Winchester, England, 2009

Ysanne's heart was in her throat, which wasn't a sensation she was used to. Surely she wasn't actually nervous. Ysanne Moreau did not get nervous.

But what was else was she supposed to call this feeling?

She stood in front of the terraced row of houses, the setting sun warm on the back of her neck, her eyes locked on that grey front door.

For the last few decades she had travelled the continent, searching out vampires – both new allies and old friends – but the two people she wanted to see most had remained elusive.

Until now.

Ysanne knocked on the door.

A moment later, it was answered, and all Ysanne's exhaustion and uncertainty faded away at the sight of the familiar face looking back at her.

Edmond's eyes widened. "Ysanne?" he whispered.

She couldn't speak.

Getting here had been a long, lonely journey – so many years ­– but she'd finally found him. More than two hundred years had passed since they last spoke, and she couldn't think what to say.

Edmond hugged her, and she closed her eyes at the familiar softness of his hair against her face, the solidity of his body as she leaned into him, her dearest, oldest friend.

"Mon garçon d'hiver," she whispered, and Edmond stroked the back of her head.

He brought her inside and through to a simply furnished living room with a stone fireplace and bookshelves lining the walls. Another vampire was sitting in an armchair by the fire; he got up when Ysanne came in, warily eyeing her.

"This is Ludovic," Edmond said. "Ludovic, Ysanne."

"You live together?" Ysanne asked.

Edmond nodded.

"As friends or . . ."

Edmond smiled. "We're just friends."

Ludovic continued to eye Ysanne, his body language stiff, uncomfortable, as if he really didn't want her here. But Ysanne had come too far to leave now.

"I'd say I can't believe you found me, but we always do, don't we?" said Edmond.

"This time I was actually looking for you. I've been looking for you for a long time," Ysanne said.

Edmond's smile dimmed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. But there's something very important we need to talk about."

Ysanne told him about the vampire that she and Jemima had killed, and how it had made her seriously start thinking about vampires and how they fit into the world, and how maybe things could change them for them one day. She told him how she'd paid people to let her drink from them, just as she'd done with Edmond all those centuries ago. She told him that she thought it was time that vampires came together to discuss this.

In 1982, Ysanne had bought a house on the outskirts of London, a quiet, remote place that she could use as a base, a contact point.

Then, for the rest of the decade, she had travelled the UK and the Republic of Ireland, searching for other vampires, sometimes alone, sometimes with the help of private investigators, and she'd found plenty – more than she had imagined.

Every time she found a vampire, she gave them the address of that house. When it was time for those vampires to move on from wherever they were living, they were to write to her and let her know where they would be, giving her their new address so she'd be able to contact them. Every couple of months she'd return to the house to check the post and keep an eye on where everyone was. Some vampires never contacted her; they weren't interested in what she had to say. But many more were, and over the years, Ysanne had slowly, steadily built a network between her and the vampires she met during her travels.

In 1991, she'd finally returned to France.

The wounds of Giovanni's death were healed, though the scars still lingered, as they did after everyone she'd loved and lost, but France would never again be her home.

But she hadn't returned there to live. She'd gone looking for Adele and Anthoine, and after four long years, she'd found them. They'd chosen to join her in travelling all over Europe, looking for vampires and spreading the word, expanding that network from country to country.

Sometimes they were met with hostility or mockery – sometimes even violence – but nothing dissuaded them.

But two people in particular had always been on Ysanne's mind: Edmond, her oldest friend, and Isabeau, the woman that she'd never been able to stop thinking about. She never found any trace of them, and in 2002, she had parted from Adele and Anthoine, leaving them to continue spreading the word while she returned to England to again look for Edmond and Isabeau.

It had taken a further seven years to track Edmond down.

But she'd never found Isabeau.

"So you think the time is right for vampires to reveal ourselves to the world?" said Edmond.

"I think we are approaching that point. There are still a lot of fights to be had, but there have been so many advances in equality. People no longer believe in us, but they no longer see us as fictional villains either. We've emerged as heroes in film and literature."

"That's not real life though," Ludovic objected.

"No," Ysanne agreed. "But the reality is, we can't hide forever. There are too many cameras now, too many people – it's only a matter of time before we're discovered. It's better that we come out on our terms, stepping proudly out of the shadows rather than waiting for humans to drag us out when they notice us. And they will notice us."

Ludovic's eyes slid to Edmond, who sat on the sofa opposite Ysanne, his face pensive.

"I know this is frightening to think about. I know it's a risk. I know we can't take it back once it's done. But they are going to find out about us, one way or another," Ysanne said.

"What are you suggesting we actually do?" Edmond asked.

"I want to bring together as many vampires as I can from the network I've spent the last few decades building up. I've always made it clear to them why I've wanted them to stay in contact as much as possible, and what I eventually hope to achieve, but some of them have been waiting for any news since the eighties. We need to come together and discuss this as a serious course of action, rather than a vague hope for a far-off future."

Edmond slowly nodded. "And then?"

"That depends on what everyone else thinks. Ultimately, if no one else agrees with me that the time to reveal ourselves is coming fast, then there's nothing I can do. No matter how I feel about it, I can't drag us out of the shadows. We have to walk out. It has to be willing."

"Not everyone will agree," Ludovic said.

Ysanne wondered whether he was one of them.

"Edmond?" she said.

Of course she had considered that he wouldn't agree. They'd never discussed this, he'd known nothing about it until today, whereas she'd had a long, long time to think about it. But, even though she didn't want to admit it, Ysanne was scared.

However much she believed this was the right course of action, she wasn't blind to the risks. There was a chance that the human world wouldn't accept them, and she had no idea what would happen then. She'd gladly have accepted the risk if it only affected her, but it didn't. Vampires lived all over the world. The pressure was unbelievable, and though she had the support of old friends like Adele and Anthoine, no one had known her as long as Edmond. Their history went back further than many vampires in her network had even been alive – either as a human or a vampire. He knew her better than anyone, and she'd never needed him more than she did now.

Edmond looked at Ysanne for the longest moment. "I trust you," he said. "What do you need me to do?"

Two days later, Edmond and Ludovic returned with Ysanne to her house outside London and over the next few weeks, they began the process of inviting as many vampires as they could to a meeting to discuss their future.

When the night of the meeting finally arrived, Ysanne had no idea how many vampires would show up, so she arranged for everyone to meet outside, in the sprawling acres of fenced land that surrounded her house. Also, it felt more like neutral ground that way.

Caoimhe was one of the first to arrive, squeezing Ysanne's shoulder as she passed by. Then Adele and Anthoine, and Esther and Sarah. Ysanne was surprised when Charles turned up. She hadn't tried to contact him again, not after how he'd reacted last time, but she knew Henry, the vampire that he arrived with, so maybe Henry had talked some sense into him.

There was Catherine and Phillip, who'd apparently parted from Jemima and gone their separate ways, and there was Jemima herself, bringing with her a vampire that Ysanne hadn't met yet – Etienne.

Hope swelled in Ysanne's chest every time a new face arrived. Not everyone here would necessarily agree with her, and they might resist what she wanted to do, but that they were even here meant they were prepared to listen.

And yet, she felt the sting of sadness too.

Because, despite her best efforts, she hadn't been able to find Isabeau.

Maybe she never would.

Maybe it was better that way.

"Are you alright?" Edmond asked, standing beside her, and she smiled.

"Of course."

"You're not nervous?"

Ysanne scoffed. "When do I get nervous?"

Edmond lowered his head and whispered, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Ysanne shot him a hard look.

"Do you think that's everyone?" she said, eyeing the vampires as they mingled and talked.

Edmond glanced back. "It looks like some stragglers are still arriving."

Ysanne turned.

A broad-shouldered blond man was approaching, his grey eyes wary, and with him –

"Ma belle," Ysanne blurted.

Isabeau stopped. Her face was unreadable – Ysanne couldn't tell if she was the bright, hopeful splash of colour that she'd fallen for all those years ago, or the sad, bleak woman she had become by the end of their relationship, but all she could think about was how much she had missed her.

Then Isabeau smiled, small and tentative, but to Ysanne it was brighter than any star in the sky.

"It's taken a long time to get here but maybe we're walking the same road again," Isabeau said.

Ysanne couldn't find words. She fought to keep her expression neutral – this was about a better future for vampires everywhere, not her own love life. The cause had to come first.

"This is Gideon, by the way," Isabeau said, indicating the vampire who'd come with her, and Ysanne's stomach turned over.

They had arrived together; did that mean they were together?

Now is not the time, she silently reminded herself.

She watched Isabeau and Gideon as they made their way over to the other vampires gathering in the grounds. They didn't hold hands or touch each other in any kind of romantic way, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Ysanne herself wasn't known for public displays of affection.

She realised Edmond was watching her, his eyes sympathetic.

"What?" she said.

"Nothing." He kissed her cheek. "I believe in you. You can do this."

He walked over to the others, joining Ludovic where he hovered at the outskirts of the gathering, looking supremely awkward.

Ysanne watched them, all these vampires who had gathered at her request, and thought about the huge step she was proposing they take. Everything would change. Their entire world would be different.

Were they ready for it?

There was only one way to find out.

A/N: This was going to be the last of the stories about the past, but I did have a request to write about what happened when vampires actually revealed themselves. This has been touched upon in the published version of Belle Morte, but I'm thinking about writing a more detailed story about it, if that's something you guys would like to read. Let me know :)