"Calling for order! Calling for order! The meeting is about to begin," Charlie called out in a boisterous voice through the microphone he held. He always loved these opportunities to show his position and who he was to the council members. 

Today marked the ten year anniversary of our latest feeding schedule and most of us had been summoned to the councils headquarter's in Europe for a feedback and sharing session. The council was big on feedback session's always trying to show us how much they valued our opinions when in fact it was usually just for show.

The truth is they only valued a handful of vampire's opinions. The ones who always voted in their favor. 

The hall was packed with eager and ambitious vampires like Charlie, there were hardly any seats available anymore. 

I leaned against the wall and stared at everyone scuttling to find seats nearest to the podium where ten plush armchairs had been arranged for the founding council members. After moving from continent to continent, country to country, I had to suppress a smile at how similar we were to the humans we claimed were beneath us. 

Most government officials in the countries I had lived in were given this same treatment. Made to sit on platform's higher than us and in large chairs that screamed importance when in fact they ate, slept, had sex, and defecated just like everyone else. And yet they were given special treatment. Why?

This was the main reason I had turned down their proposal to join as a junior council member. It was pointless because I knew all these meetings and feedback sessions were just for show. There was only one person who really called the shots around here and most probably around the world. 

Lavender. 

After being her pet toy for the longest time, I learned what true evil and corruption looked like and that nothing was ever as it seemed. Lavender was a seductive demon, no one could ever say no to her and she had either directly or indirectly played very crucial roles in the Great World War in 1914 to 1918, World War Two in 1939 to 1945, the Vietnam War, and the terrorist attacks in the Middle east.

The benefits she gained from all of these catastrophes were clear cut. Her arms dealing empire made millions from all the wars and the pharmaceutical and medical companies under her made millions from all the casualties and sicknesses. Not only was she profiting from these, she also had a tight grip on all drug cartels all over the world and the black markets that dealt with trafficking. 

No one else held power like her and the world didn't even know it. She was a dark force manipulating everyone and everything behind the scenes. There were rumors that she practiced black magic to exercise more control over people and I wouldn't be surprised if she actually did. She was capable of anything.

I watched as the council members filled the stage. Atmos and Aria sat next to each other and smiled at the audience. Kayla had a serious expression on her face, no doubt preparing for her updates on her research to produce artificial blood so that we wouldn't have to depend on humans anymore. 

I scoffed to myself. The whole thing was a joke. We vampires were hunters, there was no thrill in drinking out of a blood bag. That's why my feeding schedule received so much praise. Everyone loved hunting without getting caught. 

No one was going to support Kayla's cause but we entertained her because she was a member of the council and Lavender's sister. It always shocked me how different the two of them were. While Lavender loved drinking humans blood and killing, Kayla practiced a "vegetarian" diet to protest against us feeding on humans. 

She only fed from rodents and donated blood bags. Which was probably why she was always in a bad mood. Everything she did went against our nature. 

"Good evening, everyone. The council is forever grateful for your involvement and we thank you for being here today. We will begin with our financial statement and then move on to the rest," Atmos announced as he gestured towards Chardon, our chief financial adviser. To most of the vampires, Atmos was the leader of the council and he lead all our meetings. 

But to those of us who have been around long enough, Lavender was the one who controlled everything. Nothing went past her and all final decisions were made by her and announced through Atmos. Lavender never attended our meetings or social events. She was only seen when she wanted to be seen. 

I shuddered at the thought of seeing her again and suddenly felt thankful that she had lost interest in me three hundred years ago when she found a new toy to play with.

Chardon began reciting an exhaustive list of profits and losses from all our companies which made me want to stifle a yawn. Yes, we got it. We've made trillion's through Lavender's companies which in turn support all of us and the losses have been minimal. 

After a few interminable minutes, the council ran through their various programs to create mass hysteria among the public about depression and suicide so that we could feed on more victims. The registry of mental health cases increased by twenty percent this year and which meant that our feeding pool just increased by twenty percent.

Everyone was happy with this news and then we moved on to important humans who were under our control and those who weren't. Measures were discussed on how to deal with them. It was always the same, either blackmail or murder. The secrecy of our existence was of utmost importance to us.

"I just have to say that almost a hundred percent of our race has voted our latest feeding schedule as satisfactory. The number of vampires who defied the council by killing and mass murdering drawing attention to our existence has reduced to almost zero. Our kind has never been so at peace. I would like to use this opportunity to thank Zayn for his innovation and commitment to our kind," Atmos raised his glass of blood in the air and smiled at me. 

The crowd erupted in applause as they turned my way, making me stand up straight and bow in appreciation.

I shot a fake smile at Atmos but the truth was I hated all of them. I hated them for making me what I was and for constantly getting in the way of what I truly wanted.

As the meeting adjourned and everyone dispersed, my thoughts flitted to Natalie the last girl I had fallen in love with who died two years ago. I had thought she was the one and we had gotten married but when she found out what I was she had blackmailed me to make her into a vampire as well. That of course led to the council's intervention which inevitably led to her death.

I didn't feel any remorse. Even though they looked alike,  Aurora would never have acted that way. Every girl I've ever met always fell short when I compared them to her. An image of her smiling face in the markets flitted through my mind. It's been seven hundred years but I still think of her more times than I would like. I wondered if I would ever truly meet someone who made me feel the same way and then I laughed inwardly.

A monster like me didn't deserve someone like Aurora.

I walked out quickly, avoiding all eye contact with any of the council members before they could coax me into joining them for dinner like they usually did.

"Zayn," A voice called out to me and I looked over my shoulder.

My heart nearly jumped to my throat as I saw Lavender approach me but then I realized it was Kayla and I calmed down. 

"You look like you've just seen a ghost," She chuckled as she caught up to me. "She's not here. She's in South America right now." 

"I don't want to know," I told her honestly. 

"I heard you are being relocated to Australia," Kayla said as we walked shoulder to shoulder down the long corridor that lead to the lifts. "I'll be there to welcome you to your new school."

I scoffed at her. "I'm not going to another high school. I've had enough of them."

"Aren't you on mental health rotation when you reach?" Kayla asked me. 

"Yes, but I haven't chosen my victim yet. Apparently I have five choices based on the registry. I'm heading back to look at them now," I couldn't hide the excitement in my voice. I haven't hunted and played with someone's mind in two years. It was something I loved doing more than I would like to admit. 

Kayla scrunched up her nose in disgust and then she bid me farewell before she walked away to join her small group of "vegetarians".

I got back home and packed all my belongings. As I arranged my documents I got an email notification from the our systems victim registry. 

I sat down quickly and clicked on the encrypted file. I couldn't wait to choose my new victim. After keying in my ID number the file unlocked to reveal five potential victims I could choose from, all with a history or family history of mental health illness or depression.

The first one was a middle aged man named Fin who had dementia, his profile was mediocre and he didn't grab my attention so I quickly shifted to the next one. The second one was a woman named Cassandra Franklin who had a slightly more colorful portfolio, her mother had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and committed suicide at the age of nineteen. 

Feeling mildly interested I saw that the next option was her seventeen year old daughter and I opened her file out of curiosity. 

The moment I saw her face my choice had been made. 

Her long golden brown hair framed her small pink cheeked face as she smiled at me brightly. Her smile. It immediately reminded me of Aurora and I felt a growing desire to squeeze this girls neck and watch the life leave her face just like it had been taken from my sweet and perfect Aurora. 

I didn't bother looking at the other options. I licked my lips in anticipation and selected her as my new victim sealing her fate with that one click. I couldn't wait to meet her. I couldn't wait to taste her blood. 

My gaze fell on her face and then to her beautiful name. 

Hello, Ms. Rosalie Franklin.

Ahhh I can't wait to write from Zayn's point of view when he meets Rosalie etc. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Also just out of curiosity which character do you find most interesting so far?