Chapter 201

I went upstairs and waited for Paul's arrival. I heard his motorcycle five minutes before I saw it. He smiled at me as if he had had no doubt in the world that his plan would be a success.

We returned to the lower level arm-in-arm. It wasn't long afterwards that the room began to fill with several vampires, very old vampires.

The atmosphere seemed to change with their arrival. It was as if they filled the world with too much other-worldly matter, as if they brought a piece of limbo over with them. I didn't like the feeling because it was foreign and empty—much like the soul of the average vampire.

"Alexis," a male Elder said. He stared without emotion at Alexis, who now stood in front of the Council table. The man looked rather young although his skin was ivory. His hair was like a black bowl crowning his skull, and his blank, black eyes made him look like a Roman extraterrestrial.

"Faris," Alexis said.

"Will you ever learn?" Faris asked.

"Learn when there is no lesson to be