▽ ᴘᴀʀʟɪᴀᴍᴇɴᴛ ɪs ᴏɴ ғɪʀᴇ

[Micah]

Micah’s attention was drawn to the human that Vel had tied to the chair. She was struggling with her bonds, trying to break free but it was futile. The human was going nowhere and the sooner that she realized it the better it would be for her. If she kept pulling those ties were eventually going to cut into her skin and then there was a whole other potential problem. Fresh human blood around three vampires? Not the smartest thing to have happen.

None of it would matter though if she suffocated. It wasn’t like she could escape so maybe the bag was overkill. And Vel hadn’t cut any holes in it to allow air to go in and out. Micah tried to tell himself that he didn’t give a **** if she lived or died but...they’d never get the answers his wife wanted if she met her end because of a bag taped over her head. The sound of the human speaking snapped him out of his inner musings and he scoffed, eyes flicking up to study the ceiling. His feet started to move before he realized what he was doing and his hands reached out to yank on the tape that secured the bag around her neck. It gave way easily under the strength of his hands and with a tug he pulled the bag off, dropping it to the floor.

And he froze in his tracks.

Micah knew that this wasn’t Vel. It wasn’t his wife that was sitting there bound to the chair with a fat, bloodied lip but Jesus it was difficult to wrap his mind around. Her face was the exact replica of Vel’s. The shape, the nose and her lips - and if anyone would know it would be him. How many nights had he spent running his fingers over Vel’s face to memorize every single detail until it was permanently etched into his mind? Countless. And the eyes - how many times had he looked into those depths like he could see into Vel’s soul? Too many to count. But subtle differences were there for Micah to easily see and that was enough for him to snap out of his blatant observations.

His eyes rolled once more and his hand twitched. “Didn’t think ya was deaf. And lower yer damn voice. Jesus, the **** you tryin to do? Break my fuckin eardrums?” Micah had next to no patience on a good night, and this definitely wasn’t a good night so it was safe to say his tolerance for whining and crying was nonexistent. He turned his back on her. If he wasn’t looking at her he wasn’t making mental comparisons. And seeing her bound to that chair made him feel off even as he once again reminded himself that it wasn’t Vel. He did, however, remember the name on the website that he’d pulled up.

“So. My wife’s got some questions for you I’m sure, and you better answer every last one of them. If she’s happy, then that’ll make me happy. If she ain’t happy then that won’t make me happy and well, you don’t really wanna know what’ll happen to ya then.” That went unsaid. Micah was pretty sure she’d be able to read between the lines and figure it out.

[Remington Rothfelder]

That was the idea.

Of course, Remington kept that comment to himself, but he’d suggested the use of drugs fully aware of what just might happen to the Velveteen look-alike. He just wasn’t all that worried about quality of life. Maybe he should have had some sort of compassion for her, but Remi didn’t really have much patience at all for potential threats. There were some people who liked to play the waiting game with adversity, but the Shadow had never been one of those. He tended to tackle things head on, and in his mind, the best way to make sure she wasn’t a problem was to scramble the **** out of her brain. Yes, it was terrible, but it was a step up from leaving her in a gutter somewhere, with her face cut off. He dismissed the idea when it was rejected. Not worth having a discussion about.

The water had its desired effect and Remington placed the bucket he had used down to one side so that he could take a step back. His arms folded over his chest and he rested his hip against the edge of the table, gaze locked on the back of Satine’s head. He didn’t need to see her expressions to get a read on her body language and guess if she was going to try something. Years of owning a dojo, and having regular lessons there had given him near predictive reflexes when it came to people. Really, one just had to be observant. His input wasn’t really required. The truth of the matter was that his curiosity as it applied to the human was, at best, only surface level. So long as she proved interesting to Velveteen, she was worth keeping around, but he was just as content to drop her from the top of a building and walk away.

Though he had enjoyed her response to pressure. Maybe that was worth looking into if she managed to survive.

Micah told the woman to shut up, and offered up the implication of a threat, which Remington had to wager, coming from someone as big as the Killer, was probably intimidating enough to leave someone with wet trousers. Hopefully it would be more successful at loosening her tongue than Remi’s own efforts had been. His head slowly tilted to one side. He stayed just in her periphery, but out of her direct line of sight as a reminder that she was in their place, and attempts to run were probably not the best idea. His attention then turned to Vel. Really, that’s what the human’s continued existence came down to. And he was curious as well. He didn’t know a lot of details about his sire’s past, but if she had a twin sister, was it possible she had more family she didn’t know about?

More importantly, what were they going to do about her? The truth of the matter was that Velveteen was something of a household name in the Vampiric community. While Satine might have blended in with the humans just fine, if a vampire had gotten their hands on her – well things might not have gone so well. The last thing that they needed was to hand over a possible weapon to someone who would use it to wreak havoc. Death was looking like a better and better option by the moment.

[Velveteen]

While the idea had been considered and immediately tossed, Velveteen wasn’t so sure it was an entirely bad idea. Besides, she had already sent a telepathic order to Scott to bring the necessary items. The male entered and kept his eyes averted to the situation as he reluctantly laid out a couple of syringes and what she assumed to be only a small portion of his stash. It was when Micah removed the bag from the woman’s head that he did look up and the look on his face told a thousand words. Scott’s gaze shifted back and forth between Vel and Satine. “Thank you Scott. That will be all. Forget everything you have seen here.” Her voice was rather flat and business like as she waved the human way offhandedly.

The removal of the bag made Velveteen wince a little. Not only was easier to deal with the human when she wasn’t sitting there all looking like her but it also kept her from seeing anything they didn’t want her to see. Too late now though. The dark haired vampire pulled out a chair, turned it around to straddle and laid her arms across the top of back as she just looked at the human. After her husband had spoken and once Scott vacated the area a kind of silence filled the room.

Velveteen watched the woman intensely as she weighed the options. The thing that did have her was the fact that what Satine was saying could very possibly be the truth and until she knew one way or another there was going to be doubt. The idea that this woman was not only her sister but her identical twin was both exciting and disconcerting. After too long Velveteen finally spoke. “We are keeping her here. In the hut.” She glanced at Remi and then at Micah, hoping that no one was currently using it. If they were then she knew of another that would suffice. “No one is to see her.” With that she stood and snatched one of the syringes from the table before approaching the bound woman. “I am going to find out the truth. So I suggest you tell me everything you know before I do. Because if you are lying….it will be the last thing you ever do.”

The cap of the needle was popped off and held between her teeth as she crouched down beside Satine. Fingers, cold as death, circled the woman’s upper arm, her warmth almost startling the the vampire, as her vice like grip not only served to keep the arm still but worked as a makeshift tourniquet. Dark red blood started filling the syringe almost immediately and Velveteen grinned, flashing her fangs at her prisoner. It didn’t really matter much now did it? The human had already seen too much, might as well let her know exactly what she was up against. “I am guessing it will take a few days to get the results back. That is how long you have to live unless they confirm what you are saying.” The cap was popped back on and another syringe was taken up to be filled with her own vampire blood. They could extract DNA from really dead things so for all intents and purposes this should work.

“Babe can you grab a strand or two of her hair please? Will have Bunny deliver these to Doc’s lab and see what happens.” She winced slightly as the needle pierced her own skin and she filled yet another tube before recapping it. “Remi. I need a mask. Something for….Her.” She waved her free hand at Satine. “I do not want anybody seeing her just yet. I don’t care what...just make sure that it hides her face. Eyes too if possible.” She returned her icy glare to Satine. She had to admire the woman’s strength considering what she was facing. “Start talking or become the next useless junkie to overdose in a back alley.”

[Satine]

The exchange of her own breath exhaling then inhaling beneath the bag over her head left Satine's nose overwhelmed with the unmistakable metallic scent. She always thought her blood smelled like money. Coins. What was she really worth anyways? It was a cloud reality that wrapped around her. A knot of awareness formed in her empty gut and that reminded her of the coin jar she never cashed in back home. She had filled it to the top several times.

Chester was a thief. He didn't need it. He just got off on ******* with her mind when she asked where her coins from her hard earned tips went. He told her she never had it full to begin with then backhanded her. Her lip bled pretty good each time. That didn’t bother her in the least. He had done it enough it never really hurt after the first couple times. What bugged the hell out of her was where her eyes went next as she wiped her lip clean. Her mother wasting away in full view. The dick that was responsible would get his in due time.

If a disapproving look could set a fire it would have beneath the woman that looked older than her young years on the hideous sofa sucking up lines off the coffee table like her nose was a vacuum cleaner. The empty glazed grey eyes fixed back at Satine as she shook her head once it lifted from the coke free surface. It was hard to swallow for the barely thirty mom that she was responsible for fourteen year old Satine. She was always being watched and it made her addictions harder to hide from.

The child of a child with eyes she had a hard time figuring out where in the hell they came from. They were piercing her from across the room with their color of mercury that she imagined spun in violent storm. The woman's hand went slowly up to her nose and pushed a finger to the side of it while inhaling deep to get the last of what would be a waste sitting like fine powder at the end of her nose. Instead a crimson fluid found its way between the finger beneath her nose and dripped twice before she jumped up and ran to the bathroom like there was a fire to put out. The door slammed shut and Satine’s eyes went back to the ******** that brought the offering from hell to that coffee table her mother had been attached to since Chester entered the picture.

The scent of her blood was less noticeable when those eyes much like her own that watched years of decline proceeded to stare back at her. Velveteen's body slid into the chair and she could nearly feel the grain of the wood cradling her bottom as it settled as if she was the one sitting down and not tied up. The woman’s skin was far more pale and lacked her own warmth. But those eyes and hair. The edge of her bottom lip and the line of her jaw. It was stunning to look at her this close. There was finally flesh to what had otherwise had been a reflection she longed to be real in the bathroom mirror.

While orders were given out Satine watched as the other two responded. It appeared Velveteen was married the dark haired male. If that was not the case then he was at least doing a good job of setting dibs on her. She was the boss of a few more than willing to do anything she asked...questionable or not. Briefly she stole a glance over at the man who entered and offered up an impressive needle kit. The likes of which she knew all too well.

Some kids played pick up sticks. Satine could do tricks with the fan and spiral of numerous needles and at the same time untie those latex tourniquets when someone was in wonderland blown and lost to the cause. If she didn’t the idiots would otherwise wake up squealing about their fucked up circulation deprived arms. She confiscated so much paraphernalia over her well trained years of babysitting her down and out mom as well as the carpet fly deadbeats. Those worthless junkies always buzzed around the house while waiting for their next token of Chester’s stash.

The hut? Satine looked around and tried to imagine the trio had moved her after the impressive hook to her face into a hut. No one was supposed to see her. A hut? This was getting far more outlandish than it should be. Those sharp front teeth must have cost the woman a small fortune to file up. She never did get that whole goth vampire wanna be scene. Still didn't explain why she had seen what she did in the shop but she also had a recent kiss of a purse snatchers boot to thank for the confusion afterward. Perhaps that was the thing. A concussion. Seeing spots instead of blood. Velveteen tumbled into view because she tripped on something instead of bursting in out of thin air. The tee size inked guys staring at her? Damn health stores. Mail order steroids. All that **** made your dick small from what she heard. Perhaps it was all clearing up for her now. These three were just acting bad ***. She played this role too. It was nothing new. She used it to survive. If they wanted to go that route then so could she. Was dying a huge threat to her? Of course it was. However they had no clue what she had been through so at this point they wouldn't know if she was having anything to lose. She was scared shitless but if you were good at the game the other side never knew it was getting under your skin. Survival. It was in her blood.

“If only you knew how much more solid our blood is than your threats.” Satine was not oblivious that she was eyeballs deep in some heavy ****. She felt the prick of needle and the pluck of hair. She was pretty sure the three were eyeing her like a spider dangling before them from a thin self-created web that had no prayers chance in hell of withstanding their joint efforts. “Take all the samples you want.”

Satine looked at them and spit on the floor.

“Hurry up and get a tube full of that too. Maybe it will confirm what you already know.” She let her eyes fix on Velveteen. “Grab a cup because I need to take a piss. I am feeling generous and want to help make this all happen. The proof is staring back at you right now. Save the lab fees.”

[Micah]

What the **** was he supposed to use to store a few strands of hair in? Didn’t matter. It gave him somewhere else to direct his attention other than the at the doppelganger that was secured to the chair. A quick search of the draws by the sink turned up nothing but when he tried the crafting bench he was rewarded with a small plastic container, most likely used at one point in time to store nuts and bolts. It would work. Micah dropped the hairs he’d plucked from Satine’s head into it and sealed it.

Almost as if she had sensed she was needed Bunny appeared at his side. She asked no questions and instead waited silently for instructions. Micah handed her the plastic container and a small plastic baggie that contained the blood samples extracted from Vel and Satine. “Take those to Doc. Don’t take your time, go as fast as you can. Don’t stop to talk to anyone and don’t wait for the results. Vel will collect that when he completes his analysis.” The blonde nodded once and turned on her heel, using the elevator to take her downstairs to the portal that would take her to Bullwood station.

Micah considered questioning her on her decision to put a mask on the woman. No one came up here without permission. No one. They all knew better. But more importantly why the **** did he care if Vel put a mask on her? He shouldn’t. He knew **** all about her, she was just some random woman who happened to look like Vel. It should be relatively simple for him to dismiss her but he was finding it difficult. Maybe it was because there was an obvious connection. He would have to be stupid to ignore it. And then she opened her mouth. Yeah. She was ******* stupid. Who the **** thought it smart to shoot their mouth off when tied up in a strange place surrounded by strangers? This chick, that was who.

“I ought to make you lick that up you stupid *****.” She’d pissed him off. His hands curled into fists at his sides as he fought the urge to reach out and slap the attitude out of her. But human she was and a slap would probably cause more damage than they could afford right now. She still wasn’t talking or giving them the answers to the questions that they had all asked her already. “Maybe you’re right. I mean you’re obviously just as much of a ***** as my wife is. No offense babe.” He cast an apologetic glance at Vel, but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t heard before. “Point of the matter is - we don’t ******* know you. You could wave this so called proof in my face all night long and I’ll still call you a liar until I have the answers we want from a source that I know won’t spew me a line of ********.”

Bunny and Doc needed to hurry, because Micah didn’t know how much longer he could hold out before he snapped her ******* neck.

[Remington Rothfelder]

The two of them sat there like mirror images of each other. Remington found himself scrutinizing Satine’s features. She was a few years older physically than Velveteen wasn’t she? She didn’t seem to have extra wrinkles or evidence of age. He supposed they probably had different scar tissue and things of that nature, but he wasn’t of the mind to check. But even with his attention plastered between them, it was impossible to get over the similarities. What would happen if other people knew about it? That was the danger in Remi’s mind, because Tytonidae had a lot of enemies, a lot of people who would have loved a surrogate Velveteen to take their aggression out on. Find a weakness, exploit it. That was the law of nature, the way that predators overcame the Red Queen hypothesis and earned their meals. He still wasn’t entirely convinced that keeping her alive was the best idea if only for that reason.

But that wasn’t his call to make. That particular decision was not in his hands.

She began to talk again, foul mouthed thing that she was. His first instinct was to backhand her across the floor. He had once hacked off the leg of another vampire who had shown attitude to Micah and Vel. He had considered it a reasonable response then and still considered it reasonable. The man had been ‘family’, and Remi had agreed after that point not to attack lineage again without better cause. He hadn’t exactly agreed with that, because it was worse in his mind for someone to show legitimate disrespect to their elders when they were close to him, than it was for someone he didn’t know from Adam running their fool mouth. He had acquiesced none the less because he hadn’t wanted to cause more in the way of drama.

It was hard for him to overcome instinct though, and he took a step towards her. What stopped him from ******* up her pretty face was the order to get a mask. He halted right in his tracks, and then nodded. Right. They needed something to cover her features, make it so that someone could not identify her. Left to his own devices, Remington would have just taken a wrench to her face and left it a mass of pulverized tissue. But that was why he didn’t tend to handle things on his own. He didn’t really have what anyone would have called a delicate hand, and his finesse didn’t come into play unless he was in a fight.

He marched right out of the hut and into his own, a trip that didn’t take all that long. He had only recently set the place up, but it was very bare bones. Mainly he just used it to house some of the things his exes had given him. He had boxes full that didn’t seem quite right on display in the apartment he shared with Fable. He immediately began to go through one marked ‘Halloween’, and began to rifle through the things. He wanted something that would cover an entire head, but allow for breathing and food. He didn’t particularly care if she could see. Maybe it would be best if she couldn’t . And he wanted to ensure that it could not be pried off.

When he finally found what he was looking for, he stuffed it under his arm and then stopped by the shop in the Eyrie before making his way back to the hut. All in all, it hadn’t taken him more than ten minutes and no sooner did he make it through the door than he dropped to sit at the table so he could pull a full-head white rabbit mask out of a box. It was more like a helmet than anything else, a shell that could be locked into place under the chin. The mouth opened just enough on a hinge to allow for the passing of some food. It would be difficult to work around but not impossible. The eye holes were narrow. Very narrow, and would make vision difficult but again, not impossible.

So he just needed to put the finishing touches on. The thing was zipped into place on the back. While they waited for the results of the DNA test to come back, he fastened a padlock latch onto either side. He had to bend the metal a little to fit the curve of a head, and then make sure that everything still fit together the right way. But once that was done, he pushed the thing to the center of the table and then stood so that he could place a heavy padlock and key on the edge. She would not be getting out of it any time soon. At least not with a hell of a lot of help.

“Should be enough room in there for her to breathe and for her hair and everything.” He added a second later, in case it seemed like he might have gone just a step too far.

White Rabbit Mask

[Velveteen]

An amused grin danced across the vampire’s pale lips. This woman was amusing and like it or not Velveteen had to admire her strength. Surely everything so far would have to seem some like some sort of bad trip but it was obvious to her that this woman was not the sort that did drugs. She smelt clean and she looked healthy enough too but, no matter how well she hid it behind her smart mouth and bravado, there was genuine fear, barely hidden behind those monochromatic eyes that now stared her down. She perched on the edge of the table and crossed one ankle over the other as her arms followed suit over her chest. Remi had disappeared to take care of what she had asked of him and Micah had taken care of the samples and was giving Bunny her instructions before sending her on her way with a sense of urgency. Satine’s mouth was still running but thus far she had declined from answering any of the questions that were directed her way.

Velveteen had opened her mouth to speak but her husband had beaten her to it. Her grin grew and twisted mockingly at the corners as she kept her focus on the woman in the chair. The tone of his voice was unmistakable. He was starting to lose his patience. A quality that the man was not well known for in the first place. The woman stood and started rounding the table, dragging her finger over the polished surface slowly as she listened quietly. Her silver orbs rolled to the side and she shrugged at his apology. One that was completely unnecessary. She knew her faults as well as he did but he loved her anyway and for that she was ever grateful. The pointed tip of her nail began to scratch at the varnish as she continued her slow sabbatical to the other side of the table, opposite Satine, where she stood and stared at the human. She was right in one thing. Velveteen already knew truth. Of all the possibilities that Velveteen could counter with ulterior motives and other likelihoods, nothing could explain the lingering scent of familiarity that clung to this woman.

The realisation was like a sharp, stinging slap to the face but was kept well hidden beneath her cool and collected exterior. “Let’s get a couple of things straight right here and now.” She said once a few moments of silence had passed. “Firstly, I will spend my money as I like so please….do not worry your delicate little head about it and secondly….” Her head canted to the side and if her gaze were a blade it would have ran the female right through and gutted her there and then. “You can piss yourself for all I care. I aint your ******* chambermaid, sweetheart. Got it?” The australian accent was raw and edgy as if she had flown in only yesterday.

It was almost like a game of chess. One moving, the other responding and then waiting to see what tactic would be used next. Velveteen spied the pink paper that Micah had out earlier and she picked it up to read over it herself. The creases were worn from constant folding and unfolding, yet the writing on it was still clearly legible. The note was tucked into her pocket for later inspection.

Remi had returned and she almost chuckled at the mask he had returned with. A rabbit head. The irony was delightful. Her childe was busying himself with making some adjustments as she continued to speak. “For now…..Satine. You will be our guest. It would be very much appreciated if you behave accordingly and listen very closely to me if you want to live. Do not try and escape or leave here on your own. This whole place is trapped to high heaven and one wrong step could deliver you to hell before you even know what the **** happened. You are in our house, you will play by our rules. You will wear this….” Her hand motioned to the rabbits head that had been pushed to the centre of the table, “And if you promise not to run, we might even untie you. But not until I know without a shadow of a doubt, that you are not going anywhere. I would hate to have to kill you before I even got to know you…..Sister.”

[Satine]

If the tension could be cut in the room Satine would bet her fat little piggy bank that it would require a machete or two and a few more tempers than were already being tapped in front of her. There was an energy that fueled her as it boiled around her. She was absorbing it. Perhaps they didn’t know this confirmed that she was still in the running for saving her ***. It was ten times more than anything that she worked out of pathetic Chester. Whenever she was not on the right track she would be feeling a whole lot of throbbing in her face. That was the sign that said it was time to stop. So far it was all green lights ahead. She had a lot of answers to questions that her likeness didn’t have. Not only that she had the truth. She was who she said she was. Her eyes never left Velveteen’s for long. She wanted the woman to see what was impossible to deny in front of her.

Bold eyes bounced from each face cutting through her with their piercing focus. Finally they went back to the woman who reminded her she was not half as bad to look at when a mirror wasn’t involved. This stand off was like reading road signs while racing through the dark in a place off the map sitting on the seat next to you. The gas light is on and you are miles from anywhere that looks familiar. Then you look up and it is in the stars. You feel it and you know you are going to defy the odds and roll into the next town by the skin of your teeth. As far as Satine was concerned she was in the driver’s seat and she was not going to hit the brake. It was a huge risk she had taken before. Chester’s cold parts wrapped and stored in deep freeze where the reward prior. She didn’t stop then. She was not going to stop now. She found her. She was invested in this it for all it was worth.

Satine watched the tightened meat hooks of the one affectionately called 'Babe' curl up even more as he tried to set her straight. He was the one who could win an award for his level of self-control. He wanted her neck in his oversized paws. She could see it and hear it in his voice. He wasn't struggling with his vocabulary either. He was feeling strongly about every word he sent at her. He made Chester seem like a big pussy the more she thought about it. She felt the tightness of her split and swollen lip ache all the more as the right side of her mouth lifted a bit.


Satine was a sitting goose being watched to pass a golden egg of tangible proof she was who she said she was beyond the features that they shared. Why didn't she spill it all? Because there was a problem. So far with the way she had been handled and what she had seen gave her less inclination to comply. Who the **** were these people and even more importantly... What the **** were they? The husband wanted to snap her in two before she could find out. He was not alone in having something to hide. The other half of this dynamic, muscle bound and roid raging duo was setting off his own warnings with the 'make-no-mistake’ body language.

Remi, the blonde ‘go-to-man’ if you really wanted to catch a purse thief, was on the ball. He was back in no time and now it was getting real. She watched him at work while the woman doing ring around the rosey with the table between them mentions she isn’t a chambermaid and she can piss her pants for all she cared. Her eyes left the rabbit head contraption and looked again to the floor. Velveteen was about to find out she was serious about trekking all the way to Canada to see the truth with her own eyes and also about that super size cola she took in making it harder to ignore that she felt like a balloon and was going to pop rather soon.

“Yeah, you play your hand. Sort out all the cards you have been given and call what you think is my bluff.” Satine’s eyes went to the rather large and heavy looking white rabbit helmet. “You can cover my face but not the truth.”

With the way the man sent to fetch the thing to begin with had been working on it there was one thing she could see being of no issue. Any possibility of anyone getting confused about who was who would be eliminated if that contraption was fixed over her head. Her palms were sweating instantly and her chest was getting tight. Could she hold out a little longer and keep her bold front? She kept reminding herself this was it. Whoever and whatever they were showed no signs of mercy. All she had saving her is she was telling the truth and...what she had witnessed up to this point.

“While you are giving me the benefit of the doubt see if you three can find me a pot to piss in.” Now the other side of her mouth lifted as she made sure to look at all three. It was crude but in times like these when your back was against a ...really hard chair and you are strapped to it. You will pull any move in the book of War and Peace to gain a little more ground to stand on. Who would want to clean up a warm puddle? None of the three looking at her looked quite the type to be handy with a mop.“Guess who really has to go now...Sister.”

Satine’s eyes fixed on Velveteen’s as soon as she said the term that would eventually be confirmed. Unless of course someone in the lab they used was smoking or ingesting the same stuff that poor guy that walked in earlier was on. The white rabbit head on the table caught her eyes again. She absolutely hated those full face masks. The fact it appeared to be one that could lock in place freaked her out even more. Her palms felt like the sweat was dripping from the center just from the thought of it. Elmer Fudd’s voice singing “KILL THE WABBIT! KILL THE WABBIT!” was building slowly in her head.

[Doc]

"--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--"

The last few weeks had been full of drama, stress and shocking revelations. To combat it, Doc through himself into work. He was practically living at the lab. There was something calming about losing his thoughts in science. Science for the most part was black and white. It was, or, it was not. There were very few gray areas. The few gray areas that did exist, existed because it was an unknown factor. It was not gray due to fluctuations in outcomes. He found it immensely relaxing.

He was deep in test results when Jane called him, and told him he had a visitor. It took him a moment to focus on what she had said, but finally he headed out to reception, to see who was there to see him. Standing there, politely waiting was Bunny.

Doc motioned for her to come back to his office, “We can head to my office,..”

However, Bunny politely shook her head negatively, “Thank you no. Miss Vel requested I bring these to you immediately.”

He accepted the package, “Thank you.”

“Now, I really must be off.” Bunny gave him a brief smile, and left without another word.

Doc: Doc returned to his office and opened the package. There was a vial of blood, an envelope of hair, an envelope of ash and a vial of ash. It was obvious Velveteen wanted DNA tested, however, the sample she sent from the unknown vampire had turned to ash. He picked up his phone and called Velveteen.

Velveteen: Velveteen looked at her phone a little surprised, she was just literally thinking of ringing the man. Under other circumstances she might make some joke about him having acquired telepathic powers but not this time. "Doc. I was going to ring you. You have the results already?"

Doc: "Hello Velveteen. I was calling to let you know.. two of the samples I will run shortly.. but the other two.. are ashes. So whoever the vampire was you took them off of.. well it's no good. You need pre-death DNA samples. Baby teeth.. hair from an old hair brush.. So.. Do you want me to continue to run the other sample?"

Velveteen: Velveteen frowned and and grunted a soft sound of frustration. "Yes please. Still run it. I may have something else. How long will it take?" She asked as her mind raced to try and place where she had the flash drive last. Being adopted and because her work allowed it, Velveteen had her own DNA tested years ago to run it through the system and see if it matched anyone in the databases. It didn't. But she had kept the results. The drive would either be at the Morgue or....her alpha apartment.

Doc: "About 16 hours. I can rush it. But rushing causes mistakes. I dislike mistakes. So in essence by this time tomorrow. I will have a profile."

Velveteen: "Perfect. What I have wont need any further work. So I will meet you at your lab tomorrow night?"

Doc: "Yes.. Tomorrow this time, I will have it ready for you."

Velveteen: "Thank you, Doc. I really appreciate this. You have no idea. We will talk then."

Doc: "Sure thing Vel. Have a good evening. See you tomorrow." He disconnected.

[Micah]

Her voice was nothing like Vel’s. Micah could listen to Vel talk for hours and never tire of hearing that Australian accent roll off of her tongue. This one though….her voice was grating. A lot of it was most likely due to her trying to be sly and avoid the questions that were being thrown at her. Didn’t she see that she was at a disadvantage? Did she not think it was in her best interests to co-operate with them if she wanted to get out of the situation with her life intact? Sister or no sister, Satine had sent Micah’s temper skyrocketing to a dangerous level and she was about to see what she had managed to awaken in him.

Why couldn’t she just shut her ******* mouth? Every sarcastic word that flew out of her mouth was making him madder and madder and eventually he just snapped. A red haze descended over his vision and suddenly it was like he was seeing through a tunnel. Tunnel vision, he thought it was called. The familiar surroundings of the Eyrie faded into the background and the only thing Micah could focus on was her. This smart mouthed devil wearing his wife’s face that needed to be knocked off of the high horse that she had placed herself on.

“I think a slightly...different approach is needed here.” Micah spoke quietly. He was quite suddenly dangerously calm, almost like the calm before one hell of a ******* storm. If she wouldn’t talk he would ******* make her. Bending down he withdrew a wickedly sharp dagger from inside of his boot. He twirled it within his fingers with a practiced ease as he approached her. Crouching down beside her he looked her dead in the eye and touched the point of the blade to her temple. “I wouldn’t make any sudden moves if I were you. I take very good care of my weapons. You wouldn’t want me to accidentally….slip now would you?” As if to emphasize his point he drew the blade down the side of her face, watching in fascination as a very thin line of blood instantly appeared on the surface of her pale skin.

“Now,” he started conversationally as if he were talking to an old friend, “We’ve been patient with you. We’ve asked you questions that you’ve refused to answer. Instead of giving us the answers that we seek you’ve given us nothing but attitude, false bravado and a few nuggets of information that might hold a bit of truth. But that’s not enough and you seem to be under the impression that you’re in charge here.” A light, mocking slap was delivered to the side of her face. “Bless your heart darlin.”

The expression on his face changed in an instant. The calm was replaced with a cold fury that usually sent people cowering away from the inevitable bomb that was sure to explode and reign hell down on those that chose to cross him. The soft light of the room glinted against the blade and he twisted his hand around, driving the dagger so deeply through her thigh that it got stuck in the chair, pinning her there. Micah ignored the blood as it sprayed through the air in an arc and stood, disappearing for a few seconds. When he reappeared he was holding a bucket that he slammed to the floor at her feet. “You gotta piss? There. Piss in that. And while you’re at it ANSWER THE ******* QUESTIONS.” Another dagger was produced only this one was pressed against her throat. “Don’t. *******. Test. Me.”