"Assh you can shee, Missh Vendetta, it hassh a loverly view of the docksh, asshwell assh the river. Oh my...well, ish that a body floating there?" Turning Bellora away from the window, Mrs. Levine, the real estate agent wrinkled her perfect nose in disgust. "Are you quite sure you wish to reshide in shuch a...um...well, the neighborhood doesh have character, doeshn't it?"

Bellora nodded, slightly annoyed at the woman's obvious speech impediment. "Yes, Mrs. Levine. I insist on living and working where I am most needed. You understand, surely, that all this means nothing to me. Mercs are needed here, and this is where my customers reside." She had told the woman she was a gun for hire, taking body guard jobs and such to make up for some horrible past she'd survived. She gleaned a bit of information from the woman' surface thoughts, and knew she thought the whole thing very romantic and exciting. Good. It meant less questions.

"I'll take it. Shall I give you the gold now, or wire it to your office?" The woman stuttered and waved her hands about as Bellora handed her a sack of gold coin. "No no...you musht deal with the bank. I will have all the papersh delivered to you at the Red Dragon, Missh Vendetta." With a distasteful sneer at a rat that scurried by, Mrs. Levine hurried Bellora to the door, and down the steps that led to the offices and wherehouse of the building.

It was perfect. Farther from the cleaner parts of the city than the last base of operations, and far larger. She would have a spacious living quarters above, and the building would be hers, not rented. The wherehouse was already sound proofed, for some odd reason. Mrs. Levine had mentioned a punk band had rented it from the previous owners, building the inner sound booths to suit their recordings. Bellora just nodded, mentioning she'd pay to have the egg-crate padding removed herself. This was a fine idea for Mrs. Levine, as she was worried about being able to sell this listing; the owner wanted out, but wasn't about to pay to have it remodeled.

There were two small offices out front, already furnished in retro furniture of a decent quality, left behind by the small record label that had occupied the place. (They'd gone belly up when the only band they had signed was turned and went on a blood-lust killing spree. The band had recently signed with a Vampire label, and was doing quite well!) She followed Mrs. Levine through the outter offices, and into the back wherehouse, insisting that she be able to see all of the place before it got too dark. Mrs. Levine, trembling and disturbed by being down her in the WestEnd at all, complied reluctantly.

Bellora looked around the large space, then entered the rather large sound proofed booth. She shut the door, looked directly into Mrs. Levine's eyes, and screamed at the top of her lungs. The woman looked at her oddly, a perfectly arched and blond brow was raised, and she looked on with a vapid gaze. Bellora, still screaming loudly, walked calmly to the door and opened it. Mrs. Levine shrieked, covering her ears and trembling, fell to her knees. Bellora stopped, nodding, most pleased.

"Thank you, Mrs. Levine. You have been most helpful. I am sorry for the little scare, but you see I wished to see how well it worked." Reaching a hand to help the poor woman to her feet, she patted a trembling hand and led the real estate agent to the back door. "Do send me the papers as soon as possible. I am truly in love with the place, and eager to move in." At the sight of the woman's unease, she managed a miserable smile, it was most uncomfortable for Bellora, beings it was fake, but it settled the woman's nerves a bit. Bellora began a string of small talk to further settle Mrs. Levine, not wanting the woman to remember the odd, dark woman that bought the terrible building in the worst part of town. "I am eager to redecorate, too, Mrs. Levine. A woman of your stature and taste must know of someone who would be able to do something with this place?"

Mrs. Levine rambled on about the lovely young man she knew well that would be happy to come and help Bellora. Bellora walked beside the woman, ignoring every word, but nodding and muttering appropriate responses at the appropriate time.