blue jeans and a grey t-shirt that were all just as muddy as his coat. No doubt he'd been digging for fresh materials before he'd arrived. As he sat back down , Orlock turned to Manos and locked gazes with him.
"Now, down to business." He said with a toothy smile that sent a chill through Hela.  Since Manos was looking directly at Orlock's eyes, Hela was forced to look at them as well and just the sight of the gleam in them was enough to unnerve her.  It was almost as if he knew she was watching him from within Manos.  Suddenly very uneasy, Hela removed herself from him and retreated to the sanctuary of her mind.
"Yes, enough distractions." She agreed smoothly, her voice showing no sign on her unease.  "Why have you invited us here, Orlock?"
"Negotiations.  Everyone here, as well as several others that were, regrettably, unable to attend has proven themselves as reliable elders, more than capable of maintaining their respective territories with your own unique methods.  Now, aside from Hela and myself, none of you are old enough to remember the vampire council, but when they ruled there was relative peace."
"And with their fall the rogues went out of control and a three sided war began between the humans, vampires, and the rogues.  We all know the story." Paige interrupted, sounding bored. Hela took a deep breath and counted to ten.  Elder and monarch or not, the girl's rudeness was testing her, already thin, patience.  "Is that why you asked us here?" she continued, "You want to establish a new council?"  Hela's irritability vanished under this new information.  So that was his plan.
"Not at all, my dear Paige." Orlock purred.  "I'm merely suggesting an alliance amongst ourselves.  These rogues have become intolerable in their feeding habits.  They bring the extinction of the humans and in turn our own too close for comfort."
"Agreed," Baraka said, "dem rogue clans be notin' but trouble everywhere dey go.  What do ya propose, Orlock?"
"As I said, an alliance.  It's time we bring a new order to this world."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Amon asked, picking mud out from under his fingernails.  "What about the humans?"
"What about them?" Paige asked, "They procreate fast enough. Once we eliminate the rogue clans their numbers will bounce back."
"Are you so sure?" Amon returned, "We still have to feed as well. We can't starve ourselves while we wait for them to rebuild their population."
"He's right," Hela said, "The humans need to be protected before we focus on thinning out the rogue clans."
Further discussion was interrupted by the appearance of a human woman in a maid uniform carrying a tray laden with five goblets filled with blood given the smell.  "Ah, dinner." Orlock said as the maid handed each of them, except Hela, a goblet. It was only after the maid had moved away that Orlock seemed to notice she didn't have a cup. "Do forgive me Hela, would you like some?" he asked, the amusement rich in his voice. He hadn't had a goblet brought for her on purpose. She tilted her head to the side slightly and smiled politely, refusing to allow him to raise her ire.
"No thank you, Orlock. You know I don't drink human blood."
"Wait," Manos said, sitting his goblet down in interest, "you don't feed on humans?"
"Not for twenty years." She said, "Neither do my daughters or any other vampires living in my territory.  It is forbidden"
"How is that possible?" He asked, his interest piqued.
"Alternative food sources." She answered vaguely.
"Cowards." Paige interrupted, "Vampires that don't feed are no better than humans."
Hela came to her feet slowly in anger. "How I command my territory is none of your concern, child." She said.
"She does quite well for herself." Orlock said, "Her territory has one of the largest surviving populations of humans living on it."
Paige rolled her eyes, unimpressed. "Whatever you old bat," she said and Hela almost smacked the insolent whelp across the room as she'd done with Frankie for it. "I personally agree with Orlock.  We should be eliminating our enemies, not playing hostess to our dinner." To enunciate the point she took a large gulp of the blood in her goblet.
"I be wid de young misses." Baraka said.
"I agree with Hela," Amon said, leaning back in his chair to sip at the blood in his goblet, "ensuring the survival of our food source needs to take priority."
"I'm with Hela as well, though my interest is in these 'alternate food sources' she's using."
"Well, Hela, what say you?" Orlock asked, "Will you join our alliance?  You can lead the protection of the humans and I can focus on the bloody elimination of the rogue clans, a task I will immensely enjoy."
Hela sighed in exasperation. "You know I have no interest in politics, Orlock.  Do as you please, you know where to find me should you require my aid." That said, she left the table and the room, her thoughts heavy.  Nothing good could come of this so called 'alliance'.  It would quikly become a new council of elders, of that she was certain, and with Orlock as the helm she shuddered to think of the future this world faced.  She had to begin preparations for the worst case scenario.