Crows and Ravens (Invite)

[Elizabeth]

Slowly, ideas filtered from everyone that was collected; both vocally and mentally. Valon's methodology did not shock Elizabeth, she knew who he was and who he could be. It made sense, to extinguish those that held any sort of potential threat to the Crow-but that would also mean exterminating some of their own kind. Not everyone believed in her supremacy like Elizabeth and all the elders did. They lacked faith because they lacked proof-it mirrored her own early vampire years. Losing faith in the one being, the one entity Elizabeth had held in such high regard-the lord and saviour Jesus Christ himself. At first, Elizabeth could feel nothing but disappointment in those that choose to turn a blind eye or question the Crow, but now she could understand. In the same breath, if there was every a chance to bring back order, and restore the Crow to her rightful position, to prove that she exists, now was the time.

“I believe you have some interesting and valid points, Valon.” Elizabeth had yet to come up with a nickname for this childe, but in due time, he would get one bestowed upon him as well. It was customary for her to do such a thing-even with those she brought into her fold that were not of her own blood. Tarisyn had some ingenious ideas, and she received an approving nod from Elizabeth. Bloodshed was not the only way to cripple an enemy-Tarisyn would perhaps one day make a very fine leader of her own. A thought, the elder would keep to herself, but would not be surprised if such an occurrence happened.

Blue eyes wavered to her husband as he gave his opinion, not surprised his methodology would be a bit more extreme than Valon's. He was always one to make a statement in the things he did. Yes, my love. Teams are a wonderful and safe idea. Shamus and Valon to send strong statements, Tari and Cosi could do things from behind the scene, as could she and Mora.

A smile was turned in the direction of Cosimo as he talked, the cogs in her mind already on the same wavelength as his. “Wonderful idea, Cosimo. One second.” Slowly, the woman stood and moved from the table, thinking on the series of events that would unfold once the ball started rolling. She wanted to ensure that very little, if anything could be pin pointed to any vampires, most of all anyone in her family. “I should have-” Elizabeth started opening a variety of lock boxes that had been dug up from underneath various shrubbery and bushes. “Yes, here they are.” What 'they' were, was as good as anyone's guess until she returned to the table.

About a dozen or so charms fell upon the table, divided up between Cosimo, Shamus and Valon. “I think it best to start a witch hunt of sorts.” There was no love loss between the elder and any paladin that fell upon a blade each night. There would be no love loss when the other factions and species decide to turn against them either. “I do love the idea of sending a message.” Her eyes moved to her husband and to Valon. “However, I think sending a different message might be advantageous, for a couple reasons.” Her eyes fell on the charms. “Do not touch them unless your hands are covered.” She warned each male, not worried about her own prints being picked up. She was, after all, hundreds of years old and in no data base anywhere. “Cosimo, when you enter buildings that oppose the Crow and all she stands for, make certain one of these finds its way somewhere within that building.”

She smiled warmly to her newest childe, before focusing on Shamus and Valon. “Make the kills clean. Only blades and guns be used. No vampire powers. And send this along with a body to wherever you wish to dispose of the body. A calling card of sorts, I suppose.” She chuckled softly before turning her attention to Mora and to Tarisyn. “You ladies, both own businesses. I think working together would be ideal, and I would be more than happy to fund these endeavours and think of other clothing and keepsakes we can sell within the stores. I will keep donating to the Crow and her followers and strengthen our relations and their hold within the city. I mind not if they are within our park, their company is most insightful.” Elizabeth slowly sat back down in the chair at the table she called them all to, before taking a deep breath inwards. “Be both smart and safe in this.” She looked at all of them, before continuing. “If anything is needed, please seek me out. If anyone can hack into the companies owned by the renegade rogue vampires we abolished from our park earlier, please continue to do that. It is the rogues, I believe that will strive to remove her presence from the city, the most.” Blue eyes looked at each member at the table, before she connected her mind to her online banking program and deposited another large sum of one hundred thousand dollars to the Disciples. Once the money had been transferred, the blonde woman spoke once again. "If there are no more questions or anything needed, I will not keep any of you longer than necessary, as we will all have our plates full in the eves to come." Her eyes fell upon her husband, indicating he should stay behind after everyone has left.

[Valon (DELETED 5253)]

Giving a quick nod at the acknowledgement of his one and only skill, he stood silently at attention, allowing the rest of the room to go through their various skills and abilities; things they could contribute to the effort. He was pleased with his progeny’s response, her array of abilities able to make an entirely different approach than his own. Of course, he had expected her to find another way, as she usually would, even if it was not the one that her true self would have preferred. The red beast was in her nature, the wrathful monstrosity that reared its head and gave a fearsome roar from time to time. He saw the struggle often in her eyes, as he did now.

Some part of him was pleased by that.

He listened as the rest of the gathering expressed their various skills, the different ways that they could help the effort. As his sire laid the small, strange objects across the table, he reached out to lift one into his grasp. Black leather gripped the charm tightly, his touch gloved as it most often was, and as she had warned, as he inspected the strange wonder. He didn’t understand its significance, but he was hardly one to argue with a signature, and since this was meant to help with the group’s reputation, he was certain that she would know better than he how to connect them to the messages he intended to display.

Her warning about powers was unnecessary. The best way to send a message, something brutal and personal, would involve a lot of personal touches, something far more intimate than the broad slasher’s strokes of the powers he had learned thus far.

No, this work would require quite extensive use of his flaying knife, an adequate array of bodies. If the message fails to be clear, surely the blood…

He lifted a hand, rubbing at his jaw as he reeled in his thoughts. There was plenty of time for deciding which route to take. Perhaps Shamus would have ideas; the man was certainly more experienced with the group in question, surely, and would most certainly have a better idea about who these enemies they sought might be at the least.

He nodded at her dismissal, and bent to shoulder his pack. He would need his equipment after all, just as he had suspected. He balanced the weight across his back and dropped his arm around Tarisyn’s shoulders. He glanced down at her, dark brows knit tightly as he looked her over. “Awfully hungry. You’re taking care of yourself, right?” he asked, his voice hard, though the care was in the act. If he hadn’t cared, he wouldn’t have bothered to notice, much less to ask. “I may see about some of those guns you mentioned, too.”

[Tarisyn (DELETED 5265)]

<Tarisyn> The hunger wasn’t fading.

In fact, it seemed the more she consumed, the worse she became. The crimson splashed over her tongue and trickled down her throat, and she found herself needing more. Shaking her head, she did her best to focus on the voices around her, and yet nothing seemed to register. It wasn’t until she felt the weight of his arms around her shoulders that she snapped to attention, her eyes traveling from Elizabeth to her sire, the green darkening with the beast inside of her.

Kill him. Let the blood warm your skin.

“I’m not a fledgling, Valon. I can take care of myself.” Her tone was bored as she stepped out from beneath his embrace, the weight of his arm was beginning to make her uncomfortable. She couldn’t remember the last time he had been intimate with her, and the physical interaction was beginning to become too much. She wished, more than anything, that she could be normal and feel the warmth of love as it reignited her heart, but he had taken more than her life that night. He had taken the very essence of her. “Come on, we need to get started.” Crumbling the remaining pack in her fist, she tossed it into the trash on her way to the portals, her fingers already sliding across the glass of her iPhone to send out a mass message to her employees. Without looking over her shoulder to see if he was following, she tucked her phone back into her jean pocket and vanished from sight.


Shaking his head, he thumbed his nose as she shrugged from beneath his arm. In truth, he had kept her there because it had seemed to please her. He had learned early on that it was best to simply keep her appeased, be it with blood or with work. He shifted the weight across his back again and lifted a hand in a short, two-fingered salute to the rest of the room as he turned to follow the woman through the portal. She had already all but made a full scale retreat.

A normal person might have been bothered by the way she acted, the complete hot-and-cold treatment between them, but, Valon was no normal person. It took a lot more than this to turn him against his own. His blood flowed in the woman’s veins, and he never managed to forget that. Most nights, he was proud of it. Even now, with the way she tried to lash at him with words, he found a certain kind of pride in her resourcefulness. She should have known better, however. His skin was made of thicker stuff than that, and words were worthless.

As he stepped through the portal after her, he pulled the pistol from his holster and pulled back the action, sidearm at the ready. He never entered one of these things unarmed, without being ready to fire on the first thing that appeared aggressive. He still didn’t trust the portals, half expecting them to drop him into the middle of the lions’ den. He wouldn’t be caught off guard.

As he materialized on the other side, just behind her, he glanced about, taking note of the usual location as he tucked the pistol back into its holster again. He lifted his hand to push it through dark hair as he gave a slow, thorough sweep of the area around them. “So; where first, then?”

Hers was the more complex of the two objectives. She had logistics, advertising, merchandising, retailing, money managing… so many things to juggle that it felt almost absurd. His plan was very simple; very clean. It wouldn’t take much time at all to set about just the right way. Instead, he would spend the rest of tonight, at least, getting her started.


<Tarisyn> She could feel her phone as it vibrating endlessly in her back pocket, the shrill beep nearly driving her mad. She couldn’t begin to fathom why her team insisted on responding to every order that she gave, no matter how miniscule the task. The worse, however, was when Hope responded with one letter. She had told her more times that she could count that not only was it unprofessional, it was downright irritating. By the time her boots crunched against the gravel of the caverns, her phone had chimed a dozen times, and she had to fight the urge to shatter it on the walls as she freed it.

“I swear, they’re like children. How hard is it to do a simple task?” Her words were sharp as she heard the sound of his approach, and she brought up the app with a swipe of her thumb. Her body was so intuned with his, that there was no doubt in her mind it was him behind her, even before his spoke. It was the way her skin seemed to thrum when he was near, as if there was a force inside of him that called to her. It was one of the few things that she found herself hating - and loving - about him. She was a walking contradiction; fire and ice. With a slew of choice words for her employees under her breath, she shot off another mass message, the single line enough to silence anymore protests and questions they could have.

Get it done, or look for new employment.

Usually, she wasn’t so harsh with her treasured team, but tonight her emotions were at an all time high. She couldn’t seem to tell if she was up or down, and the anger that burned her stomach was enough to make her hate even the smallest of things. Take his voice, for example. Usually she loved the rich, deep tone - but in that single question, she wanted to feel her fist sink into the flesh of his cheek and watch as his blood stained her skin. Get a grip. Turning on him, she walked past his, her shoulder brushing across his for a single moment of contact before she climbed from the depths of the caverns and into the night.

[Valon (DELETED 5253)]

<Tarisyn> “I have my girls working on getting the stores set up. Hope is already beginning the fliers to post on the windows, and Auri is getting the designs for the posters and t-shirts made. They should be printed and ready for selling by the morning. Victoria is working on the weapons. She said they’ll be ready by the afternoon, though I’m not sure. You know how she can be when Daniel comes around.” Ticking off the list verbally and mentally, she turned to face him as she walked backwards, her head tilting.

“You and I are heading to Eclipse. You know I don’t trust anyone but you there when I work. I need your help getting the station set up so I can get as much made before opening time. While I’m doing that, I guess you’ll be heading into the sewers to play some dark avenger and leave those calling cards.” Pausing for a moment, she narrowed her eyes on him before pointing a finger into his chest. “You’ll be gone an hour max and if you come back hurt, I swear to God, I will kick your ***, do you understand me, Valon?” With that, she blew him a kiss and disappeared again, only to appear outside of the mall. Sometimes she forgot that power. Keys in hand, she let herself in the closed building and up to her shop on the second floor, knowing he wouldn’t be far behind.


Setting up shop. Sure. He could handle that.

Was that the best use of his talent? Perhaps not. Was it the best use of his time?

Helping Tarisyn always seemed like a good use of time.

He shook his head as she wheeled on him, trying to corner him into following a most absurd order, her bluster causing him to give a faint smile. He shook his head again and brushed her hand away. He didn’t respond to her tirade, knowing full well that what she was asking simply wouldn’t be the reality of things. An hour was hardly enough time to skin a man, much less three. He just shrugged his shoulders and glanced at his watch. Close to midnight. That gave him a few hours before dawn, and provided he could finish helping her relatively quickly, his task should be finished just shy of sunrise. That would give him time to feed himself before he headed back to the tower for the daylight hours.

He watched as she wheeled about yet again, and her body shifted with power, vanishing in a flash of speed. Fortunately, he knew exactly where she was going; the same place he managed to find each night, running through security footage and collecting reports from the rest of her security detail in Eclipse. He was just behind her, the mall mostly empty as they stepped inside. The middle of the night was usually a quiet hour in the cavernous belly of the expansive beast.

He rubbed his hands together as they moved into the shop, his eyes moving around the store, checking each point of entry, and the security measures he had left in place in their absence. Everything in order, he allowed his attention to be diverted to her again, finally commenting on her crew. “It’s good that you’ve got everyone up and working this late. It’s not too much to believe you can get this rollout ready before daybreak. Some nights, I’m worried that you aren’t some kind of international conglomerate monster. This kind of work takes huge corporations weeks to accomplish.” He let the praise rest there in the air as he shrugged out of his pack, setting it neatly by his desk in the security office.

“Alright. Setup. What do you need first?”


<Tarisyn> As she stepped into the store, she barely took the time to scan the shadows for any threat. She knew that it was something he would instantly berate her for, had he noticed, but her mind was elsewhere. Already, she was seeing the designs form in her mind, each scent that would fill the air as they lit the wick. Vanilla, cinnamon - maybe pine? No, the holidays are over. Perhaps rose. Her mind was fast at work, piecing together the chemicals she would need as she dropped her pack onto the counter and turned to face him, a brow raised. “I don’t understand how it takes them so long. It’s not difficult,” she shrugged, before pivoting on her heel and ducking into the backroom, where her station was set up.

Grabbing the cloth that covered her table, she yanked it off before tossing it carelessly into the nearest corner. With a sigh, she pulled her chair out from beneath the counter and collapsed into it, her back easing against the rest as she scanned the materials in front of her. “I’m going to need you to clean an area in the front of the store. I want these to be front and center, so maybe the middle aisle. Three tables will be needed, and I’ll also need you to grab the board from the supply closet and hang it once you’re done. Hope is going to bring the sign I need to tape on once it’s done, so don’t worry about that.” Her voice was distant as she listed off his duties, her eyes never once wavering from the bowls in front of her.

Without another word, she began to work, blending the black wax into a bowl before grabbing the bottle of scents from the top shelf. Each one was carefully measured, and as she bent forward to sniff one, she instantly reeled back. “Okay, not rose.” Her face was contorted into something sickening, and she quickly dumped the bowl out before beginning again. It was going to be a long night - and she only hoped that it paid off.


Nodding firmly, he lifted a hand to tenderly ruffle her hair as she sat, before turning on a heel and moving out into the store. The task was a simple one, really. Just some simple rearranging, stacking, balancing. He even managed to take the previous sale points, the showcased waxes and candles she had setting on the central displays in the store, and fashioning new displays with them, taking up less space and, with the way that they were stacked, gimmicky and attractive.

The candles were precariously stacked at first, threatening to fall this way or that, one or two managing to fall free of the stack and nearly collapsing the entire display, but quick thinking, and quicker reflexes, allowed him to make the stack sturdy, and ready for customer appeal. The three tables that she had requested clear were ready for product, as soon as she was ready to begin filling them. The board that she had mentioned was easy enough to find, the supply closet rather small with the board quite a large item taking up much of the space along one of the walls.

Setting the board into place, he stepped back from the display to survey the job, tweaking this or that, tightening screws that appeared loose or presented sharp or hanging edges on the display, until it was proper and ready for use. Nodding his approval, he moved back to her workstation, pressing his forearm into the doorway as he leaned into the small room she used for her design and research office.

“Display is ready for you, as soon as you start getting product ready for the floor. Signage is ready for your advertisements, and I went ahead and did a little maintenance on the tables, before they fell apart or got hung on someone’s sleeve. You should be ready on the storefront.”


<Tarisyn> She wasn’t positive how much time had passed.

Nothing mattered to her when she began to work, except for the feel of the wax beneath her fingers as she brought something so simple to life. Each design was morphed perfectly, and by the time he came to lean against the doorframe, she already had eight cooling. “What do you think?” she questioned quietly as she leaned over the counter, a thin blade pressed to a dark blob as she began to peel the wax away. Out of the designs she had finished, three were beautifully crafted crows - two had their wings out as if they were flying and one was perched on a branch - the other six were simple black candles in various sizes. There was nothing special to those six, except for the pictures of holders in front of them. “Those will have to be ordered, but I can get the shipment ready within a week. It will still profit the sales,” she explained as she pointed to the pictures in a distracted manner.

In front of her, the blob began to take shape as the wax was shaved away, the crows head forming, it’s beak opened. Reaching down, she grabbed the wick and began to insert in into the opened maw, her touch tender. She took great pride in her work, and it showed as she set the blade down and turned to face him. With his presence so close, it was beginning to distract her, and she could feel the hunger twist back into her stomach. It’s not just for blood, either, she mused as her gaze all but devoured the man leaning so casually in her doorway. He was everything she could have hoped for in a man, and he put her ex-husband to shame. However, with more pressing matters at hand, she had no choice but to force her eyes back to his.

“I think I’m done with you here for now, so you can head out. It’ll take a while for me to finish these, and I know that Elizabeth had something more exciting for you.” Her tone was only partially teasing as she turned back to her table, her fingers deftly plucking another blade from the kit as she bent over, her hair falling to frame her face. “I’ll be fine here by myself for a few hours. If I need you, I’ll call.” In one single sentence, he was all but dismissed as she lost herself in her work again.

[Cosimo Alessi (DELETED 6612)]

Although Cosimo had offered guns, no one took him up on the offer. He watched Tarysin and Valon carefully. He couldn’t recall introductions before tonight, though he had seen them around. They looked like they were connected, like there was a bond between them. There was no doubt that they knew each other; they knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses, their abilities and their downfalls. It made sense that they would trust each other’s equipment, rather than the equipment of someone they did not know. Cosimo thought nothing more of it as they took their leave. They were focused on the job at hand; it wasn’t a get-to-know-you meeting. Though he wondered if they just preferred to keep to themselves, given that he’d only really started to see them around, recently.

Elizabeth, Mora, and Shamus were still there. He took his turn to approach the table. He wasn’t wearing gloves, though he did crouch down in front of the charms to observe them. He could plant them, as Elizabeth suggested. He would focus on the breaking and entering, as that was what she wanted of him. Though, he did have some guns already made, and he’d prefer to keep crafting them when he had spare time. Spare time was all that he had, lately. He focused on the guns. He focused on the thieving. He went home only to feed the cat, and to sleep. He’d taken the couch, unable to sleep in the same bed as Athena; he took care of her, he talked to her. But she still didn’t wake up. She may as well have been in a coma. It would be nice to do something else, to focus on something else rather than focusing on when she might wake up again.

”Is there someone else I can deliver weapons to? Or should I give them to you?” he asked, lifting his gaze to his sire. He’d have to find something to slip the charms into, a plastic bag or a pouch. They would be fine once he got into the buildings; he always wore gloves when breaking and entering.

He had focused on guns because he figured there would be a purpose to them. That there would be those in the family who might need them; as backups, first, until he got better. As main, quality, good weapons once he had reached the peak of his skills. Breaking and entering had taken a back seat, because there had not been much call for it. Now that he had a purpose, however, he had something to strive toward. This was something that his sire had asked of him, and so it would be something that he would not fail. Not if he could help it.

Recalling that he had gloves shoved into his pocket to shield him from the weather outside - or at least give the appearance of it - he pulled them out and slipped one on so that he could take some of the charms, and drop them in his pocket. He stood, flicking his hair from his eyes and straightening his shoulders.

”Is there any particular thing that I should steal - anything that you need, that will damage our enemy?” he asked, glancing between the three bodies still present. He’d prefer to go in with a plan, with greater chance of success.