My Little Ventrue Pt. 07 Ch. 04

"Crows are intelligent animals, and I'm sure they're quite capable of feeling worried for you."

"Makes me wonder how many crows, or rats, or other animals are being controlled by Kindred."

Damien considered that with a nod, smiling as he watched Scully peck at Jack's palm. "Auspex has allowed me to notice a few crows and rats, every now and then, under the influence of another Kindred, but it's rare. In today's world, with digital cameras, satellite surveillance, and what have you, animal companions almost seem obsolete." Jack grinned, clucked a few times, and Scully fluffed up her breast feathers before biting at Damien's earlobe. "Ow! Hey!"

"Can't ask a camera to do that."

"Then you're not familiar with the concept of automated turrets."

"Science fiction. Besides, a crow can go anywhere in this city, and can act independently." And Jack had spent at least a few minutes each night with Scully and Mulder, teaching them some of the basics of reconnaissance.

And, he'd spent more than a few minutes with them each night, just hanging out. Crows were so damn smart, and like many birds, enjoyed being a part of a flock. He'd sit around with his two pets, and they'd just enjoy each other's company, with a few caws here and there to fill the silence. It was a good time to enjoy his privacy, and contemplate the curse in his guts he assured everyone he could control, when he wasn't entirely sure about that. And it was a good time to cry. His pets didn't mind. Hell, they understood sorrow, and kept telling him in as many ways a crow could, to 'not give into the black'.

He leaned over, kissed Mulder's neck, and the bird responded by rubbing his head into Jack's cheek, before adjusting his wings.

"So," Damien said, "you're going to try and talk to Black Blood?"

"Yep. I'll probably being seeing him... it, tomorrow night."

"But Beatrice and Jacob will be there. Jennifer too, I imagine."

"Yeah, that'll complicate things."

"And besides, are you sure you want to? We're supposed to be dealing with the hunters. This threat Azamel warned us about—"

"Is undoubtedly taking advantage of all of us being distracted. Can't have that. We have to juggle the two problems."

Damien laughed, and scratched Scully on the back of her neck with a gentle finger, like Jack taught him to. "Heh, just two? Tensions are still building with Garry and the Invictus. That move he pulled with Terra Den couldn't be anymore obvious. He's going to make a push against the First Estate."

"Yeah well, he can only push so hard. If he crosses a line, Antoinette will put him down."

"Easier said than done. Garry knows how to fight, has a small army, and we know he has connections to Jacob."

That earned a groan from Jack. If Jacob went to bat for Garry, that'd be a problem. Antoinette ruled because she was strong, absurdly so, and so was Daniel, but that was really the only reason, on the military might front. She didn't have an army of vampires to control, while Garry basically did. If Jacob and Garry fought Antoinette, it wouldn't be so easy for her to deal with. Hell, it might have been impossible, and that was assuming Black Blood didn't get involved, if it somehow could.

Well, tomorrow would be a good opportunity for Jack to learn some things about Jacob, and maybe Black Blood.

"She..." Sighing, Damien scratched the back of his neck, before offering Scully the same pleasure. "She likes pets."

"She? Sh—oh, Fiona. She does? I can imagine a pet tarantula or something. Maybe a—"

"No, not spiders, or anything like that. She... likes cute things."

Jack raised a brow at that. "Spider monster lady likes cute things? I mean, Fiona's a bundle of sunlight, to the point it's blinding. So I suppose that makes sense. But, it's hard to imagine a Begotten with a pet, especially a cute one."

"Agreed, and she agrees with you. She had no pets of her own. But I saw her apartment, and—" Jack held out his fist, with a small grin to join. His friend rolled his eyes, returned the fist bump, and continued. "And she's really into cute things. A cat, a dog, maybe a rabbit or two, a business, they'd—"

"Business?"

"What?"

"Business?" Jack said.

"Term for a group of ferrets."

"W-What? How do you know that?"

Damien pulled out his phone. "Looked up ferrets on the way over."

Oh god, that was adorable. Jack laughed, and laughed, and laughed. He only got it under control once Scully and Mulder joined him, and the noise became a bit too piercing to keep up.

"I don't suggest getting her a surprise pet. One of the big ways pets end up abandoned."

"I see. I suggested she get a pet on her own, but like you said, she's concerned it won't take to her."

"A legitimate concern. But, I bet she's the kind of girl that could bond with an animal, despite her horror half. I can practically feel myself become a nicer, more social person just by being around her." Fiona was beautiful and desirable, and she knew it, too. But, it didn't inflate her ego. She was an honest person, with others and herself.

Jack saw a bit of himself in her, honestly, if someone put sunshine into a needle and injected it straight into his veins. Of course, that'd turn him into a pile of ash, but still. If Jack had grown up less cynical, maybe he'd have ended up like Fiona. Honest to a fault, except, happy to be so.

Now, Jack was getting better, and better at controlling his tongue, controlling his impulse to speak honestly. Lying was getting easier. It didn't grate on his soul the way it used to, and that, he couldn't blame on the curse.

"Damien, this curse. I... it..." You can tell him, Jack. You can trust him, right? "I was wondering if you'd made any progress finding out about it. I'd love to get it sealed up again." Coward.

"Unfortunately no. I have no contacts outside the city, and within, much of our records were destroyed by Garry, as you know." The man held his chin in his fingers, eyes down, thinking. "I'd hoped to find something in what Maria has secured, but I haven't managed to. Maybe... maybe I could reach outside the city for help?"

"You mean contact Sanctified from elsewhere?"

"Surely Maria must know someone."

"I mean, maybe. After the purge, would anyone outside want to talk to us? Maybe... maybe Elaine, actually."

"Elaine?"

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~~Beatrice~~

Jacob returned after a time, and the boys did as well, all separately. Othello came back with his gorgeous ghoul, no doubt intent on finishing the night with sex, and a lot of it. The man had a habit of fucking her until they were both satisfied, then he'd Kiss her, and fuck her some more. Triss usually made sure to not be here when he did that anymore. Painful memories.

Aaron never joined him, which had surprised Triss until that time they all showered together. It turned out, the guy was totally vanilla. Probably considered the doggy position to be kinky; so cute. Jen had joined Othello on several occasions in the past, but always with a ghoul or three between them, never to fuck each other. And since Julias came into the picture, she'd been unusually faithful. Even now, she refused to get involved with anyone else.

That wasn't fair to her. Vampires had sex drives, but Jennifer was horny down to her soul, from before she was a vampire. Her lust was now eternal, captured in the freeze-frame of the embrace, and Triss felt bad that the girl now felt too attached to Triss and her misery to indulge herself. If the girl had never gotten into bed with her, Jen would probably be fucking up a storm right now, probably right next to Othello. Ghouls, thralls, and two vampires, buried in legs and boobs and juices.

Aaron disappeared into his alcove with his books, Othello disappeared into his with his girl, and Jacob disappeared into the tunnels in the back of the huge cave.

"Jen, I'm going to talk to the boss."

"Don't want me to join?" Jen said, standing up.

"It... it's private. I'll tell you about it later. For now, you can... watch Othello fuck, I guess? You used to do that a lot."

"I suppose." There wasn't any heart or enthusiasm in her words though, and she only feigned interest until Triss had taken a few steps. A look over her shoulder showed her friend was, in fact, heading toward Aaron's alcove.

"Gonna read a book?"

"I just might."

"Can... can you read?"

Jen rolled her eyes, but laughed all the same, and climbed into Aaron's cave in a cave. Which almost felt like turning her back on her sex drive, considering Aaron's seemed awfully low, in comparison.

Maybe she'd get back to who she used to be, maybe she wouldn't. Time healed all wounds, and stupid shit like that. The joy of being a vampire was eternal life as long as Triss was cautious with it. Maybe she'd eventually get over losing Superman, maybe not, but she knew Jen would get over it eventually.

Triss stepped into the tunnel that led into Jacob's alcove, and pulled aside the hanging furs. No point in asking if she could come in; Jacob liked it when she was an asshole. And besides, even if she put on her strongest Cloak of Night, she wouldn't be able to sneak up on Jacob.

The man was sitting on another fur, with some strange book in his hand. No pictures in this one, but she recognized the letters at least: Mandarin or something. She knew fuck all about Asian languages, and she expected the same of Jacob; stupid of her to do that. The man was too damn smart.

"Jacob."

"Beatrice. Come, sit." He nodded toward the fur and the empty space beside him.

She sat with a heavy thump, and leaned against the stone. The fear she used to feel from being so close to an elder as insane as Jacob had faded to a background sensation. It wasn't good to let her guard down, but it wasn't like Jacob didn't already have every key to every lock she had, physically and mentally. If he wanted to, he could destroy her in so many ways, and he'd done nothing but treat her like the spunky Carthian he saw potential in.

And at this point, she didn't care if she was in danger of getting too close to this man. Whatever, as long Angela got what was coming to her.

She smiled for a moment, before it faded. The Prince had asked her to help her with Jacob, connect with the man, see if she could stop him from going down a bad road. Well, fuck that, bad road was the only road.

"I assume the sacrifices are ready?" she said.

"Yep, seven fuckers just dangling there. And before you ask, yes, I made sure to collect fuckers who deserved it."

She leaned in toward him, squinting, and he leaned in toward her, gray bandage covering his eyes. His eyebrows suggested squinting, but who the fuck knew with this bastard. Trying to read his expression was impossible.

"Seven's a lot."

"Lot of disappearances and deaths happen in Devil's Corner all the time. I should know."

After a heavy sigh, she collapsed back again against the wall, head aimed up at the stone above. "You've been setting up hooks in this fucking city for centuries, plans and schemes, so you can do shit like this, haven't you?"

The Joker smiled a big, scary smile, before looking back down at his book. "If that Fiona girl knew who to target better when she first arrived, she wouldn't have appeared on anyone's radar."

"I suppose she should have asked you."

"Yep. I could have set her up with a better, streamlined supply of sacrifices. Though, I understand her appetite is specific? Probably can't be just anyone."

"Yeah."

"And besides, even with millions of people in Dolareido, we can only kill so many before it becomes a problem."

She raised a brow at that. "How... how many people have you considered killing at once?" From the way he'd said what he said, it sounded like he'd run into a sort of barrier, a limit that stopped him from doing what he wanted.

"There are whispers of rituals that require inordinate amounts of blood, and vitae. Some, could only be done by bleeding several Kindred dry. Others, could be done with kine, if they were sacrificed by the dozens."

"Dozens?" Jesus fucking christ. She tried to imagine twenty, thirty, forty kine, dangling from hooks in Jacob's ritual chamber, guts ripped open. The smell alone would have been horrific, let alone the display.

"I try to play nice, to keep Annie happy. Don't need her or that asshole Daniel bleeding down my throat."

Triss winced at that. She knew the old man had ancient relationships with those two, but to hear him describe the sheriff as 'asshole' was a little jarring. A recipe for getting stabbed by the fucker's giant sword, if anyone else said it.

"I... I wanted to talk about... you know."

The man's smile vanished, the electricity of chaos and surprise he always carried with him dissipated, and his shoulders slumped as he closed the book and set it aside. "About Crúac and resurrection."

"Yes. Black Blood said you guys figured out how, but... but... we've spent these two weeks trying to track down Elen instead. It's... fucking killing me, Jacob. We're not talking about it, and—"

"We wanted to give you time, to calm down, before we put this at your feet, Triss." Jacob reached over for one of his books, a large one, black leather bound, and kind of fancy looking.

"I'm calm, I'm fucking calm! I'm... not calm. I know I'm not calm, but I'm not the wreck I was, ok? I can... I can think, use my brain, not be impulsive. Trust me."

Triss had a long history of being impulsive; came with the territory of being a Carthian. She knew it, Jacob knew it, and as far as she knew, Jacob signed on for that impulsiveness when he invited her into his circle. The bastard knew her better than he should have, considering they'd only started hanging out the past year and a bit.

Honestly, if he said she wasn't ready to talk about this, she'd believe him. For all her impulsiveness, and for all her wariness of Jacob's motives, the man had that old-man wisdom, times a thousand. He'd seen too much of the world, too much of everything, for her to just ignore his words. And the fact he'd not yet revived Minerva already crushed the idea that she could do what he did, to revive her lost lover.

But Black Blood said they knew how.

"Crúac isn't simply an act fueled by your blood, Beatrice. It's a display, a call, a summoning, a hand reaching into the oblivion that separates us and things beyond." Jacob opened the book, and flipped to a page depicting orbiting spheres. She didn't recognize the language. "The crazier the shit you're trying to do, the further you're reaching outside of our world, and into others." He set a finger onto one of the spheres toward the center. Earth then, given the context of the conversation.

"These other spheres? That—" She leaned in closer. One of the spheres was pressed up against the sphere Jacob was touching. "Shadow realm, with the spirits and shit?"

"Supposedly."

"Hmm." She tilted her head as she looked at the other spheres. They weren't just sitting around like marbles, but some circled others. Others overlapped, like the one she'd just pointed out. One circle covered it all. "Makes me feel... small."

"This world of blood, bones, cocaine, guns, sex and shit and streets and politics, it's just one small piece of the puzzle. And it's a piece you should be satisfied with. When you go out hunting in Dolareido's world, our world, you get lost in the moment. You feel the breeze on your skin, the darkness covering you as you stalk alleyways, and listen to the hunger in your core. You catch some prey, indulge, and slink back into your hole to hide from the sun. It's a simple life, Triss, and a good one."

"But..."

"But, people like me, like other witches, and dragons like Annie, we know there's more out there. There are entire universes, places that are separated from us, but not unreachable. You can see them sometimes, when you dream; though, most can't dream so deep they can reach such places."

Her dreams during torpor had been of nothing but Julias lately. That didn't feel otherworldly. It felt right at home, stabbing her in the fucking stomach over and over.

"You're saying, if we start doing rituals with Crúac that really reach far..."

"You'll touch on places your primitive brain can't even comprehend. Entities that exist beyond life and death, like the Crone herself, or perhaps Luna, that the Uratha believe in. But, more importantly, the idea that a soul exists, that something real and special is out there, in us and humans and even the fucking dogs and monsters, is truth. And... and hunting for this soul, has been a goal of mine since Minerva's death."

She shivered, and felt her body grow heavy. "An afterlife? One of these realms is an afterlife?"

"Maybe. Neither me or Black Blood have managed to cross that gap. But we're trying."

"Trying? Not... tried?"

He grinned at her, and flipped to another page. Another picture, obviously of a ritual bowl, the type Jacob was so drawn to, with skulls and whatnot around it. Several corpses lay around it, and a witch figure stood over the bowl, shaking a skull.

"Death creates a hole in the barrier that separates realms. I believe the soul goes through it, going back to wherever souls come from, but the hole is... tiny, in a sense. I haven't been able to reach through it, but I've peeked, and... and it was like... taking a sneak peek at God, Beatrice. It was like seeing into something that should never be seen."

"B-But, you said you knew how to revive Minerva!"

"There are Crúac rituals, and other strange magics, that can recreate bodies, reforge them. But they'd just be a hollow shell, something out of a horror film. There are Crúac rituals that can seek a person's essence, Triss, and it can—"

"Can pull them out, through the hole... and place it in the forged body."

The eyeless man sighed, nodding. "There are two problems. The first, is to reach into this world beyond worlds, this greater being, to extract the essence of the dead we're looking for, would require us to enter it, to some degree at least. I can guarantee that that would be instant death, or fracturing for the mind. And..." He looked to her, waiting.

"And... to... make the hole big enough, a lot of people would need to die." The man's nod confirmed. "How many?"

"I wish I knew. The one time I managed to peek through the temporary hole, I'd killed at least fifty at once."

"That's a lot of murder for just a peek at the other side!"

He closed the book slowly, and kept his bandaged gaze upon its cover. "Yes. Yes it is."