The Enemy

[Peregrine Daniels]

The Apparition raged, he screamed in pain and frustration, he attacked the circle furiously unable to destroy it, his power began to dwindle almost instantly, He began to jerk uncontrollably like he was suddenly struck by a seizure, silvery blood began to spurt out of the priests mouth and his arms lifted to either side of his body, and blood spurted from his wrists and fingertips, covering the walls with the same metallic blood. He hissed and cursed and swore every name under the sun, but already he was shrinking, his appearance was getting murkier and murkier, his horns vanished. The Willowy Wisps and tendrils began to suck back into the disgraced priest's body and for a split second all that remained was an angry little ghostly priest, he pointed at Vanessa and hissed unnaturally cursing her and the little boy she had done everything to protect, but he vanished into the air. Silence filled the Gym, weights fell to the ground with a large bang, the windows in the gym were now all blown out, there were cracks in the walls and the floorboards.

The Sacred circle had vanished, the exorcism contents were flung all over the room and there was a strong smell of coppery blood. Nate had vanished, there was nothing left of the small boy except the duffle bag that he had used all his strength to bring to Vanessa. There was a loud thud from the large double doors and they pushed forward, Peregrine Daniels stood on the other side, he had used what little bit of strength he had left.

Perry walked into the gym, a look of utter bewilderment on his face. His face was covered in blood, dark slashes were plastered over his features, his clothes were ripped and torn and soaked in his own blood, His sad expression was a terrible sight and he held himself up painfully, holding his arm and limping towards Vanessa

"Everyone in the building is unconscious? I leave you alone for an hour and look what happens…"

He said as he tried to smile through the blood and bruises, he gave up falling to the ground with a dull thud

"I've been a fool Nessa…. They killed everyone… Werewolves… she has werewolves…"

Perry said looking up at Vanessa before everything went black and he passed out from the exhaustion and pain. Everyone in the building were already beginning to wake up however and run towards the gym.

Nate was gone.

[Vanessa Marlowe]

She had hardly heard the ranting and violent reaction of the spectre as she finished her exorcism, making one final prayer to the Source, one last aspersion cast at the spectre with the added punch of a dousing of holy water in the sign of the cross this preist devoted himself to. When she stood facing the figure who tormented this cathedral and Nate, her eyes didn't waiver from his dwindling figure. She felt her connection to the energies around her grow as the man shriveled from the horrid apparition to the comely old man before her. The silvery blood, rank with the coppery and sulfuric scent that all spectral fluids contained, splashed around the room, falling around the circle with disturbing beauty. The windows were all destroyed, the stench of the smudging stick mixed unmercifully with the smell of the exorcism. The man before her hissed curses and words in a tone she was sure was violent before he simply vanished. When he dissapeared so did his control over the flying gym equipment, all of it crashing to the wooden floor with no remorse, and then there was silence. She stood quietly, only a single phrase coming softly from her lips. "The rest is silence..." Hamlet knew more about exorcism than he thought...

As the circle's power ended, with no more need of it, there was a distinct emptiness in the room, leaving nothing but a room. A big, broken, empty room. A room that smelled putrid. She noticed her components were flung all over the room and she sighed. "Well I'm certainly not cleaning this mess up, I'll tell you that... I did the exorcising, someone else can do the cleaning." She had said this expecting some giggling response from Nate, but to her dismay, there was no response. Nate was gone too. She felt a distinct ache, a sadness that she hadn't expected. Had she sent Nate back to the Source too? She couldn't be certain, after all she was focused on the Priest, not the little cherubic helper she had grown instantly to adore.

She reminded herself silently, as she removed the rosary from her neck and replaced it and the other relics into her bag, that his rightful place was back with the Source, and it would be selfish of her to keep him here any longer. She crouched and zipped the bag, hesitating there, her eyes closed trying to balance her feelings about Nate's absence when the door burst open. Instantly she was standing tall, her dark hair a tangle over her shoulders and now in her eyes from the quick turn she had made. Standing in the doorway was the one face she had come to see, but certainly not in this condition.

He was covered in blood, cuts, wounds. His clothes were shredded, matted with dark blood. She gasped, her hands flying to cover her mouth as her eyes widened at the sight of Perry. She found herself praying that most of that blood was not his own, but from whatever it was he had tangled with. And before she could say anything, Perry's quick wit beat her own, forcing a weak ingenuine smile to her face as she moved toward him.

"Everyone in the building is unconscious? I leave you alone for an hour and look what happens…"

Well that answered her questions as to what happened to the others on the opposite side of those double doors. She snapped back in a traditional passive agressive way. She was being petty, yes, but playful in hopes to lighten the mood, as if her joking would heal the wounds that grew more ominous as he approached her. "Welcome to Sydeny, Vanessa. So good to see you, Vanessa. I've missed you, Vanessa. Thanks for risking your life and sanity by exocising the psychotic, violent and dangerous ghost from the Sydney House, Vanessa...."

But it did little good, he was on the floor just before her, unable to make it the rest of the way to her, and she broke from her stationary position, already on the floor to gather him up in her arms, pushing back the blood matted hair from his face. "I've been a fool Nessa…. They killed everyone… Werewolves… she has werewolves…" And he was out cold. She felt the flutter of panic in her chest as she shook him to try and rouse him.

"Perry... PERRY!" But it was no good, he was out and no doubt the wounds he had suffered had a great deal to do with his condition. He clearly lost a lot of blood and was utterly exhausted in any event. She checked his vital signs -- a Doctor she was, yes, but not a medical doctor. She could perscribe texts, diagnose stories, analyze art and communicate in various languages, but she hadn't the skill to heal anyone. "Damnit, All! PERRY, come on love, wake up... I didn't come all this way just to surprise you for a funeral. You look absolutely atrocious in hosptial gowns, dear... let's go, up and at 'em.... You there! Mister helpful, do something useful and help me take Mister Daniels to his room and bring the in house doctor. Now!"

The first man entered, still dazed and unsure of what had just happened to him. Clearly he was more accustomed to dealing with Vampires than anything else. She silently wondered if he even realized there ~was~ anything else to fear. Like Wearwolves... She thought. The room started to fill with those who lived and worked here, all looking confused and groggy, and she quickly gave her commands for what was to be done. "Boil a pot of water" Why? Isn't that always what people tell others to do in a time of crisis?

A round of "Yes, Dr. Marlowe." and "Right away Mum's" shot back at her, the latter to which she responded with a glare that might have killed the young man if she had her way. She wasn't nearly old enough to be referred to as "Mum" but she had more important things to worry about. The one person left in the world that she loved was unconscious and bleeding all over the place. At least the members here took orders and moved quickly. She followed the men carrying Perry to his chambers and she paced in the room while the doctor rushed in, stopping suddenly at the sight of Perry before turning his eyes to Nessa. He set his bags on the bedside table next to where they laid Perry, and waved Vanessa over to assist him. She instantly felt woozy as the situation became fully realized in her mind. He is going to ruin a beautiful bed set, sheets, duvet, towels... She began to help the doctor peel off the remaining tatters of Perry's clothing, while the doctor himself used what was being brought on a cart to rinse the blood from Perry's head to see if there was any head trauma. It continued like this for some time, the doctor cleaning and evaluating, sewing and bandaging. It was only before the doctor left that Vanessa insisted that he help her at least put a pair of comfortably loose pants on Perry before she closed the door behind the doctor.

She stood there, her back pressed to the door, her chest lifting and falling with a concerned rhythmn of breathing. She coudln't afford to lose Perry, not now. Not like this. And all of her pleasant thoughts of her "vacation" in Sydney with Perry evaporated. Werewolves did this. Not Vampires. She shuffled through the Lunar calander in her head and sighed heavily. She moved back over to the bed, carefully crawling on the new set of linin (she wouldn't let the others leave him laying in a pool of blood, of course.) to lay carefully beside him. She took his hand in her own as she let her head fall on a matching pillow to his, only then realizing just how exhausted she was after her battle with the other world and this horrible jet lag. And now this. She tried her damndest to stay awake, to keep her eyes on him at all cost, but as she too passed out from sheer physical and emotional exhaustion, only her hand holding on to his tightly kept watch. If he moved, she'd know it. At least that's what her mind told her as she fell into her own blackness of sleep, tears lining her closed eyes. She couldn't lose him. She wouldn't allow it....

[Peregrine Daniels]

Slowly Peregrine woke, though he remained in place, his eyes closed, his head throbbing, his face had been stitched and bandaged, his entire body ached and his burns throbbed. He looked down at his slightly hairy and well muscled chest and was a little surprised to see Vanessa spelling peacefully next to him, no not peacefully at all, he lifted a hand to move her dark hair away from her eyes when he noticed he was attached to a drip, he was getting a blood transfusion, each month everyone in the Enemy was required to give there own blood, lest they need it. Perry squeezed his other hand realised Vanessa was clutching onto him, his hands was numb with pins and needles, he tried to shift on spot but it was hard, his legs ached, he lifted his head to take a look around him, the windows were black, it was obviously late at night, had he been sleeping all day?

Perry's chambers were large, with several computers scattered around on desks, tapestries hung on the wall and papers were scattered all over the place, he was glad Vanessa did all the business stuff while all Peregrine had to deal with was the underground stuff. Peregrine let his head fall to his pillow still exhausted, it hit him like a smash to the face, everything that had happened, Werewolves… bloody werewolves, why hadn't the Intel showed that there were Werewolves? All reports would have showed that they were just normal looking humans on site; maybe the spies assumed they were Vampires. Vampires he could deal with but Vampires and Werewolves that was a whole different story, he had heard the rumours that Isabella had a thing for them, but nobody could have imagined that she actually had a pack guarding her base, Perry made a mental note to send out an urgent message notifying all the different Enemy Cells around the world that there were Werewolves at large, is Isabella had a whole pack some of the others clans probably did too. Without thought for the sharp pinch in his hand Perry stretched his hand out and placed it over Vanessa shoulder and closed his eyes.

He had seen Vanessa and almost thought it was a dream, he hadn't actually registered that it was Vanessa standing there, wasn't she in New York anyway? He could remember almost forgetting where he was and what time in his life it was, before he had fallen unconscious it could have almost been 10 years ago when they were teenagers learning martial arts in his fathers gym… the same gym. It must have been hard on Vanessa almost loosing Perry like she had lost her parents and even Peregrines father who had raised her after her parent's death. Peregrine sighed deeply, his lungs hurt with each breath, but he knew he was ok; he would be now that Nessa had come to Sydney.

In the corner of the large room a small boy stood, shinning in an unnaturally warm and calming glow, His small face was creased into a smile as he watched over the pair, in only two strides he hovered over Vanessa and brought his lips down onto her cheek to kiss her softly before vanishing in the same misty light.

[Vanessa Marlowe]

Vanessa was in a deep sleep when Perry woke, she had tried to keep awake, tried to stand guardian over him while he rested, but she hadn't realized how much the exorcism of the priest had taken out of her. As with any significant expulsion of energy, any use, it required meditation and time to recover those energies. What she didn't have time to do was ground herself after the exorcism, to send any excess energy that was borrowed from the earth back to it. She was interupted by the sight of a bloody Peregrine. Keeping those energies drains you, and she certainly hit a wall once her head hit that pillow. Her hand, however, remained clutched tightly around his. But when he brushed back her hair from her face she didn't move.

It was a moment of groggy confusion and only a flash of the waking world that she shifted and recognized she was laying in a bed with Perry. She didn't consciously know it was him, her eyes were still closed and she was dangling between the pitch black of exhausted sleep and the pinprick of light of the real world. But who else would the proper Dr. Marlowe be laying with? When his arm curled around her shoulder she realized that he had pried his hand from hers and she pulled it up to rest on his chest. It would be by sheer miracle that she didn't land her hand on a bandaged wound, but somehow it happened. Her head curled against his shoulder and she drifted back again into the sleeping world. That is, until a soft ethereal kiss landed on her cheek.

She saw Nate in her dream, glowing, calm, happy. It flooded her with a feeling of happiness she hadn't felt in a long time. And then, as dreams do, things began working backwards and that feeling was replaced with a much more intense one. Her half awake mind began questioning how Nate ended up so content, and then in a series of flashes, in fast forward, the night's events raced through her head right up until the part where Perry passed out in her arms. With a small jolt her eyes snapped open with a twinge of panic. She propped herself up on her elbow, careful not to put pressure on Perry's chest. She had fallen asleep! Was he alive? Was he conscious? Damnit Vanessa! He's laying here broken and bloodied and you decide it's time for a cat nap! If he's dead I'll never forgive you... She argued with herself quite often when paniced, and this was no exception. There was no one harder on her than herself. Her expectations were sometimes unreachably high, espescially for herself.

Almost mirroring his own actions earlier, she removed her hand from his chest to brush back the hair from his closed eyes. He wasn't moving at all, but then Perry was always a dead sleeper. Her eyes moved over the bandages, the stitches, the burns and bruises and she shook her head sadly, her jaw was set as she tried to will back the dampness in her eyes that was forming. She allowed herself this quiet moment of emotional weakness, until her eyes found the transfusion drip. Like clockwork she understood what it was for, and why. Werewolves did this. Isabella's Werewolves. She hadn't planned on staying very long in Sydney, and knowing that these creatures were now the lap dogs of the leader of Sydney's clan instantly extended her stay. She would find these creatures and force feed them to Isabella before taking off that damnedable woman's head. Perry would object, of course. At least she assumed he would. He would want vengence too, and she couldn't blame him. Perhaps they could do it together, like old times. The New York house was fine in the capable hands of Collin, and he was just as militaristic and structured as she was. She had no worries leaving things to him until her return. It wasn't all that uncommon for her to need to travel away for weeks at a time, and they had always handled things in exactly the same way she would have. That's why she made Collin her second in command.

But vengence would have to wait until Perry was well. She needed to get information to the other houses, and for that she needed Perry to be alive and awake. She rationalized waking him, you see. It had more to do with her just wanting to hear his voice again. She carefully replaced her hand on his chest and leaned over to better see his face as she half whispered.

"Perry, love... are you dead?"

[Peregrine Daniels]

Perry was hovering between sleep and wake, he felt Nessa stir beside him, then he heard her speak, his cracked lips stretched into a grin

"Just a little bit…"

He replied as he painfully opened his large dark eyes, he blinked several times trying to rid the blurriness out of his vision, he felt warm thought and content, he had memories of the gym being an absolute disgrace and he raised his brow questioningly

"I'm not the only one who had a party am I love?"

He said in his unusual mixture of English and Australian accent

"What did go on while I was gone?"

He asked with a slight smirk, he remembered everyone, everyone he had hand picked to go on the mission with him, everyone who had been slaughtered and torn apart like a dog would a chew toy

"When you're free can you call Lara, We need to contact the families of the men and woman who were killed…"

He sighed, some of them were young, excellent fighters with strong minds, yet now they were nothing more than a bloody heap, lifeless and body less. Peregrine tried to lift himself up into a sitting position, but his head began to spin and his body protested, he left himself fall helpless back onto his comfortable bed

"This is a whole different ball park Nessa, bloody Werewolves, what do we know about them? Have we ever tried to separate myth from truth?"

He asked as he closed his eyes again, he knew he would be up and about in no time, but the pain was different, he had been through many a battle and had suffered many a beating, but this was different, he was broken, being hit by a Werewolf was more ferocious and strong than any Vampire

"My Intel must have been off, should have waited and made up a better plan, I was too impulsive…"

He argued with himself to Vanessa, she would know what to do, she always did.

[Vanessa Marlowe]

When Perry grinned the tightness that was holing itself up in her stomach unwound and she felt a wave of adoration and relief for the first time since she had landed here in Sydney.

"I'm not the only one who had a party am I love?" ... "What did go on while I was gone?"

She opened her mouth to speak on the topic, a long description of the occurances, the snells, the interesting way in which she was nearly crushed with weight lifting equipment, but she took a breath and just smiled. "No, it seems the supernatural had a little welcome party for me. First nate, and then that psychotic priest with a penchant for torturing little kids. You know, love, it's proper to hold some kind of celebration for the arrival of a guest, but to nearly kill them or have them possessed is in poor taste." She sat up slightly, her eyebrows arched. "I thought I taught you better manners than that." She relaxed a bit and laughed.

"In truth, it was not what I was expecting. I'm afraid the gym looks a ruin, windows all broken out, equipment thrown around like it was paper. That Priest was here this whole time and you did nothing about him? Perregrine Daniels, I'm shocked." She gave a wry smile and put a finger to her lips pensively. "Well, not shocked... let's leave it for Nessa to do! I say, Perry, that little boy broke my heart within the first few minutes of meeting him. How could you `~not~ have done something? Well, it's no matter now. With Nate's help, miraculous as it was, that horrible man has returned to the source. I don't kow if nate has gone home too or not. But wherever he may be, rest his soul. After all of your cohorts here were unable to withstand that priest's attack and passed out, Nate was the only one there to help me. And then you walked in..."

She could see the torment in his eyes, recalling the events of the night prior. She had heard him as he collapsed, they were all dead. He would, no doubt, blame himself entirely for this situation.

"When you're free can you call Lara, We need to contact the families of the men and woman who were killed…"

She nodded and made a mental note. She had already ordered the repair and restructuring of the gym. They couldn't afford to have any open perimiters now that there were Werewolves haunting Sydney as well. As he tried to sit up she shook her head and just sighed. "Perry... it's too soon. You need to mend. Rushing it will do neither of us any good." She knew he wanted to try and make things right, but when dealing with death, there is no right. The Christians believed that everyone had a time to go, that their savior would chose it whether they were ready or not. others believed that you don't actually die but just fall into another vessel to start over. Somehow she didn't think any of these ideas would comfort him.

"This is a whole different ball park Nessa, bloody Werewolves, what do we know about them? Have we ever tried to separate myth from truth?"

She thought with her eyes closed for a while. Finally she came to her conclusion. "No. I don't think you and I have ever actually tried to understand that enemy. I can look in the archives, certainly there is ~something~ there, but I think you are the best resource we have. You faced these things, you fought them, and you lived. We're going to have to go over that fight, Perry, very carefully. We need to divine their weaknesses. Right now all I can think of are silver bullets. it depends on they myth, you know. Some relate them to Vampires in that they abhor relics of faith, but others make no mention of it. I'll need to start my research soon. We've got centuries of legend and Illuminix documents to pour through."

"My Intel must have been off, should have waited and made up a better plan, I was too impulsive…"

She just sighed and brushed the hair back from his face. "Perry... darling.... lives are lost in war. You haven't forgotten that, have you? They all knew what they were doing. They knew the risks of this job. You could have planned for a solid year and still not known that Isabella had werewolves. We will do right by them in destroying those vermin. I'll arrange for their families, as always, and we'll have a day of mourning, as is proper. But then we must cast off these sorrows and put those emotions to better use. The clan leaders are still meeting in Rome, we have a werewolf problem, and now you have back up. We'll do what we must, because that's who we are. Now you need to rest. We can't do a bloody thing while you're laid up like that." She smiled a bit, hoping she sounded as confidant as she felt. There was very little that the two of them couldn't defeat when they worked side by side. it had been a long time, and it appeared that the time for reunion was at hand.

[Peregrine Daniels]

Peregrine lifted a bruised hand and scratched his sliced eyebrow, it was already stating to scab closed, he could tell by the sudden itching

"It wasn't like that Nessa, he only revealed himself to me a few times, everyone thought I was crazy for a couple of months before things got worse, I knew something was wrong, but there was nothing we could do, you know all that Hoodoo stuff was not my forte, I got as many people as I would risk to fix the problem, but them could never find any signs of ghosts, they were good whoever they were. I'm sorry you had to deal with it on your own Nessa"

He said honestly, His eyes went in and out of focus several times.

"Perry... it's too soon. You need to mend. Rushing it will do neither of us any good."

Perry sighed deeply, he felt a pain in his chest, she was right of course, she always was, Peregrine crossed his arms over his chest, he listened to his old friends take on Werewolves and nodded in agreement, he listened to Nessa talk of war, once again right… Peregrine felt a sudden urge of energy, sitting next to Nessa brought back his shattered confidence, he knew things would be that little bit easier when she was around, the two of them together were like bulls in a china shop, nothing would stop them.

"I want everyone on high alert, no leaving base without a stake and a handgun, we need to order or get an armies worth of silver bullets made, even if they don’t work, better safe than sorry. We have to let all the Enemy members who are cops to be on high alert also, any of our people get arrested for possession of a handgun, that need to get it slipped under the door, it's the last thing we need, it hasn’t happened before but it's not impossible"

He began to scratch his head, deep in thought; everything was still foggy for a split second he had to think if what he just said made any sense at all, the attack, he needed to go over it

"Well… everything was going according to plan, normal Alpha Umbra Scenario and tactics, we got there, broke in, only killed three Vamps, the place looked empty, managed to get into one of the computer labs and douse it… that’s when they struck, three of them, huge, they attacked the rest of the group, I dove into the Computer lab and lit the place, thought I was a goner, but some other Werewolf can running in, a huge red one. It was weird but he pushed the big female who attacked me through the wall, that’s how I got out, only one gave chase."

Peregrine thought about the red Werewolf it was strange…

"I'll prepare a proper report in the morning, I'm sorry, it's still foggy"

He said rubbing his head

"I think we should keep our eyes out for that Werewolf though, I have a feeling about him…"

[Vanessa Marlowe]

"... ... I'm sorry you had to deal with it on your own Nessa..."

She knew that if he could have been there, if he could have helped her, he would have. And she had no doubt about that fact. For the most part they were both well rounded, able to tackle much of the field of enemies on their own, within reasonable odds. But each of them had their fortes, each of them had their weaker points. That's why working together was so effective for the two of them. Alone they were effective, systematic and agressive, but together they could be surgical. "No Worries, love... I took care of it properly. I haven't seen you in what feels like a lifetime, do you really think I'll let a ghost with a superiority complex keep me from spending some much earned time with you, and just after I landed?" She winked and sat up a little, brushing the straggling wisps of hair from her face. Her long dark hair was always thrown up in a messy bunch atop her head, but somehow managed to appear as if she had just come from a salon with a team of hairdressers. It was something she was greatful for. She had no time to fuss over her appearance.

Perry seemed to mirror her movements as he sat up with his own sudden burst of energy. He rattled off a list of things that she filed away in her mind to do, prioritized them and realized that this vacation was all the more likely over. They never stopped working, and it was something that they equally respected. She nodded and reclined back on the pillow, her eyes finding the ceiling. Her fingers went to her eyes, rubbing and applying a bit of pressure to stave off the headache she had anticipated would come. Jet lag always did this to her. "I've also seen to it that this place is warded properly. I've sent out for the proper materials and I'll do it myself to be sure that it's done correctly. I'll be giving a lesson for your people, and I expect them to be there to learn how to do it if ever it needs done elsewhere. We can't have large gaps like that here, Perry. Had I known I would have sent someone much sooner." She glanced over to him, her heart aching as she realized the gravity of the situation once again. He might have been killed last night. "We were lucky that it was only a mean spirited ghost that got through, love. Else you might've been in quite a way with something far worse. We'll put the lot of them on high alert, alert our contacts and I'll be burried in research. I'll also have to check in with the New York house, see if there is any news on the Annex clan. Lilith's absence won't leave a gap for long. "

He recounted the events to her as best he could before she could sense his exhaustion. Her eyes were on the ceiling again, looking for shapes, cracks, some divination that things were going to be just fine when he came to the part about the large red werewolf assisting him. Puzzlement crossed her features and she began twining a strand of hair around her finger, trying to understand what a werewolf might get out of helping a human. "He ... helped you. Attacked one of his own to help you... a human who was destroying his territory..." She sighed and closed her eyes, laying stock still, taking a moment to listen to her own breathing as it slowed and she centered herself. "Perry, we have to be careful. Help or no, I'll not be handing over the keys to any safe houses to a werewolf. But if we can figure out what it is he's about, maybe we can understand more about them as a whole. It's dangerous, and nothing of the supernatural can be fully trusted, but just maybe your encounter made us a friend on the inside..." She leaned her head against his shoulder, careful not to hurt him as she closed her eyes again and thought through the situation. "Maybe he will be able to shed some light on their weaknesses.... and if not, maybe I can dissect him." She opened up her eyes and glanced up at him, amused, with a playful smile. Just ebcause they were dealing with life and death situations didn't mean they couldn't have fun while doing it.

[Peregrine Daniels]

Peregrine sat over his huge oak desk, resting on an office chair, he let it slid backwards and he hovered on two wheels, he could hear Vanessa's voice clear in his head "Darling, on of these days, your going to fall backwards and split your head open…". He smiled, His black rimmed glasses dangled from his mouth and his usually messy hair was somewhat combed and structured shaggily around his face, he was freshly shaved and piles of texts and papers were covering his desk. Directly in front of Perry was a picture of a woman hissing at the camera, her canines were long an sharp and her eyes glowed eerily. It was good, but it wasn't evidence.

It was good to have Nessa back at Sydney, everything seemed to be more organised when she was around, it had been almost a week since the attack, although 4 of his men had been killed the Enemy had some damage to the First Blood clan, not as much as he would have liked but enough, for the moment anyway. Perry stood up, he was wearing black boots under his black jeans and a blue T-Shirt, with a 'B' printed on the chest. Under his clothes the bandages and stitches remained but they were feeling much better and he was able to train in his gym now.

A young man carrying a sheet of paper came up to Perry's desk,

"Sir a man entered Sydney the other day carrying a sword, he managed to intimidate security enough to get through customs, we have a picture taken from surveillance"

Peregrine took the photo and the sheet of paper with details, He took his glasses out of his mouth and placed them on the bridge of his nose he looked at the photo closely, the sword was large, average, but mystically inclined he couldn't tell by the photo.

"Alert our fool of a prime minister someone was allowed into the country with a damned sword, that should rattle things up a bit make them think about tightening security, alert the opposition too, but don’t let them trace it back to you"

He said as he began to file the sheet of paper and scan the photo into his laptop.

"He was monitored leaving the airport? Do we have a location?"

The young man nodded and handed Peregrine another sheet of paper,

"Send three men there, monitor the hotel from outside no going in at all, high red alert this guy could be dangerous"

The Young man nodded and left, it wasn't long before Lara came into the room

"News from New York Sir… Shall I tell Ms. Marlowe you're looking for her?"

Peregrine sighed again and smiled as Lara dropped a huge pile of papers on his desk

"Yeah you'd better… this we don’t need"

She nodded and left, leaving Perry along in his large office, he looked out the stain glass window and could almost swear he had seen a little boy hovering looking at him through the window, but it was impossible, he was on the second floor of the cathedral.

[Vanessa Marlowe]

She had spent the past few days wandering sround Sydney, relaxing adn making sure Perry was giving himself time to heal. As it was she was rooting through one of the libraries in the Cathedral, digging out the older, unmarked texts. Thus far the records weren't giving her any more information than popular fiction did about the existance of Werewolves. She sighed and sat back in the big chair, wincing as the pencil she had stabbed in her upswept hair attempted to impale her with the help of the back of the chair. She reached up and threw it on the table before her. They needed more information, and she had no idea how they were going to get it. Yet.

She stood up, stretching briefly as she refreshed her tea and decided to pay Perry a visit. She hadn't gotten halfway to the office he holed himself up in when her phone rang. "Dr. Marlowe..."

"Vanessa, we have a bit of a problem..." It was Colin, and he didn't sound entirely sure of the situation. Never a good sign.

"Alright, give it to me straight, dear. No use in sugar coating something that can't be sweetened." She paused and leaned agaisnt the wall, her black heeled boot finding a place on the wall as she reclined against it, careful not to spill her tea.

"It's official, Lilith is gone. So's her friend." Colin began rambling...

"That's not news, dear... that's history."

"Yes, I know that... but she's been ... replaced. I guess you can call it that. There are reports all over the news about the slaughter of priests in strange ways, and of course the usual Vampire signs. She's been replaced by what seem to be some rogues. Heady and full of themselves. They aren't ancients, and best we can get from the insiders we have is that they basically grabbed the Playhouse and whoever was left and made it their own. It's a whole new ballgame with them Doc. They're not at all the refined characters you've been studying. Young, arrogant, power hungry and careless..."

Vanessa stood and just shook her head as she listened. She hated ill mannered people, and an ill mannered vampire was even worse. She had seen this happen before. Boston had a flare up of a young clan trying to replace the one her people destroyed. They caused a good deal of Havoc, but eventually their arrogance and egos were what brought them down. "Alright Colin... Let me talk to Perry, I may need to come home early. Don't make any major moves yet, get me some surveillance, send me the paperwork on the ones you know of, and I'll let you know within the day what the plan is. No moves until I get back or tell you..." She knew he was irritated. But she also knew he was the one other person she trusted to keep the Illuminix house in order while she was gone.

"Right... any luck on those Werewolves? I have our research team diging up everything they can. All the houses here are working on it. We're getting in fo daily. It'll be ready for you when you get home." Home... Colin was going to be highly disturbed when he found out Perry might accompany her... but that wasn't any of Colin's business. Lara met up with her in the hall and motioned to Perry's office and she nodded in understanding as she finished the conversation with Colin.

"Thanks Colin. I'll be in touch." And she closed the phone. She pushed herself off the wall, her heels cracking along the wooden floor as she paused just outside of Perry's office. He was looking better, healthier, and she just leaned against the doorway and smiled, making a point to sip her tea. She wasn't as professional this afternoon, no suit or dress, but a pair of jeans, torn in various places, frayed at the bottom to accentuate her stylish boots, and black V neck cotton shirt that was fitted and long sleeved. As always, her hair was pulled up on her head in a loose clip and did as it pleased. She even had a pair of glasses to fit the outfit, dark rimmed. She wasn't obsessed with fashion, but somehow managed to incorporate it into her way of living without paying it any mind. She'd call you daft if you insinuated otherwise. Finally, after watching him examine the stained glass window for a while, she spoke up.

"I see they brought you the paperwork on the latest New York problem. They sound like upstarts to me, and we both know how I just abhor upstarts. I just spoke with Colin, darling... I might need to go back.... " She stood there, waiting for a response. She didn't want to go back yet, not with Perry in the state he was in, not when they hadn't spent much time together for ages, and not so soon after she arrived. She'd hear him out and then see if he would want to continue their reunion back in her city, fighting her monsters. After all, his were going to take more research...

[Peregrine Daniels]

"Upstarts… what couple be worse, those Vamps that think they own the world because they're a couple of hundred years old… please"

Perry knew the type well and he knew Vanessa did too, they were dangerous, cocky and strong, but they always made mistakes, that's where Nessa and Perry would step in, many a young kindred had the both of them slayed, new to the underworld, thinking they can take the world and kill anything that would step in there path. Perry enjoyed staking them, he was a little terrified to admit.

Peregrine spoke with a frown, he lifted his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose as he stared down at the pages, looking through the report, skimming and speed reading but taking everything in none-the-less.

"Take a seat Nessa; push the papers out of the way"

He said with a frown as he realised the chair in front of his desk was littered with papers, the opposite side of his desk also had an indent so Nessa could sit at the same desk and go through papers like she would at her own desk. Peregrine shook his shoulder and head as Vanessa said she needed to go back

"I have a feeling I should stay In Sydney, but I've ordered everyone to lay low for the next couple of weeks, if not months. Isabella and her cronies are not going to take this lying down, they'll plan revenge, but secrecy is out best friend at the moment"

He said closing the New York folder and pulling them off his face and once again into his mouth

"I'll come with you to New York for a couple of weeks maybe a month, there's not much we can do here, not until this quieten down, I don’t want to risk anyone else, I want to know what's going on with this new guy, you could use me?"

With a twinkle if his eye and without waiting for a reply Peregrine replied to his own question

"So it's settled then, to the big apple we go!"

He said with a smirk, next to Melbourne, New York was his next favourite city, he was looking forward to it… somewhat.