My Little VentrueChapter 40
- 2 years ago
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Ariel turned to Joanie when they got in the car and asked, "Would you mind keeping this dress at your house until the day before the wedding, Joanie? I don't want Jack to see it yet."
Joanie smiled and said, "Sure girl. No problem. I'll hang it on the back of my bedroom door until you're ready for it. Now, what will we do for the bachelorette party, hmmm?" Joanie asked with a twinkle in her eye.
Ariel looked at her, smiled and said, "Surprise me, girlfriend! Nothing too crazy though, ok?" Then both women started laughing as they pulled the car out of the parking lot and drove to the nearest restaurant for lunch. Ariel parked the car in the parking lot of the Applebee's restaurant and they went in, sat at the table and ordered their meal, both girls ordering a salad, roasted chicken breast with potatoes and a glass of ice cold lemonade. They ordered apple pie ala mode for dessert. All through lunch, they worked on the plans for the wedding and the bachelorette party. Joanie suggested hiring a male stripper friend of hers to dance at the party, and Ariel laughed, then said that would be ok if the friend would do it cheap. Joanie took out her cell phone and dialed a number, "Benny? Hey hun, it's Joanie. I got a question for ya. Are you available for a bachelorette party on October 15th at 6 pm?" Silence for a moment or two, then Joanie said, "Great! It's for my best friend, Ariel Collins. Yeah, she's marrying Jack Coltrane from the lumber mill on October 22nd." Laughing, Joanie said, "Ok hun, see ya on the fifteenth! Luv ya too! Bye!" Then Joanie turned to Ariel and said, "You've got yourself a stripper, girlfriend!!" and both girls started laughing as they ate their pie. The bill came and they split the cost, leaving a $5.00 tip for the waitress, then left the restaurant to go back to Ariel's house. When they got there, Ariel noticed that the pasture gate was open. She parked the car, got out and ran to the barn. The saddles were gone and Precious was in the stall asleep in the pile of straw. She went in the house and found Jack's note on the refrigerator; "Ariel & Joanie, Andy and I went to the cabin to do some more work on it. Come out when you get home, ok? Drive your car to Andy's house and ask Mr Johnson if you can borrow a couple horses to ride out here. Andy and Joanie will ride them back and he will bring your car back home when he comes to pick up his truck. See you soon, baby-girl! Love Always, Jack" Ariel showed the note to Joanie, then she locked the door and they left the house to go to Andy's house.
Mr Johnson was in the yard with the dogs when Ariel pulled into the driveway. He walked over to the car and said, "Ariel! Joanie! How nice to see you two girls again! How are you?"
"We're fine, Mr. Johnson. Andy sent us over here to borrow 2 saddled horses to ride out to Ariel's cabin. He and Jack have Ariel's horses there already and they want us to come out there too, but the trail isn't wide enough to drive the car out there." Joanie said to him.
Mr. Johnson smiled and said, "Sure girls, I'll go saddle up Andy's Pride and Big Red for you. I'll be back in a few minutes, so go ahead and park your car over there by the tractor, Ariel." Then he walked into the barn. Ariel parked the car and the girls got out. The dogs came over to be petted. Mr. Johnson had a pair of black labs who loved attention. The girls were petting them when Mr. Johnson came out of the barn leading a big chestnut mare and a charcoal gray gelding, both saddled and ready to go. Ariel thanked him and the girls mounted up on the horses, riding out down the road to the trail to go to the cabin.
Forty-five minutes later, they turned into the clearing. Jack was on the roof of the cabin, pounding in some nails to hold the shingles on, and Andy was climbing down the ladder to get more shingles. He spotted the girls as they rode toward the corral and yelled to Jack, "Dude, the gals are here!"
Jack looked up and waved to Ariel as she dismounted from Big Red, the chestnut mare. Joanie was riding Andy's Pride, the charcoal gelding. Andy ran to the girls, grabbed Joanie in a big bear hug and spun her around in circles as he kissed her. Jack came down the ladder and ran to Ariel too, pulling her close and kissing her so deeply and passionately her legs almost went weak. The men unsaddled the horses and led them into the corral as the girls went into the cabin. There was a pot of coffee on the stove so Ariel poured 4 mugs, and set out the sugar and creamer dishes. The girls each took a mug and went to sit on the couch. They were laughing as the men came in through the door, and they stopped when they saw Jack and Andy standing there smiling. Jack handed Andy a mug of coffee, then took the other one. They went and sat on the floor by the girls. "So, how did the shopping go today, honey?" Jack asked Ariel.
"Just fine, Jack. Joanie helped me find the perfect wedding gown, plus all the accessories to go with it. I think you will really like it, dear." she replied with a wink. "I even picked up something special for the honeymoon night." Ariel said with a wicked grin.
"You did, huh? Hmmm ... I wonder what that might be." he said.
Ariel laughed and said, "Yeah, I did, Jack. But you have to wait until the wedding night to find out what it is!" Jack gave Ariel a little pouty-lipped, sad puppy-dog look and they all laughed.
~~Jack~~ Jack’s eyes went wide. Half of Viktor’s head was gone, just gone. The bloody gibs of brain matter and bone turned into tiny fires that faded into ash and embers before they even hit the ground. “Shit! Shit shit, what-” Julias put a hand against Jack’s mouth, and pushed him back against the wall. “Sniper, down the path.” Jack reached up and pulled his sire’s hand down. “What about Viktor!? The fuck are we supposed to do now?” Just as he was about to start ranting, his jaw dropped...
~~Antoinette~~ “Oh god oh god oh god.” Jack, trembling and ready to sweat — though thankfully unable without the blush of life — looked out over the crowd. The two of them were in Bloodlust, one of her fonder establishments to enjoy. The pulsing music, and the dark red lightning with the occasional white light strobe made for a combination of sinister, sexual, and theatrical visual stimuli. Everyone in Bloodlust felt as if they were partaking in a movie. Everyone except her poor little...
~~Beatrice~ Part of her wanted to sneak up on Julias, try and catch him by surprise, see if her scant twenty years could get past the man’s eyes. Have fun! Play with him, like old times. But, these weren’t old times, and her sneaking into his mansion, or trying to at least, was a bad idea. He probably had lookouts about, snipers, and they’d shoot first if they saw suspicious rustling in bushes. So the front door it was. Knock knock. “Good evening Miss Damor, Miss Denver,” the doorman said....
~~Jack~~ His trip to speak with Azamel had been successful, more or less. Azamel looked worse than ever, but he found her speaking with Sándor, and it seemed like they were coming to some sort of agreement. Not that Jack got to stick around long enough to find out more. Azamel promptly booted him out, saying her arrangements with Sándor were none of his business. It was his business, kinda. It was his job to keep the different species getting along. But he left anyway, a bit thankful for...
~~Antoinette~~ From the meeting room of her great glass tower in Elysium, Antoinette stood in front of the window-wall, and watched the city burn. Far off in the distance, the night sky had turned slightly orange with the light of flame, as the large fire of the North Side’s warehouse district spread. Sirens filled the air, and flashing lights of firetrucks and other emergency vehicles zipped by. “It burns,” she said. “Quite the sight.” Jacob stood beside her. The old Nosferatu was...
~~One week later.~~ ~~Jack~~ “Twenty million.” “Fifty million.” “Twenty million.” “I’m sorry. Is there an echo in here?” The sly brute adjusted his gloves, even as he put his feet up on the table. A pistol rested in his chest strap, mirrored by the four thugs who stood behind him. Thugs in suits. “I know what the merchandise is worth, and it’s not worth fifty,” Jack said. He was standing, with his arms folded across his chest and a surly look on his face. It was all part of the game, of...
~~Jack~~ Back at the burned apartment building, alone this time, and using his free time as well. Course, Invictus didn’t exactly mandate hours, but you were expected to work a certain amount. Work above that, accomplish things, and you moved up in rank and social standing; which was like gold in the Invictus. And he wanted to figure this out, who burned down this building, who killed Barry. He stood atop the ceiling of a neighboring building. The sun had just set, and he only had a couple...
~~Julias~~ Everything had fallen apart in a matter of seconds. When it was just the six hunters, he and his childe could have handled the situation easily. Even Angela, for all her absurd might and endurance, was only human. Six humans? He could have handled this himself. Having to work quickly, break through Angela’s defenses, deal with a magical barrier, and save Samantha, threw a wrench into what would have otherwise been simple. Unless the hunters managed to nail him with a shotgun or...
~~Beatrice~~ “It this ... everyone?” Sighing, Jack nodded, crouched low on the roof of Robina’s. “Clara’s not here yet, but yea, h this is everyone. If any of the hunters escape into a nightmare, Azamel will send Fiona to help us on that end. You know, assuming she can find us.” Beatrice started counting. Six vampires, one werewolf, and one monster; potentially two monsters, if they had to fight in the nightmare. That was not nearly as many people as Triss was hoping for. And, for some...
~~Beatrice~~ Following the Invictus right hands was hard enough, but now she had to follow three. Shadowing Julias was easy. Like a typical Ventrue, he was useless on his own. His power was in creating and controlling armies. But damn he looked good in a suit. Those broad shoulders, the combed back mafia hair, even the damn tie. It was a good thing she wasn’t using the blush of life, or she’d be rubbing her thighs together already. Fuck, the stupid knight made her feel like a cat in...
~~Beatrice~~ She had to get something to eat first, then she’d show Julias. She’d show up and beat the undead shit out of that piece of shit, stupid shit fuck. Eat first though, definitely. She was drained and tired from shadowing the trio, and there was no way she was going to confront big bad ancillae Julias without a stomach full of blood. She’d tried feeding on some people gently lately, using the darkness and her strength to her advantage. It had worked well enough, and she’d had more...
~~Julias~~ A taxi would not do, not for this. Perhaps it was too ridiculous, too absurd, or just too over-the-top, but Julias took great delight in the magnificent limousine they were in. Other Kindred would arrive in their usual ways, but the Prince expected a certain level of presentation for her ball, and Julias got that. There was something beautifully innocent in the mindless indulgence of expensive vice, jewelry, and wearing someone on your arm. Jack was in the limousine with him,...
~~Natasha~~ She stood there in front of Sándor, frowning, arms folded across her chest, and chewed on the inside of her cheek. Antoinette stood beside her. A thrall was busy cleaning of the prisoner’s body; it was a human body after all, and it did things human bodies did. Pooping, peeing, all the nasty realities of trying to keep a dangerous person prisoner. The horror stories prisoners of war shared were never fun reads. “Still unresponsive,” Antoinette said, sighing. “The mark on his...
~~Jack~~ Her. It was her. No doubt about it. As if someone popped a balloon in his face, snapping out of his memory to the present was loud and painful. That was Susanna’s childe, and Jack’s great grandsire. “In the name of peace,” Antoinette continued, “these three hunters were invited to the ball to be shown that Dolareido, my city, is not as devolved as other cities with a Kindred presence. We are better than our baser desires.” She adopted an evil smile, and looked back to the hunters....
~~Jack~~ It only took a small nod to the bouncer for Jack to get in. Just a week ago, he wouldn’t have dared dream of it, but Invictus connections were endless – larger than just Xnomina - so now here he was, stepping into throbbing music and pulsing lights. The air smelled of sweat, body’s grinding against each other with the beat, and enough skin was exposed to make his heart race. Or at least, it would have if it still beat; the fact it didn’t never stopped unsettling him. Everything was...
~~Beatrice~~ Climbing down into the cavern was getting easier. But no matter how good she was getting at it, if the clouds decided to cover the night sky, the obsidian shadow below her was an easy way to get some broken, mangled limbs. God damn the canyon was a bitch, with no good footing anywhere, and enough jagged rocks to kill any kine who fell down, guaranteed. But she was familiar with it now, knew where the good rocks for grabbing were, knew where to put her weight into a crevice to...
~~Jack~~ Getting taken back to the real world was a curse and a blessing. Everything, everywhere, was teasing him with answers he couldn’t get to. What was the Ritual of Faces? Black Blood and the red wraiths, what did they have to do with the ritual, how were the hunters doing it, why were hunters and spirits working together, what did the red wraiths mean when they mentioned ‘who the monster speaks with ... the trail to their goal.’ Azamel? Were they talking about Azamel? If they were, how...
~~Jack~~ “Oh my god,” Jack said. “Oh ... dear Lord,” Damien said. “Now arriving, Mister Jack Terry, of the Invictus, and champion this evening. With him, Mister Damien Burksen, of the ... Lancea et Sanctum, and champion’s guard,” the ghoul in the tuxedo beside them called out. The crowd turned to them, clapped for a few moments, nodded their hands, and resumed socializing. Somewhere along the line, Antoinette’s invite to the ball, which had included a ‘some skin but not too much’ message,...
~~Jack~~ “So you let Tilly go?” Elaine asked, chuckling as she stepped in past the door. They were in his mansion, and Mulder and Scully sat on his shoulders, eying the much, much older vampire. Idly, Jack noticed that neither of the birds crapped anymore. They’d always been smart enough to not do that in the mansion, but apparently it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. “How do you know that?” “Do you think I came to this city alone? I have eyes and ears everywhere.” He eyed her. She...
~~Beatrice~~ The war was over. Jacob laughed when he told her that. Told her it was temporary, because the Carthians and the Invictus and ‘Churchies’ always eventually got in each other’s face and business. Tale as old as time, he said. But either way, for the moment, there was a truce, and that meant people could breathe easy; dumb metaphor considering vampires. Triss and Jen were at the cave when Sam showed up, and she smiled and waved at them before she slipped into Jacob’s alcove. They...
~~Julias~~ A sleeping Kindred is not really sleeping. Instead, they are nearly in torpor, an undead coma. When the sun disappears, they wake in an almost jarring pulse of energy from their dead body jamming vitae through their limbs. Older Kindred, like Julias, had long learned to rise with awareness and efficiency. Younger Kindred like Beatrice rose with a startle, as if someone had injected adrenaline straight into their heart. They had fallen asleep together on his couch when dawn...
~~Beatrice~~ Beatrice had no idea Dolareido had so many dark, hidden corners. “You Carthians. It will never cease to amaze me how much you want to adapt the modern,” Jacob said. “Modern?” The two of them were deep into North Side, and probably near the edge of the city. It was a big city; she’d never been out this far. “That you would take a car, instead of this!” The crazy Nosferatu gave that weird chuckle of his, and jumped. With the old, dark robes he was wearing, he looked like a...
~~Jack~~ “Oh ... god...” He couldn’t cum anymore. Just the thought of another orgasm made his insides ache in pain. No more, his balls cried. We’re dry! The devil and her two imps didn’t seem to agree. Ashley and Julee had both let him drink them, just a little, just enough to spark the arousal in his Kindred body once more, without either of them succumbing to exhaustion for it. And they took advantage. “One more?” Antoinette said, smiling up at him. The Prince was on her back on her...
~~Jack~~ If there was one way he was going to die, it’d be between two dangerous women. Antoinette’s tiger eyes returned, with all the ferocity and rage of when Lucas had crashed her ball. Like a crushing storm, being so near her shook him to his core as the rage poured off of her, buried him in rolling thunder that vibrated his bones and pulled his gut up into his throat. She wasn’t looking at him anymore, thank god; her eyes would have bore holes through his body and couch otherwise. The...
~~Antoinette~~ Oh no. She sat upon the highest floor of her tower, a tower she had built upon what she designated would be Elysium territory, where Kindred-on-Kindred violence was prohibited, where feeding was prohibited, and where discussion was encouraged. To place her tower within its embrace was a choice she had made, a political stance signifying her devotion to peace and cooperation. And within the highest floor, her main office was her place of control, and where she could personify...
~~Damien~~ One of the hunters came out of the shadows. He recognized this one. A woman, short, thick with muscle, and with a shotgun in her hand. “ ... you’re dead,” Damien said. “You were one of the hunters killed in the chaos, in the—” “In Sándor’s chamber, yeah.” She came closer, tilted her head, and showed them her neck. There was a giant scar where an Uratha had torn into her. “How!?” Matt asked, growling as he began to pace. The big guy put himself between the group of them, and the...
~~Beatrice~~ The two vampires jumped up and spun around, looking around in the dark. That voice. She recognized that voice. What the fuck, why was it here? Both of them pulled out their phones and started shining them around, but the catacomb was empty. “You ... you can’t be here,” she said. “No one’s ... no one’s been sacrificed.” Jen stepped in closer to her, and pressed her shoulder to hers, enough for Triss to feel her friend trembling. While Triss was still shaking because her world...
~~Jack~~ It’d been two weeks since the incident. Two weeks since the news broadcasted Jack’s fuck up with the crows. Two weeks since Julias’s death, his mother’s embrace, and the capture of Sándor. Two weeks of futile attempts to understand what had happened to him. He’d stuck with journaling, organizing his thoughts and putting them to words, but it wasn’t working out very well. All he could manage to write were succinct paragraphs that were obviously bitter, cynical, and angry. Sometimes...
~~Antoinette~~ “Does he speak?” “No.” Antoinette sighed as she glared at the bound man. Two thralls were seeing to his body, cleaning and maintaining Sándor so he did not drown in his bodily fluids, or die of starvation. An unfortunate consequence of keeping a prisoner alive was handling the frustrating elements of biology. It was not a process she was unfamiliar with. She kept several prisoners in her tower, after all, emergency sources of blood should she or an ally need them. Dealing...
~~Beatrice~~ Jacob hadn’t been in the cave when she came back with everyone. She was kinda thankful for that. Stressful conversations could wait until another time. Waking up was a strange feeling, and the memories hit her hard. Angela, Jeremiah, Athalia, the fucking twisted curse Jack, the huge gargoyle Sándor, it all came back to her a little faster than she’d have liked. Joy, over knowing Angela was dead, and Jeremiah too. Sadness, about Athalia; not a lot, but enough to make things...
~~Jack~~ “It’s been a long time,” Michael said, and he pushed open the door. Jack, Jessy, and Damien followed. The leader of the Invictus, and the three Right Hands, together, in the home of Viktor Honors, and then later, Julias Mire. A beautiful mansion, very Victorian, with its grand entrance room and big wooden stairway with fancy railings. Hell, there was a chandelier. It was very Viktor. It was very not Jack. Michael stepped over to the stairs, but didn’t go up. Instead, he leaned...
~~Antoinette~~ Veronica, still unconscious, lay in the ritual circle, bathed in the blue light of her chandelier. Antoinette and Elaine both pointed their tablets at her, observing with keen eyes as the humming machine in the background ran through the various wavelengths the devices were programmed to respond to. They started with the same frequency that had detected the remnants of the Strix upon Jack’s person, and moved outward from there. Nothing. Antoinette breathed a sigh of relief,...
~~Antoinette~~ Three months later. She stared down at the corpse, and sighed. Sigh turned to frown. Frown turned into snarl. In her youth, she would have likely elevated to outright rage, and destroyed all in her vicinity. But she had long learned to control her anger, and she quelled it now as she stood, confused and frustrated. Blood seeped out over the lines of the ritual circle, over the dark tile, and around her feet. She stepped about it effortlessly as she motioned to Daniel. “It...
~~Jack~~ “Not long after I sired Viktor, I left him, and disappeared.” Elaine held his eyes, for a while, but eventually she looked down. “I was not proud of abandoning him. I do not think he ever forgave me, even after my return.” The two of them were still on the stairs in his mansion. The stairs were the best place for a conversation, and their magic powers could hopefully disarm an elder vampire. “I wondered about how you could have been his sire, without anyone knowing.” “It was not...
~~Jack~~ Every time he woke up, it was a shock. Julias had said a Kindred doesn’t really sleep, cause how could a corpse sleep? They just become a corpse, and when the sun sets, they un-corpsify. Each and every time, it was like someone jammed adrenaline straight into his heart. He sat up in his bed with a jolt, and could feel the Vitae spike through his system to wake him with its unnatural power. But then it settled. He’d grown more comfortable with his new body, its strange, thinned and...
~~Natasha~~ Nothing was as satisfying as the sensation of keyboard keys giving way to just the right movement of the fingers for flawless typing. Did that make her a geek? She was too old to be a geek. Fifty-years embraced, and another twenty-five kine years on that meant she was older than commercial computers. By a lot. But she picked them up quick. Perhaps it was her lifetime of piano play that drew her to typing. Even as a kine, she found typewriters fascinating. “Yo, Natasha.” Snap...
~~Antoinette~~ The next evening was not a pleasant one. She’d hoped to awaken to news from her thralls of the boy’s whereabouts. She’d awoken to despair. “Why am I not out in those streets, Daniel?” “Because we’re trying to find a needle in a haystack, Annie.” The man stood and watched out over the city along with her, the two of them by the large window in her office, at the top of her Elysium tower. “I am an extra pair of eyes!” “You know that’s not how you find someone in a...
~~Damien~~ Damien looked over at Amanda, and she smiled at him before offering a small wave. She seemed like a kind little creature, dark skin and long black hair. Damien did not care for her sire, Gloria Jenning, who had a far larger mouth for gossip than any Mekhet should have, but Amanda seemed alright. Perhaps a little ditzy, but then, after being around Fiona, ditzy didn’t seem to bother him so much anymore. Ditzy people had the amazing ability to be happy and enjoy themselves. For...
~~Damien~~ He looked at the picture again, then put the phone away. Gulping, he pulled the phone out again, and looked at the picture. She was so beautiful, and fun, and joyful, and overwhelmingly sexual. The frizzy red hair, bouncy and big, her soft face and pale skin, her golden eyes, it was all gorgeous. Of course, she knew she had large breasts, and in classic Dolareido fashion, had no issue using them to get what she wanted; in this case, him. Lucky him. He was damn glad she left her...
~~Antoinette~~ High within her tower, Antoinette perused the latest information she had acquired through her network of spies. Pictures of Terra Den and its enforcers were cropping up, far more than she wished, as were pictures of the various Xnomina thralls and ghouls, moving against them during daylight. Forever a frustration, that a Kindred’s movements and actions were limited to the night, while their far less capable thralls and ghouls could move about freely whenever they desired....
~~Beatrice~~ Everyone left. Sándor was apparently a really, really strong Begotten, to the point he surprised Fiona when he opened a pathway back to the real world without issue. A wave of the gargoyle’s hand, and the darkness in the forest flickered. Fiona, or Vrall or whatever, went through it with her man, and they disappeared, supposedly to arrive near Damien’s apartment so he could take a moment to recoup. Two crows sat on Damien’s shoulders, and several more plus a few rats scurried...
~~Jack~~ Not much longer until sunrise. God, he was starving. Strong as the curse was, it wasn’t invincible, and it’d used a lot of his available vitae to fight that creature. Fought, and won. Don’t forget that. Jack silenced his thoughts as best he could, and waited, but the curse said nothing. Just as Jack had noticed throughout the battle with the azlu, and Sándor’s Horror before that, and the attack on the hospital before that, the curse had trouble maintaining control after expending...
~~Jack~~ ~Are you alright, master?~ Scully asked, perched on a powerline outside. ~I’m fine. Any kine wandering nearby?~ ~No.~ ~Any signs of Michael?~ ~Not yet, ~ Mulder said. The ability to communicate with his familiars over distances psychically was freaky and awesome. Normally Animalism required some sort of visual or auditory contact. But now that Mulder and Scully were his familiars, dead and revived as half vampire creatures, no auditory or visual connection necessary. Full on...
This is a stand alone story involving the Black Djinn, although you do get to see how he works. TALES OF DJINNAR: The Pool of Truest Reflection by Raven John sat in the bar with his close friend, Aleem. The setting was early Friday evening, nearly seven o'clock, and the place was filled with young professional women celebrating the onset of another weekend. Aleem noted his perpetually brooding buddy, and reminded him in his faint Arabic accent, "John? This is called Happy...
~~Julias~~ It didn’t matter how many times Julias stood before the triumvirate, he never felt safe. Viktor was old. Michael and Maria were there as well, and while they were older and stronger than Julias, it was Viktor that made his inner-beast recoil. Sometimes Julias wondered if his sire would try another torpor, before his strength grew to the point that he’d need Kindred blood to survive, and not kine blood. Every time he stood before him, he started to worry more and more about that...
~~Antoinette~~ Her Black Hall had more faces than she’d expected. Wonderful, that meant tensions had lessened between covenants and individuals alike. There would be lasting peace in her city, even if it meant she had to drag the idiots into the peace like kicking, screaming children. She took a moment to look around. Garry, Jacob, Maria, Michael, and Julias up on the balcony. Delightful, all the primogen were there. It was the first time in a long time the primogen had come to a ball of...
~~Jack~~ “I uh, have a girlfriend.” “Oh, damn.” She let go of his shoulder, but shrugged and kept walking. “Glad you told me though. Surprising, given your circumstances. Figured you might have said yes to a date just to get on my good side.” “The thought had occurred to me.” Except suffering Antoinette’s wrath would have been a million times worse than pissing off Clara’s whole pack, let alone just her. “It’s not Natasha is it?” “No.” “That’s good. It’d really make this whole situation...
~~Jack~~ There was still plenty of time before sunrise, and Antoinette felt like pampering him a bit more. To the pool they went, but instead of using the pool, they stepped down into the hot tub. “I’m ... pretty drained, Antoinette,” he said. “Came twice, you know?” She laughed, and reached out to touch his nose as she stepped into the water. “I am sorry, my love, but I know you drank of both my ghouls only a couple hours ago. I suspect you have much sexual energy left for me to feast...
~~Natasha~~ “Something ... h-horrible?” she said. Art stepped forward into the buildings, into the civilian lobby, and sniffed the air. “Monica told us she found out that, apparently Jack managed to bust his way out of here, and kill a few hunters on the way out. I assume you know more. Can you spare us any more details?” What details could she share that she’d read about? Antoinette had her ways, and especially so did Daniel, to get detailed reports about what happened here, more than...
~~Julias~~ “Mister Terry, you’ll be working with Madam Leauvion and Madam Jenning.” The boy raised a brow. “Sire?” “I know you expected to be working with Mister Burksen and Madam Herrington, but ultimately, they have a lot of experience that would be better served working with younger, less experienced Kindred. In your team, your experience is key, and will compensate for Jenning and Leauvion’s lack thereof, while at the same time, Jenning is Mekhet and old enough to provide a quality use...
~~Damien~~ As the night went on, two things were becoming painfully clear. First, that the hunters were either not in the tunnel, or hiding terribly well. Second, that working with Fiona was extremely distracting. It wasn’t that Fiona was too juvenile to focus, or too bubbly to ... not bubble around everywhere, but rather Damien’s own mind not being able to concentrate. She was too attractive. Ever since that date, where they’d both enjoyed a meal together, it’d become impossible to ignore...
~~Beatrice~~ They walked through the cemetery gates, and stepped among the tombstones, a bunch of brainwashed kine behind them. She tried to not show it, but she was a little scared. Not of Jacob and the madness he pursued; that ship had sailed. No, she was afraid of Jack. He’d accidentally hurt these kine, their brains, with how easily he’d dominated. Accidentally performed an act most ancilla Ventrue would have struggled to perform, let alone a neonate, no less. And he wasn’t lying about...
~~Eric~~ They took a trip to a club. Eric was kind of sick of the club scene, working at Bloodlust all the time; not that Bloodlust really counted as a club, more of a night lounge thing. Bloodlust had the music, the low light, and the people, just less of them. To go to a proper nightclub was not how he wanted to spend the night, but Matthew and Arturo assured him it was temporary. They didn’t need to convince the bouncer to let them in. Natasha wrapped them in her Kindred powers, and...
~~Antoinette~~ Jack had seen her. She knew he must have. And yet, he gave chase into the forest, with Beatrice over his shoulders. So committed was he to his plan, to his need for revenge, that he would ignore her approach, the Prince of Dolareido, and his lover, to pursue it. It was not Jack she saw. It was the curse, a relic from ages past, from those infuriating striges and their obsessive need to disrupt the lives of Kindred. The curse. The damned, bloody curse, that crawled into her...
~~Jack~~ “Consider a glass cage, my love, and within, a glowing sphere bounces up and down. The cage holds the sphere perfectly still on the horizontal plane, forcing the sphere to remain locked on its vertical path. It bounces at the speed of light, which, as you know, is the limit matter may travel. No faster. 299,792,458 meters per second.” Jack nodded, eyes wide and engaged as he watched Antoinette. Understanding the world in terms of special relativity was always a troubling mental...
~~Eric~~ Jack, Clara, and Sándor, had taken a very strange route. First, they’d left the mansion, and headed into North Side. Then their trail ended inside an old, abandoned hotel. Not a hotel, but some sort of motel? Hard to tell. According to Jessy, the city went through some gold rushes and job rushes during development at the beginning of the twentieth century, and a lot of people moved to the city for seasonal work, building the subway and whatnot. So some companies set up temporary...
~~Jack~~ He knocked on Damien’s door. Someone very much not Damien opened it. “Fiona,” he said, smiling. “Jack! How are ye, ye bawbag? And who’s this lass?” “Veronica, meet Fiona, Damien’s girlfriend, and ... a paranormal creature.” Both Jack and Veronica were dressed in suits, though Veronica’s was less fancy. It was how Invictus did things. Vampires and their servants were well dressed, but it was obvious who the master was. Fiona, on the other hand, was wearing a white button shirt,...
~~Jack~~ As the two of them sat on his couch in his old apartment, he spared no detail. It wasn’t exactly new information for Elaine; they’d have this conversation already. But it was obvious she wanted more info about the emotional side of the Ripper, about how he thought, how he felt, how the fucker took over Jack and basically became a new person. She wanted the information Jack had kept a little vague, to spare Antoinette. Of course, the Prince likely inferred a lot of it, but that...