Cliodhna struggled to try to get to her hands and knees when she was suddenly grabbed roughly by the back of her jacket and lifted into the air. She found herself staring into the leader's hideous face! He asked her where she thought she was going, and then slammed her into the brick wall. She felt herself losing consciousness, and then heard the leader's echoey voice commanding someone else to heal her, and with a shock she felt a little strength come back into her limbs. But before she could do anything, she was slammed again into the wall, healed a little, and slammed again. In a moment of desperation she sent out the mental cry "HELP ME!"
Just as she was about to slam into the wall a third time, she heard men's voices shouting right behind her and was dropped to the ground. She was rolled over carefully by a couple of men she didn't know, and saw that there was fighting going on at her feet. Hierarchy soldiers were driving the remaining three spectres off! The two at her sides worked to heal her the best they could, and she told them who she was, gave her cohort's number, and described what had happened at the docks. They nodded and said that they had heard, and when they couldn't heal her anymore, they advised she go to one of her fetters to heal up for a week. She nodded, thanked them over and over again, and the next minute she was gone.
She opened her eyes, and she was laying in her grandparents' attic. She had enough strength now to float downstairs and find her grandfather, and tell him to deliver a message to her mother...to find a thurge who could contact Turtle by any means necessary. Her grandfather could tell that she had been badly injured and was very concerned about her. She said that the city had been attacked by five powerful spectres who had almost killed her and her unit, and for him to tell her mother to ascend-- to leave Turtle's back, forget this idea of waiting for her friends, and just ascend to Gaia. Her grandfather nodded and said he would do this immediately, and she told him she would be resting and healing nearby for the next week.
Marie-Claire was sitting and talking to Jack when she suddenly heard Cliodhna's voice cry out one time, "help me!" and Marie staggered to her feet in alarm. "Cliodhna? Where are you?" but the voice never shouted again.
Amber was sitting with her back against the world-tree telling Turtle stories from her childhood, when suddenly the cutest little miniature-version of Turtle swam onto his back and crawled over to Amber. She exclaimed over his cuteness and laughed, but then when he started speaking her smile melted away. He told her that Cliodhna had been badly injured by Markova's spectres, and she questioned him for a few minutes. As she listened to him-- commenting that this was too early for her daughter to be facing Markova's top henchmen-- a plan began to form in her head. She finally thanked the Turtle-spirit for delivering the message, and sat back with her eyes closed. There wasn't a lot of time...she'd better think quickly.
Cliodhna, Brianna, Aaron, and Jonny took a week to slumber and recover their losses, and then met up again to report what had happened. They all decided to make another quick trip to the castigator. Ray and Dr. Steele were relieved to be reunited with everyone, and reported what they'd seen while following the governor and Daniel for the week. Ray said that the governor hadn't done or said anything incriminating, but had been in a lot of meetings which had been warded so he wasn't able to hear what was discussed, but he had the definite impression that the Grim ranks were being bolstered in order to attack the Renegades soon. Dr. Steele said that Daniel, too, hadn't said anything incriminating, but that while he was following Daniel home from a Phantasm play, Daniel had suddenly taken a wrong turn and gone into Brooklyn. Dr. Steele only dared to follow him so far into Renegade territory, and then returned to the border and waited until he returned a couple hours later, and then followed him back into the city.
Cliodhna listened to all of this, and then told Ray that he would be coming with them, and Dr. Steele would be assigned to watch the governor now. Cliodhna led the cohort over to the Hall of the Grim and asked to see Daniel right away. The secretary asked on what business they had come, and she replied that it was business for the anaceron's ears only, and they were soon led into Daniel's office. He congratulated the cohort on their good work, and said they would be honored at a medals ceremony the following afternoon. Cliodhna felt uncomfortable at the thought of being awarded a medal because she thought she had fought horribly, and was still shamed for having flown away, but she thanked Daniel. All the while Aaron was scanning for any Shadow-activity in Daniel, but shook his head slightly at Cliodhna when she glanced at him.
She then told Daniel that they had come because they were concerned about him, and asked if he had noticed moments where his Shadow might have taken him over recently? He replied that he hadn't been feeling well, but that he knew his Shadow hadn't been taking him over. Then he got defensive and asked why she was asking this. She replied that there had been witnesses who had spotted him going into Renegade territory a couple nights before, and she was wondering what had happened. Now Daniel was really getting mad, said that he NEVER went into Renegade territory, and asked if she was challenging his leadership. Cliodhna replied that she was never one to follow blindly, and there was a tense minute when no one spoke. Daniel asked her again if she was challenging him, and after staring hard at him for a few seconds, she responded "no sir," apologized, and asked if they had any new orders. Daniel seemed to calm down at this, and told them to carry on their work at the docks, and not to forget about the medals ceremony. Cliodhna nodded and bowed her head, and the cohort left.
The group decided that they needed to find out what Daniel had been up to, so they went over to Matthew's house to talk to Angelo and William. They found the Garou and Angelo protecting the place, and Cliodhna quickly told Angelo about Ray's suspicions that the governor was getting ready to attack the Renegades. Angelo said that Lucky wouldn't be happy to hear about this, but that he would tell him. Angelo told them that William was at Matthew's school watching over him, so the group decided to go to the school, as well. They found the school, and then found Matthew's classroom and entered. They saw William standing in the back behind Matthew-- Matthew was sitting in the very back, and no kids were sitting at any of the desks surrounding him. The teacher would ask a question, and even though Matthew raised his hand every time, he was never called on. Cliodhna and Ray felt their anger rising again, and started plotting little tricks they could play on the teacher and class to get revenge for poor Matthew. William came over to them shaking his head, and told them that anything weird or scary that happened with Matthew nearby would only cause him more grief. Cliodhna and Ray finally had to agree, and gave up their revenge-dreams.
Now that Cliodhna had control of herself again, she told William about how Dr. Steele had followed Daniel and saw him go into Renegade territory. William listened to everything, and then said that the cohort should check out the Swarian district and the Jade district because Daniel might have gone to one of those two places. The group thanked him for his advice, and left for the border. They would be passing Lucky's restaurant on the way there, so they decided to stop in and pay them a visit. Ray had mentioned that he needed to make money so he could buy some Stygian steel weapons, and he wanted to ask Lucky if there was any jobs he could do for him.
The group was welcomed into the restaurant, and Ray spoke with Lucky for a few minutes. Cliodhna heard Lucky mention that his granddaughter was seeing a guy that Lucky didn't approve of, and heard Ray ask how dead Lucky wanted him? Then she lost the rest of the conversation when one of Lucky's men asked them how they were doing. Aaron was in a particularly nasty mood, so he told the man that he'd been working on becoming a Doomslayer because he wanted out of this Micky Mouse outfit. Cliodhna-- feeling a bit testy, herself, because of her confrontation with Daniel and having to watch Matthew being mistreated-- snapped back that Aaron wanted to be a Doomslayer because he liked jumping into the Tempest...or rather, being THROWN into the Tempest! The two started trading insults-- their Shadows cackling and egging them on-- until Aaron jumped up and challenged her to a fight. At this point Lucky finally broke in and lectured the group, telling them that if they continued to have dissention and fighting, they wouldn't make it. He told them that they needed to get this fight over with so they could go back to being a functioning until, and told them to take it outside-- "don't disrespect the pizza parlor!"
One of Lucky's men played referee, made sure both parties were stripped of their weapons, and sent them after each other. Cliodhna quickly flickered past Aaron, and he tried to hit her but missed. She turned and concentrated on his mind, and had almost succeeded in putting him to sleep when he was able to break her lock on him. He punched the air, and suddenly the wind was almost knocked out of Cliodhna! She recognized this arcana as a more-advanced level of Outrage-- one that she hadn't learned yet. Cliodhna again flickered past Aaron with her arm outstretched to clothes-line him, but at the last second he got lucky and dodged as her arm whistled over his head. Again he stone-hand punched at her, and again she staggered back. The two went another round of this when Aaron decided to call off the fight. Cliodhna was extremely angry that she had even agreed to this fight, and was even angrier that brawn seemed to be valued over brains. This was a very different world than the one she'd come from, and she decided it was time to increase her strength and power.
They left the restaurant and continued on to the Swarian district. As they crossed the border, they were suddenly surrounded by colors! The leaves were green, and flower-petals were red-- real, bright colors like no one had seen since they were alive! Ray picked some roses for a bouquet, and where he'd picked the roses from, new ones grew up. The group entered the district and spoke to a man who greeted them, asking if he'd noticed a Changeling anaceron come in here. The man was very cheerful and happy and said that they had many Changelings and many anacerons in there all the time, so they should speak with the manager because he might know the answer.
They found the man-- a short, fat, jovial man-- who instantly recognized Daniel's description, and said that he came in about once every two weeks or so to see one particular hooker named Gloria. The group looked at each other in confusion-- Daniel was gay! Then Aaron whispered that while Daniel was gay, his Shadow might not be, and the group nodded that this made sense. They asked to see Gloria, and the manager told them that she was with The Kid and probably wouldn't be down for a couple of hours because The Kid liked to talk and talk afterwards. Cliodhna sighed in frustration-- two seconds from running upstairs and yanking Gloria from the room-- and they said they would wait.
The manager said that he had just received a very rare shipment-- 10 Arabian horses picked from the king's own stables! Brianna and Aaron looked very interested in this little piece of news, and followed the manager out to look at the horses. Cliodhna wasn't interested in any horse-haggling, so she wandered around the casino glancing disinterestedly at the many people gambling. At one point a handsome man-whore approached her, putting his hand on her arm and propositioning her, and in turn she took his hand and flung it off her arm, telling him to leave her alone. He looked hurt, but honored her wishes and left.
Cliodhna again wandered the casino, wondering how much longer she would have to wait for the cohort and the prostitute, when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her back. The man whispered for her to stay back, that the governor was at the next table gambling, and it was then that she recognized the man who had grabbed her as Dr. Steele! He told her that the governor had been coming in here to gamble a lot lately, and showed her how no matter how bad he was gambling, the casino let him win every time. The two talked quietly for a little while while watching the governor, and then Cliodhna told him that he'd done good work and left him to try to find the group. She was in a quiet, contemplative mood. Was every government as lax and pleasure-seeking as the Hierarchy? Maybe if the Hierarchy were ever taken over and had to wrestle their power, lands, and rights back from a tyrranical ruler, then they'd take their cause more seriously. But then look at America! They had once been oppressed by an absentee landlord just as Northern Ireland is-- by the same landlord even-- and once enough years had gone by they had turned complacent and pleasure-seeking, as well.
Finally the group came back with the manager-- everyone looking pleased with themselves-- and Brianna announced excitedly that she was now the proud owner of a beautiful white mare that she'd named Hope. Aaron started teasing Cliodhna, telling her that she was so uptight that he would buy her a man-whore himself just to get her to loosen up a little! Cliodhna was able to ignore his jibes and congratulate Brianna on her new horse, but then noticed that The Kid-- Anaceron Kelly-- and Gloria were finally coming down the steps. Cliodhna approached the Kid, and she and Brianna asked if they could talk with him. He said yes, and Brianna asked him if he ever talked to Gloria or the other prostitutes about politics or government...anything he shouldn't be talking about...and he swore vehemently that he never did.
She told him that Daniel frequently slept with Gloria, and they were concerned that he might be telling her things that he shouldn't, and that Daniel was being taken over more and more frequently by his Shadow. The Kid looked concerned, and said that all the anacerons had noticed Daniel acting funny, and had all tried to get him to see a castigator but he never wanted to go. Brianna also mentioned that they were suspicious that when Daniel was here, he was his Shadow because Daniel was gay and wouldn't pick Gloria out to sleep with. The Kid couldn't believe that Daniel was gay-- he was so sure that he couldn't be gay-- but the group nodded and backed up Brianna's words. The Kid agreed that he'd noticed Daniel acting funny, and Cliodhna said she didn't think he was in any condition to continue as anaceron. The Kid looked at her gravely and said that in that case she needed to go to Stygia and report this to the Office of Inquisition. Cliodhna nodded and said she would do exactly that.
Cliodhna suddenly realized that she was talking to THE Kid who had grown up with Jack, and told him that she had some good news for him. She knew how hard Jack's death had hit the Kid, and she also knew that The Kid must think that her mother's group had been the worst bodyguards in history, so she decided that she needed to defend her mother's group AND deliver some wonderful news to The Kid. She asked if he remembered her mother's group who had been sent to protect him, and he said he did. She told him that she was Amber's daughter, and he asked how that could be possible-- she was such a young wraith! She explained-- thinking quickly-- that she had been floating in the Tempest for a very long time before she'd been reaped, and The Kid nodded. She then asked if he remembered Jack, and a look of sorrow shadowed his eyes as he nodded. She started explaining that Jack was something called an Immortal, and wasn't dead. The Kid exclaimed that he'd seen Jack be shot and killed with his own eyes, and Cliodhna laughed and said that he'd been shot and killed many times over the past century and a half. The Kid looked very disturbed and finally told her that he couldn't hear anymore of this right now, and walked quickly out of the casino.
Cliodhna again kicked herself, wondering why everytime she tried to make people happy, she only made them sad or distressed. She strided over to the manager, asking where Gloria had gone, and he replied that she'd gone home for the night. Cliodhna was extremely frustrated when the manager told them he had no idea where she "lived," and told him she'd be back tomorrow. The group left-- Brianna leading her new horse-- and went to the Jade district. The head of that district told them in short order that no Hierarchy member was allowed inside, so there was no way a Changeling anaceron could be going inside. However, the man did recognize Jonny Brashley, and said that Jonny's music was huge in the Kingdom of Jade! Jonny was able to book a concert to play for them that evening, and the rest of the group left to enjoy the night and next day off...in theory, anyway!
The next morning Cliodhna went bright and early to the harbor to book passage for Dr. Steele to go to Stygia and file the complaint with the Office of Inquisition. His boat would leave in 2 days and take a week to get to Stygia, and Cliodhna knew she had to stay behind to make sure Matthew's last week of life was protected, so she entrusted Dr. Steele with a long, detailed letter from her, signed by the entire cohort.
That being done, the group gathered and went to where Daniel told them to go for the awards ceremony. They were enthusiastically greeted by a very flamboyant man who looked them over and personally chose the outfits and hairstyles they would have for the ceremony, and then got them into wardrobe immediately. It may have been the first time Cliodhna had ever worn a formal gown-- or ANY gown-- that she could remember, and it felt odd to have her hair hanging down around her face...she didn't like the obstruction to her vision...but she went along with the man because he seemed so excited about his job of dressing them.
The man led them to their waiting-spots just off stage, and they listened to the speaker go on and on about the good things the Hierarchy had done for the city. Finally they went onto the stage to the thunderous applause of the audience, and received their medals of honor from Paul. Before they knew it they were back in wardrobe changing back into their old clothing-- Cliodhna wrapping her long hair back into the usual bun. She was anxious to get back to the Swarian district and question that prostitute.
They got there in no time flat, and didn't have to wait long before they spotted her coming down the stairs with another satisfied customer. As they walked quickly towards her, she spotted them and tried to turn and run, but Cliodhna flickered to her side and grabbed her arm. Gloria wanted to know what they wanted, and Cliodhna said they needed to talk to her for a minute. Aaron chose today again to tease Cliodhna, and butted into the conversation telling Cliodhna that he would personally pay for Gloria to be with Cliodhna if Cliodhna wanted to get layed. Now Cliodhna lost her temper, and turned and grabbed Aaron by the collar telling him that her sex-life was no one's business but her own. He grinned good-naturedly, and she released her grip and turned back to Gloria, but he continued to tease and pester her the whole time they were there.
Brianna and Cliodhna questioned Gloria, asking if Daniel ever told her political secrets or revealed how he felt about any politicians while he was with her. She said he just did the usual griping and complaining that all the guys tended to do-- that was all. Gloria was a very self-confident, arrogant little whore, and Cliodhna knew within a few seconds that she despised her...and let her know that in so many words. They asked her why Daniel would go to her when he preferred men, and in an instant Gloria had moliated into a little boy and informed them that this was how Daniel liked her when he came by. Gloria wasn't being very helpful, so Cliodhna put her to sleep, entered her dream, and placed an image of Daniel with her in the dream. She crafted the dream so that Gloria would play out everything that had happened the last time Daniel visited her. For the first half of the dream Cliodhna had to look away, but then Daniel started talking. He complained about the governor's treatment of him, said how much he hated and despised the governor, and complained about how the governor was practically taking over the Grim Legion and taking more than his share of the new recruits. This was about all there was to get, so Cliodhna exited the dream, woke Gloria back up, and the group made their departure. They were really confused now! Daniel hated the governor?? But everyone thought they were the best of friends! Things were getting weirder and weirder!
When Cliodhna got back to her barracks room she composed another letter-- this one requesting that her cohort, the 154th-- have their weekly pay raised, and that they be considered for promotion. The reply came before the end of the day. Their pay would be raised by 1 obeli a week, and their petition for promotion was under consideration. It was Paul who sent the reply, and he suggested in parenthesis that they kill more spectres and continue being seen protecting the city and they would be promoted in no time. Cliodhna was a little disappointed in the second answer, but recognized the requirement to prove herself before receiving further accolades. Speaking of accolades, Cliodhna suddenly realized that Brianna hadn't been at the awards ceremony! Where WAS she?
When the next day dawned, the cohort went in search of Brianna. As they were crossing through a park, they saw her racing across the grass on her horse as if she were being pursued by Markova, himself! When she caught sight of the group, she reeled up next to them and shouted that they had to follow her-- there wasn't much time before Matthew's death now. Jonny got his car, and everyone piled in and followed after Brianna.
They got to Matthew's house and peeked their heads through the walls to see what was going on inside. They saw Matthew hugging his father good-bye as he left for work, and they saw Thomas go out the front door and get into his car. Then Matthew came running out and said something to his father and then went back into the house. Thomas looked a little confused, but pulled out of the driveway and went off to work. They stuck their heads back through the wall and saw Matthew getting his bag and getting ready to leave for school. He hugged and kissed his mother, said something to her that made her look a little confused, and then ran outside.
The group followed after Matthew, saw him join up with a boy who was obviously being forced to walk with him to school, and they started off. Once they got out of view of the house, the boy turned back into his normal, mean self, made Matthew give him a dollar, and then ran off. This time Cliodhna couldn't take it anymore. She followed after the boy a little ways, and then made him trip and fall. He fell flat on his face and chipped one of his front teeth. He started crying-- blood dripping from his mouth-- and ran back home. Cliodhna grinned a satisfied grin, brushed off her hands, and went back to the group. Hey-- you can't endure a childhood of being teased by a bunch of Garou bigger than you and just stand by and watch it happen to someone else!
Cliodhna joined the group and Ray gave her an approving nod. They turned and looked at Matthew, and he suddenly stared...it looked like he was staring at them, yet not at them at the same time-- it was very disconcerting. Suddenly, from the area Matthew had been staring at sprang five 4-headed spectres! Matthew continued on to school as if he didn't see anything, and each of the cohort members took on one of the spectres. Now they were fighting like a well-oiled machine, and it wasn't long before each of them had hacked their spectre to pieces-- saving the heads and whatever pieces of corpus were left. They quickly ran after Matthew again, and it wasn't long before they spotted him-- crossing a busy intersection.
Brianna began to panic, telling them that she'd seen Matthew's death in a vision, and that he would be killed by a hit-and-run driver. The whole group held their breaths, and Matthew made it across safely. The cohort hurried after him again-- their nerves on edge. The walk continued on for a few more minutes, and then Matthew had to cross a second busy intersection. He waited by the side of the road as the cars rushed by. Suddenly he turned towards the group, and then time seemed to slow. There was a flash of light, and from out of nowhere a group of strangers appeared standing on the sidewalk. They were wearing odd clothes-- like from another time-period. Matthew smiled at them, and without taking his eyes from them he stepped back into the road. A car hit him, throwing him high into the air, and when he landed his head hit hard. The Wraiths could see the crack in the back of his head. The strangers looked as surprised as the Wraiths, and then they were gone.
The driver of the car began to panic and looked terrified. As people began screaming and rushing over to help Matthew, the car that hit him sped off down the street. Cliodhna's eyes darkened, and she sprouted wings and took off after the car. Another figure-- standing across the street unnoticed by the Wraiths-- lifted his arms and ascended into the clouds, cane clutched in one hand. Soon the ambulence arrived and loaded Matthew in. The paramedics looked grim, and Aaron jumped in the back of the ambulence while Jonny and Brianna followed after in car and on horse. At the moment before Matthew had been hit, both of his parents had suddenly received the same vision Brianna had received, and Thomas had rushed home to get his panic-stricken wife. They made it to the scene of the accident just after the ambulence arrived, and followed it all the way to the hospital.
Meanwhile, Cliodhna followed the car until it pulled into the garage of its owner. The man jumped out of the car and ran into the house shaking. Cliodhna materialized through the walls and was about to appear before the man when they both noticed two other men standing in his living room. Amon and Angelo. Amon advanced on the man and ordered him to turn himself in. The man-- completely out of control with fear-- stuttered that he couldn't...what about his family? His life? His job? He just couldn't do that! Amon told him again to turn himself in, and again the man said no way. Now Angelo couldn't control himself anymore and pulled out his gun. "You motherless f&$*!" he yelled and began pumping the man full of bullets. When the man was dead, Amon and Angelo turned to face each other. Amon drew a gun, they both nodded, and then shot each other as many times as they could before they both dropped to the ground. Amon died quickly, but Angelo lay on the floor moaning. Cliodhna flew out of the house as fast as she could and made for Matthew's house in search of Jack and Marie.
She was able to find them quickly-- Matthew's parents had smashed into their car in their haste to find Matthew. Cliodhna slid into the car and whispered into Marie's ear, "Marie! Follow me quickly!"
"Cliodhna! Where are you-- what's wrong?"
"I'm going ta appear ta ye-- please don't be alarmed." Cliodhna materialized-- complete with her wings-- and told Marie to follow after her in the car. Marie did exactly that, and soon they were pulling up to the house where Amon and Angelo lay. They all hurried into the house, and Jack and Marie started in horror at the sight they found before them. Cliodhna quickly explained that Amon and Angelo had made a pact-- they both needed to return to the world of Wraiths to help the cause there now that Atepa was returning-- but Angelo wasn't quite dead yet and needed them to kill him. Angelo had enough consciousness left to croak out for them to kill them, and Jack drew his sword and finished the job.
Cliodhna was about to ask them where they should take the two bodies when a voice greeted Jack coldly from the front door. Jack started, and then recognized the man as George Lakey-- another of his teacher Davina's students. He had recently received word that the Gathering had begun-- the Gathering began the time when Immortals would kill each other until there was only one left-- and that George had just killed Davina and absorbed her powers. The two faced off against each other for a duel to the death, but it soon became obvious that with George's newly-stolen powers he was more powerful than Jack. Even so, George had never been one to fight fare, and in order to gain a cheap edge to the fight, he pulled out a gun and shot Jack.
Jack fell to the ground, and George advanced on him with his sword ready to behead him. Just as he swung his blade, Marie threw herself in front of Jack and received a fatal slice through her belly...the sword was silver just in case she tried this very thing. But George was caught completely off-guard, and Jack's anger brought him to his feet in a split-second and with a forceful swing he separated George's head from his body. Cliodhna screamed "Aunt Marie!" and fell to Marie's side, unable to do anything to help. Jack's body began vibrating with energy as all the power George had absorbed went from George's body into Jack's.
Marie blinked and found herself standing on Turtle's back...and Amber was nowhere to be seen.
Markova stood in his Roman encampment surrounded by his men. One of the men pointed and Markova turned to see what he was pointing at...it was Amber. He looked at her and walked towards her impatiently. He told her that he was tired of playing these games. This was her last chance, and if she declined, he never wanted to see her again. He held out his hand to her and asked, "well, what is your decision? Will you join me or not?" Amber looked at him for a moment, and then a small smile curved her lips and she took his hand. "I will."
 |
 |
Matthew's ambulence finally arrived at the hospital. The paramedics turned Matthew over to the doctors, but both crews agreed that there was nothing they could do for him. The doctors rushed him into surgery, but all they could do was stitch the wounds closed and put him on life-support. They set him up in a room, and his parents came in to see him. The doctor told them that he was alive, but he wasn't their son anymore-- his cat-scan was completely flat-lined. The doctor stood back to let the parents say their last good-byes to Matthew, and they wept over their son's tragic fate.
But they weren't alone in the room-- although they couldn't see anyone else, the cohort stood around the bed, Ahura had stepped into the room, and a bright ball of light was flickering in the middle of the room...it was Amon's Ba, or soul. Back in New York Necropolis, all the Amenti came out of the Met and stood looking straight up at the sky. And as one they opened their mouths and out of their mouths poured the music of Egypt. To Brianna only appeared the three Ladies of Fate holding a single thread between them. They looked at her and whispered, "He is in pain. There is something within him screaming to get out. Only you can release him. He is yours to take-- you must do this." They gestured to the life-support machine, and Brianna nodded emotionally and went over to it, flicking the switch to off as the Lady Atropos cut the thread with her scissors.
Amber woke resting on a bed of pillows and smiled when she saw Markova standing near her feet. Markova-- seeing that she was awake-- called to his guards to bring the woman in. Amber watched in surprise as the very same female Garou who had helped kill her was led into the room. Amber was speechless as she waited to see what Markova would do with her. He pointed at Amber and asked the woman if she recognized her, and the woman stammered that she'd never seen her before in her life. Markova began to lose his temper and told her that Amber was the woman she had killed back in the tunnels of Belfast-- didn't she remember her? The woman squinted at Amber shaking her head, and then slowly recognition dawned in her eyes. "Oh her-- the Garou. We weren't after her! She just got in our way! We were after Cliodhna McPhearson, I swear it!" Amber felt her mouth dry up and the pit of her stomach fall out, freezing in horror as the words hung in the air.
Markova began pacing in frustration-- looking at Amber and shaking his head as if to say what an idiot the woman was-- when suddenly something about the name registers as being familiar. His head swings around and he fixes a look on the woman. "Who?"
