Topic: Hide and Seek

Jonathan Granger

Date: 2011-10-18 18:52 EST
Late Sunday Night...

Jon slid the Bloodstone Ring from his finger and laid it on a table. He wouldn't be needing it where he was going, and he didn't want the family tracking him down. It would put them all in more danger than they already were and threaten to spoil the plan that he was about to set in motion.

He drew the blade across the palm of his hand, just as he'd been instructed, blood welling up from the wound, dark and crimson. The pain was nothing compared to the pain of withdrawal, and even though several weeks had passed since he'd recovered, he was still fighting the craving for vampire blood. Once an addict, always an addict. Like with cocaine or any other addiction, it would get easier with time, but there was no cure.

He recited the words he'd been given from memory, like lines from a script, only this was no play. This was all too real and all too dangerous.

There was only one thing left to do and that was to disappear. To go into hiding, until the time came when the vampire was found and destroyed, freeing him from her curse and allowing him to live his life again.

Jon pulled one of the copper coins from his pocket that was stamped with the Granger Guild emblem, pausing a moment to take a deep breath and gather his courage. "Here goes nothing," he said, breaking the coin in two and disappearing, as if into thin air.

((Author's Note: Though from this post it would seem Jon is disappearing, it will appear to the public and to family and friends that he is going about his business as usual, and that nothing is amiss. Just thought I'd clarify that. Thanks!))

Jonathan Granger

Date: 2011-10-19 21:00 EST
Marcellus threw the latest edition of the Post on table, open to the article about the bar brawl on the WestEnd that had ended in a bloodbath of both vampire and human lives alike. "This is your fault," he accused the older vampire who was seated at the table casually polishing her fingernails a light shade of pink.

"Do you like this shade, Marcellus?" she asked, spreading her fingers wide to show him the color. "It reminds me of cotton candy. Have you ever wondered what cotton candy tastes like" They say it's sweet, like spun sugar. I can't remember what sugar tastes like anymore, can you?"

"I don't care what sugar tastes like, Josephine!" he exclaimed, leaning toward her, palms pressed against the table, eyes flashing with anger. "Lucas is dead because of you, because of your ridiculous obsession with some second rate actor. He's not Antony, Josephine. Stop trying to replace him."

Josephine narrowed her eyes, her expression stony, as cold as ice. "Lucas is dead because he was reckless and foolhardy. He was under your charge, Marcellus. If anyone is to blame for his death, it is you." She fanned her nails dry and picked up the newspaper, eyes moving over the words written there, her only reaction a slight arch of one perfectly-shaped eyebrow. "I see you've drawn the attention of a slayer with your little escapade."

"My escapade"!" Marcellus echoed angrily. "You're the one who wanted the girl dead. Killing her won't bring Kit back, you know."

"No matter," Josephine replied, tossing the newspaper aside. "We've made our point."

"Our point?" Marcellus continued his tirade. "What point is that' That we're capable of wiping out a bar full of drunken bikers and whores?"

"That what Josephine wants, Josephine gets," she said, smiling sweetly, looking deceptively innocent.

"You're insane," he replied, scowling in disgust. "Is one mortal really worth this much trouble?"

"As I recall, you were," she countered. "Shall I remind you of the life you led before you met me" The depravity' The stink and the squalor" How many times did you pray for salvation, Marcellus" I was your salvation, was I not' Do you know where you'd be now if I hadn't taken you under my wing" If I hadn't saved you from yourself" You'd be dead, Marcellus. Nothing but a pile of bones in the ground. And what is the price for your salvation' A little spilled blood now and then." She clucked her tongue shamefully at him. "Was there even one life worth saving in that bar" Tortured souls all of them. We are angels of mercy, Marcellus. We set them free from their torment. You are one of the fortunate ones, one of those I deemed worthy of saving, just as I shall save Jonathan."

Marcellus growled, not wanting to be reminded of his own past, or of her warped sense of justice. He turned on a heel, disgusted by what he'd become, by what she'd made him.

"You can run, but you cannot hide, Marcellus. Not from me. We are connected, you and I, just as you were connected to Lucas. You felt his death, didn't you? It tore through you like a dagger ripping into your very soul. Imagine how it was for me when Antony died. Blood of my blood, heart of my heart. I love you, Marcellus, just as I loved Antony and you loved Lucas. There is nowhere you can go that I won't feel you, that I won't know your thoughts. I will know if you betray me. I will find you, and when I do, you will suffer such pain as you cannot imagine, until I am ready to forgive you."

"Is that a threat?" he asked, as he reached the door, his back to her so she could not see his face. He could feel her eyes boring into his back; he could feel her anger like hot flames scourging his soul.

"Of course not, darling," she purred her reassurance. "It is merely a warning."

"I'll consider myself warned then," he replied and stepped out of the room, the threat weighing heavily on his heart and mind. He was far from innocent, and he knew she was right. He'd been at least partially to blame for what had happened. He'd loved Lucas like the son he'd never had, indulging him when he should have been protecting him. He should have handled the matter himself. He should have waited for the right time. The kill would have been quick and simple, instead of the bloodbath he had let it had become.

"There will be another to take Lucas" place one day, and then you will understand."

Marcellus growled again when he heard Josephine's voice in his head. It was nearly midnight and he had not yet fed, but the hunger he felt inside was not only the desire for sustenance, but a deeper hunger, a raw aching need, an emptiness he could not fill, no matter how much he fed. Tonight someone would pay for his pain with their blood and their life, and Marcellus realized in that moment that he had become just like her, no longer human but a monster to be reviled, a thing to be hunted down and destroyed. If only it were that easy.

Shen Lei

Date: 2011-10-20 02:59 EST
"They were after his sister, Rufus. If that cousin of theirs hadn't been there, they'd have got her before I arrived, too."

Rufus Bennett, the over-worked Watcher in charge of Shen Lei's massacre-of-the-undead tendencies, looked up from his research into vampire genealogies, frowning thoughtfully. "It's a very bold move," he agreed, nodding as he lowered the heavy book into his lap. "Did you get any positive ID on any of them?"

Lei shook her head, stilling in the incessant violence toward her repaired punchbag with a huff as she turned to look at her friend and business partner. As usual, she was barely out of breath after almost a full hour of letting out her frustrations on the battered piece of equipment, though a slight sheen of sweat did betray the exertion of her efforts.

"There's at least three tiers involved, though," she told him, one arm wrapped about the bag as she leaned against it. "This elder who's got her eye on him is sending out her neophytes to do her dirty work, and they've got their own underlings to throw at the problem, too. Any ideas where she's holed up yet?"

Rufus pursed his lips, scattering a handful of papers from his desk to produce a map from the sheafs of notes that lay there. He waved it at the young Slayer, who took it from his hand, sharp eyes scanning the map of the city, taking note of the marks her Watcher had left on it.

"The cemetary, or one of the abandoned mansions?" She snorted, rolling her eyes. "You'd think that being around for hundreds of years would have given at least one vampire an original idea for a hideout, wouldn't you? The traditional bunch are so predictable."

"Well, those are just my informed guesses," Rufus reminded her. "Get your jacket on, it's time you were going." As she moved to do as she was told, he went on, "I'm hoping that narrowing the suggestions down will help whoever it is our client has engaged to track the creature to select a positive spot. All we know at the moment is that she is in the city somewhere."

"Not the most helpful bit of general knowledge in the world," Lei added ruefully, tucking her sais into her boots and moving to raid the cabinet where they kept the holy water. "Look, you know breaking this bond isn't my job, right?"

"Of course I do," her Watcher chuckled, rising to his feet to pass her a pre-packed bag, inside which were nestled spares of everything she would need - stakes, blades, holy water, that sort of thing. "Your job is to make it possible for the bond to be broken. Now run along, or you'll miss your rendezvous. We don't want him wandering around after dark unprotected now, do we?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." The Slayer swung her bag onto her shoulder and turned to make her way out through the door. "It'd be easier if we could just lock him up somewhere, though."

"Now, now," Rufus called after her as he moved to shut the door, "we don't do that sort of thing to our friends, remember?"

"Remind me again," he heard from somewhere near the foyer, "what?s the point of having friends if you can't use them as bait?"