by Aya (aka Beth)
It’s a rainy night in Reno and aside from the partially faulty neon signs of the surrounding gambling holes and cheap motels, there was a certain ‘je-ne-sais-quoi’ stench about the alleyway that our Nosferatu friend pretended to stumble down. Anyone who just thought about getting close was swatted away in his fake drunk stumbling, until he came to the bottom of a metal staircase. At the top a faint light shone trough an opening in the door and a menacing looking fella was leaning on the railing, eyeing him up disapprovingly.
‘What’s dragged you out of the sewers?!’
‘Ah, I see you appreciate my cologne, but if that were the case, I dare say it was me myself and I’ accompanied by a fangy grin.
The guy notices and nods, gives a few quick bangs in a distinct rhythm to the door and returns to his cigarette.
‘Don’t cause any trouble or I’ll rip those shiny pearly outs for ya, you hear me?’.
‘Oh loud and clear, but don’t you worry your little head, I’m here to take advantage
of your business, maybe for a while, so why would I get in my own way?’
The guy jolts up ‘Who the fuck…’ only to be greeted by the door slamming into his face before he can finish his sentence. He would probably have a go at whoever opened it, if it wasn’t Phyllis herself. Wrapped in some cheap fur coat and a black sequin dress, there stood the woman in charge. One bloodthirsty motherfucker of a vampire, not at all the image of the clan she supposedly belonged to, but circumstances can sometimes dim the light of any Toreador; so does a trail of mad murders…
‘Look what the rats have dragged in, but not literally of course, if you get me’ she laughs in a way that sounds growly and bellows through the alley.
‘Yes, haha, cause I’d be a Gangrel, nice jokes you got there…’
They eye each other up and she shows her clear disgust for his features, despite his covering some of his disfiguration with prosthetics.
‘So… I assume even someone like you has needs for my ‘services’?’ she asks with a smug expression.
‘It would appear so. I have business in town and heard about your ‘offerings’, especially that some are of a special ‘disposition’? He grins at her, which just makes her curl up her lip in disgust.
‘Urgh, well if you have the cash I shan’t complain. Let me guess, you are into some freaky shit, so you’d need a special package..’ One eyebrow raised she gives a head movement to the bouncer, when the Nosferatu just slightly tilts his head and widens his gaze at her in interest.
‘Show him to Beth, she should have recovered from the strangling earlier and if not, give her 10mg of blood, that should make her fit enough to be used.’
Anarky keeps him composure with all his efforts. He had heard of this ‘trafficking brothels on the Shreknet and had decided with some compatriots in other states to take a look into it. This could potentially be a risk for all clans and to the masquerade, especially if fledglings were created with no control or teaching. The decision was made to ideally dispose of them and the people in charge, before it could get out of hand and start a new inquisition.
So here he was, pretending to be in need of sexual services at his local vampire and mortals alike, if the usual places won’t cater to their ‘special needs’. It is indeed a sad reality and not new that some people only get off to inflicting various kinds of pain to others, even to the extent of the death of their ‘prey’. He couldn’t judge too much however, as some of his own kin were just as twisted, if not even more so, as they would enjoy torturing the sheer immortality out of one of their own or to make use of them while in torpor. He could think of many other ‘roleplays’ that likely took place within these walls, but he preferred not to. Instead, he eyed up the doors within the ‘club’. The smell was a concoction of bodily fluids of all kinds and he was struggling to pretend being used to it. Generally, the assumption is that most Nosferatu live in the sewers, but that was a stereotypical misconception.
While unable to change anything about their outward appearance, unless it was just to cover up, they were very much capable of enjoying the nicer things in live, such as calling a nicely furnished space their own. Anarky was all about practicality and blending into the forests over at Windy Hill, where he had claimed a small, deject, empty cabin as his own, with access to an underground system of tunnels that let down to the city.
So he continues stumbling after ‘Jeremy’ as Phyllis had addressed him before heading out to the casinos, whilst trying to pick up on any traces of kindred blood by using ‘sense the beast’, but no luck on the apartment floor level. Jeremy himself was obviously one of her ghouls, tasked with protecting her goods while she embraced a luscious night out on the town. He had just managed to catch a glimpse of her in time upon his arrival. The fact that he couldn’t sense any other kindred apart from another two ghouls made sense, as they would be unlikely to want to go to extra lengths to protect their vampire merchandise from sunlight, so they were likely ‘stored’ in the basement section of the building. His hunch proved correct as Jeremy took him down a shaky ladder in the back, through a hatch in the floor that had been roughly soundproofed. Anarky immediately heard why: a cacophony if whining, crying and screaming greeted him from the rooms below…
He took a breath, despite not needing to and made his way down the hatch. The second door to the left was their destination. Oddly, it was quiet compared to other ‘cells’, but then he remembered what Phyllis had said… Jeremy motioned for him to wait and pulled a vial from one of his pockets. He stepped in and proceeded to shake the starved body of a young woman and to take a look at her throat. She was completely passed out and Jeremy started to slap her until she reacted. While suffocation does not work on kindred, it can still cause blunt damage, which if untreated can make them fall into torpor, hence why he showed the vial in her mouth while immobilizing her head, while she quietly glared at him. She looked like a dishevelled mess, but her stare was clear as ice. Despite this not being a new occurence by the looks of it, even Jeremy felt the coldness and retreated as soon as possible from her range. She did however not even attempt to lunge at him. Once at a safe distance he grinned at her, ‘good doll, you have a new customer. Don’t make your mother angry and behave yourself this time, you hear me?!’ He raised an eyebrow at her before motioning to Anarky to get closer. He frisked him briefly, making sure that no weapons or other items were stored on his person. ‘Nothing personal, but we want to make sure that you don’t damage our wares aside from what we allow. Otherwise, you will have to pay. Either cash or with your life. I’m sure your blood could fetch a nice price on some markets…’
‘Ah, well you see that is quite nice to hear, but I am rather attached to my vitae’ and with a grin he disappeared in the cell. The door was thrown shut and locked, with only a rectangle in the door letting light in. ‘When you’re done call, she’s a feisty one so good luck. Feel free to smack her around as much as you like to get her to work, seems like she likes that sort of thing based on how much she puts up a fight. And this isn’t even her first rodeo; gotta give it to her, she’s special in a kind of way. Usually they don’t survive the abuse and starvation for that long without going insane, but she’s our best ‘horse, three years in the running…’ and with that Jeremy whistled his way back up to the kitchen, leaving the two of them in the cell to make each other’s acquaintance however they saw fit.
Beth didn’t say anything, she just silently glared at him, trying not to show how much the miniscule amount of blood was affecting her. Despite it not being anywhere near real ‘nutrition’, her body had somehow learnt to make the best of it and used the vitae to heal some of her imminent wounds and bruises. Her skin became the slightest bit more pink and she managed to sit herself up defiantly but ready to take whatever was coming next head on. She looked strong-willed and this was supported by the information that Jeremy had just shared. Anarky felt a bit dumb-founded as he could not imagine surviving like this physically or mentally for that long. He tried to move closer to her and she followed his every move, seemingly ready to block as best as she could, were he trying to harm her. But he didn’t. Instead he crouched closer, bit by bit, until he knew he covered her from outside. He made use of his exceptional hearing to see if anyone was still standing in the hallway to listen in, but they were all upstairs and loud as all hell, having a drink now that the boss lady was out and talking about their own gambling adventures.
Anarky got close enough to whisper into her ear, in case other cell neighbours had acute hearing as well. To his surprise, she grabbed him by the throat and got him underneath her so that she could dig her fangs into his veins. Not expecting her quick movements, he barely managed to move his hand in-between her fangs and to hold her off. There was a glimpse of madness and rage in her eyes and when she realised that she couldn’t overpower him with pure strength she let off of him. Now it was his turn to grab her out of the blue and he flung her against the back wall, which caused her to let out a soft scream.
From upstairs he could hear: ‘Sounds like the Nos is having plenty of fun with that bitch’ followed by bellowing laughter and others chiming in with their own. ‘She just bit me the other day and I had to break her face in return. Phyllis was pissed as all hell at me, but can’t let that one have too much to drink, otherwise she’ll become a real problem.’ Again followed by more agreement from the other ghouls.
‘So, despite all this time, you still don’t seem to agree with your living arrangements it seems?’ Anarky addressed her, while holding her in place with his elbow.
She snarled at him, but calmed down as any pointless expense of energy was a waste. ‘Stop talking and just do what you came for. Whatever pain you think you can afflict on me for your sadistic pleasure, I promise you I’ve seen it all.’ Again with the icy stare… it was unsettling and he was wondering if there were customers that she’d unnerved so much that they opted for another option altogether. Clearly she couldn’t best the last one that had been in here, but based on the fresh scars on her arms and legs she had damn well tried to keep them at bay as much as she could.
‘Why did you try to attack me, surely you were turned by Phyllis and no Toreador would willingly come close to one such as me.’
‘The hell do I know. Clan this or that, I don’t think I’ve seen much beauty in my life and by that logic I guess ugliness doesn’t exactly register to me in the same way as others perhaps.’ She just shrugged and made herself a bit more comfortable in the corner he had flung her in, not sensing any immediate threat coming from him. ‘You’re a curious one’ he mused and studied her frame and more intently. She was beautiful, there was no doubt, under all that dust, bruised flesh and unkempt hair. It had a peculiar duo-tone colour and was just as striking as her eyes, despite all the dirt.
Beth noticed his gaze and let him know how that had been the first and last ‘gift’ by Phyllis, a new hairstyle of her own choosing, before she had brought her down here, only to leave her in a sea of her own blood afterwards, besides another ‘lost girl’ who had reached the end of how much she could take. After being embraced, Beth was unable to hold back and had drank what was left in the former cell occupant… That was the only time she had been able to drink her fill, ever since she had been on the absolute minimum in order to keep her vampiric strength at bay so that she could not overpower the guards or patrons.
‘What a way to start a new life’ he sighed, keeping a keen ear in case somebody was approaching. ‘What if a ‘client’ were to give you blood?’ He was already racing trough multiple scenarios in his mind to get her out of here and putting an end to this establishment altogether. It would be a risky undertaking as he was on his own and would not waste his time on attempt to ask for back-up that would never come. Nos stuck to themselves and most of them preferred to work alone and barter with information.
‘They search everyone before they get in and check for marks on the way out. The downside of me fighting back, they don’t want me to regain my strength. I put quite a dent into one of the ghouls after my first feeding in a beastial fit of rage.’ She chuckled a bit at the thought and had a small smile on her lips, clearly satisfied with the damage she had done to one of her captors. ‘Not sure he even survived that but Phyllis put me trough hell for the next two weeks… but it was worth it, paying back her ‘kindness’ somehow.’
He could tell that she was bitter over the betrayal or maybe about herself falling for it more than that. She clearly had fight left in her, he could use it if he were able to sneak her blood and a weapon alongside his own…
Right then he could make out footsteps coming down and quickly got rid of his coat and sweater. He didn’t have to look at Beth twice to undress a great deal and position herself under him. ‘I’m sorry in advance’ he said before getting a hold of her mouth and forcing himself on her. They needed at least a few more minutes, so hopefully this would delay the next check.
When the ghoul had reached the door slit he proceeded to cheer on Anarky and going on about what a piece of shit Beth was and how she deserved no better.
Anarky did his best to roughly grind on top of her to make it seem like the deed was going on and, in the meantime, had bitten his own lips to let some of his blood flow into hers. It wasn’t much, but it would be a start.
Beth’s eyes were widened in surprise but she didn’t say no and slung her arms around his neck to pull him in to more kisses while letting out small moans. She was greedy and close to frenzying due to the hunger, but she just about managed to keep a hold on her sanity, by a thread.
‘I didn’t think you would have a thing for Nosferatu, ha you’re such a bitch in heat! Guess you’re finally enjoying the trade,’ and with that he finally left them to their own devices.
Anarky slowly pulled out of her embrace and Beth covered herself again, cheeks flushed and looking a bit embarrassed about her own behaviour a moment ago.
‘Thank you, for that.’ She sounded very timid all of a sudden, but quickly returned to her serious demeanor.
‘So why are you here, I’m sure it’s not just a snack drive-by and story time with a vampire hooker.’
‘Kindred, we’re kindred. I will tell you more about our society once you’re out of here, no promises made, if you survive. That is up to you,’ he said while licking his wound closed.
‘I will try to come every night to give you bit by bit, just enough for them to not catch on. That is also your responsibility as they may well kill you first if they find out.’
She nodded, musing about what information she could pass on that might be helpful.
‘Sundays are the quietest. Phyllis always has some date with god knows who and leaves early. What she doesn’t know is that the ghouls have their own plans and usually only one stays behind to run things, while the others hit the town. That’s when it is the least secured. I would have used it already, but I’m chained up and the door is thick iron. I can’t just break it down. Plus there are fire arms hidden on both levels for them.’
‘You should be able to smell them if you use one of your gifts. We call it Auspex. I doubt Phyllis told you about them…’
Thus several nights passed where Anarky visited Beth, trying to keep other clients away from her if possible, while teaching her about kindred, her own abilities and how to kill them.
Celerity was the first discipline that she mastered, next was Auspex. Presence would not be of much use against the ghouls, but it would definitely help with humans.
They shared many more intimate feeding kisses and Beth repeatedly asked if he was okay with not using her for her body, because that was all she could offer as thanks.
‘You owe me a boon, someday I will come calling and you won’t be able to refuse, good enough?’ She nodded. It is not like he would have kicked her out of her bed, but he’d want it to be an actual bed first of all to make such a decision and this was not the time for any of that. They both needed to stay vigilant if they wanted to get the jump on Phyllis and her associates.
Then the Sunday came. Beth was still weak, but her inhumane speed would make up for it. She had at least been able to locate the guns in the cellar, she had learnt to enhance her smell to the point that she could identify gun powder despite the mingling smells of faeces, blood and sweat down here.
Anarky had provided her with two lockpicks, which she managed to hide in a small hole below her bedding. The plan was that she would free herself once she knew that he had entered the building. He would seem inebriated and get the only ghoul’s attention, while she would open her shackles and cell door, take the gun and make her way upstairs.
It all happened quickly, Anarky spun the ghoul around to face her and she took her shots so precisely that she almost separated his head clean off. He had just managed to get himself out of the line of fire and looked admirably at her handiwork. ‘Not bad for a first-time gun user,’ he passed her a set of clothes and cleaning items. She disappeared to get dressed, for the first time in this life, while he set the other girls and boys free. They were frightened of him, as they should be and fled into the night as soon as they could get past him.
Beth reappeared with a smug face. ‘You really like my hair huh?’
He had had a good idea for her size it turned out. There she stood with an ombre red and black leather jacket, black jeans and boots.
‘I just figured you’d like a touch of colour’ he shrugged. They put the body into her cell and did a quick clean-up.
They then looked for all the other guns and emptied the gun powder from the bullets to fill an improvised pipe bomb that they hit under the table, in sight of a window they would leave open. if Anarky was in fact a pretty decent sniper and so they would lie in wait for Phyllis and the other two to come back.
He also had two canisters with petrol on the ready, a special gift for Phyllis. While he was keeping aim, Beth was pacing impatiently on the roof, smoking the equivalent of two packs of cigarettes. She was eager to exact reference on her Sire, but also anxious about it going wrong.
What if they spotted them and never went in, could they take three at once?
She still had the gun and a boot knife that he had gifted her, even with her name engraved on it. A bit kitsch, but she appreciated the gesture and having a weapon of her very own.
The minutes were ticking agonisingly slow, while Beth started a third pack of cigarettes, curtesy of Anarky. She wasn’t even a smoker but he had had the foresight to bring her something to calm her nerves and her hunger. She had to keep the utmost self- control to not spill the contents of the bloodbag over her new clothes. It hadn’t been warm, but beggars can’t be chosers.
She promised herself that this would be the last time she’d have blood from a plastic container. The coldness was unpalatable but the thought of making some type of blood daiquiri did pit a smile on her face.
‘Let me know when you’re done day dreaming sugar’ Anarky chuckled, gun still fixed on the window.
It was getting close to 1am now, they should appear any minute he whispered and sure enough, Beth recognized the sound of the shoddy car that the ghouls used. She got down low beside him to get a good view. Phyllis wasn’t in sight yet, and there was a fair chance she might not, but Beth was hoping that whatever specks of luck she had accumulated throughout her mortal life would do its part tonight. She would never hope, ask nor pray for anything else for as long as she lived.
‘Just make Phyllis show up soon’ she muttered to herself.
‘Easy. At this rate you’ll bite your own tongue off with how you clenching your teeth. You’ll get your chance. If she doesn’t show we’ll track her down tomorrow. She won’t get away.’
Car doors were being thrown on the other side of the building and they could see movement inside shortly after. Anarky was obviously not breathing, but he had gone even more rigid than before. Not blinking, not moving his eye even a millimeter. Beth was clutching the knife and following every move, like a cat on the hunt. They were in sight, went into the kitchen, started to question why nobody was there. Anarky still waiting, while they made their way downstairs…
She wanted to shout at him, why didn’t he set of the bomb the very moment they had stepped into the kitchen?! But she knew better than to speak up. So all she could do was look at him instead.
This was the first ‘kindred’ of the Nosferatu clan she had ever met. ‘Clients’ had mostly been humans with twisted desires and a penchant for torture, but on occasion a Ravnos would pass by to propose a trade with Phyllis. He had on more than one occasion made an offer for Beth, but her Sire was adamant on keeping her ‘best horse’. So Beth never got to find out who out of the two was worse… maybe this was for the best.
Anarky had the clan typical disfiguration and scarring, but Beth was less repulsed by it than she probably should have, given that the clan she had been sacrificed into was obsessed with beauty and appearance.
Shivers did run her spine on their first meeting and they still did whenever she looked too closely, but she was able to prevent herself from showing any stronger reactions. Instead she focused on the jacket he had gotten her and the knife. The short form of her legal name did have a nice ring to it now, seeing it in cursive on this blade and by extension, the appreciation she harboured for what he had done for her made her cherish his company, whatever clan laws this was breaking. She couldn’t give two shots about all of that and kindred rules, not like Phyllis had shown her an inch of real beauty; he had. Anarky had provided her with more warmth and kindness than anyone else in her life, or unlike, whatever you wanted to call it. And she had a mind to repay him, if he’d let her…
Beth was quickly snapped out of her thoughts when the ghouls came back up from the cellar, both in a state of panic and rage. She scooted close to Anarky to get a good look while impatiently waiting for him to pull the trigger. He still didn’t move and observed through his scope how they pulled out a phone to make a call, presumably to Phyllis. If needs be, he had just memorised the number, but everything was going according to plan.
Before the brutes could make up their mind about searching the surrounding area, Anarky finally pulled the trigger and set the kitchen ablaze in an instant. They had both been just beside the table and were caught up in the blast. One’s head was almost completely blown off and the other was rolling around on the floor holding his face, trousers partially on fire. The furniture immediately started to burn and he would probably be burnt alive, if Beth hadn’t already jumped from the roof and made her way through the broken window in a mere second. Anarky first noticed it through the scope, she had been so fast that he hadn’t even set it down yet.
‘What are you doing?!
‘Get the funk away from there! Something else could blow any second!’
‘I won’t be long!’ she hurled back and proceeded to expertly dodge the flames on her way to the ghoul, who was no other than Jeremy.
Of course she held grudges against all of them, but he had taken a special kind of pleasure in torturing and abusing her in- between clients, cutting her all-over, locking the blood from the wounds and having his way with her, despite her continuously fighting back. He probably enjoyed it even more for it and she was not about to let him meet his demise purely through fire.
She slowly danced through the flames, eyes wide and glowing red. She found an abnormal beauty in his writhing in pain in the light of the flames that could very well spell her own death if she wasn’t careful.
Just as he had managed to put out the flames with his rolling, Beth knelt down on top of him to stop him from rolling and plunged the knife swiftly into his throat. He gasped for breath and in a mixture of shock and rage tried to pull the knife out of her grip. But she was faster. She jumped back with the knife still in her hand, watching a small fountain spring from the hole she had carved into him. He tried to suppress the flow, but she closed in again and rammed it into his ‘pride’. He howled on pain and flung all kinds of curses at her. She looked back as she had heard Anarky making a flinching sound behind her.
‘Well pal, shouldn’t have messed with her. You should have known she’d pay you back some day.’
He had no intentions to stop her and so he made his way to the front to keep an eye out for Phyllis. Beth proceeded to test the sharpness of her knife in the same ways that he had done on her, but with more speed and ferocity. Eventually Anarky came back to stop her from plunging it down yet again, because Jeremy had been dead for a minute already and yet she had continued the movement, red tears streaming down her face and a smile on her face. It was a weird mixture of ecstasy and panic. He pulled her up and forced her into a hug, where she started to sob uncontrollably. This had been the first time that she could pay back some of the atrocities done to her and it was a weight of her shoulders…
‘Shhh, it’s alright now, we’re almost done and then you can rest.’ He patted her head and held her firmly, while keeping an ear out for their last guest.
There wasn’t a lot of time for comfort however. Just as her tears had dried, they could hear a car racing down the street and tires coming to a squeaking halt. They both quickly made their way out and onto the roof of the ‘brothel’.
Phyllis stepped out of her car, eyes wide in disbelief as she found the door ajar and could see smoke coming out. She tentatively climbed the stairs to get a closer look and started calling for Jeremy. Upon seeing his lifeless body on the ground she let out an angry scream and started looking around for who was at fault for this attack on her business and ghouls.
Just then Beth appeared on the other side in the kitchen window with a taunting smile on her face.
‘Hello mother, do you like what I’ve done with the face?’, motioning to the utter destruction.
Phyllis let out a loud growl and contemplated darting through to get to her. She took one step forward, but then decided to not risk the fire. She leapt up to the roof, only to be met with a splash of petrol to the face. Anarky had been lying in wait with one of the containers. She had not been able to make him out as he was obfuscated up until now and pre-occupied with wanting to get to Beth. Her ‘daughter’ had since also made her way to the roof and Phyllis found herself face to face with both of them. Being outnumbered mattered a great deal less to her in the moment however than her ruined fur coat, hair and make-up.
‘HOW DARE YOU?!’ she screamed at the top of her lungs. With the use of Celerity she was quickly in his face and pulled him by his collar. ‘YO DARE TO DEFY ME?! I OWN THIS CITY AND YOU WILL NOT MAKE IT OUT ALIVE, SEWERS OR NOT! I don’t know if you’ve taken a liking to my little WHORE over there, or if this is something more PERSONAL; but make no mistake, I am likely older than both of you and neither will make it off this roof ALIVE!’
Focused on yelling at him, she failed to notice that he had knocked over the canister and that a small puddle was steadily being filled around them. Beth was waiting for Phyllis to turn her attention to her, unwilling to set off a fire with Anarky in the midst of it. She had to bide her time, clenching the magnesium stone hard in her other hand. She stayed in a semi-crouch, ready to move across the roof at lightning speed to avoid any attack directed at her. What she didn’t expect was to have Anarky flung at her a second later. She managed to brace his impact slightly, but almost dropped her knife in doing so.
‘HOW SWEET’ Phyllis cooed from the other side. ‘If you want to play at Romeo and Juliet so badly, let me help you out, you’ve already got the dagger as well as I see’ and with that she was at Beth’s wrist, staring intently at her.
‘WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? AND TEAMING UP WITH SUCH A DISGUSTING CREATURE?! Didn’t I save you from that wretched foster home? You owe me your life and even in death your life belongs to me!’
She squeezed and held that arm high, while grabbing Beth’s face in the other and lifting her above her. Beth struggled against the grip, kicking into Phyllis as best as she could. Anarky had gone invisible the very second and put some distance between them.
‘OH, SO QUICK TO ABANDON THIS LITTLE DOLL OF YOURS NOW? I will just snap your pretty little neck. I’m done with you being a disobedient child, I provided you with a roof and food and you ungrateful BITCH have the nerve to attack me!’ She continued a tirade of how worthless Beth was, nothing but a fledgling who had only been desirable thanks to Phyllis’ intervention and not worth a penny. How even her own mother had seen nothing but a hindrance in her and how she’d deserved every abuse in her life.
Beth continued to struggle against her grip to no avail, eyes glowing red on either side of the conversation. Despite looking dishevelled, Beth did see a glimpse of the woman who had been kind to her, years ago in that wash salon, but she made herself a promise to never fall for kind words ever again, to only trust actions from here on out. She took the semblance of a breath, out of habit, let go of Phyllis hand on her face and slammed the stone against the knife, right in Phyllis’ face. Thankfully it only took one attempt to get some sparks and the fur coat was immediately on fire. Phyllis screamed out and dropped Beth. It all happened fast, her stumbling Beth giving her a jump kick to the chest to make her stumble backwards, where he was waiting with the other canister.
Phyllis fell into the previous puddle and was met with more petrol to set her fully ablaze. She still managed to get up clothes already mostly burned off, her face partially gone, trying to move towards either of them, but the pain was too much for her to concentrate her powers. She wasn’t able to produce any more insults, instead there was only the sound and stench of burning flesh until only ashes remained.
Both of them had put quite a distance between themselves and her remains, watching the rest of the petrol burn out. ‘And that is how you kill a self-obsessed elder kid’ he said while slumping down next to her at the edge of the roof. Beth was rubbing the area of where Phyllis had had a hold on her and kept staring at what remained of her sire.
‘I’m probably in a whole lot of trouble now, aren’t I? From what you told me, kindred society doesn’t take kindly to patri- or rather matricide.’
‘True, but she didn’t really mingle too much with the rest of her clan of the princedoms; Reno is it’s very own shithole of sorts, so I doubt she will be missed much, apart from colleagues of the trade perhaps, and I have a mind to extend the same curtesy to them…’ He lit himself a cigarette and offered her one too, but she declined.
‘I have a new start now, might as well try to avoid some vices, at least for now’ she smiled and leaned against his shoulder.
They stayed like this, taking in the quiet of the night for a while, until sirens could be heard coming closer.
‘Time to pack up and leave I guess’ and with that he grabbed any tools still left and both disappeared off into the night.