A Queen Among Blood

Chapter Two: Yildiz POV

Stepping into the meeting hall I can see the kaleidoscopic colours that make up my sister’s auras filling the room as each one enters and takes their seat around the large circular table in the centre of the room. The table is gargantuan in size. Has to be to fit all one hundred and one of us. Hiranur and I take our seats and once everyone has gotten settled, our sister Imak, with her soft celadon aura and glittering gold hue stands to address us all. Aside from the unique shades, all of my sister’s auras have a gold glittering hue, which I’ve learned is unique to our species.

Among us, there is no leader or chief as we handle things equally, but when it comes to overseeing meetings we do take turns. It just keeps things more balanced that way.

I can hear the sound of rustling paper as I watch Imak, pass out dossiers. Once my dossier makes its way to my hands, I open it and begin running my fingers over the small bumps that fill the page. Naturally, I’m the only one who has to have a separate dossier that’s done in brail. They’ve never complained about the little accommodations they have to make for me, and I’m very grateful to my sisters for that. If anything they act a little more protective, but never overbearing. I’m blessed to have such a loving family.

“First order of business,” Imak begins, “Two mutolupus packs are having a land dispute in Argentina and Alpha Filipe of the Angatupyry Pack has reached out seeking our assistance as it seems the Luison Pack has threatened to go to war over the matter.”

“It says here they established and agreed to their pack borders three centuries ago. Why the sudden feuding over territory?” asks Kelebek.

“The Angatupyry Pack has grown a great deal in recent centuries making it the third largest pack in Argentina. They need to expand their borders in order to make more room for their growing numbers. However, as you can see from the maps included, if they expand to the east, west and north of the pack, then they’re crossing into human territory and it’s a risk they don’t want to take. They feel the only logical option is to expand south, but that then means they’re cutting into Luison territory. Luison are a smaller pack, known for rarely letting in new members, preferring to allow members who find their animais outside the pack to leave the pack instead of welcoming their soulmates in. They don’t wish to relinquish any of their land. Angatupyry has offered to pay for the land, but that seemed to just infuriate Alpha Bautista who responded by threatening them with war,” Imak explains.

“That seems like suicide. Luison has 604 pack members, whereas Angatupyry has 1438. Declaring war on a pack that is more than double theirs is just idiotic,” says Lale in disapproval.

“While they do have fewer members, their warriors are, however, elite. There’s no guarantee they’ll win, but they would certainly cause a great deal of casualties in their attempts at victory. Either way, it would be senseless loss of life. This doesn’t need to result in war. We should step in and ensure a peaceful resolution,” argues Sanem.

“All those in favour, raise your hand,” instructs Imak. I watch as the auras of seventy-three arms are raised into the air, my own included. If we can prevent even a single life being lost, then we should always do so.

“Then it’s settled,” says Imak.

I listen as she pulls a glass bowl towards herself. This is how things are done here. Instead of anyone feeling excluded or anyone being overworked, our names are drawn out of a bowl to keep things even. Everything we do is about keeping peace, that includes amongst ourselves. I listen as Imak’s hand rustles around inside the bowl, and I wonder whose names she will pull out.

“Derya. You shall go to the packs to ensure a peaceful resolution,” announces Imak.

Derya nods, “Consider it done.”

“Next order of business is a unique one,” says Imak as we all turn to the next page. I fail to hide my surprise as I feel the words under my fingertips.

“A visum?” Nuray says, her voice carrying the same surprise I, and I’m sure many of us, feel. I can’t remember the last time we had to handle a situation regarding a visum… actually I can’t recall ever having to do that.

“I’m as surprised as you are, but it would seem this particular visum hasn’t learned from past mistakes,” Imak says gravely.

Many supernatural beings were created by the Gods in an attempt to save and preserve human life, but some species didn’t have such humble beginnings. Visums are one of them. Visums were once human beings who found themselves targets of the Goddess Merlos. Merlos is the Goddess of Darkness and Shadows, with the ability to see the darkness within people. When she encounters humans with a great amount of darkness inside them, who have committed serious and repeated acts of betrayal against their fellow man, she curses them to become a visum. Forced to spend eternity granting a wish to anyone who touches them. An eternity forced to do for others, as penance for their misdeeds.

“How on earth has a visum earned the attention of the Delegation?” asks Setia in confusion.

“I suppose after centuries of a cursed life she got fed up. It seems she is intentionally allowing herself to come into physical contact with unsavoury people so that she can grant what she knows will be devastating wishes. As we know, visums can only grant one wish to the people they become tied to, but she appears to be making quick work of them. Moving from one to the next. After some investigating, it would seem she recently granted the wish of a young human man who… at the time was wanted for stalking a young woman. The visum in question granted his wish and while we can’t be certain what he wished for without asking, if you keep reading you can see what the end result was,” Imak says gravely.

My fingers fly across the page as I read the report and I can feel the blood drain from my face and my stomach turn. I’ve been around for tens of thousands of years, and I’ve witnessed all levels of depravity this world has to offer, and yet it never gets any easier. The poor young woman this man was accused of stalking was found mutilated beyond recognition in his flat. Her body parts covering his bedroom wall like some grotesque Ed Gein-inspired wallpaper. Police officials in England are still at a loss for words on how he managed to do it, but there’s no denying his guilt. They’ll never know magic was the cause but finding a woman’s body parts covering every surface of a man’s room leaves little debate for reasonable doubt. Human laws need to take stalking far more seriously. Even in the supernatural world stalking occurs, and the results can be catastrophic.

“It is important we step in and bring this visum to justice. If we don’t I’m sure Merlos herself will handle the matter and I’m sure it won’t be pretty,” says Imak in warning.

“So? This woman is seeking psychopaths so she can grant their wishes and cause suffering and chaos. Let Merlos deal with her, she deserves a fate far worse than anything we can arrange for her and I’m sure Merlos can get creative. Plus, she created her, she should fix it,” says Ceren, disgust coating her words.

“We can’t be certain if or when Merlos would intervene. If we sit back and wait more people could be hurt, and things could get worse before they get better. We should capture her and place her in the cells, then have mother reach out to Merlos and see how she wishes to proceed,” suggests Defne.

“All those in favour of Defne’s idea?” Imak asks.

I watch as eighty-four hands raise into the air, mine included. I’m all for Merlos punishing this visum for their crimes, but Merlos rarely bothers with matters on earth, so who knows how long it could be until she decides to do something, if at all. It’s best we nip this in the bud immediately.

“Then it’s agreed,” says Imak as she again rustles her hand inside the glass bowl. “Kelebek and Feray, you will be handling the matter,” she announces after drawing their names from the bowl.

“We’ll have her brought back as soon as possible. We may ask Arthwin or Aulen to assist us in tracking the visum down,” says Feray.

“Good idea,” agrees Imak, “Now, final order of business,” she says as we all turn to the next page in our dossiers, “As you can see there has been an unusual spike in sanguidae attacks in Auckland, New Zealand.”

“New Zealand? They’ve never seen a high number of sanguidae there ever, maybe a handful, but nothing that warranted our intervention,” says Zehra.

“To be fair our intervention has almost never been required,” I argue.

“Yildiz is right, for thousands of years whenever there’s an increase in sanguidae numbers, by the time we show up the situation has already been dealt with, we just never knew by who or why,” says Aiyla, finishing my train of thought.

Over the thousands of years sanguidae have existed there have been spikes in their activity which means an increase in their numbers. But whenever we arrive to handle it, we find they have disappeared off the face of the earth or a small number were left dead. We’ve looked into it time and time again but never could understand what was happening. Either way, the situations were being handled and efficiently, so we didn’t feel compelled to overanalyse it.

When a sanguidae goes on a killing spree, as vicious as the attacks are, the chances of humans ever discovering them is slim to none. Humans hold to their folklores very tightly, so what they know about what they call ‘vampires’ is vastly different from their real life counterparts. So a human is only likely to think ‘vampire’ if someone shows up exsanguinated with two puncture marks on their necks in the dead of night, which as comical as that is, does allow real sanguidae to operate in perfect obscurity.

Irshiusts are walking encyclopedias for the supernatural, and yet the origins of sanguidae are entirely unknown to us. We have asked our mother numerous times, but she remains tight-lipped about it. What we do know is they are immortal, with blood red irises and an unquenchable need for blood. They’re bound by their hunger that brings with it a ritualistic compulsion to drain the blood of their victims and eat their hearts. Becoming a sanguidae is not as simple as you might think. You see, when they feed, their saliva carries the… condition, I’ll say, with it, into the victim’s bloodstream, but with the body drained and heart gone there’s nothing for the condition to take root in. However, if the heart is left unconsumed, the condition is able to take over turning their victims into a sanguidae. It’s rare, but it does happen, and it seems it’s happening a lot right now in New Zealand.

“Forty-three victims in the last three days alone have been found in a city centre in Auckland. From the severe wounds authorities first thought animal attack, but given the removal of the hearts, they’re now looking for either a serial killer or a terrorist group,” says Imak.

“Terrorists? Really? Since when do terrorists drain people of blood and rip out their hearts?” scoffs Ceren.

“It’s not that unrealistic for them to consider the idea of a terrorist cell. A few years ago in Australia a terrorist cell was caught who had planned to go on a killing spree beheading people, which is far more gruesome and unexpected than their usual style of bombings,” argues Elif.

“Regardless, these are without a doubt sanguidae attacks. It’s unclear how many there are. It’s possible this could be the act of one sanguidae in the middle of a blood craze, or this is the work of a newly formed sept. Only one way to find out. I think for now, two of us will be enough to assess and handle the situation, but should more of us be needed then naturally, more of us will step in,” says Imak. Imak once against places her hand in the glass bowl and rummages around drawing the selected names. “Yildiz and Beste,” she announces.

“Yes!” Beste cheers making many of us chuckle.

“Yildiz, given your recent work with the nagata you’re welcome to decline, and I can pull out another name,” Imak offers.

“No, I’m happy to do it,” I say with a smile.

She nods, “Very well. Keep us up to date on how things go. Chances are this may end up being another case of us showing up only to find the situation already handled.”

“We’ll let you know,” says Beste.

“Then this meeting is adjourned, and everyone is dismissed,” declares Imak, as everyone rises from their seats and proceeds to leave the room.

I’m probably a bad person for hoping whoever has been dealing with the sanguidaes all these years doesn’t make an appearance. It’s incredibly selfish, and I’ll never admit to it out loud. I just fear if I stay here dwelling over my mystery animai I will truly go insane.

“Yildiz?” I hear Beste call, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Hmm?” I ask, standing and turning towards her, her stunning coquelicot aura with its gold glittering hue shining around her.

“You seem a little distracted,” she observes.

“I have a few things on my mind, but it won’t interfere with the mission, I promise,” I say sincerely.

“That’s good.” I can hear the smile in her voice as she wraps her arm around me, her delightful scent of warm sugar and fresh rain enveloping me, “Let’s go get dressed and then grab our toys,” she says with excitement.

I chuckle, “Still calling weapons ‘toys’ huh?”

“They are to me,” she says with a grin in her voice.

We each go our separate ways, with me returning to my room to shower and change. I feel like dressing for the occasion, so I opt for black leggings, black knee-high boots, a sheer black long-sleeve top and a short black leather jacket. Since I have all my clothes sectioned off and organised by colour, there’s brail marking each section of clothing, so I know which colour is where. My sister Nuray, however, once thought it would be funny to mix everything up. She found it most amusing when I came down for breakfast looking like the rainbow threw up on me. I got her back though.

Once I pull my braids up into a ponytail, I put my phone in my pocket and make my way to our armoury. I can already hear Beste inside, excitedly rummaging through the ‘toys’. She’s a quirky one, but I do love her enthusiasm for… well, everything.

“Look at you! You look like Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” she jokes, “Wait, Buffy was white… that would make you Kendra the Vampire Slayer!” she exclaims, clearly proud of her pop culture reference.

“Firstly, Kendra was killed, so I find that unsettling. Secondly, if we were going for accuracy then it would be Yildiz the Sanguidae Slayer,” I grin.

“That doesn’t remotely sound as appealing. Certainly don’t see it being picked up for a first season,” she says in mock seriousness. I roll my eyes. Beste loves supernatural-based films and television shows. She loves seeing how far removed from reality they are and is waiting for the day someone gets it right, though we hope that never happens.

“What have you gathered so far?” I ask, walking over to her.

“I have opted for some bloodstone throwing stars and some bloodroot grenades,” she answers proudly.

“No cadmium?”

“Feels excessive. I should do fine with just what I’ve selected,” she says as she pats what I assume is a pouch attached to her hip. “What will you choose?”

I walk along the wall, knowing exactly what I’m after, and proceed to take a katana down from the wall. Traditionally, katanas are forged using Tamahagane, but this particular sword is forged using bloodstone, a specific gemstone that upon contact, can weaken any sanguidae. It’s also the only substance that can kill them. To successfully kill a sanguidae one must cut out their heart using bloodstone, as it stops the heart from regenerating.

I pull the blade from its scabbard and run my thumb against the blade, testing its sharpness by the amount of pressure I feel against the pad of my thumb. If I were a sanguidae – or almost any other being for that matter – the blade would have sliced right through my flesh. We put great time and effort into perfecting and maintaining the weapons we use, and this one is no exception. Once satisfied, I place it back into the scabbard and strap it to my back.

“You always choose a katana, no matter what being we fight. I should have known you’d choose it again,” she says playfully.

“I love katanas. The history and craftsmanship that goes into them, especially ours, given we don’t use traditional materials. I’ve always admired the reverence the Japanese had for their art form. Not many weapons in history are so revered to almost develop a life of their own,” I say with admiration.

“Well, you are an expert on the subject. How many years did you spend in Japan mastering the art? I forget.”

“A couple decades. And it was worth every minute,” I grin.

“Is that all you’re taking?” Beste asks in disapproval.

“No,” I say, sticking my tongue at her, making her chuckle.

I move to a different area and proceed to grab a belt, that I strap around my hips, and then grab two cadmium daggers from the wall and attach them to the belt. Between the two of us, we now have every substance that can harm or kill a sanguidae. Beste’s grenades contain bloodroot, which is a flower. We dry and pulverise it into a powdered form and add it to grenades for quick use. Bloodroot won’t kill them, but it will hurt like hell. Even a little amount can cause them enough burning pain to knock them off their feet.

Then there’s cadmium, which is a metal similar to zinc and mercury. Cadmium to a sanguidae is no different than silver to a mutolupus and equally as painful. When confronting those who have potentially committed a crime, I prefer to use the less lethal substances against them first. Our goal is never to kill but to subdue and bring to justice. In the case of sanguidaes, many don’t even understand what they are or that their condition can be controlled. It’s not fair to kill or punish them for something that isn’t their fault, so the protocol is always to subdue, assess and then only kill if absolutely necessary. We don’t take pleasure in taking lives and only do it as a last resort.

“Ready to go?” she asks.

“That seems to be everything, so I would say yes.”

We exit the armoury and make our way outside. Once we step outside we’re greeted by the sound and smell of the waves of the Mediterranean sea. The air is warm yet refreshing as the wind brushes against my skin. The castle we call home is known as the Kartheca and is concealed by our mother’s magic. It resides high up on a cliff on Iç Ada, an islet found in Turkey. The only time the Kartheca is easy to access is during the Autumnal Equinox when we have our resident makkares open portals allowing supernaturals from around the world to enter our halls for the Autumnal Ball; a tradition that not only brings all the species together under peaceful circumstances but provides them with a chance to meet their soulmates.

And now I have stupidly put the thought of my own animai back in my head. The Autumnal Ball isn’t until September, and we’re currently in July. Am I going to have to wait another two months to find my animai? Assuming they’d even attend the ball. This is starting to feel like some gender swap version of Cinderella, only I’m trying to find the person who belongs to the scent I caught instead of whose sweaty foot belongs to the stinky shoe they left behind.

“Yildiz? Where did you go just now?” Beste asks.

I shake away the ridiculous train of thoughts I got swept in and give her a reassuring smile. “My thoughts just got a little carried away. The sooner we get going, the sooner I can focus.”

I hear the sound of feet running in our direction, and soon I see Aulen – one of our resident makkares – barrelling out of the Kartheca, her scarlet red aura with a dusting of French violet around the edges, surrounding her frame.

“Sorry I’m late, hope you weren’t waiting long,” she pants, attempting to catch her breath.

“Someone’s out of shape,” Beste teases. The breeze wafts Aulen’s charcoal and sage scent in my direction and along with it another familiar scent. Vanilla and lavender.

“Surprised another workout with Nuray didn’t improve your stamina. Or did she wear you out?” I smirk. It’s well known that Aulen and our sister Nuray fornicate whenever the mood strikes them.

“I hate all you beings with your superior noses. It’s incredibly annoying. For the record, as you can no doubt scent, we didn’t get to that part yet. I was called to open a portal for you,” she huffs, folding her arms indignantly, making us snigger.

“Our deepest apologies,” Beste says with a bow.

“I could be in the middle of a mind-blowing orgasm right now if not for the two of you,” she hisses.

“We’ll be sure to tell the sanguidaes we encounter how inconsiderate they were to give you a case of coitus interruptus,” I tease.

“Oh, ha ha.”

I watch as the French violet in her aura intensifies as she throws her arms out in front of her, the purple of her aura travelling down her arms and flowing out from her fingertips and forming an oval shape a few feet in front of her. As the purple hue of her aura dies down, she drops her arms to her sides, but the purple oval remains visible to my unseeing eyes, indicating the portal is fully operational. I may not see everything this world has to offer, but what I do see is full of beauty I cannot put into words.

“There, your portal is done. Now jump through it so I can close it and get back to what I was doing,” she urges.

“Enjoy your day, Aulen,” Beste chuckles as she steps through the portal.

“Try not to pull anything,” I tease, stepping through the portal just as her arm reaches out to swat me. At least some people are having some fun around here. Though all of this does prove one thing true; animais are a terrible distraction. Here’s hoping this mission provides the reprieve I seek.