Victoria Day 4 part 2
Andre: "That is all Lilith told us, that he woke, then went out again."
Victoria: I felt the corner of my mouth turn down. Well at least it was something. I turned my eyes to better view Lilith sitting across the plane and couldn't help but wonder if she were keeping secrets.
Andre: "You had a bad experience with your sire. For most of us, it is one of the closest relationships we have. Our dames or sires are with us much longer than our mortal parents."
Victoria: I turned my gaze back to Andre and half smiled, he was trying to be of some comfort. "Yes, and when this business is complete I shall be alone once again."
Andre: I tilt my head and look at her. "Why would you say such a thing? You've found your clan now."
Victoria: I batted my eyelashes and thought carefully about his question. Finally unsatisfied with my own answer I shook my head. "It is difficult to feel like one belongs. I have spent centuries in an exile of sorts, companionship with our kind is still a bit unsettling. Especially considering the last three days."
Andre: "Especially considering the last three days? In the last three days, were you not welcomed? Did you not even get to meet Abberline? There are those of the clan who are there for years before they get that privilege. And did Sands not make you feel welcome? And me?" I frown. "It is your thoughts that are stuck in the past. Only you can change that."
Victoria: I have hurt him. Our hands were still touching so I gently squeezed. "Andre, please forgive me, " I paused and looked into his eyes. "You are correct in all things, it's just that I feel responsible for the situation."
Andre: I smile. "It is not your fault. How could it be? Your thralls reported what happened. Sands, as usual, took the reins in his hands and gave the orders. The three of you did the best you could after he took off. What more could a person do? It would not have helped if you, too, were captured. Or worse."
Victoria: I smiled and then turned briefly to look out the small window. "Once again Andre you are correct. I can see why Sands keeps company with you."
Andre: "We have been friends for a long time. From the first moment we met, when we should have been enemies." I sigh, remembering the sight of him in the brothel. "He was drunk, half-dressed, and grinning like a madman."
Victoria: I had to laugh, the image conjured in my mind too delicious to suppress. It felt good to laugh. "Yes he has a way with first impressions." I smiled like a Cheshire cat.
Andre: "He somehow talked me into fighting against the French when Spain was her ally."
Victoria: "Sands can talk anyone into anything," I said with a smile. I turned and looked back out the window and then quickly glanced at my watch." Pardon me Andre, but do you think we will be landing soon?"
Andre: "We should be landing in Frankford for refueling at about 10am German time, then we'll take off for Hungary. We cannot disembark at Frankford." I swivel in my seat and look at Lilith. She sits with her eyes closed, obviously trying to find the thread that links her to Sands.
Victoria: "Why not?" I ask as I follow his gaze to Lilith.
Andre: "We would have to go through customs. We are too heavily armed for that." I smile. "It would take too long."
Victoria: Although I had feasted quite a lot in the last three days, more than usually. I felt hungry, peckish really. Nerves always did that to me.
Listening to Andre, I responded quietly. "Oh, " I leaned back into my seat. "How will we manage in Hungary then?"
Andre: "It's amazing what can be done when there are vampires in high places," I say mysteriously. "Try to get a little rest. It will be a long day." I lean back, letting my head rest against the high-backed seat.
Victoria: "Vampires in high places?' I questions a I shut my eyes following Andre's lead. I was thinking about his words when I felt Jackson approaching. I opened an eye. "What is it?" I questioned softly. He said nothing but produced a small pillow and blanket. "Thank you," I responded and shut my eyes once again.
I had initially been dead set about taking a thrall, the idea of close proximity to a human distasteful, but a girl could get used to treatment like this. I let my mind go blank and slipped away into a sort of dream.
(Victoria's Dream goes here)
Andre: We're all ready. Our SUVs are making their way guided by Lilith and Victoria's memories. Quinn and the Guardians are packing heavy ammunition, all silver-packed. Lilith is leading us in, then she is to back off. Hopefully Victoria will stay with her.
Thinking of our newest member, I look over at her, a flask of a cherry cordial in my right hand compliments of Asherton. Victoria is looking out the window. I turn in my seat next to hers.
"It won't be long now."
Victoria: The road twists and turns and is very narrow. Two lanes only, but we are making good time. The trees are becoming thicker here. I run a hand across the back of my neck and bump the edge of the kelvar jacket. I'm glad to have it on, this is going to get ugly.
Andre speaks to break the silence. I pull my eyes from the window and towards his voice. It is so clam, soothing. I smile. "Yes, I feel something." I fold my hands in my lap. "Jacob, I think. It was subtle at first, but it is getting stronger as we go."
Andre: My brow raises. "You feel Jacob? We must be very close then." I lean forward to the front seat. "Quinn, she can feel Jacob," I say in a whisper. "Perhaps the non-combatants."
Quinn is nodding. "Lilith says Sands is awake again, but he's trying to block her out."
This is not good. I look from Lilith's profile to Quinn. The vehicles slow and we pull over. The plan is for Lilith and Victoria to stay with three Guardians in this car, while Quinn and I go with the others.
"There is something not right," Lilith says softly. I look from her to Victoria.
Victoria: "I don't like this either." I look over to Lilith and she looks briefly at me. "Andre, I think it would be better if we all stayed together."
Andre: I nod. "We all believe this is a trap to get Lilith. Maybe this is just what he wants." I look back to Lilith and her gaze meets mine.
"Not me, probably Frederick." Her voice is soft shadows and velvet. "Our best weapon is the daylight." She shifts so she can turn and look back at Victoria. "Viscalli doesn't like the threat of having mature vampires anywhere near him. He doesn't even share his powers by creating vampires. When he wants a person turned, he selects another young vampire to do it. They are all susceptible to sunlight."
Victoria: I nod. "So what does he consider mature then?"
Andre: I wait for Lilith to speak. She knows more about Viscalli than I.
"About two to three hundred years," she tells us.
Victoria: "So then Viscalli's boys, really shouldn't be a problem for any of us then, we just have to worry about ambush, or being greatly out numbered then."
Andre: I sigh. "Why is he doing this? He must have some secret weapon, or he wouldn't risk it."
Victoria: "Jacob?" I turn my attention back to Andre. "He doesn't think. He truly believes that he is superior and none of his plans can go wrong." I smirk.
Andre: "No. Viscalli."
Lilith turns back around. "He was never very smart. His power is due to his age and ferocity. If his life depended on sheer brilliance, he'd be dead already."
Victoria: I smile. I like that way she speaks, bluntly and to the point. "Oh, then with a pair like that," I roll my eyes and exhale.
Andre: Lilith puts her head down then says: "He has your talent, too, Victoria. It gives him an advantage against most of our kind."
Victoria: Her comment startles me, my mouth hangs open. "My talent.." My eyes shift to Andre and then towards Quinn. Nervously I look back to Lilith. "Well maybe I can connect with him then and get an idea of what is going on."
Andre: I don't know what they're talking about. Lilith smiles. "Try it," she tells Victoria. "He's cut me out."
"What?" I start to ask, but a sharp glance from Lilith silences me and I retreat back to quiet. I look at Victoria. What does she and Lilith have that the rest of us don't?
Victoria: I lean back against the leather seat and shut my eyes. I shut out the sounds around me and concentrate on the silence. Opening my mind, I hear many thoughts rushing in , like water at the shore! I hear the thoughts of many of the Guardians and the thralls.
I close my eyes even tighter, until their voices fade away and their is silence once more. My mind calls out, wrapping itself around the trees, winding its way through the air around us. Then I see a light. Extremely bright, and yet very cold. "I see him," I whisper.
Viscalli. I feel myself shutter. His mind is twisted, hard to follow. But I go further. I see back through the centuries, back to the times when the Romans invaded the Britton. He is there. A slight pain begins at the base of my skull. I pull away from it. Too far, gone too far. Where is he now? What is his plan? "Power. He craves power." I absently mutter.
Andre: "Sands?" I didn't mean for it to slip out.
Victoria: I turn my head in the direction of his voice and shake my head "No." The figure in the distance turns towards me. My face reflects the horror I see. He knows I'm here, although he hasn't found me yet, he is searching. His power is great. It shakes me to the core. I search deeper, for Sands I tell myself, although it is more like the moth drawn to the flame at this point. "He wants to destroy, he wants to get. . . " My speech is halted. I sharply inhale. He has turned his icy blue eyes on me.
Andre: I reach to touch Victoria, but hold back. I look forward and see Lilith has turned once again, her eyes upon Victoria. I look to her for direction. She shakes her head and I wait.
Victoria: His eyes are beautiful, but frightening! I try to turn away, but he reaches out and holds me in his stare! The pain at the base of my skull increases, I have gone to far! "He wants to kill," it is harder for me to speak. I feel as is I am suffocating! "He wants to stand alone." My hand goes to my eyes. The pain. For Sands. He is coming closer. "He wants to be the only . . ." I am terrified, more than I ever was with Jacob, his darkness is surrounding me like the shadows in the night.
Andre: "Andre," Lilith says, gesturing for me to do something. I touch Victoria, and I can feel her trembling. She has grown pale. "Victoria!"
Victoria: I try to pull back, I try to shut him out.
Andre: I don't know what's happening, but I can guess. Lilith reaches over the front seat and touches Victoria, who takes a deep breath, then relaxes. Slowly, her eyes flutter open revealing the green depths. "Victoria?" I venture.
Victoria: I take a few quick shallow breaths. The pain in my head is great, I went too far. I sit very still for a few moments, shutting my mind tightly. I don't want to lead him to us prematurely. "One."
Andre: "One?" Lilith and I ask in unison.
Victoria: I turn to look at Lilith. My breathing still labored. "He wants to be the only one."
Andre: The idea is disgusting. "He's mad," I mumble.
"Never was totally sane, from what I hear," Lilith tells us. "Maybe Sands has a chance after all."
I wonder what Lilith means and I look to Victoria, a question in my eyes.
Victoria: "I saw his anger, his hatred." I pause and think about what I had just witnessed. Sands is just bait, I know that now. It is just a way to bring Abberline to him and it makes me angry. "It was Jacob's idea, but Sands is clever", I smile faintly looking up at Lilith. "Sands is just a lure. Jacob knew you'd come."
Andre: I sit up straighter. "It is Jacob you've been talking about? I thought it was Viscalli."
Victoria: "It is Viscalli," I smirk. "Jacob is his pawn." The pain is beginning to subside.
Andre: "That is all Lilith told us, that he woke, then went out again."
Victoria: I felt the corner of my mouth turn down. Well at least it was something. I turned my eyes to better view Lilith sitting across the plane and couldn't help but wonder if she were keeping secrets.
Andre: "You had a bad experience with your sire. For most of us, it is one of the closest relationships we have. Our dames or sires are with us much longer than our mortal parents."
Victoria: I turned my gaze back to Andre and half smiled, he was trying to be of some comfort. "Yes, and when this business is complete I shall be alone once again."
Andre: I tilt my head and look at her. "Why would you say such a thing? You've found your clan now."
Victoria: I batted my eyelashes and thought carefully about his question. Finally unsatisfied with my own answer I shook my head. "It is difficult to feel like one belongs. I have spent centuries in an exile of sorts, companionship with our kind is still a bit unsettling. Especially considering the last three days."
Andre: "Especially considering the last three days? In the last three days, were you not welcomed? Did you not even get to meet Abberline? There are those of the clan who are there for years before they get that privilege. And did Sands not make you feel welcome? And me?" I frown. "It is your thoughts that are stuck in the past. Only you can change that."
Victoria: I have hurt him. Our hands were still touching so I gently squeezed. "Andre, please forgive me, " I paused and looked into his eyes. "You are correct in all things, it's just that I feel responsible for the situation."
Andre: I smile. "It is not your fault. How could it be? Your thralls reported what happened. Sands, as usual, took the reins in his hands and gave the orders. The three of you did the best you could after he took off. What more could a person do? It would not have helped if you, too, were captured. Or worse."
Victoria: I smiled and then turned briefly to look out the small window. "Once again Andre you are correct. I can see why Sands keeps company with you."
Andre: "We have been friends for a long time. From the first moment we met, when we should have been enemies." I sigh, remembering the sight of him in the brothel. "He was drunk, half-dressed, and grinning like a madman."
Victoria: I had to laugh, the image conjured in my mind too delicious to suppress. It felt good to laugh. "Yes he has a way with first impressions." I smiled like a Cheshire cat.
Andre: "He somehow talked me into fighting against the French when Spain was her ally."
Victoria: "Sands can talk anyone into anything," I said with a smile. I turned and looked back out the window and then quickly glanced at my watch." Pardon me Andre, but do you think we will be landing soon?"
Andre: "We should be landing in Frankford for refueling at about 10am German time, then we'll take off for Hungary. We cannot disembark at Frankford." I swivel in my seat and look at Lilith. She sits with her eyes closed, obviously trying to find the thread that links her to Sands.
Victoria: "Why not?" I ask as I follow his gaze to Lilith.
Andre: "We would have to go through customs. We are too heavily armed for that." I smile. "It would take too long."
Victoria: Although I had feasted quite a lot in the last three days, more than usually. I felt hungry, peckish really. Nerves always did that to me.
Listening to Andre, I responded quietly. "Oh, " I leaned back into my seat. "How will we manage in Hungary then?"
Andre: "It's amazing what can be done when there are vampires in high places," I say mysteriously. "Try to get a little rest. It will be a long day." I lean back, letting my head rest against the high-backed seat.
Victoria: "Vampires in high places?' I questions a I shut my eyes following Andre's lead. I was thinking about his words when I felt Jackson approaching. I opened an eye. "What is it?" I questioned softly. He said nothing but produced a small pillow and blanket. "Thank you," I responded and shut my eyes once again.
I had initially been dead set about taking a thrall, the idea of close proximity to a human distasteful, but a girl could get used to treatment like this. I let my mind go blank and slipped away into a sort of dream.
(Victoria's Dream goes here)
Andre: We're all ready. Our SUVs are making their way guided by Lilith and Victoria's memories. Quinn and the Guardians are packing heavy ammunition, all silver-packed. Lilith is leading us in, then she is to back off. Hopefully Victoria will stay with her.
Thinking of our newest member, I look over at her, a flask of a cherry cordial in my right hand compliments of Asherton. Victoria is looking out the window. I turn in my seat next to hers.
"It won't be long now."
Victoria: The road twists and turns and is very narrow. Two lanes only, but we are making good time. The trees are becoming thicker here. I run a hand across the back of my neck and bump the edge of the kelvar jacket. I'm glad to have it on, this is going to get ugly.
Andre speaks to break the silence. I pull my eyes from the window and towards his voice. It is so clam, soothing. I smile. "Yes, I feel something." I fold my hands in my lap. "Jacob, I think. It was subtle at first, but it is getting stronger as we go."
Andre: My brow raises. "You feel Jacob? We must be very close then." I lean forward to the front seat. "Quinn, she can feel Jacob," I say in a whisper. "Perhaps the non-combatants."
Quinn is nodding. "Lilith says Sands is awake again, but he's trying to block her out."
This is not good. I look from Lilith's profile to Quinn. The vehicles slow and we pull over. The plan is for Lilith and Victoria to stay with three Guardians in this car, while Quinn and I go with the others.
"There is something not right," Lilith says softly. I look from her to Victoria.
Victoria: "I don't like this either." I look over to Lilith and she looks briefly at me. "Andre, I think it would be better if we all stayed together."
Andre: I nod. "We all believe this is a trap to get Lilith. Maybe this is just what he wants." I look back to Lilith and her gaze meets mine.
"Not me, probably Frederick." Her voice is soft shadows and velvet. "Our best weapon is the daylight." She shifts so she can turn and look back at Victoria. "Viscalli doesn't like the threat of having mature vampires anywhere near him. He doesn't even share his powers by creating vampires. When he wants a person turned, he selects another young vampire to do it. They are all susceptible to sunlight."
Victoria: I nod. "So what does he consider mature then?"
Andre: I wait for Lilith to speak. She knows more about Viscalli than I.
"About two to three hundred years," she tells us.
Victoria: "So then Viscalli's boys, really shouldn't be a problem for any of us then, we just have to worry about ambush, or being greatly out numbered then."
Andre: I sigh. "Why is he doing this? He must have some secret weapon, or he wouldn't risk it."
Victoria: "Jacob?" I turn my attention back to Andre. "He doesn't think. He truly believes that he is superior and none of his plans can go wrong." I smirk.
Andre: "No. Viscalli."
Lilith turns back around. "He was never very smart. His power is due to his age and ferocity. If his life depended on sheer brilliance, he'd be dead already."
Victoria: I smile. I like that way she speaks, bluntly and to the point. "Oh, then with a pair like that," I roll my eyes and exhale.
Andre: Lilith puts her head down then says: "He has your talent, too, Victoria. It gives him an advantage against most of our kind."
Victoria: Her comment startles me, my mouth hangs open. "My talent.." My eyes shift to Andre and then towards Quinn. Nervously I look back to Lilith. "Well maybe I can connect with him then and get an idea of what is going on."
Andre: I don't know what they're talking about. Lilith smiles. "Try it," she tells Victoria. "He's cut me out."
"What?" I start to ask, but a sharp glance from Lilith silences me and I retreat back to quiet. I look at Victoria. What does she and Lilith have that the rest of us don't?
Victoria: I lean back against the leather seat and shut my eyes. I shut out the sounds around me and concentrate on the silence. Opening my mind, I hear many thoughts rushing in , like water at the shore! I hear the thoughts of many of the Guardians and the thralls.
I close my eyes even tighter, until their voices fade away and their is silence once more. My mind calls out, wrapping itself around the trees, winding its way through the air around us. Then I see a light. Extremely bright, and yet very cold. "I see him," I whisper.
Viscalli. I feel myself shutter. His mind is twisted, hard to follow. But I go further. I see back through the centuries, back to the times when the Romans invaded the Britton. He is there. A slight pain begins at the base of my skull. I pull away from it. Too far, gone too far. Where is he now? What is his plan? "Power. He craves power." I absently mutter.
Andre: "Sands?" I didn't mean for it to slip out.
Victoria: I turn my head in the direction of his voice and shake my head "No." The figure in the distance turns towards me. My face reflects the horror I see. He knows I'm here, although he hasn't found me yet, he is searching. His power is great. It shakes me to the core. I search deeper, for Sands I tell myself, although it is more like the moth drawn to the flame at this point. "He wants to destroy, he wants to get. . . " My speech is halted. I sharply inhale. He has turned his icy blue eyes on me.
Andre: I reach to touch Victoria, but hold back. I look forward and see Lilith has turned once again, her eyes upon Victoria. I look to her for direction. She shakes her head and I wait.
Victoria: His eyes are beautiful, but frightening! I try to turn away, but he reaches out and holds me in his stare! The pain at the base of my skull increases, I have gone to far! "He wants to kill," it is harder for me to speak. I feel as is I am suffocating! "He wants to stand alone." My hand goes to my eyes. The pain. For Sands. He is coming closer. "He wants to be the only . . ." I am terrified, more than I ever was with Jacob, his darkness is surrounding me like the shadows in the night.
Andre: "Andre," Lilith says, gesturing for me to do something. I touch Victoria, and I can feel her trembling. She has grown pale. "Victoria!"
Victoria: I try to pull back, I try to shut him out.
Andre: I don't know what's happening, but I can guess. Lilith reaches over the front seat and touches Victoria, who takes a deep breath, then relaxes. Slowly, her eyes flutter open revealing the green depths. "Victoria?" I venture.
Victoria: I take a few quick shallow breaths. The pain in my head is great, I went too far. I sit very still for a few moments, shutting my mind tightly. I don't want to lead him to us prematurely. "One."
Andre: "One?" Lilith and I ask in unison.
Victoria: I turn to look at Lilith. My breathing still labored. "He wants to be the only one."
Andre: The idea is disgusting. "He's mad," I mumble.
"Never was totally sane, from what I hear," Lilith tells us. "Maybe Sands has a chance after all."
I wonder what Lilith means and I look to Victoria, a question in my eyes.
Victoria: "I saw his anger, his hatred." I pause and think about what I had just witnessed. Sands is just bait, I know that now. It is just a way to bring Abberline to him and it makes me angry. "It was Jacob's idea, but Sands is clever", I smile faintly looking up at Lilith. "Sands is just a lure. Jacob knew you'd come."
Andre: I sit up straighter. "It is Jacob you've been talking about? I thought it was Viscalli."
Victoria: "It is Viscalli," I smirk. "Jacob is his pawn." The pain is beginning to subside.