"Thank you for coming with me," Sully said competing with the loud music of the club.
"Not a problem. do you often come here?" Abigail asked.
"I do spend a lot of time here when business permits me," he disclosed.
"If you're anything like Russell you put your heart and sole into it," she replied.
"I do actually. It's a big part of my life. As it was for Russell, I'm sure. I care very much for my brood," he answered.
"It's strange because I've never seen so many clans get along in one place so well. most of my encounters have been with the Ventrue clan," she revealed.
"I do pride myself and the Princes before me in being able to keep the peace amongst so many. However, there are still those would not' understand," Sully replied.
"You mean the Vigilante?" she asked watching the business of the club from the booth.
"Yes, the Vigilante," he answered smiling looking at Abigail.
Abigail turned to him, feeling his gaze. She smiled back at him. "Where's Joey?" she asked.
"Out feeding, I'm sure. He'll be back soon. You don't have to worry though. He knows you're safe with me," he replied.
"Oh, I"m not worried. I trust Joey, so if he trusts you then I know I"m safe," she said still watching him.
"You and Joey, you guys go a long ways back?" he asked.
"Yeah, Russell and Joey came to Salem about one hundred years ago. The three of us became close and traveled a bit. They left for a while then returned. That was just after Russell turned the city over to you because Joey was called back, but Russell said he wanted to stay," Abigail explained.
"You knew Russell well didn't you?" Sully questioned.
"Yes, i did. He was very tired and needed time for himself, but he did care very much for you all here. He spoke often of his home in San Francisco," she answered.
"I miss him sometimes. There are many times I could use his advise," he replied.
"I miss him too, but he'll always be a part of you. His blood runs through your veins and you'll always remember him," she responded.
"You know he's my sire?" he asked a bit shocked.
"Yes. As a witch, I have certain powers. One of which is the ability to sense vampyres. I can even distinguish who the vampyre is just by feeling. I feel Russell in you. It's actually quite comforting," she answered smiling.
"Good, because I want you to be comfortable with me. With all of us," he replied.
"I do. With Joey and with you," she said turning her attention to the dance floor again.
"I'm glad to hear that. The others you will trust with time," he responded.
"I'm sure I will, but for the time being I'll feel most comfortable if you or Joey are with me," she answered.
"That can be arranged," he replied softly in her ear.
"What's the story on Jolee? You two together?" she asked still watching people dance before her.
"Oh gosh no. She has a thing for a lot of men, but not for me," he laughed.
"Really?" she asked turning her attention back to Sully.
"Really, I"m not involved with anyone. Her and Joey constantly razz me about it. For centuries they've hastled me about it," he replied still chuckling.
"Why haven't you found someone?" she asked intrigued.
"I don't know. Why haven't you? We can ask why all we want but unless you fall in love with someone, it really does you no good," he answered.
"You're right. I just figured you've been around for a while and it's given you time to do so. Are you capable of love?" she asked.
"Yes, vampyres are capable of love,"Sully answered intoxicated by just looking at her.
"That wasn't my question. I asked if you were capable of love?" she asked again starring into his beautiful green eyes.
"Yes, I believe I am. I just haven't found anyone to love yet," he replied.
Abigail watched him intensely. She felt a strange feeling come over her. She wasn't quite sure what it was but it was nice.
She watched Sully look at her lips. She felt herself begin to slowly lean in towards him as if he was magnetically pulling her into him. Sully bent down feeling her warm breath against his lips. He felt her hot lips barely touch his.
He wanted to kiss her. He was desperate to kiss her. She was so close to him that he could taste the sweetness of her breath. It took everything in him not to grab her and kiss her as he's never done before, but this was too sweet. He felt her lips lightly against his.
"Hey," Jolee's voice interupted sending the two back to their original positions.
"Hey," Sully answered trying to regain himself.
"Am I interrupting anything important? Can I join you?" Jolee asked.
"Of course," Sully said scooting close to Abigail to give Jolee room.
"Having a good time?" Jolee asked.
"Yes, of course. It's hard not to here," Sully replied finally collecting himself.
"Yeah sure. How about you Abigail?" Jolee asked.
"Yes thanks," Abigail smiled.
"Good, now what were we talking about?" Jolee asked.
"Sully was just telling me about everyone," Abigail said quickly.
"I see. Beginning with himself I"m sure," Jolee responded raising an eyebrow.
"Not really. He hasn't spoke much of himself. We were just starting the conversation," Abigail replied.
"Well good thing I"m here. I'm the gossip queen. I know everything about everyone. Ask Sully," Jolee smiled.
"She does," Sully agreed feeling a bit awkward.
"So tell me about the council members," Abigail requested.
"Well there's me. I'm the owner of the club, leader of the Toreador clan," Jolee began.
"I"m not too familiar with the Toreador clan. I mostly know Ventrues," Abigail replied.
"Well we're the artists of the vampyre. Anything having to do with the arts, music, art, writing, that sort. You'll find we're the one's with style," Jolee explained.
"Which explains why you do so well with the club. It's all that in one place," Abigail observed.
"I like her. She catches on quick," Jolee said to Sully. He smiled and nodded to Jolee in agreement.
"What about the Gangrel?" Abigail asked.
"They are a bit rustic but they're a good clan. They are mostly the brute of this town. The muscle so to speak," Jolee began.
"Their clan is very trusted to me. they are loyal and the leader is is very close to me," Sully added.
"I would guess so, since he's your personal bodyguard," Abigail replied.
"Artistically and fashionably they are as dead as their bodies. Dressing mostly like bikers, most also have characteristics like animals but they are loyal," she added.
"The Tremere are a loyal group as well," Sully moved on.
"Oh yes. Legend has it they are the closely related to witches. They have certain powers close to that of witchcraft. On the fashion table, they do have taste. Their only flaw would be they stick to black," Jolee rambled.
Abigail leaned into Sully while Jolee went on a tangent about how drab black was. "Lance knew what I was," she whispered.
Sully nodded and smiled, "It's ok. They're known for their good relations with witches," he whispered back.
"Anyhow, someone needs to smack them and let them know color is in," Jolee continued.
"Jolee has a thing for a Tremere," Sully announced.
"I do not have a 'thing'," she replied.
"What do you call what goes on between you and Lance?" Sully asked.
"Me and Lance? Well we're very close. We flirt and play with each other," she answered.
"A thing," Sully laughed.
"Onto the next clan," Jolee changed the subject.
"The Malkavian," Sully sighed.
"They are just weird. Mostly insane beings. They have no attention spans, they pull practical jokes on everyone and make no sense when they talk half the time. Definitely they have no fashion sense," Jolee said rolling her eyes.
"They're mostly like children. Their phases jump constantly. They'll sound intelligent one second then be babbling the next. To top everything off, most suffer some degree of metal illness," Sully explained.
"Like how?" Abigail asked amused.
"For example, Tom seems to suffer from overcompensation. There are times he feels he has to prove himself and can even exaggerate things he knows he's good at," Sully answered.
"Then there's Mark. I guess you can say he's Tom's lover. Mark has delusions of grandeur. So he thinks he's the best at everything even thinking he's a super hero. It's very humorous," Jolee laughed.
"It doesn't happen often. They do a good job at fighting it," Sully reassured.
"And what about Ventrue. What about you Sully?" Abigail asked.
"You know about Ventrue," Sully responded.
"Humor me. Tell me your thoughts Jolee," Abigail requested.
"Well Ventrue are more the business men clan. Professionals. They dress accordingly. Which I must say isn't too bad, but suits only go so far," Jolee replied.
Sully leaned back rolling his eyes. Abigail sat forward interested in Jolee's information.
"As for Sully here, we've been friends for a long time. He's a good man and cares very much for all of us, but works way too hard in my opinion. He needs to find himself someone to relax him," Jolee continued leaning to Abigail as if they were sharing secrets.
"Anything else?" Abigail giggled.
"Nah, Sully's boring really," Jolee laughed.
"I am not," sully interrupted.
"Touchy," Jolee played.
"I've had to put up with this for centuries," Sully sighed.
Abigail suppressed her giggles. She was surprised at how comfortable she felt with them.
"Hey, there's Lance," Jolee smiled waving to Lance. "Lance, come here."
Lance walked to the table, cane in hand. "Come sit with us," Jolee said motioning for her two colleagues to move over. They obliged, Abigail moved to the end of the booth while Sully moved next to her still sitting close to her. Lance then sat next to Jolee who made room for him.
"Good evening," Lance said after he sat.
The group said their hellos as Jolee cuddled up to the man. Lance wrapped a long arm around her.
"We were just informing Abigail about all the clans,: Sully informed.
"I see," Lance replied behind his thing dark sunglasses.
"Now that we've told you all about us, how about you telling us about you?" Jolee asked curiously.
"There's not a whole lot to tell," Abigail replied.
"Come, come now. A mortal who knows of the Masquerade and knew our ex-Prince and Joey. I think there's a story there somewhere," Lance responded.
"Not really except what you just said," Abigail said avoiding the subject.
"We could start with you being a witch," Lance replied allowing his green eyes to peer over his glasses.
"Ok, it's true. I'm a witch," Abigail answered.
"Really? I've never known a witch,"Jolee asked, interested.
"Yes, I've known Joey almost 100 years now. He and Russell came to Massachusetts," Abigail informed.
"How long do witches really live?" Jolee questioned.
"It varies of course. Naturally on an average of 350 to 400, although there are accounts of older witches," Abigail answered.
"How old are you?" Jolee asked, fascinated.
"About 150, you lose count after a while," Abigail giggled.
"That's so interesting," Jolee responded.
"You were there when Russell was killed?" Lance asked.
"Yes, I was supposed to protect him although I think he knew his time was limited. I didn't have time to change spells and I failed him," Abigail answered slowly, feeling emotion sweep her once again.
"Mortals spells differ greatly from vampyre spells. Too many different ingredients if you even had them on you. You couldn't have known," Lance replied.
"You did exactly what you were asked of. Russell isn't stupid, he knew what he was doing. Besides you found us, he will be avenged," Sully added putting an arm comfortingly around her. She let herself lean into him for support.
"I should have been faster. I should have been prepared for anything," Abigail said into Sully chest.
"You did better than anyone else could have," Jolee added wanting to help.
"I tried," Abigail whispered.
"Besides, you would never have met any of us, and let's face it we're a great bunch, " Jolee replied trying to be optimistic.
Abigail laughed, pushing her emotion back.
"How long are you stying? Just until the Vigilante are under control?" Lance asked.
"Actually Joseph asked me to stay a while. So I"m not sure. Probably a while or until you tire of me," she joked.
"Not likely, I've put up with these two for sometime now. I think I can handle you," Sully smiled.
"Yeah and if we can put up with this old crone, we can put up with with anyone," Jolee laughed teasing Sully.
"So you and Joey, is there anything we should know?" Lance asked.
"No, not really," Abigail replied feeling better but thankful Sully hadn't removed his arm.
"Was there ever?" Jolee asked curiously.
"Sort of, but that was a long time ago," Abigail admitted.
"Really? He never mentioned it," Sully asked surprised, his tone solemn.
"Not surprising. it really wasn't' much to speak of. I did care of him but when it came to matters of the heart he could never make up his mind," Abigail confessed.
"Sounds like Joey," Jolee laughed.
"We'd be together one minute and the next he was off with someone else. It didn't last long at all so we decided to stay friends," Abigail continued.
"Probably the best thing," Lance replied.
"Yes, it is actually. We've remained close and he can do what he likes," Abigail said smiling.
"Anyone special then in your life?" Jolee continued her interrogation.
"Oh gosh no. I've been running for some time now and before that, I was seeing someone but I think he was more interested than I was. I just didn't feel us click that way," Abigail explained.
"So in a nut shell, you're single?" Jolee asked.
"Yes," Abigail blushed.
Jolee giggled as if someone said something funny. "What?" Lance asked.
"Nothing, I'm sorry," Jolee apologized.
"So, Jolee you about ready to blow this joint?" Lance asked changing the subject.
"I have to close tonight," she replied.
"Have one of the others do it for you. I thought we could go to my place," Lance suggested.
"Well, ok. Just this once," Jolee smiled.
"Well, we're off then. Abigail it's been a pleasure. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon. Sully, we'll talk later," Lance said with a bow as he stood.
"Good night. Abigail please don't be a stranger, you hear? We have to do some gossip soon," Jolee said with a large smile.
"Good night," Sully said as the two left hand in hand.
"That was nice," Abigail said smiling.
"Yes it was. I'm glad you got to meet them on a more personal level," Sully replied.
"Lance doesn't speak much does he?" she asked.
"He does if he has something to say. He was actually quite talkative tonight," Sully said.
Abigail began to laugh. Sully soon followed her lead. She allowed her head to rest on his shoulder. she felt him squeeze her gently. She felt safe, at last.