Get Out Alive <Velveteen>

[Charisma]

The snow fell against the hood of the sleek blue Camaro as it roared down the street, the music blaring from the speakers with enough intensity to shake the windows of the small business district. The driver barely felt the cold drops as they froze against her skin, her blue eyes glazed as she took a turn too quick, the tires squealing for traction as she hit a patch of black ice. With a quick jerk of the wheel, she managed to smooth herself out a second before the car lost all control and crashed into one of the emptied buildings that took up a vast majority of the street. Gritting her teeth against the emotions that were roiling in her chest and settling heavily in her stomach, she flicked on the windshield wipers, though they had already proved to be useless against the storm. With a sharp slam of her hand against the wheel, she jerked it to the left and careened into a parking space against the sidewalk before killing the engine and throwing the door open, welcoming the arctic air with a frown.

It was far too dangerous for her to continue to navigate the streets, and she could already hear his voice in the back of her mind, nagging her for being foolish. He had attempted to hide her keys from her, and as she pulled them from the ignition, she couldn’t contain the smirk that pulled on her lips. He had thought himself so clever, but it had taken her a mere ten minutes to locate the gleaming silver of her eighth note keychain tucked amidst the junk mail. His only intelligent thought was to put it atop the fridge, putting her at a slight disadvantage. Within seconds, however, she had managed to secure a sturdy enough chair to support her 5’3 frame as she crawled onto it and snatched her prize from their horrible hiding spot. It had been a sweet gesture, but it had been completely wasted on her. She had thought it foolish at the time, but now, with the snow swirling hectically through the air, she saw the merit.

She was far from comfortable - or used - to someone putting her wellbeing first. It was one of the reasons that she had felt the need to escape the imprisonment of his home, where she was nearly suffocating beneath his essence. He had put his best effort into making her comfortable, and it had only seemed to make matters worse. She couldn’t fathom what she had been thinking when she had allowed him to manipulate her into moving in, and the pressure was beginning to be too much. She could feel the panic grasp her chest with phantom fingers so strong, she wasn’t certain that they wouldn’t kill her. Shaking her head as she stepped from the warm embrace of her car, she slammed the door behind her and relished in the sound of it’s echo across the street. The only good thing about this weather was the fact that no one else would have been insane enough to embrace it. Instead, they were all tucked securely in their homes, their bodies enveloped in warm blankets with steaming cups of coffee in their hands. Shrugging off a subtle pinch of envy at their ignorance, she secured the strap of her bag over her shoulder as she tossed her keys into the shadowy interior before securing her cell.

Her destination wasn’t too far, and yet, she could barely make out the treeline from where she stood. The snow acted like a curtain, refusing her access, even with her enhanced vision. The thought of trudging through the banks was almost enough to send her back into the warmth of her vehicle, but the need to see this through easily outweighed it. She was at the end of her rope, and there was only one thing - one person - that could secure her. Swallowing thickly at the unease that flooded her veins, she slid her thumb against her phone to unlock it, her sire’s name already brought to the surface. She had been going back and forth for hours, but she knew she could no longer put it off. Their relationship was miniscule at best, but something told her that she wouldn’t be turned away. Perhaps it was as foolish a notion as the humans sinking sanctuary beneath their blankets, but it was the only hope that she had left. Forcing her fingers to move, she tapped out a quick, simple text before hovering her finger over the ‘send’ button. Was disturbing her killer really the way to go? In truth, she found her dilemma to be laughable at best. There was no proof that she would lose control. The second the thought entered her mind she diminished it and pressed the button.

She knew herself better than anyone - and she knew that it was only a matter of time.

[Text] Velveteen,
It is Charisma. I have need of a moment of your time. I know it is cold, but could you meet me in the lobby? I will be a moment as I have left my tome at home, but I will be there. Merci.

Tucking the phone back into her purse, she ran her fingers through her hair before beginning to long treck to the hotel. It wasn’t a lie that she had left her tome, but the lack of explanation had left her stomach in knots. The curse she was burdened with required her to leave nothing out when she spoke to someone - anyone - and yet she was finding it increasingly difficult to obey. The pain was becoming second nature to her, and it was but another reason that she found herself at her wits end. I am going to condemn myself to hell. The thought entered her mind so quickly, that it sent her off balance. She nearly fell into a rather large looking mound of snow before catching herself, her small, curvy stature swaying uneasily as she struggled to keep herself upright. Had she fallen so far into the darkest parts of her soul, that she had already given up on her fight to remain pure? She was no fool, she knew the moment that she had lost her life, she was tainted - but she had lived her life right.

Was there no hope for her after all?

How could there be? Look where you are, Charisma. You are trudging through the snow to meet the woman that killed you, and lay your sins at her feet. Do you think she is going to accept you? Do you really think that she is going to redeem you once she has learned what you have done? She is the leader of the most brutal killers in the city, deemed to protect humankind from the very thing you have done. You killed him, Charisma.

Closing her eyes, she fought against the voice in her mind, the brutal tone ripping her to shreds from the inside. A low growl rumbled from her chest, and she fought the rage that tore through her like an inferno. You are nearly there, Melody. With a low, keening sound, she managed to pull herself above the wreckage of her mind and force herself forward, the outline of the hotel becoming clear through the thick forest.

[Velveteen]

The last couple of nights had been spent shut in as she poured over the badly kept books and poked about on the computer they had acquired from the stag heath stronghold after forcing the previous occupants out, rather violently and claiming the territory as Tytonidae owned. The records were a mess. The spreadsheets were badly done and not kept up to date whilst other information was scattered about on unnamed notepad documents. The one thing they do right was kept the scraps of information in the same file. The hard copies were much harder to piece together. The records were all over the place and that wasn’t counting those entries that still remained scratched hurriedly on a bar napkin, or the back of a receipt or random bits of paper that had been haphazardly thrown in among the pages. Numbers were not Vel’s thing and spreadsheets tended to do her head in but the one thing she was able to glean from the figures that swam before her eyes was that whatever the paladins had going in the seedy underbelly of stag heath was rather profitable.

Black rimmed glasses were pushed up the bridge of her nose as she continued to scribble notes and used the computer's calculator to add the final numbers. She sat back in her chair, surprised by the final figure and that was just for a single month. She was definitely in the wrong business...but it did give her the itchings of an idea. She grinned a little as she tapped the end of the pen against the bottom of the page where she had written out a rather large number. It was definitely a possibility she needed to explore and one she would be discussing with her husband whenever he got back from wherever he went.

She was about to get all up in his head and his business when the screen of her phone started flashing letting her know she had a message. Her brow rose curiously when she saw who had sent it. Charisma. A childe she barely saw, who was exceptionally quiet when she did and who for the most part, seemed rather detached, only popping up to let Velveteen know that she still existed occasionally. She stayed out of trouble and if she wanted to be quiet then Velveteen was quite happy to leave her be to do her own thing. Come to think of it, this was likely the only text she had ever received from her. What little communication there had been to date was usually done face to face or over the family crownet.

Her thumb moved across the screen and she read the message, once...twice and then a third time. A moment of her time was needed. In Velveteen mind that translated loosely to Charisma having gotten herself into trouble of some sort. More than likely something masquerade related. She stood and closed the books for the now and didn’t even bother to respond. Of course she was going to go. Cold or no. She grinned a little. The cold didn’t bother her like Micah got all sorts of cranky during the winter months. Micah. Yes...she scrawled out a quick note to let him know where she was going, fully expecting that he would come once he read of her whereabouts.

It was only a matter of minutes before the Necromancer arrived the top of the stairs that led down into the main lobby area of Pandemonium. Charisma had told her she would be late but when she looked around and couldn’t find her she closed her eyes and concentrated on the woman, summoning her in and out of the cold. A small but genuine smile was offered as she greeted her. “Charisma. It’s a long walk out here. And fae...it is dangerous. You should never leave your tome behind.”