Victoria and Andre - the Search - Night 3 part 10
Victoria: I sigh and nod quietly and reach for his arm, "Andre, thank you for coming. You're the only one I am familiar with besides Sands, and I know you love him very much."
Andre: "He seems to have that effect on people. I tried to explain it to him once. We were both drunk and he thought I was pulling his leg."
Victoria: I smile at the image Andre has conjured in my mind. "Well, what do we do now?"
Andre: "We trust in the blood. Lilith can find him anywhere. She will lead us to him. If he's not at the address we have, she will know."
I look up and see we're already getting off the highway. "Looks like it won't be long."
Victoria: I survey the area through the windows and then cast my glance to those in the vehicle with us. Quinn is in the passenger seat busy on his cell, the driver must be a guardian but I have not seen him before. He has a purposeful look across his face, but then again they all do. Behind me are the thralls Jackson and Klein, both are busy checking their weapons and strapping on extra gear. "Lilith? Is she here with us?" I ask. Jackson reaches behind his seat and pulls out what looks to be a vest of some kind. Then I turn to Andre for his reply, but before he can speak I interrupt. "Isn't that dangerous?" My brow furrows.
Andre: "Isn't what dangerous?"
Victoria: Now I am confused. I shift in my seat. "For Lilith." I look to see if he understands. He doesn't so I continue." Jacob hates her, if he were to get his hands on her," I shudder I know what he'll do.
Andre: "Jacob is no match for Lilith." I'd like to cut his head off, the stupid prick. "As a matter of fact, I'd like to let the two of them duke it out. She'd kill him in an instant."
Victoria: I smile, but it quickly fades. "Jacob's not stupid. It's likely that he's not alone."
Andre: "We've thought of that." I look at her. "You've not done much warfare, have you, Victoria? Don't let this frighten you. You should stay back and let the professionals do their work. I used to be a swordsman, but I won't go rushing in their with possibly silver bullets flying. Once we're actually going through the house, doing close-in work, that's when I'll enter with my blade. You should keep behind me to cover me, or stay by the vehicles."
Victoria: I nod, "I'll come with you I don't want to be left alone out here."
Jackson leans forward. "Excuse me Miss Dupree, you'll need to wear this." He hands me the strange vest I saw him digging out from under his seat.
"What is it? " I ask.
"Kevlar. Mr. Sands said I couldn't let anything happen to you." He half smiles I look over at Andre and then at the object in my hands, "Kevlar?"
Andre: "Regular bullets can cause pain, but not mortally wound us. If Jacob's friends have anything with silver, that can harm us, as you well know. The vest is a good idea. The Guardians wear them."
Victoria: I mouth an acknowledgement of understanding. I look at the two Guardians in the front seat and see that they are both wearing the vests, so are Jackson and Klein. "Where is yours Andre?"
Andre: I shrug. "I'm not a Guardian. Besides, like I said, I don't go running into a gun fight. My weapon is a sword."
Victoria: "I see." I admire Andre for his bravery, for his commitment to his craft. What a strange world I have come to see. I remember when the sword was the most fearful weapon, now. . . "You said Lilith should be able to finds Sands, that we should trust the blood. That is because she made him correct?"
Andre: Before I can speak, the car makes another turn. "We're here," Quinn announces. "Weapons' safeties off, ladies and gentlemen."
I put my hand on Victoria's. "Yes, Lilith made him a vampire. Now stay behind with me and let our soldiers do the battling."
Victoria: I am torn. I don't want to stay behind, but I know it is for the best. The car doors open and the guardians jump out and into actions. Jackson and Klein jump out to, but they seem to stand guard outside the vehicle. If I live through this, if we all live through this things will be different. I slip my arms into the vest and begin to lock it in place. "But Andre if that's true then shouldn't I be able to tell if Jacob is here?"
Andre: The cars pull up to the end of the circular driveway. It's a huge sprawling mansion, two stories high. There is no fire. No cars visible. I get a creepy feeling just looking at this place. There's death here.
At Victoria's question, I turn to look back at her. "You don't sense him? Then he's not here, or he's dead. But the sire's pull to the child is much stronger than the reverse."
Victoria: "No I don't, but that would explain how he was able to find me all those times." I know he's not dead. After everything I think I would feel if he was dead.
Andre: I watch in silence as the Guardians move toward the building. "This car is not armored. Perhaps we should go back and wait with Lilith." I don't know if Victoria is comfortable around Lilith or how may Guardians stayed in the Hummer with her.
Victoria: "All right," I slide towards the door and open the handle stepping out into the darkness. The stillness is unnerving.
Jackson runs around the back of the SUV, "What are you doing!" he looks upset. "Going to the other vehicle like Andre suggested." I respond. He takes me by the arm and rushes me to the Hummer.
Andre: Her bodyguard seems a little nervous. Well, probably his first battle. I go over to the Hummer and lean against the outside. Snow is falling in little flurries.
Lilith: My Sheldon's newest paramour enters the car. She's lovely, if a bit tall. She is able to meet my gaze. We share a common purpose tonight. If Jacob harms Sheldon, I will destroy him very slowly and painfully. The same thoughts are probably going through Victoria's mind. I close my thoughts to her. It was something of a surprise earlier this evening to hear her in my mind.
"The thrall," I tell her, "was kidnapped along with his fellows from a Special Operations Army base in the South. I have switched his allegiance to me." With my eyes, I look behind her to the back seat where he sits in a daze. "He knows nothing else, other than that he was to capture Sheldon without killing him." I lean forward towards her. "I do not sense him or Jacob here. This may be a trap. It would be just like the Viscalli to booby-trap the house."
Victoria: I smile a little at Jackson as he opens the door to the Hummer for me. He's nervous. I ask him what is wrong in his mind. He looks at me and answers silently, "I can't let anything happen to you. I haven't had such a charming mistress before and I do not intended to go back to being under Debbie's control." He smiles. "Besides Mr. Sands will kill me." He looks me straight in the eyes, I know it is true.
I enter the vehicle and the door closes behind me, Andre waits outside. Lilith is here. She is very lovely, elegant in every mannerism. I can see why Sands loves her. Suddenly I become self-conscious, realizing that I am splattered with mud and that my hair has come loose from its platting. I look at her and smile weakly. I can't sense her thoughts she has closed her mind to me. I turn to look in the seat behind me. It is the man I wanted to kill so badly earlier. The blood has dried in streaks down the side of his face where I punctured his flesh. "Special operations, no wonder they were so difficult to deal with," I say quietly.
Lilith: "Difficult in what way?"
Victoria: I bat my lashes and tuck a loose piece of hair behind my ear. "Usually I am able to make humans open up to me. I tried to find out from him where they had taken Sands." I pause and look up into her eyes. So dark. Strange to be sitting here in the presence of one so powerful. I can feel her power, it fills the air around us, or perhaps that is just my imagination.
Lilith: "You can simply make any human a thrall, well, almost any." I smile at the memory of one I could not control. "Why didn't you just enthrall him?"
Victoria: I fumble with my fingers in my lap thinking about the past, about my time with Jacob and the destruction that wrought. Slowly I begin to answer her inquiries "I spent too many years under someone else's control. I promised myself that I would never control another in that way." I look out the dark windows of the Hummer towards the house. "Until tonight I had never enthralled another. He never taught me how to do that, nor have I turned another. He never taught me how to do that either, although I have a fairly good idea of how that is done. I just. . ." I let my words drop off. I am sure she understands.
Lilith: Oh, Jacob, what did you do to this poor child? "What a child doesn't receive he can seldom later give," I quote.
Victoria: "What?" I ask, as I return my gaze to her.
Lilith: Since I'm using quotes, it's time to pull out Don Marquis: "If a child shows himself to be incorrigible, he should be decently and quietly beheaded at the age of twelve, lest he grow to maturity marry, and perpetuate his kind." I smile at her. "I should have killed Jacob years ago."
Victoria: I smile. "There was a time he wanted to marry me. I refused him after he murdered my father. But that just seemed to fuel his anger. Oh my poor brothers, what ruin I brought to us all."
Lilith: "Don't dwell in the past, my dear, or you will miss the present moment." I turn my attention to Quinn's man in the front seat, Townsend. They're in radio contact and I strain to hear something. Anything. Victoria: I follow her line of sight and listen quietly. It is easy for her to say that, I'm sure she has never known the torment I suffered.
Lilith: They are in through a back door. There is a tension in the air. I close my eyes and focus inward. Where are you Sheldon? He must be unconscious, because I cannot feel him. Jacob. Where are you my rascal? Far away. Very far away. I open my eyes. What game is he playing?
Victoria: I watch her face carefully. "What is it?" I ask eagerly. "Have you found him? Is Sands here?" I lean forward a little in my seat.
Lilith: "I do not think he is here. I think this is some sort of trap. Or a game. Jacob is not usually so clever."
Victoria: "No, but he does enjoy stringing people along. He has become quite good at that. He knows how much Sands means to you, and he does hate you so. I am sure wherever he is he is receiving great pleasure from this."
Lilith: Jacob did hate me when I drove him away. She is right. So he would torment me for revenge. "Why now?" I ask her. "You've been around him more recently than I, so why now?"
Victoria: I think about her question for a while before answering. "I'm not sure. He never had the courage to do all the things he had planned for you. That's why he took it out on me, and the others. He may hate you, but deep down he fears you. But when I searched for him in the field, when I reached in the thralls mind I sensed something very dark, very old. I am sure he is not alone in this."
Lilith: "Yes, Quinn told me of his talk with Sheldon. Viscalli were involved in the attack on you and Sheldon earlier today, were they not? Somehow Jacob has managed to forge an alliance with those vermin."
Victoria: "I doesn't surprise me. He has always moved easily among those of low moral character." I look back towards the house. I wonder if they have found anything yet. "Do you think it is safe to go inside yet? If Jacob was living here I am very curious, and would like to look around."
Lilith: "I keep asking what Jacob has that the Viscalli want. Do you have any ideas?"
Victoria: "Was he still active among the clan?" I ask, ideas beginning to form in my head.
Lilith: "Jacob has never been in this clan, not in Abberline's. I am quite sure he hates Abberline almost as much as he hates Sheldon and me."
Victoria: "Well then you have answered your own question," I settle back into the comfortable leather seats.
Lilith: "I do not follow you. What is it that Jacob has the Viscalli clan wants?"
Victoria: I fold my hands in my lap. "Well from what Sands has told me of our history the Viscalli are all monstrous. Their leader has purposely made them that way, believing us to all be an abomination. The Viscalli want you and Abberline out of the way. If Jacob could have a small part in your destruction that would make him extremely happy."
Lilith: "Abducting Sheldon will not remove my dear Frederick, or myself from the picture," I point out. "Perhaps Jacob doesn't realize that Frederick never leaves his position of safety. He fights his battles with his power, not his physical strength, though that is considerable." I look at Victoria carefully. "What do you know of us?"
Victoria: "To be honest, very little. I have feared the company of our kind for so long, not being sure whom I could trust." I look out the window at the house and a thought occurs to me. "No, but it would draw you out." I pause choosing my words carefully. "If you were in danger, would Abberline come for you?" I am treading on thin ice as the saying goes.
Lilith: "Why would he need to come when we have the Guardians?" Still, her words give me pause and I look around, searching for danger. Andre and Victoria's thrall stand outside, silent sentinels. No one would get by them without paying dearly, and there are still Guardians here in the vehicle with me.
Victoria: "But if it meant your life he would come. Perhaps that is what Jacob is hoping, that by taking Sands it would bring you out of the safety of the clan house and then perhaps he could then lure Abberline to your aid. I am sure the leaders of the Viscalli or the Von Storm would very much like to get their hands on you two."
Lilith: "You've been talking to Sheldon too much." I laugh. "He's always full of intrigue and moves, countermoves. Do not play chess with him." My smile fades. "Jacob is not smart enough or clever enough to plan such a thing, therefore he must be in league with a Viscalli who is clever. Most of them are brutes. I will have to have Quinn look into this."
I turn my attention to the driver. "Tell them we're leaving the area. We'll be back when they're ready to be retrieved." I open the door. "Andre, you and that fellow," I gesture to the thrall. "Get in. We're leaving."
Andre looks a little surprised, but he obeys at once, climbing in to sit by Victoria. The thrall gets in the back with our prisoner.
Victoria: "Why are we leaving?" I quickly ask.
Lilith: "Because of your words."
Victoria: "My words?" I am surprised at her response.
Lilith: "If this is a trap meant for me, to draw out Frederick, then I will have no part in it. We would need several more Guardians for such a confrontation." I look to Andre. "What do you think of her theory?"
He looks thoughtful, nodding slowly. "It's a possibility. I do not know this Jacob or what he's capable of."
Victoria: "I don't want to leave." My words come quicker. " I must do something to help find Sands. I cannot go with you, it would feel like I was abandoning him to that monster!"
Andre: I put my hand on her leg. "If he was here, she would know," I remind her. "Calm down. We were given a false lead."
Victoria: "No! Lilith let me stay and help the Guardians, let me do something please." I lean forward pleading with her.
Andre: The driver calls back to us. "They have found no one, so far, but evidence that there was a private plane hired to leave tonight. The flight plan is for Frankfurt, then Budapest."
Victoria: "He had a home there!" I say excitedly "He took me there once. That was a long time ago," I pause trying to remember the year. "1795!" I call out looking from Andre to Lilith, do you think his home could still be there?" So much has gone on in that part of the world, perhaps it was all destroyed.
Lilith: "It is possible. Could you find it again?"
Victoria: "I think so," I settle back into the seat, arm interlacing Andre's. I hoped I could find it again, Sands live would depend on it.
Andre: "I don't know, this all seems too convenient."
Victoria: I squeeze his arm. "It's the only lead we have." I look at him with my large green eyes.
Andre: "Lilith, what would you have us do?" I ask.
Lilith: Our vehicle has come to rest on the side of the road. "Let us see what else they discover." I look out and see the light of a distant house. Snow is falling more earnestly now.
Victoria: I did not even realize we had moved on, the house seemed so far away with its warm glow on this wintry night. I rubbed my forehead. It had been a difficult evening.
Lilith: I hear the radio again. Quinn is reporting all clear. They will meet us at the end of the driveway. Our driver relays this message to everyone. I say, "Go ahead then," to him.
I look back at Victoria. "I trust you like to fly?"
Victoria: I smile broadly. "Oh yes, I move around often." I was pleased that we were making progress and once more I was going to be of help. The last thing I wanted to do was to sit back helplessly waiting for my knight to return.
Victoria: I sigh and nod quietly and reach for his arm, "Andre, thank you for coming. You're the only one I am familiar with besides Sands, and I know you love him very much."
Andre: "He seems to have that effect on people. I tried to explain it to him once. We were both drunk and he thought I was pulling his leg."
Victoria: I smile at the image Andre has conjured in my mind. "Well, what do we do now?"
Andre: "We trust in the blood. Lilith can find him anywhere. She will lead us to him. If he's not at the address we have, she will know."
I look up and see we're already getting off the highway. "Looks like it won't be long."
Victoria: I survey the area through the windows and then cast my glance to those in the vehicle with us. Quinn is in the passenger seat busy on his cell, the driver must be a guardian but I have not seen him before. He has a purposeful look across his face, but then again they all do. Behind me are the thralls Jackson and Klein, both are busy checking their weapons and strapping on extra gear. "Lilith? Is she here with us?" I ask. Jackson reaches behind his seat and pulls out what looks to be a vest of some kind. Then I turn to Andre for his reply, but before he can speak I interrupt. "Isn't that dangerous?" My brow furrows.
Andre: "Isn't what dangerous?"
Victoria: Now I am confused. I shift in my seat. "For Lilith." I look to see if he understands. He doesn't so I continue." Jacob hates her, if he were to get his hands on her," I shudder I know what he'll do.
Andre: "Jacob is no match for Lilith." I'd like to cut his head off, the stupid prick. "As a matter of fact, I'd like to let the two of them duke it out. She'd kill him in an instant."
Victoria: I smile, but it quickly fades. "Jacob's not stupid. It's likely that he's not alone."
Andre: "We've thought of that." I look at her. "You've not done much warfare, have you, Victoria? Don't let this frighten you. You should stay back and let the professionals do their work. I used to be a swordsman, but I won't go rushing in their with possibly silver bullets flying. Once we're actually going through the house, doing close-in work, that's when I'll enter with my blade. You should keep behind me to cover me, or stay by the vehicles."
Victoria: I nod, "I'll come with you I don't want to be left alone out here."
Jackson leans forward. "Excuse me Miss Dupree, you'll need to wear this." He hands me the strange vest I saw him digging out from under his seat.
"What is it? " I ask.
"Kevlar. Mr. Sands said I couldn't let anything happen to you." He half smiles I look over at Andre and then at the object in my hands, "Kevlar?"
Andre: "Regular bullets can cause pain, but not mortally wound us. If Jacob's friends have anything with silver, that can harm us, as you well know. The vest is a good idea. The Guardians wear them."
Victoria: I mouth an acknowledgement of understanding. I look at the two Guardians in the front seat and see that they are both wearing the vests, so are Jackson and Klein. "Where is yours Andre?"
Andre: I shrug. "I'm not a Guardian. Besides, like I said, I don't go running into a gun fight. My weapon is a sword."
Victoria: "I see." I admire Andre for his bravery, for his commitment to his craft. What a strange world I have come to see. I remember when the sword was the most fearful weapon, now. . . "You said Lilith should be able to finds Sands, that we should trust the blood. That is because she made him correct?"
Andre: Before I can speak, the car makes another turn. "We're here," Quinn announces. "Weapons' safeties off, ladies and gentlemen."
I put my hand on Victoria's. "Yes, Lilith made him a vampire. Now stay behind with me and let our soldiers do the battling."
Victoria: I am torn. I don't want to stay behind, but I know it is for the best. The car doors open and the guardians jump out and into actions. Jackson and Klein jump out to, but they seem to stand guard outside the vehicle. If I live through this, if we all live through this things will be different. I slip my arms into the vest and begin to lock it in place. "But Andre if that's true then shouldn't I be able to tell if Jacob is here?"
Andre: The cars pull up to the end of the circular driveway. It's a huge sprawling mansion, two stories high. There is no fire. No cars visible. I get a creepy feeling just looking at this place. There's death here.
At Victoria's question, I turn to look back at her. "You don't sense him? Then he's not here, or he's dead. But the sire's pull to the child is much stronger than the reverse."
Victoria: "No I don't, but that would explain how he was able to find me all those times." I know he's not dead. After everything I think I would feel if he was dead.
Andre: I watch in silence as the Guardians move toward the building. "This car is not armored. Perhaps we should go back and wait with Lilith." I don't know if Victoria is comfortable around Lilith or how may Guardians stayed in the Hummer with her.
Victoria: "All right," I slide towards the door and open the handle stepping out into the darkness. The stillness is unnerving.
Jackson runs around the back of the SUV, "What are you doing!" he looks upset. "Going to the other vehicle like Andre suggested." I respond. He takes me by the arm and rushes me to the Hummer.
Andre: Her bodyguard seems a little nervous. Well, probably his first battle. I go over to the Hummer and lean against the outside. Snow is falling in little flurries.
Lilith: My Sheldon's newest paramour enters the car. She's lovely, if a bit tall. She is able to meet my gaze. We share a common purpose tonight. If Jacob harms Sheldon, I will destroy him very slowly and painfully. The same thoughts are probably going through Victoria's mind. I close my thoughts to her. It was something of a surprise earlier this evening to hear her in my mind.
"The thrall," I tell her, "was kidnapped along with his fellows from a Special Operations Army base in the South. I have switched his allegiance to me." With my eyes, I look behind her to the back seat where he sits in a daze. "He knows nothing else, other than that he was to capture Sheldon without killing him." I lean forward towards her. "I do not sense him or Jacob here. This may be a trap. It would be just like the Viscalli to booby-trap the house."
Victoria: I smile a little at Jackson as he opens the door to the Hummer for me. He's nervous. I ask him what is wrong in his mind. He looks at me and answers silently, "I can't let anything happen to you. I haven't had such a charming mistress before and I do not intended to go back to being under Debbie's control." He smiles. "Besides Mr. Sands will kill me." He looks me straight in the eyes, I know it is true.
I enter the vehicle and the door closes behind me, Andre waits outside. Lilith is here. She is very lovely, elegant in every mannerism. I can see why Sands loves her. Suddenly I become self-conscious, realizing that I am splattered with mud and that my hair has come loose from its platting. I look at her and smile weakly. I can't sense her thoughts she has closed her mind to me. I turn to look in the seat behind me. It is the man I wanted to kill so badly earlier. The blood has dried in streaks down the side of his face where I punctured his flesh. "Special operations, no wonder they were so difficult to deal with," I say quietly.
Lilith: "Difficult in what way?"
Victoria: I bat my lashes and tuck a loose piece of hair behind my ear. "Usually I am able to make humans open up to me. I tried to find out from him where they had taken Sands." I pause and look up into her eyes. So dark. Strange to be sitting here in the presence of one so powerful. I can feel her power, it fills the air around us, or perhaps that is just my imagination.
Lilith: "You can simply make any human a thrall, well, almost any." I smile at the memory of one I could not control. "Why didn't you just enthrall him?"
Victoria: I fumble with my fingers in my lap thinking about the past, about my time with Jacob and the destruction that wrought. Slowly I begin to answer her inquiries "I spent too many years under someone else's control. I promised myself that I would never control another in that way." I look out the dark windows of the Hummer towards the house. "Until tonight I had never enthralled another. He never taught me how to do that, nor have I turned another. He never taught me how to do that either, although I have a fairly good idea of how that is done. I just. . ." I let my words drop off. I am sure she understands.
Lilith: Oh, Jacob, what did you do to this poor child? "What a child doesn't receive he can seldom later give," I quote.
Victoria: "What?" I ask, as I return my gaze to her.
Lilith: Since I'm using quotes, it's time to pull out Don Marquis: "If a child shows himself to be incorrigible, he should be decently and quietly beheaded at the age of twelve, lest he grow to maturity marry, and perpetuate his kind." I smile at her. "I should have killed Jacob years ago."
Victoria: I smile. "There was a time he wanted to marry me. I refused him after he murdered my father. But that just seemed to fuel his anger. Oh my poor brothers, what ruin I brought to us all."
Lilith: "Don't dwell in the past, my dear, or you will miss the present moment." I turn my attention to Quinn's man in the front seat, Townsend. They're in radio contact and I strain to hear something. Anything. Victoria: I follow her line of sight and listen quietly. It is easy for her to say that, I'm sure she has never known the torment I suffered.
Lilith: They are in through a back door. There is a tension in the air. I close my eyes and focus inward. Where are you Sheldon? He must be unconscious, because I cannot feel him. Jacob. Where are you my rascal? Far away. Very far away. I open my eyes. What game is he playing?
Victoria: I watch her face carefully. "What is it?" I ask eagerly. "Have you found him? Is Sands here?" I lean forward a little in my seat.
Lilith: "I do not think he is here. I think this is some sort of trap. Or a game. Jacob is not usually so clever."
Victoria: "No, but he does enjoy stringing people along. He has become quite good at that. He knows how much Sands means to you, and he does hate you so. I am sure wherever he is he is receiving great pleasure from this."
Lilith: Jacob did hate me when I drove him away. She is right. So he would torment me for revenge. "Why now?" I ask her. "You've been around him more recently than I, so why now?"
Victoria: I think about her question for a while before answering. "I'm not sure. He never had the courage to do all the things he had planned for you. That's why he took it out on me, and the others. He may hate you, but deep down he fears you. But when I searched for him in the field, when I reached in the thralls mind I sensed something very dark, very old. I am sure he is not alone in this."
Lilith: "Yes, Quinn told me of his talk with Sheldon. Viscalli were involved in the attack on you and Sheldon earlier today, were they not? Somehow Jacob has managed to forge an alliance with those vermin."
Victoria: "I doesn't surprise me. He has always moved easily among those of low moral character." I look back towards the house. I wonder if they have found anything yet. "Do you think it is safe to go inside yet? If Jacob was living here I am very curious, and would like to look around."
Lilith: "I keep asking what Jacob has that the Viscalli want. Do you have any ideas?"
Victoria: "Was he still active among the clan?" I ask, ideas beginning to form in my head.
Lilith: "Jacob has never been in this clan, not in Abberline's. I am quite sure he hates Abberline almost as much as he hates Sheldon and me."
Victoria: "Well then you have answered your own question," I settle back into the comfortable leather seats.
Lilith: "I do not follow you. What is it that Jacob has the Viscalli clan wants?"
Victoria: I fold my hands in my lap. "Well from what Sands has told me of our history the Viscalli are all monstrous. Their leader has purposely made them that way, believing us to all be an abomination. The Viscalli want you and Abberline out of the way. If Jacob could have a small part in your destruction that would make him extremely happy."
Lilith: "Abducting Sheldon will not remove my dear Frederick, or myself from the picture," I point out. "Perhaps Jacob doesn't realize that Frederick never leaves his position of safety. He fights his battles with his power, not his physical strength, though that is considerable." I look at Victoria carefully. "What do you know of us?"
Victoria: "To be honest, very little. I have feared the company of our kind for so long, not being sure whom I could trust." I look out the window at the house and a thought occurs to me. "No, but it would draw you out." I pause choosing my words carefully. "If you were in danger, would Abberline come for you?" I am treading on thin ice as the saying goes.
Lilith: "Why would he need to come when we have the Guardians?" Still, her words give me pause and I look around, searching for danger. Andre and Victoria's thrall stand outside, silent sentinels. No one would get by them without paying dearly, and there are still Guardians here in the vehicle with me.
Victoria: "But if it meant your life he would come. Perhaps that is what Jacob is hoping, that by taking Sands it would bring you out of the safety of the clan house and then perhaps he could then lure Abberline to your aid. I am sure the leaders of the Viscalli or the Von Storm would very much like to get their hands on you two."
Lilith: "You've been talking to Sheldon too much." I laugh. "He's always full of intrigue and moves, countermoves. Do not play chess with him." My smile fades. "Jacob is not smart enough or clever enough to plan such a thing, therefore he must be in league with a Viscalli who is clever. Most of them are brutes. I will have to have Quinn look into this."
I turn my attention to the driver. "Tell them we're leaving the area. We'll be back when they're ready to be retrieved." I open the door. "Andre, you and that fellow," I gesture to the thrall. "Get in. We're leaving."
Andre looks a little surprised, but he obeys at once, climbing in to sit by Victoria. The thrall gets in the back with our prisoner.
Victoria: "Why are we leaving?" I quickly ask.
Lilith: "Because of your words."
Victoria: "My words?" I am surprised at her response.
Lilith: "If this is a trap meant for me, to draw out Frederick, then I will have no part in it. We would need several more Guardians for such a confrontation." I look to Andre. "What do you think of her theory?"
He looks thoughtful, nodding slowly. "It's a possibility. I do not know this Jacob or what he's capable of."
Victoria: "I don't want to leave." My words come quicker. " I must do something to help find Sands. I cannot go with you, it would feel like I was abandoning him to that monster!"
Andre: I put my hand on her leg. "If he was here, she would know," I remind her. "Calm down. We were given a false lead."
Victoria: "No! Lilith let me stay and help the Guardians, let me do something please." I lean forward pleading with her.
Andre: The driver calls back to us. "They have found no one, so far, but evidence that there was a private plane hired to leave tonight. The flight plan is for Frankfurt, then Budapest."
Victoria: "He had a home there!" I say excitedly "He took me there once. That was a long time ago," I pause trying to remember the year. "1795!" I call out looking from Andre to Lilith, do you think his home could still be there?" So much has gone on in that part of the world, perhaps it was all destroyed.
Lilith: "It is possible. Could you find it again?"
Victoria: "I think so," I settle back into the seat, arm interlacing Andre's. I hoped I could find it again, Sands live would depend on it.
Andre: "I don't know, this all seems too convenient."
Victoria: I squeeze his arm. "It's the only lead we have." I look at him with my large green eyes.
Andre: "Lilith, what would you have us do?" I ask.
Lilith: Our vehicle has come to rest on the side of the road. "Let us see what else they discover." I look out and see the light of a distant house. Snow is falling more earnestly now.
Victoria: I did not even realize we had moved on, the house seemed so far away with its warm glow on this wintry night. I rubbed my forehead. It had been a difficult evening.
Lilith: I hear the radio again. Quinn is reporting all clear. They will meet us at the end of the driveway. Our driver relays this message to everyone. I say, "Go ahead then," to him.
I look back at Victoria. "I trust you like to fly?"
Victoria: I smile broadly. "Oh yes, I move around often." I was pleased that we were making progress and once more I was going to be of help. The last thing I wanted to do was to sit back helplessly waiting for my knight to return.