As I watch the faces of Edward and Lillith, I am not sure what to read behind their eyes, for their faces are as blank as a page. There is no sorrow or any joy reflecting in them. Has the poor child indeed passed away? Was it by his wounds or from Lilith's decision not to become the guardian of the child? This I would find somewhat strange and yet sad in the same breath as this is not Lilith's nature. And as with Edward, I know that he would not have let the boy meet such an ugly fate. But as with the last few days have proven, nothing amazes me anymore.

So do I even dare to ask what went wrong? I have come to learn that if Lilith has a great burden on her shoulders that one should be wise to let her be until she has calmed down. Then I think this is best for me not to say a word at this present time. But if I thought that my beloved should share the same sentiment, then I would be rather mistaken, for she does not even blink once before she asks the question.

"Lilith, where is the boy?"

And as I suspected, Lilith does not pay any attention to her question, but she strangely only smiles. There is something going on that I am not aware of, and I know that I soon shall find out. So with this being said, I hear a sound that I have never heard in the Belmont house. And as the tiny figure comes around from the counter, I immediately know what the look on their faces meant. The boy is indeed alive, and I can confirm that he is a Vampire.

But this is yet unusual in every sense, seeing such a small child that is a Vampire. I do hope that Lilith did explain the risk that he was taking. The last thing I need now is another that hates being a Vampire even after consent was given.

Then the tiny man comes running up to me to where I stand; he grabs a firm hold of my leg and squeezes for dear life. This is how we found his body next to his father; it must then be a way of showing affection. Guess we shall need to become used to give small little squeezes and hugs from now on. I am not the affectionate kind when it comes to a child. I guess it is just one of those things that I never strived for, and I do not believe that I shall ever do. Being a Master is already such a big responsibility; I shall not be able to get the time to fulfill the duty of a father as well.

So it is somewhat uncomfortable as I speak to the youngling.

"And what shall your name be?"

"Stefan, my name is Stefan."

"Well, Stefan, welcome to our home. How do you like your stay so far?"

"It is kind of boring; there are no toys to play with."

"Then I shall ask Edward to take you and go buy some at once."

I watch as Edward's face turns into shock. Well, did he think he was going to get away with being the uncle in the boy's life? The entry of this young man has brought a whole new world of responsibility on everyone in the Belmont House. And talking about responsibility, I need to make an appearance at the Council meeting this morning.

So while all is playing house, I make my way to meet with Victor and another of the Council Members. I do say it is such a great pleasure to be back home in this wonderful weather; I do think I should reconsider returning to Scotland. But the rain washes those thoughts soon away as I step out of the car into the coldness that envelopes my body. Yes, I do feel cold, and so do I feel warmth; the day I discovered that my soul had returned, I was surprised that all of these little things that one takes for granted had made the entrance in my life again.

And as I step inside the home where the Council meeting is held, I feel that dreaded feeling that I have felt too often over the past few days. Now for a Vampire to feel fear, there has to be a great deal of trouble. I can honestly say if those Ancients are at something again, I shall take each and everyone down. They shall become extinct in only a matter of days, and our dear Vampire Hunter shall have hell to pay for not keeping them under control.

Now, do I even dare to be the one that asks? I know that I am going to regret every moment of what the next few hours shall bring. There is just no hiding from it.

"Well, let me hear it."

"I am afraid," Victor starts telling his tale. "The thing is that Vampires are dying; we have found six in the past two days."

"Please explain dying. Is this the work of the Vampire Hunter?"

"I wish I could have said it, but they are being poisoned."

"What do you mean by poisoned?"

Victor goes silent for a short while, is the reason so grand that it is difficult to mention. I do not know how a Vampire can be poisoned; the only thing that enters our bodies is the blood of a human and a very select few that prey on animals.

"The humans they fed from, their blood was poisoned."

"Poisoned by mistake or on purpose?"

"I am afraid the latter. We have no idea where or why this is happening,"

"So what you are saying is that Vampires are feeding on humans that have purposely been poisoned."

"Yes, I am afraid so; the thing is, can we really ask all to stop feeding?"

I do know that this shall be an impossible thing to ask, especially with Vampires that have not fed in a while. How can I say which humans shall be safe to prey on or even where they can go not to find themselves in danger. We need to act fast; I can not lose another of my coven.

So it is with haste that we make our way to the only human doctor that we know that shall help us. We need to establish what the humans are poisoning us with and, even more importantly, do they live afterward.

With that, we walk into Joelle's consultation room only half an hour later, now if she is happy to see us is rather hard to determine. She knows that the only time we come around is when we find ourselves in trouble and on the odd occasion if we require blood rather urgent. That is why we are met by a somewhat crooked smile, but I do know that she has always been quite fond of me. I only but need to put on some charm, and she is like a ball of jelly in my hand.

"Joelle, you look even far more beautiful than the last time I saw you."

"Sebastian, do not think your charms shall get you whatever you are here to ask for."

"Why would I lie about such beauty? It pains me to know that you have been taken."

"Now, really, what is it that you want?"

"I have a few poisoned Vampires; I need to know what they were poisoned with."

"Well, now that you mention that, I have had some poison cases myself."

This is now getting far more intriguing. Are the humans being poisoned themselves, or are they indeed doing it on purpose, knowing that they shall die? That would be an absurd thing to do; how can you possibly end your life on purpose like this. But then again, humans do some of the craziest things.

But then the question begs, does she know what poison it is?

"Do you know what they are being poisoned with?"

"No, I have not been able to establish that yet. All I know is that it is not anything that I know of. The results seem to be long and painful for the human, and you won't be able to tell me what it is for a Vampire."

"Well, my dear, I am not bringing you a Vampire that you can poison. How long until you know what this is, and is there indeed something that can cure it once you have ingested it?"

"I do not know, Sebastian; I need to find out what it is then I can only give you information then. Can you perhaps tell your Vampires not to feed in this time?"

"Joelle, that is like telling a Vampire that he should die. I shall let the word out."

With that, we make our leave but are soon called to the home of another council member; he has apparently just returned from feeding and is feeling rather sick. Now sick is not what Vampires do; we do not get ill, for our blood has the properties to heal itself. So we make our way with somewhat urgency. And as we find ourselves walking through the front door, we can hear the ghastly sounds of someone that is experiencing a tormenting death.

And as we enter the room where his servant found him lying in agony, all I see is an absolute horror. The man does not only have foam coming from his mouth, but his body is being eaten, or I should rather it seems like he is melting away. In some places all his flesh is gone; you can see through his muscle, straight to the bone. There is no way he can heal himself; the poison is acting fast. There is no way that one can save oneself from this. I think Victor has failed to tell me a minor detail.

"Victor this man is being eaten alive by his own body. Did you not think it was necessary to tell me this."

"Well, perhaps I have omitted to tell you that?

"Omitted, you omitted to tell me how one of our own is dying. Would you wish to be treated in the same manner? Does Joelle know?"

"No, I have not mentioned it to her."

"Then get yourself mentioning it to her now, and get the word out that nobody and I say nobody will go out to hunt."

With that, I rush out and find myself speeding home; I need to make sure that my own know not to go out. But as I am on my way, I am called to another Vampire's house. As I walk through the door, I hear the howl of an animal in pain; I know that he is about to meet the fate that so many of his brothers and sisters have. So as I step in, I am shocked into horror; there is a rather large pool of black blood where the Vampire is sitting in the flesh that has fallen from his body. I can see with the very last strength he has in his eyes that he is begging for me to help. And it rocks me to my core that there is nothing I can do for him now. The anger rises from deep inside of me; the man behind this is going to pay dearly for hurting my kind.

So with a heavy heart, I make the final stretch home; I have to fight the urge to burst out and cry. However, it does not stop the tears from tricking in my eyes, and pain squeezing a suffocation grip over my heart.

As I step through the door, I know that I need to change the expression on my face, for they cannot see that I am afraid. I find them sitting in the common room; the boy is playing with the toys that Edward had gone and bought him as he promised. And as I look at their faces, I can see the pure joy, but what I also notice is that one face is missing.

"Where is Edward?"

Lilith looks up from where she is watching the boy play.

"He went out to feed."