Nineteen

All six of us stood in a semi circle, across the other side of the room from Matthew Perkins. He was rubbing his hands against the fire, even though he was a vampire. Ruby vampires couldn't feel the hot or cold. They felt nothing but anger. So it was all an act.

"Come in then everyone, gather around. Let's get to know each other."

His eyes were freaking me out. They were so like Mels, but somehow colder. Even though Matthew had been injected at eighteen years old like all Rubies, he looked older. He had fine lines around his eyes and mouth, something that an eighteen year old shouldn't have.

"OK then dearest Dad, let's have a bonding session, shall we?"

Mel walked further into the room, grabbing a bean bag. When she started to drag it over to the fire to join Matthew, I stepped forward.

"Mel, don't. Just stay with us. We don't know what he's planning."

Matthew looked me up and down, a sly smirk on his face. Mel shrugged easily, placing the bean bag opposite him.

"What does it matter? If he's going to kill us, it doesn't matter when or how. I might as well get a bit of family time in before I die."

There was no denying she was correct. If we were going to die anyway, then what did it matter?

"So tell me Father, how did it feel being instrumental in your own sons death? My brother. My twin. How does it make you feel today? Knowing that you killed Drew, your own flesh and blood."

She leant back on her bean bag, never taking her eyes off him. She still had the bag of blood in her hand that he had handed her when he first walked in. I had to stop her if she made a move to drink it. It could be poisoned.

Matthew scratched his head, still a half smirk on his face. There was nothing about him that said 'remorseful'. He lazily looked at Jamie, clicking his fingers.

"The Sapphire that got to live, Jamie...this is your house I believe?" Jamie nodded, his jaw set in a hard line. All of us were tense. Popkins, Miles and Maisie hadn't moved a muscle. "Could you be a good host and fetch me a drink? I'm parched."

Jamie raised an eyebrow, glancing at me in disbelief, then back at the Mayor.

"You want a drink? Really?"

Matthew chuckled lightly, stroking his chin.

"Yes. What's so hard to understand about that? A hot chocolate would be fantastic. I know I'm a Ruby but us Mayors were given powers from other worlds. I chose one of them to be The Emeralds taste for proper food and drink. I can't stand blood. That's why I got Mel some. From what I've seen, she has a liking for it."

Jamie shrugged, then came close to me, whispering in my ear.

"Don't move. I'll be back in a minute."

I gave a quick nod as Jamie scuttled off, making our unexpected guest a drink. A few minutes of silence passed before Jamie came back in. Mel hadn't taken her eyes off Matthew.

He took the scalding hot cup, examining it closely.

"Popkins, my main man. Just be a dear and do a spell to make sure this drink isn't poisoned. I have to be extra careful being a Mayor."

Popkins looked furious, but dutifully swished his wand and muttered a spell. A halo of white rose up above the cup , which I assumed meant it was fine as Matthew smiled and took a sip, an appreciative 'ahhhh' escaping his mouth.

Mel went to open the bag of blood with her teeth, but I ran forward, snatching it out of her hands. I turned to Popkins, holding the blood out.

"Could you just do that spell on this as well, please?"

He nodded and swished his wand again. The same halo of light appeared around the bag. I chucked the bag back, ignoring the self satisfied smile on Matthews face.

Awkward silence filled the room as we watched Matthew and Mel sip at their drinks. Eventually, the Mayor put his cup down and gestured at all of us standing up.

"Come on, grab a bean bag, sit yourselves down." He checked his watch, then smiled. "You're not in danger for the next little while so come and relax."

Miles who had crept up beside me, scoffed.

"He's bonkers."

The Mayor shrugged, chuckling again.

"I wouldn't say bonkers young man, just...honest. If I tell you there is no danger of being killed in the next...say...thirty minutes, then it would be wise to believe me."

What else could we do? We pulled some bean bags around the fire and sat there, perched awkwardly. Mel slurped the last of her blood, then met Matthews gaze once more.

"So, about Drew. Are you going to answer me or are you going to avoid it?"

He relaxed back into his bean bag, like he was getting comfortable and ready to stay for the night.

"Ah. Yes. Drew. Forgive me for sounding so distant, but Drew's death hasn't affected me. I didn't know him."

"So your sons death means nothing to you? Killing your flesh and blood hasn't even left a dent in your soul?"

Mel's voice was dripping with anger and hatred. Matthew shrugged.

"Drew's death meant nothing to me, that is correct. However, I didn't kill him."

I couldn't help the snort. This man made my skin crawl. He was completely fake.

"You didn't kill him? Of course you did! Drew was erased because of you and the authorities."

For the first time since he came in, I saw a flash of anger in his eyes, directed at me.

"The authorities erased him without my knowledge. They have an agenda. They have to keep their generations protected. It wouldn't have mattered to me if Drew was erased or not. But I'm telling you, I didn't do it."

"Then why are you here? Why have you been hunting us down? If you didn't care about Drew, you obviously don't care about Mel either. So why are you here?"

Popkins had been quiet up until this point. He asked the same questions that all of us wanted to.

"I'm here to offer you the chance to live."

I didn't believe it for one second, I stood up, everyone else following my lead. We all huddled in a group once more, keeping an eye on Matthew in case he decided to try something. He stood up reluctantly, seeming somewhat put out that we were making him move.

"It's time for you to go. Kill us or get out. We have no desire to hear this offer."

I nodded at Jamie in agreement, proud that he was being so tough.

"Interesting. So you would rather face a certain death than hear me out?"

He shrugged, then started to walk through the middle of us, shaking his head.

"I'll hear you out. I'm curious as to why you have come all this way. You haven't killed us out right when you could have. So spill."

It was Maisie that spoke this time. I could see that the others agreed with her. I felt like I was the only one in the group who didn't want to know. Matthew had made it as far as the door. He turned around to face us, a cursory smile at Maisie.

"Contrary to what you have heard... I have no interest in killing you. Yet."

He paused for dramatic effect, making sure we were all listening. He continued.

"The authorities from Pearl Eds are the ones that are hunting you down. Shane, the Mayor of the Diamonds has no interest in you what so ever. And while it is true that I have been trying to find you, my intention isn't to kill you. I have a proposition for you instead."

Mel folded her arms across her chest, distrust written all over her face.

"But Drew told us when we got to The Diamonds that day that you wanted to kill me, to kill us. He said that it didn't matter I was your daughter...that you would kill me anyway."

Matthew shrugged.

"He had the wrong idea. He knew I was after you, but he didn't know why. As I said, I have an offer for you."

I didn't trust him. I didn't trust anything about him, but I let him speak again regardless.

"The authorities are going to kill you because you don't fit their ideal image. They wanted three generations. They wanted everyone to graduate and live the life that they had in mind. The Sapphires ruined what the authorities thought was a perfect way of life. The Sapphires didn't belong. They also didn't bank that someone like Popkins....an Emerald...would help Sapphires. Or that Maisie, a Sapphire cross Diamond would still be alive. They never would have guessed that a newly graduated Ruby would skip her true generation to help a girl she had only just met."

He gave Mel a meaningful look. He cleared his throat then carried on speaking.

"So the authorities want to kill you. And kill you they will. Unless you take my offer. I can keep you safe, all of you."

Jamie sighed, rolling his eyes.

"And what is this offer exactly?"

That familiar smirk appeared on his face again as he looked at each one of us individually.

"I was born to be a Ruby. I was the first person to ever step through those doors and I love my life, I love my world. In fact, I think everyone should be a Ruby. If you come back to The Rubies with me and help me and my team formulate a plan to ensure The Rubies is the Generation being picked more than the others, you can live. You will all be Rubies. You will all get to be together, unharmed, your little group of relationships and friendships...happy and safe. I want to make The Rubies so big that eventually, in a couple years, there will be no other generations. No Emeralds or Diamonds. Definitely no Sapphires. We will take over. We will be so strong that even the authorities can't touch us. We can make our own rules."

I felt sick at his words. He was just as bad as the authorities with his twisted views.

"So if we come to The Rubies with you, we get to live?"

To my horror, Jamie asked the question. He couldn't seriously be considering this?

"I can guarantee that you will live. It's not a maybe, it's a promise."

I shook my head.

"No. It's not happening "

"Cassie, are you mad? He's offereing us the chance to live."

Mel glared at me, her tone angry. I shook my head again, firmly this time.

"No. He's offereing us the chance to follow his rules. He's wanting us to force everyone to live a life they might not belong to. Isn't that what we've been running away for? We want the chance to live where we belong. He's wanting us to help him make everyones lives a misery. How can you justify that?"

Jamie stepped in front of me, taking my hands in his.

"But if not, we die. I don't agree with forcing people to live in generations they don't belong to, but what's the alternative Cassie? I don't want to lose you. If we die, the fight would have been pointless. If we go with him, we get to live."

I shook his hands off me, not wanting him to touch me. To say I was disappointed in him was an understatement. I stepped away, shaking my head. I couldn't even look at him.

"He's right Cassie, isn't this what we've wanted? To live?"

Popkins now, his voice soft. I rounded on him.

"So you are fine with The Emeralds not existing anymore? After all of the things you've done to help people over the years? And what about poor Kitty? Your Mayor has been good to you. I'm shocked at your view on it Popkins."

My voice was shaking with emotion. Jamie tried to reach out to me again, but I walked away. I noticed Matthew was still smirking.

"Don't take it out on him. He's a good wizard with a kind heart. I agree with Jamie and Popkins. We should take the offer."

Matthew smiled proudly at his daughter, his white teeth somehow snarling. I hated that Mel was coming around to his idea as well.

"You would say that Mel. You're a Ruby. Living in The Rubies forever isn't going to affect you."

Maisie glided over to hover in the middle of Mel and Jamie, a guilty expression on her see through face.

"I agree with them. I'm sorry Cassie, but if it's a chance of living...then who are we to throw it away?"

I harrumphed, certain that she was only siding with Mel because her feelings was over riding her sensibility.

"So that's it then? I'm the only one who thinks this is wrong?"

Miles stepped forward, nudging me gently.

"I'm with you Cassie. It's morally wrong. We will be going back on everything we have been fighting for."

Jamie rounded on Miles, pointing a finger in his face.

"You would say that. You want to steal her away from me and you will just agree with her, even if she's wrong."

I groaned in frustration, horrified that Jamie was bringing up such a trivial reason as to why Miles agreed with me. He rose up to his full height, towering over Jamie.

"For once in your life, can you try to see the bigger picture than being jealous over Cassie. Because if you do lose her one day, it will be because of your pettiness. The whole reason you started this fight was because Cassie didn't belong. You went through years of torture just to be able to live. They killed Rosie because she refused to graduate to a world that wasn't hers. And now you want to forget all of that and turn everyone into a Ruby whether they like it or not. You're a hypocrite and you should be ashamed, all of you."

Out of everything that had happened today, it was Mile's speech that impressed me the most. But it didn't work. Everyone launched into an argument, talking and shouting over each other to get their points across until Matthew Perkins clapped his hands loudly, breaking us out of it.

"I'm a generous man, and as this involves my daughter, I will let you all sleep on it. In the morning, I will return. Hopefully you will come to the correct decision and we will get going to The Rubies as soon as we can. But if you choose to continue the fight instead of coming with me, I  will help the authorities in killing every single one of you. Sleep well."

He gave Mel a creepy smile before flouncing out of the door, slamming it behind him.

We stood there for a while, an uncomfortable silence filling the air. Eventually, Jamie came into my vision. I could tell he felt guilty, but he also had a look of stubbornness about him.

"Cassie... I...."

I shook my head, sadly. I didn't want to hear anymore.

"I'm going to go find a room to sleep in. Unless you suddenly see sense and how wrong this all is, then I don't want to talk. Goodnight Jamie."

I walked off towards the bedrooms, ready to spend the night on my own.

I hoped with all my heart that Jamie and the others would see sense.