BACKDATED TO OCTOBER 23, 2016
J E S S E . F F O R D E
Jesse sprawled on the couch in the welcome lounge of the tattoo parlour. The bar was busy enough outside, but the Necromancer didn’t want to deal with strangers. He didn’t want to talk to his staff. The parlour itself was closed, the doors locked, the signs turned to indicate that there would be no tattoos tonight. There’d been no tattoos for a week, for two. How much longer would Jesse be out of work?
Until everything settled down, he supposed. Clover was gone. He’d allowed her to go and duel on her own because she had asked for it, and he didn’t want to hover. He didn’t want to be the over-protective husband who didn’t allow his wife any kind of independent freedom. Where he had promised to do the same, his efforts had come to nil. They wouldn’t engage. It didn’t matter how often or how hard he attacked, they would not respond. He was left untouched. Their words meant nothing to him -- their insults and their accusations were false, and Jesse was confident enough in himself to pay them no mind.
But it was hard to remain behind. He could have absconded to the shadow realm to keep Clover company, but that would be to abandon what was left in reality. The message had been sent to all who remained, and Jesse had expected no replies. To his welcome surprise, however, he’d heard back from a few -- one of whom was Tara. He’d not seen the brunette in a while -- he texted her back to tell her where he was, to tell her to knock on the door and he’d let her in. While he waited, he tried not to sink too far into the quagmire of his thoughts.
T A R A
Tara looked to her phone, finding the new text and opened her maps app as she wasn’t sure where she was going. There were still parts of the city she wasn’t familiar with. Following the voice of the app, she reached the address. “Tattoos huh?” she said, not the time to be distracted, drinks and tattoos went well together. She knocked on the door, “Jesse?” she called out.
J E S S E . F F O R D E
Jesse opened just one eye. There were customers who’d been knocking, too -- he’d had to shake his head and mouth the words we’re closed three times already. This time, he recognised the voice that accompanied the knock, and he got up to unlock the door and let Tara in. He gestured to the couch he’d previously been lounging on and flipped the blinds on the door so that no one else would bother them. “Unharmed, I see. I suppose that’s a good thing,” he said.
T A R A
Tara stepped inside, taking a look around before looking at him. “Unharmed?” she said. “What happened?” she asked, she flopped down on the couch and crossed her arms. “What’s going on? You said you were tortured..” she said.
J E S S E . F F O R D E
Jesse was mostly covered up; he wore jeans and sneakers, a t-shirt and hoodie over the top. A person wouldn’t see how he’d been turned to swiss cheese from the neck down, and most head wounds were healed. At least the burns had healed and he no longer looked like he’d crawled out of some lava swamp. His hair had all grown back, the tattoos back in their proper un-melted positions. “That’s… I don’t know yet,” he said. He hadn’t tried to figure out who’d taken him, and nor had they come back for him. Yet. “That’s completely unrelated. I’m ninety percent sure, anyway,” he said, flopping down on the couch. “You haven’t heard from anyone outside of Fforde?”
T A R A
Tara tilted her head, don’t know yet? Unrelated? She shook her head, “Only you.” she replied, “I don’t hear from anyone else..” she added, she really didn’t know anyone else. “Your text said all of us were in danger. What is disenthrall?” she asked.
J E S S E . F F O R D E
It appeared that Tara had remained hidden, unfindable. Either that, or they just hadn’t got around to her yet. Either way, Jesse knew he wasn’t making it up. He wasn’t imagining it, or exaggerating. He didn’t know what their plan of attack was. But he needed to warn Tara regardless. “Disenthrall is a ritual. At the moment, I am …” he paused. He was not Tara’s sire, even though he was about to say so. He cleared his throat. “Renee is your sire, right? The bond you share can be useful in certain situations. The bond you share with me via Renee is the same. The disenthrall ritual severs that bond. Although she’s always be your sire, you’d have your own name. Any benefit of the bond we share, that you share with her, would be gone. It’s… symbolic,” he said. “The tome to perform that ritual was a rare one, and used to be held exclusively by Tytonidae. Even though someone had previously given the tome to Aeryn, I’ve got a target on my back because I sold the tome on auction. I was supposed to get rid of it, but I didn’t. And… well the target isn’t on my back, it’s on yours. On everyone who’s been sired by me, or by mine. Everyone in Fforde is being threatened to disenthrall or die,” he explained. It was complicated.
T A R A
Tara listened, though she didn’t know what Tytonidea was. She wrinkled her nose, “I...never had a family before, so I don’t approve of that disenthrall.” she said, looking down at the floor. “Not sure what the big deal is if someone else had the tome. Sounds like a ***** move to make, like some kind of random excuse to attack the family.” she said. “So how bad is dying?” Course they were already dead..
J E S S E . F F O R D E
Jesse arched a brow, though he kept his thoughts to himself. Beggars couldn’t be choosers and although he might have asked Tara where she’d been all this time, if she was attached to the idea of family, he chose to let it go. She was here. She was asking about death. She wasn’t going to take the ritual, if it was offered to her. Jesse shrugged. “It depends on you. I’m a masochist who thinks death is a great opportunity to get some alone time, some peace and quiet. Others compare it to torture and insanity. But if you die, you won’t be alone,” he said. Others would be there, and Jesse himself, eventually, would slip into the shadows and help where he could.
T A R A
She wouldn’t have the most important person to her though, but one of the reasons she came was to protect him. “There are already others in that death realm?” Tara asked. Were there going to be anyone else coming? “It will most likely be torture for me but guess we’ll see..” she said. “Are we waiting for others? Are we hiding out or we going on the attack since they started it?” she asked. “Not that I stand much of a chance. I’ve been training but I’m sure I’m still pretty weak compared to older vampires..”
Jesse sprawled on the couch in the welcome lounge of the tattoo parlour. The bar was busy enough outside, but the Necromancer didn’t want to deal with strangers. He didn’t want to talk to his staff. The parlour itself was closed, the doors locked, the signs turned to indicate that there would be no tattoos tonight. There’d been no tattoos for a week, for two. How much longer would Jesse be out of work?
Until everything settled down, he supposed. Clover was gone. He’d allowed her to go and duel on her own because she had asked for it, and he didn’t want to hover. He didn’t want to be the over-protective husband who didn’t allow his wife any kind of independent freedom. Where he had promised to do the same, his efforts had come to nil. They wouldn’t engage. It didn’t matter how often or how hard he attacked, they would not respond. He was left untouched. Their words meant nothing to him -- their insults and their accusations were false, and Jesse was confident enough in himself to pay them no mind.
But it was hard to remain behind. He could have absconded to the shadow realm to keep Clover company, but that would be to abandon what was left in reality. The message had been sent to all who remained, and Jesse had expected no replies. To his welcome surprise, however, he’d heard back from a few -- one of whom was Tara. He’d not seen the brunette in a while -- he texted her back to tell her where he was, to tell her to knock on the door and he’d let her in. While he waited, he tried not to sink too far into the quagmire of his thoughts.
T A R A
Tara looked to her phone, finding the new text and opened her maps app as she wasn’t sure where she was going. There were still parts of the city she wasn’t familiar with. Following the voice of the app, she reached the address. “Tattoos huh?” she said, not the time to be distracted, drinks and tattoos went well together. She knocked on the door, “Jesse?” she called out.
J E S S E . F F O R D E
Jesse opened just one eye. There were customers who’d been knocking, too -- he’d had to shake his head and mouth the words we’re closed three times already. This time, he recognised the voice that accompanied the knock, and he got up to unlock the door and let Tara in. He gestured to the couch he’d previously been lounging on and flipped the blinds on the door so that no one else would bother them. “Unharmed, I see. I suppose that’s a good thing,” he said.
T A R A
Tara stepped inside, taking a look around before looking at him. “Unharmed?” she said. “What happened?” she asked, she flopped down on the couch and crossed her arms. “What’s going on? You said you were tortured..” she said.
J E S S E . F F O R D E
Jesse was mostly covered up; he wore jeans and sneakers, a t-shirt and hoodie over the top. A person wouldn’t see how he’d been turned to swiss cheese from the neck down, and most head wounds were healed. At least the burns had healed and he no longer looked like he’d crawled out of some lava swamp. His hair had all grown back, the tattoos back in their proper un-melted positions. “That’s… I don’t know yet,” he said. He hadn’t tried to figure out who’d taken him, and nor had they come back for him. Yet. “That’s completely unrelated. I’m ninety percent sure, anyway,” he said, flopping down on the couch. “You haven’t heard from anyone outside of Fforde?”
T A R A
Tara tilted her head, don’t know yet? Unrelated? She shook her head, “Only you.” she replied, “I don’t hear from anyone else..” she added, she really didn’t know anyone else. “Your text said all of us were in danger. What is disenthrall?” she asked.
J E S S E . F F O R D E
It appeared that Tara had remained hidden, unfindable. Either that, or they just hadn’t got around to her yet. Either way, Jesse knew he wasn’t making it up. He wasn’t imagining it, or exaggerating. He didn’t know what their plan of attack was. But he needed to warn Tara regardless. “Disenthrall is a ritual. At the moment, I am …” he paused. He was not Tara’s sire, even though he was about to say so. He cleared his throat. “Renee is your sire, right? The bond you share can be useful in certain situations. The bond you share with me via Renee is the same. The disenthrall ritual severs that bond. Although she’s always be your sire, you’d have your own name. Any benefit of the bond we share, that you share with her, would be gone. It’s… symbolic,” he said. “The tome to perform that ritual was a rare one, and used to be held exclusively by Tytonidae. Even though someone had previously given the tome to Aeryn, I’ve got a target on my back because I sold the tome on auction. I was supposed to get rid of it, but I didn’t. And… well the target isn’t on my back, it’s on yours. On everyone who’s been sired by me, or by mine. Everyone in Fforde is being threatened to disenthrall or die,” he explained. It was complicated.
T A R A
Tara listened, though she didn’t know what Tytonidea was. She wrinkled her nose, “I...never had a family before, so I don’t approve of that disenthrall.” she said, looking down at the floor. “Not sure what the big deal is if someone else had the tome. Sounds like a ***** move to make, like some kind of random excuse to attack the family.” she said. “So how bad is dying?” Course they were already dead..
J E S S E . F F O R D E
Jesse arched a brow, though he kept his thoughts to himself. Beggars couldn’t be choosers and although he might have asked Tara where she’d been all this time, if she was attached to the idea of family, he chose to let it go. She was here. She was asking about death. She wasn’t going to take the ritual, if it was offered to her. Jesse shrugged. “It depends on you. I’m a masochist who thinks death is a great opportunity to get some alone time, some peace and quiet. Others compare it to torture and insanity. But if you die, you won’t be alone,” he said. Others would be there, and Jesse himself, eventually, would slip into the shadows and help where he could.
T A R A
She wouldn’t have the most important person to her though, but one of the reasons she came was to protect him. “There are already others in that death realm?” Tara asked. Were there going to be anyone else coming? “It will most likely be torture for me but guess we’ll see..” she said. “Are we waiting for others? Are we hiding out or we going on the attack since they started it?” she asked. “Not that I stand much of a chance. I’ve been training but I’m sure I’m still pretty weak compared to older vampires..”
