The lab went boom!
My patience is so short now-a-days, I simply cannot get the potions done right. No matter how hard I try or how much Va’lis helps me. Even he said, “Alchemy might not be for you, Carrie.” And Va’lis has never said that to me about anything before. It’s really got me all twisted. Why can’t I do this!?
*sighs*
It has been a few weeks since the events of London and Carrie is still volatile at best. As her sire-mother, I simply do not know what to do. I’m trying everything I can. But it seems like I am in this alone. As much Merida has made time to come and visit Carrie, she’s busy with her own healing and she has Armand and the kids to focus on so she barely has the time to spend with Carrie. But bless her unbeating heart, she tries.
I heard that sound and I jumped behind Va’lis to catch him by his neck, I pulled him to me dropping him down to the ground covering him completely with my own weight. Cherry took a split second to turn her rage in the right direction, at Kirk. She flew through the air and using the butt of her gun struck him clear across his face knocking him flat on the floor. He almost immediately sprung back to feet only to be met with Cherry’s full hellfire vamp mode; fangs and claws out. “Oh you came to play,” Kirk taunted her. She was a fierce killer when she turns up. She stood up straight and threw her guns down, putting up her fists. She made a beckoning hand gesture,”Come get some.” Kirk chuckled and threw down his own guns. What ensued was one hell of a fist fight.
I managed to pull Va’lis up from the ground, remaining horizontal and moved with him back towards the back hall where I saw no one stood guard. I ripped into my wrist letting my blood flow into Va’lis lips. He shook awake now feeling the full pain of the shot that burned in his torso. He let out a muffled cry, “Fuck that hurts!” He winced, biting his lower lip. “Stay still, drink.” I whispered to him offering my wrist again. He took it and drank deep. As he did I ripped through the leather jerkin he wore trying to find the wound. He wasn’t going to like what I did next. Ripping a piece of the leather I stuffed it in his mouth taking back my wrist,”Bite down, trust me,” I said. He did so. I used my short dagger retrieved from my inner boot strap and cut into his stomach; I need to get that bullet out. Va’lis was in agony. I felt almost all his pain, like we were bonded but we’re not. I stuck my fingers in and dug that bullet out. I then ripped into my other wrist dripping my blood into the wound directly. The burning of the healing is so intense. I gripped his hand tight looking into his eyes as he kept biting that torn leather. “Sssshhhh, it will pass son. Hang on!” I tried to soothe him.
As we made our way through the water, Marius kept pulling me back by shoulder and checking my speed. Did he not understand my desire to get Carrie out of the hell hole she was held in? Did he not sense my anger at those who dared took what was mine? A side glance back into his face showed me that he did indeed know how I felt.
That was why he was doing as he was.
Cherry however, took the lead for a short while. Blazing hair the only thing keeping her in my vision, she blended so well into the darkness it was hard even for me to keep track. She held up a hand and Marius halted me fully as she went around a corner, we heard a shot..and then another followed by a short scream and then a thump. Marius nodded and we continued past the now fallen mortal guard, his partner several feet beyond. Both downed with a shot to the chest.
It carried on like that for several slow, long moments. Cherry or Marius would drift forward, several shots would ring out and then we would advance once more. All the while I would try pushing past, I hated the slow pace of our advance and just wanted Carrie back in my arms safe and sound.
This place was dark, not in the sense of vision or brightness. No it was fairly well lit the farther we got, it was just a feeling that was settled over the halls. I had not felt something like that for several years, not since before I myself had met Pandora. My own guns were ready though, my fingers gripping it perfectly as Cherry had taught me. What was this feeling now? Was I worried? Anxious?
I was, and I knew it.
Time passed slowly, Cherry holding me through each second that went by. I could feel the hate within me, it had been awhile since I felt a hate this strong. Many, many years before Pandora calmed the storm of my mind perhaps. And now it was struggling to free itself once more, and how I wanted to let it loose. My magic did not work here, but I would destroy those who had shattered my family apart.
I did not move, I barely blinked even I planned and schemed. I stood no chance before these ancients but I would be damned if I would not try. Carrie, now Merida? These Draconian bastards would have their heads mounted upon my wall.
Madness is a very real problem in my line, I thought mine long gone. Cherry could see it writhing behind my eyes, dark as the depths of the ocean and perhaps that is why she tried so hard to calm me.
Nothing would stay my wrath. You do not piss off Va’lis Razele and walk away unscathed.
My daughters would be returned to me and held tight within my arms, or I would die.
There are no other alternatives. No other way for this to happen. If I had to rip the city apart, so be it.
Louis sat and waited. He was watched the window like he longed for the sun to come through it. Maharet had returned and Marius was running after her. He could hear what they were saying, or rather what Marius was saying.
Lestat sat up and went to follow Marius, he longed for news of Merida whom he had gotten close due to Saphira’s talents. Louis was quick to grab him, “Where do you think you’re going?” Louis questioned his lover and maker. Lestat stopped and looked at him, “Why do we wait on the elders to make their move?” “Because those are the rules, Lestat. We follow the rules. And until Marius comes in here to tell us to move, we sit. We wait.” Louis’ loyalty annoyed him but Lestat knew he was right. To question Marius’ or worse Maharet’s decisions would shake the foundation on which we built our coven and all the bloodlines in it.
Back at the gun cellar, Marius and Armand go in on each other and a full screaming match ensues behind that now sealed door. Even Cherry has to stand in the middle and break it up a few times. All the while, Va’lis sits in a corner thinking of his next move. He really desired to get his magic working on Earth, to no avail but none the less. The thought of it helped him calm down, regroup, and focus. And when Va’lis is calm, he’s even more dangerous. Something Pandora’s taught him to do. “Look at a problem from all angles,” she would say to him, “Focus on all the countermoves.” How he appreciated her teachings in these moments. Va’lis had come to realize that a proper sire was an invaluable part of his life that had been missing for so long. He missed the bond with Pandora; now more than ever.
The entire family was walking out of several elevators from the world gate 5 levels beneath them. They were in the 1st level basement which was turned into meeting rooms and conference centers. Marius called out to Armand, “Armand! Armand! Va’lis! Where are you?” No answer. Lestat went to the other levels that have personal quarters and searched for Armand and Va’lis. Lestat came back to Marius in the command center room, “Nothing. They are not here,” he reported. “God dammit!” Marius grew angry. “Such defiant children! I cannot believe Armand would not follow my instructions,” Marius slammed a fist on the table.
“Relax old man,” Va’lis voice echoed. Marius looked up to see both his sons completely soaked from the sewers at the Tower. “Could you be any more stubborn?! I specifically said, you wait. You cannot go encountering the unknown and possibly facing off with 3400 yr old vampires without backup! You’ll get yourselves killed!” Marius screamed. Va’lis opened his mouth to say something, but he had nothing. Armand jumped in, “Look we need to confirm that Carrie was in fact being held where our reports said she was; visual confirmation of the extraction target. Besides you know Va’lis wasn’t going to just sit around. If I hadn’t gone with him he would have probably gotten himself killed. At least I could keep him from stepping on a landmine.” Marius sneered, but he knew Armand was right. Va’lis chimmed in, “She’s definitely there. In case you wanted to know.” His sarcasm was not lost on Marius.
Marius had given us both clear instructions. We are to wait for the rest of the family before attempting to start our recon mission. Yeah, right? Like Va’lis was going to wait. Him and I had formulated a great plan to confirm that Carrie was being held in that old familiar place. The Tower of London is a historic place having held many Queens prisoner before their beheadings took place in the famous courtyard. More notably the death of Queen Anne Boleyn, second wife to Henry VIII. The tourism to the place was a great cloak to what really was held behind closed walls. The Draconians had effectively purchased the rights to the tower through various entities and ghost corporations, as they did with much of the territory they held. It is heavily guarded of course, but it does have nooks and crannies that modern day prisons do not. Luckily, we had a full map of the place.
Marius sits in his lab under the Lair, the Catacombs. Armand walks up and Marius stops what he’s doing. “Word?” Marius asks. “Yes, and you are not going to like this. Not one bit,” Armand responded. Marius turned to face his eldest childe, crossing his arms. “Well?” He asked inpatiently. “They are holding her in the Tower, right in the middle of London proper,” Armand said. Marius rubbed his chin a few times. “So they do have control of the Tower as we suspected before. It is there they help Pandora captive,” Marius said. Armand nodded. There was a moment of silence between the two men. They knew they couldn’t let Pandora near the place. “I’ll keep Pandora here, leave Bianca with her,” Marius said, “and we need to summon all our elders for an emergency meeting.” Armand nodded and was off to gather the elders of the family.