My Little Ventrue Pt. 10 Ch. 18

Lucas had spent fifty years in torpor, with Damien ready to revive him the moment the political situation in Dolareido made it possible for Lucas to rebuild his power. Fifty years was a long time, even for a vampire. Fifty years of Maria, wishing Lucas was with her, only for the maniac to basically ignore her as he went mad with his quest for revenge and domination.

Apparently death had been the wake up call he'd needed to realize how stupid he'd been to neglect Maria. A fool to the end, then. After death was far too late to realize a mistake.

"Is that... that all?"

Damien pulled up a smile he'd been saving for exactly that line.

"And he said that he loved you, loves you still, and that you should find happiness in your second life while you can. Don't forget him, but move on, as well. And don't do anything stupid like challenge an entire pack of werewolves to a fist fight again."

Poor Maria. She should have been there, if at least to hear the words directly from Julias, but Damien had recited them accurately enough.

She broke. First, a small laugh over the last remark, but it passed quickly and turned into a quiet sob. Elders did not cry, and yet there she sat, body trembling lightly as she struggled to contain the noise.

"He said those things?"

"According to Julias."

"And I suppose we can trust Julias, can't we?"

"I suppose so." He nodded again as he put his hand back on his own leg. "Not everyone got to see someone. Elaine didn't. I didn't. But most did."

"Truly a wondrous scene. I... am sad that you did not fetch me to aid you in this battle, Damien."

"I--"

"I know. Jacob trapped you, and you were catapulted into extreme circumstances." She sighed as she let herself slouch forward, elbows on her knees, same as him. "Daniel got to speak with his childe, Torrence?"

"Is that who that was? A tall man, skinny, short hair."

"Indeed. And Antoinette spoke with her dead ghouls?"

"Lana and Darlene?"

"Indeed." Maria sighed as she smiled, and stood up. "We must chronicle this event, Damien. But we must do so carefully."

"It shall be done." The proper word choice, for as big a deal as this.

Maria stepped behind her work desk and got to typing. Damien joined her. It was the first time Maria had smiled like that in a long time, and he was determined to see it continue.

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Fiona burst into tears the moment Damien stepped into her apartment. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him as hard as her little body could manage.

"I talked to Sándor!" she said.

"You did? Do I... need to hurt him? You look upset."

The tiny redhead burst into giggles, and they mixed into her squeaky sobs. Happy crying.

"Sándor told me Julias talked to him. And Julias had a message from Azamel."

"Oh?"

She nodded excitedly as she let him go and sat down on the edge of her bed. Small apartment.

"Aye! She wanted to tell me that I... that I..." The giggles vanished, and Fiona broke down into proper loud sobs, full-on crying.

Damien slid off his shoes, joined her on the foot of her bed, and slid an arm around her. It'd take her a while to stop crying, he knew that. He also knew from the way Fiona was smiling between her sobs, that Azamel's message had been good.

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~~Natasha~~

"Your parents were really cute," Jessy said. "I mean, you know, for glowy gold people."

Tash couldn't help but laugh as she pat her best friend on the leg. The two of them sat together in Tash's apartment, Eric on the couch watching the news while Tash and Jess sat at the kitchen counter. Tash was typing up a report on her laptop for her boss, and Jessy was trying to steal ideas for her own report. Considering how insane it'd been, two nights ago, she couldn't blame her. And considering Michael hadn't been there, Jessy couldn't cut corners. She needed help, especially with Jack on sick leave.

"They were! Oh god, I was s-so happy t-to see them together. The way Dad died, I wasn't sure he'd..." Sighing, she tried to type a few more words, failed, and leaned in toward Jess. "I never really believed in... Heaven."

"I don't think it was Heaven. At least, not the kind I think you're talking about."

"Ugh, d-don't even get me started on that! The Prince told me it's my new job t-to cross reference what we learned, with every text that talks about the afterlife."

"Every text?"

"Every text."

"Damn. That is going to suck."

Tash giggled as she shrugged. "I like reading."

"Nerd."

Rolling her eyes, she gave her friend a gentle shove. Jessy was about to return it, but her expression softened, and she rested against the counter top instead.

"No soul came to visit me. But I guess, yeah, never really was close to anyone when I was alive. And as a vampire, there's... well, you, and..."

"Julias."

They both sighed, and despite their efforts, it was a heavy, sad sigh.

"It was great to talk to him again."

"It w-was."

"And in typical Julias fashion, it seemed like he was trying to help everyone. Jesus fucking christ, he was even helping Angela."

Angela. Even as a gold soul, Athalia's daughter had been absolutely terrifying, and had looked like she was going to strangle her mother, the way she'd dragged herself forward with that big rock hanging around her neck. Everyone in the cave had stared, dumbfounded. Even Jack and Beatrice, two people who had enough reason to hate Angela more than anyone in the world, had been paralyzed and unable to look away.

Tash was glad they didn't interfere, and they probably were, too. Much as Angela deserved to suffer, no one deserved to suffer for eternity; if that was even how the afterlife worked. And more importantly, Athalia didn't deserve to suffer for it. Sure, Athalia betrayed Jack and Triss at the end of their attack against the hunters, but who could blame a mother for doing what they could to save their daughter?

Poor Athalia. Poor Samantha. Tash looked down, and a tiny shudder worked through her.

Which Jessy must have recognized, because she got off her stool, and hugged Tash, nice and tight. And Tash melted into her.

"It was nice," Tash whispered, "to... t-t-talk to Julias again. I miss him."

"Me too. We owe him a lot."

Eric peeked over the couch. "Should I--"

Jessy waved him off. "Girl moment. You're good."

"Roger that." And the man seamlessly went back to watching TV, without a doubt in his mind that Jessy was telling him the truth. Those two were strangely perfect for each other.

"I w-wonder," Tash said, "if the souls are together, in the afterlife, that river place Julias was talking about. I mean, like... d-d-do they socialize? Maybe be romantic with each other?"

"Oh fuck me, if there's no sex in the afterlife, I'm not going."

Tash laughed. Leave it to Jessy to make her laugh, no matter how serious the topic, or how sad she felt.

"Mom and Dad d-did seem like they were together. And happy." Every time she summoned the memory of her mom and dad walking out of that tear together, it felt wonderful, and she made sure to smile brightly so Jessy could see it, as she guided her friend back onto her stool. "And Julias looked happy too. Like, m-maybe... maybe--"

"Like maybe he was getting some pussy in the afterlife. Maybe from that Margaret woman?"

And of course, leave it to Jessy to ruin a deep moment, too.

"That's not what I was thinking!"

"Uh huh, sure." Jessy gestured to Eric, only the back of his head visible over the back of the couch. "Question, Eric. I got the impression from Julias that people who'd recently died didn't get to visit, because of the weight around their necks. But Monica, Carter, and Caleb died that night."

"No way they'd miss seeing their family," Eric said. "Werewolf packs are a pretty heavy bond. Soldiers in arms combined with family bonds."

Surprisingly, Jessy didn't make a quip about how 'weak' or 'gay' that was, or call the werewolves 'pussy bitches'. She nodded, face trying its best to keep her smile and fight off a somber look, and failing.

"Matt and Art," Tash said, "they were... they were so happy, you know? They d-didn't think they'd ever get to talk to Caleb or Monica, or Carter, or Stephanie again. They were... so happy to get to d-do that. And Avery, how many souls visited her? Seven more? I've never seen her so happy." Happy and Avery didn't really fit together, not unlike happy and Athalia. But that night broke all the rules.

"It was... really nice," the Gangrel said. "And meeting Eric's mom was great, too. I thought maybe she'd yell at me for how I got Eric's dad to start taking care of himself... and she did, a little. But she was happy."

Eric got up off the couch, and hugged his girlfriend from behind. "She liked you."

"Of course she liked me. Who doesn't fucking like me?"

Eric nodded over Jessy's shoulder, as if Jessy's words were obvious truth. A few more hugs later, he sat back down on the couch. Jessy joined him, and snuggled into his side.

Tash smiled at the backs of their heads before turning back to her laptop, and tried to type her report again.

"Tash," Eric said, looking over the couch's back to her, "we should take a trip into the Hisil soon, when you're up for it again. There's someone who wants to talk to you again."

Tash sat up straight. "S-Sanctuary?"

"It's alive."

Oh thank god.

"Let's!"

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~~Jack~~

One week since the incident.

He spent almost all night of every night for a week since the incident sleeping. When he was awake, he managed to make some quick calls to his thralls to make sure they and his crows were fine, and a quick call to let Michael know he was still alive. Of course, his boss didn't show him a hint of sympathy, but did tell him Jessy's report covered the bases and Jack didn't have to do anything until he was healed. With no painkillers for vampires, the Beast knew how to draw him into the coma-like state to let him sleep the night -- and day -- away while he regenerated damage. And nothing in the world felt as good as more torpor sleep.

On the eighth night, when dusk came, he sat up and stretched out his limbs.

"Ow! Fucking shit."

Antoinette chuckled as she sat up next to him, and kissed the top of his head.

"Rest, my love."

"I'm feeling good enough to stay awake."

"Then by all means, remain awake. But that does not mean you should not rest. Only move as required."

He rolled his eyes, but smiled up at Antoinette, and got a quick kiss for it.

"Yes ma'am."

"Have you spoken with your mother yet?"

"A little. We're... still dodging the Jacob topic. And the Mary topic. All the topics, really."

The Prince nodded as she set a kiss on his bad eye. It felt healed. Her way of telling him it was.

"You should speak with her. She is resilient, my love, quite resilient, but trauma can be insidious, and leave deep seeds that take years to bloom. Best uproot them now before they dig deep into her mind. Or your mind."

He nodded as he leaned into her, forehead slipping into the nook of her neck.

"Yeah, you're right. And I will. But holy fuck I am tired."

"Quite so. And Beatrice is speaking with your mother, helping her come to terms with what happened, as is Athalia."

"Athalia..." Thinking about Angela and her mom used to flood him with so much anger, it was blinding. Not anymore. Something about seeing Julias actually helping Angela in the afterlife was like a bucket of cold water dumped over his anger. And that was a good thing. He was sick and tired of being angry.

"And you, my love? Will you speak to me now?"

"About--"

"Two people died at the Ripper's hands that night."

He sucked in a breath between his teeth. "Yeah. But their souls visited me. So, I mean, I guess I'm still upset about it, but it's hard to get too angry when Caleb and Monica both looked me in the eye and told me it was alright. I still feel guilty about it, but... not nearly as much as I would have."

"That night did more than settle the deep anguish in many. It settled angers, as well."

"You mean about your ghouls, and Lucas?"

"Oui. Knowing that Lucas regrets his actions is... a small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless. But seeing Lana and Darlene again? I was not prepared. It is such a rare thing to be given a chance to revisit the pains of our past, and soothe them so."

"You looked happy."

"I was. I am." Nodding, she pushed on his chest a bit, until he was on his back again, head on the pillow. She snuggled up against his side, and rested her head on his shoulder, squashing her breasts against his stomach and waist. "Never, in my wildest dreams, did I expect that night to go as it did."

With her head on his left shoulder, his left arm had free rein to caress her back, and she nuzzled into him more as he did. Relaxing. They were relaxing. How long had it been since they'd been able to do that, truly do that, without some looming disaster around the corner, or noose of guilt strangling him. And sure, he still had some work to do, some people to talk to, emotional conversations he knew were going to sting. But that was nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to how good it felt to not have a giant problem to deal with. Nothing that demanded his immediate attention.

It felt weird. Freeing, but weird. Almost like he was psychologically naked.

"I'm actually feeling kinda restless," he said. "Feel like I should be fixing something, but there's nothing to fix. Only thing I'm worried about is Mom, but you say she's fine? Er, well, not fine, but you know."

"Oui. Your mother is doing better than I could have hoped for. I still recommend talking to her, but it is not a pressing issue. And I have spoken to others, as well. Maria is happier for Julias's news."

"That's good," he said. Maria might have been an angry bitch, but she wasn't as bad as all that. She deserved a bit of happiness, too. "Garry and Michael, they angry we didn't invite them?"

"A touch, but they understand the circumstance. No doubt the two Gangrels would have liked to speak with Roland." Sighing, Antoinette leaned in and kissed his jaw, before resting her cheek on his shoulder again. "You have not asked about Elaine."

Elaine. He'd definitely been avoiding that topic, for a whole bunch of reasons, including her own safety.

"I... wasn't sure how."

"She and I have spoke at length about her dark past. Her diablerie. You need not keep it a secret from me."

The word was enough to make his whole body tense.

"Is she--"

"It is a secret she and I will keep, as will you, I assume?"

And relaxed again.

"Yeah. After what she did for me? It's the least I can do."

"She has earned our trust. Though, her plan was... a problematic one. If you had not come, you would have never triggered her trap. Black Blood would have had control of the situation with his ghosts. Jacob would have succeeded."

"You talked to her about it?"

"Mhmm. Many words were exchanged. She... She did not want for you, what she had to do to rid herself of her curse. She resented it for what it did to her. She despised it for the terrible things it brought on her."

"From day one, I thought she wanted it because I'd released it from the weird binding spell that church dude in the curse's flashbacks put on Susanna. I figured Elaine wanted its power."

His lover chuckled and kissed his shoulder.

"I do not doubt the thought crossed her mind. But my old friend is not as heartless as other elders. Indeed, I think she may have quite a large heart, hidden within."

"Elaine, a big heart?" He laughed, a proper big laugh, and regretted it as pain quickly put the laughter to an end. Okay, insides still not in tip top shape. "I gotta admit though, I'm surprised she did what she did. Sounded to me like she had good reason to let Jacob win."

"And yet, she stopped him, and freed you of your burden."

"Yeah, she did. I really do owe her."

Antoinette sat up, and reached for the nightstand. With a wicked smile, she held out his phone to him. No cell signal in the tower's deeper floors, but she did have wifi in all the rooms.

"Call her. Invite her. She has been quite anxious about how you feel about her."

"Anxious? Her? About me?" Hard to believe Elaine, a Ventrue 500 years old, could be anxious about much.

"Of course. She cares for you, Jack, and as more than your great grandsire."

He blinked at her.

"That sounded dangerously close to romantic, Antoinette."

The Prince laughed and shook her head.

"Not at all. But I would be lying if I said it was purely platonic. She cares for you, but until you sire your own childe, it is difficult to explain. She is not your family, nor is she your lover. But she is your friend, and your great grandsire, a true Kindred blood connection. She is my old friend, and the two of us have shared more than friendship for centuries. She is..." Antoinette tapped a finger on her chin thoughtfully. "A very close friend."

He laughed. Okay, close friend wasn't a bad descriptor, especially when said with a little sly emphasis.

He pulled up Elaine on the contacts list, and almost pressed dial. But his finger stopped halfway, and he stared at the phone as the shitty memories of that night climbed back up into his skull. And they were shit memories, for more reasons than he'd shared.

His arms drooped, and the phone fell on the blankets.

"I was going to kill myself."

Silence. Look at her? No, not yet, it'd hurt too much. He sat up beside her again, blanket over his legs and phone resting on it, and he looked down.

Eventually she put a hand on his back, and rubbed his spine.

"Tell me."

He gulped, half expecting a surge of primal, disgusting hate to scream at him from in his head. But it never came. It was just him now, in his head. He'd almost forgotten how... not angry and hateful his thoughts were, when he didn't have to share them with the Ripper.

"The Ripper killed Caleb and Monica, and he was going to kill Clara. He almost did." A shudder worked through him, and he squeezed the blankets between his knees. "The Ripper and I had been fighting for control over my body for a while. That night, he decided he wasn't going to give it up, ever again. He pulled out all the stops. Crushed and buried me in my own mind. I had to find a way out, and... and realizing the only course of action was to kill myself, was... it was..." He squeezed the blanket harder, until his shoulders trembled. "I tried. I actually tried. I put Damien's sword against my neck and pushed with everything I had. Only reason I'm still here is the Ripper fought me until Mary and Triss showed up and interfered."

"Oh Jack."

"I'm sorry. I thought about you, and Mom, but... but I couldn't let it go on. I couldn't..."

Antoinette took the phone, set it aside, and gently pushed Jack onto his back again. She lay with him, snuggled into his side, and kissed his cheek as she traced lines on his chest.

"I am afraid, little Ventrue, there are no words I can offer. No wisdoms or truths. I can say your situation was dire, and you were willing to do what had to be done to save those you could. But, I know such words are meaningless."

He closed his eyes, and nudged himself into her.

"I figured if I was gone, you'd figure something out, some way to stop Jacob."

"I had. But I could not have predicted Black Blood would be able to control ghosts to such an absurd degree. Elen's haruspex proved that he could not interfere with us directly; a flaw in the range of her haruspex, in multiple ways."

"Elaine knew. She could have told you."

Antoinette nodded. "She discussed her plan with me. She made quite the gamble, assuming you would arrive to stop Jacob. Though a large part of her plan was born from fear of Jacob's abilities, fear not misplaced. She waited for the opportune moment to strike."