As he walked cautiously into the basement, groping around the darkness for a banister for some sort, Alex heard a few hushed voices coming from a room beside him. However, the carriage driver didn't skip a beat, leading Alex into a small but cozy room. "This is where you'll be staying," he told the young brown-haired man. Lighting a candle, the driver left Alex to examine his quarters and unpack.

The first thing Alex noticed the wardrobe. In terms of size, shape, and color, it was nothing extraordinary-made of oak, it was a dark timbre color and stood regally in the corner of the bedroom. The thing that stood out about it was the symbol etched in the center of it, overlapping onto both doors. Squinting in the darkness, Alex moved the candle closer to the wood. It was a relatively simple design....he could just barely make out the shape of a circle. Peering closely, Alex could see that there were rays of some sort radiating out of another smaller circle. He nudged the candle just a little bit closer, and straining with all his might, it finally dawned on him what it was. It was a sun in the middle of a perfectly round circle. Fitting, as vampires were creatures of the night.

Before Alex had time to do anything else, the carriage driver had returned. "Come," he beckoned. "You are wanted." Shrugging and blowing out the candle, shoving his trunk carelessly against the wardrobe, Alex followed him out. The older man pushed open another door with a grunt. Alex stepped in, admiring the lavish decorations that adorned the room. The predominant color was gold.

"Hello, Alexander," a matronly woman said pleasantly, smiling at him in a tight-lipped manner. Though her tone was friendly, Alex could see the steel in her hard blue eyes. "Welcome to Kingsley Manor. I am Katherine Kingsley, and you have been summoned here for a special reason, as you should know by now."

Alex was immobile, staring at her in shock. So [i]this[/i] was the subsequent leader of the hunters in Great Britain? He looked at her well-defined features and plentiful wrinkles, taking in those steely midnight eyes and graying red hair. He swallowed, and smiled shakily. "Thank...thank you. It is truly an honor to be here," he replied respectfully, inclining his head in her direction before seating himself in the closest available chair. As the meeting continued on, Alex exhaled heavily. If Katherine Kingsley had the same influence on vampires as she did on Alex...well, all of them would be dead by now!