|
|
|
By: Kash |
|
Rating: PG-13 some harsh language...and the subject matter isn't exactly nice.
Disclaimer: Ownership of all the characters belonging to LKH and her publishers remains unthreatened by any claim of mine. I know they don't belong to me, but I'm glad to have met them. I'm not making any money from this either so please don't sue me...I don't have anything worth taking...well maybe my Jean-Claude penguin...but it'd take a helluva lot more then a court order for me to give him up...he's mine I tell you...all mine...ever last cotton sutffed inch of him. |
|
A blonde head peeked around the door to the roof and
froze at the sound of raised voices in heated debate.
Jason's eyes widened. Except for one outburst he'd
never hear Seri raise her voice but right now she and
Anita were toe to toe and going at it worse then when
Anita and Richard got into a moral debate.
"I don't give my friends to the monster's," Anita snapped angrily. "Since when are we friends?" Seri asked, her voice dropping to a frozen calm. "Asher..." Anita began only to be cut off. "This isn't about Asher, this is about me. My past, my demons...MY FIGHT!" The acid in Seri's voice could have eaten through steel in five seconds flat. "You aren't my friend, you don't even know me Ms. Blake" She continued, her eyes snapping with fire. Anita jerked back like she'd just gotten slapped. No one refused her offer of protection, and NO ONE questioned her orders, even Jean-Claude knew when to back off. "I DON'T give ANYONE to the monsters," she repeated her own voice dropping to glacial temperatures. Jason didn't want to interfere, hell he'd rather come between a lion and its dinner then interrupt them. Only problem was that if he didn't and they found out later that he had been sent to tell them Edward had found Asher, the hell he'd catch would be twice this. He coughed delicately and when that didn't work he tried again louder. Anita spun and all but shouted, "What?" Jason froze again, his eyes widening innocently. Both women were breathing heavily and were flushed from their verbal sparring. If there had been pudding involved he might could have enjoyed the spectacle. He grinned at the mental image of that, "Thought you might like to know Edward brought you two a present. Only question is who gets first dibs? Don't worry though, I'll console the loser." He tried for humor...it didn't work. Anita continued glaring at him, and Seri's face shut down like a steel trap. "Ohh fine be that way. I'll just go back downstairs and tell Asher neither of you want to soothe his fevered brow." Seri snapped to attention, "Asher is here? He's safe?" Jason's eyes flickered to her. He'd been intending to goad them both but the pain and hope warring in her eyes suddenly made him feel guilty for even thinking about teasing her. "Yeah, Edward just brought him in." He paused and let his eyes meet Anita's. She was expecting the worse and she wasn't going to be disappointed. He gave a small nod of his head. He watched the flair of pain in her eyes before she quickly masked it. There had been too many times lately when the return of a friend just brought more pain. It was like their enemies had suddenly decided that torture by association was more fun. It was sure as hell more effective. The agony of counting the wounds, of watching as their friends and loved ones hovered at deaths door...was a special kind of pain. They'd been lucky so far, but if Jean-Claude and Edward were correct, then this time their luck wasn't going to hold. "He's in pretty bad shape," Jason said softly looking away. Anita nodded and took a deep breath. "He's in Jean-Claude's bedroom?" She asked walking to the door. "Yeah, they've sent for Doc Lil...but Edward says its bad." Jason opened the door and moved out of her way. She didn't reply just walked down the stairs...the sound of sorrow echoing in her very footsteps. Jason was left on the roof staring at Seri. She remained quiet for a long minute before looking at him. "I'll be down in a moment." He hesitated before nodding and closing the door behind him, leaving her to the privacy she craved. Seri watched as the door closed before turning and walking to the edge of the roof. This was her fault. She'd brought this horror with her and it had reached out to harm the one person she'd cared about since her sister had died. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. It was about time she started doing something about it. She'd been a victim for too long, she refused to follow that path any longer. "Ahh my sweet little song bird, don't you remember what happened the last time?" An insidious voice asked mockingly. Seri stiffened at the sound of that voice...her creator, her tormentor. "I remember...do you?" She asked, the question drowned in a sea of disgust. "What I recall is watching Mikhail's blood pooling beneath your alter, your name a mere moan of pain on his lips." She added mockingly. "Yes, and I seem to remember finding you emptying the contents of your stomach on the floor in the corner of my temple when I arrived. What my dear, didn't you enjoy the feel of the blade slicing through flesh? The sweet metallic scent of the blood and his cries for mercy?" The hissed reply echoed…whether it was off the rooftop or just the recesses of her mind, Seri couldn't tell. "It was quite the best sacrifice I ever had. His sword mighty as it was grew weak...just like the others before him." Fata laughed softly. "I really should have thanked you for saving me the trouble of dirtying my own hands with his blood." Seri's face had grown pale and her breathing had halted. She'd tried to bury those memories. True Mikhail had earned his punishment as had the others, bur revenge had left her cold and nauseous. It hadn't made the pain of her loss any easier to bear, it had just added the burden of murder to her conscience. "What did you do to him?" She asked breaking the heavy silence that had fallen after Fata's taunts. The goddess laughed. "I didn't do anything." Pausing to giggle like a school girl. "Maybe it was something he ate." Seri frowned, "What did you do?" "Silver nitrate is rather lethal to humans but hard to detect. When his daughter awakens perhaps she can tell you how dear old Dad died." Seri shook her head. "Why him? He is nothing to you." The whispered reply was disinterested "He was convenient." A long pause followed. "What is he to you my pet?" Seri ground her teeth together. "How do I save him?" She demanded. "Who said you could?" "HOW?" She snarled. Fata's laughter rang out again. "Poor little birdie, I didn't poison him to gain your compliance, you know better than that. The fun is in the torture, not in breaking your will" She shrugged. Truthfully, she wasn't aware of any cure. She hadn't even been sure the poison would work, and honestly she didn't really care. What was one vampire more or less to her? Of course the fact that his death would cause the nightingale pain...why that was just icing on the cake. Seri took a deep breath and bit her lip. There had to be something she could do, so far she hadn't helped in the least. "What do you want?" She asked finally, confusion playing across her face. "I've been nothing but a madman's pet for centuries and before that I was even less, what more revenge do you need?" Fata laughed. "Oh my dearest Seri, this is beyond revenge, watching you struggle with the guilt, the pain, the rage...its the best entertainment I've had since men bathed the land in blood for my favor." |
|
|