It seems that normalcy has once returned to the Belmond House; my beloved is no longer furious at me for my little transgression. But let me not get ahead of myself, for my beloved has once again gone against my orders. Now, if I were not so eager to beg for her forgiveness, she would have felt the wrath of disobeying me come down on her. So this leaves us with some explaining to do.

Now, if this will go down as desired with Edward and Lilith, it is yet to be seen. I am leaning yes to Lilith and no to Edward, and as for Stefan, well, the boy shall be quite ecstatic. So this is how we find ourselves; my beloved and I are making our way to the usual spot where they occupy themselves. Though the thing is that we are not alone, with us is who is referred to as my daughter. Yes, my beloved has so kindly brought the child with us after I clearly instructed her that we shall find her a place with a good Vampire home.

Well, I guess I should have specified what I meant by a good Vampire home, one that is not ours. So this is the rather pressing situation that I now find myself in, for I need to convince Edward and Lilith that it is indeed a good idea for Lucy to stay with us. Now, there is no way that I shall turn the girl away now. The truth is, I do not need the blessing of either of them as what is say is rule. But I do believe, as being a part of the Belmont House, that they do have the right to have their opinion, after which I shall still do as I please. I truly wish that my beloved did not put me in this peculiar position. But as they say, the damage is done, now we need to find the solution.

So, my beloved shall remain with the child in the common room while I go share the news with Edward and Lilith. I am expecting full resistance; this shall not playoff well. As I near the corner, I take a few hesitating steps to a halt, and once I am satisfied I have gathered the utmost authority in me, I make the corner.

It is Lilith that is the one first to greet me, "My dear Sebastian, it is great to see that you are back in still intact."

"Oh, my dear Lilith, it will take more than a face-eating monster to bring me down."

"Well, you did come in quite late last night. Is Anastasia still upstairs."

"She shall join us in a moment."

Next, I direct my attention to Edward; now, I need to be careful that my hesitating words are not going to give away my true intention why I am here.

"Edward, how is council business doing?"

"Rather quiet at the moment; guess we can thank you and Anastasia for that."

"And let us not forget the Vampire Hunter."

"I do beg you forgiveness, but why are you running around with a man that most certainly displeases the Vampire community."

"Because he is a valuable asset when it comes to fighting whatever comes our way. And in some way, it keeps us safe from being hunted like animals."

"Fair enough, but I do wish that you do not keep his company, for I need to explain this on quite a regular basis."

Well, his demanding attitude is rather starting to annoy me; it seems that I need to make his place know, "The next Vampire that says a word, you shall send him to me."

With that, I immediately cut the conversation off. Edward seems rather on edge already. Is this such a good idea at present? He is going to see the child, and he shall ask questions, so I shall try to sugar-coat it as much as possible and in no way make him aware that this was, in fact, Anastasia's idea. That is most definitely not going to sit well with him at all.

So I begin, "There is something that I need to discuss with the both of you, and before I begin, I need to make clear that you are able to give your opinion, and it shall be considered. But as for the final outcome of the decision, well, that totally rests on me."

Lilith frowns rather strangely, causing her perfect porcelain skin to wrinkle up for just a few seconds. Edward, on the other hand, is standing motionless and rather still upset with our previous conversation. Well, I am the Master; I shall not stand for his rebellious behavior. The man is purely acting like a child now.

"Well," I continue, "During our battle with Lestat and Cassandra, there was something brought to my attention that needed a rather urgent solution."

"What is the matter," I hear Lilith ask out of deep concern.

"All shall be reveal soon, my dear Lilith."

But just when I thought that Edward had his final say, he turns to me and looks me directly into the eye, "I can see that nothing good is about to come."

Now, if I was not furious at him before, now he has just stepped over the line, "Edward, I need not remind you of your place."

He only but rubs me off and continues with his stance. This is now most surely not going to go well at all. And if I thought it was going to come from my mouth, in comes Stefan, who rushes straight to Lilith, "Mommy, who is the girl with Anastasia?"

"Which girl?" Lilith asks.

"Her name is Lucy; she is with Anastasia in the common room."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Edward becoming increasingly upset, I don't know if he has just put together who the girl is, but I am about to find out.

"Yes, Sebastian, who is Lucy?"

I swallow rather loudly and feel the need to start fumbling with my shirt. I feel like a naughty kid that is just about to be scolded. And yet, I need to remind myself who is in charge here.

"Well, Edward, if you can recall Lucy, the girl that Cassandra turned."

"Yes, Sebastian, I am fully aware of who Lucy is. My question is, what is she doing here?"

"The girl's mother has been killed, and I can simply not push a child onto the street."

"So let me then get this straight. Lucy will be staying with us now?"

Now, if I thought he could not get any worse than furious, well, I have been sadly mistaken. If it could even be possible, there would be daggers coming from his head that has just exploded into fire.

"Yes, Edward, you are correct. Lucy shall be staying with us now."

"Now let me think, somehow I do not think that you made this decision."

"Yes, Edward, I did."

"Come one, I have known you for over two hundred years. You were a bad liar when I met you, and you are still one."

"Edward, I need to warn you; you are now overstepping a line, my friend."

Then the full-on rage comes flooding from his mouth. This is now coming to a head, and by all means, this is truly going to turn seven shades of terrifying.

"Sebastian, I am going to be quite frank. Before you met Anastasia, you were a reasonable man that would not even dare to set a foot wrong in the Vampire community. Since you met Anastasia…"

I immediately stop him mid-sentence, for I am very much sure that he is about to make a fatal mistake that he shall not be able to take back.

"My friend, I am warning you. Your direction is going to find you in trouble, and believe me; you do not want to overstep that line."

"No, Sebastian, ever since you met Anastasia, there has been one problem after the other. Problems that I need to explain to the Vampire community. Fires that I need to put out. She is reckless and out of control. And you, my friend, you have become the same. You are like a wild animal that cannot be tamed, and you are happily strung along by your dear beloved."

"Edward."

"No, I have had enough of these games that you two feel that you need to play. Leave the monsters to the Hunters; why should this become your concern. Not only are you running with Zachariah, but now you are running with the Windchasers. I am seriously beyond fed up with you acting like a goddamn child."

Well, that is me; you do not disrespect me in my own home. And you definitely do not attack my beloved.

"I say the girl stays, now if you do not like it, then you are very much welcome to leave. But I shall not stand for rebellious behavior from a man that needs to prove a point. If any man around here is an immature child, then my friend, it is you."

Now I should have thought twice before completing that sentence. It is as if it happens in absolute slow motion but yet even faster than a speeding bullet. In an absolute instant, with complete fury and rage, Edward launches himself into the air and slams his fist deep into my chest. I stumble backward and fall over the chair behind me, falling with a loud thud on the floor. And just as I thought that it was merely an act of rage, he pulls me from the floor and smashes his fist square into my face. From the other side of the kitchen, I can hear Lilith scream.

"Edward, don't."