Face Off-(Velveteen)

[Satine]

The sharp edge of the blade in the pale hand was beautiful. It did not matter that it was her own hand. The contrast of that deathly white flesh holding the lethal weapon was like art. She could sit and stare at it for hours and be completely mesmerized by it. The weight of it and the sparkle of promise as it danced beneath her silver orbs. It called to her asking to be used. For the moment it hissed with each movement across the long piece of leather that would serve the purpose of polishing it to perfection. A few repetitious up and down strokes of the weapon completed the task. The strop was removed from where Satine had it and tucked away for future use. A cloth folded in her hands and soon it glided in a slow firm caress along the length of the blade to remove the polishing compound recently applied. The ritual was complete. Her sword would be ready for use when called to serve.

The raven haired necro still favored the ax used in her first kill but she hardly could walk the streets with such in her hand. Not unless she wanted to claim she was competing in some lumberjack tournament and walking her *** to it. that would be a hard sell with the way the police had been watching her. Back to that ax. It was Chester’s but she took claim to it and showed him how to use it. It could be the simple grain of wood in a surface, the scent of motor oil that was similar to the scent of him and she could feel that handle so snug and tight in her palm as her fingers curled around it. A first weapon. Was it that way for others?

Satine stood up from the black leather seat beneath her. Stepping over the twin full body x-ray coffee table was as easy as stepping over a crack in the sidewalk. Her hand tossed the cloth and the small container of the polishing compound back in the black chest that held pretty much all she cared to have possession of. A green sandal caught her eye and she extended the effort of her hand to stretch and pick it up. A second lift of the lid to the vintage floor chest gave her a place to toss it out of view. Out of sight and out of mind. It was a good rule of thumb. Now that she gave it some thought she wondered if she should invest in a deep freezer at some point. And an ax.

Two hours later the night greeted Satine with a plethora of scents and sounds that would remind her that summer was arriving. Her walk through Bullwood and up into Cherrydale was brief. On through Wickbridge she traveled on foot. There she found the social bodies forming circles around pub tables drinking or adding to the bustling dancefloors. It was too early to find anything dazed, confused and alley bound so she moved on. Nothing called for her attention and for the moment she was grateful she had sucked on that plastic juice pouch she bought in the shop conveniently set up in Pandemoniums lobby.

The cravings were less as far as the hunger went. Satine was finding a it easier to keep control of as long as she didn’t smell it or see it. Blood. It was nearly impossible to ignore the effects it had over her. It was as if she instantly lost her mind. It sent her into some sort of frenzy and brought the itch beneath the skin on her hands to dig into something to the surface. Something warm and preferably writhing in pain that she created. All of this reminded her she was not foolproof and was subject to weakness just like the woman who raised her was. that is where the similarities ended between them. Satine’s issues were darker than her mother’s addictions. Satine had blood on her mind and scenarios of decadent violence flooding her thoughts. Each one threatened to slowly push out the limited sanity she had left to anchor to. So much for those calming fires she relied on when everything else became too much to handle.

“You got a light?”

A voice caught Satine completely by surprise as she stepped out of the River Rock transit. The source was not out of sight for long as a click of a few steps revealed a tall female that looked completely out of place in the business suit and nearly perfect auburn hair wrapped up tight in a smart wrap. The shimmer of a flame erupting at the top of a silver lighter cradled in her hands was another sign that this really wasn’t about needing a match or a random crossing of paths. Fingernails that were far longer than practical moved in a relaxed movement that let her know that the woman she was currently staring at had all night to wait for an answer. The scent of a freshly lit cigarette pulled Satine’s focus from the blood red nails that tucked the lighter into a small pocket on the front of the black on black ensemble.

“Ask and you shall receive.” Satine mumbled as she stepped around the female intent on proceeding forward to her random adventure waiting for her beyond where she currently was.

“In that case…” The soft exhale of a well savored breath hissed behind her as she made her first step off the limited sidewalk. “How would you like to make $200?”

Satine’s foot paused in the air as if the question was a moving car speeding right in front of her nearly hitting her. What the ****? She looked down at her clothes as her foot settled back from where it came. What the hell was that supposed to mean? A turn on her heels had her back in front of the taller female.

“Say that again?” Satine was greeted upon her return to a small cloud of smoke that had formed from the release of its gray ribbons downward. “I don’t think I heard you right.”

“T-w-o h-u-n-d-r-e-d d-o-l-l-a-r-s.” The teeth that were revealed behind the painted crimson lips were nice and even. Was it wrong that Satine wondered if there was a diamond hidden behind all that bright white?

Satine was just about to do two hundred dollars worth of damage and then some when she felt the increasingly familiar sensation of lead bursting through her leg. The sounds of the steps that originally caught her attention were so fast and fading it almost sounded as if the woman made two quick movements then disappeared into thin air.

“Freeze!”

Satine really was getting tired of this ****.

“What the hell?!” Now she was pissed off all over again.

A sharp whistle echoed in the distance. Satine held her leg with one hand as she heard the steps of a panting cop coming up behind her. She had no time to waste thinking about being a law abiding citizen. It was a signal to run like the wind. That is exactly what she did heading straight for the source of the attention getting call. The shots fired behind her but this time she was lucky. She had only one wound that she was taking with her.

[Velveteen]

Since having to do away with the two men who had mistakenly taken on the assignment that would prematurely end both their careers and their lives, Velveteen had decided to spend a little more time around the Harper Rock City Morgue. Best to make things seem normal right? Well as normal as normal could possibly be in this little wonderland of horror and insanity. A white lab coat covered her rather casual attire of black jeans, A form fitting T in the same shade and wedged ankle boots. Her ID tag hung from the pocket displaying her name, position and picture. Thank god for the digital age. A pair of black rimmed secretary type glasses, that she would push back in place occasionally, sat atop the bridge of her nose while she made herself look busy going over paperwork. The glasses were a completely unnecessary, new addition to her wardrobe. She had her reasons.

So far none had come making any enquiries after the two men. While that was a good thing, the vampire felt far from secure in thinking that perhaps no one ever would. The slow yet rhythmic footfalls of hardened rubber against stone drew her attention and she looked up to offer a cursory smile to the young security guard that wandered the building at night. The staff was minimal at this time at night but as death didn’t always occur between the hours of nine and five it was needed. Especially in Harper Rock which she was certain was quickly becoming the murder capital of the world. Nearly every light post and shop window in town was littered with pictures of missing people. In many ways Harper Rock reminded her of that one song, Hotel California. People were forever checking out, but they rarely ever left. Were people really that stubborn, not wanting to leave their home, or just that absolutely oblivious?

Once again her finger came up to press the frames of her glasses back in place. She wasn’t used to having anything on her face so it was taking some getting used to but **** it. Since the arrival of her sister the vampire was going through some form of identity crisis, though she would never admit it. After signing off on some forms that needed her signature she shoved them into their respective folders and tossed them into the tray to be taken care of by administration when they arrived in the a.m. Inventory also needed to be attended to but she decided to leave that for now and instead leaned back in her chair to pay more attention to the whispers going on about her. Her head tilted as she eavesdropped on the conversations of the dead. They still, for the most part, seemed to be unaware of her and the fact that she could once again hear them. As much as she missed that aspect of her life she wasn’t entirely sure that she was ready to dive head on straight back into it. She had enough on her plate these nights without the added stresses of aiding those lost souls. And the number of those in this god forsaken hellhole were great.

Pushing her chair away from the desk she stood and began to shrug off the white lab coat when pain shot up her thigh and her leg buckled beneath her causing her to fall backwards and back into the chair she had only just vacated. Her hand went straight to the area that burned like it was on fire. She felt like she had just been shot, yet there was no sound of gunfire, nor was there any obvious damage to her jeans when she lifted her hand but her palm was damp with the familiar dark red of blood. “What the actual ****??” She murmured before her eyes narrowed. “Ssssatine!” The other woman’s name hissed through clenched teeth. What the **** had she gotten herself into this time? Or was her husband teaching his new protégé another lesson. While the pair had sorted their issues regarding the whole situation, she still wasn’t entirely convinced that it would be ok and **** like this did not help.

Raven coloured locks fell about her face as her head dipped forward. Perhaps it was time she she and her sister met face to face. Vampire to vampire. Using her powers she located the fledgling easily. River Rock. While technically the district was not far away, with the Quarantine Zone between it could make travelling there the normal way take a lot longer than she would like. Using the power of celerity, Velveteen arrived in the general area in less time than it took to blink. Being careful to arrive at a place that she knew was not highly populated, and once there the woman took off running towards the place that she had seen her sister in her mind’s eye. There was more gunfire and it was coming her way and a sharp whistle came from the opposite direction. Another cop running to the aid of his colleague and Satine was heading straight for him. Velveteen moved into the shadows and cursed under her breath at the stark, white lab coat she still wore that made blending a little more difficult. She stepped around a corner and into the mouth of a darkened dead end alleyway and waited.

Seconds. That was all it took before hand shot out and grabbed the upper arm of her sister, pulling her back into the alley. It would only be a second or two more before the police would be there inspecting the empty alleyway and wondering where the **** their perp went. But by then Velveteen would have her sister in a death grip and hauling her careless *** into the garage that her husband owned in Stag Heath, matching wounds and all.

[Satine]

Satine was running heading straight towards the place she heard that whistle. She could hear the steps behind her then it was as if she was pulled from the air by whatever hooked on her arm. a jaw rattling tug had her with such power that it reminded her of those cold meathooks the guys first had. Such brute force locked down and took hold of her that she could feel the pressure race up the bone into her shoulder joint and make a path to her jaw. Her body slammed back with a thud against a surface that stunned her. The scent of something so familiar and tangible filled her just as the rush of leaving everything in her view instantly shifted into another scene altogether. Now she was terrified and she was afraid to look. Afraid and filled with some weird energy that was right up there with the whole seeing people walking around in other rooms. What was going on with her?

It started in her bones and then bloomed in less time than she could control it. It was there and she felt like she had the power to do anything. Satine’s silver eyes fixed on black hair that was not her own as it spun beneath the halo of the moonlight above. The scent returned again. Her lungs filled with what she knew from the beginning and now she felt as if she could stop the world for this very moment. She had to! It was her! Velveteen had finally came around!

For the first time Satine felt that claim and connection with the grip of the petite females impressive strength. Velveteen must work out a whole lot. Not that she was given much time to think about it. That thought was all but left behind as her body was pulled into some haze of force that had her mind spinning with it. Instantly they were gone from the street and looking at the exterior of a garage.

Satine dug her heels down into the surface of the garage floor trying to slow down the moment. What the hell was the rush? This was going to be the best thing ever. Finally they were together. She tried to writhe her arm free from Velveteen’s grasp because it was getting sore and it was not going how she had planned it at all. There was supposed to be a hug. Yes. There was. God damned right there was. She wanted her hug! Over three thousand times she probably thought about it. Velveteen was supposed to be hugging her right now. Not pulling at her arm like she was Ms. Stretch Armstrong and if she tugged a little more she could finally take her arm off. Moments like these had no room for disappointment. The woman needed to calm the **** down. Satine put her foot down and in the blur of activity that brought her to skid on her heels into the garage she finally roared out in protest.

“STOP!” Satine could feel the pulsing of that power and the rage rolling through her. This was not going to continue. “I S-A-I-D S-T-O-P!”

Satine tugged her arm back in a swift motion like a ragdoll in a petulant child’s grasp that finally was about to be free. If only she could make everything stop. The power to have everything freeze in that very moment. Yes, then Satine could handle her sister and the woman’s obvious imbalance that was causing her to be so damned irrational. Silent curses and random tingling went through Satine’s brain and body and the next thing she knew she felt some surge that had her arm suddenly free before the hand on it froze up. She stumbled back with the force of her arm pulling free. One foot tripped up the other and she was dancing with her hands and feet to correct her balance. As she found the coordination to rise to her feet she noticed that that Velveteen was not moving. Satine waited and stared as if any moment Vel would lunge at her and continue her instant march of their feet to wherever she was trying to take her.

“I just wanted to talk…” Satine dared to finally step closer. “Velveteen?”

The woman didn't even blink. Satine moved in closer. Maybe Velveteen shared the need. Perhaps she wanted a hug too. It seemed as good as time as any when she paused after opening her arms wide.

“You okay?” She stuck out her hand to pat the shoulder that was as petite as her own. there was no response. Satine’s head inclined as her feet moved closer. “Please say something.”

Satien felt all the years creep up on her that she wanted for nothing more than this moment and now either she was being punished for it by Velveteen’s going silent or it was something worse. Her hand nudged the shoulder again and this time with far more than friendly pressure. There was no response. Satine looked around as the chill of uncertainty crawled up her spine. Nothing was moving. She swallowed hard as her eyes fixed on her stone-like sister. She could see through walls and discover bodies move. She felt instantly sick. What if she just turned Velveteen into a statue of flesh because she got angry? Her lips twitch at the thought. She just froze her sister and time as well. She was cursed. She got this close and now she was losing it all. Her eyes burned. She sure as hell was not going to cry. She started at Velveteen and blinked fast.

“I am so sorry.”

Fine. A couple tears were breaking through. There is always a few when you kill your sister. Satine stepped forward as if she was next in line to view the body of her deceased...which she already was to begin with...twin sister. Her fingers shook as they brushed back the hair that felt like her own as it slipped through her fingers falling back to her sister's shoulder. This was insane. Micah gave her the power to stop time and freeze things around her. She didn't deserve it. To top it all off in the madness it robbed her of the one who she had spent her short life looking for.

“So, so, so sorry. I don’t know my own strength!” Satine protested out loud truly believing she was truly capable of such.

the new necromancer's face went into her own hands in defeat. She just lost her sister and soon her *** because Micah was going to make ashes out of her. She couldn't have that. Satine sniffled and brushed the back of her hand across her face to dry her barely wet eyes. It was her mess and she would clean it up. She just had to take Velveteen somewhere until it worked itself out. It was a garage. Surely she could find some keys to something that had enough gas left to get out of town.

[Velveteen]

Her sister was certainly putting up a fight, refusing to co-operate as Velveteen dragged her inside and to safety. How ******* ungrateful can one be? The woman was really digging her heels in and her strength had increased like tenfold since their last meeting. It wouldn’t be Satine if she wasn’t making even the simplest tasks difficult. This is how Vel had come to think of her sister. Trouble. It seemed to cling to her and if that alone wasn’t bad enough the woman just made everything so much more complicated than it had to be and this was no exception. If the constant suffering due to sharing her sister’s pain wasn’t enough to have Velveteen pissed off and growly, Satine’s unwillingness to co-operate ever, certainly was.

She was about to let the woman go, satisfied that they were far enough in and ready to face the woman straight on when her protests echoed about the large room, loud enough to have easily have been heard out on the street and just like that her wish was granted. Velveteen had felt this before when hunting in the castle. Her entire body seem to freeze in place and no amount of trying could make any more movement than the slightest twitch of a finger. It was usually about now that she was taking a bullet or two before the power wore off. It was like she was trapped, she could still hear and see but no amount of effort was going to cause her limbs to respond accordingly. She often thought that perhaps this was how it felt to be in a coma. Knowing exactly what was going on around you but unable to in anyway interact.

If her facial muscles were able to work her anger would have been painfully obvious. So she settled for shooting imaginary daggers with her eyes at her sister as she drew closer. Every drop of energy was being put into making her body comply though those efforts were producing such minimal results. A twitch here, a slight tweak there or maybe she was imagining them. She couldn’t be sure. When she had control again her sister was going to pay dearly.

Was this ever gonna wear off….it seemed to happen so much faster in battle but right now time seemed as frozen as she. Was Satine ******* crying? Velveteen would have blinked if her eyelids weren’t seemingly pinned open and then possibly cracked the **** up. What….did she think she had killed her or something? Velveteen willed her fingers that hung suspended in mid air as if they were still curled about the other woman’s upper arm. The tips of her fingers twitched. Progress! It was finally wearing off and giving it her all one more time the vampire moved in a blur of motion. The back of her hand caught the the cheekbone of the other sharply before she had the chance to turn away. Pain, sharp and intense exploded in her own cheek and she swore, having completely forgotten about the consequences in the heat of the moment.

**** it. She gave the woman another for good measure, this time not surprised by the sharp burn in her own face as the back of her hand connected with her sister’s cheek once more. “No. You need to stop. And you need to fuckin' listen.” Her voice barely even raised as she spoke despite the fire that burned behind her monochromatic eyes. Velveteen flexed her fingers as her hand fell to her side and she shook off the dull ache that throbbed in her digits. Her gaze fell to Satine’s thigh. “You are wounded. You need to stop ******* doing that. I have enough of my own problems without having to deal with yours too.” She pressed her palm to her thigh where blood has seeped through the denim and brought it up to show the other what she was talking about.

It was strange looking upon her sister. It was like looking at herself in a mirror and the for a moment she just stood there, bloodied palm held up and silent. Confusion, frustration and anger had reigned since the discovery of her twin and every time that Velveteen reached a place that she was actually experiencing empathy and a desire to learn more, Satine would go and pull some dumb **** that would just piss the dark haired vampire off all over again. She twisted her hand and looked at her blood covered palm as a sinister looking grin twisted a path across her reddened lips, that silver and almost predatory gaze slipping back over to find Satine’s matching orbs staring back at her. Her lips twitched at one corner of her mouth. It was a look that did not bode well.

[Satine]

Satine barely had the time to get her hands away from her face when the nearly blinding crash of a hand rattled her jaw and skull with its impact. Just as her cheek felt like it possibly lost the definition of the firm solid line that supported the flesh over it another teeth shaking blow came to her. Seriously? She almost shed a tear for this ****? Satine felt more pain in the fact she was caught off guard and being scolded like a child by her sister than the pooling of blood in her mouth. While her gums dealt with the grueling decision over which teeth to release from their damaged hold Satine spit out her instant anger.

“You have enough problems and…” Satine palpated her cheek where Velveteen slapped her not once but twice. Her silver orbs were like sharp blades trying to bury into the woman who reminded her wishes do really come true and so did nightmares. She spit out more blood. “You ******* hit me because I am wounded? How did that double bitchslap feel?”

The lights in the garage started flickering on and off. Satine was boiling beneath her skin. All she had done since she left home was try to get to her and once she did the woman was like a rabid badger trying to tear her apart. And not just her, she had back up. The sound of glass popping made her jaw clench tighter. She needed to start a fire. She stared the face she knew all too well down as it looked back at her with serious and chilling intent.

Satine’s fingers slid down over her own leg and felt the wound that was actually beginning to heal faster than previous wounds. She was feeling stronger. Perhaps that was all part of it? The matching one on Velveteen’s leg was not lost on her. They were joined by each other's pain. She wondered how much of her own that the woman had felt over the years of their separation. Her hand flicked the remaining blood running down her fingers while the tip of her tongue took a count on how many teeth were left to dangle loosely like window shutters in need of serious repair.

“You would have less problems if you ever gave a thought to ******* talking to me.” Satine had a roof high bonfire blazing in her head and still she felt the rage building up within her. The fire was not working. The fluorescent light above them shattered and rained down the slivers of thin glass. “I have problems too. You don’t need to worry about my ******* messes. I cleaned them up all by myself before you and will continue to.”

Satine was screaming so loud her veins felt like they would pop out of her neck. The woman had been a vampire a lot longer than she had. What the hell was she expected to do? Figure all that went with it in a week? Her body was like a pinball machine firing up at the sight or scent of blood, her mouth had more teeth than she could count and if she was easy to piss off before now she was one step short of raging if her buttons were pushed. She got angry and she lost lightbulbs and windows. If anyone asked her she would say she was coping pretty well with it all...or so she thought. Looking at her twin all but left her questioning it now that she backhanded her.

“I just wanted to see what I was told didn’t exist.” Satine was tired but not defeated. Tired of the guessing what the **** was going on in the woman’s mind since she arrived. Of trying to make sense of the confusion and doubt that plagued her when it came to the woman she was staring at. On top of it all there was the constant struggle that it seemed to be to make a connection with the sister that could feel her pain as if it was her own. “I didn’t want anything more than that.”

Satine rubbed her cheek then put up both hands and swatted them in the air as if to say, ‘**** it’ and stepped away to walk out what was left of her anger. Obviously Velveteen needed more time before she was ready for that hug. Satine wasn’t so sure she was up to it anymore either.

[Velveteen]

Whatever was going on in Velveteen’s mind currently was completely lost on her sister. The silence was short lived as the other began to express her anger. Her bloodied hand fell back to her side and she canted her head to watch her twin in much the same manner that a curious animal would watch something they were uncertain of. Her own anger was forced to take a back seat to the amusement that was rising within her. She listened as Satine spat her anger and watched as she rubbed at her cheek. It was an odd feeling, almost like some sort of ‘out of body experience’ and she could have easily convinced her consciousness that she was watching herself.

Silver orbs rolled as that lights flickered. The sisters obviously had more in common than Velveteen first anticipated and this thought amused her that much more. The corner of her mouth curled upwards, though for now she chose to remain quiet and allow the other to say whatever was on her mind to share. It was as if the vampire could see and sense everything that happened around her without any movement on her part. Glass popped and shattered at various points around the room and the fact that Satine appeared to unafraid than she was that first night almost impressed Velveteen, though it was just further evidence of her naivety regarding the entire situation. The exploding light above drew the older vampire’s attention for the moment and she appeared to have all the time in the world as she watched, her only reaction was the growing grin that crept slowly across her face.

The same anger and frustration that had reigned over Velveteen’s emotional state of being recently was replicated in the sound of Satine’s voice as she screamed. If she was still human Velveteen might be slightly concerned about her popping a blood vessel or two. Instead simply allowed it to happen as it would until Satine got it out of her system. Once it appeared that she was done and she moved to leave Velveteen caught her by the wrist. Her fingers curling about the joint tightly as she dragged her sister back.

“Firstly, I hit you because I am wounded and that double bitchslap felt like a ******* wake up call to me.” Her voice was even and not raised in any sense of the word. In fact it was rather rare that Velveteen ever screamed.

“Secondly, I would have spoken to you before this if you had have kept your *** in one place and out of ******* trouble long enough for that to happen but you didn’t. If it wasn’t for me you’d have been dead or turned long before now. I tried to prevent all of this. And if you need confirmation of that you can ask your sire.” Her silver orbs narrowed to slits. Her feelings on that count still rather unresolved but not having any other choice she knew she would handle it , eventually, though the reminder only served to fuel her own anger and when she spoke next it was through clenched teeth as she struggled to maintain her composure.

“Thirdly, as far as cleaning up your messes go I don’t think you realise just how good at that you are not. I have cleaned up plenty of your messes since you ******* arrived here including one just recently that might not yet be completely done. I know what you did Satine, before you came here. Turns out Mum’s lover boy comes from rich stock. Mum has done her detox and is squealing like a pig. I guess she isn’t the protective kind then? You are being sought for questioning.”

Velveteen fell silent as she allowed the information to sink in, her eyes never leaving the matching gaze that looked back at her. “They thought I was you, or that you were me. They wont be reporting back of course but there is no way of knowing if that will be the end of it. And quite ******* honestly, that is the sort of attention we do not need around here.”

Velveteen’s fingers tightened about her sister’s wrist and she held it up at eye level. The pallor of Satine’s skin was not unlike her own now, the expected healthy pink hue had taken on a rather ashen appearance. The only visible difference between the forearms was that one bore a circular brand scar. “But while you are here, there is something I wanna see too.” Her right hand came up and morphed before the pairs eyes. The fingers became elongated and gnarled as razor sharp claws extended from the tips. Her hold on the other tightened against any coming struggle as the fine tip of one claw was placed against the soft under skin of her arm, just below the brand. She pressed lightly, the skin parting with little resistance, and drew a line downward, over the almost translucent flesh. The cut was so clean that she didn’t even feel it at first, not until the hot burn followed anyways.

Once done she snatched up Satine’s other arm and turned it over, catching only a glimpse before both wounds faded and then disappeared like they never happened.

If she was surprised to have seen an identical wound there she did not show it, and now she knew that it worked both ways. This could be quite ******* useful. The dark haired vampire released her twin and concentrated briefly on returning her hand to its normal state. “I know that this is probably not the reunion you were expecting. None of it. But hopefully in time, as you learn more of where and what you are, you will come to understand. Hopefully.”

[Satine]

Satine was stunned even if she shouldn't be. The facts were pretty clear as Velveteen revealed her secret was no longer her own to keep. She was not as clean in covering her tracks as she thought. It was her first time. It was going to be a bit messy. She had years of anger behind it. Now that she was informed she was followed it only irked her that she had less skill at such. Velveteen had cleaned up after her. Her jaw tightened a bit.

Yes, she did commit cold blooded murder. The grisly details and the inspiration Chester abundantly provided over the years was irrelevant. Where panic should set in and play its part didn't happen. It was lost as a slight movement in the young necro's lips signaled she was paying attention to the details she knew all too well about the ******** that came from a family who could pay to have the stain Chester was cleaned up.

In the moment Satine was otherwise frozen. She stood there with a flesh and blood reflection proving yet again she took more than she ever should. Not a remorseful sensation by any means. The only regret Satine truly had was she had not killed the son of ***** a lot sooner than she had. And there was more. That and she regretted that she was denied the chance to show her sister the results of her first kill. Messy or not. It was irritating her the more that she thought about it. Chester was such a selfish prick that even postmortem he was getting at her.

Velveteen made a valid point. The murder hardly was an act that would go unnoticed. In Satine's impulsive moves to leave it behind as quickly as possible she neglected to do clean work. It was tied likely to someone who would have a lot of emotional investment in carrying it out. She certainly never loved the guy but she sure as hell hated him enough to be considered a prime suspect.

Satine tossed her hat in the ring when she left a witness behind snowed out of her addicted mind in the outdoor hammock. This witness and suspect would have been expected to do the motherly denial of a daughter's possible guilt. Satine had given their bond too much credit. In the end nothing had changed. The bitterness on both sides was beyond blood deep. Just as she carried grudges from the past so did their mother. Should she feel bad now that she questioned sparing the woman that carried them for nine months? If so, she didn't.

Velveteen pulled Satine from her reflections that could always continue on another time. They often did. When one would leave a trail of blood like she apparently had there would always be time to take into account just where she had gone wrong. Now there was far more extending before her ready to grab her full and undivided attention.

Claws protruded from the tips of pale fingers forming quickly into sharp lethal extensions of what should be petite hands identical to her own. If Satine was to be alarmed or to recoil her hand now in Velveteen's grip she didn't. Instead she was fascinated as she watched her pale wrist in the midst of the disturbing chaos of the claws that parted the surface of Velveteen's exposed skin. That was until what her sister had chosen to take upon her flesh became an issue of her own as well.

A burn instantly spread over Satine's wrist. Out of shock and reflex she began to pull back but was met with a force that denied her attempt. Silver orbs discovered a source for the sensation of cool fluid briefly surfacing then the predictable itch set in that accompanied healing. Satine swallowed hard at the visual confirmation that she was far more vulnerable in the new world around her than she was first aware of.

"I..." Satine's voice paused as her hand was released.

The claws retracted as if it the lengths were absorbed by the pale flesh that were beneath each one. Her eyes left the mirrored sets of their hands, making a mental note of the circular mark that separated them. Her fingers flexed as she cleared her throat lightly. It was a lot to take in.

"I imagine it hasn't been anything you planned on either. I know things will take time and I have a lot to learn. Probably the understatement of the decade but I am willing to work on it. Until that happens I will try to dodge the line of fire." And she would as much as she could given her issue with going from peaceful to raging in seconds or less. Eventually she would get control of that as well.

[Velveteen]

Where was the attitude? Where was the smart mouth that had gotten this woman into more trouble every time she opened it? Her compliance was a little unsettling as well as unexpected and it caused Velveteen to take a step back. “No.” She shook her head, slowly at first, building up momentum. “No. You do not get to do that. Expected? I didn’t even know you ******* existed. So as far as expectations go, there were none.”

Her silver gaze narrowed as conflict began to war within her. She was angry and pissed off and right now that was what she wanted to be. “You roll into town with your own agenda, no ******* warning or knowledge of what you were walking into, let’s not forget the **** storm you brought with you and expected me to be receptive? You couldn’t sit still for five ******* minutes to let me process and now I have the cops thinking I am ******* insane and possibly involved in a murder on the other side of the ******* planet?”

As she spoke the moment of uncertainty passed and every angry, disgusting emotion rose like bile in her throat. Her fingers balled into fists at her side and her eyes turned dark as she took a step forward. “And on top of all now you are sired by my husband. His blood is in your veins and nothing will ever ******* change that. You have no idea what you have ******* done. None!” Her hand came up as if to strike out at the other female but instead cut through the air to emphasise her point.

“Because that’s really what I wanted. My husband all ******* connected to my identical twin for a ******* eternity. If this is your idea of happy ******* ending then you are more fucked in the head than I thought.” Her voice had grown softer yet somehow more menacing as the darkness seemed to pulse about her. The tick in the left side of her jaw became more noticeable and rage seeped through every pore to hang in the air. She shoved her sister backwards, her hand moving almost undetected. “No....You do not get to say anything. You do not get to pretend like everything will be ok because there aint a ******* thing about any of this that is!”

The ground rumbled lowly beneath her feet and if one paid attention they might feel the slight tremor, otherwise, for now it was only detectable to those with heightened senses. Once again she was reaching levels of complete irrationality, a normal state of being for the raven, haired vampire of late. This was not the way to handle any of this and later she may reflect and realise this but for now she was completely embroiled in her own morbid sense of fear for things that may never come to fruition.

She continued to advance slowly on her sister when what little lighting was left glinted briefly against the fine blade that was nestled in Velveteen’s hand. Her intentions at that point would seem to have been to bury the knife in her sister but instead her features twisted in pain as she drove it into her thigh. Family rules be damned. She may not be able to harm her sister directly but there was nothing anywhere about slashing herself the **** up. She twisted the blade, buried deep in her thigh, allowing the edge to further scrape against every raw and severed nerve ending. It hurt like a mother ****** but it was worth every painful second to watch the suffering before her, witnessed through eyes coloured with crazy.

[Satine]

Satine was not surprised at all when the woman looking at her with venomous eyes went on a rant. A rant that pretty much chewed her presence up and spit it back out without so much as the blink of an eye. There was movement that she could not miss even if the darkness was currently swallowing them. The new necromancer’s attempt at listening was short lived. The part of her that was missing something, someone perhaps never really was. It was like looking in a mirror. She was seething and it was nothing new. She had seen this look, felt its source through the layers of her shaking body. The only clues it was not another one of her episodes was the fact she would have had to dress beforehand with her eyes closed. The reflection she was now staring down with a matching glare of her own was wearing something she had never owned and likely never would. It was a mind **** she was still trying to get used to despite how much effort she had put into getting to this very point.

The words were not the same. None of what she was hearing was part of any dialog she had thought up while attempting to calm down after one of the numerous volatile rows with Chester. She never had a reason to say them. Instead she would have spewed profanity as she gripped the cracked vanity beneath her hands. Clinging to it like it would actually anchor her down as the storms raged out of control within her. Her words would be cursing heaven and hell. Each one full of promise that she would finally do it. Satine knew the power of such emotions. Those so extreme and unpredictable that could take you so far beyond reasoning that sanity didn’t even exist anymore. Looking at Velveteen she was willing to guess that perhaps it never had. Not for her or the one that reminded her she was not standing in the bathroom back home battling what was not really there.

Satine could feel the rage overwhelming her once again. The self-control she had left was pretty much pissing away between them. How did it go from her seeking out her twin to being all about thrusting her presence into her sister’s life? Between the two of them Satine was sure of one thing. Finding out that the twin she had been told didn’t exist in fact did and was capable of rolling out of thin air and also just so happened to be a vampire among many was a huge ******* shock she still was trying to absorb.

Velveteen had all the god damned time in the world to her **** together. She led an army or a mob or what was it...a faction? Whatever it was, it was big. If that wasn’t enough she had a hotel full of family. So what was her sister so sore assed about? Satine came off a plane and she might as well have landed on the moon. How much time had she really gotten to understand what she stepped into? and she didn’t know it was even there. Velveteen was aware of a whole other world that she was still trying to wrap her brain around. She didn’t get a vote. she was trying to get the **** out of Dodge and it was her sister and her band of merry men that dragged her *** back. She was just the nutcase that killed someone for a last burst of freedom and perhaps a final grasp to save herself from going crazy. Oh, and she went looking for a twin sister who at this very moment made her regret every step she took to make it happen. The sister she was stuck with for longer than she could truly appreciate was a head trip she wasn’t so sure she was wanting to take anymore.

“**** you!” Satine was missing the movements that she should have been paying attention to. She was ready to blow up and about to snap. No fire was going to calm her now. The sibling wanted to have it out. Fine by her. Satine had no use for the dramatics and avoidance. She was about to say as much when she realized the sudden pain in her thigh that had her double over was a bloody visual she could watch unfold as Velveteen worked the knife in her hands deep into her own thigh. “Are you ******* crazy?!”

Satine roared in pain as her body straightened up. Whatever glass that was left in the space around them began popping in defeat. Satine was like a dry leaf going up in flames. Flames of bone grinding pain as Velveteen continued to dig at her own flesh like she was going to strike it rich at any given moment.

“S-T-O-P!”

Satine lunged at her sister. She lost direction of her hands and began hitting blindly at the body that they connected with to claim some measure of control. Control over what happened next and over the rage that wouldn’t quit growing within.

[Velveteen]

The pain that tore through her thigh with angry vengeance was almost sobering, almost. So embroiled in her own overwhelming emotions she began to lose sight of herself. The control that she had often fought so hard to maintain had checked out and was on its way out of town. None of this was ok. Not Satine. Not Micah. Not even her own reactions and somewhere, far back in the deep recesses of her mind, she knew this but there was no going back now.

She heard screaming but if it was her own or those of her sister she had no clue as every severed nerve ending objected to the cold metal that scraped along them. It almost felt good. An act of desperation in a bid to strike back at those that had pushed her to these limits. Her rage continued to manifest. The irony that striking out at her sister meant punishing herself was not completely lost on her and as Satine started lashing out, Velveteen began to laugh. Her twin was no longer a human and each clumsy strike that did land was far from a love tap but the more it hurt the more the older necromancer laughed. A sound that would send chills up the spines of the truly insane.

The knife was pulled from the cold, dead flesh that it had been eviscerating and hung in the air like a snake, dancing hypnotically and ready to strike. One of Satine’s punches landed squarely on Velveteen’s jaw and her head snapped to the side sharply. The force behind the blow split her lower lip and blood pooled at the surface, drawn from within by the eternal pull of gravity. The ground vibrated causing the various tools hung around the walls to fall and clatter violently against the steel benches before they began to spill over the edge and find rest on the concrete floor. It was as if everything around the pair had been infused with a life of its own. Power tools began to hum with life despite not being plugged in and the headlights on the cars in the garage flickered on and off, the brightness increasing until they popped. The entire area hummed with vile emotions that spread like a sickness that infected all it came in contact with. Micah was going to be pissed when he saw the state of the place but right now the thought of that only fed her irrational glee.

Rage seeped through every pore and made it look as if even the shadows were coming from within her as an arm shot out. Ice cold fingers curled about Satine’s throat. Her sister might no longer be human but she was still young. Velveteen was stronger, faster and currently running on crazy. Her dark glare focused on the woman’s face as she reached around to grabbed at the cold metal nestled in the small of her back. “NO! **** YOU!” She screamed at the woman who wore her face. Her fingers squeezed tightly, daring Satine to respond. Just one word. It was all she needed.

The barrel of her gun rested against her sister’s cheek and when Velveteen smiled it was far from friendly. The action only further twisted her features into something frightening and ugly. She shifted the gun however and rested it against her own temple. “Rules are rules after all. Get ready. This is gonna hurt like a ***********.” For one single, dark moment, Velveteen couldn’t help but wonder what would happen to the other if one of them did cease to exist.