The Chamberlains : Chapter 2 In Session

Chapter 2

In Session

         Our mother, and the boy that she was with, are long gone. Those creatures wreaking havoc throughout the city are gone as well. As far as I can tell, Cecil and any remnants of his puppets have left with neither sight nor sound. Abagail and I did the same, making ourselves scarce.

         There are matters far graver to us now than anything we could have anticipated. Veronica, one of the matriarchs of our family, didn’t make it through the night. It’s tragic for all of us but no one is feeling her loss more than her twin sister, Desiree. From what I can gather, both Veronica and her son perished.

         After everyone is settled, an inevitable series of events will begin in a Council meeting. Shortly after, I never thought I would be saying this; we’ll be holding a funeral for Veronica and her son. Veronica…if only we could have made it to you sooner.

         As of right now, Abagail and I are preparing for the meeting. Cecil will no doubt bring us into the picture but with the known death of Veronica, everyone’s a suspect and will be questioned. Our involvement has definitely been noted.

         Other members of our family; Aldous, his significant other Shira, and Chase, whose ensemble is less than appealing, are taking care of Veronica’s arrangements. I, Abagail, and our local clairvoyant Elizabeth, will be accompanying Desiree to this gathering. Hopefully some of Elizabeth’s insight will bring good news in light of this terrible situation.

         Sitting at a table, nearly in the center of this circular room, I’ve never had the displeasure of being in the spotlight at one of these events. Across center stage, on the other side of the podium, sits the Alkire family.

         Cecil or one of his Puppets rather, sits staring in our direction. At least he’s well-dressed this time around. Then there’s Issaic, who is cunning but bears a striking resemblance to a deranged lunatic in my opinion. Beside him is Sindel who is quick on her feet, as well as with her tongue. That brings us to my least favorite, my brother.

         Mathis wasn’t always the way he is now. After his rebirth at my hands, how naïve I was…never mind all that. He made his choice many years ago. He’s with the Alkires now and who we were, who we all were, is nothing but a memory.

         “Silence,” said a gentleman, who’s become nameless throughout the ages. He’s only known to us and probably to everyone here, as The Speaker. The low murmurs of families and on-lookers alike have now been silenced.

         “There’s too much to be discussed. There’s too much to be resolved.” He slammed down his spherical gavel, gaining everyone’s attention “And there’s too much intrusive behavior from others.” He peered towards both us and the Alkires then mumbled to himself, “I hope this isn’t going to become commonplace.”

         I’m sure the Council, who sits at the very top of this room, is fully aware of the role that our family played. As well as the part that Cecil played during that night. Even Cecil won’t be able to smooth this one over with his puppeteering ways. If Cecil wasn’t just “observing” as he stated before, I feel that the Alkires have just as much to worry about as we do.

         Although my family and I are truly more to blame for the incident than Cecil, that’s undeniably clear. Granted, we weren’t the direct cause in the lives lost, human or that of our own. It all ties to that accursed child!

         Why was it so important? That question will probably never be answered. With both Veronica and her son dead, the truth may never be revealed, unless Veronica had confided in Desiree. If so, we just may find out what this whole mess is over.

         “From the information that we’ve gathered, as you can all plainly see, there are two families that have chosen to include themselves.” The audience, sat confused as The Speaker continued. “Oh, did you not know? Certainly you must have heard about the series of events that spawned, out of nowhere, within the human’s world.”

         The chatter shot up beyond a mere murmur. With another slamming of his gavel, “Of course you did, after it had happened. So how is it that these two families seem to not only know about it before we do but also, be there as it is happening?”

         There’s no hiding it. The Council members, the other families, everyone knows of our participation. The question I ask myself is, how much do they really know? Are they waiting for us to slip up and give them more information or do they already know enough?

         Cecil’s puppet stood up, “The Alkire family…”

         “Sit down shadow of Cecil Alkire,” The Speaker’s voice overcame any and all sounds in the room. Cecil did as ordered, the only wise thing to do, “Speak only when it’s clearly your turn.”

         Tensions are high; Cecil’s blatant act of disrespect is proof of that. The last thing that we all need is our kind turning against each other. Rules and orders: that’s all that’s ever been preached throughout the ages.

         Straightening my jacket, I leaned back in my seat thinking to myself. I may be immortal but I really don’t wish to sit here another second. Only to endure this waste of time in silence to hear The Speaker go on and on; why won’t he get to the point already?

         Points are brought up here and there that could either make our family or the Alkires look in favor of the Council. There’s also the other side of that coin, something everyone fears most of all, grounds for disbanding a family. Throughout my years with the Chamberlains, I have only seen a handful of families get separated.

         I can’t fathom the emotional distress it would cause to ones being. Some of the families have been together for decades to centuries, entirely too long to be torn asunder due to rules and orders. That’s how our ways are maintained and directions are followed.

         “We haven’t seen such careless acts of destruction since the Great Fire of London in 1666. The cleanup of that monstrosity was quickly purged of our kind’s involvement. We have the Atrum Veho to thank for that and for their aid in these recent events.”

         The Atrum Veho, I have never laid eyes on them in all my years. Some wonder if they even exist but, through Chase, we know all too well. They are the Council’s own personal little army which is led by five individuals that we’ve only ever heard about.

         The Speaker sat his gavel to the side, “Now we bring forth Cecil Alkire, since he seemed so anxious to speak earlier. So Cecil, tell us about your association with the incident.”

         Cecil stood up, not as he had before. More hesitant, almost respectful, “Thank you Speaker, Councilmen, and guests. My methods may be frowned upon, the bodies that I use for my endeavors, such as the one you see before you now. I can honestly say that it’s one hundred percent humane.

         “I would like to first, assure you that I only use the weakest, near-death humans for this task. With countless numbers of human lives perishing each day, it’s fairly easy to pick one up here or there. I was in the right place at the right time for I have eyes and ears all over. I’m a valuable asset of information to anyone, including the Council. I’m in many locations and at any given time.

         “With my numerous information gathering abilities, it’s not surprising that one of my Puppets would be near the location. But, we should step back and look at the big picture as a whole. This is something I personally wish to know and I’m sure you and everyone here want that as well.

         “If there are a vast amount of my Puppets, which are able to gather information from hundreds of miles away, the chances of one of them being there is very likely. How is it, three Chamberlains were able to be in the right place at the right time? Their involvement, which led to the death of one of their own family members, had to be either planned or a brilliant stroke of luck.”

         Cecil said nothing more. Well, he did it. He’s turned the tables in only a few seconds and everyone seems to be buying it. Worst of all, Mathis is eating it up, shooting a smirk in my direction.

         Whispers flew about the room, “Disband the Chamberlains.” “They let a head of their family die?” “Was she with a child?”

         It’s not looking good at all. What can we do? The damage has been done and after all, he’s only speaking the truth.

         “Silence, silence,” the banging of The Speaker’s gavel was just as loud as his voice. “Is this your only statement Cecil Alkire?”

         With a faint smile and drawn down eyes, “There’s nothing more that needs to be said.”

         “So be it.” The Speaker turned towards our table, “Chamberlains, you may proceed.”

         “This might be a long shot but I have an idea,” Abagail, using her ability to not only speak to me, but with Desiree and Elizabeth as well. “Elizabeth, how are our odds?”

         As I said before, Elizabeth is our local psychic. Like Abagail and most of our family, Elizabeth has a special gift but there’s a slight catch. Is her ability something Abagail is willing to wager on?

         Let me be a little clearer on what Elizabeth can and cannot do. The future is never clearly set and it’s always changing. Every choice that anyone makes can alter the future in one way or another. It can change something drastically or something so miniscule that no one would ever notice.

         Elizabeth, she’s able to tap into all of the possible outcomes of all the possible futures. If there are a dozen results of this evenings meeting, she’ll try to choose the one that best suits our needs and we’ll try to follow that path. The downfall of this is if there’s any outside influence, from someone like Cecil, the future we sought after will change. Altering and molding the future is a complicated ordeal and Elizabeth is merely a looking glass.

         “Vyncent,” Elizabeth stared straight ahead, “just tell them,” she turned to me with a smile, “just tell them the truth.”

         I don’t think there’s anything I can say that will get us out of the situation we’re in but what do I know? I’m not the psychic here.

         Taking my stand, I nodded towards The Speaker. “Go on, Vyncent of the Chamberlain house,” he said in a firm tone.

         “Victims of circumstance; anyone and everyone that was involved that night were all victims of circumstance. I personally will mourn the loss of Veronica but for her son; I shall not shed a tear.” Desiree shot a glare at me like I’ve never seen before and that assured me of one thing, she knows something.

         “Yes, she was with a newborn. She feared for its life. Why? I do not know. Our kind has designed a lifestyle and a world that’s separate from the humans. Why not remain here and not get mixed up within their world? All I can say is what’s weighing on my heart.

         “Many, including Veronica, died for that child. Would they have stood a better chance if they remained with us, among our kind? Perhaps, but that’s not what happened. If you think about it, she ultimately made the right decision.”

         “How so,” Cecil questioned, curiously.

         “Oh, I’m sure you saw,” I stared back at him. “Creatures of the likes that I’ve never seen, roamed the streets. Raging fires, that I can truly say, were harnessed by some unknown power. A battle that incinerated buildings and these beings getting tossed about as if they were rag dolls.

         “So I say she made the right choice. Instead of bringing that war here where, who knows, it could’ve wiped us all out, she led them away. She led our Mother away from us.” Everyone, including Cecil, was completely still. “I may not know everything but I’m sure if Mother returned here, it would change everything that we now know and have strived so long for. It would change our very way of life!

         “With her recent appearance, disbanding our family won’t solve anything. We still have a matriarch for our house, so we’re still a functioning unit. Go ahead and tear apart the only family that has any ties to the reason behind Mother’s resurfacing. It’d be the last damn foolish mistake you all will ever make!”

         My judgment and attitude got the best of me and the words that I chose were not the best but I spoke the truth. I hope what I did was the correct path. We’ll find out shortly.

         The Alkires, especially Mathis, have a look of victory on their faces. I’m not certain why the Chamberlains and the Alkires have it out for each other. It’s been going on since before I was accepted into the Chamberlain family. Once I joined them and Mathis joined the Alkires, it seems to have amplified the tension between our two families.

         The Speaker, in all seriousness, shook his head, but why? “Vyncent Chamberlain, there’s been no talk of disbanding the Chamberlain house. Some may disagree and desire vigilante justice but it’s as you said, there’s still an active head of the house, so there will be no worry there.”

         “What?” Mathis jumped up. But he stopped, standing still and not saying another word. It’s strange; I’ve been expecting an outburst from him, now he stands there, silent. Either way, I’ll hold onto each and every one of our conflicts and when the day comes, I’ll give it back to him tenfold.

           Still, what’s this new found restraint that he has? Elizabeth looked up and my eyes followed. At the very top, a shadow of an individual stood, holding a hand up in the air. With a gentle wave, Mathis either sat down on his own behalf or maybe, he was forced back down into his chair.

         Wait a minute, it just hit me. That ability, can it be the same that I witnessed in the city when I came face to face with those creatures? If that’s the case, was Mother really the cause of the mayhem? There are more pieces to this puzzle than I had originally anticipated.