SISTERHOOD OF BLOOD (Pt. 50) GATHERING STORM
SISTERHOOD OF BLOOD (Pt.50)
GATHERING STORM
Jet Blue flight NYC to Seattle, WA
present day
(sound track: This Flight Tonight, performed by
Joni Mitchell)
The clans assemble for battle….
On the evening flight to Seattle, the seven of us: the siblings, Peter, Petra and Vicky, Kat, River, Hannah and myself, of course. The sibs and Kat had the middle row to themselves, and River, Hannah and I were on the side next to them.
We were flying first class, on one-way tickets. Hannah was laughing when she purchased them, saying “No point in getting round trips; Goddess only knows how many of us will be coming back, if any.”
She has a morbid sense of humour, that much is for certain. But there was truth in what she was saying in jest. We were now on our way to face a hostile clan of unknown strength and skill, to fight for our freedom, and our very existence.
We knew we’d be seeing our old adversaries Kris and Judith again, but the identity of the other five fighters would be a mystery until we faced off against them in a few hours.
Peter and Kat were sitting quietly, holding hands like young lovers.
Vicky was chatting away animatedly, excited by the prospect of facing her former tormentors now.
Petra was listening, sort of… she seemed distracted by something, and of course, being attuned to my older sister in a very special way, I knew exactly what was on her mind: she was holding again, and loving every second of it.
So was I, in fact.
There’s no better way for an omo vamp to take their mind off something they don’t want to think about than to start focusing on how full we’re feeling and how badly we need to pee.
Which was pretty badly, in my case. I was just hoping that I’d be able to make it through most of the flight without actually wetting myself, no matter how much certain other family members might get a thrill or a laugh out of that. I glanced over at Hannah, who was looking out the window.
The moon was full, a bright silver orb of light illuminating the purple-black night sky. It was a beautiful night, one of the most beautiful I’d ever seen in my entire undead existence. At least, that’s what I was thinking at that moment.
Maybe because there was a good chance that it might be the last one I’d ever see with my family; it might even be the last one I’d ever see, period.
Hannah seemed calm; there was no perturbing her equanimity.
No matter what came to pass, she had accepted all possible outcomes and was at peace with herself.
All those years spent meditating, no doubt.
I glanced to the other side of me, where my little sister River was sitting in the aisle seat, bobbing one of her slender legs up and down, her thighs pressed tightly together and one hand jammed down between them.
It was pretty clear to me how she was choosing to deal with the stress and pressure, too.
I wasn’t sure why she was worried, though; seeing her with that saber in her hands during our last few training sessions, OMG, she was amazing!
Somehow, I knew she wasn’t going to lose her match.
In fact, everyone looked ready… except me.
I was the weak link now.
<TO BE CONTINUED>
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