A/N: Here's chapter twenty one! A bit shorter than our other chapters, sorry! Hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bloodlines.
"They're going to put you away…" The voices whispered, "They're going to put you away forever! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Hearing the laughter of the voices caused her to laugh along with them. She kept feverishly scribbling on the chalkboard. The voices have been warning her over and over again that the tides of time were going to change, she needed to be prepared for it. The more calculations she drew up, the better. It was best to have every outcome etched somewhere in her apartment.
Loud banging was heard as someone knocked on the door, "Miss Desrosiers! Miss Desrosiers! We need to talk! Right now!"
She hissed at the door like a cat, continuing her work.
"Genevieve…come on!" He shouted, "Don't make me get the master key!"
"The key master! Run! Hide!" Genevieve looked around nervously. She dropped her chalk and crouched in the corner, turning invisible.
Sure enough, the clicking and clacking of a key was heard as the door open, and a man in a business suit looked around, "Genevieve? Where the hell are you?" He growled, "We need to talk about this. Your payment is late for this month. Again. If you don't come see me within the next couple of days…I'll have to give this place to someone who actually pays for it…"
Genevieve shuddered, hoping that her invisibility wouldn't fade on account of her shaking. She just wanted the bad man to leave so she could keep working on her figures.
"Genevieve! I know you're in here! Don't you hear me? Do you want to lose your home? Just…just come see me when you have a chance, alright?" He stormed off.
Genevieve dropped her invisibility. If she ever paid that man at all, it would've been a miracle. She shook her head and kept writing again.
"You will have another visitor…" The voices hissed.
"Who…?" Genevieve asked, her voice trembling with fear.
"The lie detector."
Genevieve convulsed, as she hugged herself and retreated back into her corner, turning invisible.
Victor walked through the door next, looking around, trying to make out what the calculations on her boards meant. Then his eyes glowed red, he eventually stared right at her. "You can come out…I can see you."
She gasped, becoming visible again, "You have true sight…?"
Victor nodded, "You do too. You should see if you can hone your skills with it. Auspex is an invaluable ability, often overlooked by Kindred." He couldn't help but notice her deep voice, it was probably the deepest feminine voice he had ever heard. That, mixed with her impressive height would have made her quite the reputable Toreador, (maybe even more popular than VV), but as it stood, Victor already knew what clan she was long before he even entered the room.
"L-Lie detector…" Genevieve shuddered.
"Lie detector?" He raised a brow, then he smiled, "Oh, please forgive my rudeness. I am Victor." He gave a bow, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Child of Malkav."
She gradually stood tall, "Are you going to take me away?"
"No, of course not." He chuckled, looking at her chalkboards again, "It's not nice to write about your roommates like this."
She blinked, surprised he could even decipher what she was writing in the first place, "I hate them." She said childishly.
He gave a soft smile, "I am not without my intentions, unfortunately, as I have come with a few questions."
"If this cracked mind has the answers, she will give them to you."
"What do you know about Mister Milton?"
"Messy? I hate him the most."
"Yes, but now he lives with a friend, by the name of Muddy. Did you know that?"
"Yes. Messy and Muddy are like two peas in a pod. A rank, disgusting pod that no one should eat. Ever."
"I see. Do you…have any more information regarding the two of them? Like what they plan on doing, or where they're headed?" He asked, "I understand if you don't." He held his hands up, "Then the lie detector will leave, I've taken up enough of your time."
"Messy will die soon. Very, very, soon. He should enjoy every filthy pizza and sloppy joe, like it's his last."
He leaned forward a little with interest, "Will he now?"
She nodded, "His past will finally come back and eat him."
"And, what about Muddy?"
"The same fate, but…he's given a bit more slack…a big false sense of security, he'll think himself safe, but he'll be devoured all the same…"
He nodded, "I must thank you, Child of Malkav." He gave a bow, "I shall be off now."
"Goodbye, Lie Detector."
Vick held his hands up, as the service ended, and all of his guests left. He attracted a lot of followers in his church. It was probably because of how beautiful he was. His eyes especially were a shining blue that could attract anyone's attention. He stepped down from his podium, seeing the beautiful ornate church paintings to his left, and the dying fire in the fireplace to his right.
He then noticed a hooded figure in the distance, as he was walking down the aisle, "Is something wrong, my brother?" His voice rumbled in that southern drawl, "You're not a…usual member of my people, are you there, brother? Did you want to talk about joining up? There's always room for one more!"
The hoodlum jumped at him and bit into his neck. Vick screamed helplessly, falling to the ground as he was drained of all of his blood.
He woke up a little while later, seeing his attacker leaning on his podium, "Heh, heh, heh…there you are…" He rasped, "Looks like you're finally awake…ha, Andrei's gonna love this…I Embraced a preacher! He eats ironic shit like this up all the time!"
"You monster…" Vick growled, standing up, "That podium is for me! You're not allowed up there, senseless beast!" His eyes widened. "What…what happened to me. How come I don't have to breathe anymore? What…what's wrong with my teeth? What…what in God's name happened to me?"
"Will you shut up? You're a Sabbat vampire now." The Kindred said, turning away to look at the windows, "Now, listen. The first thing I want you to do is go Embrace as many people as you can, and raise hell in the nearer cities."
"Raise…hell…?" Vick repeated slowly, grabbing a fireplace poker and tending to the fire.
"Yeah, what, you deaf or something now-?"
Admirably the biggest mistake the Sabbat vampire made for everyone was turning his back on him, as the hot fireplace poker stabbed through his chest and he instantly turned to ash.
"No! No!" Vick roared, clenching his grip around the fireplace poker even harder, "I am a holy man of purity, and you are a monster! I…I am the great Bishop Vick, and I will purify the land of all these monstrous abominations at once! I will flood the Earth with an unholy purge of all you beasts, and this I swear!"
"Bishop Vick?"
"Bishop Vick?"
"My lord, Bishop Vick?"
Bishop Vick shook himself away from his trance, he looked around, still in his base of operations, with three of his most loyal associates. "You'll have to forgive me, my brothers and sisters…I was thinking back…back to a time where…the Genesis of this movement has truly begun…"
"Oh, it is no trouble, Bishop Vick." A woman with short red hair, a black headband, and creepy yellow eyes said.
"Sister Jezebel." Bishop Vick said, "You will spread my gift to the prostitutes of this city. Let them carry the dark gift to all other who reveal in the pleasures of dirty and forbidden love."
"It shall be done." Jezebel said.
"Sister Esmeralda." He looked at a girl primarily wearing leather, with some pink highlights in her short black hair, "I want you to spread the gift to all the inner city gangs, and there are many. Have them all die a slow and painful death, whilst at the same time, spreading my dark gift."
"Yes of course, Bishop." Esmeralda said.
"And lastly, Brother Kanker." He looked at a hideously deformed, (even by Nosferatu standard, it was hideously deformed) purple Kindred, with gashes all over his body. It was hard to tell if these gashes were battle scars or just a manifestation of the disease "You will focus on the homeless dregs of this city. They are near death already, you may as well put them out of their misery."
"Yes, my lord, Bishop Vick." Brother Kanker said in a grating and frightening voice.
"Now, go on, my brothers and sisters!" Bishop Vick held his arms out, "Spread yourselves long and wide as we all journey below into the Ninth Circle!"
"I can't say it's particularly burdensome to have you absentmindedly doodling in my office, but I do wish you wouldn't use all the ink in my pens. This is the third pen that's run out in the middle of a report." LaCroix opened a drawer in his desk and put the dead pen inside.
"Sorry sir." Harper looked from her notebook, pausing as she looked at the pen in her hand, "You…just have very nice pens…."
"Of course I do, you expect anything less? Constant writing requires nothing but the best."
"Mmm hmm…" She looked at her drawing, then heard him get up out of his chair. She quickly crumpled the drawing into a ball and threw it against the fireplace grate, with a pile of others.
"Clean up your mess." He demanded, "I've heard Miss Frost and Mister Vanderbilt are in town, they could stop by at any time."
"And it's imperative I leave…?"
"As always." He said, "I can't see what make the concept so difficult to grasp." He clasped his hands behind his back as he looked out the window.
"They wouldn't hurt me…they'd have no reason to…not with you and the Sheriff quite literally looming over them…" She looked over the back of the couch, hoping he'd turn around so she could make eye contact with him, "There's another reason you don't let me in the room when Kindred are present. Something you refuse to tell me."
"I never said that." He raised a brow but didn't face her.
"No, but I know it's true." She faced forward, "Mercurio goes out and deals with…all sorts of demons on a daily basis…"
"You are on a different level than Mercurio. Tell me, Miss Rivers, if you were the head of a major corporation and you had two very devout employees with different skillsets, would you want them both running the same base of operations, or different branches?" He turned around and walked towards her, "More work would be accomplished if their skills were offset, hence why you frequent my office so much more than he ever has."
She bit her lip as she felt him stand right behind her, sinking into the couch a bit deeper. "I just don't see what you're…protecting me from."
"The Kindred of this area are always difficult to gauge." He said, "One can never be sure where their loyalties truly lie."
"You always say that. What's the real reason?'
He turned away and approached the fireplace, brushing the pile of balled up papers aside with his foot, "Valuable information may be released that I cannot risk you gaining access to."
She crossed her arms, "That's it? You're afraid I'll learn too much…? Isn't it a little late for that…?"
"No."
She shook her head and sighed, "…if you insist…"
"I'd nearly forgotten. It's been a week, hasn't it?" She felt her heart flitter, and it seemed he only preyed off of that as he turned around and faced her, "Have you made your decision, Miss Rivers?"
She looked up at him, then looked down at the floor.
He took a step closer to her, leaning in towards her and lifting her chin so their eyes would meet. Her pale, almost lifeless cheeks flushed as he held her with a hand colder than stone, "I'd select your answer wisely, Harper." His eyes narrowed as he spoke in a hushed tone.
The door opened as Cadmus and Miranda walked in. The Prince immediately stepped back from Harper.
Harper turned over her shoulder and looked at Cadmus and Miranda, her face was now lit up bright red as she pushed LaCroix away and left so quickly, it almost seemed she had Celerity.
The Prince's brow furrowed, as he adjusted his tie and looked at Cadmus and Miranda "Knocking would have been appreciated. I'd thought you were both fairly competent enough to know such an act is mandatory."
Cadmus raised a brow, but Miranda said, "We did knock, sir. Several times."
He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "….bloody ghoul…." He turned to them, "The werewolf blood?"
Miranda pulled it out from under her arm, "I have secured it." She said, "Shall I hand it to the Sheriff?"
He nodded, "And I trust everything went as planned with my agent?"
Miranda and Cadmus's eyes met, "No difficulties at all." Miranda said, "We apologize if the warehouse fiasco took a bit longer than you had anticipated."
"Is there a reason for the extensive time spent?"
Miranda got flustered, "Uh…well…we…our…our lack of knowledge of the city…it…it was quite embarrassing…"
"Something rather dire caught our attention." Cadmus said as he fell to one knee, crossing an arm over his chest.
"Oh?" The Prince seemed intrigued.
"There is somewhat…of…an urgent matter…at our hands…and I think it's best if I warn you this personally, Prince."
His emotionless façade began to fade as he looked concerned. His eyes landed on Miranda briefly, to ensure Cadmus wasn't merely fabricating something to kill time, but when he saw how stoic she looked as well, he turned his attention back to Cadmus, "Yes?"
"The Kuei-Jin." Cadmus prefaced simply. Eventually he continued, "One of their spies were tracking us throughout our entire mission. I was able to kill it…but…undoubtedly, they'll be others. It seems their thirst for war with the Anarchs has now spread to an overall hatred against all Kindred, no matter what their allegiance."
He crossed his arms, "That is quite the predicament…" He looked up at them with a smirk, "I suppose it's fortunate you were there to take care of matters. Your actions have not go unnoticed." He met both of their gazes before he walked to his desk and took out three envelopes, "You may split the money as you see fit. I was not expecting additional work to be completed and carried out in such a professional manner. It would be rude of me not to pay you for your efforts."
Miranda walked forward and took the money, "Thank you, sir."
"Shall we…split the total…for the two fledglings…or will you be handling that?" Cadmus asked.
"I will take their pay into account." He said, "They survived?"
Miranda nodded, "They were a very interesting set of Toreadors. I'm sure if they keep working hard enough, they'll make their way in the Camarilla."
"Very well. That is reassuring to hear, especially so with Mister Lockwood. Any signs of disloyalty in the slightest?"
"None that we know of." Cadmus said, "Confusion maybe, but I'm sure that's normal."
"Of course." He nodded, "I'm sure he's speaking with Miss Rivers about any questions he has this very moment." He said as he took a seat at his desk, "I have another task, if you aren't preoccupied."
"Yes, sir. What are your wishes?" Miranda smiled.
"There have been rumors concerning the Elizabeth Dane…have you heard?"
Her smile faded, "I'm afraid with all the chaos we were attending to…we're a bit…lackluster…on recent news…as a result…"
"The ship has been found absently sailing the seas without a crew, captain, or survivor on board. It is currently being investigated by the police, though reports have yet to return. Even the Nosferatu have been completely unsuccessful in retrieving information. The reason the Dane's existence has even piqued my interest is due to the cargo onboard, known as the Ankaran Sarcophagus." He said slowly, to ensure they heard it correctly, "Now, I'm not one to predicate a decision based on conjecture, therefore I am in need of the facts. I need first hand evidence to dismiss the claims that the Sarcophagus is responsible for the disturbance."
"You wish for us to…investigate it, sir?"
He nodded, "You have three objectives. One…I would like you to examine the Sarcophagus for any unusual signs. Many Kindred in this city have reported an uneasiness in the air since the Dane's arrival, and many claim it is due to the Sarcophagus." He said, before his tone fell cold as ice, "Do not, under any circumstances, open the Ankaran Sarcophagus." There was a slight pause before he sat back and continued in a lighter tone, "Secondly…the police have begun their investigation, find out what they've concluded thus far. I'd much rather take the word of the Nosferatu, but it seems police reports are the best we're going to get our hands on." He looked at Miranda, "I'm sure that should be no problem for you, Miss Frost. Thirdly…take the cargo manifest for the ship. I'm unsure if there are any other valuable items onboard." There was another pause as he looked slightly irked, "The last thing we need is police aware of our existence, so…be careful with what you say to them. And unlike the warehouse, you cannot wholesale slaughter a ship full of lawmen without consequences. Is this understood?"
"Yes, sir." Miranda nodded.
He gave a relieved sigh as he smiled again, "I haven't seen such obedience since I was in Napoleon's ranks." He chuckled softly, "Any other concerns?"
"None." Cadmus said.
"Very well. I will see you again upon your return from the Dane."
"Yes sir." Miranda bowed, Cadmus stood up and the pair of them left.
A/N: Rest in peace, Sebastian LaCroix's peace of mind and sanity. You will be sorely missed. Let me know what you thought with a review! Thanks for reading!