Noah's POV

Sawyer and I were the two in charge of making sure Murdoch got to the vampire council meeting safe and sound, without running away. This was apparently because we were the strongest ones there. I didn't want to touch him, but it had to be done. It was a very awkward twenty minutes, which would've been less time if Murdoch hadn't kept stopping the run-in order to do something like stretch or crack his neck.

Crow and Haven were behind us, and I was saddened that I couldn't be beside them when Crow was having the very stressful conversation about vampires with her. I could hear every word of it though.

"Do you know what happened in the cemetery?" Crow asked Haven after a few minutes of walking. Haven wasn't going to run as quick as we were, I wasn't sure if she could, but none of us wanted to risk her health by trying to make her do that.

Haven shook her head. "I don't remember much, just nearing home and blacking out. Then I was in the cemetery, very confused. I blacked out again." Her face was pointed towards the ground and her voice was muffled. "I can't think about what happened, it's so confusing."

Crow nodded his head and the arm which he held around her began to rub up and down her arm, the scratchy material of a hospital gown sounding awful as he did so. "Haven, there's a lot I've not told you. It was all for your safety, but it wasn't enough." I wasn't sure if he was trying to do the vampire charming thing on her, or if he was just naturally charming without realising. "Vampires are real." He braced himself.

"Okay," was all Haven said. I had almost stopped moving. I wasn't expecting anything so simple to leave her mouth. Maybe she had read too many books and was taking this far too easy because of it, or maybe she was still disorientated from her injuries.

"Okay?" Crow repeated. "I tell you that vampires exist, and you say 'okay'?" I suppose he couldn't believe his ears either. But there was a small spark of happiness in his tone, or maybe it was relief. It was definitely some sort of positive reaction.

"Yeah." Haven gave a small laugh as well. "To be fair, I'm not surprised at all. You're literally a walking gothic bat," she teased. "If anyone's a vampire, it's you. Or that guy, but I'd be more comfortable around you," She had pointed towards Murdoch when referring to the other vampire. "But also, it's very difficult not to believe in this situation."

"Really? I was in denial for a good month after finding out," Crow said. That caught my attention, as we never really discussed how he became a vampire. "That was torture. But I suppose, I can't say anything about that." I could feel his piercing glare, even though I knew it wasn't directed at me.

"When was that?" Haven frowned. "I mean, I've known you since forever, but I don't think I can put a finger on any big changes." I couldn't blame her for that, I found it really difficult to know what Crow was feeling most of the time, he was very good at hiding his emotions and thoughts.

"About two or three years ago," he answered. "I think that would be a bit blurry because of exams and stuff. They were useful forms of distraction." He didn't let silence settle between them for a minute as he continued, "we're all vampires."

Haven was silent for a moment, I had turned my attention back to Murdoch as he began to struggle in our arms, or just shift uncomfortably. I wasn't experienced enough in transporting a hostage to know the difference.

"I can believe that," Haven said quietly. "But what happened? Why am I involved?" I was certain that she was just in shock, that we would be bombarded with questions at any second about vampires, the sun, the blood, the powers. I couldn't believe that these words were Haven's.

"I don't really know the full details," Crow admitted. "Murdoch might, and Aldrich or Geppetto might get close. But I know that you were meant to be used as leverage towards Noah and I." He sighed deeply. "I'm sorry about that, I didn't think that he would come close to school, Nevermind close to you." I was nearly choking on the emotion in his voice, it wasn't strange to hear, but I hadn't heard it in a few days.

Haven hummed. "I know that he hurt me, and that there were loads of other people there. I wasn't sure who they were though." She cracked her neck, which rang through the air like a gunshot. "It's all so blurry."

"You're not wearing your glasses," Crow pointed out with a small laugh. "Everything's gonna be blurry for you." He laughed again, but it was cut off as he groaned in pain. "Well, I know one of the things which he did to you."

"How?" Haven asked, which was another thing that surprised me. She didn't ask what it was, but rather what he used to deduce the answer.

"Because your punches actually hurt." Crow then glared at Caio, who had snorted at him when he admitted to being hurt. "Humans aren't supposed to be able to hurt vampires, but you can. There's someone else too, called Sadie. She used to work with Noah."

Murdoch jolted in my grasp, causing me to tighten my grip. I figured that he probably recognised the name of the other superhuman.

"I don't know any names, but as I say, there were others there." We were getting close now, I could tell because Aldrich had stopped walking. "Wait, so we're going to be in a room full of vampires?" Haven's footsteps had also stopped.

"Not full of vampires," Crow said lightly. But I wasn't sure myself about whether or not there were humans inside, there definitely had been, but it didn't help that it was in the middle of nowhere. There were cars parked outside, but some looked like they hadn't been moved in ages. Aldrich had told us that there were a few vampire headquarters, some in the city, and some further out. "But you're in the presence of seven right now."

"And you could probably kill all of them in a few minutes," Murdoch added with a smile. I wanted Haven to feel comfortable going inside, for the soul reason it would mean I could let go of this creep. "Apart from maybe these two." He referred to me and Sawyer, which made me want to tighten my grip even more, just to support his statement.

"There'll be some humans there too," Aldrich said in an almost comforting manner. "You don't have to stay by us if you don't want to." This time, he shoved Geppetto when he made quite a rude noise. I think we had all gathered what Geppetto's thoughts were on humans being a part of the council, and the council in general.

"I want to," Haven replied quickly. "I'm not leaving Crow's side."

Sawyer leaned in closer to me and whispered, "competition?" Of course, he was teasing, but I didn't know how to respond to it. I would've probably copied his father, shoving him in protest, but that was currently out of my capabilities.

I just shook my head and pushed Murdoch forward, being closely followed by Caio. I noticed that he had been lingering a lot, staying a few paces behind Geppetto and in front of us until now. "First time meeting the council?" I asked Caio, in hopes to relieve my own nerves.

Caio scowled at me, but then nodded. "First time in England." I assumed the council didn't travel then. "I've heard a lot of things."

"It's probably a bunch of nonsense," Sawyer commented quietly as we approached the worn-looking metal door.

Caio shoved past him and opened the door for us. "Shut up." It was a lame response, probably because he didn't actually know whether or not Geppetto's words could be trusted, or maybe he agreed with Sawyer. I silently commended Sawyer, for being brave enough to speak his mind, when the vampire in question wasn't far behind us.

The inside of the building smelled like damp and rust, which was nothing in comparison to the dungeons in Geppetto's castle, but Haven coughed quite a bit as she entered. It was very dark inside the building, causing the open door to be a saving grace.

"You're late," a deep voice said from right in front of me. Out of the shadows came a man who I swear I had seen before, probably in the graveyard. He had darker skin and an almost bald head. He blended in with the shadows exceedingly well, especially since he was earring a completely black suit. "We've been waiting."

"We are three minutes late," Aldrich pointed out after checking his watch. "And why are you the one here to greet us?" Aldrich's tone was slightly condescending, which didn't fill me with confidence.

"Some of us couldn't come on such short notice." The man spun on his heels and walked down the corridor, which looked just as run-down as the outside did. It felt like a school, I didn't know if it were the lockers down the hall, or the atmosphere which told me that, but it mustn't have been used as a school for centuries.

"Polite as always," Geppetto uttered. "Not even a second to recognise the fact we have prisoners?"

"A prisoner," Crow corrected, his teeth clenched. I would've also corrected him, had I not been a bit slower to comprehend that he was talking about Haven. I was too busy trying to understand the chatter which was coming from a single room ahead of us. The room had a light on, so the dramatic lighting in the rest of the building was purely down to someone being too lazy to turn on the lights, or maybe to change a lightbulb.

The division between human and vampire was clear as we entered. There were school desks in a circle formation, which was more like a rectangle, but the effort was noticeable. There was a big gap in the middle, where there were several empty seats. One side had very beautiful occupants, whose backs were straight, and heads held high, probably ranging from early twenties to early forties, with the exception of a man who seemed to be around seventy. On the other side of the room were people of various ages, I swore I even saw a baby being held by one of the men. They all looked worn-out and tired in comparison to the other people there. But one person caught my eye.

"Mary?" I asked automatically, not having any recollection of the name building in my head before it spouted from my lips. "What are you doing here?" I felt like a child again, when Mary sometimes used to pick me up from school if I were sick or acting up. I always felt guilty for those times, but she would make me feel better with kind words of reassurance and chocolate cake.

Mary chuckled and stood. "Well, this old lady doesn't just have human friends." I could've sworn some of the vampires glared at her, but there were quite a few smiles as well. "Forgive me for not coming and giving you a hug, but vampire meetings are very serious."

"Yes, extremely." The man who led us here agreed. "Which is why we need to get down to business." He looked at us pointedly.

Caio moved to the wall and leaned against it with his arms crossed whilst Geppetto sat down in a seat near him. Crow moved over to the human side of the room and sat down, with Haven in between him and the human on the end.

I stayed standing in the front of the room with Sawyer and Aldrich, holding Murdoch like I was about to do a presentation on Vlad the Impaler or something.

"Hello class," Aldrich started to say in the same tone he had used when he covered Crow's Sixth Form class. "Today we're going to be discussing genetic mutation and vampire hunters."

Hello Lovelies!!

I hope that you're all doing well :D

The question of the chapter is: have you guys had any fireworks yet?

We've had fireworks around here pretty constantly for the past week- which makes no sense as it's the beginning of October, but I know that many different cultures have different celebrations which include fireworks! We're quite far from bonfire night, our main night of loud noises :')