My Little Ventrue Pt. 10 Ch. 05

Uh oh.

"Um, f-f-forget I said anything."

"Oh I don't think so! I know Mom's been having a healthy sex life with that Jacob man. And she's right, he's definitely got that terrifying but sexy, handsome older man thing going. But she hasn't told me anything about other... cuddles." A second later, Mary came back out in her jeans and t-shirt again, yanked her mom off the couch with some effort, pushed her toward the closet, and sat beside Natasha. "Gimme the scoop!"

Tash gulped and looked to Samantha.

The Daeva shook her head. "Tash, don't tell her a thing."

Mary's grin turned huge and evil. "Oh, so there is something to tell?"

"This is a classic case of do as I say, not as I do, advice from mother to daughter. So Tash, don't tell her anything."

"So Mom's been having more fun than she's told me about!" Giggling and half bouncing on the couch, Mary got back up, pushed her mom further toward the closet, and sat back down. "Mom, tell me! You told me Kindred have active sex lives. You were sparse about the details." Oh thank god she was going to interrogate her mom, and not Tash. Tash would probably have cracked.

Samantha rolled her eyes and dug through the hanging dresses. The goal was to find something to wear when the two went out tomorrow night to find her daughter some clothes, but when Mary had found her mother's rather revealing dresses among the others, the goal had naturally diverged. Despite Samantha's efforts to keep it from doing so.

"Well excuse me for not wanting to talk about sex with my dead daughter!"

"So there is sex going on with these multi-person cuddles."

Samantha groaned, and plucked a rather plain but elegant business suit with a skirt, and held it up against her body. "How about this?"

"Ugh, a suit?"

"You saw your brother. He wears half a suit even when he's home alone."

"I just figured that was 'cause he has mansion, and has to keep up appearances or something."

"Nope. He's been seduced by the rich life now, and the life of titles and power. And I'm sure you will be too." Nodding in that 'mother knows best' sort of way, Samantha disappeared behind the changing screen with the suit.

"Hey! Don't change the topic! I want to know what my mother's been up to!"

"Your mother is a responsible adult, who also can't get pregnant or diseases." Conveniently, she left out that if Mary slept with a vampire, neither of those things would apply in that scenario either.

"And Othello is r-ridiculously handsome," Tash said. The words came out before she could stop them, and she snapped a hand up to her mouth, as if she could reverse time and stop the words from escaping.

"Natasha!" Samantha said, peeking out from behind the changing screen.

Mary looked at Tash like a hungry dog. "Othello!?"

Ah well, too late now. She'd find out who Othello was eventually.

"He's a witch. W-Works for Jacob."

"I know about him, but, what's he look like?"

"Um, he's average height, but really muscular. T-Tan skin. Long dark hair he's had in dr-dreadlocks lately."

"Sounds like a man you'd find on a romance novel cover. Milf finds romance in Hawaii!" Mary waved both hands high in the air, like she was dancing in the tropics.

Natasha burst into giggles. She couldn't help it. As much as she felt for Samantha, who was probably dying of embarrassment over this, Mary was just too happy for Tash to not pick up on it. Was she always like this? Samantha had said her daughter was a happy girl, before she died, and Jack had confirmed. Jack had also said Samantha and Mary were similar. Fiona-lite, he'd called her. It was easy to see why.

"N-Not to... ruin the fun," Natasha said, "but have you thought about what you're going to do? Not about p-people finding out about Mary, but that Mary's... alive. The... personal stuff. What you w-want to do with your life now."

Samantha came back out from behind the screen in her suit, smile only slightly damaged by Tash's words. She posed, as if she was the woman in stock photos of the 'woman in office' category, and Mary golf clapped, subduing her bursting joy so she could tease her mother about her reserved choice of clothes. Tash had never been this comfortable with her family, way back when.

"We haven't," Samantha said. "She's only been alive a few hours now. We thought we'd get here where it's safe, and then we could talk about it."

"But... you're n-not talking about it."

Both women sighed, and Tash winced. Calling out the thing they were avoiding wasn't very tactful of her. Jessy was rubbing off on her.

"It can't wait a few hours?" Mary asked.

"Samantha and I will b-be asleep in a few hours, and won't be up until sunset. And the P-Prince won't let you leave until we know what your plans are."

Samantha sat down on the couch beside Mary, opposite of Tash, and slipped an arm behind her daughter so she could rub her further arm.

"What do you want to do, Mary? I know Jack would want you to live a happy life as a human."

Mary frowned and leaned into her mother. "Yeah. Asshole didn't come get us when he got changed. Or, what's the word? Embraced?"

"In his d-defense," Tash said, "he wasn't allowed. He didn't have much power back then, politically. And the Prince hadn't allowed siring back then either. When he finally got the power and p-position to do things like ask about siring, things were... v-volatile."

The hunters. The curse. Even the stupid azlu showing up. It hadn't been an environment where Jack could sire, or get someone to sire his family. Convincing his family, or failing to convince them and siring them against their will, would have been problematic. Failing to convince them and then wiping their memories would have been horrible and traumatizing for him too, after what he'd done to Mary before.

Jack's introduction into his second life hadn't exactly been smooth, either. Stabbed. Killed a kine on his first night. Killed more Kindred. Fought a giant spider monster in the sewers. Only a moron would have wanted that for his family.

"She's right," Samantha said. "Dolareido's calmed down a lot, but only recently. But that's fine! You're alive again, and now you can make a choice. And as much as Jack has a good point about how dangerous it is being a vampire, things are so much better now. Antoinette does everything she can to keep the peace in Dolareido, and it's worked."

Mary leaned into her mom for a moment as she sighed, but it was a happy sigh.

"I don't know. But, a life as a vampire does sound like it could be a good life."

Samantha held her daughter's head and cradled it into her chest and shoulder, and looked to Natasha, waiting. Hoping.

Natasha gave her a smile. "I like b-being a vampire. Yes, there's a lot of dangers. Yes, you lose the sun, and food. F-Fire can kill you so easily." Mary, still half hiding in the nook of her mom's neck, turned enough to look at her with scared eyes. "But if you can handle it, it's a great second life! The Kiss is wonderful. It's great, being p-powerful. You live forever. You never grow old. Live long enough and you get to be rich; b-but with the Prince as your mom's sire, that's taken care of. And, um, as a lot of p-people in Dolareido already know, the sex is constant, and everywhere."

Mary perked up and sat up straight. "Constant, you say?"

Samantha pulled her daughter's head back down to her and pinned the girl's head against her shoulder, frowning at Natasha the whole while. But her frown vanished and she giggled as Mary tried to get away from her. Unfortunately for Mary, her mom was a vampire, and easily held her in place. That led to some wrestling, before they burst into giggles again and Samantha let her daughter go.

"I suppose," Samantha said, "that there's no avoiding it. You're alive, your mother and brother are vampires, and this is Dolareido." After a heavy groan, Samantha gestured to the closet. "Yes, it was a slutty dress. Because all vampires are sluts."

Tash frowned, which sent both women into giggles again.

"Don't be like that, Tash!" Samantha said with a big smile. "I suppose I should just accept it. Now that Mary's alive, she's going to see that side of Dolareido's night life. Aaaaaaand I'd feel more comfortable sharing some of your videos with her."

Oh no.

"Videos?" Mary asked.

"Yes. Natasha is something of a movie director. And cameraman. And star."

"A star! Of wh--oh." Slowly, Mary's smile turned utterly mischievous, and she leaned in closer to Tash. "Really?"

Time for some self defense.

"Your brother is no better! There's half a dozen videos of him floating around."

"Oh god!" Mary threw up her hands and covered her face. "Oh god, really?"

Samantha groaned in shared dismay, and pat her daughter on the shoulder. "You made a joke about Jack and his harem, sweetie, right? It, um, wasn't inaccurate."

"I mean, you told me about him and Antoinette, and that they have ghouls and thralls, and that they can be, uh, close. But I was a ghost! I didn't really picture what that meant! And the implications!" She shivered and rubbed off her legs, like bugs had crawled on her. "Oh god, now I'm picturing it! Jack is... is... Oh god, Antoinette is so tall! And....!" She held out her hands in front of her, cupping imaginary breasts the size of beach balls.

Tash couldn't help but laugh, and trying to hold it back turned it into a snort. "She is. And she has a really... r-really good friend that often joins her, Elaine."

Mary counted off on her fingers. "Holy shit that kid is getting pussy."

"Mary!" Sam gave her daughter a discouraging slap on the knee.

Tash nodded. "At the same time. On film."

"Oh god!" Mary tried to sound grossed out, but it broke into laughter soon after. "I don't want to see that."

"Me neither," Samantha said, trying to hold her frown.

A moment later, both women leaned forward slightly and grinned at Tash, until she groaned and waved a hand.

"You're both like Jack."

Mary raised a brow. "How so?"

"Horny p-perverts."

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~~Antoinette~~

It did not take long for Jacob to come to her. Jack had left only moments before, and the man had likely been hiding in wait. With her sheriff on constant vigil, the Nosferatu could not sneak past him, and Daniel brought Jacob to her. A formality, and a game.

She did not rise from her desk, but she did gesture to the chair in front of her desk as she leaned back in hers.

"Daniel," she said, "if you would be so kind? I feel this conversation deserves privacy."

Daniel nodded, eyed Jacob for several moments until the Nosferatu chuckled, before leaving. But once the door was closed and Daniel could no longer hear, Jacob's laughter stopped, and he walked toward Antoinette in a direct line before sitting. Jacob did nothing directly, normally.

"Ann," he said.

"Jacob. I assume you are here to discuss one of the most extreme developments in either of our careers?"

"Ha! Yeap."

"Dare I ask how much of Mary's resurrection is your doing?"

The man, wearing a wondrous burgundy suit and black sunglasses, leaned back in his seat and shrugged. Why could he not wear such interesting clothes more often, instead of his usual dark robes that reeked of witch things.

"Not much. Beatrice did this all on her own. Jen helped her, but she doesn't really have the same bug."

"Bug?"

"You know, the spark, the part of you that really drives you."

"Obsession."

The man grinned. "Alright, obsession. I knew Triss would have it. Jen, not so much. But she sticks by Triss's side and helps keep her on her feet, which makes it worth it to keep her around."

"And Aaron and Othello?"

"They have their uses. Aaron's smart, and I talk with him about things sometimes. And Othello's a useful walking talking bag of muscle."

Despite the inevitable seriousness of the conversation, Antoinette could not help but enjoy the entertaining prelude. They always were with Jacob.

"My childe certainly enjoys him."

"Oh my. She tell you more about our time together?"

"She refuses to share intimate details, but she has admitted to enjoying time with Othello and you on several occasions. Considering Othello's tastes, it is easy to imagine your time together. I need only suggest a certain act, and she instantly devolves into a wriggling mess."

They both chuckled. While Jack had become more comfortable with sexual indulgence, he had not always been. Once, the mere suggestion of a foursome would have had the young man squirming. Delightful. And now Jacob was enjoying a similar time with Samantha, relishing corrupting her with physical bliss, as Antoinette had Jack.

"But I didn't come here to gossip about sex, Ann."

"I would prefer to chat with an old friend about the physical joys he has found with my childe, than what you wish to speak of."

Jacob's smile faltered. "Why?"

"Because it terrifies me to know that my childe has swam in the blood of a dozen kine. It terrifies me that Beatrice has reached into a world not even you nor I have managed."

Her old friend leaned in closer to her. "It is fucking terrifying, isn't it?"

"Extremely."

"And word is going to get out. People are going to come here to see if it's true."

"Indeed."

Jacob sighed and leaned back once again. "She's Sam's kid. I'll do everything I can to keep her safe."

It was Antoinette's turn to lean forward. "I knew you would, Jacob. But that is not why you have come tonight, is it?"

"No. I wanted to take a poke at the mighty Prince's brain and see what she has to say about how Beatrice did it."

"You do not know?"

"Hey hey, don't go implying that a witch's boss doesn't know the details of what his subordinates are up to! Because I do, obviously. I know everything." The sarcasm was palpable.

"Except about this."

He laughed. "I know what she did. But have you ever heard of someone putting a ghost into something?"

With a heavy sigh, Antoinette stood up, walked away from the desk, and stood before the enormous window looking out over her city.

"I have."

Still at her desk, Jacob tapped on its surface with his finger. "And what happened?"

"Violence." Unfortunately, Antoinette was all too familiar with the history of ghosts possessing things. Beings of ephemera were not true beings, not in the way living creatures were, especially those with souls. Their desires almost always ended with violence, when they were given the form to enact then.

"That makes me wonder," Jacob said. "I've never seen a ghost respond to someone so well as Mary. And I've never seen a ghost respond so well to possessing a body."

Antoinette looked back over her shoulder at the man. He was not using his usual, playful voice and mischievous demeanor. His academic side was showing through. The man she had become friends with centuries ago was showing through.

"You think she is not a ghost, but Mary's actual soul."

"You ever prove ghosts weren't souls, Misses Dragon? Any of your fancy experiments with ephemera and spirits give any hints?"

"You know they have not. And it has been ages since I have had the opportunity to experiment upon a ghost."

Jacob chuckled, but it soon devolved into a groan. After a couple seconds of annoyed contemplation, he got up, and joined her at the window.

"Too late now. Can't detect a ghost hiding inside a living body."

"Correct."

"And I suppose you didn't experiment on Mary when you had the chance because she's your childe's daughter."

"And my lover's sister."

The man grinned up at her. "Must have taken a lot of willpower, to not head over to her house and lock it all down for your experiments."

"Do you think I am so heartless?"

"I think I know what it's like to have answers in reach. Consuming. Really brings out the obsessiveness in people like you and me."

She rolled her eyes, which only earned another chuckle from the man.

"Yes, I admit that I had to control myself. But it was never a possibility that I would experiment upon Mary, ghost or soul."

"Even now, that she's right under your nose?"

"As you said, even if she is a ghost, there is little I can do to unveil the truth, barring extreme measures." An exorcism relied on the body and its soul fighting against the possessing ghost, or spirit. She had no idea if it would work on Mary since she did not fight against the body she possessed, and regardless, performing one was not easy, as Jacob well knew. "And I am inclined to believe she is not a ghost. The last I heard of a ghost possessing a living person, the result was disastrous."

"Was that person brain dead?"

"No, they were not."

"Was that person a perfect body for the ghost, right down to the genetics?"

"No... they were not."

Jacob shrugged, and ran a finger down her window. Shameless destruction, but at least a vampire's fingers did not leave oil.

"Then we're both in the dark."

"Is that why you visit this night? To taunt us both?"

"No. I came to..." He turned and placed his back against the once perfectly clean window. "It really is ridiculous, isn't it?"

"What is?" She blinked down at her old friend. She blinked again when he removed his sunglasses, exposing his empty eye sockets, forever cursed to look as if someone had removed them, and his eyelids, with a serrated spoon.

"All this running around and dancing, freaking out, because we resurrected someone. We've done centuries of work, of research, and you know as well as I a lot of us do it for two reasons: to become truly immortal, or to bring someone back from the dead."

Despite her best efforts to keep a straight face, she knew fatigue broke through her visage, and she sighed as she looked back to the city.

"It has become an all-consuming pursuit of many dragons, and witches I assume."

"And don't think the Invictus and Carthians, or even the fucking churchies wouldn't jump at the opportunity to do either."

"Indeed."

"Christ, I'm just so tired of it, you know? So fucking tired of digging through the mess, all because of this hilarious life and death bullshit. I mean christ, vampires are half dead, but what's that even fucking mean? We still don't know." He shrugged as he looked down and sighed in the same manner she had. "It's just so tiresome, you know? I'm happy for Sam, I really am, but something's gonna happen to ruin it eventually. Someone's gonna come along and kill Mary, or Jack, or maybe Sam will die, leaving her two kids fucking broken. Maybe someone sires Mary, and then she gets unlucky and catches a sunrise or a big spark from a fucking fireplace, and then Sam's back to square one. It's just all such bullshit. What fucking god thought this was a good system? This stupid fucking mess of life and death. It's like one big machine just churning out crap because the old crap breaks."

"Jacob..." What on Earth was the man speaking of? Sick of life and death?

"I'm just so fucking tired of it." Jacob pushed himself off her dirty window, and slowly walked for the door as he slipped on his sunglasses once again. "Whoever thought up this fucking game was a colossal asshole."

She stared after the man as he opened the door to her office, exposing Daniel waiting outside it beside the elevator door. A quick button press and the door opened, already waiting for Jacob. He stepped on it, and offered Antoinette one of his smiles, now heavy and crippled.

She did not have the heart to stop him.

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Jack and Antoinette awoke to next night's sunset, and turned to find each other first, as they often did.

"Good morning," he said.

"Good night," she said, rolling her eyes before kissing her silly little lover. "You smile."

"Do I?"

"You do."

"I guess it's because, despite all the insane shit attached to the fact my sister's alive, she's alive."

"She is indeed. Though let us quickly check." With a nod, she slipped out of bed, and sat at her desk.