Blood Bonds Pt. 01

"Of course, I always call Jeeves on my way in and have him prepare the mansion," Nel said sarcastically.

"August and I own a large portion of a bunch of major cities all over the world," Taylor said off-handedly. "We usually have someone on call just in case one of us or a friend wants to crash. Ask me before you take a trip; I'll get you first class accommodations for free."

Sarah peered out the darkened windows as they came into the beautiful, tree-lined streets of Georgetown, sliding past the night-darkened brownstones. After a few turns in the labyrinth streets, they pulled up at a gorgeous dark gray townhouse. A garage door on the lower part of the house slid open. She pulled in, closing it behind them.

"You cannot believe the red tape my lawyers had to go through to get that installed last year," she said as she hopped out, mentally locking the car after them.

They followed her up the stairs and into a beautiful kitchen with ebony hardwood flooring and cabinets, lightened by stainless steel appliances and sky blue back splashes. A tea kettle whistled just as Kevin closed the door after himself.

"Let me get that," Taylor said, making for the stove. She pointed to a doorway to their left. "Go make yourselves at home in the living room. Right through there. I'll bring tea right out."

They walked into a room similar in theme to the kitchen, only the main color was cream against the black floor. Sarah stopped at a small table, looking over the pictures there.

Talera stood on tiptoe and kissed August on the cheek, both of them grinning at the camera. A shot of a gorgeous blonde man. Another of a man with long silver hair and piercing silver eyes. A tall, solidly built man with a mane of wavy black hair leaning against a giant tree. A black and white shot of a young woman, maybe half Korean, with long black hair and a stunning face, smiling earnestly at the camera. Sarah picked the last one up, looking into those dark eyes that shone with passion, obviously for whoever held the camera.

"That's Alessandra, or Lessa, as everyone calls her," Taylor said as she walked past bearing a tray of hot tea and snacks. "She's another Chosen, Italian and an art student. She lives in Florence most of the time."

"She's lovely," Sarah commented. "Who's holding the camera?"

"Me. She's my girlfriend. Informally, anyway."

"Oh, you weren't kidding earlier," Sarah, said, clearing her throat as she set the frame down and settled next to Kevin on an overstuffed cream-colored leather couch. Taylor set the tray on the table in front of them and sank back into an oversized matching chair next to them, holding a cup and curling her legs beneath her. Ana and Nel perched on the loveseat opposite Kevin and Sarah.

She regarded all of them for a moment in silence, sipping her tea, then cracked a wry smile.

"I've never done this before," she admitted. "Never thought I'd be in a position where I'd have to explain myself. I wondered how long this 'reacquaint myself with the mortal world' crap was going to last."

"Hey," Kevin said, looking hurt.

"Sorry," she said, face softening. "Well, let me see what you've seen so I can defend myself if that's necessary."

She leaned over and, setting her drink down, pulled open a drawer on her side of the table, pulling out a small wireless keyboard. She picked up a large remote and flicked on the giant plasma TV that had been doubling as a painting on the wall.

"Did you actually use Google?" she asked as an internet homepage popped up on the screen. She curled up in the chair again, balancing the keyboard on her leg.

"Yeah, your full name for the query," Kevin said, glancing at Ana for confirmation, getting a mute nod in response.

Taylor sighed and executed the search as they had, the same pages scrolling onto the screen.

"This all started a couple of years ago when it first came out that Ash-August had taken a Chosen," she said as she flipped through several pages, eyes passively roving over the images and information. "At first, my policy was that no information was to be provided about me whatsoever. Well, that worked for about three months. Then the Lower Houses started supplying information of their own to these nutjobs that stalk us. I never really read any of it, but it finally just got out of hand. I mean, this shit probably seems freaky enough as it is now and it's pretty accurate, so you can imagine. Or not. Anyway. I finally consented to let Council give out their little press releases just so I wouldn't have Hunters following me every moment of the day. Because that would have just been annoying, and I hate to screw with people's minds if I don't have to-Oh, that's a nice shot. I never look at this stuff, I guess I need to more often."

She stopped at the first image they'd seen, with the scrolls added to her face.

"This site is run by a guy named Nigel Penwell in London. He stalked me for ages before we politely asked him to leave me be. I can't imagine how he caught this. I know Council would never give him a shot with me like that, thank god it's only a head shot... maybe he got it in Volition? August always chides me for not controlling myself when I drink too much..."

She trailed off, squinting at the background of the image intently.

"Why did he retouch it like that?" Sarah asked, indicating the scrolls and color of her eyes and lips.

"Oh, it's not retouched at all," Taylor said cryptically, then scrolled down to read the information, shaking her head. "Ooo-kay, well this seems pretty representative of the rest- oh, 'The Lady Talera.' You of course may address me as My Lady, Mistress, Your worship. Or you may use my official title, Pan'ah."

She smiled and shook her head. "I'm kidding. I do respond to Talera. Honestly, I'm used to being called that now. Took me a few days to get used to hearing Taylor again."

"You wanna start from the beginning?" Sarah asked, bewildered. "This may make sense to him, but I'm lost. And starting to get worried."

"Sorry," Taylor said, face sobering. "Alright, well...two years ago I was just your normal little suburban teenager living outside Atlanta. I had a nice normal family- parents and a seven year old brother. My mom was a doctor, dad was an architect. We all lived happily in a moderately sized house in a nice, normal neighborhood. One night, when I was sixteen, I was over at a friend's sleep-over and I got the most horrible feeling. I called home around two in the morning, only to have a policeman answer the phone instead of my mom or dad."

She paused very briefly. Her face had gone blank, words almost a monotone as she created a tightly controlled barrier to hold back emotion.

"The officer told me to come home immediately- I was only a few houses down. When I got there, they sat me down on the front porch and told me my family had been murdered. A robbery apparently. The men responsible had committed similar crimes, so the police had a pretty good bead on who they were. Don't worry, they'd catch them. Thanks, we'll take out the bodies and the bloody rug. We'll send Children's Services over to place you in a home somewhere. I don't really have any family. My grandparents all died years ago. Dad was an only child. Mom has one asshole sister that I never bothered to call and tell. So there I was, alone in a dark house, my family's blood on the hardwood floor.

"Something in me just snapped. I don't know how else to say it. I was sitting on the steps, staring at the blood pools and uhm..." she paused, shaking her head as if searching for words. "There was this pounding in my head. Voices rushing in from everywhere. It felt like I was being torn apart, literally. I don't know how long that went on, but suddenly it stopped, and I wasn't the same. I went outside and I could hear the thoughts of everyone on the block. Knew where every insect, dog, cat, bird, whatever was and what it was doing. Could feel the trees growing. Knew it was going to rain in an hour or so. As it turns out, and I didn't find this out until later, I'm an Elemental Witch, and as you've read, the most powerful in several millennia-since August actually. It means I have this connection to the basic energy in our universe, and as it happens, planes beyond ours. And, lucky me, it takes a massive trauma usually to force the abilities to manifest."

"I was still in shock and that didn't help, but it put me in some sort of automatic mode. I went back inside, called a lawyer and two days later, was declared an emancipated minor. I was on my own completely. The funerals, I kept simple. The lawyer, who I still have now, arranged everything with my inheritance, which was pretty good, and the life insurance and two weeks after their deaths, I was living in another house on the other side of the city. Couldn't stand to be in my old one. A detective came to see me when I first moved. He had 'good news and bad news.' At least he had the decency not to ask me which I wanted first. They'd caught the men that killed my family. However, there was a problem with the warrant and the judge had thrown out all evidence and therefore they were free to go. I remained calm. My mind just went blank. I escorted him out. That night I broke down for the first time. And that feeling of being lost, connected, then torn apart returned, with a vengeance. My powers didn't manifest, they exploded. And to make matters worse, in the midst of all this, I put out a call to- little did I know- all corners of who knows how many planes. Something, someone, give me the power to make those bastards pay for what they did. My own soul, my own body mean nothing to me.

"Welllll, then I learned the lesson that everyone does at some point: Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. I have no way of describing it accurately, but the closest I can come is this: I was standing in the living room and I looked up, sensing something coming at me with horrible momentum. It knocked me clear across the room. All I saw was light, felt pain, knew...other places. Then only power. We merged. And then I was me, but more than me. The websites say I'm demon-possessed, but that's not right. The spirit that came into me was dark, yes. But darkness doesn't always mean evil. And even though it has something of a will, it's not conscious as we understand it. It's more like an augmentation of the darker impulses that I would have anyway."

She trailed off momentarily, eyes distant, taking a sip of her tea absently, then shook herself and began again.

"Anyway, that... merger sent a shockwave out over the, uh...psychic net, as it were, and as luck would have it, August just happened to be in Atlanta that evening. So being the good Ancient that he is, he came to investigate. It was not a very romantic first meeting. I'd been knocked completely unconscious and was understandably freaked out when I came to. So when I wake up and there's this being who is very obviously not human bending over me, I reacted without thinking and sent him crashing right through the french doors and across the lawn. It's a good thing I didn't have neighbors. So then he's pissed, comes flashing back inside and knocks me right back out again. August is an Elemental too, so he knew what he was doing. Well, I wake up again, only this time, I'm in my bed and he's done something to bind my power. And I'm enraged. He neutralized my abilities as an Elemental, at least momentarily, but he couldn't stop the Spirit which is now a part of me though, so we're at a stalemate.

We had a very long conversation that night. And by the next morning, I'm a Chosen, I finally understand what the fuck is going on with me and everything that's going on now was set into motion. That's the back story. So, let's see what I've covered in terms of websites..."

She concentrated on the screen for a minute. Sarah's mind was at once whirling with questions and completely blank. This was utterly outside her range of experience. An hour ago, she didn't really even believe vampires existed, though they were all over the news, much less demons, parallel planes of existence and super-beings. Kevin, conversely, looked positively giddy, staring raptly at Taylor. Ana had a neutral expression on her face. Nel looked utterly befuddled and a little frightened.

"Okay, we've covered the demon part... the Elemental Witch part...Pan'ah- that's difficult. Vampyr is really hard to translate, because so much of the language is non-verbal. Uh, Pan'ah is a title, sort of. August is Pan'Soeh, which more or less translates to, uh, Inheritor of the Spirit. Pan'ah is like Inheritor of the Goddess or the Ancient Ones. Something like that. It doesn't come across neatly in English. Hmmm, oh, the Antichrist thing. I'm enough of a psychopath that I actually think that's really funny. That stems from uh, the physical changes that I underwent that night."

"What do you mean?" Ana asked, leaning forward. Taylor glanced briefly at Kevin before she answered, shrugging.

"This...isn't really how I look anymore. Deep down anyway. It took me a few months to get the control I have now so I can keep this appearance constant. But, well, I do look like Satan-incarnate, apparently, if I don't."

She scrolled back up to the image at the top of the page.

"I'd still like to know how they got this shot- but you can see a just a little here with the eyes and the markings. I call this half-shift because, well, this is about half the changes. So the House has seen me all...whatever, rumors spread, people talk, combine that with the whole dark Spirit thing and you get instant notoriety without even doing anything. Before long Christian nutjobs have heard about it and lo, I am the ultimate evil... That's about it."

"'That's it?'" Sarah repeated incredulously. "That's nowhere near it. When do you... Change or whatever you call it? How- Why- I can't even make coherent questions..."

"August and I agreed that he would Turn me on my twenty-first birthday, so I've got some time. Since you guys haven't bolted yet, I guess I'll mention some other oddities so you won't be surprised later. I don't sleep very much so I'm up at all hours of the day. If you do catch me sleeping, don't touch me because you might just see my dreams and that's not a good experience. I'm basically a succubus, so don't touch me, because I can't turn that power off as yet. I'm working on it, but honestly it's not going well. In that vein, I'm not overly modest, so if nudity really, really bothers you, you better tell me now. What else? I'm good with martial arts and weapons. I know, I can't even count how many, languages, so if you hear me break into, like, Mandarin, don't be all shocked, August, Andrenin- another Vampyr- and I have this private tongue that combines about twenty languages in no particular pattern that drives people nuts, so get used to hearing that if I'm on the phone or talking to myself or something. I can be very moody, so I apologize in advance. I have trouble controlling my emotions sometimes, so if I come across as flat now and then, just let it go, please. As an Elemental, I'm telepathic. I generally don't think it's any of my business to be in someone else's head, but occasionally I catch bursts of emotion and strong thoughts even though I'm usually closed off. If you need to get in touch with me and can't call me on the phone, picture me in your head and call me silently and there's a good chance I'll respond. Uh, I have periodically have functions I have to attend, so I vanish sometimes. I'll try to give a warning if you guys want but... we'll see if you want one...I have more money than I know what to do with and I like buying people presents so, if I like, buy you a car or dinner or something, just accept it and don't give me a lot of shit about it..."

She stood up, fingers running quickly over the buttons of her shirt. She turned and pushed it off her shoulders, letting it fall down , though she held it over her breasts. Kevin shot forward in his seat eyes glued to her bare back. It was finely muscled, graceful, and flawless, but that wasn't what caught his attention. A giant black and red tattoo, similar to the sigil on her car seats, but not exactly the same, covered most of her back. The phoenix was etched in jet black with that intricate script overlaying it in blood red. The girls looked at it with renewed interest, understanding why she was reluctant to display it the first night they met.

"A Mark," Kevin breathed, standing and coming over to her, bending so it was at eye level. "I've never seen one like this. May I- may I touch you?"

She looked back over her shoulder at him, then nodded. Tentatively, he reached out and lightly ran his fingers over the symbol, gasping slightly when their flesh met, feeling the surge of power from her into his own body. The Mark seemed to throb under his touch, pulsing with her power and the presence of her Sire in the Spell. He felt lust begin to burn hotly in the pit of his stomach.

"What the hell kind of tattoo is that?" Sarah asked, looking at the two of them in bewilderment.

Kevin glared at her. "It's not a tattoo. It's a living Spell placed there by her Sire. It's the Mark of the Chosen. Only her House does these, and from what I hear, they haven't used them for centuries. It's been too dangerous for the Chosen to be so easily identifiable."

"That's right," Taylor confirmed. "Some of the Chosen these days are opting to have a small version. Lessa has one on her wrist. I can defend myself against any Hunter or zealot, though, and being the only the Third in the Ruling Line, I wanted to honor tradition."

"It's not a tattoo?" Sarah repeated, shaking her head. "No, it just looks like a tattoo," Taylor said, pulling her shirt back on and sitting again as she was before. " It's a display of the power of my House and my Sire. Sort of like a brand when you get right down to it. It tells who owns me and what someone is up against should they decide to fuck with me."

Kevin bowed lightly to Taylor, then returned to his seat, holding the hand he'd touched her with like it was treasure.

"The novelty will wear off before long, honey," Taylor said to him, grinning.

"I can feel it," Kevin said, blushing, but still rubbing his fingers. " The power just radiates from your skin. And the Mark, like, beats on its own..."

The silver-haired girl smiled darkly, then her eyes went distant, tapping her finger on the side of the keyboard absently.

"I can't think of anything else. I've probably over-shared, but ..." she finished with a shrug.

Kevin just sat there with an almost goofy smile on his face. Sarah looked between the two of them.

"You do know how this all sounds to the rest of us, right?" she asked after a minute.

"Yeah, I think so," Taylor said with a lopsided grin. "It seems completely normal to me, even though I know it's bizarre. You can see why I haven't said anything to anyone. I know it's... a lot to take in. So, I mean, give me some feedback here. Do I need to take you home, call the cops, change forms, what- Kev, I know how you feel without even asking."

Sarah took a deep breath, leaning forward to pick up her tea and sipping it absently.

"You think I'm nuts?" Taylor asked after a minute.

"Can you read my mind?" Sarah asked, face going blank.

"No," Taylor smiled. "I can read your face. I'd think I was nuts if I were you."

"I just- this is outside anything I've ever- I don't know-"

"You need proof?" Taylor asked. "Most people usually do, then they're horrified, but they believe it anyway."

"I think-yeah. Just- read my mind or something," Sarah stuttered.

Well, it's not so much reading as connecting.

Sarah dropped the cup, eyes flying around the room. Taylor's voice was distinctly inside her head, her lips not moving at all. Ana and Nel, apparently getting the same treatment, gaped at her, eyes like quarters.