Momma? Why?

[Zodiac]

(a long overdue continuance of events started in "Hey soul sista, mind twister " http://www.mooncalfstudios.com/pathofth ... =14&t=8394 ) This tale takes place in aprox mid Nov 2013.

19 months.

A long time, a blink of an eye, whatever one wanted to call it.

19 months since the girl and her friend Lorette took a trip to the deep south one night. A place where the 'good ol boys' lived and did whatever they wanted under the protection and blessings of the local sheriff. A town herself and her tribe visited years before that. Before she was turned.

Blood was spilled 19 months ago. The girl knew where to look on the net to find the details of that trip. Three 'respected' members of the community, a retired sheriff and the current one (then) all found dead. The articles left out the condition of the bodies, of course. Years of pent up rage, hatred, shame, and release was let loose that night with a screaming vampiress and a length of lead pipe as its instrument of vengeance. Lorette helped, of course, but this trip had mainly been to help her friend. She had help corner and locate the men, but acted as back up for Zodiac as she confronted her past. It was something she had come to terms with. They were there and she was safe in the cold of Canada. Lorette would have no part of letting her hide away like that.

That part of her past was finally dead. Beaten into the dust with lead.

The local authorities had nothing to work with. The deaths were still considered unsolved. The pair of vampires had covered their tracks well that night. A hint of a strange person being seen. A bar crowd saying one of the gypsies who used to come to town had shown up, but which one they could not say. A female-yes, but details were vague. Gypsies were like other minorities at times. They all looked alike. Behind that bar was were the first body had been found. A man in the crowd, perhaps the only one who could have told the investigating team who they were looking for, had followed her outside as she had hoped his arrogance would make him do.

Once she heard the bones breaking from the first blow, it had gotten easy. Too easy. She was a screaming wraith then. Half in pure primal delight while the other half cried and wanted to hide. She could remember how she was when she found Lorette afterwards. Laughing and crying all at once.

The others died just as badly. Lorette helped.

She missed her.

The reflex fear had eased back finally. Occasionally flashes of the past haunted her, but not so often now. That mountain she had carried on her back since she was 16 was finally crumbling and dropping to the side of the road for her.

One mountain down, one to go.

She turned in her chair and looked at a map framed on the wall of the upstairs in Pandora's A few visitors had commented on it before, but she always found a way to deflect the questions and lead them to another point in the conversation. It was a project she had begun over a year ago. Hints and clues, and letters, e-mails, postcards from the few she still knew was out there acted like guideposts. The postmarks saying where and when. The map was covered with criss crossings of colored thread. In spots. small pushpin flags with dates on them marked where the travelers had stopped and set up camps. Actually, this was a continuation of a game her friend Mary and her had played as children. Where have we been and where are we going? They had maps as well where they kept track of the places they had been to and when.

But the map on the wall served a darker purpose for the mystic. Her gypsies were like birds. They followed patterns at times in their travels. Only breaking those patterns if things went wrong somewhere along the way. Between the remains of those childhood maps she had and the new information she gathered she had a complex view of their movements and several times she had predicted properly where they would journey to next.

It was fall now. The tribe would be aiming for border to settle in Mexico for the winter soon. She might be a day or two early, but she could guess where they would camp before making the last push south for the winter. The same place they always had in the past. One mountain remained on her back now and she knew where it would be waiting for her.

"Maaaaa-errrrrr." she forced the word from her own lips. Her mountain. Her biological mother-Amanda Ferenczy

(TBC)

[Zodiac]

Amanda Francezci (true named Ferenczy) The woman who treated her like a defective tool from the day her disability had been confirmed. Who in her blackest hour slapped her and agreed with the sheriff's assessment of the situation that night. That Angela had simply bitten off more than she could chew and screamed at her why had she not gotten paid for her actions just as her mother had always done. Entertainer she was called. A clever name for whore. Gypsy whores were always popular. They moved on, not live in the same town as their customers and the potentials of a client running into his paid company while with their wife or husband was not an issue.

Her Nanna assured her many times her mother did not begin this till her father left them. A man she never knew or could even remember. Her grandmother told her he was of pure Romany stock and had named her, but on the rest she had taken those secrets to the grave. Not even in her journals was there mention of her father beyond his name- Dimitri. A single photo of the man holding a baby was all she had of him. Why he had left was a mystery. Was it her? Nanna didn't think so. The fights began between her parents after she was born, but her imperfections had not surfaced yet so the subject of a defective child was not to point of argument. It was later on when they had discovered she could not speak, and that is when her life changed. From then on, she was in her Nanna's care as Amanda did what she had chose to do with her life. She could not be bothered with the details, such as teaching her daughter how to communicate with others (be it writing or sign language) but her grandmother taught her these things and oh, so much more.

The story of how her grandmother taught her to be a practicing witch has been documented before. The more she was taught, the more it became clear to her mentor she had a knack for this. Be it the cards and other forms of divination or spells and potions-the girl had the gift. Besides dancing, she became part of her Nanna's act when the curious came to seek out Madame Katrina. But in time, Katrina took a backseat to Mistress Zodiac (as she named her into her own coven among the tribe) and the pair flourished.

Till the night of the assault. The memory of her mother slapping her still burned in the quiet times she was alone and thought about it. Then when her Nanna died, she left and eventually ended up here. But it did not end there. Nearly 2 years ago the gypsies- Her Gypsies found there way to Harper Rock and in curiosity she found herself face to face with the one man she had ever loved. Randy Adams. The pair of them had grown up together Childhood friends apparently destined for more, Randy was seriously injured the night she was attacked when he tried to defend and save her.

And when the members of the tribe returned with tales of being lost and feeling weak. Tell tale hints of what had happened to them under the eyes of those who had been told these legends themselves since childhood? The old ways were recalled and used. Their history was full of it, but not all of the facts were there but only what their ancestors had puzzled out. Some of it accurate but the rest? Randy and the others were murdered to keep the tribe free of spies and agents of the vampires returned. Proof of Randy's death was mailed to her thanks to the business card Randy had taken the night they had been together. Her mother's warnings and curses along with it. Occasionally, Amanda sent her a reminder how watchful she was still-almost daring her to try and come back, but other cards came as well. Apparently Randy had found some of her friends and passed on the fact she was still 'alive' (judging by their words it was the only conclusion she could come to. Randy had left out the fact she now had fangs) They told her a different story of how life was now. Many had left the tribe to seek out a normal life or to try and add themselves to another tribe. For one who had accused her only daughter of trying to set herself up as some princess with a supplicant tribe to protect her and bow to her whims. Amanda had managed to do exactly that herself. She was, after all, the daughter of Katrina Machenka. The high witch of the tribe, leader of the coven within and Zo's grandmother. Who could challenge her authority and knowledge in such things? Had not Nanna taught her their histories and ways? How many that her mother had not liked had been 'removed' under suspicion of being a thrall she had to wonder. How many good people had suffered?

How many were still suffering? The letters and cards told the tales well.

Should she care? That thought bit her deeply. When alive, she would have dove right into the situation head first, but now she was not so alive. A war still raged inside of her between what she was and what she was becoming now. A suspicion crossed her thoughts at times that she was loosing that war. Every moment she remained a child of the darkness, a little more of her original self was being chipped away. Eroded and replaced with new perspectives. She never wanted this and had fought it all the way so far. It also occurred to her the longer she debated and waited, the less ambition and desire she would have to do this. It had been the same when Lorette proposed she do something about her past. The girl had almost come to a point of acceptance of the situation. If she was here and they were elsewhere then why should she worry? Amanda was no longer her problem. There were some within the darkness who had been more 'mother' to her with simple kindnesses than her own had been her entire life.

But Randy's ghost cried for vengeance. Was it? She never heard it or found his spirit when she did séances. Perhaps he slept in peace in whatever nameless gave he was in somewhere. Perhaps she was justifying her feelings now or was she loosing the fight to hold on to her rapidly vanishing humanity that badly. Did she need a reason? She was vampire now.

The fact she even considered such a thing chilled her, but hadn't she done this already?

No, she had encouragement last time. Lorette could be quite insistent when she wanted to be, but she wasn't here now. It was just Zodiac and her own thoughts. Plotting murder-or worse. She imagined another part of shrinking iceberg that was herself was cracking and preparing to slide into the ocean of darkness to be swallowed and never seen again.

"What do I do, Nana?" she thought. It was her fail safe when she found herself with such a decision. Her hands dropped to her lap and petted the mass of black fur that sat there looking up at her. She looked down at her cat and smiled faintly. "Well, since Nana isn't answering, what do you think?"

Ginny shifted her sleek bulk and placed her paws against her owners breast as she smelled and nuzzled about her face. "Just an answer. No sweet talking me. You are staying here if I do this."

Ginny yowled in reply in a way that could have suggested displeasure in what had just been said if she was a thinking creature. Again, the girl smiled a bit. There was no escaping the cat if it decided it was coming along. She sat and stared at the map for a time in silent contemplation for nearly an hour before she stood up from the chair.

She had things to prepare for.


(TBC)

[Zodiac]

(Laredo Texas. 5 nights later)

Her eyes snapped open when her senses told her the sun had set. The inky blackness around her like a comforting blanket as she sat up in her makeshift bed and grabbed the hand rails and pulled herself to her feet. With the blankets and pillows stripped from the bed in the other room, the bath tub made an almost comfortable bed to hide the day away in. When she checked in just before sunrise, she made it clear she wanted no one to bother her room, but she knew how dense some could be. All she needed was a housekeeper to come in, open the curtains and let the sun turn her extra crispy.

She moved her bags from blocking the door and stepped out into the rented room. A quick check showed the bits of tape she sat in place on the door frame had not been disturbed. Zodiac relaxed and flipped on the lights. A meow greeted her as Ginny got up and stretched from the bed of towels on the floor.

"Good evening, my love," She knelt down and petted her familiar a bit. Food and water was given and while Ginny ate, the girl began to stretch and limber herself. She was close now. She could feel it. When she was a child she heard the expression 'The Swallows always return to Capistrano'. Like birds, her Syzgany returned to one of two places as the norm this time of year. A few inquiries along her journey via a information pipe line few even knew existed told her the gypsies had not come into Mexico, so that left south of Laredo as their nesting site for the winter.

As the girl lifted her leg and pulled it behind her head with little effort, she wondered for the hundredth time if she should even be doing this. It wasn't her problem anymore. Just go out and enjoy this place for once (and the others she had traveled through on her way here) instead of casing and conning the locals.

But another part of her would not be so easily distracted. When she had these little arguments with herself, it was sometimes easy to see what was 'original self' and 'vampire self', but this time it was hard to say who was who. The other side of the debate reminded her of things. Things that still bothered her late in the day when she woke up disoriented and scared till her eyes told her she was in her home and not the trailer she shared with her mother as a child anymore.

Can you just turn your back on them?

They turned their backs to you when you needed them.

Not all of them. Nana, Randy,...

Both are dead and gone now...

Mary isn't and some of the others you cared for live as well...

They could have left if it is so bad now....

What else do they know? What else did YOU know until you finally tried?....

It was like a tennis match in her head with two players who could counter the moves of their opponent perfectly. Back and forth, back and forth. She continued her evening stretches as the debate continued. The camp site was not that far from here and with the season at hand she had more darkness to work with. She had nothing planned for the first night anyways. More or less checking out the situation. 'Recon' as Chain would call it. See how things were set up now and possibly locate those she knew before considering the real reason she was even here.

What will you tell Mary?

She thinks you are still alive.

Have you changed that much?

Have you?

HAVE YOU?

Mary and a few others would be a problem. The remnants of the coven as well, unless they were backing Amanda (and if so, her Nana's ghost would be screaming curses down on their heads for it). She laughed at the idea of her mother now head of the coven. The best analogy she could imagine was a fast food worker trying to run a five star restaurant. No, Nana's flock had sold out when they smelled power apparently. Some of them could be dangerous. She knew this well. Her Nana was not the only witch to teach her things when she was part of that circle, but knowledge was power and so was knowing who you might be dealing with.

So less than ten at best out of a group that numbered fifty once when she was among them. Her idea would depend on how badly her mother had them all snowed now. It was a con job and a damn good one. Amanda knew next to nothing when it came to the application and practice of the esoteric skills her mother had taught her only grand child, but she had grasped the concepts and kept the fears alive and burning in the others and that is what Zodiac was counting on. She was the boss and the sell outs were her enforcers.

In fact, the more the tribe was held in fear, the easier this would be to pull off.

Now the voices sounded more in harmony in her mind. The witch and the con artist were going over the things they both knew well and blending the possibilities together in impossible ways. Zodiac finally smiled as she finished her workout and stood up. She needed to pack and take everything with her when she left. A new place to stay come dawn. There was always a chance she might be spotted and remembered, so never the same hiding place twice. She planted her feet and did a back bend to finish-almost folding herself in half. It was probably one of the few pros she had found with her new state of existence. The skills, abilities and tricks she knew as a mortal seemed enhanced now. She was always the one the others would help get inside a locked building to open the doors due to her size and the fact the girl could squeeze herself into places most could not. Yes, she was more limber, sneakier, quiet, and some of her magicks were beyond what originally was.

Zodiac had to admit, she loved and hated this curse/blessing equally.

"Finish your breakfast, darlin'." her mindspeak whispered to the cat as she began to get dressed.


(TBC)

[Zodiac]

She was always a bit of a ghost even when she was alive. Moving silently in the darkness as she made her way to where the camp was located. A bar near the edge of town where she sat and listened told her what she needed to know. Locals either complaining or laughing about the gypsies being around for the winter again. She left a tip next to the untouched beer and left in silence. She knew where to go from here.

An hour later she was closer. Her normal attire packed in one of her bags hidden elsewhere. Black jeans and a matching jacket covered her instead. Black running shoes on her feet padding softly along the worn paths as she kept an eye out for guards and traps. A half mask hid her lower part of her face while a bandana held her hair in place, leaving only her eyes visible if one would see her clearly. Behind her, Ginny kept pace in equal silence now. She kept her feet to the edges of the road not to leave so noticeable of footprints. Part of her found the irony in this. All the things she had been taught as a child in order to sneak about and get into places unseen she was now using to enter her original 'home'. Of course, the vampire within allowed her a few additional tricks she never had before as well.

Zodiac dropped into a crouch and froze. A gloved hand reached out and found the bit of fishing line strung across the path. There was no danger of a bomb or anything going off. The line was probably attached to a bell within camp to alert them if someone was in progress in their direction. She had set this up many times in the past. Checking for signs of another line she found nothing, so she backed up and jumped over it. Ginny, due to her size, ran under it with no problem. It was set to catch human legs of the bumper of a car, not stray animals. She was now what the group considered their territory so even more caution was needed. The mystic stepped off the path and paused long enough to hide herself within the shadows before moving on.

******

Another hour and she saw the glow of campfires among the trees. She passed a couple of lookouts along the way and some more traps. Some she knew and could avoid with ease, but security had been stepped up in places. It took her several minutes to figure out how to quietly bypass a few of them. These were not alarms, but ways to hurt whoever tripped the wires. They had never used such things when she was here. Crude shrapnel bombs and razor wire pits. Each with alarms in place. Apparently her mother had them all wound up still on the dangers just waiting to find them. She sat on her haunches in the dark and considered it. Her grandparents would be rolling in their proverbial graves if they saw this. In the worst of times, anything used was to give warning so they could prepare, not to maim, cripple or kill someone that might be wandering through the woods in general.

Thankfully this would be the only time she'd need to pass all of this. Once in camp she could pick a spot and commit it to memory so she could simply teleport herself in with ease.

A few more lookouts, but armed. That sent another shiver through her spirit. Granted in the past sentries had a hand gun or a club, but not assault weapons. She watched them for a few moments from within her shadows and remembered what her grandfather had told her when she had asked why they did not live as others do in houses.

"A traveler's life is one of the free spirit. We go where we will, and do as we do in freedom. Those who chain themselves to a single place will never understand such things. As your Nana has told you, Angel. Be free, live free, do what you must. Survive."

A couple was approaching from the camp now and was stopped by the sentries. Words were exchanged and the scene began to turn ugly as the guards informed the pair no one was to leave camp tonight. That surprised the mystic. At the most in the past, it was just a few words letting the guards know where you were going in case you needed to be found and off you went on your way. Only if something serious had happened in town did the tribe decide to keep all within camp, but from what she had seen back in town, no one was up in arms over anything at all.

How was living in an armed camp that told you when you could or could not leave 'freedom'?

Zodiac slipped deeper into the shadows and continued as the guards continued to argue with the others. When she was a child, Mary, Randy and herself would slip through the woods easy to avoid the grow ups when the urge to go see the town hit them, but now the surrounding woods were more of a mine field of sorts.

"Keeping the danger out or the subjects in?" she had to wonder now.


(TBC)

[Zodiac]

The patterns had not changed much.

The camps followed a layout or pattern when they were set up since she could remember. The path into the camp opened into an area where the marks (visitors) could be entertained. Games of chance, dancing, gambling, 'entertainers' and special things such as when Zodiac's Nana and herself sold potions and told fortunes for pay. The next area was where things were done. The communal kitchen, the school area for the young, repairs, crafts, where the builders and fixers plied their trades. Beyond that was the gathering of RV's and trailers they all called home.

The entrance was deserted. Either the evening's events had not begun yet or there was to be none. The girl darted from shadow to shadow, pausing long enough to see if there was anyone to avoid in the process. She carefully checked her watch. It was not that late for them to be like this, nor too early for preparations to be made for potential marks. Something was wrong. Rather than risk a direct path in, she returned to the surrounding woods and slipped around the area.

Quietly she slipped past the common areas and discovered the one change to the layout. In the past, the RVs and such were organized in rows to the sides, leaving an area for the vehicles used to pull in and out with ease. Now the trucks sat to one side as the campers and such were formed into a circle, making a type of maze to walk through to reach the center.

She had no doubt in the middle of this sat her mother's trailer (actually it had been Zodiac's Nana's trailer, but Amanda had claimed it as her own when Nana had passed) using the others as basically a wall to surround her. "Paranoid much?" she wondered. Was she really that scared of things? The girl doubted it. This was more of an act to feed Amanda's ego if nothing else. She did not need to see the rest. She would guess the units surrounding Amanda's would be her cronies (the remains of the coven) and then the rest in order of importance. This was a good thing as the gypsy saw it. It made finding one particular person in this mess so much easier to do now.

***

Mary Aanandin stacked the few actual dishes her mother and her had used into the bucket of water to soak. She did not feel like washing them by the light from the lantern this evening. Her mother had already retired for the evening, leaving her in the semi-darkness and her own thoughts.

They had argued, again. It seemed to be a regular thing between the two women now. Another season camping out for the winter and living under the rule of their new 'leader'. Mary and some of the others her age knew Amanda was nothing but a *****. The way she had treated her own child was proof of that much. It was one ******** story after another out of that woman, and once again Mary had begged her mother to consider the idea of the two of them breaking away and striking out on their own. They did not need this concentration camp mentality Amanda was insisting they live under.

She dimmed the lantern and then flopped onto the couch. A couple candles lighting the small room softly. God forbid they camp anywhere where the electrics and the water could be hooked up to this trailer. Another of Amanda's new rules (though Mary noticed the few generators among the group were used to keep their leaders in normal lighting). She reached under the couch and pulled out a tray and began to sift the bits of herb from the seeds until she had enough to roll a respectable joint and light up.

She hated this place and the entire situation around it now. How many times had she packed and was ready to walk away, but the thought of her mother alone in this kept her anchored firmly. A seed popped from the heat as she tried to relax. It wasn't always like this. She has seen more normal kids in her travels and seen movies how normal families were, but her childhood among the travelers was blessed. Oh there had been moments, of course, but life was good. Everything was fine until the morning she was told Nana had died.

Katrina was everyone's Nana basically. She always looked out for all of the kids like a kindly grandmother, but had told Mary directly she was her Nana as well. How many times had the old woman caught her real grandchild-Angela-and her in trouble or success? When they were seven, she could remember Angela and her slicing their fingers to become 'blood sisters'. They were inseparable.

When Nana died, Amanda's line of **** began. Mary believed Angela had killed Nana about as much as she believed Godzilla actually did walk on Tokyo. It was madness to even think it. She also knew what Nana had told Angela to do if something ever happened to her, so the fact that her blood sister was gone by the time the tribe had made the discovery did not surprise her. If she bore any malice to the girl, it was for not saying good bye before she left (and odds are, Mary would have grabbed her own things and went with her if she had only known.)

The whole situation really went to hell in a handbasket when they camped outside of some podunk town called Harper Rock. She thought it was crazy, but she could not dispute the evidence she saw with her own eyes. People had been bitten! Fed upon! How many times had she sat in Nana's trailer and heard these stories of the past before? Sometimes to the point Angela and her were holding each other in fight. That's when Amanda put her foot down. Mary didn't buy the 'thrall' story at all. Especially when she spoke to Randy after their hasty exodus from the area. He said it was nothing and told her a secret. Angela was alive and living in the town they had just run from. She wanted to beat him for that. Despite all the chaos, she took a moment to thank God for that news. The card he gave her offered Mary a link to reach out again to her beloved 'sister' and possibly learn 'Mistress Zodiac's' side of the story.

Two weeks later, the 'thralls' were executed.

She stood dumbstruck by the entire scene. Amanda had made her case and the 'coven' was backing her up. Too many remembered the legends now apparently real yet again. Exile them, throw them out she could see, but murder? All who had ventured out that night had been inspected for clues and the 'guilty' were lined up.

That's when Amanda finally spoke about Angela.

She was what? A vampire? And her and her friends has sent thralls into the camp to begin planning for a takeover? Mary could not say a word until Randy was brought forward. Amanda showing her proof Angela lived. A same bit of proof sat in Mary's sweater pocket/ A business card that declared Angela owned a shop in the town. The woman kept talking and finally declared how well hidden Randy's marks had been on his person.

"Who else would have marked their lover in such a fashion?" She asked. Mary remembered Randy saying he had caught something in his mouth that cut his inner lip, but.... A bite? From Angela? He was her thrall?

"Ack!" Mary groaned as she sat up. She hated when she got into these moods of reflecting. She wanted to leave that day, but her mother who had never known any kind of life outside of traveling was hesitant. The argument continued with no results.

A bark outside of her door pulled her back to reality. At once, she was on her feet and pulled a pistol from its hiding place in the couch. She waited for a moment before creeping to the door. Usually Sirus, the aging German Sheppard, had two types of barks. A series of them meant a stranger, while a few short ones meant someone they knew was near. ("Damn dog barks at everything!") But a single bark was odd in itself.

Mary opened the door enough to peek out into the darkness. "Sirus? What's wrong old man?"


(TBC)

[Zodiac]

The old dog stood looking into the darkness on the steps of the trailer. Something was out there. Something from a dim memory brought to life by a still sensitive sense of smell, causing his tag to wag a bit. He was not the fastest of the bunch anymore, nor did most consider him reliable as far as watch duty went. Mary had saved the old dog when others suggested he was more bother than he was worth and now 'guarded' their trailer alone. Maybe not what he was, but he made an effective door alarm.

A low whine escaped him as he strained to see what it was he recognized in the dark.

Zodiac watched the familiar dog from the shadows when she finally found the familiar trailer among the grouping of them. The fact it was in the outer ring of the set up did not escape her notice. Evidently Mary or her mother (or both) did not approve of Amanda's new ways of doing things, She understood-all too well. It took the death of her grandmother to motivate her to move on into the world. Even at its worst, she could not picture a life beyond this.

"Sirus? What's wrong, old man?" she heard a voice from the past whisper into the darkness. The urge to run out of hiding was fought and instead she picked up a small twig on the ground and snapped it in half

"Who is there?" Mary turned to the sound as the safety on the gun snapped off. Sirus pulled against the rope that connected him to the porch and whined again as his tail finally began to wag fully. From the pocket of her jacket, Zodiac pulled a large cat bell out and held it in her hand and shook it briefly. Mary cocked her head at the small sound in the darkness. Bells were not an uncommon sound in her life, but not in the middle of the night like this. "Whoever you are, show yourself." The vampiress felt and heard the fear in Mary's voice regardless of her bravado, so began to move slowly while making small noises on purpose. One moment nothing but darkness, the next a small figure in black stood in the dim light.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Mary was ready to scream for the 'guards'. No one snuck around the camp like this for any good reason. Slowly she watched the person pull away the mask and bandana and a quick twist of their head sent a cascade of black hair floating free. She looked hard at the sudden appearance of the girl. "I said, who are you?"

Again, the cat bell rang as the girl smiled at her. Sirus pulled harder now as he whined and wagged. The girl stepped close enough for the dog to smell her hand and began to nuzzle and lick it. The stranger's other hand reached out and petted the animal as crystal blue eyes looked up at the girl with the gun.

"Angela?" She stood there as if a ghost had suddenly appeared. The girl stopped petting Sirus and rang the bell again before making sign language in the air.

And my sister remembers me? Thank the Goddess for that much.

The girl was off the porch and wrapped around the other in a heartbeat. Zodiac returned the hug and felt the girl shaking in her embrace. "It's you. It's really you." she kept saying as she looked her over for a moment only to return to the bear hug she had grabbed Zodiac in. The mystic just nodded and returned the hug tightly. Finally, Mary calmed down and grabbed the girl by the hand.

"Get inside quickly before you are seen. Great Goddess, you are freezing!" she exclaimed softly. Zodiac climbed up the steps, trying to work past a excited Sirus who was up on his hind legs begging for her attentions. "Sirus-sit!" Mary hissed.

The trio finally managed to get inside (Sirus would have no part of being outside) and Zodiac found herself sitting on a small couch with the dog mugging for her attentions as Mary turned up the lantern just enough to make seeing easier. "So, it's really you." Mary sat next to her-still looking at her as if she wasn't quite real.

Yes, it's me. Surprised? Zodiac could not help but smile. She had not seen Mary since the night her grandmother died. Emotions was running high now, despite the real reason she had come to find them. Being with Mary again was a bonus in the deal.

"Very," Mary admitted. "I thought you was dead, or worse."

Huh? Explain?

(TBC)

[Zodiac]

Mary sighed as she collected her thoughts. "I was not surprised you vanished after Nana died. I imagine that was the hardest thing you ever had to do." she began. "Later I understood why you left as you did. Nana told you to leave with certain things you would not have been able to take once Amanda had gotten a hold of you if you had stayed for her service. Nana's plan, right? Everyone fussing over the fact she died to spend time wondering where you went or to look for you."

Zodiac nodded as she continued to pet Sirus.

"The idea of you died down eventually," Mary continued. "Wasn't until after that night we was in Canada that your name came up again out loud."

You mean Randy

"Yeah, Randy," she sighed. "That night the whole world turned on its ear for us. I know that you know what happened. Randy told me you had come and were now staying in that town. He came back and told me all about it and gave me one of your cards. That's how I knew where to send you letters as I could to the post office box."

I got them. It is part of why I have returned.

"Angela, that was the last thing you needed to do. You saw how this place is when you snuck in. Your mother has everyone worked into such a frenzy about things and all of these so-called 'guards' we have now have a standing order. If they see you? Shoot and then bring you to Amanda."

Bring my body to her?

"That's not the point. She has the majority believing you're a....."

Vampire?

"Yes! Angela, you weren't here the night she got all of that going." Mary sobbed softly. Zodiac pushed Sirus away and scooted next to her friend and hugged her. Mary returned the embrace. "I knew something was going on, but mother and Randy insisted I stay indoors as much as possible until it all blew over. But it didn't! The day she called for all of us to assemble in the center and saw people I knew tied up something bad was going on."

She looked at her friend. "She had them killed. Did you HEAR ME?"

Zodiac quickly put one hand over Mary's mouth while she motioned for silence, but the woman would have none of it. "THEY CHOPPED OFF THEIR HEADS AND BURNED THEM!"

STOP!

"She had Randy killed because she said you was a vampire and made him your thrall and your friends were attacking the others as well!" Mary was caught up in a release of emotions she had kept in check for far too long now. "They found your business card in his pocket and this is all Amanda needed to start screaming you were one of them."

A part of Zodiac relaxed despite the situation she was dealing with. Her mother was guessing she was one. She did not know for a fact. A good point to know if her plan was actually going to have the desired effect she hoped for. Again she tried to calm the woman down with no effect.

"Stop telling me to shut up, Angela!" she shouted.

Three things happened at once. Sirus rose up from the floor and looked at the door and began to bark like crazy. A loud pounding on the other side of the door caused the dog to bark even more just as a weak voice drifted down the hallway from the back bedroom.

"Mary? What's going on?" the tired voice of her mother called out. The two girls looked at each other and them moved. Zodiac quickly went down the hallway to the back while Mary checked her gun and took hold of Sirus' leash before calling out.

"Who is it?" she demanded.

"Patrol!" a voice replied as a fist hammered the door again.

*******

Zodiac eased the door closed behind her as she took refuge in what she thought was Mary's room. She stood in the darkness and was surprised as a light slowly began to illuminate the room. She turned and saw the older woman looking at her in surprise. She assumed Mary had the smaller room, but was wrong.

"Who are you?" she asked as she fumbled for her glasses and then set them into place. Zodiac put on her most disarming smile as she stepped closer to the woman who in ways had been her mother as well. "Angela Ferenczy? Is it really you?"

She nodded and got down on her knees as Nora Aanandin reached out for her. A soft sigh escaped the girl's lips as she was hugged. "Never thought we'd see you again. Mary has missed you so much. My god, girl you feel like you were in the freezer. Is it that cold out there tonight?"

Zodiac began to reply in sign, but Nora chuckled softly. "I never did learn how to understand that like Mary did, so how about we stick to yes or no questions instead."

********

The door opened and Mary hung on tightly to Sirus' leash as the dog lunged forward. The man on the other side of the screen door jumped backwards a bit at the sudden appearance of the dog. "What do you want, Cal?" she asked.

Calvin Burton (or Cal) looked up at her from his spot on the ground. "I heard shouting as I was passing by. Checking to see if everything is okay."

"Why you walking the back line for?" Mary asked. Usually no one came to the outer ring of trailers much unless there was a problem.

"Ah, Susan said she thought she saw someone sneaking around about a half hour ago, so we making a sweep." he replied. Sirus continued to bark at Cal. "Shut him up!"

"He was who I was yelling at. Was chewing on the chair leg again." she lied.

"Why do you keep this good for nothing hound is beyond me," Cal grumbled. "He's old!"

"Yeah, but he makes a damn good doorbell."

"You know, if you and your mother would quit arguing with Amanda, you would not have problems like this."

"Sorry, my mother never saw a reason to kiss her *** before and still doesn't." Mary snapped. "The pair of them have been part of this forever."

"Well that one little fact is what has kept you safe so far." Mary noticed the hint of menace in Cal's voice now. "Your mom is not going to be around forever, so I suggest you start making some new friends soon."

"Are you threatening my mother?"

"No, I am warning you."


(TBC)

[Zodiac]

"Warning me about what?" Mary's thumbed off the safety of her pistol.

"Your mother was part of the original council here along with Katrina Ferenczy and the others. Too many still respect that fact, despite what Amanda would prefer happens. If something happens to Nora, no one is going to worry about what happens to you. Amanda will see to that. You were one of Angela's best buddies and we all know how our new 'queen' feels about her own flesh and blood." Cal kept his voice low. In a way he was talking treason by daring to speak to someone about Amanda in such a way. He put his gun back in his back pocket and put his hands where they could be seen as he spoke even lower. "When this lockdown lets up, a few of us have had enough."

"I didn't hear that and I wish you luck out there," she replied. Mary wasn't stupid enough to admit to similar thoughts of her own. People have gotten hurt for being so trusting before. "Thanks for checking on us."

"No problems," Cal turned and headed out into the darkness with his gun drawn again. The woman watched till he was lost ness and then encouraged Sirus to follow her back into the trailer.

"Ange?" she whispered after closing and locking the door. She heard laughter from the sleeping area. Surprised, she walked back to where her mother was and found Angela sitting with her. Nora Aanandin's eyes lit up at the sight of her daughter.

"Did you know Angela owns her own business now?" she asked before looking back at the black haired girl. "I am so pleased you have done well for yourself, dear."

Zodiac nodded her head and smiled before looking to Mary. Everything okay? she signed.

"Yeah, for now."

"I am tired," Nora apologized. "Mary, make sure Angela has a comfy spot to sleep in. I want to hear all about what you have done since I last saw you tomorrow over breakfast." the woman yawned.

"Okay, mom." Mary nodded while motioning for the girl to come out.

*****

So how many of us are left now?

"Not many," Mary sat down with a cup of coffee. Angela had refused one, saying it upset her stomach nowadays. "Myra and her family broke away the same day Randy was killed. Bobby Drogan and Stacy Kemp families left a few weeks later. Charlie Ross went and got his GED and then joined the Army. He hasn't been back since."

Holy crap! Zodiac gasped. Almost the entire group of kids her and Mary had grown up with was gone. What about Connie and Lois and Shira?

"You mean Spooky Shira?" Mary laughed.

I wish you guys would have stopped calling her that. she signed in agitation. She was always nice to me.

"Maybe a little too nice?"

Oh hell no! Was never like that.

"Maybe not from your view, but that girl was attached to your hip for some reason I can only guess at. I mean," Mary showed her hand in the dim lantern light, showing the fine line of a faded scar that matched one on Zodiac's own palm. "We took the blood oath. We was sisters like the Sysgany used to do it and I didn't even obsess over you like she did."

What happened to her?

"She vanished not long after you did. No one has seen her since. Connie and Lois are still here, but.... they are part of the so called inner circle now, so I would stay clear of them."

What got my mother into such a hate parade over me? I mean, I know she never liked me, but to be saying these things about me and all.

"Because you messed up the game plan, babe. Everyone expected Nana to die when we sat camp and waited instead of starting traveling in the spring that year. You got stuck with taking care of her for the most part, so she had all the time she needed to talk to you about things."

I still don't get it.

"Among the things Nana told you to take, she had you take that necklace she always wore, didn't she."

Yeah, so what?

"She never told you about what it really was?" Mary nearly dropped her cup. "That beautiful bit of neck ware has been in your bloodline since the time your ancestors were slaves for your namesake. Never mind the dollar value of that thing. That, dear sister, was the sign of leadership within the coven. The one Nana took over for handed it to her, the one before that the same thing all the way back down the line. When word spread around camp that Nana was dead and your mother came to see her body, the first thing she screamed was 'Where was her damned necklace!'. "

Nana gave it to me that night. Said it needed cleaning and would I do it in the morning.

"Hot ****! I had it figured out." Mary laughed. "Your mother is not the all powerful ruler she thinks she is. Only the real leader of the coven can wear that thing and since she doesn't have it, a percentage here refuse to bow down to her demands. Your grandmother gave that necklace to the one she probably would have given it to when you was old enough. That's why Amanda has the 'paint Angela all kinds of bad' deal going on and insisted you be shot if you ever came near the camps. She is scared one day you will walk in here and by the fact you have that necklace just bump her *** out of that throne she thinks she has, and trust me-some of the 'servants' would tear her to shreds too."

Zodiac considered it all for a time before reaching into her shirt and pulling out the necklace. Nana told me if I put it on, never to take it off. She had treasured it as her close link with the woman and had done as she had been told save for bathing and such.

Mary smiled and dropped to her knees and bowed down dramatically. "Hail to the rightful Queen of these here Gypsies, baby girl."


(TBC)

[Zodiac]

WHAT? I don't want to be no flipping queen!

Perhaps if life had been kinder and she never had a clue of what being in the real world was all about, then maybe. Also if one took out the being a vampire part of things and if Nana herself was there to ask her to do this. But too much time had passed and she had too much of herself invested in other things North in the damned cold and if her life had actually come to this a lot of other things would have been different both good and bad.

"Who said you had to be." Mary got up and took her seat.

I think it was the bowing you just did that gave me a clue Zodiac signed while adding her gestures to indicate sarcasm.

"No, no. I don't know what you have going on in Harper Rock, but I am sure its a thousand times better than this. The sad thing is, if we had some backing like some muscle boys with firepower behind you, you could put your mother in her place, appoint a regent, and this whole damned mess would fix itself." Mary was actually animated now, reminding the mystic of the girl she grew up with finally. "I would expect to be on your private board of advisors, of course." she grinned.

My eternal lady in waiting perhaps

"Bite me, *****!"

Be careful what you ask for.

***************

Another motel. Mary had insisted she stay with her, but being trapped in a trailer in the daytime and possibly being discovered was not the best scenario in Zodiac's view she would want to be discovered in. She sat on the throne provided in her impromptu 'bed chamber' and considered this twist of events.

She held the necklace in her hands and studied it. How many years of her life had she seen this around her Nana's neck and never seriously questioned it. How long had she wore it and never gave it a second thought beyond it was her Nana's.

It ways, it would simplify her original plan her visit was based on. It would satisfy the Angela that left the camp originally. The timid, gentle, truly human Angela. The girl who would have lived her life in such a style and manor in total comfort and happiness. One who did not wish to leave and whose departure set up a chain of events that led till now.

But Angela died one night in a town to the far North. What sat in her place was still Angela, but with a darker twist. A twist she wished at times she never had. 'A life for a life; Nana had told her once when she asked her about how the laws applied to them. It was not a literal term, but it symbolized the punishment would equal the loss. No exceptions. If you stole from another and was caught, you would loose things, and so forth. Those considered the elders and the coven would make those decisions and the girl never saw anyone killed. Banished? Oh yes, but murder was never an option until Amanda took over the show.

Her mother had a lot to answer for as their laws required. For what had been done to the tribe and her actions to her only defective child. Amanda had said those actual words once to her. Defective. When Angela finally looked the term up, she was devastated. Was it her fault she could not speak? Did she choose to make that awful sound that reminded her of some animal in pain when she forced her reluctant vocal chords to try and say the simplest word instead of in a voice as others had?

It took far more restraint that she had imagined not to leap into Mary's mind and finally 'speak' to her. She was so tempted. So many laughs and tears shared between them and never once could she even say hello. It would be the same for all them. Myra, Bobbie, Stacy, Shira, and the others. But they were gone now.

For perhaps the thousandth time, the mystic asked herself why bother. Precious little was left of the world she called home. The ones she would have fought and died for were either dead or scattered to the winds of the world now. Suddenly the timid little girl sat in the darkness again wondering debating. How hard has she fought to keep a sense of herself in the ever growing whirlpool of change she was trapped in and her plan would go against anything her original self would dare to consider, let alone show up to actually do. Her eyes looked to the large pack of needed supplies she had brought with her and could recall the look on Dominique's face when she asked the woman if she could make some of the items. The girl scratched her head because this was something the mystic normally did not ask of her, but made them for a price gladly. The rest was things she knew how to use quite well. Simple things can achieve so much in a trained proper hand.

Amanda insisted her child, Angela, was a vampire who would love nothing more than to make the tribe her own personal supply of supplicant slaves to protect her, do her bidding and be her source of food and amusement. In one of the few bits of correspondence Zodiac had received from her mother the woman had said this. Warned her death and damnation awaited her if she dared to return to them. The one letter would have said enough, but the odds notes that followed made no sense. The insults and slurs and warnings said again. Why poke a beast you wish to leave you alone?

The necklace in her hand explained them perfectly now. She wanted her child to come home. How easy to explain killing her to the others if they were already in fear of the vampire hellspawn returning to rule them like some demon of the netherworld. Some of the hitmen that had sought her out in Harper Rock also suggested things to her. Zodiac was almost obsessive at covering her tracks to preserve the Masq, so their orders and employer could have been from other sources outside the city. Her business card said the store was in Harper Rock and a good description would not be hard to give them as to what their target looked like, and if successful, bring back the prize for a fat bonus?

If this was the case, Amanda had sent men to their deaths because those men were not prepared to deal with the reality the woman claimed to be true to mask her own ambitions. They were hunting a mouse and not prepared to find a mouse that had learned to bite and bite hard.

"I thought things would be different this side of death, but they are not." she frowned deeply. Petty games of power played out and no matter who was caught in the middle of it all, it mattered not as long as the prize was won. Amanda was not so different than some in Harper Rock save the fact she was still alive. "Nothing changes. Not a god damned thing." All this insanity over a bit of silver and what it represented.

She slipped the necklace back around her neck and closed the door. The room door was locked and blocked in case room service could not read. Stuffing towels under the door to keep the day light away, Zodiac lays back in her porcelain bed and relaxes. Tonight would be a busy night and she had only one shot to put it all off. But would it be Angela the gypsy or Zodiac the mystic was still in debate as the need to sleep overtook her.


(TBC)

[Zodiac]

(the following night)

Can you do it?

Mary thought about it long and hard. The pair sat in a small bar on the outskirts of town. It was one they had snuck into regularly in their younger days so the entire scene reeked of nostalgia. It was only the two of them. Several of the usual group were gone now never to return, and the girl who sat across from the gypsy was the only one left she could trust to ask for help. Mary had found the note wrapped on Sirus' collar telling her to come here this evening.

"Yeah, I am sure I can." Mary looked down into the bag that sat next to her at the devices Zodiac had brought with her.

Be sure, the mystic signed after pretending to take a drink of her beer. If we want to do this, I need this stuff set up perfectly. Mary leaned across the table.

"Why all the flash and drama?"

My mother says I am a monster, so who am I to disappoint? A little sleight of hand and some smoke and mirrors and the whole camp will be out of sorts. Far easier to get a clear shot at the heart of the matter that way and hopefully this will be a bloodless revolution.

"I guess so," Mary drained her mug as the gypsy waved at a waitress for a refill. "Man, you have slowed down." she smirked. "There was a time I could not keep up with you when we drank."

Getting old I guess. She handed the waitress cash for the fresh beers and pushed on to Mary.

"Old? *****, you the same age I am." the girl laughed as she took the mug. Mary glanced around for perhaps the twentieth time to be sure no one she knew had entered the bar. "So what are you going to be doing while I am doing this?" She tapped the bag next to her.

Doll, my plans are already in motion and I did a few warm up things before I came here. That note in Sirus' collar was proof of that. You just playing catch up football. Zodiac smirked. You have told your mom and a couple others you trust what is going to happen, right, so they are prepared?

"Yes, I did. And mother pointed me to a few she trusts, so I will have help with what you want me to do. But Angie, I'm confused. How are you gonna pull this off?"

Watch and learn, babe. Now zip that bag shut. She took another fake drink and wiped her mouth. The jukebox began to play a more lively tune and the girl stood up and began to shake her hips as she motioned for Mary to join her. As Segar's Bettie Lou's Gettin' Down Tonight' blasted, the two friends danced like they used to do as children.

"I love that purple in your hair." Mary shouted over the music. "That's just crazy!" Zodiac winked and grabbed her hands and spun them both. "What's on your fingers?" Mary noticed red stains on her friend's fingertips.

Ate some messy barbeque earlier. Sorry.

***

"Who did this?"

Amanda Ferenczy was barely holding in her rage as she looked at two of the guards. Guards whose duty it was to guard her trailer alone. At her feet in the dirt, an elaborate pentacle had been carved into the ground. As much as she had blown off the advanced teachings of her own mother, she knew enough to recognize this particular layout meant nothing but ill will to the one it was named for. Her own name crowned the design in Romany writing.

"I swear," one of the guards answered. "We saw no one."

"Off enjoying yourself or something?" her anger began to show now. "And what about this?" She pointed to the side of her RV where bloody letters spelled out Tradator Pentru Familie! and another that said Curva de Iad "Still saw nothing?"

The pair of guards were at a loss to explain it. The had found the dead rabbit under the trailer the artist had used for its blood, but beyond that not a clue. "Double my guards, and so help me if this happens again!" She gave the pair a look as she kicked at the pentacle in the dirt to break it, then stormed back into her trailer. She locked the door and flopped into a chair as she considered things. She had wondered how long she could hold this all together before someone decided to revolt. Oh, the woman had gathered a strong core of supporters for her claim, but not the exact ones she needed.

She poured a shot of whiskey as she mentally cursed her mother for the umph-teenth time. This would have gone so much easier if Katrina had simply given her the necklace. The last time she tried to get it, her own child defended the woman. And that had turned into a mess she could have lived without.

For simply being an 'entertainer', Amanda had a good idea how people thought and reacted to things. The problem with a group like this was simply it had few points to rally around, but they few they had they clung to zealously. Leadership was a major one. The coven was technically the brain trust of the leader, but the leader themselves had to have been given blessings by the previous one and the necklace they had all grown a group mindset to accept as a symbol of this leadership had to be around the neck of the one the previous leader had blessed. Despite her claim to birthright, she was basically a regent, and not the true appointed leader. The majority of the coven backed her up. The younger blood among those old crones was eager to flex their own muscles so to speak. Only a few of the old guard, like Nora Aanandin, rejected her claims. Thus, they were divided as a whole.

Angela. Nana had to give the thing to her. It was the only thing that made sense. They day the others woke her with news her mother had died, she saw how her only child had prepared the woman's body. Totally adorned in her finest, with rings and jewelry that would have fetched not a small bit of cash from any pawn shop. Angela had not stolen anything from Nana. She had only taken what she had been told to that, Amanda assumed, and than meant her mother had given the necklace (and probably her blessings) to her.

As the whiskey burned the back of her throat soothingly, Amanda wondered again why she had turned on her daughter the way she did. What exactly has set her so against the girl. It was not the fact she could not speak. No one sane could be that heartless (though she did make negative references to her problem many times) No, that wasn't it at all.

It was Dimitri, the girl's father. Amanda's missing husband that had started a rage, and with him gone all she had to aim that rage at was the girl.

Dimitri Ferenczy had grown up elsewhere (no one had ever knew exactly where he had come from), but part of his family was a part of the tribe, so when he came to them the issue of him being accepted was never an issue. Amanda Machenka was just 17 when he came and was awestruck. A handsome man with wit and charm. Even her mother found favor in him. Mother told her he had been raised in the 'old ways' as she had tried to kindle such interest in her daughter (and later her granddaughter who took to it all like a duck to water). Dimitri had his share of suitors to choose from, but in time he narrowed his attentions to just Amanda. He was a dose of perfection for both Machenka women. Nana had him join with the others where, according to her mother, he showed his skills in her craft, and Amanda learned happiness in his arms. Her mother performed their handfasting when they approached her on the subject. It was like a dream that would never end.

Then came Angela.

The baby was the continuation of the dream for Amanda. She remembered the night her silent child came into the world. The tribe was on the move to avoid the local law and on an All Hallows Eve on a highway passing through Texas at 60 MPH she gave birth in the back of a van. Dimitri was with her as her friend Sharon was midwife. Both began to weep at the sight of their child when Sharon handed her to them.

Time continued. Outside of her lack of making noise, Angela was a typical child. Three years they shared her till one day when Amanda inquired where had Dimitri and Angela had gone and her mother told her he had taken the day off work and had took her for a walk in the woods. She was walking, all smiles and tugging at pants or skirts to let others know she was there. No one saw them till nearly sunset. Dimitri carrying an exhausted Angela over his shoulder, but curiously-he went to her parent's RV and not home. She found this odd, but not unusual. Almost a half hour later he emerged with the girl and returned to their camper.

"Nothing is wrong," he assured her. "Just found some roots and herbs I think your mother can use is all." He laid the sleeping child onto her bed and turned his full attentions to Amanda.

She awoke the next morning to Angela tugging on her blankets-all smiles. The girl's way of saying 'I'm up-I'm hungry!'

But there was no sign of Dimitri. This was not unusual. Sometimes he left early with others who drove into whatever town was near their camp to see work for the day, so Amanda did not fret about it until the last of the workers returned. No one had seen or given Dimitri a ride that day. A quick check of the camper showed some of his things were missing as well as his backpack. The more she looked and questioned, the more frantic she became. No one knew anything and even her parents was surprised at the news. That point Amanda in later years would decide was ********, but she never had the courage to ask what her husband and mother had discussed before that last night in his arms. Suddenly, she was alone save for Angela, and even then she began to feel like an outsider once mother began to pay even more attention to the child. A year later, a doctor examined the girl and told them why she never had made a single sound. That was what made Amanda snap. Again, why she could not say. It was not the girl's fault her father left (was it?) and her impairment was not known till after he had left them. Everyone loved Angela.

But no one seemed to have time for Amanda. It was as if the part of her that cared for anything suddenly switched off.

TBC

((OOC: Tradator Pentru Familie = Traitor To Family!
Curva de Iad = Harlot of Hell))