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Cullen Bloodstone: Elsa? Elsa?! Are you here? ELSA?!
Elsa Bloodstone: *creaking of door, right behind Cullen* I’m here Cullen. There is no need to shout.
Cullen Bloodstone: CHRIST! Don’t do that!
Elsa Bloodstone: Don’t do what?
Cullen Bloodstone: Just appear like that. You scared me.
Elsa Bloodstone: Well next time you visit, I will make sure I am louder. *Jangle of a chain as she walks*
Cullen Bloodstone: *Distracted* The Bloodstone. So… The rumours are true. Verussa is dead.
Elsa Bloodstone: Yes.
Cullen Bloodstone: … Good. I never liked her. Dreadful woman.
Elsa Bloodstone: Yes.
Cullen Bloodstone: Your doing?
Elsa Bloodstone: Not entirely. I had help. From … Ted.
Cullen Bloodstone: Ted? Ted? Who’s Ted? One of those Hunters invited to Father’s funeral? *bitterly* The ones that superseded his own flesh and blood.
Elsa Bloodstone: If it makes you feel any better, I was not invited. I gate-crashed.
Cullen Bloodstone: It … doesn’t no. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there. To say goodbye. To keep you company.
Elsa Bloodstone: That is alright. I wasn’t entirely alone that night. I met someone. Someone who… made me question everything Father told us.
Cullen Bloodstone: Oh yeah?
Elsa Bloodstone: Yes. Well, more like two people.
Cullen Bloodstone: I am assuming this Ted was one of them?
Elsa Bloodstone: Yes. He was. *trails off*
Cullen Bloodstone: You're being so cryptic.
Elsa Bloodstone: Am I?
Cullen Bloodstone: Yes.
Elsa Bloodstone: Maybe I am.
Cullen Bloodstone: Could you not elaborate? Tell me what happened. I have a right to know what went down… Please?
Elsa Bloodstone: … Fine. But promise me one thing.
Cullen Bloodstone: What?
Elsa Bloodstone: Try to keep an open mind.
Cullen Bloodstone: O…kay. I’ll bite. Open mind on what?
Elsa Bloodstone: Promise me and I will tell you.
Cullen Bloodstone: Fine. I promise … on the grave and memory of our father.
Elsa Bloodstone: Not his honour?
Cullen Bloodstone: Father never had honour. Nor love, nor affection … Actually, that’s not true. His passion and love were dedicated solely to the hunt.
Elsa Bloodstone: Cullen … I’m so …
Cullen Bloodstone: Don’t. I don’t need pity. So … father’s funeral? I only know there was a hunt. The rest … rumours.
Elsa Bloodstone: Well, I will start from the beginning. There were six of us. The five invited. And myself. Verussa was hosting. And father … was there in both body and spirit.
Cullen Bloodstone: Please don’t tell me it was an animatronic corpse.
Elsa Bloodstone: …
Cullen Bloodstone: *snort* That’s grim.
Elsa Bloodstone: Was honestly the happiest I had seen him in years. Ha. Death really suited him.
Cullen Bloodstone: Suited?
Elsa Bloodstone: His body is gone. Destroyed, along with Verussa’s.
Cullen Bloodstone: Ted destroyed her body? Sounds like a very thorough hunter. Sorry … go on.
Elsa Bloodstone: Ted … wasn’t a hunter. Ted … was the hunted.
Cullen Bloodstone: Ted’s a monster?
Elsa Bloodstone: Yes.
Cullen Bloodstone: *laughs* And you called him, Ted?!!!
Elsa Bloodstone: *chuckles* No. That was his name.
Cullen Bloodstone: *laughing again* How do you know that? You chatted with him?
Elsa Bloodstone: I didn’t. Jack did.
Cullen Bloodstone: Jack?
Elsa Bloodstone: Jack Russle.
Cullen Bloodstone: Name rings a bell.
Elsa Bloodstone: He’s a hunter … and a werewolf.
Cullen Bloodstone: He’s a … what!?
Elsa Bloodstone: You heard me.
Cullen Bloodstone: So… A monster had infiltrated a hunting party… to hunt a monster.
Elsa Bloodstone: Not quite. JACK infiltrated the hunting party to save his friend, TED.
Cullen Bloodstone: And you sure he is a werewolf?
Elsa Bloodstone: Oh yes. I had a front-row seat to his transformation.
Cullen Bloodstone: My God! How are you even alive?!
Elsa Bloodstone: He … saved me. They both did. After Jack let me live, Verussa threatened to shoot me with Father’s old hunting rifle. If not for Ted’s intervention… I would be dead and Verussa would be here calling you the biggest disappointment in our father’s life. Or did she just save those insults for me?
Cullen Bloodstone: No, I got those too. That and a half-blood bastard.
Elsa Bloodstone: She really was a witch wasn’t she? Though … perhaps I am judging witches too harshly.
Cullen Bloodstone: Your epiphany?
Elsa Bloodstone: Yes. My epiphany … that perhaps Monsters aren’t as bad as we first thought. Not all of them anyway. And those who attacked may have had reasons outside of a desire to hurt us. That they were defending themselves. That we overstepped our bounds… *notices Cullen’s expression* Am I making any sense here?
Cullen Bloodstone: I … think so. Since father banished me, I have been travelling. At first, I began hunting, hoping to build up enough of a reputation to win back father’s love. But the more I killed, the worse I felt. I … never liked spilling blood. I suppose I did it because it was what I was taught. How I was raised. But I never enjoyed it. Honestly? It made me sick quite a lot growing up. *sighs* You know, it wasn’t until I was twelve that the sight of blood and guts didn’t make me want to vomit. *heavy sigh* Anyway … with father gone, there is no one left to prove myself to. Not by his standard of what makes a Bloodstone a Bloodstone at least. A question I have been asking myself… the real question anyway is, “Where do I go from here?” So … if you tell me that some monsters in this world are friendly, then I am willing to believe that. Accept that. I think I have seen it myself.
Elsa Bloodstone: You know, you have nothing to prove with me. Right?
Cullen Bloodstone: Thanks. That … thanks.
Elsa Bloodstone: Do you fancy some tea? We can take it in the drawing room?
Cullen Bloodstone: You’re inviting me?
Elsa Bloodstone: Are you a vampire?
Cullen Bloodstone: Haha. No.
Elsa Bloodstone: *laughs* Yes, Cullen. I am inviting you in.
Cullen Bloodstone: Sure. But if I am going to be honest… I still really … REALLY hate this place.
Elsa Bloodstone: So do I. But I have some big plans.