Two Days Earlier July 14th, 2013

Chicago

"So try and love me while you can And take the time to understand As long as I can touch your face You know I'll never leave this place If only in my mind."

The Avenged Sevenfold ringtone really was one of Soriah's favorites. It drew her sharp charcoal eyes to the phone that had been carelessly dropped in one of her desk drawers. Humming lightly to the somber tune, she curled her fingers around the drawer handle and yanked it open before plucking up the ringing phone. A thin brow arched in annoyance when she saw the number and sliding a finger across the screen to answer the call, she held the device up to her ear.

"Libby, darling, did I not expressly tell you not to use this num..." Soriah trailed off as the woman on the other end wailed in her ear. Almost regretting the chastising that nearly was, she sighed softly and took a deep breath. "Elisabeth. I need you to calm down long enough to tell me what is wrong."

Frantic chattering could be heard several feet away from Soriah, though the words only distinguishable to her keen ears. Evidently she was quite fluent in language known as Panicking Prostitute.

"He...did...what..."!"

Pausing...pausing......pausing.......and then.

"Get Anya back here now." The sharpness of her tone held a barely concealed rage as she punched the End button and tossed the phone to the side. Rising gracefully, she stalked out of her office and out to the lobby. Pacing. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. It seemed to be the longest fifteen minutes of her life but soon, a Ding! sounded and the elevator doors parted to reveal two women, one supporting the other. The weaker of the two was battered and bruising, the full extent of her wounds not yet known due to their freshness. Soriah's assistant Giada rushed forward at the same time Soriah did and soon they supported the barely conscious woman between them.

"Miss Soriah...I tried to stop him...he got so...angry..." Elisabeth blubbered as she reluctantly relinquished the hold she had on the scantily clad and rasping lady, before scrambling quickly from the elevator to hold the doors. Anya's legs shook beneath her, a distressed groan managing to wheeze from puffy lips, the scarlet lipstick smeared thoroughly across her cheek in a way that reminded Soriah of The Joker.

"I've got her, Giada." Soriah murmured calmly. When Giada backed off, Soriah easily scooped Anya up with a strength that didn't suit her musculature, as soft and feminine as it was. Anya's purple, blue, and red bruised skin lay in stark contrast against the unblemished ivory arms cradling her closely.

"Lib, with me. Gia, eye on the entrance, please." Crisp commands flowed from red painted lips with ease as she carried the woman into one of the lesser used rooms of the agency's office. The Infirmary. Ever so gently setting Anya down on a gurney, Soriah exhaled softly and looked her over. Hearing the door shut behind her, she assumed Elisabeth had followed behind her madame and her injured coworker.

"Calmly tell me what happened. I want no tears or blubbering." She said very carefully, without ever looking at the indicated woman. Her hands passed over the injured one instead, assessing the damage. The battered looking woman before her had bruising that seemed more consistent with someone who had been hit by a truck, rather than by a man. Elisabeth launched into a quickly told tale of the client who had snapped, flying into a blind rage when the escort hadn't pleased him to his expectations. He screamed his obscenities and accusations of fraud at the women while taking out his pent up physical aggression on Anya's face and body. Soriah's eyes narrowed, barely containing the fury that was quickly building, boiling her blood as it flowed through her veins.

"That will be enough, Elisabeth. I've heard enough. Be available to continue this conversation tomorrow please." Soriah inadvertently snapped at the woman, sending her scurrying out of her room, the door slamming hard in her wake. Taking a breath to steady her temper, she proceeded to try to triage Anya's wounds. Passing a hand over her own face, she let out an exasperated breath. A proper doctor would be needed. Or wait...yes, that may work. Soriah pressed her thumbnail hard against the inside of her opposite wrist, growling as she split the delicate skin to let the pink liquid inside drip from the wound. Pressing and squeezing it until she got a decent flow, she brought the edge of her wrist to Anya's mouth with a cooed coaxing in an attempt to get her to drink. Hopefully, just hopefully, the regenerative traits of the blood would carry over. Soriah's blood was a few shades too light to be natural and the opaque pinkness stained Anya's lips before the first few drops passed.

Anya's body tensed almost immediately before her hands came up to clamp around Soriah's arm, greedily pulling it to her mouth to suckle like an infant. The redness around the edges of the woman's bruises began just lightly fading, and Soriah exhaled a sigh of relief. Soriah's own healing mechanism kicked into gear, sealing the wound and Anya's lips went from sucking to kissing, affectionately moving up the alabaster flesh of her mistress's arm while her hands sought to grope at the curves of Soriah's breasts. Feeling the woman purr against her skin, Soriah relaxed substantially. Though it was an unfortunate side effect of imbibing the blood of a creature such as Soriah, at the very least Anya seemed to be on the mend. Slowly easing her arm from Anya's grasp, Soriah took a step back to look her employee over. Bruises that resembled fingermarks around the pretty blonde's throat were fading, and the swelling of her lower lip was also decreasing. It was most unfortunate, though, Anya would more than likely need to see a plastic surgeon to correct the prominently bent bridge of her nose.

Once she had convinced herself that Anya would be alright, she caressed the woman's hair and pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead, avoiding a healing goose-egg on the left-hand side. The cooing and softly moaning woman reached out for her but came away empty-handed as Soriah slipped away, closing and locking the Infirmary's door behind her. Pinning her sharp gaze on Giada while the last hints of silver flickered away from the canvases of grey that were her irises, she strode to her assistant's desk and calmly set her hands atop it.

"Appointment list for today, s'il vous pla"t." She said curtly while Giada fumbled through files until finding the ones Soriah sought out. Slapping it down in front of her beautifully voluptuous and very, very angry boss, Giada quickly withdrew to put herself further back from the cold aura that seemed to linger around her mistress. Thumbing through the client list, she came to a stop. Memorizing the list, she slapped the file shut and pushed it back toward Gia with a sound vaguely resembling a growl.

"Cancel the rest of today's appointments. Let each client know that their services will be on the house when they reschedule and apologize for the inconvenience." Her tone was still curt and clipped as she watched Giada nod feebly. Turning on her heel, she returned to her office, almost calmly shutting the door behind her.

There was planning to be done.