AGATHA'S POV

   The house was awkwardly silent when I got there. Absolutely nobody was in sight.
       All the servants had been dismissed after the raising other dead ritual. After all, nobody needed to find dead bodies of servants around the house. Mostly now since they were all blood freaks.

     Pushing the double doors to the dining table, the door to the study opened. Becka motioned me to go there.

     "Where's everyon-"
"In here."

Her eyes felt void as I hurried past her. Even though it had been a week and none had showed any crave to drain my blood, I was still pretty cautious.

   "Agatha? We been waiting for you." Grandpa beamed from one of the single chairs facing the couches.
     Their eyes were immediately glued on me like a crowd having seen an abnormal species in white.

         "What's going...on?"

The old man grinned stupidly.

  "Sit and let's get this started."
I did as told, ignoring the edginess slashing through me.

    "I called you here because tomorrow night, we're going to have some very important guests over here. They are our enemies. But I felt the need to renew a treaty for the sake of peace of this family. However..." He paused to give each one of us a personal gaze.

  "I will not appreciate any of you relating with our rivals. This treaty serves us more than it serves them..."
          Silence.
          Gazes.

"Harry!" Grandpa boomed.

    The demon showed up in a heartbeat from the doors.
He gave a decent bow to his ruler, and me too.
     "Due to your recklessness, you'll be locked up, and no feeding for a week. Am I clear."

  I saw the dread on his face.
But then again, he deserved that and much more for portraying such beastly behavior.
        "Yes, Master!"

Master?
He made it sound like some slave  from the eighteens.

    "The rest of you, we'll meet in the dining. Agatha, I need to have a word with you."
I swallowed hard.
    And as the others flashed out, my mind was busy calculating all my recent activities in search of any faults to be reprimanded for.

      None!

When the door behind us shut, I angled my eyes at his gray pair.
   "Have I-"
"No, no. You've done nothing wrong. Just needed to know if you're alright. Is school fine?"
       My globes widened.

Had I heard him right? Had he enquired about my day at school?
  Yes idiot. Have you developed ear issues now? A harsh mind voice criticized.

"Ye-Yes grandpa..."
    His fatherly grin widened.

"And that William? Tell me about him."
   He didn't sound upset. Or have the tone of someone planning to rip Will's heart out.
"Well, there's nothing much to him other than a load of trouble."

     "Sounds even more interesting."
I nodded slightly, my gaze running from his face to the void wall at his left.

   "Er... Maybe we should have him over for dinner someday?"
  I almost choked.
"Wha-What? Dinner?"
As if I hadn't heard it daylight clearly.

  The old male made himself comfortable on that leather seat like a lazy cat. His white hairs falling a little over his forehead.

"I'd love to meet him."
  "I'm not sure he feels the same."
A shade roar of laughter made his shoulders bounce old-fashionly. But I had to give him credit for coping with our modern times considering he had lived in an age with literally little knowledge and technology.

   "I'm sire his mother wouldn't mind."

Right then, I had no knowledge what he was talking about.
  And didn't care. All that was in my mind was the coming dinner the next evening...

   The school was on permanent shutdown till the investigations were done with.
So I stayed home the entire morning. But was dragged outside in the freezing cold by grandpa.
        
     I snuggled in my big gray jacket that made me look twice my size. The blue mittens were cosy, but traces of cold were still creeping in my nerves.
 
   "Where we going?"

He looked down on me. His face neutral and blank. Damn he was good at hiding emotions, if he had them.

   "To watch."
Simple. Yet confusing. Watch what?
The old man seemed in no hurry to let out any more information, just led me to the backyard.
   Where, a few weeks ago, was covered in bright green grass. Now had a sheet of virgin white snow... Then came the groans and curses as we walked fully there.

It was my cousins. My sweet big cousins, fighting each other.
      Conner stood a few maters away, hands crossed on his broad chest. His face looked colder than the snow. Had never seen, even the naughtiest is smiles escape him unknowingly.

  One glance at him, and he dashed where we stood.
     One bow from him indicated the respect he had for my old man. "They're improving. Better than yesterday."

  Grandpa pinched the nose of his thin nose. "I hope none has misbehaved, or killed a human?"
   Conner's firm features remained even firmer.
     "No Sire. I've been keeping a close eye. But they shouldn't be trusted to leave here either. It's not to tell what these newborns could do with their high urges."

  "What of the others?"

Meaning, my aunts and uncles.
    Huh! Funny, hadn't seen either of them all morning.

"They're also holding up well, but..."
  Grandpa's face suddenly went taut. "But what?"
    "Becka made a kill in the morning. Some beggar in the street. But I cleaned up the mess."
 
  "That damned woman!" A sharp mumble shot from Grandpa.

  "Will she be, punished?" I heard myself chip in uninvited.
It was quiet for a second. Then Grandpa placed a hand on my shoulder. "Of course dear. Severely  punished for breaking my rules."
      The image of her tied up and whipped gave me the shivers. But a mistake is a mistake. There are always consequences.

More groans came from the figures battling in lightning speeds. Chris, the eldest of us, twenty eight, pinned Jennifer down. He made one long inhumane hiss at the poor female, flashing his long deadly fangs...
   "I surrender!" Jennifer cried meekly.

     Chris let go, straightened and turned. Maybe had done such a stupid thing because Jennie swept him off the ground from behind. Then rolled on him and plunged down at his pale neck.
      About to really bite him, Conner intervened.

          "Stop!"

All heads were raised at us.
   Their breaths like smoke in an industrial site...
      "Everyone, break!" The non-smiling beast ordered.

   Exchanging scowls, they all vanished. Leaving on the snow, red stains from deep hits in the fighting.

    "I have a feeling they'll be just fine," said Grandpa pulling on the most scary smirk to lay eyes on.
   "Don't you agree, Agatha?"

My throat felt as dry as Sahara desert. My brain void as a black hole.

*               *            *

      My eyes beamed across the dining table, at the four sculptural figures. They didn't blink, nor said a thing since they arrived at the house ten minutes ago.
    Unlike Alex, these strange creatures had the mark, on their foreheads. When I had first seen them, it felt as though I was looking at some priests from the seventeenth century with their long cream robes that had large hoods dropping on their foreheads... They were scary to be honest.

   I felt this strange attraction and repulsion for them. And from their flat gawks, the feeling was mutual.
      For some reason, my cousins didn't attend that dinner. I was the only kid among those blood monsters. If anything was to go wrong, my chances of survival were on a negative scale.

     "Welcome once again my fellow rulers."
Our attention diverged to Grandpa as he walked in. "Sorry for my delay, had an urgent calling."
    Oh! The Becka call!

He sat on the mighty chair, fingers entwined with his elbows on the table.
   "Gentlelines, it's such and honor to host you here as we renew a treaty of peace between all three worlds... Conner, bring the treaty."
     Immediately, the male walked in carrying an old grayish scroll. It was rolled out before the four.

        "The blood gem remains with you?" Finally, one of the stones asked out.

  "Yes."

They threw surprised gazes st each other. And the scroll was tossed aside.
     "That gem belongs to the church. Not in your dark world."

With that, Grandpa rose, letting a cool grin play on his lips.
   "My works may be dark, but your people are darker."