Calista stood there a while frozen by the peacefulness but a another knock at the apartment door shook her back into reality. It was a shy almost unrecognizable when she opened the door. It was Axel standing before her sporting a small awkward smile.
"A housewarming party" Axel declared extending an invitation card. "By the way, I am Axel and I thought it'd be nice to get to know the neighbors, I am Axel."
She paused for a moment then accepted the card. "I am Calista but a housewarming party?" she repeated.
"Yeah, I just moved in down the street" Axel said hastily. "It's uh pretty casual nothing fancy one."
Nora looked out from behind Calista with a curious face. "Will there be chocolates and cake?"
Axel blinked at her directness. "Uh, sure Cake and a lots of chocolate."
Nora grinned and tugged on her mother's arm. "We have to go, Mom. Cake...!"
Calista sighed. "We'll see. Thanks for the invite."
As Axel left, he muttered under his breath "That went better than expected" and made his way to the other houses in the neighborhood to distribute invitations. Later, he called Elza to report.
"Task completed" Axel said his tone exasperated. "But next time, don't spring last minute jobs on me. I'm not built for this stuff."
Elza's voice came over the other end, crackly. "Oh, stop whining. Viktor's situation is complicated. You need to blend in better, Axel be part of their lives especially with Nora. That child might be the key to all of this."
Axel let out a sigh. "What does that even mean? Blend in? You're talking like I'm supposed to become their new best friend or something."
Exactly, Elza snapped with a sharp tone." Don't worry, you'll never be alone. More of us will be assigned to guide you , stay vigilant till then."
Just as Axel was about to shot back, the line went dead. Frustrated, he pocketed his phone and trudged back to his temporary home.
Elza pushed open the heavy, iron door wide and entered a dark alley. Inside was a huge ancient hall dim with shadows but in the darkness Viktor Draven sat alone at the top of a very long stone table. Others, also vampires sat upon either side their faces twisted with age.
It had been sent for with an alacrity the Vampire Council never employed so Elza standed behind Viktor's chair waiting while one of the oldest among them, a silver haired giant whose eyes could seem to pierce stone got to his feet to speak.
"We have a crisis" the elder began his voice off the walls. "Young vampires, all under a century old are disappearing. This has come to our attention because one of the pure-blooded lineage is now among the missing."
A murmur ran through the room but it went silent when Viktor's ice cut voice came across. "Whose child has been taken?"
The elder hesitated and finally said "Sir Klaus's son."
That was enough to send a ripple of unease through the gathering of vampires. Sir Klaus was a name to be reckoned with a pureblood of unparalleled power and influence. Targeting his family would prove bold as well as risky.
"What do we know of the kidnappings?" One of the vampire asked his complete attention focused on the elder.
They are happening in these regions, the old man said reaching for a map strewn across the table. The majority of those things have taken place here. There is believed to be an entire gang of them going undercover as smugglers for our human, which might be true but their agenda we know nothing of.
A younger vampire pushed himself forward from the table a more volatile nature. "What's at stake to obtain Sir Klaus' son?
Elder narrowed his eyes. "A bottle of the bloodline of the Klaus family or a favor from Sir Klaus himself."
There was silence in the room. Everyone in that room knew the value of the reward. The bloodline of Klaus was one of the finest things to purify a pure vampire's bloodline more and a favor from him would be priceless.
Viktor sat back in his chair "Dexter, Elza" he said softly but firmly. "Until this is over, we have to be more vigilant. Watch Calista and her family closely. No one is allowed to harm them at all."
Dexter nodded sharply, his stoic expression slipping into a hint of stern determination. "Agreed." he said.
Elza let herself slump over with sarcasm dripping from each word "Well, looks like babysitting duty is mine and Axel, super."
Dexter warned Elza. "It's not some game. This means if Nora is somehow got involved with everything that is happening here, that would be a far more risk than saving Sir Klaus's son"
With a raised eyebrow and a shrugged motion, Elza said nothing further and agreed upon not showing the signs of arguing further.
As the meeting was coming to a close, the vampires dispersed in every direction. Dexter caught up with Viktor as they left the hall.
"Do you think this was something to do against Sir Klaus ?" Dexter asked tentatively.
Viktor said nothing. Instead, he stared out into the star filled night sky his thoughts in an uproar. Finally, he turned and said "If it is, then whoever has done this has made a serious error."
Down on the human earth, Calista was busily preparing dinner. Nora sat at the kitchen table sketching on a piece of paper.
"What are you drawing, sweetie?" Calista asked.
"It's a portrait of you and father" Nora replied cheerfully. "you and father."
Calista froze for a moment, her hands gripping the edge of the counter. "Your father?"
Nora nodded. "Yeah. Uncle Luke said he'll come back when the time is right to check on this."
Calista forced a smile and kissed the top of her daughter's head. "We'll see, honey."
Meanwhile, Axel parked a hundred yards down from the house keeping an eye on it. He munched a chocolate bar as he mentally replayed everything that happened.
"Who knew watching a family could be exhausting" Axel said to himself. "What's with that kid? She's different."
Axel's phone vibrated. He looked at the screen and saw Elza's name.
"Still alive?" she taunted when he picked it up.
"Barely" Axel replied. "That kid of hers, she's sharp... too sharp for her age."
"Good." Elza said. "It means we're not wasting our time. Keep watching. Things are about to get interesting."
And with that ominous note, the night deepened, leaving everyone caught in a web of secrets, revelations and the looming shadow of an unseen threat in the city.