Celeste: Acting human was beaten out of her during her little Sabbat flirting. Now she has the bill to pay for it and it will get her into more trouble of course. Like Sire, like Childe to quote Strauss (and LaCroix indirectly).
Thanks to Zaekka (oh..du hast mir jetzt eine Idee geliefert), Heartfrost, Topgallant (It's all the Sabbat's - and LaCroix's - fault that she's chaging), rednightmare (down the road is...trouble I guess).
Things weren't going to be as complicated this time. Katherine had thought a lot these past nights about how to encounter LaCroix in person, just in case. It was natural that she wouldn't be able to avoid an encounter with the Prince of Los Angeles so it was better to be prepared, and watching the passing lights of the city she recited everything in her brain. Go in, don't say more than "Yes, sir" and "No, sir" – well, perhaps some more – but then again just treat it like business. He was her boss so to speak, even though she was not employed by the LaCroix foundation and violating her own policy was the reason for this mess. Mixing up emotions with the job was a strict no-go, however Katherine didn't keep a cool head and screwed up. Well, life – or unlife – goes on.
Unfixing her gaze from the window and looking into the innards of the limousine, she wondered if there was actually some blood in the mini-bar. Such vessels would have a mini-bar, right? At least in the movies they showed it that way. Without a doubt the blood would be of a much better quality than that from the Santa Monica blood bank or even from Mercurio. First one tasted clinical, sterile. Like sanitizer had been mixed into it, but the second one was much better. Still the blood she received at the tower was magnificent in comparison; sometimes Katherine thought she could taste real food from it. Restraining herself, she changed her mind. Would be a bad idea to perform a raid on the Prince's fridge. Just God knows how much money he would charge for it and she still had no idea why LaCroix demanded her presence, even sending his personal Prince-mobile. Focusing again on the window, it told her that Downtown had reached all its summertime glory. Never having been fond of heat, Katherine was glad to not be able to sweat anymore, and was only able to recognise the temperature by the clothing of passing peasants. All were dressed in light clothes and short t-shirts, and being a vampire summer had a new downside: the nights were shorter, and the days were longer. It appeared to her now like wintertime, so to speak, but back to focusing her mind on the tasks at hand. Stepping out of the limousine whose door was opened by the chauffeur and entering the lobby of the Venture Tower, Katherine was greeted by a most familiar face she hadn't seen for months.
"Good evenin' there, missy! Been quite a while. Mr. LaCroix said I should send you up immediately. So have a nice meeting up there. Seems like he's quite busy this night." LaCroix was always busy.
"Seems like nothing has changed." Ignoring Chunk's struggle with dripping burger sauce she continued on her way up to the penthouse. The doors to the Prince's office were closed and since she was expected there would be no problem stepping in like she always did, opening one of the golden doors. Here also nothing had changed, but loyal Mr. Koch was hanging like a trophy on the wall to the right, where the sarcophagus had been standing and it caught her attention first, triggering a small wave of sadness. The rifle could be put to better use and thinking about the money she'd spent on Mr. Heckler made the feeling even worse, nearly turning it into some sort of anger. Upon stepping further into the office and closing the door behind her, Katherine now spotted LaCroix sitting behind his desk. In front of him was another Kindred, or so she assumed without knowing, as that was as much as she could judge from seeing only his back.
"This is all for now. You can leave and think about the consequences of your failed assignment. I'm feeling merciful just this once." Intense staring hit the other Kindred, who seemed to want to spill words out of his mouth but was silenced before he even had a chance to. "Show him out." Coldly ordered, the bulky Sheriff moved and grabbed the pawn. Katherine was now able to see his face, disfigured by fear, silenced by fear. She should have paid more attention to exactly what Dean and James had told her about LaCroix's new agenda. It was kind of unsettling and she could not help but be reminded of her conversation with the taxi driver. "Where do you feel safe?" he'd asked and her answer was, "At the side of Prince LaCroix." She did not feel safe at the moment. 'Just stick to the plan and nothing can go wrong. Hopefully.' Positioning herself at the spot where the poor guy cringed once before, Katherine stood at attention. She knew LaCroix was quite pleased with a military attitude.
"Miss Falkner," he mused and leaned back in his seat. "It has come to my attention that you were confronted by the mortal law. I hope there aren't any problems with the law enforcement."
"No, sir." It was only bad timing and she hadn't committed a crime. Grabbing a glass next to him which was filled with red liquid, he stood up and walked over to one of the huge windows.
"I see. You must understand that I would appear in a false light if my protégé were to have problems with the law enforcement." Upon the Sheriff's return, the Prince took a sip out of the glass and Katherine had to swallow. Without any doubt it was blood of an exclusive kind and just drinking it in front of her was kind of cruel in her opinion. He must know it.
"Of course sir." It was something Katherine had expected, so it didn't hit her unprepared; and besides gaining her confidence back by being honest with herself about some topics, she didn't feel nervous at all, only focusing on the business aspect of this meeting and expecting no idiotic actions driven by emotions. Analyzing the details more distantly, Katherine realised that the Prince was dressed in a very well-known suit: grey and pin-striped shirt, dark grey tie and black suit. It felt like being thrown back some months, back into the days of October.
"Mercurio told me that you're living in his place. Is this correct?" Turning around and walking back to his desk, LaCroix placed the glass back on it and focused on her face.
"Yes, sir." Without a doubt, the Prince would now hold her up with a speech about Ventrue dignity. That it did not suit their blood to live with a ghoul. Katherine agreed, but it had some advantages she didn't want to miss at times like these, like protection during the day and blood when she needed it badly.
"You should be in a better haven. Your subsequent behaviour and style of living: Everything falls back on me and living in such a small place with a ghoul is not decent enough for you." Oh well, she could always rob a bank but then that was, of course, in conflict with the laws of the mortals. Begging for money was also not by any means an option.
"Yes sir!" Perhaps there was a way for her to get a room in the Empire Arms Hotel, but how? As room service? It was a loop of doom and Katherine again was reminded of how spoiled she was during her time in the Venture Tower, getting used to the luxury the Prince's haven offered. Circling to the front of his desk LaCroix stepped slowly toward her, no emotion on his face which could give away if he was satisfied or not by her response. Usually his eyebrows knitted together when something wasn't like he wanted it to be. Who was that guy anyway? She didn't know that man, what had he wanted here? Where was he? What had a stranger been doing here? Her arms couldn't move as fear crawled up her stomach, choking her throat. Adrenaline rushed through her veins and a cold sweat covered her warm skin, smelling blood-coated breath.
"But that's not the sole reason why I demanded your presence. The Kindred you saw earlier: Kill him. His name is Kent Alan Ryan of clan Toreador. That is all you need to know." Wanting the breathe, Katherine spat out a choked gasp because it was something human. Something her dead body wasn't prepared for and not because of LaCroix's words. In fact she'd only barely followed them, her main attention drawn to something else. She felt tremendous fear. "I thought you're used to killing." Standing in front of her, the Prince gave her a keen look.
"I am sir." And it wouldn't be the first time that she killed because he'd ordered her to, but her major concern was not to tremble at the moment. Scrutinizing her hands to be sure that it was impossible for them to be covered in sweat, or to also be warm. Those things were human and not vampiric, but why were those feeling rising just now?
"Good. But don't be bland and don't do it in the open. He just needs to vanish more or less. I expect from you a lot more than dim-witted actions." A double-edged sword, Katherine now realised. LaCroix would know if she failed and lied to him. He still didn't trust her. "Why are looking scared?" The airy indifference in his voice indicated the irrelevance of the question, but nonetheless she felt embarrassed. Straightening her stance took great effort but Katherine managed it bravely, not letting it appear like a forced motion.
"Bad blood, sir. I think one of the humans I've fed upon was taking some meds." Telling him that she'd just had some kind of hallucination would have been stupid and did not suit a Ventrue. So going with the excuse of low quality blood was more bearable, like the scolding which would follow at any second.
"I reassert that your lifestyle does not suit your blood. Feeding upon...drug addicts is disgusting! Is this understood?" It was not a suggestion anymore, it was an order. His now nauseated snort stressed the unmistakable. At least he didn't discover the lie but it disturbed her how low LaCroix thought of her, not doubting that she fed upon lowly humans. She had her standards of course and they were not low.
"Yes sir." Also proving the theory that she always getting in deeper trouble when being confronted with the Prince, Katherine had no option but to obey. How to solve the problem would later break her brain. But begging for money was still something she would not do by any means.
"Excellent, you may leave." Sitting down again behind his desk, LaCroix didn't even look up at her like she was already gone and Katherine was thankful for that, nearly running out of the office and noticing that her self-control was at its limit. Closing the door, she allowed her pudding-like legs to tremble. What had this been? Out of the Prince's presence, she had the freedom to dig deeper into it, grasping the impression that it felt like something she had felt before but when? Where? In what relation? Never before had Katherine had some sort of déjà vu but this certainly felt like one. It just didn't make any sense. Should she ignore it? No, however it should not make any effect on her job. She did not want to make the same mistakes again, strictly separating business and personal emotions, with the business coming first to reduce the possible trouble she could get into. Still her legs were weak and a second scrutiny of her hands revealed that they were shaking, gruesome fear lingering somewhere in her innards. Those emotions were so fluidly knitted into her usual thoughts earlier that Katherine wasn't able to figure out what could have triggered it. Was it LaCroix? A possibility. Closing her eyes, she could remember the smell of blood, carried by cold breath. And upon analyzing it further, her head started to hurt. Well, this set her on alert. Was it still the dementation or was it something else? However, she had business to do and that came first.
Time to find that Toreador, despite having no idea where to start her search. Perhaps it was a good idea to visit Arthur first and tell him that he was in need of a new bounty hunter, who'd just stepped into his sweet, dirty little office. And who knows? Perhaps he'd have some information about a Kent Alan Ryan. Unlikely but not impossible, else she would give The Asylum a shot. As far as Katherine knew, Toreador were very close to humans, at least those of the Camarilla. Else she would just visit some more meeting points of L.A.'s Kindred until she found a trace.
Subtle of course like LaCroix wanted it.
AN: I'm a slowpoke...why? Zaekka gave me Mass Effect as a gift and now I'm all stuck in typical RPG addiction. So the next chapter will be a bit delayed.