Vanessa parks her car in front of the pack's bank and gets out. She pats her hair and straightens her dress, and then walks to the doors and enters. She's never actually gone to a bank before, but from the movies she's watched-- and judging by how Armande dresses all the time-- she figured she had to look high-class in order to be treated politely. Luckily, the money she spent last month was all on fine clothing and jewelry so she could pull off her Toreador-act convincingly. Her hair is pulled up in a French twist bun, she's applied make-up carefully and skillfully, is wearing gold jewelry, a mid-length fur coat, and a long red dress. Nothing she would have worn to a ball-- not THAT fancy-- but very nice. Something she might have worn to the opera or symphony.
She emerges from the bank after a time, and exhales with relief. In her matching red purse is a nice stack of $100 bills that add up to $3,000. 'Won't Armande be surprised!' she thinks with a smile as images of the hottub float through her mind. She gets in the car, starts it up, pulls out, and heads to her next destination: the voodoo gathering on the outskirts of the city.
Before she leaves the city, she pulls the car off into a random abandoned parking lot and gets out, walking over and opening the passenger's side door. She looks around. No on seems to be watching. She takes a moment to scan the area, and when she's satisfied that she's alone, she prepares to go invisible...and then stops. A thrill of excitement races through blood her at the thought of doing this fully visible, and so she decides to stay visible.
A look of arrousal crosses her face as she take off her earrings, necklace, bracelets, and rings, and puts them inside the little purse. From inside a bag, she takes out some beaded hoop-earrings, a beaded ivory, lapiz, and jet necklace and matching bracelet, some plain silver bracelets, and three silver rings-- one set with ivory, one set with jet, and one set with lapiz lazuli. She puts these on slowly, feeling the power that each stone and metal holds as she looks up at the moon rising in the east.
Smiling at the moon and keeping her eyes on it, she takes off her coat, and then begins moving her hips slowly to a drum-beat that only she can hear. She closes her eyes and exhales, and then kicks her high heels off into the car. Continuing to move her hips, she moves her arms behind her head and unzips her dress down as far as she can reach, and then moves her hands down behind her back, and continues to unzip the dress all the way down. She pulls her arms out of the long sleeves, and then lets the dress fall to pool around her feet. She stands completely naked, and raises her arms to the moon, letting her head fall back, and continues her slow, seductive dance.
Stepping out of the circle of cloth around her feet, she bends to pick it up and throw it into the car. She starts moving now in her dance, turning in circles and dancing slowly all the way around the car. When she comes to the front of the hood, she turns and sits on it, and then lays back slowly while moving her arms in a beckoning-gesture to the moon. She puts her feet up on the hood, as well, and then pushes, sliding her body up. She begins running her hands up her body to her neck and face, and then back down-- caressing her breasts...stomach...and then parts her knees to either side and begins to masturbate slowly and attentively, all the while hearing the seductive and arrousing drum-beats of the samba in her head, and imaging eyes watching her from every shadow.
The minutes pass...Vanessa's skin glistens with a light sheen of sweat and her breath comes out shakily in spasms, and then there's a loud sigh. Her arms flop to either side of her, and a quick blink is the only thing that temporarily breaks her gaze at the moon. She lays like that for a moment, getting her barings and relaxing, and then finally she sits up and slides back down the hood and walks a touch unsteadily back over to the passenger's door.
A cocky little smile on her lips, she glances around her, but still doesn't see anyone. A touch of disappointment marrs the smile for a moment, but then disappears. She quickly dresses in her native clothing-- a white peasant-blouse and colorful skirt dyed in black and deep blues-- and her long black leather boots. If she wore sandals and didn't look like she was cold, she'd draw suspicious looks from the Voudoun. She throws on a thick, black shawl, and gets back into her car, pulls out, and heads to the voodoo gathering.
An hour or so later she pulls back up to the mansion and gets out of the car holding her bag. She walks around to the trunk, glances up and down the street, opens it, puts her bag inside, and picks up a comatose-looking goat and places it around her shoulders with its tied legs over her chest. Then she picks up her bag again and slings it over her shoulder, grabs an equally comatose-looking chicken by its legs, closes the trunk, and walks quickly into the mansion.
She enters the sitting-area, doesn't see anyone, goes down the hall and knocks on Dante's door...no answer. Her forehead wrinkles in concern. She TOLD him to be ready by 8:00 so they could prepare the ritual-space! Where WAS he? She exhales in frustration and walks down the stairs to the basement. Once she gets into the basement, she takes a step, and then stops. The ritual room door is open. Her eyes narrow, and she walks quickly through the doorway.
Suddenly Dante grabs her arms, and she almost lets out a scream, but he puts his hand over her mouth in time.
"Shhh Vanessa! You'll wake them!" he whispers excitedly, and when her eyes adjust to the darkness, she sees two human forms laying on the ground.
"Dante, I thought I told you I'd take care of getting sacrifices this time!" she whispers incredulously.
"Hey-- I wanted to impress you! What the hell kind of sacrifices are THOSE?" he asks, motioning to the goat and chicken.
Vanessa gives him a look. "These are traditional sacrifices enjoyed by the loas-- technically we don't have to use humans...only if we're channeling the death-loas and want them to give us extra favor."
Dante folds his arms, tilts his head, and nods his head slowly, looking at her like she's lost her mind. "You told me you never use animals-- that that's all human voodoo-shit, and now that we're vampires we use humans! What's goin' on here, Vanessa.
Vanessa looks angry for a moment like she's going to lay into him, and then looks a little unsure. "I don't know, Dante, OK? I don't know! I just though that since we're channelling the rainbow-serpents, they didn't need human sacrifices, OK? It's been decades since I sacrificed a goat or chicken-- I guess I wanted to see how they'd be received!"
Dante shakes his head and tightens his lips, but doesn't saying anything as he studies her for a moment. Something's going on here, and he doesn't like it. He helps her lift the goat off her shoulders, and they place it in the corner along with the chicken, and then quietly leave the room and shut the door. They walk into the clan ritual-space, and Vanessa turns to Dante and folds her arms with her eyebrow raised. "What? Say it?" she challenges.
Dante stands leaning back a little with a look on his face. "When you were telling me about becoming a vampire, you said that we'd hunt together...play together...then you leave me with that bitch last night to do your own thing, and when I knock on your door just before sunrise, there's no answer. Are you tryin' to ditch me, or somethin'? We're a pack! We're supposed to do things together! And now you're bringing home animals to sacrifice?? What the hell's goin' on, Vanessa?"
Vanessa looks at him with her lips thin as she absorbs what he's saying and tries to think. He folds his arms and watches her without blinking as the silence stretches. Finally Vanessa speaks. "I apologize, Dante...you...you're right. We haven't really hunted or played together yet. I've been...distracted. Let's come to a compromise, OK? We hunt and play together during the night-- when the pack's not doing something-- but then the few hours before sunrise are mine to do with as I wish, si? Is that satisfactory?"
Dante continues looking at her with folded arms and raised eyebrow, and then relaxes a little and nods. "And you're not gonna tell me what you do with those hours before sunrise, are you?"
"Look Dante, a girl needs time alone or she starts getting cranky. I just need to know that there's a chunk of time where I can do my own thing. I've been doing my own thing most of the years I've been Kindred-- I've never had a Childe before-- so just give me some space, OK??" she snaps.
"WhoOOOah, Vanessa, OK, I got it!" he says melodramatically, holding up his hands and pretending to be scared.
"Look, enough with the dramatics, Dante, we have a ritual to perform. Are the boas OK? I need to get the cobra." she says, a touch impatiently.
"Yeah, they're holding the couple I brought home in their coils!" Dante grins a big, white grin.
Vanessa looks at him for a moment, feeling anger flash through her. NO one touches her snakes. She decides to let it go for now so Dante doesn't throw another tantrum. "All right then, remove the veves for Ti Kita and Samedi, and put fresh blue candles in those for Damballah and Ayida Wedo. Make sure the silver bowls in front of them are clean-- including the one in front of the potaeumitan-- and put fresh charcoals in the sand. I'll be back down with Una and the flowers, and I'll try to find Armande."
Vanessa looks around the room a final time-- it's nice to finally have a room only for rituals-- and then walks back upstairs. She goes into her room, puts her bag down, carefully takes out a bouquet of fresh hyacinth and lilac, takes a bag of dried petals, and calls to Una. The cobra pokes its head out from under her pillow, and then slithers forwards to the end of the bed. Vanessa laughs fondly, and walks over, offering her arm. Una slithers up her arm and around her neck, and Vanessa leaves the room, locking it behind her. This ritual is important-- Damballah helped them the night before...and they're going to take his advice and find a Mage later tonight-- but they want to repay him and ask for extra protection during the dangerous endeavor. Vanessa's never dealt with mages before those twin brothers in the library in New York, and now she has a reason to fear...if a mage found out.
Vanessa stops at Armande's room, pushes her senses out in search of him, doesn't sense him in his room, so she continues on down the hall to the kitchen. She stands in the doorway of the kitchen with a smile on her lips, a cobra poised around her neck, and a bouquet of purple flowers in her arms.
"Good evening, Armande. I come bearing gifts both sweet and deadly. Will you come with me?" she asks batting her eyelashes and holding out her hand, playing up the part of the temptress-goddess.
Armande smiles and then sees the cobra.
"Whoa Vanessa, I don't know what you have planned for tonight but count me out," he says with a wink. He turns around and switches on the water at the sink. He washes his hands dries them and turns to Vanessa.
"So what's the plan for tonight?"
Vanessa laughs and walks into the kitchen. "First of all, this is Una, my cobra. Her name means "dragon talon." Vanessa says proudly. She turns her head to look into Una's eyes, and makes a succession of hissing-sounds. Una watches Vanessa intently with her tongue flickering, and then after Vanessa has finished "speaking" with her, she gives a quiet hiss.
Vanessa smiles, feeling pleased. "All right, Armande, she likes you, and she promises never to bite you." Vanessa lowers her voice. "And you have her permission to enter my bedroom." Vanessa laughs and caresses Una's head.
Armande nods, "Well then as long as Una likes me, I'm good with that," he says with a smile. He leads them through the kitchen and down into the basement. "I take it you need me to drum?"
Vanessa nods. "If you would. We owe the rainbow-serpent consorts a favor, and tonight the pack's going to need all the help we can get. Thursday's the consorts' most-favored night, so the timing was perfect." Vanessa glances at Armande. "The loa Damballah said we have to find a mage who can open a gateway to send the King of Tears back through...that's what we're doing later tonight."
Vanessa pauses in front of the door.
Armande stops with his hand on the door.
"Mages? You guys are contacting mages to do this?"
Vanessa nods. "We have to. It backs up what that Black Hand-guy said, as well. Kindred can't do it."
Armande raises an eyebrow and takes her by the shoulders.
"You be careful. Mages can do weird fuckin things to everything around them. I seen them when I was kid fight it out with another bunch. Trust me, be careful."
Vanessa looks surprised for a moment, and then smiles gently at Armande. Una watches Armande, moving her head back out of the way of Armande's arms.
"What are you, my manager?" she teases, and then her face goes serious. "I know...I'm nervous about this. But when they see the girl, I'm hoping all thoughts of fighting us will go out of their heads. Don't worry about me-- I can move a lot faster than a mage, and I'm sure not many can see through my shadows." She leans forward and kisses Armande, trying to sound confident.
Armande sighs, "Don't be too fuckin confident." He says. He opens the door and walks in. He looks around the ritual room.
"Nice."
Vanessa smiles and looks around. "Good job, Dante."
Dante stands with the pot of ashes and walks over. "Hey Armande, how's it goin'." He says, sticking out his hand. Then he looks at his hand, notices it's covered with ash, and brings it back with a grin. "Sorry man. Look, I'll just continue makin' the circle." Dante walks back to where he left off and continues sprinkling the ashes in a circle.
Vanessa watching everything, and then chuckles. She puts the lilacs in front of Damballah's veve, along with a handful of dried petals, and then moves across the circle to Ayida Wedo's veve and places the hyacinthe bouquet before it, as well as the dried petals. Then she gets on her hands and knees, lowers her head to the floor, and Una crawls off her mistress and over to curiously inspect what the boa constrictors are doing.
Vanessa stands back up, looks around the room, finds a large silver bowl, places it in front of the central potaeumitan, and then dusts off her hands and nods.
"We're ready." She glances over at the humans, suddenly feeling tired when she realizes that her Childe's going to be expecting something impressive. 'Why did he have to take the initiative to find humans tonight?' she grumbles in her head. She walks over to inspect the humans. A man and woman that she knows nothing about...they look to be in their 30s...she has no idea what kind of people they are...if they're a couple...what their desires and fantasies are...she suddenly feels a headache coming on and puts her fingertips to her forehead. She turns around and walks over to Dante.
"Dante...I really appreciate you bringing these humans, but I need to explain my art a little more to you." she says, putting her arm around his shoulders and walking them away from the unconscious couple. "Now I'm not saying you need to do it this way, but I don't think I, personally, can work with this couple. I may leave them both to you...or we could leave them for the consorts to do what they please with. I stalk my prey...I choose people with odd or interesting fetishes, or people who are corrupt in some way, or people who I think deserve it. Those two over there-- I know nothing about them. I haven't had the time to study them and decide what my actions will be. Do you see what I'm saying?"
Dante stops walking and turns to face her. "You have the power to read anyone...so read them! Hey-- this should be fun for you! Two complete strangers, and you have a minute to read them and act on it! You actin' scared, that's what you doin'." He says narrowing his eyes.
Vanessa's face turns red with anger. "Look, Dante, I'm not scared of nothing!" she says, stabbing her finger into his chest. "I just don't work this way! What if their fetishes are boring, or something I'm not interested it? I'm not here to please them! I'm not a whore!" she shouts, and then lowers her voice. "They're here to please ME! You got it? If I read them and decide I'm not interested, they're all yours!" she says with a final jab to his chest, and then turns and stalks over to the couple.
She hisses to the snakes, and they all quickly move away from the humans and take their places around the circle. Vanessa crouches down, and smacks the humans' faces until they wake up. The woman is an attractive brunette with shoulder-length hair, and the man is rather average-looking with long blonde hair and a goatee. They blink and sit up groggily, and as they do, Vanessa reads them.
The woman wants to order men around...wear vinyl and whip them...experiment on them. Vanessa raises her eyebrows in surprise. 'The world needs more women like this...pity to waste her. I'm not going to touch her.' Vanessa thinks in frustration. She turns her attentions on the man. He has homosexual fantasies, although he's only been with women up until now. He's just curious if a man could give him better head than a woman. Vanessa closes her eyes and sighs. This is pointless. Dante will never agree to fulfill this man's fantasy to the point where he dies from pleasure! She begins to feel her temper rise, but tries to hold it back as much as possible. She leashes the power of her blood to make her appear even more attractive and likeable, and smiles at the couple.
"I've heard you're both into...alternative sex, or want to be. Well then, sit back and we'll give you a show, all right? See if you can learn something from it. Feel free to help each other out, if you like." The woman visibly relaxes and nods her head slowly. The man glances at the woman and looks disappointed.
"I know, my dear..." Vanessa says, moving her finger under the man's chin to tilt his face up. "I know what you're curious about. I can't say we'll be able to supply it, but you never know." She pats the man on the head, and stands back up. She walks over to the bongos where Armande's sitting, walks behind him, puts her hands on his arms and lays her chin on his shoulder.
"Dante brought those two over here...they're all wrong for this. I actually respect the woman! I'm going to let the loas decide between the animals or the humans-- I really have no idea what's going to happen once we start channeling. The loas we're channeling are consorts..." Vanessa looks regretfully at the humans. She would actually really like to see the man get his first gay blowjob-- see his reaction. She sighs regretfully.
Armande nods, "It's hard to find good help," he says as he does a quick beat on the drums.
"You just let me know when you need me to start."
Vanessa laughs quietly. "I'll say..." she whispers, squeezing his arms. "By the way, the biggest snake is Dientes-- that means "fangs." He's the boy. The lighter-colored one is Culebra-- that means "snake," and the nearly-black one is Apretura-- that means "crush." I'll have them give you a little "hug" afterwards..." she laughs.
"Fuck that," Armande says turning his head to her. "I don't want no boa givin me a hug."
Vanessa throws her head back and laughs hard. Dante looks over in their direction and raises an eyebrow. Vanessa notices this and makes an exclamation under her breath while straightening up. "We'll be getting started right away." she says in a loud voice, and walks over to Dante.
"All right, I read them. Look, there's nothing I can do for either one. The woman likes to dominate men, and the man wants a guy to give him a blow-job. You up to fulfilling either fantasy?" she asks with a smirk.
"Like HELL! Fuck that!" Dante says, taking a step back from Vanessa.
"All right then, we leave them as they are, and let the loas decide if they want human or animal-blood. Agreed?" Vanessa asks.
"Yeah, let's do that." Dante says, eyeing the humans warily.
"Great. Strip." Vanessa commands, and nods to Armande. Armande begins to play the bongos slowly, and Vanessa upzips her black leather boots and pulls them off one at a time. The humans' attention shoots over to Armande as he starts playing, and they watch him with interest until they notice the vampires taking off their clothes, and then shift their eyes back to the Sire and Childe.
Vanessa pulls her shirt off over her head, and then unfastens her skirt and pushes it down, bending to pick it up off the floor, and throws both articles of clothing into the corner where her boots were also thrown. She walks over to pick up a box of matches, and then goes around to each candle.
Dante stands staring at Vanessa with his belt undone, forgetting to continue getting undressed, and his mouth hangs open. He eyes fill with desire, and then lust, and he watches her as she moves around the room.
"Dante, stop fucking around." Vanessa says calmly, back still turned to him, and Dante blinks and quickly takes off his jacket and pulls his shirt over his head. He kicks off his shoes, pulls off his socks, and then looks down at his pants with concern.
Vanessa glances over her shoulder and rolls her eyes. "Any day now, Dante." she calls.
Dante takes in a deep breath, lets it out, and pushes his pants down. When he stands, his erection is plain to see. Vanessa smiles to herself, but continues with her work crumbling the dried hyacinthe petals onto the hot charcoal before her loa's veve.
"OK, go burn the lilac before your veve and inhale deeply." she instructs, not letting her voice betray her amusement. She fans the incense into her face and takes deep breaths.
Dante kicks his clothing into another corner, and hurries over to his loa's statue-- glad to be able to crouch down so his penis is out of everyones' view. He lights the charcoal, and then crumbles the dried lilac onto it. He mimics Vanessa's movements, fanning the incense up into his face and inhaling deeply. He glances at Vanessa and sees how her eyes are closed and she's getting into a meditative state, and decides he better take this seriously or he's going to make a fool out of himself.
He fans the smoke more slowly, and as he inhales, he imagines the face of Damballah, and visualizes the loa's spirit entering his body just as the smoke is. Soon he feels very relaxed and ready, and when he notices Vanessa stand, he stands, as well.
The two turn and walk towards the large statue of Papa Ghede in the center of the circle. Their eyes half-lidded with the beginnings of trance, first Vanessa begins to dance, and then Dante. Armande starts playing faster now, and the two channelers quicken their pace to match Armande's. The drums beat faster and faster until the two Kindred are practically spinning in circles, and then suddenly Vanessa's eyes roll back and her head drops onto her chest, and a second later the same thing happens to Dante. Armande slows the drumming to a moderate pace and watches.
Suddenly everyone in the room can hear the distant sound of waves crashing against the shore. The couple looks around the room for the source of the sound until they settle back on Vanessa. They notice suddenly that her skin is covered in filmy sheen. Her eyes open snakelike and green.
Dante's eyes flip open as well, snakelike and yellow. He stands and as he does rainbow colors begin to emerge from the film upon his skin. Scales begin to take form, his mouth elongates. A thin row of tiny razor sharp teeth emerge and his arms melt into the sides of his body.
Vanessa's shoulders begin to make cracking poping noises as rainbow colored wings emerge. Her skin too begins to color itself and her face turns snakelike as does her body.
Armande's eyes grow wide but he keeps his rhythm, too astonished to stop.
The two slither towards each other.
"Damballahsssss sssslong timesssss," Vanessa says out from razor sharp teeth. Her tongue darts forth touching Dante's face.
"Ayida Wedo....I havesss misssssed yousss," he says. The two snakes wrap their coils around each other until only their heads and hoods are seperate. They look into each others eyes.
"Thisss one needssss our helpssss," Vanessa hisses.
"Favored she issss, this one not so favoredssss..." Dante says.
"Make do..."
The two heads suddenly entwine and Armande can see something come from Dante's body into Vanessa's. Vanessa hisses as Dante's body wriggles for a moment and then stops The two untwine their heads and turn them towards the offerings.
They slither together towards the couple. The humans begin to moan and struggle against their bonds to no avail. Finally the consorts stop and inspect the man, bringing their faces close to his.
"Longsss timesss sincesss humansss," Vanessa hisses. Dante's head bobs in agreement.
The man begins moan and struggle a wetness begins to stain his pants. Dante's head rears back distaining the smell. Vanessa's head turns to the woman and gets low to look her in the eye. The woman defiantly looks back almost daring her to do something.
"Thisss one I likesss," she says and suddenly strikes biting her in the shoulder and injecting her with venom. The woman screams as pain wracks her body and convulses once. Her face reddens and the veins stick out in her neck.
"Thisss onesss marked...she will survivesss..." Vanessa says. Dante turns to the man.
"Thissss onesss no goodss..." He says strinking quickly and injecting a deadly venom. The man shrieks once and then his head falls to the floor with a sickening thud. White liquid ooozes from his dead lips.
"Perhapsss we takess thesssseesss," he says. Vanessa's head swivels to the goat and chicken.
"Thesess givensss by favored," she says. Dante's head swivels to the animals and nods.
"Yesss we takesss thossesss..." The two slither towards the animals. They strike quickly, injecting each of the animals with deadly venom and watch the light recede from their eyes.
They open their mouths until a snapping noise is heard as their jaws elongate impossibly swallowing the animals whole.
They smile at each other satisfied with the sacrifice. Vanessa's head swivels to Armande, Dante's follows and they slither towards him. Armande keeps drumming trying not to notice them as they slither up to him and inspect him.
"Thissss one hassss changed the favored," Dante says. Vanessa's head nods.
"Favored hesss isss in her eyesssss," she says. The two nod at each other. Vanessa untwines a little and opens her mouth. Her body starts a convulsing and Armande can see something being pushed up her snake body towards her mouth. She makes a retching noise as an egg rolls from her mouth onto the ground. Dante's head pushes it toward Armande.
"Thissss one givessss to favored," Dante says.
"Yesss, raisesss it she mustsss," Vanessa says.
"When timesss isss rightsss we come for itsss..."
"Rainbowsss favor for protectionssss."
"Her dutyssss to ussss," Dante finishes. Armande nods still not looking quite at them. The two heads slither back and look into each others eyes for a moment longer and then untwine themselves. The slither away to opposite corners and coils up as they begin to re-transform into their original bodies.
Vanessa lays sprawled on the ground half on her stomach and half on her side with her arms on the ground over her head. Dante lays beside her on his back. The two don't move for a while, and then finally Vanessa makes a little noise and slowly lifts her head. She pushes herself up into a sitting-position with her head hanging down as she recovers from the channeling.
Dante groans loudly and opens his eyes, staring at the ceiling. He continues laying there motionless, looking like he's just run a marathon.
Vanessa glances behind her, sees that the animals are gone, and smiles delightedly. Then she quickly looks over to the humans. They're both there, but the man no longer has a lifeforce. The woman does, but she's unconscious. Vanessa's forehead wrinkles questioningly, and she looks over at Armande. Dante moans loudly again, and Vanessa waits for him to quiet down before she speaks. "What happened?" she asks in a raspy voice. "They took the animals, killed the man, and knocked the woman unconscious? What did they think of the offerings? Were they excited to see one another? What did they do?" Vanessa rattles off question after question, her voice getting stronger as she recovers from the affects of the loas.
Armande stops druming and gets up. "I don't know what the fuck just happened. The guy-snake didn't like that fuckin guy so he killed him. The woman liked that chick so she bit her and she's been like that. They liked your offering, didn't like his. They had a good time together and they just slithered about. Oh by the way they left an egg for you to take care of until they come back for it," Armande thinks a moment as he walks over to her to help her up.
"That's it in a nutshell."
Vanessa looks up at Armande in surprise as he mentions the egg, and lets him help her up. "Where?" she asks in a soft, stunned voice. She peers over Armande's shoulder, and then she sees it laying on the floor. Her mouth drops open, and she walks over to the egg slowly as if in a trance-- her fingertips to her mouth. She kneels down reverently in front of it, and reaches out to touch it-- suddenly stopping her hands as they're an inch from the egg, as if afraid to touch it.
The egg is pure white with rainbow speckles...beautiful. Vanessa finally wills herself to pick it up with both hands, and as she lifts it to her eye-level, blood-tears suddenly fill her eyes and spill down her cheeks. Armande can see her shoulders shake, and she suddenly bows her head as a held-back sob bursts from her mouth.
Dante lifts himself up onto his elbows and looks over his shoulder to see what's going on, but can only see Vanessa's back. He glances up at Armande.
"Looks like it was quite an experience for her, too." he says with a smile, having missed-out on the part of the conversation where Armande mentioned the egg.
Armande lifts his head up and gives Dante a disaproving look.
He puts a hand on Vanessa's shoulder. He leans down and whispers in her ear.
"My advice would be to not tell this fuckin guy shit about that egg."
Vanessa nods wordlessly, wiping hastily at her eyes with one hand while cradling the egg carefully in the other. She looks up at Armande embarrassedly and gives him a little smile. "I'm sorry...I...haven't cried in decades. I...I don't know what's wrong with me. It's just...so...I'm so flattered and in awe...I don't know...it's so beautiful..." Vanessa's voices chokes again, and she puts a hand to her face, trying to cover it. "God..." she whispers, "...what's wrong with me..." She gives a shakey laugh and looks around the room quickly.
"Would you bring me the box on the top shelf of the closet? The one that looks like the box I keep the heart in? Oh, and the bag on the bottom shelf-- the black one." she asks in a quiet, shakey voice, keeping her back turned to Dante.
Dante is sitting up now, watching the two talk in low tones. He gets a frustrated set to his jaw. "Look, now why am I not bein' included in this little conversation? I just went through this, too, and I'd like to talk about it! I'm sick of being excluded from everything! I'm a fuckin' vampire-- YOUR child-- an' you're over there whispering with the ghoul! What the hell is goin' on around here!" he calls in a loud, confrontational voice, making wild hand-gestures as he speaks.
"Dante, for god's sake, I'm just a little emotional, and Armande's much better at comforting people than you are. Stop the theatrics, me intientes?" she calls back in a tired voice.
Armande gives him a look that would wither even Carter and then goes to the closet to get the box and bag. He brings them over to Vanessa keeping his body in between Dante and Vanessa to keep him from seeing.
Vanessa smiles up at Armande and takes the box and bag quickly. She opens the box, places the egg inside, and then quickly slips it into the bag. "I'm going to have the babies take care of this," she whispers. I'll need help carrying them all upstairs-- I keep the boas down here now, but Dante has a key to this room, so I need to relocate them back to the bedroom."
Dante's eyebrows raise in surprise as Armande gives him the look, and then when Armande is back over at Vanessa's side, he face turns furious.
"Did you see that? Did you see how the ghoul looked at me?? Ain't there some rule that a ghoul is supposed to show respect to the Kindred? Maybe I should tell Nero..." he says arrogantly, looking around for where he threw his clothes.
Vanessa freezes when she hears this, and her face gets livid. She wordlessly hands the bag over to Armande, gets up in a crouch, and pivots to face Dante. He doesn't even see her coming. She launches herself at him, knocking him onto his back, crouches over him, and-- faster than he can see-- her head flattens, her mouth widens, and her skin shimmers with scales as it changes into the cobra-head. Her fangs extend, and her head shoots forward in a blur. Dante convulses, and as Vanessa's head changes back to normal, blood starts to seep from two deep puncture-wounds in Dante's chest. His mouth works soundlessly, and his eyes bulge as he stares up at Vanessa.
"The poison will wear off in a moment, but while I have your undivided attention, I think it's time for another lesson."
She crouches astride his waist, leaning forward with her arms resting on her knees-- hands clasped together. "From this day forward you will not refer to Armande as "the ghoul," you will call him Armande, or "sir." He is our equal, if not our better, and we depend on him for everything, do you understand? Everything. You saw how we all jumped up and went after him when he went missing. That's the importance he has to this pack. How do you expect to get anything done without his help? Dante, if you piss him off, I don't expect him to run anymore errands for you, do you understand? I don't think Carter would particularly like to hear how you've been treating Armande, and he's not as gentle as I am."
Vanessa grabs Dante by the shoulders and pulls him towards her so their noses are an inch apart.
"I'm sick of having to resort to bullying you around. You're a natural channeler, and those are rare. I WANT to be able to treat you like an equal! Stop acting like a baby, for god's sake!" She releases Dante's shoulders, and he falls back onto the floor. Vanessa winces as his head hits. She clears her throat and makes a last statement.
"Look, it's simple. You treat Armande with respect, I'm happy. You treat me with respect, you're happy. See? Now get up and get dressed...when you're able. If you want to talk about what happened during the ritual, I'll be upstairs."
Vanessa gets up from her crouch and walks back over to Armande with her lips in a thin line.
Armande nods as he watches Vanessa voice her displeasure.
"I wouldn't piss her off kid. She's not one to be fucked with," he says over Vanessa's shoulder. He puts his arm around her and nods.
"Let's go upstairs and take care of this. I have some errands to run for Carter."
Vanessa nods, still feeling a bit angry, and walks over to her clothes, putting them on quickly and watching Dante out of the corner of her eye. She's not teaching him anymore of the Serpentis arts, that much is clear to her. She walks over to Una and clicks her tongue, crouching down and holding out her hand. Una quickly slithers over and onto Vanessa's hand, moving up and coiling around her arm, and then Vanessa stands and walks over to Dientes, bends and picks him up, and places him around her shoulders.
"Oof, big boy!" she comments under her breath as he settles on her shoulders. She moves a little more blood to her muscles, and Dientes becomes noticibly lighter.
Vanessa motions for Armande to come over to where she's standing. "How do you want to carry the girls? I can put them back into their bags like last time you carried them, or-- if you want to change your mind about that 'hug'...?" She smiles at Armande, playfulness lighting up her eyes.
Dante finally moves the fingers on one hand, and a second later the wounds in his chest close up. He watches Vanessa and Armande with an unreadable expression on his face, and after another moment he sits up, and then crawls over to his clothes. He finally stands, and starts getting dressed-- keeping his eyes on the couple the entire time.
Armande looks at the boas and puts his hands on his hips.
"If they promise not to eat me I'll carry them. Got it?"
Vanessa laughs loudly and shakes her head. "Armande, you're too much! Of COURSE they won't eat you! They LIKE you!" Vanessa crouches down next to the two snakes. "DON'T you, girls! You like Armande, don't you?" she coos, and the two female snakes lift their heads and move slowly over to Armane's feet, each one laying a head on a foot. Vanessa laughs again and stands up. "Look at that, Armande? As loving as puppies! How could you be scared of them?" she asks with a mischevious look on her face.
"Go ahead, pick them up. It's easier on the back to have them on your shoulders." Vanessa takes the black bag from Armande and wraps the strap around her wrist a few times.
Armande hefts them up and onto his shoulders. He watches them for a second as they somewhat wraps themselves around him. He walks to the door and opens it. He smiles at Vanessa.
"Not to bad, but let's get to your room. I hope these ladies aren't hungry."
Vanessa chuckles and follows Armande to the door-- giving Dante a somewhat regretful look as she passes. Dante returns the gaze as he buttons up his shirt, but his is devoid of any expression. Vanessa feels a chill run through her, and suddenly wishes the order had never been given for them to make Childer. Maybe she should ask Carter how he would handle Dante if he were his Childe...
Vanessa and Armande walk up the stairs and down to Vanessa's door. She fumbles around for her keys, finds them, and unlocks the door. She can hear voices coming from the antechamber, so it must be getting time for the pack-meeting. She walks into the room, and once Armande is in as well, she closes the door behind them.
Vanessa walks over to the bed and lowers her arm, and Una spirals down Vanessa's arm and slithers onto the bedspread.
"The boas like it in here-- it's always dark and cool." she says motioning to her walk-in closet as she moves towards it. "We can put them in here, and let them see the...the egg." she says, her voice getting soft at the end of the sentence. She walks into the closet and crouches down, lifting Dientes off her shoulders and placing him gently on the floor beneath her hanging clothes. She shifts over to the side to give Armande room. Armande puts one down then the other. He takes a step back, and looks at his watch.
"It's late and if I don't get to Carter, he'll skin me," he walks over to Vanessa and gives her a kiss.
"I'll see you later, sugar. I should be back by the time you're all done so come get me when you're ready," he says with a smile.
Vanessa gives a low, throaty laugh, and then remembrance sparks in her eyes, and she places her hand on Armande's arm.
"Wait-- before you go, I have something for you!" she says with excitement in her voice. She jogs over to her bag sitting on the floor by the dresser where she left it when she got back from her earlier errands, and places the black bag containing the egg gently beside it. She rifles through the first back until she finds her small red purse, and then stands up and walks back over to Armande.
"You said it would cost around $5,000 to have the hottub paid for and installed, so..." she opens the purse and brings out the wad of bills, handing them to Armande. "...here's my half, plus a little extra." She moves in close to Armande and lowers her voice. "We can sleep in here until the installation is done." She smiles excitedly and bites her bottom lip.
Armande takes the money looking at her with a bemused smile.
"You miss that hottub as much as I do!" he throws his arms around her and gives her a kiss. He breaks the kiss and smiles at her. "In the morning I'll call them up," he says as he walks towards the door.
"Hey remember what I said, you be fuckin careful. I don't want to come home to find...well you just be careful."
Vanessa smiles happily and rocks on her heels with her hands clasped behind her back. "I'll be careful, Armande-- you be careful, too. I don't want that bastard gravedigger dragging you off again." She walks over to the door and puts her hand on the doorknob, turning it. Before she pulls the door open, she suddenly throws her arm around Armande's neck and kisses him passionately.
Armande kisses her back just a passionately and pats her ass. He breaks the kiss and smiles at her. "I'll fuck you later," he says laughing and closing the door. Vanessa can hear him chuckle as he walks quickly down the hall.
Vanessa grins goofily and stands there for a minute staring off into space. Suddenly she blinks her eyes and steps back into her room, shutting the door behind her. She puts her purse down on the dresser, bends down and opens the black bag, and carefully lifts the box out and carries it into the walk-in closet. She stands before the boas and kneels down, placing the box on the floor, and opens it slowly. She lifts the egg out and looks at it breathlessly. Then she glances up at the ceiling and mouths the words, "thank you..." with emotional eyes. She doesn't know what exactly she's been entrusted with, but she can't wait to find out.
She shifts her eyes down to look at the boas, and then places the egg gently in their midst. "Ninos...I'm sure you saw everything that happened tonight, including the gift of this precious egg. Now I, in turn, entrust it to your expert care. Keep it warm and keep it protected, carinos, like your own egg." As she watches, the snakes move their coils until the egg is completely hidden from view. Vanessa moves her head down close to them, and the four communicate in quiet hisses for a moment.
Finally Vanessa nods, caresses each snake, and stands. She looks through her closet until she finds her tight cream-colored bell-bottom slacks and black tube-top, and changes into them, leaving her black boots on. Before she leaves her room, she puts on her black leather jacket, ties a black scarf around her neck, and sticks a pair of sunglasses into one of her pockets. She takes a last look around the room, blows Una a kiss, and then leaves and locks the door behind her.
She exits her room just as Dante is approaching. She's in such a good mood that, on an impulse, she puts her arm around Dante's waist and walks with him towards the antechamber.
"Come on-- stop looking like a whipped puppy! You really have to learn how to show respect to your Sire, you know." Vanessa urges in a low voice.
"Yeah...you're right." Dante says in a surprisingly humble voice. "I just passed Aether an' his Childe comin' down the stairs, an' he treats her like SHIT! He's leading her around with his hand down her pants! What the hell?? And I heard from Grunty that Nero beats HIS Childe and keeps him shackled up! Can you fuckin' believe that??" Dante looks at Vanessa with new gratitude, and tentatively puts his arm around her waist, as well.
Vanessa sighs and shakes her head. "Carter hasn't said anything about how Aether treats his Childe, but there's got to be some rule against that. Nero...I don't even think that man is his Childe. I don't know why he keeps trying to complicate things!" she hisses in frustration. Then the two enter the antechamber.
"Ah Nero! How are things going?" she asks in a bright, cheerful voice.