Kamilah was the first person who stepped from the cold air of the night into the ancient temple. Right here was where she had spent so much time with Gaius, had met Marcel and Banner countless times, had watched so many people die.
Now, the place would be used in the same way, but by different people. A new era had begun. Or at least, it was beginning to form.
Without letting any feelings of nostalgia get to her, she set up the meeting, in her mind preparing for what was about to come. The Pact had been created, or at least the first written down version of one. There were copies as well, five in number.
Just very few minutes later, Kamilah heard someone approach and turned around to whoever it was. Sadly, it wasn’t Adrian who she had hoped to see first, but Lester who began to start a conversation without a proper greeting.
“What was that last time?” he wanted to know, approaching her with big steps, obviously furious.
Kamilah kept her calm mask on, solely raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“At the restaurant! All of you were gone. I had to pay the entire bill. Let me tell you, it had three digits, thanks to Vega’s girlfriend’s fancy bullshit orders!”
“Oh. I apologize.”
That didn’t seem to be enough. “Where were you at?” he asked, arms crossed over his chest.
“The night ended rather suddenly. The Baron left, then Adam and Priya, and-”
Suddenly, The Baron stepped inside, absolutely angry, interrupting by asking the question that was usually reserved for Lester. “Where’s Vega?”
Kamilah’s eyes widened, her body tensing up solely by seeing him. “Good evening to you, too.”
“I don’t give a crap about your evening. Where’s Vega?”
Her face darkened immediately. “Obviously, he is not here. And if you think that you can talk to me like that, no less start a fight in here, I will send you back out. Without permission to come back! The Pact is written. Don’t think of breaking it already!”
The Baron growled in response.
“Why do you want to see Vega?” Lester asked, a neutral face on. “What did he do?”
“That son of a bitch attacked me last time, wanted to kill me!”
While Lester laughed, Kamilah simply shook her head.
But The Baron was determined. “Today, I will kill him.”
That only made Lester laugh louder.
Kamilah, on the other hand, scowled immediately. “You will not.”
“How about I kill that girl he brought along? Or torture her in front of his eyes? You hate her too, don’t you?”
“Feelings of baseless hatred do in no way justify murder,” Kamilah responded, her arms crossed over her chest.
Before the discussion could continue, Adrian entered the temple. “Hello, Kamilah,” he greeted, a small smile on his lips. “Lester,” he nodded to him, his face rather neutral. “…Baron,” he spoke out, his eyes narrowing in disapproval.
“Hello, Adrian,” Kamilah said, her facial expression staying neutral. “We were just discussing manners.”
“…I’m sorry I’m late.”
Lester checked his watch. “Two minutes.”
“Oh, no,” Kamilah told him. “The Baron’s manners. Or lack thereof.”
The Baron seemed absolutely careless, stating, “I say we kill Vega and that girl. Then, take their possessions.”
“Maybe just Vega,” Lester threw in. “His girlfriend is cute.”
“Why would we do that?” Adrian asked, as angry as Kamilah had been.
“Personal gain,” The Baron just answered.
“That is a horrible motif!” Adrian judged, scowling.
“He won’t listen to you,” Kamilah told her friend and brother. “He has no moral compass whatsover.”
“Is that a yes?” The Baron asked, obviously careless about the ways the others were judging his morals.
“That is a no,” Kamilah answered.
As if on cue, Vega and Priya stepped into the temple, this time holding hands instead of him having his arm wrapped around her waist. They were both grinning, about to greet the rest, but got interrupted by… The Baron.
“Vega, you damn son of a bitch!” He approached the couple with big, heavy, angry steps.
Vega let go of Priya’s hand and placed himself in front of her protectively, his back straightening and his shoulders broadening as The Baron came closer. “What?” The combination of his facial expression and vocal tone was a mixture of spitefulness and anger. “You come to apologize?”
With The Baron arriving, the men stood face to face, The Baron at least one head smaller than Vega, but more massive and angry. “Apologize? Are you sick in the head? Admit you killed two of my thugs!”
Vega laughed, but he didn’t seem surprised. “Excuse me?”
As he saw his smile, combined with his shameless tone, The Baron reached back, about to knock him down!
…But Kamilah was faster – in a heartbeat, she grabbed him from behind! She pulled him back in time to stop a bloody fight.
“He killed my thugs!” The Baron cursed, struggling, but knowing Kamilah would be strong enough keep him in place. “That bastard killed two of my thugs in revenge!”
Kamilah faced Vega and asked, obviously angry, “Is that true?”
“No,” he simply answered, wearing a neutral face.
“Liar!” The Baron screamed. “Politician swine!”
“Baron,” Kamilah spoke out, her voice displaying a form of deadly serious anger, “if you don’t stop making baseless accusations and threatening to kill people, I have no choice but to remove you!”
For the first time, the Baron laughed, a sound that was as nasty as expected. “And then? You can bet your sweet ass me and my people will bomb the entire city, aiming to destroy not only the Council, but end the the lives of people you claim to be innocent. Is that what you want? A war?”
She faced him, scowling, but knowing he was right. The Baron had to be an ally, or else he’d be too dangerous.
Adrian cleared his throat, in the need to stop the fight. “Let’s just… all sit down and discuss the first design of the Pact. I believe Kamilah has brought it?”
She let go of The Baron, almost sighing, and responded, “Yes.”
“First,” Lester interrupted, “my issue.” He approached Priya with a neutral face on and presented her a piece of paper. “Do you see this?”
“Ab-so-lute-ly.”
“This is what I had to pay last time at the restaurant.”
Her eyes widened just a little when looking at the receipt. “That’s a lot of berries.”
“I had to pay that, because you and Vega and the others left.”
Her eyes widened even more. “Huh?”
Lester raised an eyebrow. “You don’t get it?”
She shook her head. “Nuh-uh.”
“Girl… Did Vega fuck your brains out?”
Priya just laughed. “You slay me!”
Her reaction caused his facial expression to became an angry one, yet he didn’t seem particularly mad at her. “Sexy, cutie, dollie…” he adressed her, trying to keep his angry face on, “You’ll have to pay that.”
She seemed truly surprised about her past behavior having any sort of consequences and told him, “I don’t have rubes.”
Instead of listening, Lester had spent the past moments staring at Priya’s cleavage. Suddenly, he seemed to be rather horny than angry. He nodded to himself, not taking his eyes off of her chest, and asked absent-mindedly, “Will you pay it? Will you pay it for Daddy?”
“Got a problem, Lester?”
The sudden sound of Vega’s voice made Lester look up, face him immediately, removed from the fantasies involving him, Priya and no sorts of clothing. “Uh… Your girlfriend here owns me a few hundred dollars.”
Vega just chuckled. “What?”
He gave him the receipt. “I had to pay that for her.”
After taking a look, Vega laughed again. “Are you serious?”
For the first time, when his attention was off Priya and on Vega, Lester did seem angry. “Deadly.”
“You’re… what? A billionaire?”
“Who gives a crap? I’m not paying for her expenses.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
Lester’s eyes looked from Vega to Priya, debating a thought. Maybe she could pay her debts in another way… Addressing Priya, he suggested, “I can make you a deal, cutie. How about we spend a sexy ni-”
“Fuck off.”
Suddenly, Vega laughed loudly.
Lester scowled immediately, at both of them.
As the problem stayed unsolved, Vega carelessly pulled a wallet – expensive and leathern – out of his pocket, grabbed several hundred dollar bills, and handed them to Lester. “Here, buddy. Choke on it.” With that, he grabbed Priya’s waist and led her to the table where the others had already positioned themselves.
Lester growled angrily, but grabbed Vega’s money so greedily, as if it was in some way essential for his survival.
“This,” Kamilah announced as all were sitting, “is the first design of the Pact. I want you all to have a version.” Out of her six papers, she gave five away, for each of them to have. “Please take a moment to read it over.”
Then, the room went silent.
As the members read, Kamilah watched each of their reactions. Adrian was reading with a neutral face on, occassionally nodding. Vega was reading rather critically, sometimes raising an eyebrow, analyzing each rule carefully. The Baron wore an angry face when reading, letting out quiet, disapproving growls. Priya wasn’t even reading, rather looking at her boyfriend with a face that said ‘I regret agreeing to this’. And Lester, he was… alternating between clicking his tongue, kissing the air and simply staring – at Priya.
“Lester!” Kamilah rebuked him. She had expected Vega’s baby vampire girlfriend to be uninterested in reading a text longer than a hundred words, but not Lester! He was a professional businessman! Or at least, supposed to be.
“Oh, sorry, Kamilah,” he apologized, totally not meaning it. He licked his lips when saying, “I just can’t take my eyes off this beautiful lady right there.”
Priya leaned in closer to Vega and mumbled, a sad face on, “Ew.”
“Too bad she’s out of your league,” Vega told him with a grin.
Lester scowled.
The next openly angry person was The Baron. He smashed his copy of the Pact onto the table and stated, “The Pact is trash!”
Kamilah narrowed her eyes at him. “What is it that you don’t like about the Pact?”
“The rules.”
“We can’t be a Council without rules,” Adrian threw in, definitely on Kamilah’s side. “I think the Pact is very well done, and entails everything we have discussed before.”
“Thank you, Adrian. Other opinions? Vega?”
He nodded slowly. “Mhm… I view it as acceptable. There’s just one thing missing.”
“Which is?”
“Priya’s sector.”
Kamilah faced her paper to see that Vega was in fact right, and Priya’s was the only sector missing. Prepared for anything and everything, she revealed a box of pens which she placed on the table, announcing, “We will add it now. Please, decide for a sector, Priya.”
Priya was absolutely overchallenged, feeling like a student that hadn’t listened but whose name had been called. “Uh…”
“Just choose something you like,” Vega told her in a tone so gentle that Kamilah was surprised.
She looked at him and whispered, “Sex?”
Vega chuckled. He said, loud enough for the others to hear, “How about entertainment? That covers many things.”
Suddenly, Priya seemed excited. “Oh, yes, def!”
“For Clan Lacroix’s sector,” Kamilah announced, “Please let us all add ‘entertainment’.”
The members each grabbed a pen, and did just that.
“Next, I want to talk about more general things,” Kamilah told them. “Things that should be seen as natural, but aren’t by some of us.” She faced The Baron.
“What?” he asked angrily, his arms crossed over his chest.
“We are not against each other. This is one Council, one unit. We work to keep the city safe. Therefore no Clan or sector is superior to another.”
“Whatever,” The Baron merely replied.
“Is that understood?” Kamilah asked, her tone almost angry.
Their answers were the same. Adrian said “Absolutely”, Lester “Yes”, Vega “Of course” and Priya “Pos-i-lute-ly”. Only The Baron was remaining silent for several moments, before finally promising “Fine”.
“Please all sign the Pact,” Kamilah then said, to make everything official.
Of course, their reactions were different – Adrian and Lester complied, The Baron did so more or less in anger, Vega had to show Priya where to sign – but the result was the same: everyone gave their signature.
“Is this shit over now? My thugs are waiting.”
Kamilah scowled at The Baron another time. “You brought them again?”
“Yes. They are waiting outside to beat Vega up.”
Vega laughed.
“No such things!” Adrian warned, scowling as well.
Kamilah sighed loudly. Then, she stood up. She collected Adrian’s, Lester’s, Vega’s and The Baron’s copies before finally telling them, “You’re free to go.”
The Baron left the room without looking back, almost as angry as he had entered it, while Lester took his time, eyes set on Priya’s ass. He licked his lips a last time before finally leaving.
Surprisingly, Adrian approached Kamilah, placing a hand on her back. He told her, “You did amazingly.”
“Thank you, brother. But it was nothing.”
“Even enduring some of them is challenging, Kamilah. But you managed. You always do.”
She gifted him a small smile, then, a short hug. “Have a nice day.”
He smiled right back at her, “You too”, and left the room.
Time for business. Something, Kamilah had planned. “Priya. Please, wait.”
Priya and Vega, who had gotten up to leave, stopped and turned around to her.
She approached the side of the table they had been sitting at, Priya’s copy of the Pact catching her eye. Apparently, she had used her time well, instead of listening to Kamilah’s general info, drawing on her paper – women, wearing fancy Flapper dresses. “Would you please sit down with me?”
The couple exchanged looks, then, sat down with Kamilah.
She cleared her throat. “Priya, I want to discuss your Clan’s finances with you.”
“For real?”
“Yes. ‘For real.’“
“I won’t say a word without my handsome lawyer.” She looked at Vega with a grin, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Kamilah shook her head. Vega wasn’t a lawyer, and that joke wasn’t funny.
Vega spoke up, his smile satisfied. “I apologize, Kamilah, but Priya and I have places to be,” he told her smoothly. “Could we discuss the issue another time?”
“We?”
“Yes, we.”
“I said I wanted to discuss Priya’s Clan’s finances. With Priya. Is your name Priya?”
“His name is Adam.”
Kamilah rolled her eyes, visibly annoyed. “I know what his name is.”
“Then why did you ask?”
Kamilah exhaled loudly.
“How come the finances of only Priya’s Clan need to be discussed?” Vega asked, slightly angered. “I thought all Clans were equal.”
“Because leading a Clan is quite costly, and Priya is the only one whose financial background I don’t know,” Kamilah answered, not less angry.
“Don’t worry,” Vega just said, his angry face relaxing into a neutral one. “I will take care of that.”
Kamilah’s eyes moved from Vega to Priya and back to Vega. “Adam, there is something I don’t know if I should be saying in front of your girlfriend. But it needs to be addressed.”
He frowned, now seemingly offended. “What is it?”
Kamilah took a breather. “Your Clan is yours and Priya’s is hers. Please do not think you can lead both of them behind our backs.”
Her worries didn’t seem to lighten up Vega’s bitter mood. “Excuse me?”
“You have one Clan, not two. Please don’t use her place in the Council to have power over two Clans. It wouldn’t be fair.”
“Using her? For power? Is that a joke?”
“No. Just an assumption.”
“That is ridicuous, it is absolutely baseless!” He stood up, angered. “Come on, Priya, we have better things to do!”
Priya’s facial expression was as angry as Vega’s, but Kamilah doubted she had understood the issue. “Def!”
“And Kamilah,” Vega added, turning around to her a last time, “If you want to talk business, speak to me. And don’t bore Priya with it.” Then, he grabbed Priya’s waist, pulled her close and left the temple with her.
And so Kamilah was left alone, with… six signatures and one design for Flapper dresses. If only Priya’s sense of responsibility was as good as her drawings… Maybe then Kamilah’s view on the Council’s future wouldn’t be as pessimistic.