The city night is active with people heading home who are replaced with those who thrive in the night and among those nightwalkers are two females that command them all. The two women enter a bar that only a select few can enter as they are followed by men that would do anything for them. The classy bar has a fair whiff of something metallic covered by a flowery aroma. A young waiter shakily leads the two females and their followers to a large and private table away from the rest of the patrons of the bar. The woman with a head wrap waves the waiter away without looking at him. The waiter rushes from the table without saying another as the other female giggles at the fear within the waiter's body.
Tilting her head the giggling woman looks at the other, "I know our waiter is a child but did you really needed to glare at the poor boy? His hands will be shaking when he brings us our drinks because of your attitude."
"If this boy doesn't know how to serve royalty then he should be replaced. I'm not waiting for him to learn how to properly serve me," the woman with the head wrap ends with a sigh.
The two women have a stare off and the eight men tense up in fear. If the two women decide to start playing around there won't be much left of the bar and the neighboring buildings. Not that either woman couldn't buy the whole street full of different businesses and remake them however she wanted but it would be an annoyance so neither woman should start roughhousing with the other. Before any of the eight men could try to defuse the tension both women are laughing. The entire bar takes an unnecessary deep breath. The waiter returns to the table looking back and forth between the identical women.
"All of us will be having a glass of O negative," the smiling twin says to the waiter.
"As you wish your majesties," with a fast bow to the women the waiter departs from the group of royalty.
"Thank you for taking care of that Odette because I was about to tell Michel to remove his eyes if he stayed near me a second longer without groveling," she smiles at her twin.
Odette smirks at her twin, "What are sisters for, Odile? I'm sure you rather not have your drink ruined by dismemberment anyway. Plus isn't that a waste of Michel's skills?"
"If it's for my happiness then, no," Odile raises an eyebrow as a challenge to Odette.
Odette looks at the woman sitting across from her. Odile has the same dark brown skin, oval-shaped face, upturn eyes, and model figure as her. The only difference is their eyes and that Odile has a shaven head covered by a head wrap. Cherry jam color eyes look back at Odette's red wine eyes. It's been some years since the two have seen each other face to face. The last time was when their previous game came to the end. Odette rolls her eyes with a smile on her lips. Odile's reasoning is truthful to their lifestyle. As they quietly wait for their drinks Odette starts playing with her long straightened hair as Odile admires her manicure. The gentlemen relax quietly near their respective women. The group stays quiet for a few more minutes when their drinks arrive.
The same waiter nervously sets the wine glasses filled with O negative in front of each individual and quickly departs with a bow. Odette takes a deep whiff of the drink and hums in approval, seeing that it meets Odette's standards, Odile inhales a breath of her own drink and nods in agreement. Both sisters take a drink from their glasses. Once they did, the men did the same to their own drinks. Each one made known their satisfaction with their drink. Once a couple more sips were taken from her wine glass, Odile looks to one of her personal followers to bring forth a small jewelry box. Seeing this action from her twin sister, Odette does the same but her present box is larger than Odile's. The two women then carefully slide their gifts across the table to the other. Without bothering to open their new gifts a male from each side removes the gifts from the table altogether. Finishing her glass, Odette smiles at her twin.
"So, now that pleasantries are over and done with, I've been thinking that we should start talking about a little serial killer that the police have been worrying about. The police believe that their killer is a jaded boyfriend that seduces and then kills every teenage girl that looks like his ex-girlfriend," Odette places her elbow on the table and rests her head on her hand.
Odile scoffs, "When did the troubles of law enforcement matter to us?"
"When the killer is one of ours it does concern us,"
"Why haven’t the local families’ heads taken care of this troublemaker?"
"Because she is also a family head, although foreign, so they weren't quite sure how to handle her,"
Odile sighs, "Of course not, this is why they dare to bother us. So, what is the name of our little troublemaker?"
Catching on to Odile's reluctance but otherwise, acceptance of the situation Odette continues, "She currently goes by Carman which is a nickname to her original one. She seems to have been preying on girls who looked the same as her first victim since she has been turned."
Odette motions for one of her followers to place a picture of Carman's current target on the table. Odile and her party view the picture that Odette has. The young Latina is pretty with dyed hair but there is nothing about her that makes Odile sees the worth of getting their kind exposed to regular people. She pushes the picture back closer to Odette and taps her fingers on the table waiting for what else Odette has to say. Odette would not have bothered her with a physical meeting if there wasn't more to the scenario.
"Since it has been some time since our last time seeing each other I thought it would be fun if we made this into a game," Odette grins at her sister.
Odile hums at the proposal and smiles back at Odette, "That does sound fun, and making this into a game will make this whole situation more tolerable."
"I'm happy you agree how about we make this simple?"
"Go on,"
"Does the girl get seduced by Carman or does she refuse her. I'll let you choose first,"
"Well, seeing Carman's track record I bet that this girl will follow her predecessor and fall for Carman which will lead to her death,"
"Then I bet that the girl will refuse Carman and the winner gets to kill Carman herself, agreed?"
"Agreed,"
"Now that that's over, let us pay and leave, I'll be sure to have one of mine give you all the information you'll need to know for our game," Odette waves down a waitress and both parties pay for their drinks.
Without waiting any longer both Odette and Odile leave the bar and head out into the night. Whoever was in their way rushes to the opposite side of the sidewalk as the look in both twins' eyes is murderous. Their game starts tonight as Carman is already stalking her next victim and neither twin wants to lose this new game.
The night sluggishly moves as a lovely foreign teenager watches her next partner causally moves around the party. The other girl is moving normally unlike a lot of the dancers at the party. Whether it's the alcohol or the weed the foreigner couldn't tell. Only the girl looking around for someone, maybe her ride home has caught her eye. Gathering up her courage, the stranger to these lands approaches the single person who has captured her attention.
"Hello, I'm new around here and I really like your top and I thought it would be cool to talk to you," the stranger nervously speaks to the other teenager.
"Hi, thank you for the compliment! I'm Sarah and you are?" Sarah holds out her hand to shake the other.
"I'm Carman. Sorry if that was a weird start you seemed like someone easy to talk to,"
"It’s fine; the first thing to say is always the hardest, so when did you move out here?"
"Only a few weeks ago during the school break. I'm taking night classes,"
"You're in college?"
"Just community, I was a bit of an overachiever during school so while I've finished early I don't have many peers around my age,"
"Sucks, what about joining a club or something,"
"Well I was kind of hoping about joining one but I don't know what yet,"
"Maybe the club I'm apart of will work? Since the community college is nearby some of the college and high school clubs are joined together because the members of the high school club go on to be a part of the college version of the club," Sarah explains.
"That sounds great wha-" Carman is interrupted when Sarah reaches into her jacket pocket to check her phone.
"Sorry, that would be my ride so I have to go. Want to trade numbers so we can keep in touch,"
"I would like that, here,"
The two teenagers enter their numbers in each other phones so that they can text later. Sarah gives Carman a hug goodbye and heads toward the front door of the house. Watching her depart Carman's face shows her annoyance as she goes to find someone else to be her partner for the night. The party goes on without Sarah much to Carman's unhappiness. The heavy beat rocks the multiple bodies as Carmen stalks through looking for someone that she can easily pick off. Anyone will do for now as her real prize is not ready yet. They have only just met and Carmen needs to lure Sarah in more before suggesting what it is she really desires from her. A girl is dancing messily enough that Carman can pretend that she looks like Sarah. Going up to her, Carman starts dancing too. The other dancer is happy for the attention and starts grinding up on Carman. Using the girl's drug-influenced decision; Carman takes a deep bite from her neck while grinding back on the other girl. To the other teenagers, it was just two girls getting into some heavy petting.
"If you two are going to get physical, go somewhere more private this is a dancefloor only!" a nearby but random voice is heard through the loud music.
Happy for the instruction Carman escorts her evening partner outside and away from the party so she can have the other girl all to herself. Noticing that there wasn't anyone but the moon and stars to witness her, Carman picks up the girl and runs to the nearest back alleys to finish her meal. Seeing that the girl is still very dazed by both the fast movement and drugs in her system, Carman goes back to feeding on her neck. The girl whimpers but Carman ignores her. She tries pushing Carman away but her movements are slow and weak. Weaker and weaker she becomes her mind slows in panic as a loud buzzing sound takes over every thought she can have at this moment. It's here that she'll die. It's here away from friends and family. The other female weight moves from her and she feels a sharp object cut deeply into her throat where the other's month has been and reaches to her collarbone. A frightening silence starts from her toes climbs up her body. It moves faster as the other female leaves her behind not even to look back. Without any fight, her body slides down the alley wall and she dies as the silence consumes. Carman is gone after this night’s partner takes her last breath.
Morning sunlight breaks through the last remaining characteristics of the night before. The city slowly starts its day with those who managed to be well-rested. It's a slow start but at a more manageable early hour the city is humming with activity as most are starting off with their day. Everything is normal for everyone it seems, just how Odette and Odile like their new playground.
Walking around during the late afternoon, Odette goes into a local coffee shop that is co-owned by a family head vampire. She goes over to the counter to order a black sweet ice tea with a brownie on the side. Finding a place to sit in the fairly crowded coffee shop, Odette spots a free seat near a teenage Latina in an oversized sweatshirt reading a paperback while sipping a sugary coffee drink. Her backpack is between her legs to make sure that other patrons do not trip over her backpack. Walking over confidently, Odette stands by the empty chair.
"Excuse me; may I sit in this empty spot by you?" Odette grabs the attention of the other female.
The other female looks up and has a surprised look on her face. She didn't hear or notice that someone had walked up to where she was sitting. Looking at the standing female, she saw that the standing female is in a nautical style outfit.
Not wanting to be rude she answers the standing female, "Of course! I'm sorry for making you stand there."
"It's not a problem, my name is Odette by the way," Odette sits down.
"I'm Sarah," Sarah holds out her hand and Odette shakes it.
The two females continue their conversation only to briefly pause when Odette's order comes. They move from topic to topic with Sarah blushing at how beautiful Odette is compared to her frumpy look. Odette is amused by Sarah's shyness but doesn't draw attention to it. Over an hour passes and the two decide to part ways.
"I'll be going now, and I'll be back around this time tomorrow," Sarah looks at Odette hoping for the best.
"I'll meet you here tomorrow Sarah," Odette confirms and leaves the coffee shop. Sarah follows after Odette but heads to her own car.
Odette looks for her follower Claude to take her back to their temporary home. Seeing a red-headed man in his thirties Odette smiles and walks over to him. Claude bows his head in respect and leads Odette to his fancy car. Opening the door for her, Claude walks around the front and enters the driver's side. As there are no other cars in his way Claude quickly leaves the parking lot. As the sports car leaves a male in his late teens with bright red hair starts calling his superior.
"My queen, your sister has just left with Claude," he flinches from what she said.
"But I did follow the girl,"
"No, her majesty Odette personally talked to this girl,"
"I believe so, and she may be making contact with the girl again,"
"Of course my queen, I shall return after I find where this Sarah lives. You have my love, goodbye my queen," he hangs up the phone and walks over to his motorcycle.
Getting himself ready, the male gets onto his bike and leaves the parking lot by the coffee shop. Riding around the city the teenage male finds the street Sarah lives on. Recognizing Sarah's car, he remembers the place and drives away from this part of the city to where his queen is temporarily living. As the houses get larger, the teen on the bike turns into a driveway of a mansion far away from the rest. Parking his bike outside and handing over his helmet to a worker of the mansion, he enters his temporary home. Making his way through the house, he goes to the personal wing of his queen to look for her. Finding her in a silk robe as she lounges with a book in her hand, he kneels before her and kisses her hand.
"My queen, I've found out where the girl lives," he patiently waits for her answer.
"Good job, Jean. You'll be spending the rest of the day with me personally my dear consort," she smiles at her consort.
"Odile, being with you is always an honor; but what about your sister? She's made contact with the girl,"
"I'll just give Odette a quick call," Odile closes her book.
She gets up and walks over to her phone and picks it up. Turning around she waves her hand for Jean to sit on the couch that she was lounging on. Following her instruction, Jean seats himself upon the couch as Odile walks back to the couch and calls Odette. As her phone rings Jean massages Odile's legs as she waits for her sister to pick them up. Sitting up a bit more Odile has a displeased look on her face as she starts her conversation with Odette.
"Hello, Odette, one of my beloveds spotted you talking to the human," she taps her finger as she waits for Odette's answer.
"I don't believe that was a part of the rules we set,"
"I simply want us to have a fair game,"
"Simply meet me at that coffee shop," Odile glances to Jean and he nods his head, "in two days after closing so we can properly discuss your actions."
"I'll see you then, Odette," Odile hangs up her phone.
"Now that that's out of the way, what shall we do Jean," Odile turns her full focus on him and smiles.
"I only wish to be in your presence," he answers back.
Odile then has Jean by her side constantly over the next few days. Odette herself meets once more with Sarah at the same coffee shop as she promised. Sarah herself is delighted that Odette kept her promise as she believes that she has befriended Odette. Sarah wishes to hang out with Odette more and gives Odette her phone number so that she can be reached at any time. Odette is happy with her results of personally speaking to Sarah as she once more exits the coffee shop. On the evening of Odile's and Odette's meeting, Odette promises the vampire owner of the coffee shop that it will still be in one piece after the two have their talk. The older-looking woman nervously accepts her superior's answer and leaves the main part of the coffee shop knowing that if she was there longer than permitted there is a chance of bodily harm coming her way. As neither queen will have any trouble putting a weaker vampire in her place for her assumed arrogance; she quietly bows out. Now that they are both alone, Odile and Odette pull out facing chairs and stare each other down.
"You've made contact with the human girl not once but twice now how is that any fair?" Odile protests her sister’s actions. She dares not to take her eyes off her twin.
"I simply wanted to get to know our likely victim is all, Odile" Odette dismissively waves her hand, "Are you upset that I've managed to make the first move while you have one of your consorts stalk the girl from a distance?"
"I simply don't want to waste my time on lower beings,"
"Whatever you say, sis,"
The two go back and forth with no real heat behind their argument. The game has just begun and neither sister is the clear winner yet. With any spite aired out between the two of them, they leave the coffee shop without looking back and go to their respective rides. The night is young and both queens have plans to make to win this little game. As Odile waits in the back of the car with two males sitting on opposite sides of her as she thinks about her next move while tapping her fingers in a rhythm that her consorts know well. When she decides on her next move she turns to the man with dark hair graying at the temples and a goatee. She smiles at him and he turns all his attention to her.
“Michel, will you be a dear and meet with the human girl’s principal and find out any insider information that would be useful,” she orders him sweetly.
He smiles lovingly at Odile, “Such a task will be completed in a day, my queen.”
Knowing that her demand will be fulfilled promptly Odile can’t help but think that this game between her and Odette will end in her favor, especially after their last game that ended in a tie. Odile’s good mood soured some. Their last game was in her favor but Paul just had to be too loyal to Odette. His loyalty was what cost Odile her win but it also cost Odette the loss of a consort. Luckily this time none of the consorts were wagered in this game. With her mood restored to something more positive, Jean and Michel breathe a bit easier. Finally back to her temporary home, Odile spends the rest of her time being pampered by her consorts.
The next morning, Michel learns some information about Sarah through the use of the information she put out on social media. Finding out her involvement in one of her high school's clubs, he thought of an easily memorable cover story to get more information from the school principal. Departing from the house after he said his goodbye to Odile, Michel leaves in a nice but easy to look over the car, to drive to the high school. The ride is smooth and Michel thinks over what he is going to say over and over again in his head. He needs to bring back results so that Odile will continue her good mood and if he’s the one to be the reason for that all the better. With the school up ahead on the road, Michel slows down and makes a turn. Discovering an open guest parking spot he parks his car and follows the direction sign toward the front office. Checking his shoes to be sure that there’s no mud on them, Michel enters the office with a friendly smile on his face. The woman and student aids in the front office are surprised to see a new face.
“Hello sir, what can we do for you?” a young male student asks Michel.
Michel smiles at the boy, “I was wondering if I could speak to your principal or whoever because my nephew wants to join a club as he’ll possibly be transferring here soon. And since his mother is busy I thought I’d do this chore for her.”
“That’s nice of you. I believe the principal is only looking over and signing papers but I’ll go check,” the male student aid leaves the front desk.
As he waits, Michel causally looks around the front office with a mildly curious look on his face. He hears the student aid talk to an older female voice. She seems to have time to personally talk to him which is good as he’d hate to have to actually get physically involved in finding out which club Sarah is a part of. Hearing two sets of footsteps behind him Michel turns around and smiles at the two people before him. The woman is dressed professionally with her hair tied in a low ponytail.
She holds out her hand which he takes, “Hello sir, you can just follow me back to my office.”
“Alright, and thank you for seeing me,” Michel answers back.
Going two doors down Michel steps into a room bathed in daylight that is clean and orderly like the principal herself. She jesters for him to take one of the free seats in front of her desk and he does so all while having an open and friendly smile on his face. She sits down as well and looks to him to state why he’s here even though she already knows his reasoning.
“Well you see this is possibly going to be my nephew’s future high school and one of the things that he wants is to join a club. It’s much easier to make friends if there’s a common ground that he can work from. Since my sister is busy I thought I’d do this little chore myself as I am free today,” looks the principal in the eye the whole time he spins his tale.
“Well, here’s a list of clubs,” she pushes forward a paper with the list of school clubs, “the most popular clubs are the anime club, the home-ec club, the drama club, and the LGBTQA+ club. The last club is joined with its sister club at the community college across the street so if your nephew is interested in any of those then the name and student email of the club's officers are written on that paper.”
Michel scans over the paper and finds the Sarah he was looking for. Recognizing that the principal is waiting for an answer Michel thanks her for her time and excuses himself. As he exits the building Michel’s smile widens to a grin of accomplishment. Now that he knows which club Sarah is apart of Odile can make the correct adjustment to her plan. She’ll definitely reward him for his efforts in progressing her plans. Getting into his car Michel drives back to Odile.
Getting back after being gone for less than an hour, Michel takes a quick shower and follows the sound of a piano playing. Sitting next to Odile as she plays the piano is a man who looks to be in his early thirties with light brown hair that could be mistaken as a dirty blonde. Looking over the rest of the room a young male with blonde hair and a boyish face that would make Peter Pan look like an adult sits not too far from where Odile is. Michel chooses to take the seat next to the younger man.
“You’re back early,” the fair-haired man says in a quiet voice.
Michel speaks in a low voice, “It was a slow day at the school so I was able to get what her majesty needed quickly. How long has Bernard been keeping our queen happy, Henri?”
“Well, here’s a list of clubs,” she pushes forward a paper with the list of school clubs, “the most popular clubs are the anime club, the home-ec club, the drama club, and the LGBTQA+ club. The last club is joined with its sister club at the community college across the street so if your nephew is interested in any of those then the name and student email of the club's officers are written on that paper.”
Michel scans over the paper and finds the Sarah he was looking for. Recognizing that the principal is waiting for an answer Michel thanks her for her time and excuses himself. As he exits the building Michel’s smile widens to a grin of accomplishment. Now that he knows which club Sarah is apart of Odile can make the correct adjustment to her plan. She’ll definitely reward him for his efforts in progressing her plans. Getting into his car Michel drives back to Odile.
Getting back after being gone for less than an hour, Michel takes a quick shower and follows the sound of a piano playing. Sitting next to Odile as she plays the piano is a man who looks to be in his early thirties with light brown hair that could be mistaken as a dirty blonde. Looking over the rest of the room a young male with blonde hair and a boyish face that would make Peter Pan look like an adult sits not too far from where Odile is. Michel chooses to take the seat next to the younger man.
“You’re back early,” the fair-haired man says in a quiet voice.
Michel speaks in a low voice, “It was a slow day at the school so I was able to get what her majesty needed quickly. How long has Bernard been keeping our queen happy, Henri?”
Henri smirks, “Since you left. Jean is making her tea to help soothe her irritation. But you seem to have good results.”
“And those results better be the information that our queen wants,” both Jean and Michel turn to where the piano is as Bernard interrupts and stops their conversation.
Jean reenters the room and places the tray containing Odile’s tea on the side table next to the piano. Odile takes the prepared brew of tea and takes a sip of it. She smiles at Jean as he waits at attention for her. He smiles back and Odile turns her focus to Michel. With her focus on him, Michel bows his head in respect and smiles at her before speaking.
“Since I lucked out on it being a slow day I was able to personally speak to the principal of the girl’s school. I’ve already figured out that she was a part of a club as well as her being one of her club’s officers so I just needed to find out which one. She’s a part of her school's LGBTQA+ club and better yet that particular club is connected to the nearby community college version of the said club,” Michel looks to Odile for approval.
Odile’s smile widens and she gets up from her piano bench to sit on Michel’s lap. She runs her fingers through his dark hair, “Good work beloved. She couldn’t be a part of a better club! I just know what move to make in this game.”
Michel wraps his arms around Odile as she kisses him for a job well done. Rewarding him farther, Odile stays in his lap as she drinks her tea. She motions for Bernard to start playing her piano so that she can have music while she drinks. Overall Odile’s consorts are relieved that Odile is in a positive mood. How long she’ll stay in that mood is up to how her plan plays out with Odette being the other player.
As the next day comes the weather is at an agreeable temperature for an outing. Lovely weather for Odette to make her next move in her game with Odile. Sarah is excited as Odette is meeting up with her again. The two of them had been texting back and forth and Odette mentions bringing someone with her to this meetup. Sarah spots Odette walking with a fair-skinned, dark-haired, blue-eyed, twenties-something man following slightly behind her. The man is handsome and looks perfect standing by Odette’s side. The two of them feel like they have an air of royalty to them that makes Sarah nervous. Not wanting to make a bad impression on someone close to Odette, Sarah meets the two halfway and holds out her hand to shake the newcomer to this meetup.
“Well, hello, I’m Sarah. It’s nice to meet!” She grins as the male shakes her hand back.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet the person who's been hogging up Odette’s time; I’m Phillipe by the way,” Phillipe lightly jokes with Sarah.
Odette smiles as Sarah gets a little starry-eyed at meeting Phillipe, “This is my boyfriend that I’ve mentioned before.”
Sarah’s eyes light up more, “This is him! The two of you look great together!”
“Odette said you were a part of a club, what type of club is it?” Phillipe inquires and the three of them start walking to a shaded area with benches.
“Oh, I’m a part of the LGBTQA+ club at my school. There’ll be a meeting in which guests are allowed. This is usually for individuals that require information or want to be a part of the club if there isn’t a safe place for them to go to,” she explains with the knowledge clearly memorized by now.
The three reach the shaded seats and Odette turns her body towards Sarah, “Has there been anyone else that’s been interested in your club? If so, when do you think they’ll become members?”
Sarah puts her hand on her phone resting in her hoodie jacket, “There is this one girl I’ve been talking to, Carman, she seems interested but has only been talking to me so far.”
“Maybe it’s not the club she wants to get to know better,” Odette quickly looks to Phillipe but refocuses back to Sarah before she notices the act, “You are fun to hang out with, it’s possible for Carman to maybe want something outside of being friends in the LGBTQA+ club.”
Sarah rolls her eyes at Odette’s teasing, “Well if she wants to be apart of the club then she needs to show up at one of the college meetings or something, anyway I’ve been really into this cooking show lately…”
Neither Odette nor Phillipe's comment on Sarah’s topic changed but it seems to them that Carman may have a hard time getting as close as she desires with Sarah. All the better for Odette as that just means this game may very well be in her win without having to get too involved. The three continue to talk about different topics with both Odette and Phillipe avoiding talking about Carman.
Phillipe stands up, “I have to make a call, real quick.”
“That’s fine,” Odette dismisses him.
As Phillipe talks to another of Odette’s consorts, Sarah asks questions about how the two met. Odette gives Sarah a lie based on truth but doesn’t let her know more. The two move on to a new subject when Phillipe rejoins the females. Giving him a teasing smile, Odette takes his hand and openly question if everything is alright. He smiles back and said that everything is more or less okay.
“We actually have to get going, Sarah,” Odette makes an upset face.
“Oh, really?” Sarah looks at her phone to check the time, “You’re right! Neither of you lives near here so you best get going.”
“It was nice meeting you,” Phillipe gives Sarah a friendly hug.
As Sarah returns the gesture, “It was cool meeting you too!”
The two females hug each other farewell as well then Odette and Phillipe make their way to leave the park. As the couple exits the park both notice the man with light brown or dark blonde hair wearing sunglasses carefully watching them depart from where they were. Odette can’t help but turn her face to smirk at the man. Her smile unnerves him but the man doesn’t stop observing them until they are in the parking lot and are driving away from the park. With them gone he makes a call.
“Jean, it’s time for you to go meet your new friend’ and get invited to one of her club meetings,” he pauses, “Our queen’s sister just departed but make sure you wait a little bit before talking to the girl.”
Hearing Jean confirming back his advice, he hangs up the phone. The man takes a deep sigh and tries to calm himself from Odette bothering to acknowledge him. It’s never fully a good thing for a queen to take interest in you. This poor girl isn’t even someone that the queens are personally fascinated with, they just find the situation she’s in fun to play with. Moving his focus back to the park, he watches as Jean accidentally meets Sarah as neither watches where they are going because their attention is on their phones.
“Oh, excuse me I didn’t see you there,” Jean puts on a shy smile.
“No problem I wasn’t looking either,” Sarah reassures the other.
Sarah notes that the other looks a bit upset about something. Choosing to be nosy, Sarah continues to talk to the male.
“So what’s troubling you?” Sarah finally dares to ask.
Waiting for Sarah to ask Jean answers, “My boyfriend and I have been having some troubles. It’s nothing too serious but it does worry me some.”
“That sucks, man,” Sarah pauses but decides to go on, “You can go to my school's LGBTQA+ meeting. I know it’s going to be happening soon so there’s a chance to get advice from teachers who are willing to help anyone who comes.”
“That sounds good, here,” Jean hands Sarah his phone, “Put in the address to where the meeting will be.”
As Sarah does that for him, Jean tells her how happy he is for bumping into her. Sarah reassures him about the club meeting and the two teenagers talk for a couple minutes more than part ways. Sarah feels good about helping the other out with a positive answer to his problems. Jean is happy about getting a link to Sarah now instead of just showing up at a club meeting and trying to talk to her there. He spots Bernard in a pair of dark sunglasses while reading something on his phone. Jean sits next to Bernard on the bench.
“You managed to get invited to the girl’s club meeting?” Bernard continues to look at his phone.
Jean smiles, “My boyfriend and I are expected to show up at the next meeting. Did her majesty, Odette, say anything to you?”
Bernard shutters, “No, but I don’t doubt that she realizes what we are doing here. Let’s return to our queen.”
The two stand up and walk to the parking lot and get into the car that they drove there. As they make their way to Odile the car is silent. Both consorts are waiting to be by Odile’s side again. With the trip coming to a close both Bernard and Jean make their way inside. When night falls one of the lesser vampires will be sure to drive to the car into the garage for them. On the way to meet Odile, the duo has Henri join them on their journey. Henri had just finished managing Odile’s finances for her as she requested of him. When they make it to the loft where Odile and Michel are, Odile is working on a puzzle while Michel quietly notifies her of the presence of her other consorts.
Odile looks up, “There you three are. Is everything fine with my money?”
Henri steps closer and bows his head, “Everything is as it should be. There aren’t any inconsistencies to worry about.”
“Good, how did the meeting with the girl go?” Odile focuses her attention on Bernard and Jean.
“I’ve made contact with the girl and got invited to the next club meeting. It’s expected that I’ll be accompanied by my boyfriend as well,” Jean reports.
“Alright is that all?” Odile looks at them wanting to hear good news.
“Her Majesty, Odette, was there as well,” Bernard takes a deep breath, “She along with Phillipe will likely be at the next meeting as well.”
Odile’s face twists in anger causing all her consorts to cringe in fear. And the upset queen is barely holding onto her feelings but she takes a deep breath. The fact that Odette still continues to have a lead over her means this meeting may be the only way to take the lead from Odette. She hears her consorts trying to promise that she’ll be the victor in this game or how perfect she is. This calms her down as she allows her consorts to continue to compliment and pacify her. Having enough of her foul mood Odile turns her focus back onto her puzzle.
“All of you help me complete the gift, Odette’s given me,” with her orders said all four consorts quickly start helping Odile with the puzzle.
The rest of the hour is focused on the puzzle and keeping Odile happy.
