Faline

They're just finishing it up when we get there thankfully. Done much the same way as Kell's room, some other kind of flower scents the room from a small candle.

Elena gets back in, situated, given her sleeping aid, which she looks at as if it were candy, and settled. Don't think she realizes it was just a sleeping pill, but I'll keep it to myself. I'm able to get her to get a few crackers down, but then she starts getting moody again, demanding her fix.

"What you took will kick in in any second then you'll feel much better."

Better than a placebo. She calms a little, eyeing the IV needle intently. Explaining the restraints to her, she isn't very cooperative, so I sit back and wait.

I keep her talking, asking what her favorite foods are and making plans with her on creating a big dinner of all her favorites. She drifts off with a smile, which is the best thing I could ask for. When fully under, I tie her down securely.

Trisha changes it up to make it so the circulation can't be cut off again in her hands. We debate on tying her legs down, but I don't think it necessary.

"Keep her under as long as possible."

Healer nods, then the door gets shut and closes the girl inside once more. We talk about the blood I'd found and I'm told it's normal. I'm not convinced, but then again, I don't know squat about this situation where she's gone through it many times with many different people.

Looking at Tasha's door, I hope we have some good news for her. Tightening my towel around me, the door is opened. The room doesn't smell that bad, just musty and dry.

Light brown eyes blink at me from the corner, relief filling her face as she stands. I give her a smile, glad that someone can escape these rooms.

"Hey girly, wanna come out?"

She walks towards me in answer, so I step back to let her out. Still in the towel she'd been put in before, it's wrapped tight.

"I'll get you to the bathroom, then we can get you to the kitchen for some food."

Think right now she's more focused on being out of that room. I understand perfectly how she feels. Looking to Leidolf and Thessily curiously, I recall her saying before that she knows about the supernaturals, so I smile and re-introduce her.

"Might not recognize them, but the wolf is Leidolf and the clouded leopard is Thessily. They were at that house as well. Right now I'm letting her be what she wants to be till she feels safe to be her again. She's retreated far into her mind, but I know I can bring her out."

I look at the wolf and put my hands on my hips.

"Him I'm not sure what to do with so I drag 'im around. Comes in handy to scare off the unsavory."

Smiling at him, I bury my hand in his scruff. He snorts at me but doesn't move away. Motioning everyone forward, we trek once more to the bathrooms. Can get there in my sleep by now. Trisha follows her into the toilets while I hang back. She'd had some issues last time, so I leave them to it.

Heading back out, I cross the hall and slide down it to sit. With an animal on either side of me emanating heat, I'm all toasty. Recalling the Vamp from earlier, I feel I need to warn them both. Lowering my voice, I talk to them specifically.

"Alright guys, think I need to come clean here. By being near me, you're both in danger. Not from me, but from people like that Vamp from earlier. There's a whole faction that wants me dead, over nothing but a prophecy some old coot wrote who knows how many hundreds of years ago."

I furrow my brows. If it hadn't been written, would things have happened the way they did?

"Problem is, I'm apparently doing exactly as it 'foretold'; I'm changing things. Don't see the issue, since I'm just making changes here. Not like I'm changing everything everywhere. They don't seem to care though, and want me very dead."

Lady pops into my head and I purse my lips.

"Think the only reasons no one has moved on me quite yet is because of Lady, my sister, and those who are always around me. You animals come in real handy when keeping the big bad Vamps at bay, but I don't want any of you to get hurt. If some squabble comes up, don't try to help me."

Leidolf's ears go back, so I shake my head.

"Do you both remember how to get to the Mistress's rooms? The one she met all of you in?"

The cat crouched next to me has been watching me, and nods when I ask. The wolf has to be stubborn but does eventually incline his head when I look pointedly at him.

"If something happens, I want you both to run to that room. Avina might not be there, but that doesn't mean the Lady isn't. Get her attention any way you can. If no one's there, get to the kitchen. Someone there might know where she is."

Concentrating on the floor in front of me, I start thinking aloud.

"I can handle my own if the fight is relatively fair but I don't see many of them really going for fair. If nothing else I can run as well, but I don't want to have to worry about you guys. If that doesn't work..."

Really hope it never comes to that, but it would be my last option. Wouldn't save me, but I could let her know who the one is that killed me.

"If that doesn't work I can always contact my sister and let her know what's happened. If anything happens to me, I want you guys to go with her. Especially you, Thessily. If that option is what happens, she will probably storm the place much like she did last time."

I can't help but smile at that, the very thought giving a little comfort.

"I will let Lady know my wishes the next time I see her, but under no circumstance trust any Vampire here, even the Mistress. Trust me, I know how that sounds, but it's how things work here. Those wolves we met earlier, they seem alright, and Orion you can trust, but for the undead life of me, I can think of no other Vampire here that you can trust."

I snort. Keep seeming to forget I myself am undead. I know I am, but I don't really think of myself as one. Of course, I've only been one for less than a month, so that could be part of it.

"You'll know my sister when you see her. She's a temper to rival any here, but just like me, she's marked by a prophecy. I wasn't lying earlier when I said she's a Werewolf, but she's some kind of important one, so she has a lot of support from other animals around her."

Christ, how many are in my home now? Asher may have left, but I keep catching glimpses of new ones. Two white wolves, a fox, jumbled images of many other wolves, and a touch and go of a couple of cats.

She's been trying to keep me out, but there will always be slippage I think. We may not have been born with the ability to crawl into each other’s heads, but with the way we are now, it's easier to do so than not to. Even trying to keep me out though, if I had need, I'd be able to reach her.

I get jostled from my thoughts when the women come out of the bathroom. Blinking rapidly, I look to the animals on either side of me. Not sure how long I'd been zoned out, but would appear to have been long enough for Tasha to wash up and get a new towel.

Scowling at it, I speak up. Voice is grumpy, but I can't help it.

"I can't wait for the new 'uniforms' to get here. As long as she went for the things I pointed out and not some other weird or stupid items. The guys might get a little screwed, but that's not my fault - have to blame clothing makers and designers. More stuff needs to be made for them."

Stuff that's revealing but basically covering everything. Yeah... The guys are screwed. Always easier to find something for girls than it is guys. Doesn't seem fair. Maybe I can commission Kie for new outfits and have those sent somewhere to be made. Somewhere not China. Sorry guys, but can't wait that long and I don't believe in slave labor.

I burst out laughing. Slave labor. Right. Because that's not what's going on here. Shaking my head, my legs are pulled in and lifting me to my feet. The others are giving me weird looks, so I just smile at them.

"Sorry, silly thoughts is all. Not sure how long you want to stay in a towel Tasha, but the only other alternatives are what you see many of the others wearing till the new stuff comes in. I have the same thing Trisha is wearing set aside for Thessily when she's human, I'm sure I can arrange it for you as well. Otherwise, it's nipple clamps."

She blinks at me a few times as if waiting for me to say 'just kidding'. When I keep looking at her, she looks at the healer, Danica, and the animals.

"Uh, I'll take what they're wearing."

I nod, situating my own towel and re-tightening it.

"After you get some food into you, we can get another to take you around and show you the place. I've planned for Avina, and she can take you by the Mistress's office so you can talk to her like the others did. She's the big boss around here but I am the one overseeing all the submissives."

We talk as we walk, going for the kitchen. Have a whole list of things I need to do so I'm going to have another long day. One perk here though, the teas for Trisha should have come in, just like the booze for the Vamps. Remind me again why I'm doing that for them?

"You look young to be overlookin’ so many others in a place like this."

I give her a sarcastic smile.

"You know I'm a Vampire right? I could be a lot older than I look."

She looks at me as we walk, eyes roaming over me. When her circuit gets back to my face, I'm grinning at her.

"Wish that's how it was, but yeah, I'm not much older than you are. I have many friends here, I called for the job so I can hopefully make their lives better and maybe even easier."

The very dark female nods, looking over things we go by. Her head is shaved, but I can't tell if it's a style she's wanting or if they did it to her. Not like I can do anything about it, so I don't ask.

Half a foot taller and meatier but still very pretty. Her dark African skin really makes her light brown eyes pop out, in a good way. A few new bandages cover parts of her, but it can't hide her.

"You said you'd left home around fourteen, right? What did you do about school?"

She shrugs, not looking very interested.

"I kept goin’ for a while, but it wasn't like I could enroll the next year without a parent, so I stopped goin’."

I glance over to Trisha who nods. May not be a school here but there sure is a lot of books. I know what she's going to be doing with her free time.

Can technically 'order' her to do so, but what many people don't realize about teenagers, is that they're opposite-orientated. Tell them to do something and they don't want to - tell them not to do something, and they will.

When it comes to schooling, if it isn't made interesting, you can't force someone to learn it. They have to want to know what's being told for them to retain it. Monotone teachers aren't what's needed these days. You need upbeat people who engage others, who make people smile. Need someone who really wants to teach and not just get a paycheck. Seems that breed is becoming more and more rare.

Hiding away in this place, you can forget just what all's happening out in the world...lose touch with it. Think that's the problem with many of the Vamps here and they like it that way.

Well, too bad.

Don't have to go out and get a job or whatever but do need to acknowledge that the world has continued while they’ve stood still. That it in itself has changed on its own and isn’t my doing. Don't think I'd ever want to be the cause for some global change, that's just too much. If that's what they're afraid of, then they can put their minds at ease because there's no way I'm touching on any of that.