My Little Ventrue Pt. 08 Ch. 11

Matt and Art had teased her unendingly when they got her home, partly because they were drunk, and partly because they saw that Tash had found the situation highly arousing. She'd gotten a bit angry at them, and they apologized. As they fucked her. Damn boys!

But, seeing how comfortable everyone was with each other, had put Natasha into a certain mindset again. She was excited to make her next movie, something really naughty and dark. Maybe too dark? It was just a movie though, a fantasy, not real!

She stopped, blinked, and shook her head harder this time. Stop. Thinking. About. Sex. Ugh, Jessy's corruption was complete, so complete Natasha was thinking about sex while on a dangerous mission, and in a church!

It wasn't just that. What she was doing now could potentially put her at odds with the Uratha, and that meant she might lose Matthew and Arturo. She was thinking about them, because if she made a mistake, they could be out of her life. Bad, because she'd lose out on the best sex she'd ever had, and was getting frequently. Worse, she'd lose out on an amazing relationship with two amazing men, men who cared about her, men who... might love her.

Maybe she should have invited them? It'd have been really mean to put them between her and their boss like that. Help her, make Avery angry. Pick Avery over her, and hurt her feelings. So she'd made the choice for them, which was kinda mean, too. But this was her choice, and she didn't want them put between a rock and a hard place.

Sighing, she stepped toward the organ in the back, and then around back where the curving wall held a door. Then she went down, and down, into Maria's den. The woman had spent decades carving herself out a long hall in the rock, and Natasha shivered as she looked at the beautiful stone. Tiny lights lit the way, but it didn't take long before she came to the first barrier of bars.

Bars wouldn't stop a determined Kindred or paranormal, but they would stop a kine, at least momentarily. A moment was all that was needed for a quartet of highly trained ghouls armed with sniper rifles, explosives, and flamethrowers to take down anyone trying to break their way in while Maria slept, and that included almost any paranormal who was up during the day. At night, Maria had only one ghoul, a disfigured, jolly man with a hunch back, who happily kept Maria company, and her den clean. At night, Maria felt more than comfortable defending herself against any threat.

So, being the brilliant mastermind Natasha was, she knocked on the bars. "Hello?"

After a few long moments, Maria's ghoul sauntered up to the gate. It took him a while, being that he had to open the other gates in the way too, but he arrived eventually, and smiled at her.

"Natasha."

"Hello Matthias. How are you?"

The man smiled again, mouth a little crooked and warped, and he dialed in a code on the wall panel. The bars raised, and he smiled wider.

"Good. Good." Nodding as if everything in the world was right, the man began the walk through the long tunnel back to Maria's den, and he did it quite slowly.

"Damien here?"

"No. Only me and the master." After a small grunt of acknowledgment, he nodded to her again, and stopped following her. Apparently he'd noticed a bit of dirt on the floor, and since the man was never without his broom, he got to sweeping, leaving Natasha to go on without him.

Natasha returned the man's smile, and gave him a small pat on the arm, his smaller arm. The touch surprised him, and he flinched away slightly, but when he realized what'd happened, he smiled at her again, and got back to sweeping. Far as Tash knew, Maria treated Matthias well, but the man's mind had never really settled into adulthood. He was damaged, and Tash knew to be gentle with him.

She moved on, and after passing a few more gates already opened, she came into Maria's den. A giant dome room, with huge paintings on the curved stone walls and ceiling, hanging curtains, and various desks covered in old tomes. There was a grand piano, and near it against the wall, a very Gothic casket, huge, the sort of casket a rich family would get their dead lord, three hundred years ago.

Maria sat at the piano, playing some classical piece Natasha didn't recognize. Maria was a virtuoso, and could play anything anyone else could. She could play it blindfolded, given a few days to memorize the sheet music. When Natasha saw the movie Gattaca, there'd been a minor bit where the actors mentioned a pianist who had twelve fingers, and how there was music only he could play. Maria wouldn't need twelve fingers.

She wore her usual white dress, something a rich woman might wear by her lonesome, two hundred years ago. White mist leaked from the cracks in her ruined skin, and disappeared on the floor like dry ice fog, something that even seasoned Kindred tried to avoid having touch them. Nosferatu came with many sorts of mutations and deviations, from hidden, huge crocodile mouths and snake eyes like Beatrice, to Bob, a classic Nosferatu vampire from the movies, to Kindred like Maria, who looked like a corpse risen from a lake and possessed by a ghost or something. The mist was harmless though, and Natasha ignored it as she approached.

"Madam Turio," she said. "I... H-How are you?"

"Madam Vola." Her crackling, dry voice was soft, and Natasha almost didn't hear it over the music. The elder continued to play. "I trust you are doing well?"

"I am." She came closer, until she eventually stood beside her old boss, and the huge piano she played.

Maria's eyes didn't meet Natasha's, and they didn't look to the sheet music in front of her either. They locked onto her fingers and didn't let go, as if she could see something in her ruined skin Natasha couldn't.

"Does your career in the Ordo Dracul blossom?"

"Um, sorta? It's... it's d-definitely a weird covenant. The Prince is slow to show me secrets, but when she does, it's..." Scary.

"Yes, I imagine your time with the dragons will be filled with strange things. Terrifying things. That is why you originally left them, is it not?"

"I..." Sighing, Natasha stepped in a little closer, and set her hands on the side of the piano. "It was, and it still is. B-But, I've learned a lot since then, and I think I'm... I'm strong enough now, to deal with it." She smiled at Maria, and though Maria didn't lift her eyes, Tash knew her old boss saw it. "You're part of the reason for that."

Maria's playing faltered. Just a moment, a fraction of a second where Maria hit a note a little softer than she should have. That was more vulnerability than Maria ever let show.

"I made your life difficult, Natasha."

Hearing Maria drop the titles was enough to make Natasha's hand slip, and she almost fell. That wouldn't have been a fun way to have this important, and quickly turning emotional conversation with her old boss, with a split lip.

"Y-Yeah, you did. But, you also gave me responsibilities. A lot of p-people think I'm just a... weak little Mekhet. But you helped me become a Right Hand of the Invictus. Daniel may be my sire, b-but... I first learned how to take care of myself from you."

Maria's playing didn't falter this time, but she did smile, a tiny thing that her broken lips struggled to make. "Why have you come to my den?"

"I... w-wanted to talk, about... stuff."

Without slowing her playing, Maria sighed and shrugged. "I don't talk as much as I should, I suppose. Ever since Lucas disappeared, so long ago, I don't talk to anyone, save for Matthias."

"What about Damien?"

She smiled at the mention of the young man, and shook her head. "It is painful, to look at the man sometimes. He looks and behaves nothing like his sire, but I can sometimes see hints of Lucas in him. Sire to childe, I suppose."

"Have you, um, ever considered siring someone?"

"No. I do not wish this Nosferatu curse on anyone." That was more compassion from Maria than Natasha expected. Maria was a cold, cruel, calculating woman, and to hear her openly admit to an act of empathy was alien to her ears. Maria noticed her notice, and she shook her head as she closed her eyes, still playing. "Nosferatu are twisted, Vola. They rarely sire unless they are compelled by their scarred minds to do so. And what Kindred who do not kill themselves upon awakening and seeing their deformities, slowly grow to be as twisted as their sires. I would not inflict that madness on anyone, unless I had to."

That, was true. Nosferatu were generally the least counted of the blood clans, because of the reasons Maria said. They hated themselves. Only Nosferatu who were either psychotic, or twisted up with resentment, were willing to pass on their curse. Sometimes, it was easy to forget that not all Kindred could take a friendly stroll in public.

"M... Maria, I wanted to talk to you about--"

"About whether the rumors about me are true. About whether I am actually delving into dark arts, and attempting to resurrect my lover Lucas."

Natasha just stared at Maria, which must have looked amusing, because Maria looked at her, laughed a quiet, crackling sound, and looked back down at her fingers as she played.

"You know?"

"Of course I know, young vampire. I do not need to be Mekhet to understand the value of information. I have more ghouls than Matthias, and many thralls. Not long ago, I was council member of the Invictus. I am now the only thing keeping the Second Estate alive in Dolareido, save Damien." At last, she stopped playing, and slowly closed the lid over the piano keys, before looking at Natasha with an amused, disappointed look. "Surely you know better than to think I wouldn't know."

"I... I um... It's just that, it's..."

"And I know that Avery has taken an interest."

Natasha froze. "You d-do?"

"Of course. She watches me now, convinced I am up to no good." Sighing, Maria ran a finger through her long, black, ruined hair, and groaned with frustration. "She lacks subtly. The fool woman is but a child compared to me, and knows nothing of Dolareido. Her first visit was short lived, and her second visit will be as well, if she continues to push me."

The details of Avery's first visit were sparse. Kindred didn't like sharing information if they didn't have to, and this was quickly turning into a situation where some more information about Avery, and Simon, and even Minerva, would be useful.

After a few moments of silence, Natasha dug deep, found some courage hidden in a corner, and spoke up.

"Maria, w-what caused Avery, and Simon, to kill Minerva?"

The elder looked down and away. "You should ask Jacob."

"I can't! He'd... he'd never tell me." She'd gotten the man's attention once, and she'd prefer to not get it again.

"Yes, well, you should hear it from him, not me. And, poor Jacob, Avery still has not told him the details of it anyway."

"But this isn't about Jacob anymore. This is about... about you." She could say that, right? She promised Avery she wouldn't tell Maria about what the werewolves were doing, about digging up evidence in the Hisil against her. And she wouldn't. But Maria already knew about the rumors, so, it was ok to talk about related things, right?

Self deception, the worst kind of lies.

"I suppose it is about me, isn't it?" She got up and walked toward a big wooden desk, with a huge, well worn leather chair behind it. On top of the desk was a laptop, but mostly it was covered in big old books. The tome of Longinus was obvious, not dusty at all, and she ran a finger along its cover as she settled in her seat. "Rumors abound that I'm speaking with dark creatures in darker shadows, that I commune with demons or spirits, that I enact terrible rituals, bathe in the blood of virgins, and sew together the body parts of the dead, all in some desperate attempt to revive Lucas."

Those were the rumors, but Tash didn't say it. Maria felt like talking, and years of having her as a boss taught Natasha to shut up when Maria spoke. She didn't do it often, and when she did, it paid to pay attention.

"I cannot blame people for thinking that," she continued. "I can, however, blame them for thinking I am some heathen witch of the Circle, dancing naked around a sacrifice under the full moon."

Natasha almost giggled, until she realized Maria wasn't joking.

"They... d-do that?"

"That, and worse." Sighing, Maria slumped in her chair, abandoning her normally regal posture, and stared down at the books on her desk. "I let the ants scurry and trade useless rumors. They cannot harm me."

"M-Maybe not, but the Uratha--"

"Let the Uratha watch. They will find nothing." She groaned, raised a hand to her face, and half covered it in her fingers like she was clawing away the irritation in her mind. "The damn dogs will find nothing here. Perhaps they would be better off chasing Beatrice? Kine disappear from the streets at an increasing rate, all by her hand. And yet it is I people assume tamper with ungodly forces to resurrect my love?"

"Wait, what?"

"The witch Beatrice, she steals kine off the streets, likely to be sacrificed in some horrible ritual. And what possible reason could a witch her age have to perform such disgusting acts?"

Natasha gulped and looked down. The spirits in the Hisil, the ones obsessed with flesh, they said nothing about Beatrice. What was going on?

"As for Minerva," Maria continued, "she died because Simon was an impulsive idiot. Jacob and the Prince know more details than I, but Minerva was attempting to find ways to commune with spirits. That in and of itself is not something extreme that warrants murder, and yet, Simon and his pack killed her for it, or something related."

"The Uratha are d-devoted to defending the Gauntlet, and maintaining a balance."

"Indeed," Maria said. "What could little Minerva have been up to, to earn their wrath? Doubtless whatever rituals she was performing to commune with the other side were endangering the balance those bloody dogs are so concerned with. And few knew how much Jacob and Minerva loved each other, and how much information they shared." Growling, she slammed a palm against the desk, and Natasha jumped as the impact sound echoed sharply in the large dome cavern of rock around them. "Suspicion is pointed to me! And yet it is that blasted witch who has the tools to reach across the barrier, to ask the spirits for their aid. Doubtless Beatrice seeks to raise her dead lover, and I... I do not blame her. The idea has crossed my mind countless times, Natasha. To have that fool in my arms again? I have indeed contemplated the depths of depravity I'd be willing to sink to, to have that in my second life again, and I..." She ground her teeth until Natasha could hear it, and the elder looked down at the table with defeat.

Information overload. Mental note! Learn more about whatever Beatrice was up to. If Julias's death had hurt her that badly, then doing something crazy, especially with Jacob and Black Blood's help, was entirely possible. Maybe the spirits had it wrong? Maybe Beatrice was contacting them, and telling them her name was Maria, to throw people off?

And Minerva. Antoinette had only told her a little about Minerva, and Maria filled in the holes. Minerva was doing something to the Gauntlet, and the werewolves killed her for it. But what exactly?

"You're... n-not trying to resurrect Lucas."

"No, I am not. I have delved into Theban Sorcery before, and found it... well, the details of my exploring will remain my own. But I have touched its secrets, and have found mysteries hidden within the many tomes I managed to recover from Lucas's archives. Talk of resurrection was rare, and what few authors were willing to speak of it were obviously terrified." She motioned for Natasha to come closer. After a second's hesitation, she did, only after becoming painfully aware that she'd told no one she was coming here, and she'd snuck in. If Maria killed her for some sort of resurrection ritual, no one would know. Eep. "Something is amiss in this city, Natasha. I am sure you're aware of it. Something sinister plots underneath us all. And now werewolves are at my door, as if guided."

Natasha stared, dumbstruck, and did her best to not look like she knew exactly what Maria was talking about. "You think you're... b-being framed?"

"I have done terrible things in my centuries of life, Natasha Vola. In my younger days, I slaughtered an entire village once, when they discovered what I was. Rather than let them arm themselves with fire and force, I killed the group that discovered me, and killed the rest while they slept. Men, women, children." The elder's voice was cold, solid, and she met Natasha's shocked gaze as if her eyes bared her soul. Maybe they did. "I have... I have done many things. But to violate the laws of God to such a degree? To rip a soul from the great beyond? We are already damned creatures, Natasha. Why would I dare invite such judgment from all the Almighty upon me?"

That, was something Natasha hadn't considered. Maria Turio was a devout worshiper of God, and follower of the path of Longinus, even when she officially served as a leader in the Invictus Council of Dolareido. Everything pointed to Maria being the one doing something sinister in the city, the strange rumors, the talk of resurrection that came out of nowhere, the spirits in the Hisil that spoke of her and a ritual, everything. But Maria was the last person in the city who'd do something as unholy as using dark magic to resurrect someone.

"The T-Testament of Longinus, it doesn't... support resurrection, in some way?" She'd read the book, but it was large and, just like the Christian bible, filled with vague references, contradictions, and passages that could be interpreted a million different ways. Studying it would have been an exercise in futility.

"It speaks of the unholy act of the embrace, of siring childer, and how vile -- and necessary -- such an act is. It speaks of the path Kindred must follow, of the work we must perform, if we ever wish to see the light of God. But true resurrection? To be raised from the dead, whole? The Testament of Longinus specifically says only one thing about it: that only God controls the fate of the dead." She shivered as she said it, and set a single hand on the book. "Who am I to defy God's will? No. No, I would never do such a thing."

"Then the rumors..."

"Perhaps started by some Carthian under Garry's influence? To stain my name and cause problems. Or perhaps started by whatever it is that lurks within the city. I do not know. But when I find out, little Vola, I am going to bestow a Nightmare upon them so fierce and horrendous, they will wish they had never been born."

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~~Jack~~

"Ladies, uh, I think Elaine and I were going to try out some kinda... ritual thing, right?" He squirmed and wriggled, but the women burying him didn't move.

Antoinette, Elaine, Ashley, and Julee all either sat on him or lay on him, and had done a damn good job of pinning him to the bed. He wasn't getting up without using vitae to do it, and that would definitely spoil the fun mood everyone was in. Ashley and Julee didn't normally get to enjoy a whole bout of sex from beginning to end without someone Kissing them, so they were in particularly cheerful moods.

"Are you suggesting we should stop?" Elaine said, and she grinned down at him from where she sat on his stomach, her knees snug against his sides under his armpits. Naked, she gently eased her body back and forth along his abs, and a shiver ran through her as Antoinette, sat behind her, slid her fingertips up and down Elaine's stomach.

Elaine was tall, but Antoinette was damn tall, and she grinned over Elaine's shoulder down at Jack. She'd sat on his pelvis, with full intent on fucking him after Jack had made a mess on Elaine's breasts, at least until Jack interjected just now. Yeah, he was an idiot, but it was obvious that being around Elaine sorta broke Antoinette's normal control. Since her old friend's arrival, she'd fuck him all night every night with Elaine. Kinda like when friends get back together after having been apart for years, they sorta devolve back into how they were when they last hung out.