Vivika awoke slowly at first but in that small moment between waking and opening her eyes she could only hear Thomas quietly grumbling to himself over by his closet. When she sat herself up and rubbed sleep from her eyes Vivika found the source of his irritation, while he'd not admired it and wasn't likely to do so his missing hand had make Thomas' life somewhat difficult. She watched him a moment as he tried to tie his charcoal colored tie with little success before she quietly slipped out of bed and rounded him.
"Let me."
Vivika didn't pity him as she batted his hand away so she could help, she'd never pity him but she would happily aid her monster.
"Thank you, Vivika. I had been about to wake you, I shall be attending a demonstration of our processing centres shortly and wondered if you'd like to observe."
The young woman's green eyes lit up then as she tightened his tie for him then let Thomas wrap an arm around her slender waist.
"Watch someone be drained of every last drop of blood and then tossed away like they're garbage?" She beamed. "I'd love to."
Thomas chuckled in that hardly a sound way of his. "I thought you might. I took the liberty of selecting a dress for you."
When she looked over to her own closet Vivika found a white skater dress with little cap sleeves that Thomas seemed to favor, most would have assumed because white was such an innocent color and Vivika was far from innocent. However, she knew Thomas better than anyone, except for The Master of course, and was fully aware it was more to do with the stockings she always wore with it. Still, she didn't question his choice and simply went to dress while Thomas worked on tying his shoelaces.
Thomas had been quite hostile since Eldritch had tried to steal The Master's cargo from the Aurora Cutlass and this was the first time he'd started to act like his regular self so Vivika wouldn't do anything to piss him off; he'd had it hard enough.
Vivika dressed quickly so as not to keep him waiting and refrained from offering to help when it came to getting his suit jacket on. She didn't know how but Eichhorst still looked intimidating and unwavering … sexy as hell.
Thomas didn't say a word the entire way to the processing centre, just stared straight ahead while Vivika drove and wondered if there was something seriously wrong. Yes The Master had been beheaded but he was still alive and had taken a new body, things weren't perfect but they could have been far, far worse.
"Pull in here, Vivika." Eichhorst ordered quietly.
Frankly she wondered why they'd driven, could have used the tunnels but maybe this was part of some super secret plan Thomas had going. Seriously, half the time Vivika didn't know why Thomas did the things he did.
She turned the car towards the large loading dock and got as close to the shaded door access as she could before silencing the vehicle's purr. They were in the shade, Thomas wouldn't have a problem, then again, it wasn't as though he'd burst into flames the micro second he stepped into the light; no, Thomas would smoulder first.
"Do you think Sanjay will have actually gotten this place running?" She asked once they were out the car.
"He'd better have." Came the Strgoi's reply as he cast his eyes over to a truck little bigger than a LLV knowingly.
Sanjay practically jumped on the couple once they were inside, seemed rather excited to show off all his hard work to them. Frankly he appeared a little too eager. Still, Thomas and his personal assistant followed the tall man through into the main body of the factory only to see a large ovular line of meat hooks in a vast room that smelt sterile and yet somehow dank all at the same time. At they made their way along the room a bespectacled man came into view with a confident expression, but it didn't take a genius to see past the disguise to the nervous wreck underneath. Oh it would be fun to mess with him.
Sanjay took a stopwatch from the little geek while Thomas tried to keep his enthusiasm from boiling over; no sarcasm there. Honestly Vivika had expected blood and pain, struggling and maybe a little gut wrenching screaming, so imagine her surprise to come face to face with a sorry looking dummy hung on one of the meat hooks. I didn't sign up for this shit, grumbled her mind.
The sand bag dummy slowly shuffled forwards pathetically which quickly became amusing simply for the unimpressed expression on her lover's face. The whole contraption squeaked annoyingly, loud and metallic. Embarrassed for itself. 'Going to be very pleased' that was what Desei had said, a single glance to Eichhorst suggested quite the opposite.
"Shut it off!" Thomas demanded and not a fucking moment too soon.
He was quickly obeyed and the dummy finally stuttered to a halt. Thomas strode away from his girl with powerful steps and towards the dummy, Vivika didn't like the loss of his warmth in that freezing processing centre but his stern expression and dangerous darkness more than made up for it.
"What is this?" Asked Thomas, accent thick as he gestured to the human imitation.
Sanjay appeared genuinely confused while the asshole in the sweater vest just quietly turned in on himself.
"This? This is what we've been using to test the system's capabilities. This dummy is exactly a hundred and seventy-five pounds, the weight of an average American human."
Vivika was very pleased to be able to say she wasn't average, far from it, she didn't weigh nearly that much.
"It's helped us get the whole possess down to just eighty-four seconds." Said sweater vest hesitantly.
A grin spread across the raven-haired beauty's, she knew exactly where this was going and Vivika would delight in it. The strange little man with the glasses flashed her a concerned expression but the only response he received was a bold smile of anticipation.
"Are you saying that in your opinion there is no notable difference between a person and a bag of sand?"
The twenty-one year old stepped away from glasses so as Thomas had all the room he needed to do his thing. Fuck, this is going to be good!
Sanjay's brow furrowed deeply, shame, he had such a handsome face. Vivika just wished he'd got more of a backbone, would have been sexy.
Sanjay took a calming breath. "Uhh. For our purposes? No, there's no particular difference, sir."
It happened then just as Vivika had known it would. In one smooth motion Thomas lifted the machine's builder off his feet and unceremoniously dropped him onto one of the sharp hooks without a single word. The little man flailed and cried out in agony but it fell on deaf ears while Vivika's grin only grew wider as the scent of blood started to fill the air.
"You see the difference now?" Eichhorst asked calmly.
She couldn't help it, Vivika grabbed the guy's feet and started to twirl him around while she laughed to herself. It drove the spike further into his back but she didn't care one iota, after The Master had lost his body and Thomas had lost a hand they needed something fun.
Desei couldn't take his rich eyes off the display before him, horror lingered in those eyes but he was smart enough to stay silent. Meanwhile Eichhorst smiled lovingly at his girl, the expression he saved only for her.
"Can a bag of sand struggle, putting added weight on the system?"
"No sir, it can't."
"Now turn it on again and start the timer."
At Thomas' order Vivika left the flailing man to his screams and returned to her place at his side. Sanjay stretched out a hand to turn on the machine only for glasses to try and grab it, he missed, pathetically.
"Oooh!" All eyes flashed to Vivika, her face lit up like Christmas. "Can I push the button? Please, Thomas?"
Mister Desei flashed a cautious glance to the suit clad Strigoi for permission, Thomas peered at Vivika with that hopeful look on her face then back to his underling.
"Do not deprive my beautiful Vivika, Mister Desei."
Sanjay stepped back to make way for an excited Vivika, with a grin and an almost demonic glint in her emerald orbs she pushed the start up button while Sanjay hit the stopwatch. The trio followed the machine's builder as it hauled him along; the sound of Vivika's heels being the only rival to his screams and pleas. Vivika raised an eyebrow when he was suddenly stuck by needles and drained of every last drop of blood; the whole thing was certainly effective.
Sanjay shut it all down before the body reached the incinerator much to Vivika's and Eichhorst's dismay.
"The incinerator isn't quite up and running yet."
Well that's a let down, Vivika mentally grumbled while Desei flashed his most apologetic look.
"I trust it will be soon enough. We don't want these things piling up now do we?"
Thomas' sense of humor wasn't for everyone, in fact it was hardly for anyone at all. It was too dark for most and The Master hadn't ever been overly concerned with humor. In truth it was only really Vivika herself who appreciated it. Knowing he'd actually rip someone into tiny pieces just so she could see the crimson pool form at her feet only made her love him all the more.
"No, of course. Of course, um, Sir." Thomas waited expectantly while Sanjay did his best to muddle through a sentence. "It'll be up and running. Very soon."
"And the time?" The former Nazi enquired.
Sanjay dark eyes flashed down only to come face to face with Thomas' point. "It's two. It's two minutes and seventeen seconds."
Neither Eichhorst nor his human looked surprised in the least; the glint of worry in Sanjay's eyes made it even sweeter.
"Fifty three seconds longer than reported."
While Mister Desei stood there blankly Vivika took the opportunity to cuddle back into Thomas' side like the loving girlfriend she was, his arm easily went to her waist to keep her close; possessive.
"You were right." Sanjay admitted. "We'll be making adjustments."
"Very good. And in the mean time you and I have other important business to attend to." He flashed Vivika that evil smile. "Come, meine liebe."
The couple walked away leaving Desei to follow along behind like the glorified lackey he was. The processing centre was coming along nicely, not quite quick enough but nicely nevertheless. Soon The Master, Thomas and the Strgoi would have an unending supply of fresh blood for them to guzzle down.
When they returned to the loading dock Vivika had actually forgotten it was still day, she'd grown so used to the darkness of night that day time seemed like a strange concept to her now. Thomas – like a gentleman – helped her into the truck where she came face to face with a large wooden crate, before he followed her. He demanded something of Sanjay but the emerald eyed human didn't hear it and didn't care all that much to what he'd said anyway; much too focused on the crate.
"What's in the box, Thomas?" She fluttered her eyes hoping he'd cave and tell her what they'd been hiding from Eldritch Palmer but no.
Eichhorst smirked knowingly. "Everything will become clear, my love, it is to be a surprise."
The human quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself close, Vivika had always liked surprises. The pair kissed, she'd just watched a man be bled dry and Thomas knew exactly what his whore wanted; could smell her desire.
Gunfire sounded then, sharp and unwelcome. In an instant Thomas pulled away from his girl and rushed to find out what the hell was going on. Setrakian! Desei slammed the van door closed while Thomas stood at the front of the truck to listen to the chaos. Vivika tried to go to him but he easily held her back with his remaining hand; Eichhorst wouldn't risk her getting hurt, not because of Setrakian and his pet rat catcher. His voice echoed powerfully when he ordered everyone into the truck, Sanjay only just managed to hop in before the vehicle roared away from the loading bay away from Fet and the Professor. Vivika wouldn't lie, she was a little disappointed neither of them gad gotten shot. While sulking she hopped up onto the crate to sit while she fiddled with her ever present Panda Ant.
"Do you want me to go back there? Finish them off?" Desei offered dutifully.
Thomas shook his head. "Your guards will hold them off. This cargo is far too precious to risk any delay."
The two men turned to look at the large box then only to find Vivika sat atop it without a care in the world, she didn't have a care in the world, she was on The Master's team, the winning team.
After the incident at the processing centre Eichhorst and Mister Desei had gone off to do whatever the fuck it was they were going to do with that puzzling crate while Vivika did what she did best, watch over their Setrakian-Palmer issue. They always met in the same stupid place. Seriously, how cliché do they want to be? What next? Rain at a funeral and crawling through air vents? She listened to the entire conversation nonetheless, needed to. Of course they discussed the 'slaughter house' as The Jew called it, but she did smile when Palmer told them there were roughly a hundred centres when she knew for a fact that there were at least two-hundred, Thomas had been stiffening money for The Master's purposes for years.
She strode away once the little group of so-called noble saviors had left. There wouldn't be much to report to Thomas and their master but it was better than nothing. As she walked Vivika realized just how many people had been left homeless by the re-take of Manhattan, honestly she thought the streets looked so untidy. Thomas always had a place for everything and Vivika had gotten so used to it.
They looked at her like a man seeing fire for the first time, then again she wasn't overly surprised by it. Vivika was clean, immaculately so, dressed to the nines, make-up perfect and didn't have a hair out of place. She didn't belong in this mess in the slightest, not in their eyes, and it made them all suspicious.
Suddenly someone pushed her from behind and knocked Vivika straight down onto the hard ground, her head smashed into the floor but Vivika didn't miss a beat; Thomas had taught her well. In one smooth motion she flipped onto her bag, yanked her gun out from her small bag and shot the son of a bitch twice in the chest putting him down. The few people littered around the streat fell deathly silent and seemingly vanished into the woodwork. Carefully she righted herself on her heels and glanced down at the asshole who lay bleeding on the ground, fucker had covered her white dress in dust and grime.
"Asshole." She grumbled more to herself than the slowly dying man on the ground.
When she turned back to pick up her back and put her gun away she saw a little girl, maybe eight, holding her Panda Ant in her small hands. The kid smiled at the way the resin glistened in the late afternoon sun clearly unaware of the danger she'd put herself in. Not ten feet away stood two people who must have been her parents, eyes full of terror and concern as they desperately tried to figure out whether to run to their daughter's aid or stay put.
Vivika slipped her gun back into her back and crouched down to the child's level, she fished around in her bag a moment only to tug out a Granola bar which she held out for the little girl.
"Thank you." The child beamed as the two swapped the food for Vivika's Panda Ant.
Vivika didn't speak, they didn't need nor want conversation, so she tucked away her treasured possession and continued on her way home knowing no one else would get any stupid ideas.
In Vivika's opinion only children were worth true kindness. It wasn't like she was desperate to have one of her own – and with Thomas being Strigoi the prospect didn't look likely – but she certainly didn't hate children. The raven-haired woman knew what it was like to be hard done to, to suffer and be forced to the streets.
She stayed in her thoughts almost the entire way back to the industrial apartment she shared with her vampire lover. Thomas was meant to be plotting and planning for The Master, so imagine her surprise when she walked up to their bedroom only to find him changing his shirt. The sight amused her in all honesty, his chest was a greenish color and perfectly Strgoi while from the neck upwards and the wrists down he seemed completely human. The man truly did have a gift with make-up.
Vivika took the opportunity to sneak up to him and cuddle into his oh so warm chest, she placed a kiss over his sternum.
"Not that this isn't a nice surprise but what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be terrorizing Sanjay?"
"I have a task I must complete for mein Meister and wish to look my very best, it is only polite."
"Must be important." Sh said as she helped with the small buttons of his shirt.
When she held his suit jacket for him Vivika realize she enjoyed this, Thomas had always gotten her outfits out, chosen which shoes she'd wear with which dress, in a way it was powerful. She felt as though he'd be carrying a piece of her with him. Maybe that's why he's always telling me what to wear?
"I take it A230385 met with Eldritch."
His human nodded. "Eldrich has taken that dose of the White he was given, seems to be fit as a fiddle now." Oh look, another overused cliché. "However, his … partnership with Setrakian is on the rocks again. Eldritch is certainly how they found the processing plant, Thomas."
The Strigoi hummed with mild irritation. "He doesn't matter, liebling, Eldritch Palmer has almost outlived his usefulness."
He left her then to pick up a sleek, sliver briefcase that Vivika hadn't ever seen before. Something big was going to happen, she'd figured that much out and she wanted to witness it.
"Can I come with you?"
Eichhorst paused and looked back to his young – and very willing – girl with one of those micro-smiles of his.
"Why not, my love, it is a special occasion after all."
That was how Vivika found herself waiting for him in the dark outside a large grate, she wouldn't have minded had it not been for the spattering of rain. He'd not let her go into the tunnels with him, she didn't know why but suspected there had to be more to her evening than standing in the dark waiting for him like a dog outside a 7-Eleven.
Just as she'd started to lose the will to live the grate shot open and Thomas stepped out looking devilish and pleased with himself.
"All done?"
Thomas grabbed her by the waist and pressed their lips together for a demanding kiss; something had got him going. Vivika didn't complain, she liked it when Thomas just did as he pleased with her. She kissed back as she pressed herself into his chest, his kiss all teeth and tongue which drew little mews from her body. When they finally separated Vivika was left panting but that dark smile hadn't faded from Thomas' lips in the slightest.
"Would you like to witness something remarkable, liebling?"
She nodded, of course she wanted to see. Softly he turned his lover towards the buildings across the water then pulled a remote detonator from his suit jacket with a demonic glint in his eyes Thomas flicked the switch. There was a flash of white light, almost heavenly, before the buildings crushed in on themselves. Vivika just stood there open-mouthed at the sight before them, it was both magical and destructive, beautiful and horrendous. The two watched the destruction together like lovers watching a sunrise.
"I think it's been a good day, don't you, my love?" She said quietly. "Do you want to go and play our game? There's a lot of people in Red Hook we could torment."
The dark pleasure in his eyes told her all she needed to know. Thomas had just destroyed more than a city block and killed fuck knew who in those tunnels, throw in their game of playing with his food and Vivika knew she'd not be able to walk straight for a week.
"I'd be delighted."
Oh this was going to be fun.
