Vanessa leads her ghoul Musafi into her new ritual room and shuts the door behind them, locking it.
"Go to the drums and begin playing them slowly, but loudly." she instructs him in a rushed manner as she sets her precious wooden box containing Janee's heart down in the center of the room, and hurries over to the closet. Musafi looks at Vanessa a moment before walking over and sitting behind the bongos, and then he begins to play as she instructed. Vanessa crouches over something in the bottom of the closet for a moment, and then stands and carries a small iron cauldron in one hand and a can of lighter fluid and a small box of matches in the other, and carries them to the middle of the room and sets them down beside the box in front of the central poteaumitan.
She returns to the closet, grabs a heavy black blanket, stuffs it at the bottom of the door, and then begins lighting incense all around the room. She occasionally glances at Musafi as she hurries from place to place as if to check if he's still where he's supposed to be. Vanessa always feels uneasy around Musafi-- her personal opinion is that if he weren't bloodbound to her, he'd be at her throat in an instant. She'd alway tried to be gentle with him and had tried to befriend him, but she can almost feel the hatred radiating through the bond. As a final gesture of attempted kindness, she'd given him the choice to remain her ghoul, or become her Childe, and he said he'd think about it...now she was considering retracting the offer. He'd make a better protector and shield for Armande and the rest of them as a ghoul, and if he died, she'd feel nothing but relief. But as a Childe, the bloodbond would be broken, and he'd be stronger and more powerful...when he came for her.
Vanessa narrows her eyes and sets her jaw as anger creeps through her veins. "Ungrateful beast..." she thinks to herself. Still...they had been commanded to find candidates to make into Childer, and he was the only candidate she had. Perhaps-- if Musafi made it through his Embrace-- the change would make him want to respect and protect her...
Vanessa suddenly realizes that she's been crouched down in the center of the room for a few minutes as all these thoughts were going through her head, and she stands and walks over to Musafi.
Bending down, she speaks to him in a quiet voice.
"What we do and say tonight must not be heard or seen by anyone else-- that's why I have you playing the drums. We're not doing a ritual, I just need the noise as a distractor from anyone with sharp hearing." Vanessa watches Musafi's face as she speaks, and when she pauses for a response, his eyes shift up to hers and he gives a short nod. Vanessa was going to explain more to him, but he's more like one of her statues than a living companion, and so she changes her plans and decides that all he needs to hear are his orders.
"Continue playing until I stop you." Musafi gives another short nod, and Vanessa turns and walks back to the center of the room, rolling her eyes exasperatedly as she does. She turns so she's facing Musafi when she reaches the center, and kneels down in front of the items. The bottom of the small cauldron is coated with rum. She opens the wooden box and takes Janee's heart in both of her hands. She looks at it for a moment-- a perfect heart marred only by a large sliver of wood protruding from its center-- and her eyes take on an unreadable expression. She's angry...SO angry that he got away from her before she could do what she wanted with him! She wasn't finished toying with him, nor did she get to drink his soul as she had been granted the priveledge of doing. She had only kept his heart this long out of pride and anger and the lingering hope that they would be able to recover him. But now-- after the infiltration of their mansion in New York and the wounding of Armande by one of his rescuers, as well as repeated viewings of the Bloodfeast footage-- she realizes that although Janee is in torpor wherever he is, he is more dangerous alive, and will probably never be recovered.
A strange look of pity stains her strong eyes as she remembers his kindness to her...his desire for her...and then she is consumed with self-loathing as she realizes that perhaps she's kept the heart this long out of more than pride, but also curiosity about his sexual-abilities and desires and how she could play into them, and she yanks the sliver of wood out with an angry snarl. She holds the heart up, glaring at it, and shouts, "JANEE! YOU WILL HAVE POWER OVER ME NO LONGER!" Then she realizes that she's shouting, and lowers her arms and her voice.
Somewhere in California....
"He has no heart," one of the men in shadows says, "Where ever the heart is it must be staked."
Suddenly Janee takes a long deep breath as he sits up suddenly free of his bond. The men step back fangs and claws protracting.
"What is this?" another one says. Janee coughs and rolls onto the floor off the bed. "It's her...she it's the witch-"
"Janee...I have released you from your torpor so that you can feel and react to this pain...this final, momentary pain...fully. Wherever you are, I hope you're surrounded by those wolf-bastards so I can have my final revenge as they HOWL with RAGE!!" Vanessa clenches her teeth and stops herself for a moment. "Goodnight, sweet Prince..." she whispers with a cynical smile, and drops the heart into the cauldron with a tiny splash.
Janee struggles to stand and falls to the floor clutching his chest. His fangs and claws protract out of instinct as his heart lands in the caldron. One of the men reaches to help him stand-
She then takes up the lighter fluid and quickly squirts it all over the heart, puts the can away to the side, and takes a match from the box of matches. She strikes the match on the side of the box, and watches as the flame flares up strongly in a burst of sulpher-scent, and then drops it onto the heart.
Janee begins to scream and clutch his chest as he rolls upon the ground. Blood begins to boil out of his eyes and ears and mouth. The gangral takes a step back. "They are killing him," he says.
Janee continues to scream and roll on the floor smoke pouring from his mouth and ears. A small wisp of flame bursts from his chest.
The other vampires start backing away, but are unable to turn their gaze from him. Suddenly he lets out a final screech as the rest of him lights aflame.
As the heart immediately bursts into flame, Vanessa's face looks like a stone mask. She watches as the heart burns quickly-- the fire consuming all the lighter fluid and rum-- until there is only a small pile of ash laying in the bottom of the cauldron. Vanessa lifts the cauldron by the handle, tips it, and sprinkles the ashes in a circle around the poteaumitan. On a sudden urge, she licks her finger and sticks it into the ashes, and then sucks the ashes from her finger.
She pauses for a moment, and suddenly her eyes narrow and fill with rage. With a shriek she grabs a handful of the ashes and rubs them across her face and upper chest, and then yanks the zipper down on her shirt and rubs more ashes all over her breasts. Her frenzy now out of control, she pulls the zipper the rest of the way down, throws open her shirt, and rubs the ashes on her stomach, and then flops down onto her back, pulls up her skirt to her hips, and rubs the last of the ashes on her thighs and between her legs, and begins rolling around on the floor, shrieking and pounding on the ground.
Musafi raises his eyebrows, but continues to play as commanded-- not sure if anything else is expected of him at this moment-- but his mistress doesn't seem to notice his presence.
The moments pass, and finally Vanessa's mind clears enough that she stops shrieking and writhing on the floor, and lays motionlessly staring at the ceiling with her arms flopped open. Another couple of moments pass, and finally Vanessa sits up, feet together and knees apart with her hands resting together between her knees, head bowed. She stays that way for another moment, and then gets up and walks over to the door. She pulls the black blanket up from the bottom of the door, and begins rubbing the ashes off of her skin with it. She walks wordlessly over to the mirror on the wall and checks for any remaining ashes, and then wipes those off. She pulls her skirt back down, and zips up her shirt. She'd considered not putting up the mirror at all because of how the King of Tears had appeared in Nero's mirror, but in the end she'd realized that her loas used the mirror, as well, and so it had stayed up.
Vanessa walks over to Musafi and crouches beside him for a moment without speaking, and then finally turns her head to him and begins to whisper again. When the whispering ends many minutes later, Musafi nods, stops drumming, and stands. The second part of her plan was about to commence. Vanessa grabs a stack of black towels, a wrench, and a handful of scalpals. She hides the wrench and scalpals amidst the folds of the towels, takes up the wooden box, wraps one of the towels around it, then picks up the stack of towels and stands.
Musafi picks up the 8mm camera, and then stands and watches Vanessa and waits. When Vanessa's done, she nods to Musafi, and Musafi opens the door. Vanessa passes through...then Musafi...and Vanessa locks the door, and the two walk upstairs. They keep their senses on everything around them to make sure they're not being observed, and they run into no one on their way.
They hurry to Vanessa's bedroom on the main level, and Vanessa unlocks the door and the two slip inside. Vanessa puts down the stack of towels and leaves the room-- Musafi staying behind. She re-locks the door, and joins her pack in the kitchen.
Time passes...the pack discusses what to do, and soon each member has gone their separate way to run their own errands. Vanessa smiles with relief when Nero says that he's going out and will be gone for a while. She watches as he leaves, and then opens the front door and pretends to be looking up at the stars as she notices him get into his car and drive away. She follows him with her senses until his signature gets faint, and then hurries back into the mansion.
She quickly unlocks her bedroom door, goes inside, and motions to Musafi, who quickly stands and walks to the door. She grabs the stack of towels, uses her blood to make her invisible, and walks up to Musafi-- touching his back with the towels so he knows she's there. The two leave the room, she locks the door, and they continue up to the top floor of the mansion.
Musafi walks up to Nero's door as Vanessa glances up and down the hallway nervously. Musafi knocks quietly, waits, knocks again, and then pulls out his lock-picking set. He tries the doorknob, but it's locked, so he quickly works on the lock and soon has the door open. He sticks his head in, looks around, and sees only Gloria, naked and shackled to the wall.
"Nero...is he here?" he asks in his deep, heavily Haitian-accented voice, but doesn't wait for an answer. "I see he is not." He affects a sigh, and enters the room. Vanessa stays outside, listening to everything with her sharp senses.
"He told me he needed me to film for him since Armande was busy. I will wait here." Musafi walks over to the bed and sits on the edge of it, holding the camera.
Gloria watches him with disinterested and defeated eyes. When he sits she goes back to staring at nothing...
Vanessa pulls the wrench from the towels and holds it in her right hand...waiting. Musafi sits motionless for a moment, and then turns his head to look at Gloria. He walks over to her and crouches beside her. As he does this, Vanessa creeps silently into the room and stands over an unseeing Gloria.
"It is a shame how these vampires treat their servants..." Musafi murmurs, reaching out his hand to touch Gloria's face. Before he can, a glaring Vanessa brings the wrench down hard on the back of Gloria's head-- not hard enough to crush her skull, but hard enough to knock her out.
With this assaulting blow, Vanessa becomes visible, and Musafi continues his movement forward to pass by the unconscious Gloria and shut the door silently, locking it again. Vanessa moves quickly as time is short. She surveys Gloria's form, and swears under her breath. The woman is shackled into a tight crouch-- Vanessa won't be able to operate from the front like she's used to. She takes the top towels off-- revealing he scalpals-- and unfolds the towels, laying them thickly on the ground. She and Musafi lift Gloria slightly to place her side on the towels.
Next Vanessa uncovers the wooden box, opens it, and places it by Gloria's head. She positions the scalpals nearby, and places the remaining towels all around Gloria's side and head. Raising her hands to the ceiling, Vanessa begins to chant softly, and then closes her eyes and sways back and forth slowly. She feels the pulling of the dark moon, and enters a kind of trance-state. When she's ready, she opens her eyes and takes up one of the scalpals.
Placing her left hand on Gloria's back, she moves her hand down until she feels the bottom of her ribs. Murmuring words of invocation to her loas, she takes the scalpal and plunges it into Gloria's skin just beneath the ribcage. She pauses just a moment to peer over at Gloria's face, but Gloria's out cold and her face doesn't move. Vanessa exhales in relief, and goes back to her work.
She cuts quickly up towards Gloria's side until she has a hole big enough to stick her hands into, and then puts down the scalpal and takes up a tiny one. She plunges her hand in under the left side of the ribcage and begins cutting her way to the heart, under the lung. She has to angle her wrist around to get up under the lung and to the heart, and soon Vanessa's laying on her side up to her elbow in Gloria's torso. Musafi stands nearby, constantly wiping up blood with a towel.
Vanessa grits her teeth in concentration, but finally finds her target-- Gloria's heart. She deftly cuts the aorta and other vessels that hold the heart in place, and then brings her hand out, dropping the bloody scalpal onto a towel. Then she plunges her hand back into the hole and up to the heart, takes a firm hold of it, and pulls it out slowly and carefully. When she brings it from Gloria's body, she hears Mufasi suck in a breath of amazement. She smiles, and slowly gets up up into a sitting-position.
"This woman is too dangerous alive, Mufasi. Something will happen...Nero will get careless, and she will take her revenge. I know how you feel about how we "treat our servants," but some of us make better masters than others, wouldn't you agree."
Musafi looks at Vanessa for a moment, and finally nods his head. "You are right. You give me my freedom and do not raise a hand to me."
"I'm glad you noticed." Vanessa says in a sarcastic voice tinged with hurt. "Now not a word of this to anyone else. I sense that others don't feel comfortable with Gloria's presence here, but I also sense that they are not as quick-acting as I am. Act first, live longest. Now let's get this cleaned up. I'll heal her."
Vanessa places the heart into the wooden box, closes the lid, and then gets onto her hands and knees and begins licking the incision on Gloria's back slowly as Musafi gathers the towels. As her saliva touches Gloria's skin, the wound instantly begins to close up. Vanessa licks across the wound a last time to make sure it's healed completely to the scrutinizing eye. As she crawls over to Gloria's head, Musafi moves in to wipe all traces of blood from her body using his spit to help wet dried blood. Vanessa parts Gloria's hair until she finds the cut the wrench made in her scalp. She brings her mouth down to Gloria's head and licks at the wound until it closes up, as well. Then she takes another towel and tabs all the blood out of her hair. Once this is done, she fluffs the hair over the area so it matches the rest of Gloria's hair, and then stands up and surveys the scene with satisfaction.
The two fold up all the towels-- placing the scalpals, wrench, and wooden box back inside-- and Musafi picks up the camera from the bed where he left it. Vanessa again summons her blood to conceal her, and opens the door slowly. No one is in the hallway. Vanessa pushes the door the rest of the way open, and hurries into the hall. Musafi emerges behind her, closes the door, and the two hurry down the stairs to the main level. They get to Vanessa's room, and she unlocks the door and opens it, and the two quickly enter, and Vanessa shuts the door behind them and locks it.
She stands with her back pressed against the door, and becomes visible again-- her eyes closed and a look of relief on her face. After a moment she walks over to her dresser and lays the towels down on the top. She takes the scalpals out, cleans them off carefully, and puts them in the top drawer. Then she takes out the box, makes sure there's no blood on the outside, and puts it back in its hiding-place. Lastly she takes out the wrench and cleans it painstakingly, for it has to be returned to the pack toolbox.
When all of this is done, she takes the camera from Musafi and places it on the dresser, and picks up the wrench. "Musafi-- take the towels to the incinerator and burn them-- don't leave until they're completely burned." She makes as if to go to the door, and then stops and turns. She places a tentative hand on his arm and looks him in the eye. "Thank you for your efficient and skillful help tonight...you...you're a good ghoul." she says, and then does turn and walk to the door, not waiting for a reply.
The two leave the room, Vanessa locks the door, and they part ways as Musafi heads for the incinerator and Vanessa takes the stairs to the main level. She steps out into the hall and sees Armande, and hurries forward and takes his arm, leaning in. "Armande, do you have your master keys on you?" she whispers.
Armande nods, "Yeah, why the fuck you whispering?"
"I'm in the middle of something that requires quick action-- I'll explain everything to you in a minute if you'll come upstairs with me right now." Vanessa urges, looking behind her make sure no one's there.
Armande nods and motions for Vanessa to lead the way.
"Alright alright let's go."
Vanessa hurries ahead of him up the stairs, and stops a few steps away from Nero's door. She leans in and cups her hand around Armande's ear and whispers. "I need you to lock Nero's door. I'll explain everything in a minute."
Armande shrugs and digs in his pockets. He pulls out a set of keys and eyes them carefully. He finds the right one and locks the door. He turns to Vanessa and takes her by the arm and walks down the stairs leading her to her room.
"There all locked, now what's with the cloak and dagger shit?"
Vanessa looks both ways again, unlocks her door, and pulls Armande inside-- locking the door after him. She walks over to her stereo and turns it on, and the Latin/rock beat of Santana fills the room. She sits down on the bed and exhales, putting her hand on her forehead for a moment, and then moving it back over her hair. She looks up at Armande, and motions for him to sit beside her.
Armande sits down and looks at her with concern.
"Hey you can tell me, I won't say a word. Trust me, sugar, if the cops and feds couldn't make me talk when I was a kid..."
Vanessa raises her eyebrows with interest at this little tidbit. "Oh really...? You know, I'd love to hear about it sometime-- your life before becoming a ghoul..." She smiles at him and places her hand on the back of his neck, trailing her fingernails across his skin affectionately. Then she remembers that she was supposed to tell him what just happened. Her hand freezes for a moment as she gathers her thoughts, and then resumes caressing his neck.
"You and I talked about Gloria momentarily when we woke up a couple of mornings ago..." Vanessa gives a smirk and crosses one leg over the top of the other. "You agreed that you didn't trust her and thought she should be disposed of. Well, during our pack meeting I questioned Nero extensively on what his intentions were with Gloria. It seems that he wants to finish his plan to 'convert' her to the Sabbat, and then have fun commanding her through their bloodbond. He even demonstrated this for Aether and Neil later-- they told me what happened. The minute Nero released Gloria from her bonds, she rushed at Aether and Neil and tried to kill them. Nice. Then Nero showed off his control of her by ordering her to stop." Vanessa rolls her eyes and looks angry.
"That is NOT control. She's a pitbull, and one of these days there will be no master there to stop her. I can tell that the others don't like Gloria being here, and I'm pretty sure Carter feels the same way, but to convince Nero to get rid of her?" Vanessa gives a short, bitter laugh. "Fat chance, it looks like, and now he's our leader! He came up with the idea of using her to make Childer for he and Neil to diablerize until they have strengthened their blood as much as possible. When they have finished with this, I think at that point I might be able to convince Nero that she's disposable, but just in case, I...took precautions..." Vanessa stops talking and her eyes grow a little distant as flashes of the last hour run through her mind.
"What you did was dangerous and could get you in a lot of trouble. I think you're right and so will Carter and the rest of them, but it may not matter. Are you sure you want to go through with this? I mean hey there's still time to put it back," he says lighting a cigarette and giving her a serious look.
Vanessa taps her fingernails against Armande's neck and swings her leg thoughtfully. "And go through all that again? I was lucky I got the heart out without Nero coming home! No...no...I will never regret taking it out, no matter what happens to me. If she gets out of control and something happens to me where I can't get to the heart, someone needs to know where it is and destroy it quickly. That's why you're the only one I'm telling, Armande. I..." Vanessa looks down for a moment, and then back up. "I trust you, Armande, and it's very hard for me to trust ANYONE. I trusted Nero once, but lately he's been going off about the King of Tears welcoming him 'home' like he's proud of it...showing-off, almost. He should be terrified! He should be repulsed that he let himself get infected with that shit!" Vanessa stands and walks over to the dresser, hitting her fist down on it. "What's going on with him..." she asks out loud softly.
Armande shrugs, "I don't know. I haven't seen this King of Tears so I can't really tell ya. But I'll tell ya this, when the Elders are around he better shut up about the King of Tears welcoming him home. They don't take that shit lightly."
Vanessa nods slowly and turns around. "You're right about that-- I'll pull him aside if I get the chance and remind him just exactly who and what the Sabbat is. He seems to have forgotten that we're a demon-hunting club!" Vanessa smiles and walks in her fluid way back over to sit beside Armande, and leans in close again.
"Speaking of our elders, I have a serious question for you, Armande. Carter was telling me that you're his ghoul, and that he questions you about how things are going...you know, normal relations. Are you under any obligation to tell him what I've done, or will he try to pull secrets from you somehow? Because if the next time he talks to you he's going to find out what I did, I want to be there. You know...own up to my actions, rather than have Carter think I'm sneaking around behind his back. If there's one Kindred in the world that I don't want to piss off, that's Carter." Vanessa watches Armande intently.
Armande shakes his head and takes a drag, "Nah I don't have to tell him and he doesn't dominate me so I'm good. Don't worry Vanessa your secret is safe with me," he says with a smile patting her ass.
Vanessa exhales and looks relieved. "Good. Don't get me wrong-- I'll tell him...just not today. There's too much going on right now-- we have to find the hidden vampires, the gravedigger, figure out how to get rid of the demon, make Childer..." Vanessa flops back into the bed and folds her arms, staring up at the black, gauzy canopy strung across the 4 posters of the bed.
"No time for fun...no time to try out my club-idea..." Vanessa glances at Armande's back and grins. "...although that's my first priority when I DO get that free-time!"
Armande smiles, gets up, and sits on a chair and looks at Vanessa.
"So I hear you're going out tonight to make a childe. That's a big step, you ready for it?"
Vanessa gets up on her elbows and watches Armande as he switches from sitting on the bed to sitting in the chair, and feels disappointed. 'Fine.' she thinks. 'I wasn't going to ask for any, anyway.' "I don't know-- I never would have wanted to be burdoned by one if it were my own choice, but since it's not, I guess I have to be." Vanessa looks down and blows a piece of hair out of her face in frustration. "I don't trust Musafi, but I can get some use out of him yet. I'm going to have him take me to the voodoo gathering tonight and introduce me around favorably...scout out the group for potential Childer. I'll only Embrace one of my faith-- that's my one condition. You have to be dedicated and ambitious to be a Serpent of the Light." Vanessa taps her fingertips on the bed as she gazes at the Voodoo decorations she's hung on the walls.
Armande raises his eyebrows and stands. "Well then, I have to do a few things in town, and you have to get ready. Will I see you tonight?"
Vanessa feels a thrill of excitement at his question, and her demeanor brightens noticably. She sits up smiling-- about to tell him he will-- and then her face falls.
"Oh shit, Armande-- if I find a candidate, I have to bring him back here and prepare him to be Embraced tomorrow. I couldn't leave him alone on his first night here-- Musafi might get to him and poison him against me, or something." she says sarcastically. She stands and walks over to kick the wall. "Shit, shit, shit!" she growls, kicking the wall with each 'shit.' She walks over to Armande and puts her arms around his neck. "You know I'd take you up on it before you even finished asking if I didn't have to babysit tonight, but I'll have to keep my eye on those two, if I find someone!" Vanessa looks at Armande with eyes begging him to understand.
Armande shrugs and gives her a kiss. "Alright then, but you're in trouble next time I see you." He walks to the door. "Hey if you got time stop by and see me in the morning." he says opening the door. He walks through and closes it.
Vanessa smiles and walks to her door, watching Armande walk down the hallway and disappear around the corner. Odd that she should feel a pang of...hmmmm, what IS this emotion she's feeling? Regret? Emptiness? Loneliness...?
'Impossible!' she thinks, brushing that idea aside. She closes her door, changes into some of her native Dominican clothing and jewelry, and leaves to find Musafi so they can get to the gathering.