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The woman sat at the bar, scrolling through a list of numbers that wouldn't go anywhere. She hadn't payed the bill since sometime last year. It was sort of hard to given she had been in Africa following leads over a guy she never actually got her hands on. Not for lack of trying, it was just he was a lot more powerful and untouchable than the vampire had imagined around this time last year.

To back things up, this time last year, Mari had met a crew of strangers-literally, in hopes of taking one of their boats all the way to Africa. Only, one of their party members hadn't shown up and the idea of taking a boat to Africa-a boat like Rudy's was virtually impossible for so many reasons. Not wanting to wait around for everyone to get their **** together, Mari decided she was going to take a plane to her destination and buy the things she needed there. All she packed was a small bag of clothing, along with essentials for travel, and a large sum of cash. And since most of Africa was hard pressed for money, it seemed to make the world go round and round.

At first.

Mari had little issues getting guns and smaller items like hand grenades from less than reputable people. She told herself at first that it was a necessary evil to take care of one of the biggest evils in her life ever. And probably of thousands of other's lives. But, after hearing a few rumors and scenarios about this guy, or that army, Marjani started to doubt her claim of 'doing the world a favor.' And not only that, but she was running out of cash quicker than she was making it, because it seemed in some parts of Africa, no one made anything unless you took it by force or other means.

Eventually, all her leads on the warlord panned out into nothing, except this one time when Mari caught sight of the ******, who lived a life as a coward, surrounded by military he handcrafted throughout the last two and a half decades. She was certain she could kill a handful of his men, but there would be another handful, and another, and another after that. Mari wasn't that fierce of a warrior, not like her Nishaa.

She had written Nishaa a letter every day at first, and then a couple times a week. Then, once a week, until it became once a month. Not because she didn't miss the woman, or loved her any less, but because finding a way to mail the letters successfully was an issue. And she didn't want any of her mail to get into the hands of the wrong person, which seemed to be a thing. Either mail was never mailed, or some warlord was stealing it by various means to read to see what people might be planning, or saying about them. Most of Africa was corrupt, which meant the deck of cards had always been in the man's favor.

Mari put her less than half smoked cigarette out in the decorative, but cheap ashtray on the bar, then looked at the drink she hadn't touched for obvious reasons. Mari tossed the phone down on the bar counter, then balled her right fist tightly, before she slammed it down on the phone's screen. It had been a year, things had changed. It would be naive to believe that they didn't, or wouldn't. She didn't love Nishaa any less than the day she left for Africa, but she couldn't and wouldn't expect the woman to feel the same. Or those that had been part of both of their lives.

"Thanks." Mari said as she pulled out a small wad of cash-what she had left over, and tossed two bills on the counter. "Know where I can get a cheap room?" She asked the woman behind the bar, as Mari put the money back in her dark green pants pocket. "Not around here. Might want to try around the Newborough area, or coastside." The woman suggested with a smile as she grabbed the untouched drink and dumped it down the sink. "Thanks, baby." Mari said with a smile, nothing really more meant to her words than that of an appreciative person who just received a good tip. With one last glance around the bar, Mari headed out of the bar and in the direction of the first area mentioned.

There had been a split moment where she thought the alarm would trip, her hands steady as she carefully moved her fingertips against the wires. Had they rearranged the system? The thoughts went through the woman's head with each second that passed. Source codes were what she was after, she'd run out of her stash of them not too long ago but there was never enough when it came to making scripts. The knife in her pocket was removed and tugged at the wire, Every turning her face away from it momentarily before the light turned green. Success. The brunette tucked the blade back to its hiding place on her belt, the door sliding open as she collected what she was seeking. Dropping the source code into her bag, she stepped backwards and turned. Someone was whistling down the hall of the office building, a steady, smooth sound that had the woman giving a light roll of her eyes as she realized it was nothing more than a rent-a-cop.

Her hands lifted to give a tug at the beanie on the top of her brown hair before she reached into her pocket to retrieve a noisemaker, the gadget loosely held as she began to set it up. "One." She thought, counting as she set it up to pitch the gadget down the hall, "Two." Their steps were heard echoing against the walls, the vampiress counting down as she tried to determine their distance. When she got to five, Every threw it down the hall before taking off in a steady jog down the opposite way. There was an open window that she saw not too far away, likely left open by someone in the cleaning crew. All she would have to do is get there and jump out, it wasn't too difficult. The drop wouldn't hurt her, if it did, she'd heal it instantly. Pulling the strings on her bag tighter so that the contents wouldn't fall out, Every moved closer and listened carefully.

The whistling had stopped, but there were voices now. It took her only a second to push the window open a smidge more before, "STOP" was heard behind her. A glimpse of light brushed her hand and she hissed out in frustration - she'd thought she had more time. An alarm went off, shrill and loud. As footsteps began to fall heavily, she dropped out of the window. She landed with a crunch against the ice under foot. Above her, she saw flashlights and the brunette smirked. Her truck was parked not too far away at her sire's garage, but instead, she headed off on foot. The shadow summoning the shadows around her as soon as she stepped onto the cement, disappearing from view just before one of the guards looked out to see if they could spot her. A scowl playled across the man's features - his palms hitting the wooden frame with a scowl.

Halfway down the block, she removed her shadows, startling a dog that had just lifted it's leg beside a fire hydrant. It yelped and took off down the street, Every chuckling quietly with every step that she took. She removed her phone from her pocket, thumbing through the text messages in place. Reanna, Kirill. They hadn't been home long, but it was good to have them back. A brief smile crossed her lips. There was the typical brief conversation of planning about when her time with Grace was from Enver, to which she marked the next date on her calendar so she wouldn't forget. "I still need to figure out what to get her for Christmas." She muttered as she noticed how close the date was to the holiday before tapping the screen once more.

Her script wasn't finished yet, the thought about what to get her niece for Christmas still lingering in her mind as she went on her way towards the nearest transit.

Newborough was a lot further than Marjani remembered.

Not that she was tired, but using the train would have been a lot more efficient. Lesson learned. She had a car, actually, she had a mini tank, more or less-one that almost matched the one she gave Nishaa one year, but that had been left in a place that she wasn't quite ready to go back to.

There were people she wasn't ready to face, but knew she would have to at some point. When her excuses didn't sound so...pathetic? So wrong? They probably would never sound anything other than that, but what was one more night? Or two?

As she walked, to kill both time and move down memory lane, Nishaa scrolled through the pictures on her phone. There were some from when she was still human-of her mom and dad. Her friends. But the ones she was looking for were the few she had of Nishaa. mostly stolen ones of Nishaa doing something, completely oblivious Marjani was even taking her picture. "Pathetic." Marjani said with a shake of her head, before she pocketed the phone in her front pocket. Anything that happened between the two of them once Mari made her presence known wasn't anyone's fault but her own.

"That's new." Mari said as her eyes drifted up over a building that looked like the mall. The sign indicated that it was in fact a mall, and Mari shrugged her shoulders. Lots changed in a year. Things would have to be rebuilt, repaired or she would have to figure things out on her own. All of which the woman was capable of, but was postponing on finding out which direction she would have to go in. Maybe all three, depending on the individuals.

==========AUTOMATED RANDOM EVENTS SYSTEM==========

Marjani catches the distinct scent of smoke in the air.

Home. It was odd how the four letter word meant something different now than it had in the previous years. Home had once been the ocean waves on the sandy shores of California when she had gotten away from the **** she'd deal with at home. Her mother's drinking, her stepfather's words of discouragement and insult. She could still smell her little sister's body spray, hear the laughter that belonged to her brothers to that day. Sometimes it was welcome, other times, a nuisance and reminder of the price that sat on her head. Five years ago, it had been a family named Volkov - the beginning of Andras with Lia and Micah. When the line was still small and she only had Nishaa and Zoe outside of Tytonidae. There had been the Daughters of Destiny some time after that with Superbia and Prudence, two women whom she'd respected before things fell to pieces. Bia had disappeared without a trace, the women went their own way and Every returned back to her normal ways of habit.

Three years ago, it had been the garage that belonged to her sire. As Every passed it, she wondered if the monkey wrench that she'd thrown at Darryl Hines still remained as well as the blood that had pooled from the man's head. She didn't remember if Micah had cleaned it up, or if she had even told him about it. The car she had been working on, an old challenger, however, hadn't been taken from within. She supposed one day she should take it to Malevolent, but it wouldn't happen that evening. The definition of each home had changed over the years, yet the meaning in itself meant the same until something happened. It was once a place where she had felt safe and wanted, before it was altered either by force or by choice. These days, home was either in her distant cabin away from the city, or up on a mountain where she could keep an eye on things. She still had The Eyrie, but with how quiet things had become, she didn't return there often.

And despite all the change for a woman who had always hated when something was altered, it was alright. She had changed herself, too, hadn't she? Never in her past did she believe she'd be alright with her cousin. She had never wanted children, but she'd become quite fond of Grace. There wouldn't be the consideration of aligning herself with humans to take down bigger threats, nor even going to a public ball in the upcoming weeks. Yes, change was alright. At times.

With every step that brought her closer to the transit, the shadow wasn't too surprised to see few people on the streets. A man that too close had the woman's fingertips brushing into his pockets as he bumped into her, the woman purposely doing the same, as too entranced with the cellphone in his hand to realize it was his fault. It was second nature, the apology that fell from her lips as his eyes widened and he told her to look where she was going. Her reply was lost, however, the moment she looked over his shoulder and she frowned. It couldn't be Marjani, could it? Her hand moved to press against the man's shoulder, a silent motion to get out of her way as she began making her way towards the other woman.

Sure enough, it was. She was almost positive of it.