Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Last Bearers ❯ Chapter 21 ( Chapter 21 )

Chapter 21

The next morning, the guards got them up early so they could go to see the Council. They took a quick breakfast in their room, though none of them really ate much. John met them in the hotel's lobby and silently accompanied them out to the waiting limo. They attracted many stares. Aleksei pursed his lips and protectively wrapped his arm around his mate and ushered him into the limo. Caelyn and Bryan followed.

The drive to the Council was short. They were hurried up to the third floor and sat apart from everyone else in the waiting room. Because of this, people stared even more, especially at Caelyn.

They waited for half an hour before they were taken into the Council's chamber by an unremarkable looking woman.

The Council's chamber was cold and dimly lit, just as Daire remembered it to be. The Council sat in their usual places, their faces hidden by shadows.

“Welcome,” a woman's voice boomed out. “Are all of them here?”

“Yes,” John responded. “I have brought all those involved in the incident: Daire, Aleksei, Caelyn, and Bryan. Daire, of course, was the one who was raped. Aleksei and Bryan witnessed the event. Caelyn is the mate of the one who instigated the attack.

“Very well,” the woman said. “Bring the prisoner in.”

A side door opened and Halen entered, handcuffed and surrounded by guards of the Council, dressed in black robes. Halen looked years older; his hair was tangled and matted, his face was unwashed, and there were dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept much the night before. He was kept at a distance from the rest of the group.

“Now John, I would like you to give a brief explanation of what happened. Then, we will ask some general questions. We are just going to gather the general facts today. Tomorrow, we will see each one of you individually and discuss the incident in a one on one situation. On the third day, we will review everything and discuss what the punishment should be. We will then come to a decision and let you know our verdict.” The woman turned to John. “Now John, what happened?”

“From what I have been told, Halen grabbed Daire and took him down a deserted hallway. He trapped Daire and raped him. Aleksei sensed that something was wrong and ran to find his mate. His friend, Bryan followed. They witnessed Daire getting raped and intervened. Aleksei was attacking Halen when the guards arrived. Both of them were detained and brought to me. I immediately sought the truth and interviewed everyone involved.”

“All right. Thank you,” the woman said. “We will now conduct our own interview of each of those involved, beginning with Daire. The rest of you may wait in the side chamber. All except the prisoner who will be escorted back to the holding area.”

The group was shown into a side room with large windows and threadbare furniture. Ten minutes passed and then Daire was called back into the Council chamber. The members of the Council had not moved at all in ten minutes. They appeared to be made of stone. Daire stood before them, silent.

“Now Daire,” the same woman as before said. “Tell us what happened to you. Don't hold anything back.”

Daire nodded. “I was…going to lunch with my friends Aidan and Caelyn. We had just gotten back from the Medical Facility because Caelyn had an appointment to see Dr. White. Aidan and I went with him for moral support. After we left, we were going to go to lunch because it was around that time, but someone grabbed me from behind. My mouth was covered so I couldn't scream and get the attention of my friends. I was dragged away from them and taken into a deserted hallway.”

“At this point, did you know that it was Halen who was assaulting you?” a man with rust-colored hair asked.

“No,” Daire answered. “He held me from behind so I didn't get a chance to see his face until he slammed me against the wall.”

“I see,” the rusty-haired man said, rubbing his chin. “Please continue your narrative.”

“He held me against the wall even though I tried to fight him off. He forced his tongue into my mouth by slamming my head into the wall. He…undressed me. I screamed for help, but he silenced me. Then he…was inside me.” Daire choked back a sob, tears oozing out of the sides of his eyes.

“Are you all right Daire?” the rusty-haired man asked, sounding genuinely concerned. “Do you need a moment?”

“Yes,” Daire answered in a small voice. He wiped budding tears from his eyes.

The rusty haired man heaved a sigh and got up.

“Rusty, what are you doing?” a bald-headed man asked.

“I'm giving the poor child a tissue. Don't you have any compassion? Sheesh.” The man named Rusty shook his head in annoyance.

He stepped into the light and Daire could see that not all the Council members were as old as Daire had first thought. This man wasn't even thirty years old and he was a member of the Council.

Rusty seemed amused at Daire's dumbfounded expression. “Yeah, I'm only twenty eight and I'm on the Council. It's a long story. Here.” He reached into his robes, pulled out a tissue, and handed it to Daire.

“Thank you,” Daire mumbled, dabbing at his wet eyes with the tissue.

Rusty smiled and returned to his seat.

“Now Daire,” the bald headed man said. “When you are ready, please continue your story.”

Daire nodded and took in a shuddering breath. “I...I dug my fingernails into his shoulders to try and get him to let go. He…he thrust harder and harder. I…remember screaming for Aleksei. Somehow, I knew that he could hear me. Then he showed up. H…he sounded r…really upset. I…I was scared o…of what he'd think of the scene. Would he believe that I was…willingly participating or that I was being raped? I…I didn't know.” Daire paused to dab his eyes with the tissue again. “H…he pulled Halen off me and I fell to the ground. S…someone touched me on the shoulder and I thought it was Halen. It was Bryan. I…got myself together. Bryan took me back to the dormitory. He…made sure I didn't fall over. Caelyn and Aidan were there when I got there. A…a guard called them into the hallway and said that there was a Breeder who wanted to talk to them. I just sat there until they came back in. Caelyn…he seemed to know what had happened and hugged me. I started crying. A guard came to get us to bring us to John where we told him what happened.” Daire sniffed softly.

“Is that all?” the raven-haired woman asked.

“Y…yes. That's what happened.”

“Then you may go.”

Daire nodded and returned to the side chamber where the others waited.

“How did it go?” Caelyn asked anxiously.

“G…good,” Daire answered with a slight smile.

He sat next to Aleksei on the threadbare couch. Their fingers entwined. Seeing them made Caelyn lonely. He missed Aidan and desperately wished he could have been there too.

Half an hour later, Aleksei was called into the Council's room. He let go of Daire's hand, gave him a quick kiss, and followed the plain looking woman into the larger room where the Council sat. He stood in front of them calmly.

“So Aleksei,” the woman in charge boomed. “Tell us what you saw.”

“Well,” Aleksei began, “I was at lunch. I was standing in line behind Bryan and then I swore I heard Daire crying for me, begging me to help him. I wasn't sure what to make of it until I heard Daire scream my name as loud as he could. I knew that he was in trouble. I could tell that he was in pain. I dropped my tray in my surprise. I left the line to go and find Daire. My instincts told me that he was in trouble and somehow, I knew where to find him. Bryan followed me. I heard terrified shrieks and moved faster. Then I saw what was going on.” Aleksei stopped and shook his head.

“What did you see?” a rusty-haired man prodded.

“Daire was pinned against the wall with his legs wrapped around Halen's waist.”

“Did you know it was Halen?” the bald headed man interjected.

“No.” Aleksei shook his head. “I only saw his back. But I could see Daire. He was crying and his nails were digging into Halen's back. I stood there for a few minutes in shock and then stepped forward. I yelled at Halen, `what the fuck do you think you're doing to my mate' and pulled him off. I heard Daire shriek, but I didn't see what he did because I was too fixated on making sure Halen didn't escape. I made sure Daire was taken out of there and then I attacked Halen. I made sure the son of a bitch got what he deserved.” Aleksei smiled bitterly. “After that, the guards arrived and both of us were restrained and were taken to John's office. Halen's injuries were taken care of and John asked us what went on.”

The Council members were silent. Finally, one of them dismissed Aleksei. He returned to the room and found the others eating a brief lunch that someone had brought in. Aleksei sank onto the couch next to Daire with a sandwich. He noticed that Daire wasn't eating anything and pursed his lips. He broke off a piece of his sandwich and shoved it at Daire.

“Eat it,” he ordered.

Daire shook his head. “I'm not hungry.”

“I don't care. Eat it. You're too damn skinny as it is. Eat it before I shove it down your throat.”

Daire looked surprised, but took the bit of sandwich from Aleksei and ate it. When it was gone, Aleksei broke off another chunk and gave it to Daire. Daire soundlessly took it and ate it. Aleksei took a piece for himself and gave another piece to Daire. Soon, the sandwich was gone.

“Thank you,” Daire murmured, leaning his head on Aleksei's shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah,” Aleksei muttered.

Caelyn was called into the Council next, followed by Bryan, and then John. When John came back, they were free to leave for the day. They returned to the hotel.

“We'll be eating dinner in the hotel restaurant,” John told them as they prepared to go up to their rooms. “So be prepared. We'll be going at four because it won't be as busy, but we'll still receive a lot of attention.”

They went up to their rooms. Bryan quietly watched TV. Caelyn took a nap. Daire and Aleksei lay together on their bed. Despite Daire's fear of sleeping because of the nightmares he was suffering from, he soon fell asleep against Aleksei's chest. The redhead didn't seem to mind and lay as still as he could, watching his mate sleep.

He felt bad waking Daire a couple hours later. It was the first time in a while Daire had been able to sleep without waking up screaming. The four of them were silent as they changed into fresh clothes in the bathroom and went down to the restaurant.

They received many curious glances as they were seated in the restaurant by a tall dark-haired man in a tuxedo. Bryan looked around the room. It was large and spacious with floor to ceiling windows that made up the west wall. The sun came through these windows and reflected off the crystal on the tables.

The tables themselves ranged from two person tables to twelve person tables. They had pure white tablecloths and crystal and fine china set out as neatly as possible. It was too perfect in Bryan's opinion. Bryan looked around the room more. It was so…so elegant. Large crystal chandeliers hung overhead and expensive-looking paintings adorned the walls. Bryan grimaced and returned his attention to the table they were sitting at. They sat alone; Daire, Aleksei, Caelyn, and himself, but they were surrounded on all sides by guards. John was nowhere in sight. Probably had some important business to take care of.

Bryan lowered his eyes to the menu that had been placed in front of him. It was laminated and decorated with purple tassels. Cute. Bryan opened the menu and whistled softly. Everything was expensive, but he shouldn't have expected anything different from John. The man had expensive taste.

Bryan looked up, smirking. “Do you think we'd be allowed to order something alcoholic?”

“Bryan!” Caelyn protested.

“I don't see why not,” Aleksei said, looking up from his menu. “There's no legal drinking age and John isn't here…”

“Aleksei, be responsible!” Caelyn chided.

“We should order something alcoholic, just for the hell of it.” Bryan grinned. He turned to one of the guards accompanying them. “Do you guys object?”

“Do what you want.” The guard shrugged. “We don't really care. Just don't get wasted or we'll have to tell John.”

“Right.” Bryan flipped through the menu until he came to the wine section. “You know much about wine Aleksei?"

“Only a little,” Aleksei answered.

“Yeah, me too.” Bryan studied the wine list, which was comprised of a dozen wines he had never heard of and a couple he had only briefly heard of.

They ended up ordering a bottle of Merlot. The waiter brought all four of them glasses, but only Aleksei and Bryan drank. Daire and Caelyn stuck to water. They ordered their food and waited, lapsing into an awkward silence. Aleksei and Bryan sipped at their wine.

“Can I try a little?” Daire asked, watching Aleksei drink.

“All right. I don't think you'll like it though.”

Aleksei handed the glass to Daire and watched him take a sip. Daire made a face and handed the glass back to Aleksei.

“You're right. I don't like it.” Daire took a long drink of water.

“What about you Caelyn?” Bryan asked politely. “I'm sure a little sip of wine won't hurt the baby.”

“No thanks.” Caelyn shook his head. “I don't like wine. I tried some when I was younger and never developed a liking for it.”

They chatted nervously until their food came and then ate in silence. Since John was picking up the tab, they left right after they finished eating and spent the rest of the evening in another awkward silence.

To be continued…

Notes: I managed to split the chapter in half. I really didn't want to, but I had no other choice. If I hadn't, the chapter would be over 5,000 words long! Actually, it'd probably be closer to 5500 or even 6000 words. I think that's a bit too much to swallow at one time. So even though I didn't want to chop it in half and drag the Council scene out any longer, I had to.

I realized that I haven't mentioned very much about the Council and I'm not sure I can fit it into the story without it being out of place, but it is quite important. There are twelve of them, as mentioned before, eight men and four women. Almost all of them are in their forties and fifties, with the exception of Rusty, who is twenty-eight. He also happens to be the only member whose name has been mentioned. How did someone as young as him get onto the Council? It's a very long story. Too long to mention here. Anyway, the names of the other Council members are Arlen, Basil, Carmine, Rusty, Kalina, Inessa, Yasmin, Luna, Zeke, Vance, and Spenser. Just so you know their names. Oh and the raven-haired woman in charge is Luna and the bald-headed man is Basil. Basil is a close friend of Rusty. Arg, I could write novels after novel about these guys (and gals). There are so many side stories to this now. It's frustrating!!

Yes, there is alcohol in this world. I won't go into the details because it's a novel in itself, but there is such a thing as alcohol in this world. Also, there's no legal drinking age because alcohol is expensive in this world so not many people can afford it. Only the rich can afford a luxury such as this. Again, I can't go into the intimate details, at least not here.