Blood of The Rose
Chapter 42: Choices
Santa Monica

Blake stepped from the cab, inhaling deeply. After so long in the city it was nice to take in the smells of the ocean again. Santa Monica might still be a part of the city, but since it was on the fringes, it felt far more tolerable.

The raven-haired Gangrel turned to face Weiss as she stepped back from paying the vampiric cab driver for his fare. Her companion for the evening wore a slight frown as she observed a pair of girls skateboarding further down the street until they disappeared into a parking garage.

"Weiss?" she inquired softly. "Something wrong?"

"Oh, no, not at all, just… those two, the one with the beanie and… The hooded one seemed to have green hair, she looked like Ruby's blood doll." The platinum-haired Kindred shrugged unconcernedly. "No matter. So, where are we to meet with Beckett?"

"This way." Blake gave her a smile as she moved past and towards the same parking garage. Instead of going inside, however, she skirted the edge with Weiss close on her heels. Eventually, they came across a small, winding stairway that led them up to the cliffs above the Santa Monica Pier.

"Not exactly easy to get to," Weiss grumbled as she picked her way along the treacherous path.

"I think that was the intent," Blake agreed with another small smile.

Eventually, the pair of girls came across a seated form at the edge of the cliff overlooking the bay. Beckett had his back to them, posture upright as if he were meditating.

"Good evening," he intoned with a trace of humor in his voice. "I was hoping you would show up tonight, Blake. And you brought a friend, I sense."

"Yes, Master," Blake agreed politely, stopping a respectful distance away.

The elder Gangrel let out a huff that combined both exasperation and amusement. "You will persist in calling me that no matter what I request, won't you?"

"As you say, Master." Blake didn't even try to hide the smirk, earning a soft laugh from the Kindred standing next to her.

"Well, at least your adventures over the last couple of nights have left you in good spirits." At that, the lanky Kindred stood up and stretched before facing the pair. He gave Weiss a courteous nod. "Good evening to you, Miss Schnee."

"And good evening to you, sir," the other vampire responded with a quick curtsy. "I hope you don't mind my accompanying Blake here tonight."

"Not in the slightest, I am more than pleased to see that my young charge has… socialized with Kindred around her own Generation." He chuckled lightly at the younger Gangrel's eye roll. "So then, Blake. What have you been up to?"

He listened intently to the recounting of her confrontation with the Kue-jin and subsequent integration into Ruby's small circle of friends. Blake managed to convey the details of the past two evenings without excessive commentary, efficiently and concisely without leaving anything out. Once she was done, Beckett gave her a slow, thoughtful nod. Glowing amber eyes, much like her own though possessing far more wisdom and power, regarded her steadily.

"And you intend on assisting Miss Rose and Miss Weiss further tonight, here in Santa Monica?"

"That was my desire and intention, yes."

"Very well," he readily consented. "I would ask you to return to our temporary Haven before dawn, however, as the next night, I will require your assistance in a matter of some… delicacy."

Blake dipped her head, knowing that it would be fruitless to probe what such a matter would entail. For one, he was notoriously close-mouthed about such things until the time was deemed to be right, and for another, it was likely not something he'd want to get back to the Camarilla just yet.

"Of course, Master."

Becket let out another sigh and shook his head in amusement. "Well, go on with you. Best of luck to you both."

"Thank you, sir," Weiss replied politely before they both bowed and made their way back down from the cliffs.

"Blake," her friend spoke up, a trace of laughter in her voice. "Do you actually tease Beckett in that fashion, calling him Master when he's asked you not to?"

"Perhaps," Blake answered casually.

Weiss giggled lightly. "I never would have expected such a thing of you."

She just smiled in reply.

For a Gangrel, she considered herself to have a rather subtly nuanced character. Much like the Kindred man that she would forever consider her true Master.

Santa Monica Clinic

They entered through the metal side door, the alleyway behind them illuminated by the sputtering red bulb above the doorway and the staircase before them by more reliable fluorescent lighting. As they headed down the stairs, Weiss in the lead, the raven-haired Kindred frowned as she picked up an odd sort of humming. The source was discerned readily enough as they turned the corner, a pair of garishly lit machines taller than her and wider than she could encompass with her arms.

The first was a bright yellow with the number thirteen emblazoned across the top, with the words "13 stimulants in every bottle" further below. And the one on the right glowed a bright purple with some sort of odd symbol, an upside-down star within a circle, that backlit the curious phrase "Liquid DemonSeed - Slabber it DOWN!" Both had strange slots of various sizes and large buttons the size of her hand.

"Weiss," she murmured curiously. "What are… those?"

"Hmm? Oh, those are drink machines."

"Drink machines?"

"Yes," the platinum-haired Ventrue replied, frowning slightly as she turned her head to regard Blake. "They… dispense drinks when you pay for them. You've never seen one before?"

"Perhaps." Blake stepped forward, regarding the buttons with the pictures of colorful cans on them. "I don't suppose I saw any up close or cared enough to question what they were… I certainly do not recall ever having used one."

"I see…" Weiss rested a small hand on the other vampire's shoulder. "There's… a lot you don't remember from before you were turned, isn't there?"

"Just about anything before I was turned," she replied with an unconcerned shrug. "I've relearned much of it through books and Beckett's instructions. It is inconsequential."

"Well, if you do have any other questions about things, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you, Weiss, I shall do so."

The other companion gave her a slight smile. "Well, that is what friends are for, yes?"

"Yes?" Blake answered awkwardly before firming her resolve. "Yes! Yes, this is what friends do. Definitely."

Weiss shook her head with a quiet laugh before leading the rest of the way towards their objective. They proceeded through another door and down a short flight of steps into a hallway with two doors and a teller window in-between. The glass there looked to be impact-resistant from she remembered of the instructional manual for building security.

It was a slow night and she'd already read the other books in their migrant Haven. And besides, it was surprisingly comprehensive and informative.

In any case, as they approached they could see the scruffy-looking man wearing green scrubs positioned behind the window. He had lanky brown hair that hung over deep blue eyes, seemingly shining with an odd, manic inner light. Next to the window was a small, dusty little plaque with the words "Employee of the Month" over the man's picture and then what was presumably his name, Vandal Cleaver.

"You up for the needle?"

Blake swung her head around from her observations as the speaker next to the window suddenly blared to life. The man inside leaned forward with a smirk as he regarded the pair of Kindred.

"Hmm? Your donation could save a life, you know." Vandal leaned back again and leered knowingly at both women. "Oh, but isn't it a little late for altruism? I don't think you're here to give blood at all. I don't buy it, Betty. I bet you're here to take blood. Am I right?"

Weiss quirked an eyebrow regally. "Are you offering?"

He gave her a pleased nod. "Right down to business. None of this 'pretend I don't drink blood' shit. Very refreshing to find a decisive customer. I respect that. So, what'll it be?"

As Weiss clasped her hands behind her back, regarding the man with an air of regality, Blake edged to the side, wholly uncomfortable with the aura he was projecting. Something just seemed… off. "I require a finer vintage than the swill most others drink," the Ventrue announced firmly.

A pleased smirk crossed Vandal's face. "I can accommodate a refined palate."

As the pair began to discuss the finer aspects of blood, tossing about such words as 'opulent' and 'aromatic' and 'bouquet', Blake edged further away from the window. She glanced over at the second door that was set slightly into an alcove and away from Vandal's viewpoint. From her earlier visit to the morgue, she'd entered through the first door, but that was all that was through there. And she'd done so without attracting the attention of this blood connoisseur. Her assumption, then, was that what they were seeking would potentially be through this second portal, either Lily herself or some evidence of her passage.

As she turned back, her eyebrows furrowed as she noticed Weiss' fingers making strange motions behind her back while she continued to converse with Vandal. She couldn't quite determine what the other woman was trying to do until Weiss clenched her fist momentarily before, quite slowly and deliberately, pointed at Blake and then at the second door she'd been observing.

Ohhh….

With an embarrassed grin, Blake slunk the rest of the way into the shadows of the alcove and crouched before the lock. She pulled out her lockpick tools, a gift from her mentor, Beckett. Though she was a novice at lockpicking still, she'd apparently showed some promise, enough to warrant a set of her own.

It took her a few tries but she eventually managed to pop the lock. With another quick grin at her temporary partner, Blake slipped through the door and noiselessly closed it behind her.

She found herself in a C-shaped hallway with two doors before her and one behind where she could still hear Vandal enthusing about vitae with Weiss. She cautiously inched forward around the corner before determining she was alone for the moment as well as the existence of another pair of doors and a smaller corridor that branched off, lined with sheet metal and what looked to be freezer doors.

Blake backtracked and checked the first room. It was unlocked and obviously used for blood donations with the proper chairs and equipment, currently unoccupied and slightly unsanitary-looking. She was careful not to breathe as the scent of blood would no doubt be rather powerful here.

The second door was also unlocked and contained a computer with a glowing screen. She closed the door behind her and slowly sat on the chair there. It was different from the laptop she'd used before but hopefully not too dissimilar.

The screen before her was already logged in, fortunately, and had only one available menu item, freezers, but no further instructions. Frowning, Blake tried using the arrow keys but to no avail. Suddenly inspired, she carefully typed out the word 'freezers' and then sat back triumphantly.

Nothing happened.

"Oh, come on now," she huffed out irritably. "That should have worked!"

She searched the keyboard before her, humming softly before her eyes lit upon a button labeled ENTER. Shrugging, she pressed it and was immediately rewarded with a changed menu and two more commands.

"Well, you should have said something," she scolded the computer crossly. "How was I supposed to know?"

The first submenu item she typed, temperature, gave a report of Freezer 1 at -10 degrees Celsius, Freezer 2 at -12, and Freezer 3 at -2. She stared at the screen blankly, unsure as to how to continue, until her gaze noticed the word 'quit' at the bottom. Obligingly typing the word out, plus ENTER, brought her back to the submenu once again.

"See? This isn't so difficult," she murmured, choosing the next menu item, passcode.

Blake then frowned at the numbers shown on the screen, 1969. Thinking that those might be important somehow, she glanced around before letting out a soft "Aha!" and picking up a sticky notepad and a pen. She wrote the numbers down and then stuck the paper into her pocket.

"Thank you for your time," she offered to the computer before exiting the room.

Both of the other doors were locked and hard as she might try, she could not pick them. Her earlier good mood was diffused by her failure, and since they were still trying for stealth, she decided to leave smashing the doors down as a future alternative as needed.

Down the shorter hallway, Blake eyed the set of three freezer doors. The vampire carefully pried the first one open, surprised to find the interior brightly lit.

Inside were boxed supplies and a curious electronic keypad set into the wall. Blake grinned at the sight and pulled out the slip of paper. "Yes!" she crowed softly. "This had better work!"

After carefully entering in the digits 1969, a wall panel in the freezer popped open. She peered around the corner to spy the small chamber that was revealed. As she took a quick yet subtle sniff, the sharp tang of blood promptly hit Blake's nose.

"Right, then." She cautiously entered the chamber, noting another wall panel, wooden this time, which looked like it opened outward with a small bolt keeping it shut.

As quietly as possible, Blake opened the bolt, pushed the panel outwards, and peered into the next room.

A pair of plastic-upholstered chairs with straps greeted her, stained red from the old dried blood that had pooled on the floor and coated the sink set into the counter along the wall. A door led out on the opposite wall, but what caught her attention was the girl strapped to one chair. There was a bag set up next to her to receive blood but nothing seemed to be hooked up to her yet. She had short red hair, an obvious dye job as her eyebrows were dark brown, and a sleeveless black shirt and jeans. The girl sat in her restrained position with her head lolling forward. Emblazoned across the shirt that stretched over her ample bosom were the words 'How's the View?'

She didn't immediately react to Blake's presence until the Gangrel stepped closer, and then her head snapped up, a dull shine in her pale golden eyes. Blake could tell she was somehow like a Kindred but not quite. But her obviously starved state was evident from the pale, almost translucent skin and lips.

The girl stared at Blake, panting shallowly. "Hunger… I need it… a drop of it on my tongue, sliding down my throat, the hot flash in my brain lighting up my body… I can smell it everywhere… blood…"

Ah, I see, Blake mused, remaining a cautious step back out of reach. Perhaps this is the… thin blooded vampire Ruby was seeking. Still, best to be sure. "Who are you?"

"Let me go… it's painful, like I'm going to die… It's calling, never felt like this before…" The girl, presumably Lily, suddenly shrieked, straining weakly at her binds. "LET ME GO! I CAN SMELL IT! I HAVE TO HAVE IT!"

Slightly panicked, Blake glanced at the door before holding her hands up consolingly. "Okay, okay, just… Hold still, I'll let you go."

Darting forward, Blake deftly slipped the restraints off of the girl's arms. The redhead almost collapsed to the floor but caught herself on the edge of the chair. Before Blake could say anything else, both of their heads whipped around, staring intently at the door as the scent of an approaching kine hit them. Lily's nostrils flared while a low growl built in her chest. No sooner did the lock click and the door swing open, revealing another man who was mumbling something about how the subject was not looking well at all, then the girl pounced like a feral animal. She rode the scrubs-clad man to the ground, eagerly tearing at his throat and cutting off his shriek of "Sweet Mother of God!"

Blake stood by, barely holding onto her restraint at the sight of the messy feeding. Only the fact that she had fed so recently allowed her to remain frozen in place and not join the other vampire in her gorging.

Finally, the girl pulled away from the corpse and staggered to her feet, dazed and with trails of blood running down her chin in thin rivulets. She absentmindedly reached up, wiped at the corner of her mouth, and sucked on the finger that she'd used.

"The heat, mmm, it's never been so satisfying," Lily murmured breathlessly. "All of it, I drank until I heard his heart stop and I was sucking on a dry, dead artery. It was… euphoric." As soon as the grin formed, it vanished, replaced by a concerned frown as she registered Blake's presence. "But I've… I've… killed him. I've never killed anyone before. What happened? What came over me?" Her voice became a little more panicked towards the end of her rambling.

Blake cleared her throat, happy that she was fully able to contain herself still. "The Beast took over. It happens… when you lose control." She looked down at the floor briefly. "I've… had my fair share of encounters with the Beast…"

The redheaded thin blood stared at her, aghast. "Beast? What IS that? Why couldn't I stop myself? Why did it... feel so right?"

"Shhh. Calm down, it's alright." Blake took a step forward with one hand stretched out. This is not a position I've ever been in before. "It… It happens, but it gets easier to contain so long as you don't go hungry."

Lily nodded frantically at that. "I tried to steal some blood. I'd heard they sold it - I was hungry and I can't hunt in town. They caught me and… I was strapped - trapped… thought I'd never escape. But… I killed a man. I have to get out of here…"

Right, let's try this one more time. "Are you Lily?"

The girl paused in her ranting to stare at Blake in confusion. "Yes, that's right... I'm Lily, how did you know…?"

"My friend heard about you from E, she sent us… er, myself and my other friend, Weiss… to help. I'm Blake," she finished lamely.

"E? You know E? I… how do you… or your friend, I mean... know E?"

Blake shrugged, keeping an eye on the now-open door. "Like I said… my friend said she'd help him, something about… thin-bloods? Er.. is that what you are, then?"

Lily sighed sadly, crossing her arms below her breasts. "I tried to tell E about his condition, but he was so furious at me for what I'd made him into, he wouldn't listen. A thin-blood, yeah… from what I've been told, someone like me and E… we're vampires with blood that's weaker than most."

"You should go see E. He said he forgives you. He wants to see you." Blake tried for an encouraging smile, but she wasn't sure how successful she was at pulling it off. Was she showing too many teeth? That was always a sore point for her...

"E… doesn't hate me anymore?"

"No. Quite the opposite. You should talk to him." Blake gave the other girl an awkward pat on the arm. "From what my friend Ruby told me, he's at the beach here in Santa Monica. Er, by the pier, I think?"

"I'll go see him, then. Thank you." Lily gave the Gangrel a shy smile. "Um… you should stop by later, you and your friends… so we can properly thank you, ok? After I talk to E…" She turned towards the door, the sight of freedom drawing her away. "I- I should go. I have to get out of here. Maybe out of this city… soon."

"You're welcome."

"Oh…" Lily paused and glanced back at Blake. "About tonight… what I did… please, don't tell E. It's not my fault… I couldn't control it. I've never done anything like this before… I'm no killer."

The raven-haired Kindred nodded firmly, completely understanding. "I promise, Lily. It's not your fault. You couldn't help it. Goodbye."

As Lily darted off into the hallway, Blake almost belatedly called out to warn about a stealthy exit, but she was already gone. A door slammed, and then another one. Blake hardly set a foot into the hallway before she was confronted by a seething Vandal.

"Why'd you have to go and let that bitch out?" the enraged orderly demanded, eyeing the torn and bloody corpse on the floor behind Blake. "There's one less Phil in the world now. Why'd you have to let her go and eat him, huh? Now I'll never get to do in that bastard myself. Well, you know what - no blood for you, no more. Not you, not your little friends - oh yes, I know who you are and who your other little Ventrue buddies are. Forget it!"

By this point, Weiss had stepped through the door Blake had unlocked, and her pale blue eyes were glowing intently as she imposed herself in between the two. "What incident? Nothing happened back there. We were just buying blood."

Vandal suddenly stiffened, his face becoming blank and his eyes glazing over. "Right, a transaction. Green for red."

Weiss smiled tightly. "Go back to your room," she ordered.

Vandal turned and shuffled back into the room with the teller window, closing the door behind him. Wordlessly, the platinum-haired vampire took hold of Blake's hand and darted out into the outer hallway with the other Kindred in tow, giving Vandal a cheerful wave as they passed by.

"For a Ghoul of Therese, his mind was surprisingly weak… So, I saw a girl running out," Weiss noted once they were on the staircase and she released her grip on Blake. "Obviously, so did that man. You were successful, I take it?"

"Yes, that was Lily," Blake confirmed while a slow smile spread across her face. I did it! "She said she'd like to meet us all at the beach later to thank us after she talks to E."

"Well, that was nicely done, even if it turned out to be a tad… conspicuous at the end," Weiss returned, offering the other girl a wide smile of her own. "And I must say, there were far fewer antics than I've come to expect with Ruby."

"And expletives?" Blake added humorously.

"Oh, yes. Always expletives."


A/N: Wow, I am so very sorry for how long it's taken me to get a chapter out. My motivation has just been severely lacking, with everything life has used to beat me into the ground. I've done some planning, though, including finalizing what the end game will be (once we get there) and making a matrix of the chapters, when characters are introduced, who sired who, etc. A little organization does wonders. I have a lot more transcription done, though I still need to do the playthrough and transcribe what I need for the next chapter. I think I'll toss in a few surprises to keep things interesting, though.

So this is the second chapter in Blake's point of view, figured it was a nice counterpart to the last chapter with Weiss. Poor kitty cat really does try, stealthy as she is, Ruby's got her beat in the infiltration department.

Next up: Plaguebearer cult beatdown by Ruby, Yang, and Nora! Are we ready to rumble?

Much love to my very patient Beta and collaborator, SilvanaCrowe (they took time out of their Rome trip to review this… from freaking Rome), and abundant hugs for all of you lovely readers and reviewers, including some new faces, welcome to the party! Erenor, Sani2341, Blacsparrow, TacoKing23, zerosabers, Knight of Everwatch, Tamatoa, Kingofclubs8129, Lord Jace, Crosshares, you guys all rock my socks.

Stay shiny!