Lost and a loss for words (Zodiac)

[Temperance Avila]

Her fingers fumbled at the door. It never held her back in the past, however she had been gone for a significant amount of time and she was not surprised to find the apartment empty. Part of her wanted to walk right back out and try another place. A larger part of her wondered if maybe walking into an empty home was best. She still had no idea of what to say, how to say, or what her first words would be. Instead she wandered across the room as if by command, placed a log into the ornate fireplace and brought it to life. Temperance sat directly in front of the flames as they carelessly danced. After a few minutes her palms out-turned to feel the warm breath upon her cool and frail being. She began to hum lowly. "It's not too late. Not too late..."

Two nights had passed and there was no sign of company, but somewhere in the thinning smoke was a mutter. "hey you......." Temperance sighed and barely broke a grin with the words. She had only left the apartment to gather her strength and even that was hard these days. She should have been scouring the city for the women. It was then she glanced at the door. A tiny red spec blinking just above it gave away the thought of being watched. She wrapped a blanket tight around her frame and went to the PC to write her back a note. After hitting send the slightest rush of relief walked itself down her spine. "Should write her a proper note. It certainly would be much easier." But that was not the Temperance everyone knew and once loved. A note to a women so treasured after all this time was not good form.

Later in the evening, she walked beneath the blinking red light again. A silent signal that she could not spell out in words as light as the wind. She found herself in the elevator of Ivy Tower admiring the satin stainless steel box before it opened to the floor above. She stepped out to seek an easy source to dine from. "you need to come find me at work, my love. sorry I missed you again."

She eventually found herself admiring the purple decor of Pandora's Box. while she waited for Angela to appear.

[Zodiac]

Oh yes, it was her.

She poked at the remains of the recent fire in the hearth. Zodiac could imagine what Tempy thought when she discovered the apartment almost threadbare now. It had been their home, but since her vanishing the mystic simply began to feel odd being here alone. Her planters and gear moved to a more practical location now while she herself stayed elsewhere-sometimes never the same place 2 days in a row.

She had 'proposed' to Temperance here. How many laughs, tears, love had been shared in these walls? Now a few friends still used the place on occasion while she came here to tend her garden, meditate in privacy and check on Ginny and her new family. Nothing more.

Her heart had leaped when she saw the images on the surveillance cameras. She was alive (relatively speaking). Her biggest fear extinguished. She could not help but have visions of Tempy falling beyond the grace of the Nexus that allowed them to return to this quasi-life once they had healed. But another concern rose up larger in her thoughts as well. Why the silence? Not a word, not a text, not a single clue as to where she was and what she was doing. How many gallons of tears had she shed as she tried all she knew to reach out and find her, only to get nothing. Not a glimmer or a hint.

When she failed to return on Beltane, the gypsy lost it.

She had tried to move on. Explore options. Others had expressed interests in her and some she had confronted. She never claimed to be a angel, but the bottom line was always there if it was simple conversation or comfort in another's arms- until she knew what had happened between herself and Temperance she could make no decisions concerning the future. If they did not like that fact, they were free to leave and not bother her again.

She had tried to text a few times, but either Tempy no longer had her phone or it was dead. Pride kept her from seeking her out beyond that. Damn Syzgany pride.

She looked down as the large black cat wove around her ankles purring away. "And why didn't you come out and say hello when she was here?" she thought as she lifted Ginny into her arms and fussed over her. She had blocked the garden off enough to keep the kittens in but allow the cat to get some peace and quiet occasionally by jumping over the blockade. Besides, it was quiet here. Taking them all back and forth in her travels might put stress on the babies and the mother. Soon it would be time to start giving them away, but not yet. "You weren't scared. Hell, I am still trying to find something that does scare you. Just sleeping or nursing the babies? Huh?" She sat down and continued to cuddle her familiar.

"So what do you think?" She sent her mindspeak in the direction of the cat's brain. Many who knew she did this was convinced she was totally insane, but it was a habit she had long before she had even been turned. If anything knew all her secrets it was Ginny. Too many days and nights when her only company was the oversized black cat not to share her thoughts with it at all. "Go look for her? Wait for her to come find me or just say hell with it? What?"

The cat meowed softly and snuggled close to her breast in reply. "And people say my answers are cryptic?" she smiled.

After making sure the brood all had fresh water and food (the kittens now experimenting with food beyond Ginny's teats) and a quick check of the litter boxes, she left the Ivy apartment. It was time to make her rounds of her endeavors. First Pandy's, then the Teahouse, off to the Eye and then get settled into where her presence was expected for the night's dealings.

The cell trilled in her pocket as she drove along heading to Pandora's. She continued driving as she reached into the device with her thoughts and saw the message.

Boss? You need to get here ASAP.

She was getting better at this trick now. Zodiac concentrated a bit as she came to a stop and wrote and sent her reply to Jennifer. Manipulating a cell phone was easier then dancing in the internet.

OH, you gonna LOVE what I found today, doll! Got some blow glass pieces for around the shop. Right colors and everything. You get first dibs.

She pulled out and made the turn leading north to Honeymead when the cell trilled again.

Awesome. So when you gonna get here?

What's your hurry? The sooner I get there, the sooner I put your backside to work.

Someone is waiting for you.

Who?

Just get over here.

FINE! No cupcakes for you!

*****

"She's on her way," Jennifer smiled at the woman. She was surprised when Temperance had arrived, and was playing hostess as best she could. A warm cup of peach blend tea (according to Zo, one of the allurist's favorites) and trying not to annoy her, but her curiosity was running full tilt as well. So many questions, but she felt better waiting to let Zodiac do the asking and then girl talk the answers out of her later. She went back to her bookkeeping while making sure if the woman needed anything, she was available to assist.

The sound of the mini bus pulling up caught her attention and she gave Temperance a knowing smile before picking up her ledgers and stepping into the back.

The chimes sounded as the mystic entered. A small dolly loaded with boxes being pulled along behind her as she called out with her thoughts to Jennifer.

"Okay, I'm here. Now what is so.........."

The dolly flopped back to a standing position as she let go in surprise. She blinked several times, as if it was an illusion suddenly standing in front of her now. She was frozen. Not knowing what to do.

"Hey you," she finally 'spoke'. "Long time, no see."

[Temperance Avila]

She was nervous before the women in which she had not seen in months-had not told about taking leave-had forgotten a symbolic occasion-had abandoned almost a year back. Tiny dry cracks in the corners of her straight face; once crystal blues, now faded, unblinking. There was a roughness to her outer shell like a shirt ready to be ironed. A few bumps and bruises all at the surface of barely bright skin. It was the least she could do to mask the reality of what she was.

Temperance was not sure where to begin or what would come of this meeting, but she was positive in order to reclaim what dignity she had left, the allurist needed to say something. "Yeah...it's been too long." The tone; bittersweet. Oh how she wish she remembered how to hide. Now would be the perfect time to wait out the jumbled mix of right and wrong. However most of the allurists' abilities were useless now. She lost control of them when she lost control of her mind. Seclusion, can do that to a person. It was the only reason she had not attempted to mindspeak to Zodiac or anyone else for that matter. They were coming back to her in pieces, but it's a power struggle every time.

Temperance's disappearance was more of a life's lesson, but one that put a damper on her memories and age to her once young physique. Even the moment before this (Jennifer offering tea) had quickly become a blur in which she could not determine whether she even acknowledged the girl. The only tell-tale sign was a hint of peach upon her palate and a lingering urge to regurgitate. A distant trigger told her the soothing mixture of tea was once her preferred choice, but how Jennifer knew she had not known. Perhaps Zodiac had prepared her for this day.

Tempy approached Zodiac with hands tightly intertwined to the front of her frame. She glanced to the ground. "Can we go someplace," she paused. To where would they go? Would she want to go? Clearly the allurist would understand if she were to be thrown out off the front step in this moment, but if there was a glimpse of hope to hear her out..she quietly thought before speaking once more."more quiet?"

[Zodiac]

"Yeah...it's been too long."

She blinked now. Her eyes taking in the details now. It appeared Temperance had been through a lot. She looked...different. Not as slick and polished as she normally did. What had happened to her? Zodiac wanted to scream it out, but she kept silent. Her Nanna's words haunting her thoughts now from the past. 'One thing you and your mother will always have in common, Angela, like it or not, you are both prideful bitches at times'

She wanted answers, hell-in her mind she deserved answers. Not a word. A bloody river of tears slipped through her fingers and stained the alter stone where they had first taken their vows when she had not returned. Now here she was again. She seemed nervous now. A first for Tempy in the gypsy's view of her.

Had she come to tell her.....

"Can we go someplace.........more quiet?"

She considered for a moment and nodded her head. She turned her attention to the back and called out with her thoughts. "Jenn, can you get the rest of this for me? There are more boxes in the van too."

The girl came out of the back and nodded. "Not a problem." As she walked by she smiled at the both and patted Zodiac's shoulder in the process. The mystic looked at the allurist and made a gesture for her to follow. She unlocked a door that was new in appearance and opened it.

"This was all done after you....vanished." she sighed. "Please lock it behind you and come on up." Zodiac went up the stairs and opened the second door and flipped on the lights. The soft glow lighting up her ritual gardens and work spaces along with the small 'chapel' she had set up in the center. She walked to where a pair of old easy chairs had been set up into a type of break area and looked at her guest. "Want some more tea or are you good still?" she fought to keep her mindspeak calm.

[Temperance Avila]

Willingly, she followed the gypsy up the stairwell after locking the door as she was instructed to do. Nothing about this place was familiar, even the shop below had a bit of facelift in some spots since Temperance last made a visit. Zodiac explained the addition and she nodded while glancing around the surrounding walls. A ritual garden more pristine than that of what their apartment contained, it reminded her of the mystic’s effervescent vibe. The church-like setting perfect to a ‘T’ as well. She starred off into this room longer than planned. Something about it reminding her of back home, pieces of her Uncle’s church, guests, funerals, celebrations… of course; the gypsy had finally built a safe haven for those who she (aside from one other-at the time) could bless an eternal bond. A glimmer of thought forced a brief but low chuckle from her lips. Eternal bonds as permanent as the mark of a vampire left upon a mortal soul; How rudimentary. None of this clicked.

Zodiac’s question pulled her forcefully to present state. Temperance turned around and advanced into the section of waiting chairs. ”No, no more tea. I can still taste the stains down my throat with the last cup.” It was unlike her to come across rude (and refusing a perfect cup of tea), but it was the truth in this moment. That part was something that could not be separated from her since turning. That part was what drew her in and away from the same people in this life and the life before. Too honest-they say. Gullible. Honesty will ‘kill’ you. She gulped bringing a hand to rub at her throat briefly. She took a seat and let that hand and dirt tainted nails lay to her lap. The long black satin dress she wore fell around to her crossed ankles.

Temperance looked to Zodiac and studied her. Where to begin? Her chest rose and fell to take in an imaginary breath, something that was a necessity to do in a place that was not Harper Rock. Zodiac was the first person in Temperance’s life to receive such a visit so the hesitation was expected; the story was yet to be told. ”I’m sure you want to know why I disappeared, when I returned, and the in-between. I barely remember the reasons in which I fled from this place (this place a broader meaning for Harper Rock), but what I found when I left was far more scary then I’d ever imagine.”

[Zodiac]

What the hell?

Zodiac looked at Temperance as if she had suddenly sprouted an extra head. This was totally unlike her to be so blunt. Since when did her tea cause her problems? It was one of the secret pleasures she still clung to from her lost mortality. The fact that the woman still could enjoy food to a degree kept the part of the mystic who enjoyed cooking alive. Always surprising her with tiny treats and such. She had learned how to scale way back on some of her recipes and make just enough rather then a full blow feast that would go to rot after a tiny bit was consumed. When she was alive, food was something never to be wasted, especially if your life consisted of going for stretches of time without it. Another mortal quirk she refused to let go of, hence her sending food baskets to the local shelters near Christmas.

She turned to her hotplate and checked the contents of the kettle and added a bit of water before dropping a blood pack in to warm up. She watched as the allurist sat down. Again, something was off. Some of the grace and poise was missing. The only time she has seen Temperance this out of sorts is when they first rose for the evening, and even then she would have never laid herself to rest with her hands in such condition. Was she a 'neat freak'? Hardly. (If anyone was, it was Zodiac when it came to personal hygiene. She would live in the bathtub if she could get away with it) But Tempy took better care of herself as a general rule.

How much had changed here?

She plucked the bag from the simmering water and poured two mugs full. She sat one within easy reach of her love if she wished it and then sat in the other chair. She took a sip as Temperance began to speak finally. Her legs tucked up under her as she got comfortable, Zodiac wished Ginny was here instead of at home with the kittens. She picked up so many clues about a person from watching how the cat reacted to another as the norm. She wasn't making a proper connection here, and considering how close her and Temperance was normally, it disturbed her deeply.

”I’m sure you want to know why I disappeared, when I returned, and the in-between. I barely remember the reasons in which I fled from this place (this place a broader meaning for Harper Rock), but what I found when I left was far more scary then I’d ever imagine.”

'Gee, ya think?' was the first thought that dashed across her mind, but she held it at bay. She was going to listen, even if it killed her. She promised herself that much. They had invested too much time into each other simply to ignore her story now. She had been away from Harper Rock herself and was planning another journey soon. But unlike her love, Zodiac's trips were ones of vengeance. Where had she gone and why was about to be told now, and despite her anger and hurt, her curiosity was running at warp speed now.

"Well, you have come to the right place, dear one," her mindspeak soft and friendly in tone. "It is what I do for a living and always for you. Tell me your story now. I will listen and advise as best I can." she smiled. For a moment-everything was normal again. The two of them relaxing, chatting, the outside world exactly that-outside, while they rested in comfort and safety inside.

How long this moment would last was yet to be discovered.

[Temperance Avila]

“I went.” A shiver chilled her spine. What was she really doing back here? What had she expected to find? Of course these were the same random sort of questions Temperance asked herself the night she first arrived in Harper Rock. Though she had a mission; for the girl to wander into a strange town, knowing not a soul at all just to inquire for a job. The walk away from Harper Rock was much longer than when she originally arrived; or so it felt like it was. Had she truly stumbled along from stony road, to open spaces just to make a mark in this town? Temperance questioned everything. It was not because she was a skeptic, well maybe that was some if it, but for the most part she needed clarification of everything and everyone. It was who she really was deep within. Ever curious, warm, loving, learning both sides of the story, and lighting a path for those who lost their way even when they didn’t expect they needed it. However, this was not the Temperance that had recently returned. Not yet anyway.

“Home.” It was such a vile word. Fangs suddenly bit deep into the meat of her lower lip and blood pooled to the surface. She swallowed hard with relief that maybe the taste will settle her stomach. The thought that such a place can merely exist and what place was that? Home was her former lifestyle, her new night-hood. Home was uncertainty, cold, and dead as her very dead heart. Her stare glistened over beyond the gypsy who at every cost was attempting to comfort her. Home was the only decent, clear, response.

Temperance shifted uncomfortably in her seat after a long pause than quickly reached for the cup of blood that sat nearest her. She downed it and waited for the response. Her stomach twist in a knot now. Tainted from the fresh herbs that had settled there. She cringed and before she could think of another thought, used the cup as a catchall. The wretched ache was not much, thankful to having only a little of the herb tea. Temperance could remember clearly this was the part she hated most about the turning. Unable to take part in the little things that humans took for granted. Yes, the allurist had mastered the skill appearing human. However, with recent events, her body had been without such delicacies for many months and retorted to the only animalistic source she could at her weakest point.

She left the cup to remain on the floor beside her chair, as if a shame to hide the truth in which she faced. ”I had not eaten normal for a while.” She spoke with some relief as the knots were now gone. ”I had to leave this place. There were so many things building inside that I had kept pushing deeper within. I needed answers and I couldn’t risk anyone getting hurt.” Defense in her tone shown through. The subjects merely running into another. ”In the beginning I’d hope you’d understand, I’d not intended to be gone for this long, nor knew what was really to come of me. Just stop home, visit my mom, see my dad, uncle.” A tear formed. In all the same significant folks who played a monetary role to her in Harper Rock. She had lost all of them, in some form or another. ”When I started to regain the courage to return. I just knew. It was too long awaited. Things had changed; the city had or parts I had not noticed before. I was not really sure what I was looking for upon arrival. I took it slow, until some of my strengths returned. It was only then memories of familiars started coming back to me, places I’d been. Things I’d know.”

[Zodiac]

Home.

That made sense. In the back of her mind, Zodiac was still planning a homecoming of her own, but she doubted it would be anything like Tempy's may have played out. From what the woman had shared with her, the gypsy was sure there were some good things mixed with the bad at home. Enough to make it worth the effort. All Zodiac could see in one with her own family was screaming, bloodshed and chaos.

”I had not eaten normal for a while.”

Well, at least her tea making skills had not gone to crap. The small bit of comfort in that paled a bit when Zodiac considered the alternatives. She never saw Temperance as a predator when it came to feeding. A bit here and there, like she did. Only what you needed to survive. How long did she go without during her time until the hunger grew too much to be ignored?

”I had to leave this place. There were so many things building inside that I had kept pushing deeper within. I needed answers and I couldn’t risk anyone getting hurt.”

Again, a sensible answer. A trip to her own 'home' would not include Tempy. Gods knew the girl had already seen her do some nasty things here and there, but premeditated murder would not be one of them. Unlike Lorette who went with her once to solve another problem, she doubted she could look her love in the eye if the worst happened. She wondered briefly how Temperance would have dealt with her as Lore found her after the first of her three assailants from her past had been dealt with. Blood splattered, laughing and crying all at once as she clung to the length of steel pipe she had used to beat the man's brains out of his skull still locked in her fingers as if life or death depended on it.

Did she....? No.

”In the beginning I’d hope you’d understand, I’d not intended to be gone for this long, nor knew what was really to come of me. Just stop home, visit my mom, see my dad, uncle.”

When she saw the tear, her cool facade melted a touch. A clean silk handkerchief appeared as she leaned forward and caught the tear with it. Her other hand ran gently through the woman's hair for a moment. Zodiac could not remember ever seeing her cry before and the sight of it hurt her at heart. Tempy had seen the mystic bawling like a baby several times in the past, but never had she been on the receiving end of such a sight.

”When I started to regain the courage to return. I just knew. It was too long awaited. Things had changed; the city had or parts I had not noticed before. I was not really sure what I was looking for upon arrival. I took it slow, until some of my strengths returned. It was only then memories of familiars started coming back to me, places I’d been. Things I’d know.”

"Yes, my love. Things have changed since you left," her mindspeak soft, gentle and soothing. "When you feel more solid again, I can show you around and explain what I can."

Zodiac sat back in her chair and fought with her thoughts. She wanted- needed - to hear this out, but keeping her own words at bay was more pressure than she imagined. Finally, she decided how to let some of it loose without sounding like a harpy from hell.

"I guess I assumed you had changed as well, love," she whispered as she took a drink from her mug. "One text at Belatane would have been enough. I waited three nights where we handfasted and had the burns to show I had waited past sunrise from two of those nights. I texted you, no answer. My thoughts cried out to you, nothing. I even had Jennifer call your cell and nothing. I considered summoning you, but had no clue what I might be pulling you from."

A crimson tear of her own slid down her cheek slowly. "I thought you was dead-dead, or had found something you liked better. I could understand that, I could. I mean, me and relationships never seem to work out as a rule. Just figured you found some..." She bit her mental tongue before she said 'guy'. "...one who was better for you. Found the old axiom 'You can never go home again' was total crap."

Zodiac took a deep, unneeded breath and composed herself as she wiped away the ribbon of blood that now her body's answer for tears. "So what happened when you got home?'

[Temperance Avila]

It was not the clean cotton blend, but the unexpected touch. Temperance shivered and flinched only slightly as foreign fingers brushed through her locks. Simple things had a much larger meaning now. Her time away was in seclusion and the only touch was of the furniture she laid upon. Temperance had to get away from the continuous string of dramatics, if it wasn't her true sire, a rise of something she believed in only to fall before it got off the ground, or the masq, then it was wars between homes, within homes, sometimes their home unintentionally; so the woman always swore. Things came up and there was a constant weave to work around the obstacles that were formed. She just had enough of giving so much and caring so deeply and understanding. Temperance quickly wiped any wetness from her eye, harden her emotions, and stiffened her frame.

"Yes, my love. Things have changed since you left," her mindspeak soft, gentle and soothing. "When you feel more solid again, I can show you around and explain what I can."

The allurist simply nodded, her stomach in knots again.

She blinked and looked off into the chapel doorway, which could be viewed from her seat. She did not quite remember what Beltane meant in this context until Zodiac mentioned the hand fasting. It was an odd thing that Temperance grew to be part of. She cared enough about Zodiac to do the one thing she wished even if it had to do with wicca magic. Temperance did not intentionally miss the occasion, she simply did not remember that a rejoining of hands was required and having not been in Harper Rock there was no reminding her that she needed to attend a special event. No rings on her fingers to even give a hint of something to do. However, it was nice of Zodiac to confess that she had attempted to reach out. "I don't know what to say, besides I forgot."

It started off as a happy vacation with a subtle start that she deserved. The allurists nerves all bunched up like bees in a hive fluttering to be free as she walked away from Harper Rock. Days into the vacation let in a little sadness in, the second month a little more until many days more madness set in deep within her veins. The madness lead to an implosion that she had to work through. Seclusion, limited food supply for months on end prior to when the date would have been. Temperance lost nearly all of her learned abilities. Her only focus was to survive. A slim bag of bones, withering mind was mostly what she dragged around. The allurist let herself go too weak for too long and was simply unable function well. Had the mystic tried to pull her from one town to the next, it would have been a sight, but the allurist was too far gone to believe in the relationships she had. There were all disregarded, even the voices in her own mind.

A crimson tear of her own slid down her cheek slowly. "I thought you was dead-dead, or had found something you liked better. I could understand that, I could. I mean, me and relationships never seem to work out as a rule. Just figured you found some..." She bit her mental tongue before she said 'guy'. "...one who was better for you. Found the old axiom 'You can never go home again' was total crap."

Temperance did not register many of the softened emotions that Zodiac emit. She simply sat and watched as the red swelled and pooled to her cheek. Two chapped and still healing lips tightened as her salivary glands called out for liquid life as she carried on about the supposed breakup. "I had changed. Have." She paused and brought a hand to her raw throat.

"So what happened when you got home?'

"What happened, was I left here. Arrived to a beautiful dusty little cottage. I remember loving it. Wanting it. Every little item and trinket in that home." Her chest rose to breath in. She could smell the freshly baked bread. "I was back home and the aroma was so overpowering, I fell into its beauty like a child cuddling in its mothers arms for comfort. After-while, I was convinced I would never leave. How could I leave? Why did I leave anyway?"

She stood abruptly and began to pace the room. Across from the mystic, where Tempy had sat was an exact replica of the figure she was, her powers sparked unintentionally. They did so from time to time after she lost complete control of them. Temperance didn't realize the double was there and continued her pace. "My mother is dead. Do you know that? My mother was dead and that was why I escaped only to be trapped here. I tried to help. Hoping, praying that maybe she could come back. I waited. I waited for dad." She scoffed and stopped in her tracks. "Some help he was. The only help that got me back here." Temperance smirked, but changed the subject. "My uncle, did you know he's dead too. I missed it. I was not there. I could not keep him. I could not change the dead. How did this all just fall away!"

Anyone that knew Temperance knew she held onto similar people here that represented her mortal family. Silver Argent, Etienne, Elizabeth, Merry, Cliff, her childer, even Zodiac. They all held qualities of what her mortal self was holding onto. A few days after Temperance fell into the liveliness of her mortal town, she felt secure again. Until she started putting pieces together. Until she realized that she had left her home to a make-believe city where everyone had a place to replace the mortal realm. They all played a part of the girls infinite imagination which led her to believe and understand she was not a vampire. There were no such things. It was rubbish and she was to die of whatever sick disease she fell ill from.

In one swoop she stopped, noticed the decoy sitting there smiling back. "What do you want!" She snapped. She lunged forward, pulling a small blade from thin air. "You and your mockery! I hate who you are! Why don't you just stay dead!" Temperance reacted as if she was the only one there, the only one to see another figment of her imagination.

[Zodiac]

She flinched at her touch. Most people who did not know her or those who did know of her and her reputations for the bizarre and the supernatural would do this, but those she cared for and knew that she cared was a different story totally. Her touch was meant to comfort, reassure, no knife to appear in the back of the neck, no lock of hair snatched to be part of some nefarious potion or hex. Zodiac had never laid a finger upon her bond-mate in any matter outside of the positive.

Temperance flinched. Was her touch so alien now? Forgotten? Or simply unwanted?

She withdrew her hand quickly as the allurist wiped her eyes and appeared to be willing herself to be cold and hard. The mystic had too little to work with in this, so rather than explode into a rage of half possibilities, she began to treat the conversation as she would any client who came to her for consultation. Laying the facts in a pile while she tried to glean clues about the subject next to her. To her ways of thinking, the only way she would find out the truth of things was to be clinical and detached. Far easier said than done.

"I don't know what to say, besides I forgot."

Well, there it was. She forgot. How silly of the gypsy to think it was anything major. Such thoughts were grabbed by the scruff of their necks and shoved deeper. Outwardly, she just nodded as she crossed her legs. The hand out of Tempy's line of sight gripping the arm of the chair tightly as purple lacquered fingernails bit into the violet fabric to the point of tearing it a bit. Her tears had come unbidden, and Tempy's almost indifference to it make her lock down her emotions even more.

"I had changed. Have."

Another nod. 'Well, duh!' drifted in the back of her mind briefly before she asked what had happened.

"What happened, was I left here. Arrived to a beautiful dusty little cottage. I remember loving it. Wanting it. Every little item and trinket in that home. I was back home and the aroma was so overpowering, I fell into its beauty like a child cuddling in its mothers arms for comfort. After-while, I was convinced I would never leave. How could I leave? Why did I leave anyway?"

There were many differences in the two of them and this was one of the biggest. Temperance actually had a life that could have turned into something with meaning and reality before coming to Harper Rock, while Zodiac on the other hand was forced to leave hers lest she find herself in situations less than what she could ever hope for. She had wondered if coming here had the opposite effects on them. Where the gypsy had grown, blossomed and emerged, could Temperance feel suddenly trapped, limited, unfulfilled? Zodiac felt trapped as well at times, but in other ways she had grown beyond what life on the road or with the tribe would have allowed her to become.

She blinked when suddenly there were two Temperance's in the room. She knew Tempy could make decoys of herself and that she hated them. Once their purpose was done, she wanted them gone, even to the point of destroying them herself and having her brain scrambled a bit for it, so why make one here and now? Either this was some elaborate ruse Zodiac could not begin to guess at or something was very wrong here.

"My mother is dead. Do you know that? My mother was dead and that was why I escaped only to be trapped here. I tried to help. Hoping, praying that maybe she could come back. I waited. I waited for dad. Some help he was. The only help that got me back here. My uncle, did you know he's dead too. I missed it. I was not there. I could not keep him. I could not change the dead. How did this all just fall away!"

Again, another major difference between them. Tempy loved her mother while Zo gave up trying to figure hers out years ago. Constantly being reminded how defective and useless you were had that effect, leading to insecurities and phobias and other quirks even now Zodiac was just beginning to break free of and grow beyond. She knew Tempy's mother had died. One of the subjects they had discussed back when the mystic was a houseguest of Tempy's. Before they had become more than friends. The rest was news to her. Temperance's questions were not so abnormal at all unless you put them into a vampire context. 'Your old life was gone' was part of the so-called 'tenants' they were supposed to exist by. Zodiac herself broke that one frequently when it came to those she still cared for in the tribe, but at a distance, and her own business was a razor thin tight rope she walked on the subject of who she is and was. The part about her father was not so news. At least Tempy knew her father, although it could be argued that might not be such a good thing for some.

"Yes, you told me she had passed." she finally spoke up. "And my condolences about your uncle. You had not spoken much about him in the past."

Beyond that, she was clueless how to reply. The truth came to mind, but something told her Temperance might not be ready for such answers. Dead was dead, unless someone fell into this pocket of quazi-life that held them both. One might learn and speak with the dead but the fact could not be reversed, not even with anything she had been taught or learned from her grandmother's grimores and journals.

"What do you want!"

At first, Zodiac assumed Temperance was shouting at her, which made the inner war with her own emotions boil even harder until she realized it was not the mystic, but the decoy her love was screaming at.

"You and your mockery! I hate who you are! Why don't you just stay dead!"

Zodiac stood up and grabbed the wrist of the hand that held the knife when it became apparent what the woman was intending to do. The situation was taxing as it was without Temperance dealing with psychic backlash to her brain on top of it. Had she been so 'out of touch' with what she had become to actually forget what she could do when she focused her energies and powers? Could something like this be the reason why the woman was acting so odd? How many decoys had met the end of Tempy's knife before now? It would explain some of this, actually a ton of it. Zodiac motioned to get the allurist's eyes focused on her rather than the decoy.

"It is a decoy, dear." she kept her mental voice calm and level. "A psychic projection of your will forced into a visual replication of yourself that you learned how to create since you were turned. I can do it as well. If you lash out at it with this knife you will hurt yourself, so why don't we go into another room and continue and ignore this." she suggested. Out of sight, out of mind. Lame, but outside of physically forcing the woman out of the room or destroying the decoy herself, it was the best she could come up with on the fly. "We'll toss a tarp over it and no have to look at it, okay?"

She glanced at the left hand she held in reflex. A twist of the wrist could bring the tip down into her own hand and she wanted to be ready to hang on if such a thing happened. The dagger was unfamiliar to her, but her eyes locked onto the hand as it moved about, seeking to continue its quest to stab the decoy. The slightly gaunt hand, the unkept nails did not register to her eyes, but the four barren fingers did-especially the ring finger of Tempy's left hand.

"And where in the hell," her mental voice suddenly rising in pitch as the emotional floodgate she had been fighting to keep in place suddenly cracked like a dam, allowing what it held to gush free. "Is the 'wedding' ring I gave you?!?" Her normal blue eyes suddenly flashing red fire.