Meetings and Funerals.

The founders were ready for us when we got to the meeting, they had painted the whole room with runes and all sort of protection charms against vampires, that was the work of the witches, no doubt. They were all gathered in the "Circle" as they called it, a room in the local government secretariat where every founder meeting were held. The local government chairmen have always been chosen from members of the founders, this enabled a smooth, unhindered operation of the founders and ensured that the secrets of the town was secured. The "Circle," which was a literal circular room divided into five sections meant for the most influential creatures of the town, the vampires, the wolves, the witches and the shape shifters, and the human who were represented by the local  government chairman and the police chief. Tables with two chairs were placed in each section, which meant two representatives for each. The representatives, most of whom I knew their ancestors were seated, staring at me, their eyes full of curiosity and some, hatred. 

"Fear is a very useful motivator. The fear of failure, fear of those that would hurt us, fear of the unknown, and ultimately, the fear of death. But once we let ourselves be consumed by fear, it destroys us," I began to speak.

"And what about the fear of the know, Mr. Lugard. Would it not be foolish for us to guard a herd of sheep with a wolf?  No offense Micheal," she apologized to the leader of the wolves who seemed to be the youngest in the room.

"Let him speak, witch!" Mathew Dane, the leader of the vampires reacted.

"I will not be hushed by you, blood sucker! The Lugard family is bad for this town and all of you know it, allowing them to be back into this town, under the same guise of being protectors would be the biggest mistake this council can make, we would be letting history repeat itself," Ramotta shouted.

In the midst of the chaos as all of the representatives shouted and pointed fingers at one another, Jidey walked into the room and they suddenly all went quiet. "When you see one, the others are not far behind," Ramotta shouted and pointed at Jidey.

"Silencence!" Jidey growled and his voice sent a surge that made them all quieted down and paid attention to him. "You all must have heard stories about me, passed from your grandparents and probably parents too. The first thing you need to know is that those stories are all true. The second this is that we do not need your permission to come back to our home, this town is our home and we will protect it, you can either help or stay the hell out of our way. Now this is the end of this meeting, call my brother if you have anything tangible to offer, he's the only reasonable one." We both walked out of the room but I could hear them complain and argue as we left.

"I had it under control, brother," I lashed out at Jidey angrily.

"No, you did not and you know it," he replied as he continued walking hastily away from me.

"Where the hell are you going?"

"Away from here obviously. I have to meet with Adam."

"No, brother! That prick is only going to make things worse, he is a greedy bastard and he would only do something that will benefit him and his people."

"The strongest wolf in town was just murdered as if he was just anybody, Lanrey. Adam is going to be next and I'm going to offer him protection in exchange for him bringing in everybody in the vampire community under our leadership." 

"We are not here to play kings, brother! We are here to save this town and get back to our lives in the city," I protested.

"We won't be playing kings, Lanrey, we are the kings here. We'd only be taking back our throne and save the town in the process. You asked me to help, this is me helping," he turned and walked away leaving me there wondering what just happened. I had just witnessed a part of my brother that I thought was long dead and buried. He was such a control freak, he lost all interest in all things a long time ago, but I had just put him in the course of that made me fear him once, my own brother. His ambitions knew no bounds and he would do anything to get what he wanted.

"Adam is in trouble now," I whispered.

"Hello," I heard the soft voice of a female whistle past my ear, it was immediately followed by a rumbling from deep in the sky, I looked up and a cloud was forming, it was about to rain but only I could see and hear it, I could hear, smell, and even see the water fifteen minutes before the rainwater before the first drops reached the ground.

"Hello, Mr. Lanrey, is it?"the voice repeated. Her voice guided me back to her. I had thought the first time was an imagination as what I heard was Qayah's voice. I slowly turned my face towards her and there she stood, my imagination made real.

"Qayah?" I whispered loud enough for her to hear me.

"What is that name you called me?"

"Oh, pardon me. It's just that you remind me of someone I used to know. Her name was Qayah Raymond"

"Qayah Raymond? A lost lover, I believe?"she smiled lightly and it revealed her beautiful dimples.

"Well, it was a long time ago... What are you doing here?" My confusion made me run out of things to say.

"Well, I live here, new boy. Shouldn't I be the one asking you what you're doing here staring into the sky in the street?"

"It is about to rain," I said as I smiled foolishly"

"No it's not... There are absolutely no signs," she argued.

"Well, I could bet you that it is going to start raining in the next four minutes." 

I stared at her, smiling as I had been doing for a while. She checked her wristwatch and and the cold breeze of the rain descended upon us. She stared at me with surprise, and it made her even more beautiful. Then I reached out my hand just over her head and caught the first drop of water that would have landed on her forehead. I showed it to her and she just stared at me, jaw dropping.

"How did you do that," she asked.

"Errm, it's a secret."

"Well, I guess you were right. It is definitely about to rain."

"Of course, I was." I smiled and it was a genuine smile filled with fulfilment. I had impressed her.

Well, I better hurry home then, see you around new boy, she crossed the road and walked away as I stared at her, lost in thought. My mind was struggling with the question of how it could be possible, she was Qayah in all likeliness.