Chapter 5 Tess
Everything had gone according to plan right up until it hadn’t.
She could be as angry at Kal as she wanted (and shewas) but that wasn’t going to get him out of the Council’s custody.
It was so late by the time Mark and Kal were taken away, that neither she nor Crystal bothered to sleep.
They couldn’t anyhow, between the excitement of the mission and the terror of seeing their boyfriends taken away.
Instead, they took solace in the cafeteria with a fresh pot of coffee and some of Free the Children for company.
It was useless to try to hide from the breeders what had gone down.
Everyone heard about Mark and Kal’s arrest even if they hadn’t seen it for themselves.
Tess and Crystal were quiet, brooding into their coffee cups, unable to think about anything but what would come next.
That was when a whole group of unfamiliar humans and Vampyren barged through the cafeteria’s double doors.
Tess didn’t know them but she guessed they were resistance, if only because the Vampyren men were wearing human clothes like Kal did.
One of them even had his hair cut short which Tess had never seen before.
The group was headed by a Vamp and human couple.
They spotted Tess and marched right up to her.
“Are you Tess?” The girl said. She looked not much older than Tess and as tough as Mara. She held herself like she was about to kick somebody’s ass the first chance she got and you better hope it wasn’t you. She crossed her arms and cocked her head.
“Um...yeah,” Tess said. The combination of despair and exhaustion had her off her game, but she nodded. “Who are you?”
“Name’s Cassie,” the girl said, offering a hand which Tess reflexively shook. She nodded at, Tess presumed her boyfriend, the Vampyren. “This is Danton. We’re resistance from out West. We want to join up with Free the Children.”
“How’d you find out about us?” Tess said, still a bit wary even as she got to her feet.
Cassie shrugged. “I mean resistance isn’t centralized but word gets around.
If you know who to talk to. Took me a while to track you down, but I finally heard I should go to Urbana-Champaign and find Tess.
For a minute there, I thought you were one of the breeders.
” She nodded in the direction of the other dorms and Tess tittered.
“No. I’ve never had the privilege.”
“It stinks,” another woman said. She was standing behind Cassie and looking a little irritated. “Trust me, I know.”
“That’s Mindy,” Cassie said with a snort. “She’s out from Vegas.”
Mindy, Tess noticed, also seemed to have a Vampyren boyfriend who was stifling a laugh at her remarks. “Must be something in the water,” Tess murmured. “Well… okay. Glad to have you. You just drive in? We got food if you’re hungry.”
“Sure!” Cassie said, scratching her head. “Thanks!”
Tess watched them file off to the counter of the cafeteria where there was still some hot breakfast warming in big metal dishes under the glass.
Her mouth dropped open as she watched the line grow and grow, more of them trickling in from outside.
There had to be a few hundred. If they all stayed here, they’d fill up the dorms. Crystal would need to get her hands on more food to feed all these mouths.
That was a potential logistical problem but Tess didn’t care about that now.
Instead, she found herself feeling a little hopeful even in the face of her boyfriend’s potential execution.
This wasn’t just a resistance cell anymore. This was an army.
* * *
“Areyou sure they’ll let us see them?” Tess said.
She was riding shotgun and Kiera was driving.
She’d been staying downtown, closer to Loren who was always busy with the Council.
But Loren sent her to pick up Tess and Crystal.
Apparently, they got to visit their men in custody.
Tess wasn’t sure if she was looking forward to it or not.
“That’s what he said.” Kiera shot Tess a sympathetic look.
In the backseat, Crystal was mostly quiet which was unlike her and a bit startling.
She’d mentioned something about missing her baby.
She had a kid with Mark apparently. But to get around the creches, her daughter had been born in secret and sent to live with Crystal’s friends.
This made Tess look at Crystal with a new sense of respect.
Her life’s work had become freeing children, yet she couldn’t imagine how hard it must be to give up her own for their wellbeing.
“How does this work?” Crystal said now, finally piping up. “Is there a trial or something?”
“I mean…” Kiera shrugged. “If you want to call it that. It’s kind of a kangaroo court. It’s pretty bullshit.”
“Hey, what’s that?” Tess said now, looking behind her out of the back window. “Is that one of our vans behind us?”
Kiera frowned and glanced in the rearview.
It was not just one, but every functioning vehicle from Urbana was following Kiera down the highway, even a couple of cars that belonged to matrons from the creche.
The girls glanced at each other, baffled.
But Tess had a feeling in her stomach and she wasn’t sure if she was hopeful or afraid about what it could mean.
It could be a death sentence for Free the Children. Or it could be the beginning of everything.
At the Council headquarters, the multitude of vehicles into which everyone from Urbana had stuffed themselves parked on the street and Tess and Crystal got out of the SUV with some trepidation, having expected to show up there on their own.
Tess nodded at Mara who came running up to them. “What’s happening?”
“We’re standing with the guys,” Mara said. Tess looked out on the big crowd forming in front of the HQ and she saw two guards out in front looking edgy. There were several Vampyren in Free the Children at this point, which might have given them pause.
“So they execute all of us then?” Tess said with a snort. “We’re supposed to be asecret—
“This is bigger than that now,” Mara said. “We’re not telling him who we are. We’re just bearing witness.”
Tess exchanged a look with Crystal and shrugged, making their way to the front doors.
She was the leader. She could end this right now and they would follow her direction.
But there was something about it that made hope win out over fear.
Maybe it was time for a move like this. Maybewith Loren on the Council, honor would win out over brutality.
There was no way to know without trying.
The guards tried to stop the giant army-sized horde as they approached the front doors.
It was the Vampyren members of Free the Children who got in front and stared them down.
“Are you going to kill all of us right now?” He said darkly. “We’re here for the Council meeting. None of us are armed.”
The guards seemed baffled and even Tess was surprised when everyone was allowed in, though they were all checked for weapons.
The Council members were still trickling into their chambers and they gaped at the gathering mass packing into the room.
There would not be enough room for everyone.
They’d be spilling out into the halls. Tess thought they’d picked up some strays outside; passersby who got the sense that something important was about to go down with the Council and wanted to show support. That was something alright.
“What is this?” Mahn the Council member said.
Kiera stepped forward and Tess saw her nod at Loren. “We’re here to support Markole and Kal.”
“This is highly irregular!” Mahn said, and some of the other Council members began to grumble which made some in the crowd grumble and Loren shouted above them as he stood behind his seat at the big circular table.
“Hush!” Loren said, his voice deep and rising like thunder.
“I think we can allow this. If everyone remains quiet.” He glared at the rest of the Council.
Tess spotted the members who seemed perhaps sympathetic before nodding and arguing quietly with the stiffer members.
It did seem as if there had been a sea change, perhaps even more since Tess and Kal had reported on the creche and she wondered if its liberation had actually changed their minds a little for the better.
Everyone finally quieted down and Loren said, “We’ll bring out the prisoners now? ”
Everyone quieted down and the Council members took their seats though they all looked edgy. They did seem like they were attempting to go along with whatever was about to happen. It was as if perhaps they’d been prepared for it. Tess was starting to think Loren’s influence had increased greatly.
Kal and Mark were marched out and Tess’s heart leapt when she saw him.
She actually clutched her chest. It was surprising even to her how much she’d fallen for him, but now she felt tears pricking her eyes when he looked up at her and gave her a small nod as if to assure her he was okay.
He didn’t look hurt or beaten up at least. Neither did Mark. That was a good sign anyway.
Mahn got to his feet and cleared his throat. “We’re here to discuss the case of Markole and Kal. They are Vampyren brothers, and self-admitted deserters of their respective units. They have also confessed to raiding the creche which was liberated—
At the mention of the word “liberated” a couple members gasped and grumbled to themselves. Thatwas interesting, Tess thought. They were using the language of the resistance.
“Kidnapped,” Mahn said, correcting himself, though he didn’t look happy about it.
“The children remain missing. This meeting is to decide whether their confession is sufficient for sentencing and if so… to declare sentencing. We also do not know the current whereabouts of said children, some of which include Vampyren offspring…” That seemed to be the end of his speech. He nodded to Loren.