The Outbreak

"Your Majesty?" A vampire emerged from the building wearing a cloak, but the hood was down revealing an extremely handsome face and cool blue eyes.

"Mh?" Orissa asked with a glance. Although she didn't forbid the vampires from coming out, it carried a risk to a certain extent as even their superior strength wouldn't necessarily save them from a silver bullet to the heart.

"She's okay." The man said with a bit of relief in his voice. Then he recalled why he came outside and then a barely concealed smile appeared.

"Something else?" Orissa asked with a hint of curiosity. The man took a deep breath and nodded while handing a tablet he concealed in his cloak to Orissa.

"Because of obvious tensions with the United States, a person has offered us a safe haven in return for our cooperation. Lidia and Ryan were talking with Odelle and Sierra joined in."

"What do they want?" Orissa asked with a smile. If the United States truly wanted to wage war, the outcome would be unacceptable to her, so relocating, although troublesome, wasn't impossible.

"They wish to ascertain your plans going forward." The man saw Orissa's lips curl into a smile as she gave the people present a look and then looked at her vampires.

"Go back." Although she didn't speak loudly, the more than six vampires were gone the next moment. She turned to Irene and Kira and gave them a warm smile, as if she didn't brutally kill someone moments before.

"I'll be seeing you." Before her words fell, she had also vanished, leaving them shocked staring at the entrance to the building that now seemed like the gaping maws of Hell to some.

...

"Who is it?" Orissa walked into the room and saw all the Noble Vampires present, along with Odelle, Sierra, and Zaylee who sat on Sierra's lap swinging her legs with a disinterested expression.

"Hello Queen of the Vampires. It's a pleasure to meet you." A young woman wearing a gray dress spoke on the screen, observing the vampires before her with a bit of curiosity.

"Um... No offense, but who are you?" Orissa didn't particularly pay attention to the executives of any countries or the really wealthy before, and this woman didn't look familiar at all.

"None taken. It's my pleasure to introduce myself to you. My name is Aria Io, and my family has had various hands in the industries over the years. According to Lidia, you seek to develop and I wish to extend my good will to you."

"Oh." Orissa didn't reveal much but looked at Lidia and then shrugged. Lidia was smart, so if she did reveal their plans, it was most likely not a slip up on her part.

"Aria? What you said is true, but can you explain in detail what exactly it is you wish to achieve by doing this? You must know that your family will be publicly denounced by many if you do so."

"My reputation isn't a concern. I'll be frank, many of the wealthy accumulate wealth all their lives and then die without enjoying it. I'm the same, I'm young now, but I'll die eventually despite my status."

"You are beings that can live forever unless killed, so I don't see any demerits in assisting you. At the very least, I can get what I want while helping you."

"You do know that I can be considered to be humanity's enemy, are you sure you want to do that?" Orissa asked carefully while giving Aria a playful smile.

"Up until now, humans were thought to be the only superior species. While I am human, blindly denouncing you wouldn't do any good and the losses I'll get from that outweigh the gains."

"Okay, but it seems like you kept saying you as if your family is unaware of your intentions. Can you, Aria, help us without the help of your family?" Orissa looked down at the tablet and scrolled through a list of various business the Io Family owned.

"There is a three way struggle between myself and two other potential heirs and while I would undoubtedly lose my support in the family if I ally myself with you, compared to a century, I'd rather live forever."

"So you want me to help you and in return, you'll help us?" Orissa finished and saw Aria nodding and she took a moment to consider the situation and then blinked with an amused smile.

"You know that I could just as easily not uphold my end and make you obey me, right?" Orissa asked and ignored Aria's obvious unease and waited for her to speak.

"I may not know you personally but seeing you on video, something tells me you like to play with people more than you do mindless dolls. I'm taking a gamble here because if I fail, I'll be left with nothing, but if I win, I can go beyond what I thought possible."

"Alright, then a question. Do you have a force under you? Preferably military or assassins? It'll help more than money since we won't have to start from scratch." Orissa asked and saw Aria hesitate.

"I do. Since I chose to do this, no sense in doubting myself now. I don't have access to the entire family funds, but the assets in my control will be enough to boost you forward."

"Okay, I'll wait for you. Shall we talk about what you said earlier about relocation? While this tower will be a lot of work, abandoning it seems wasteful." Orissa muttered.

"Because you're using people who's loyalty is unreliable, it's better to have someone you trust doing it. I'll send you some possible locations alongside funding the renovations according to Lidia's requirements she filled me in on."

"I've also figured that you'd want to keep this under wraps, so I'll keep this under wraps. If everything goes well, I'll contact you by tomorrow morning to further discuss everything. Good bye." Aria ended the call.