Playhouse Annex

[raven]

(Chat transcript from a lovely little RP session last night...)

Kakihara:Little emerald spiders come to play with me, crawled into the pupils…green dancing, a hue so beautiful…within the eyes of joy, within the eyes of joy. Digits white, from holding her close…pulling her close. Symphonies played on, hundreds - ancient and beautiful, the melody enchanting. Pulled from the deep darkness of his trance…the deep purple, so powerful and intoxicating. A smile upon lips, tortured and scarred…bloodlust joy, she was his love. Like Hades’ love…chasing her through eternity, the backdrop of the dark well…the dragon chewing eternally upon the roots of the tree of light.

"We will get him, now or later…let us bring Vee in, let us see what he has to say…"

He did like Vee, even if it was just his manner…or his look. He was not a fan of males, but Vee was beyond that. He kissed Lilith's cheek…

"Yes, call him.”

Lilith:Giggling, she pulled away and slunk back across the carpeted expanse towards the desk. Pushing the intercom button with one slim finger and jiggling her foot as she waited, Lilith blew a kiss to her dark-eyed mate. Though it took only seconds for the device to crackle to life, it seemed an eternity before an answering voice floated from the silver grate.

"Mistress?"

Oh, such velvety depths that drew her in then! Closing her eyes as Vee replied, pert lips curled into the perfect semblance of a smile. Running a hand down the front of her scandalously short jacket to smooth a nonexistent wrinkle, she shook the rest of her hair free from the clasp and giggled lowly.

"Vee! Darling! We're home. Has Amberlae called back yet? Oh, never mind…I've some wonderful news, darling, and Kakihara and I would like your counsel."

Not waiting for a reply, she clicked the button again and promptly shut the thing off. Crooking a tapered digit, she motioned her murderous paramour over with a wicked, lusty grin.

Kakihara:She was a seductive little goddess, wasn't she? So serpentine…so elegant, so beautiful. He waited, pulling a fish hook from a table - he swung it about, jabbing and pulling here and there. Pondering over how best to start the killing of Perry. He watched her, the whole time…and a flash of obsidian light, and more…a rave, of bloodlust…a dream. She called him, after speaking to Vee. He dropped the fish hook back on the table and walked slowly to her. His arms sliding up onto her shoulders, as he stepped behind her…rubbing them softly.

"You really do like Vee, don't you? No wonder you keep him so close."

A grin, yes another grin…she kept him smiling - in one form or another, almost always. Digits picked at the strands of her hair, as he waited…

"And maybe Vee can update us about your friend. We do need to begin our play."

Lilith:Pressing against him, brown-black eyes glittered mischievously and she laughed softly. Pulling his arms around her all the more tightly and bringing his oft-cold fingers to her lips, she kissed with perverse sensuality each knuckle on his left hand.

"No, love. I simply adore Vee…he's been my faithful acolyte for years. You like him, too. I know you do…maybe we should invite him along on a hunt some night?"

Knowing full well the implications of this suggestion, she chuckled devilishly and nibbled his thumb…a kittenish expression playing across her face as she sought to snuggle as closely as possible against the warmth of Kakihara's chest. Vee would be in shortly, and Lilith really would appreciate his advice on the subject concerning Vanessa's Australian admirer…and the ways she and Kakihara might…toy…with him.

Kakihara:Eternity was never long enough, as the gods above knew full and well…even eternity had time, and time made certain things impossible. Even in the infinite. Even in the infinite. She pulled his hands, she pulled his fingers to her lips. Her lips, soft and gentle…the cool touch of a blood thirsty vampire goddess…a content look upon his scarred face, sadist emotional pain, yes it was that alright. She adored him with the touch of her lips, and he accepted such adorations. Adornments, decorations…hanging from the bloody body of the estranged. They waited for Vee, and he listened to what she had to say. About what would come…and as they waited, he spoke. Pressing his lips to her ears, he spoke…

"We leave for Rome soon, yes..."

His voice that of a serpent, giving life to Eve...

"We must visit the Pope, maybe the Cardinals…I hear their blood tastes most delicious and decadent…"

Lilith:It was as if lightning struck her then ("oh, at the gates of Greenwood, they danced together…"), as the hissing voice of her most-adored filtered past glossy tendrils of red to reach the small,
white ears beyond. Smoldering lashes fluttering and a look of sweet surprise registering across her countenance, she turned to him and flung her arms around his neck.

"Oh, you can't mean -- but, yes, you do! You mean we could -- and you think we'd have time -- and…oh, darling!"

The sudden, shocking thought of hunting God's own mouthpiece left her momentarily speechless, and a pink flush suddenly colored her cheeks…leaving Lilith looking like a fine-boned, fine-looking porcelain doll of outlandish proportions. Inky orbs sparkling and whole body afire with excitement, she nearly missed the polite knock that reverberated against the ornate doors. Composing herself in one sweeping gesture, she gazed at Kakihara from the corner of her eye and smiled:

"Come in, Vee."

Kakihara:Until the dark. Until the silent pain came to an end. To my dearly loved, let us hunt the Christian soldiers. Her ears, he loved them…the curves, soft and gentle…he kissed them. He kissed them. She turned, and embraced him…and he repaid the gift, in the same way, embracing her. As they embraced each other in blood, tonight they did so in love.

"Yes, God's own mouthpiece…I wonder if, when we drink from his blood…we taste God."

A grin upon his blasphemous lips, baneful and heretical. Burn the books! Burn the books! And suddenly, in his low key manner…Vee entered the stage. Lilith composed herself, he was always uncomposed…so this was no different, this was nothing unusual. He smiled to Vee, nodding…the dark kin, their kin…was beautiful, truly. So emotionless…so pale.

Lilith:Looking neither uncomfortable nor out of place, Vee slunk with a terrifying grace into the cavernous room. Incandescent eyes focusing with an unwavering concentration on the now-resolute form of Lilith, he pulled at the loose end of a button-down shirt (worn completely open so that his pallid chest and the inkings worked upon the flesh were on prominent display) and smiled.

"Vee, my kitten…come here. Look at what Seven and her circle of madcaps have discovered for us…"

Holding out a shapely hand and tucking stray tendrils of scarlet behind the ear Kakihara so gently kissed before, Lilith gestured Vee to sit at the desk…letting slip the paper scrap to the counter below and pointing at the number scrawled across the dead-white surface in a spidery hand.

"We were wondering if we shouldn't just call him tonight -- Peregrine, that is -- to have a nice little chat…and we decided your input would be the deciding factor, didn't we darling?"

Looking to Kakihara with blazing eyes, she smiled impishly.

Kakihara:Parting from Lilith, his eternal love…in this dying world, the only thing he cared about more than the blood of the innocent…and even more, the blood of the righteous…and walked around, to stand beside the table, with Lilith and Vee. Hands resting on his hips, he cocked a brow…wondering what to say. When to say it. She asked a question and he answered…

"Yes, Vee…we thought we would ask you what you thought on the subject, and how we should go about this…"

He always felt uncomfortable around them, his kin…and this was no different, even if Vee was attractive.

"Especially your thoughts on how we should go about trapping him…this is going to be the hard part."

Pressing his hands to the table, he leaned forward…waiting.

[raven]

She could sense with a perfunctory, primal skill that Kakihara was ill at ease; though she had been bred to lead and groomed to give orders, Lilith knew that her lover wasn’t of the same stock as she – she knew that Kakihara was a loner by nature and a rogue by choice, a creature given wholly to self-serving whims (though tempered now and again by his love for Lilith). When such a mood hit, he would leave for days on end…only to suddenly reappear some night outside the great bay window, tapping with thin fingers upon the cold glass like the leading figure from a phantasmagoric dream.

Edging up behind him and curling her little hand around his, luminescent eyes darted between the two men…one marred most brilliantly by self-inflicted scars, and the other festooned in elaborate tattoos. Noting the thin, silver hoops in Vee’s ears and likening them to the hoops in Kakihara’s mouth, Lilith continued to study them both with a faint grin.

Vee, smiling despite himself and leaning upon the corner of the desk, studied the slip of paper before him with a critical eye. He was silent for a few moments, dark brows furrowed and sensuous mouth worked into something like a frown; shaking his head finally, brown locks covered his face only to be pushed back by the slight, cool hand of Lilith. Neon eyes flickering first to Kakihara (where they lingered appreciatively) and then to his mistress, Vee chuckled lowly and shrugged.

“You want to know what I think? Mistress…I’ve not the skill in this area to be making such decisions. You’re the “brains of the operation,” – remember?”

The tone he took was one of familiarity and adulation, and his gestures mirrored this. Handing the paper to Lilith with a little flourish, he purposely brushed against Kakihara’s arm…grinning demurely and watching the handsome lines of the almond-eyed demon’s face. Folding his own arms across his wiry, bared chest, Vee paused. Laughing a little, Lilith seized the opportunity and again pushed a few unruly brown locks away from his eyes before hissing gently:

“I know, Vee. But darling, Kakihara and I can’t decide if we should call him tonight…or wait until tomorrow evening. If we’re to leave for Rome soon, there may not be another chance to contact Peregrine…”

Squeezing Kakihara’s hand and noting the slightly flirtatious tone Vee had taken with her scarred lover moments ago, she giggled under breath and cocked her head as Vee ventured a response.

“Well then, your Highness. Call him, if there’s time tonight. Seize the opportunity, take initiative…and all that other rot.”

Vee grinned again, replying in the fashion that best suited him – gloriously cynical (though never in regards to his Mistress), sly, and half-laughing. Lilith giggled again at his answer, finally slipping to her feet and moving to push Vee towards the door.

“Okay, General…I’ll take your advice into consideration. In the meantime, I believe you have a coven to organize. That mass meeting isn’t going to gather itself, you know…they’re like militaristic, cannibalistic sheep…”

[raven]

Vee slithered across the room with an impossible fluidity (tempered only by the slick, tangible lines of his body); he and Lilith were alike in that respect -- both touted easily a remarkable suppleness seemingly gifted to them by some abject god. Alike, too, were their motives for particular business ventures, the hissing undertone their voices took when speaking on certain topics, and the wild candor that so painted their words (…when words were necessary, of course). Though Lilith hadn’t sired Vee, he was as close a fledgling to her as any being could be. Indeed, Lilith had never sired a fledgling…ever; the power in her blood increased exponentially as time wore on -- she’d never diluted her essence nor wasted the strength that writhed within. Though the blood play that she and Kakihara enjoyed bound them ever closer, it didn’t adulterate the potency left to her by her own sire -- and for this, Lilith was glad. No, she didn’t sire Vee…but she’d raised him in her own special manner. And that unending experiment was a tale unto itself.

Vee had been initially discovered by Seven. She’d taken a party of covenlings out with her to garner new information on the human population, and in the process they’d come across him feeding…on an entire immigrant family. In that tiny hovel, Vee had slaughtered mother, father, daughter, and baby, all alike -- he had no qualms, it seemed. There were bits of gore everywhere, as the green-eyed serpent had torn warm chunks from both necks and torsos in an attempt to get at every major blood vessel threading the corpses. Seven, outraged at his gross disregard for subtlety and art, directed that he be taken to Lilith…even though Vee knew little English and had himself only recently arrived in the United States. Blood staining his mouth like milk would a child’s, he was brought before the Annex queen -- he a newly-turned beauty, waifish and dark…she a sleek collection of white limbs, claret hair, and piercing eyes.

What ensued was shocking. Rather than punish him for his breach of secrecy, Lilith instead led him to her bed, where she allowed him to sit -- staring reverently -- while she interrogated him in his own foreign tongue. There was something that burned within him that Lilith recognized -- there was some element buried deep inside Vee that Lilith understood…because she had it, too. Though he’d never told her his full name (not even when they ‘played’ together), Lilith was privy to secrets no one else knew. Lilith and Vee became confidantes in a few hours’ time; after midnight, they were enamored with each other. Seven and the others eventually drifted away, content that Mistress would not be harmed; Lilith continued on with Vee until morning. He slept in her room that night, and for many nights after -- what was forged at that initial meeting were bonds unbreakable, trust unshakeable, and love infallible. Lilith had taken a horde of lovers until Kakihara appeared, but Vee had never been discarded; he’d stayed on as her most trusted advisor (next to Luceferi), and she never went a night without calling him to her side.

Shutting the door and surfacing to present-thought simultaneously, Lilith turned to Kakihara -- eyes shining -- and giggled. Shaking her head so that her hair fell in waves across pallid face and shoulders, she sprinted to the desk and picked up the scrap of paper. Listening to her lover’s words with all the intensity she possessed, Lilith laughed as he finished…and wound the little paper around her finger.

“Brilliant! Oh, yes…let’s. It’s too perfect, darling. Too, too genius.”

She’d shivered when he said her name. She always did. From the first time he’d called her ‘Lilith,’ she’d found his voice delicious; slinking over to him now, she collided with his body and grinned…running her fingers through his hair, across his jaw, and over his shoulders. Before another word slid from her throat, clicking footsteps outside the door signaled someone else’s arrival. Growling under breath and baring her teeth, Lilith cursed silently this new interruption and looked pleadingly to Kakihara -- hoping that he wouldn’t want her to answer the knock, but knowing full well it was expected of her. Straightening her jacket and stalking towards the massive portal, Lilith grabbed at the door handle…only to be nearly bowled over by Seven as she rushed in.

“Lady! Love! My darling! Seven found this on the nasty man you killed a little, little bit ago!”

Large, dark eyes shining, Seven pushed a cell phone into Lilith’s hands and giggled excitedly. Completely dumbfounded by the suddenness of her diminutive partner’s arrival, Lilith took the phone without question.

“And look, too! Lady! Love! It’s ringing! Aaaanswer it!”

Seven began hopping up and down as the phone began to ring. It was some digitized version of Goldenthal’s “Lestat’s Tarantella,” which Lilith rather liked -- but the name that flashed on the tiny screen was what abruptly sent shockwaves across her body.

“Caller ID: Vanessa”

Unsure as to how (or why) Seven had found their recent kill, curious as to the reasons her precious wraith had for picking at the body, and utterly stupefied at the luck so swiftly dumped upon her, Lilith was temporarily bewildered. Holding out the phone to her mate only to bring it back in, cradling it against her chest like some holy relic, Lilith’s face flushed with delight. At another excited squeal from Seven, Lilith turned and motioned for silence -- her eyes again becoming hard, her face set, and a malicious grin teasing at the corners of her mouth. Flipping open the device, Lilith put it to her ear and purred.

“Hello, darling. I’m afraid that boy of yours can’t make it to the phone. He’s currently…incapacitated.”

[Vanessa Marlowe]

(Posting the response here, but if that's not ok, I can move it to the Enemy thread)

“Hello, darling. I’m afraid that boy of yours can’t make it to the phone. He’s currently…incapacitated.”

There was no mistaking whose voice it was on the other end of the phone, and that sent a sudden wave of stomach pangs through Nessa. She was calling to find out where Phillip was. He hadn't checked in and she usually didn't mind so much, but things were moving in the city, the clans were collecting and she could feel the problem with Phil. She didn't have a mind link with him, not in any substantial way. But she knew he was no longer alive. She tried to ignore it, hoping she was wrong. Hoping that she didn't just lose another member of her team. Hoping that she didn't have to accept that as easily as she and her team could get to them, Lilith and her crew could get to her "family" too.

Her dark eyes narrowed slightly as she turned in her office chair, facing the window. It was raining, and streaks of water ran down the Library panes. She was looking into the oblivion of the city, and talking to a damned vampire. Normally this would excite her, the thought of actually having a conversation with one of them... espescially Lilith. For as different as they were, she felt some unspeakable connection to the woman, some likeness that she didn't quite approve of. Gods know Perry would think she was insane if she told him. She could actually feel the hairs oon her neck standing up.

She composed herself before responding, certian that the shock of the situation showed through the phone as easily as if she were standing in front of the creature. Her own tone was unyeilding and confidant, and full of of tell tale charm and wit.

"My my, Lilith? How nice to finally speak to you, darling... I dare say this moment has been long in coming, hmm? You know, I knew you were a murderess, but I never quite pegged you for a theif, Lilith. I figured that was beneath you... and by the looks of it, I was sorely mistaken. Where is he Lilith... where is Phillip?"

She realized as she was speaking that the very idol of her career, the very reason she worked day and night to secure the safety of the people of this country, of the world, was on the phone with her at that moment. She had her phone number. She could change the number in the morning, sure, but then.... why would she? It was a revelation she hadn't expected, a treat and possible opportunity to capitolize on in the future. Maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't be the last time Lilith contacted her. And wouldn't that be something for the Records.

[raven]

Tapping slight, chill fingers against Seven’s lips, Lilith frowned and shook her head. Now was not the time to introduce a cryptic former flame to her arch nemesis -- especially when said lover was presently bouncing around the room and giggling uncontrollably. Motioning for her to exit the chamber, Lilith’s eyes flamed dully in preparation for the stream of protests she knew would come; Seven’s face fell abruptly at this command, though her grey-shaded countenance remained supremely adorable, and in a minute she was through the door -- too wise, perhaps, to disobey Mistress during an important ‘ambassadorial’ venture.

Lilith listened to Marlowe’s reply with a sadistic sort of smile…recalling those details about the gruesome work she and Kakihara had done, and making mental notes concerning those parts she’d have to divulge to the Illuminixian. Sliding across the bed and laying on her stomach, she relaxed under her mate’s touch and stretched leisurely.

Marlowe’s own shock and surprise were apparent. She hadn’t answered straightaway, and though her voice was smooth and cordial now, Lilith realized that Vanessa had been as shaken as she at Fate’s newly-dealt hand. Quick, dark eyes darting around the room and attention tuned squarely in on her enemy’s words, the Annex monarch attempted to quash those tingling feelings that had taken up residence in her stomach and on her skin.

There was something about Vanessa that Lilith was inexplicably drawn to; there were strange qualities about the woman that she found herself contemplating from time to time. Yes, she wanted to make a piece of art with her that would rival any object in the Louvre…and yes, the little minx was doing her best to ruin things for Lilith in New York. However, the intensely disgusting morals peddled by Vanessa (and the innocence unwittingly showcased like a by-product) intrigued the she-beast beyond belief. Oh, if she could only get her hands on Marlowe…

"My my, Lilith? How nice to finally speak to you, darling... I dare say this moment has been long in coming, hmm? You know, I knew you were a murderess, but I never quite pegged you for a theif, Lilith. I figured that was beneath you... and by the looks of it, I was sorely mistaken. Where is he Lilith... where is Phillip?"

Drawing Kakihara’s arms around her, she grinned (bearing pointed incisors that glittered wetly in the dusky light) and answered in an endearing, nonchalant manner.

“A thief? My lovely…understand that I am a thief of the highest caliber. I don’t take wordly treasures. I take lives.

I must say, though -- you’re spot on. Isn’t this moment remarkable, darling? This moment that finds you and I communicating…in ways other than the making and recovering of corpses?”

Lilith giggled a little, a low and silvery sound that smacked of self-possession. Picturing Marlowe’s intense eyes and shimmering form before her now, the vice-toting siren squirmed into Kakihara’s embrace and continued on:

“Phillip was his name, then? He was a beautiful boy, Vanessa; strong, suave…virile, I daresay. I’m not exactly sure where he is, love -- Kakihara and I took a walk, and we happened to meet him along the way. Oh, but he was stunning. In fact…

…I’m looking at his teeth right now.”

Nuzzling her face in close to Kakihara’s, she suddenly lit up. An idea had hit her, delicious firebrand that she was, and for a few moments she drifted to the contemplative plane of thought.

She knew of the fear that followed in Kakihara’s wake. She knew that all branches of the Enemy were aware of his presence, his power, and the complete insanity that governed his actions. The New York subdivision was perhaps the most intrigued by him -- after all, it was because of Kakihara that Lilith had taken to leaving her kills mutilated beyond recognition…it was because of Kakihara that she hunted in well-populated places and left the bodies to be discovered by Enemy and media sources alike…it was because of Kakihara that Lilith had given in completely to her desire to shear as much flesh and scatter as much gore as her inner desires dictated.

It was because of Kakihara that Lilith had surrendered to her most sadistic, hideously-deplorable yearnings. And it was Kakihara that caused Vanessa to shudder at times. This Lilith knew without a doubt, and this Lilith treasured. The fear that Kakihara caused in others was luscious…and thinking about it even now stirred both bloodlust and desire.

Biting her lip so that the threadbare self-control she sometimes obeyed kicked in (momentarily), she purred lowly and grinned:

“Speaking of Kakihara, Vanessa…he’s here. Would you like to talk to him? I’m sure he has something worth saying to a lovely dove such as yourself.”

[Vanessa Marlowe]

“A thief? My lovely…understand that I am a thief of the highest caliber. I don’t take wordly treasures. I take lives.

I must say, though -- you’re spot on. Isn’t this moment remarkable, darling? This moment that finds you and I communicating…in ways other than the making and recovering of corpses?”

She tried not to be genuinely amused by the commentary given by the She devil, but it had a macabre sort of charm. She was drawn to Lilith in a dark way, one that superceded temporal nature. Vanessa was a scholar, literature, art, history, religion... the flow of text from one century to another fascinated her. The principles, the underlying concepts of good and evil, of right and wrong, and then... then there were those immortals that always seemed to find themselves a place in the social consciousness. Lilith wasn't an engraving, not a whisper, not a footnote. She was -here- in this life, and even when Vanessa was gone, long dead, Lilith may still be carrying on as she has been. It was this immortality, the perseverence of the darkness, the very presence of those outside of the rules of her very own mortality that complicated her intrigue.

"I dare say, it's about time. One might think we were old friends by now, dear. Without all the death and hunting you down and the killing, you know."

She paused, thrilled at the verbal gymnastics, the confrontation of charm by these two sides of one coin.

“Phillip was his name, then? He was a beautiful boy, Vanessa; strong, suave…virile, I daresay. I’m not exactly sure where he is, love -- Kakihara and I took a walk, and we happened to meet him along the way. Oh, but he was stunning. In fact....

…I’m looking at his teeth right now.”

And the very timorous pleasure that was threading through this exchange was lost for her. Instanly feeling guilty for wanting to understand this being. Phillip was dead. And she felt the vacuum in her chest as that reality set in. He was a good kid. Eager, headstrong, and with something to prove. He wasn't careful and he refused to listen to her about the precautions she had warned against. And now... now he was dead.

But it wasn't that thought alone that sucked the pleasure out of the conversation. The cordiality was erased when she instantly realized what had happened. Lilith was always a creative killer, but she wasn't always a masochist. She didn't enjoy the insane mutilation she seems to now. And through all of the records following the seductive leader of the Annex clan, only one person affected that change in the woman. Kakihara.

Kakihara.... The man was a monster beyond comprehension. He was darkness and cruelty made flesh. He was illness and depravity. She felt the flush drop from her cheeks, leaving her shiver slightly in the leather chair. Instinctivly she tucked her feet up under her as she curled up against the back of her perch. Kakihara.

Did she fear him? On some level she was petrified of him. But that very fear, the deep, unable to be ignored disturbance that he brought her, that drove her to hunt them both. Lilith she felt some kinship to, had some chessmaster's respect for another master player. She reviled Kakihara. His victims claw at her in her worst dreams. In her nightmares he's standing over her. Did he scare her? Yes. Would she run from him? Never.

"You know Lilith... I'm quite, oh, how to put this delicately .... quite, dissapointed in you. I've been watching you for as long as I can remember, and, quite frankly, I thought you had a certain respectability to your murder. It used to be a perfected craft. But you let that... thing... pollute something that was once artful. Now it's just juvenille gore for the sake of shock value."

She was being honest, of course, but also instigating Lilith's pride. Whether it mattered or not, Vanessa would continue to chip at her sense of independance and pride in her killing. Twisted methodology, yes. But in order to destroy something, you ultimately must understand it completely. And the very fact that she could appreciate Lilith's behavior, her "craft," on an abstract level troubled her. It was the curse of the Academic, seeing the possitives and negatives of every given situation.

“Speaking of Kakihara, Vanessa…he’s here. Would you like to talk to him? I’m sure he has something worth saying to a lovely dove such as yourself.”

She didn't speak. She had never heard that monstrosity's voice and didn't honestly know if she wanted to ever hear it. At least her nightmares didn't speak. She curled her fingers around the arm of the chair, her eyes pinioned to a blurry city skyline in the distance. She wouldn't run. She wouldn't cower from him. It was her job to burrow into his hole and kill him. Her pause already intimated that she was troubled, it was too late to hope for that illusion to be destroyed.

"I never pictured Kakihara as the talking type. I'm just giddy with anticipation to hear from him." She couldn't help the seething venom in her voice. It would be later when she tried to call Perry that she would realize her need of controling her temper and emotions. For whatever reason, Kakihara brought the worst out in her. She glanced to her desk, and without effort found the picture of Perry. Knowing he was coming gave her strength. She knew, at that moment--when the creatures that have plagued her life, the city and her memories were hovering just on the other end of the phone--, just how much she needed him.

[raven]

"I dare say, it's about time. One might think we were old friends by now, dear. Without all the death and hunting you down and the killing, you know."

Turning her face away from the phone to stifle another guttural laugh (that seemed far below the silvery sounds she’d produced before), Lilith allowed herself to be consumed by Kakihara’s advances for a few delicious moments. Arching her neck and batting a thick fringe of charcoal lashes, she twined her arms around his and purred:

“Bewildered and weak, yet with passion replete, I hunger for past overtures…”

Unclasping the massive silver buckle at her neck, Lilith twirled a coiling red tress around one finger and smiled. Perhaps she and Kakihara would celebrate this point of contact later…after the meeting…in ways only they would appreciate. For the time being, though, she’d have to turn her full attention back to the fascinating little creature on the other end of the phone. It was the polite thing to do, after all…

There was no fooling Marlowe. She knew that the woman possessed an uncanny knack for perceiving the subtle, and though this would prove dangerous (no doubt) in future endeavors, Lilith herself was not without considerable skill in this area, too. She could tell that Vanessa was just as excited as she – indeed, she almost felt bad at having to tell her that her beloved Phillip was dead. Almost, of course; his blood had come in a splendid shower of wet redness, and his body had been the platform for violence-spurred pleasures that caused Lilith to shiver even now. She knew, too, that Vanessa would have some swift, nimble company out looking for the boy’s body before the night had ended – and so Lilith would draw back her dissolute troops in an effort to comply with the unspoken rules between her and the Illuminix CEO.

Rounding on Vanessa as she mentioned something about disappointment and “shock value,” Lilith felt the blood rising to her face. The woman dared to insult her choice in killing styles – and worse yet, her choice in mates? Raking a viciously-nailed hand across the lush expanse of comforter beneath her, Lilith suppressed a shriek and instead let out an explosive sigh. She’d not show her anger, no – that was precisely the effect that Vanessa was going for. It had to be. She’d incensed Marlowe with her talk of murdering Phillip, and the return fire was meant to dig as deeply as possible. Clenching her teeth and smiling through pursed lips, Lilith replied in the same cool, engaging way as before.

“Listen, love…murder is murder – there’s nothing respectable about it. Even the most base-looking of bugs can turn into a butterfly, given the right catalyst. Kakihara’s just that, darling – he’s a catalyst…a beautiful, brutal catalyst.”

Grinning as Vanessa retorted with gorgeously-executed sarcasm, and before she turned the phone over to her mate (who replied to Marlowe in that spine-tingling voice of his), she whispered in a manner reminiscent of old friends’ confidentiality:

“And I’m sure you can appreciate that. I know you need a catalyst of your own, love. Just give me the word…”

[Vanessa Marlowe]

“And I’m sure you can appreciate that. I know you need a catalyst of your own, love. Just give me the word…”

She had perried the blow about Phillip effectively, and it was obvious that Lilith was speaking through her teeth, calm as she might sound. But the digging would go no farther than that. It was wartime humor, banter between mortal enemies. If you couldn't push each other's buttons now and again, what was the point of it all?

She glanced at the window's reflection of the room, and there stood Colin, waiting, listening. She spun the chair around and pulled her feet back under the desk. She scribbled a quick note to her Leuitenant directing him send for Phillip's body. She knew it would be hard, Phillip was well liked. But Colin would know who to send. At the bottom of the paper she wrote one name and put a square around it for emphasis. Kakihara. He had to know what he would be retrieving. And what state it would be in. Colin heard the name Lilith and was just stupified. His expression was priceless.She handed him the note and he immediately looked sour, angry and yet still managing to calculate his duty. He turned and she knew he would have Phillip back in the refuge of the Mother House before sunrise.

In all truth, Vanessa was torn about her position. SHe would hunt every last Vampire to its death until her own body could no longer withstand the strenuous activity. But she also wanted to ~understand~ them. To understand the immortality, the development of personality, of morals, of codes of conduct. Of living but not really living. The academic in her was screaming a million possible questions, desires to have lunch with this She Devil. But it would never happen. And she had just touched on part of her own anxiety. Catalyst? Was she talking about embracing her... threatening it? Or was she offering up the services of that deranged companion of hers in a scare tactic.

Too late to ask...

"Marlowe.." his voice pushed through the lines, like ebony tendrils through the spaces around a closed door. "..we are coming for you.." Creeping, sliding.. closing in.. "..you are ours."

"..we are coming for you.."

She shivered, and she knew it would be detectable. His voice had every property her own twisted imagination was able to produce in place of his real one. He was equally as disturbing on the phone as in paintings and images. She could hear the sound of his rings moving and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She refused to allow him to frighten her. She would hear him again in her dreams that night, but she would never let him know that. She almost prayed for a confrontation with him in the hopes of ending his vile presence on this earth.

"You're ours..."

She steeled herself agaisnt the fear that had turned her hands clammy. Hearing his voice wasn't nearly as bad as she imagined. But that's always how it is. Fear works best with imagined threat. The action itself rarely lives up to the mark... though she didn't doubt he would come damn close. Her response followed a silent breath. How dare he speak to her like a scared child in a haunted house?

"Well yes, I assume your ego would make you think such. But contrary to your torqued sense of reality, my dear paramour, I am no one's. Lovely to finally speak to you, though. I've always wondered if you might have a female voice behind all those decorations. I'm pleased to see it is sufficiently molded into the very sound of the grotesque. I expect no less."

She paused, her own heart pounding through her shirt. "You're coming for me... Well at least I'll know where to find you. It would make my job a sight easier, love. I look forward to it...."

[Vanessa Marlowe]

((( Con't in The Enemy thread )))

[lilith]

It had happened fours days ago.

Lilith’s entire world had come crashing down around her, needle-sharp shards slicing through her flesh to rend the very bones of her body. The continuation of life seemed an unpleasant option now…slinking along time’s path seemed suddenly unbearable, agonizing, hollow. Utterly, utterly hollow…bleak and dark and without the light so carefully cultivated over the span of three centuries. Vacant-eyed and haunted, Lilith relived a memory so excruciating in its capacity to hurt her that she lay doubled over on the great cold floor of a now-empty chamber.

Kakihara was dead.

“Su muerte me ha matado…”

It had happened four days ago. Four days ago…and Lilith’s life had withered irreversibly. Now there was no one. Now there was only pain, only grief, only the terrible, piercing realization that now…there was no one. No one! His soul had fled, screaming upwards into a place they had only ever talked about in the deep reaches of night. They were foolish -- god, were they foolish; they’d never believed that they, too, were fate’s prey…and so complete was their vision of invincibility that when Kakihara decided to toe that line, he had stumbled over himself…and he had fallen.

“What did I do? Why wasn’t I enough for you to -- …why couldn’t you stop the bleeding? Oh, my baby…oh, mi querido…”

Plaintive sobbing, endless in its ability to conjure unintelligible fragments of her native tongue, filled quietly the corners of the room they had shared. Caught up in an agonizing cage of dead memories, Lilith had torn open her wrists, her arms, her torso, her neck. So quickly had they healed that now only congealing puddles of blood -- black, sticky, and vast -- stood as testament to this new and sudden flood of madness. Why hadn’t he stopped the bleeding -- what had they done to him? What things had they done to him that would incapacitate her paramount paramour?

“What did they DO to you?!”

After their phone call with Marlowe, after the long moment of bliss shared at that unexpected contact with their Illuminix minx, Lilith had collapsed atop the bed -- grinning, flushed, her intense interest in Vanessa renewed completely. Kakihara had held her for a long while, and only after she’d immersed herself in a new scheme to scandalize the Enemy did her lover slip off. He wanted to play a little while before the coven gathering; he wanted to deface the beautiful body of the boy they’d crucified, and he promised that he’d be back soon.

‘Soon’ turned into hours, and hours into a night. Initially irritated that he wouldn’t be home in time to bed down with her for the day, Lilith slipped into her coat and snapped at Vee on the way out. “Reschedule the meeting for tomorrow evening. He’s gone missing again,” she’d said. Once outside and enveloped in the smearing darkness of night, she’d regained control of herself -- incandescent eyes roving hungrily over the miserable milieu of abandoned buildings and pitted blacktop. It hadn’t taken her long to find the scene of their latest murder…and once there, it hadn’t taken long to realize that something had gone horrifically, horrifically wrong.

Sprawled in a dim and dirty pool of moonlight, the body of Kakihara lay crumpled on its side like a discarded doll. Every fiber of his blue plaid suit was saturated with the deep wine red of old blood, and his face, so cold, so vacant, was smeared with blood and a clear, bitter-smelling liquid. Rooted to the spot with fear and frozen with absolute, unadulterated horror, Lilith could only gape. In a moment she was turning him over, wailing, cradling his limp body to her chest and nuzzling his face…waiting for him to wake up, to smile…to breathe. She’d shrieked until her throat was raw, sobbed until her tears were tinged with red…

…And still Kakihara didn’t wake up.

Low and mournful, Lilith sobbed again as this last revisiting ended. Still doubled over on the cold and dirty floor, Lilith gave way to shrieking once more -- tearing at the tangle of red hair that hung over her face and clawing at the ground in an effort to pick herself up. For three days, she’d relived that death scene; for three days she’d barricaded herself in that room, ripping her body apart in an effort to rejoin her beautiful, brilliant mate. With her teeth she again tore open a wrist, an arm -- with her nails she split her throat open, shredded her mouth from lip to ear…and the pounding on the door resumed.

“They hurt you so much. Como le lastimaron, though? Como…como…por que?”

Despite her screams and the violence with which she’d shattered every fixture in the room, Vee wanted in…and Seven wanted in, and a thousand covenlings wanted in -- wanted to know why Mistress was distressed, what had happened to Master, why viscous driblets of blood snaked their way under the door. Lilith cried, now…cried, dropped to the floor, threw herself against the door and howled. Vee had attempted to talk to her the very next night, after one of Lilith’s own patrol units had found her sobbing in the street, Kakihara’s body clenched in both arms. Stunned, bewildered, and silent, they’d taken her and her lover’s body back to the compound; where the corpse went after that was a mystery to her…because Lilith had dropped to the floor, the shock finally flooding every particle of her being.

Vee’s voice fought with the memories, now. Vee’s voice struggled to latch onto the last scraps of reason left in Lilith, even as the excruciating grief sought to reclaim her.

“Lilith! Lilith, let me in! I need to talk to you, my darling! I’ve something to say, Lilith! It’s important for you to hear…”

[lilith]

Fine. Delete Libertine's post...

It's a signal for good-bye.

[Krisztinya Valkai]

~*blinks*~ I'm confused... again....

[Moridanu]

*sighs and rubs temples*

To clear up any confusion..

Jihn posted on this thread as Libertine and the Kitten.

This confused myself and the other mods, as Jihn has officially left Morthika after a barrage of insults directed at myself, the admin, this site and the players here.

Please see:

morthika.proboards34.com/index.cgi?board=announce&action=display&thread=1132150136

If you need clarification on that subject.

That is the last I or the other admins have heard on the subject.. he has not approached me or anyone else as far as I know, about coming back to this site, so therefore it was quite suprising to see him post on a site that he had no intention of returning to.

As far as Im concerned, Jihn has left Morthika. He has stated this himself, and has asked to be banned.. which he has been. Therefore, to have him "sneak" back on, and post is quite confusing, and therefore, his post was deleted.

Leets,.. if you read this.. Im sorry if you and he had something in the pipeline for that character.. the last I have spoken to you about this, you didnt mention anything of the sort, in fact, you implied that he was gone for good or Luciferi was going to be a NPC. I understand that he might of wanted to play a different character, but to be honest, after his childish antics and the way he insulted me and my site, he realy should of been man enough to approach me or one of the other admins about returning to this plot. I see that Leets' character has been deleted AGAIN. And quite frankly, unless I hear from her herself, I cant be bothered carrying on with this petty drama.

Jihn is gone. End of discussion. He wont be returning.

Leets.. *sighs and shrugs* if its that big of a deal to her, to ruin her RP, then she is gone as well. Im sick of the drama and interruptions to what is otherwise a freaking cool plot. Anyone wishing to step in as clan leader of Annex, please see me or James. Deidre is back in tow, and we have a new clan leader for the Crown Clan, so lets get playing..

Sorry Dawnola, you might have to find yourself a new foe.. dont worry though, I think Isabella might be losing her nice and sweet act sometime soon. *winks*

[Catrux]

He had been to the Annex Clan's playhouse before, but never ventured inside nor met with its leader Lillith. He had decided to change that and find out if his abilities would be of use to her and her clan.

Zarick stood infront of the door to the playhouse in his usual attire. Reaching out with his right hand he knocked on the door. He knew of the clan's reputation for using un-aligned vampires, he pitied the lowly and unfortunate vampire that may try to take him. He was here to speak with Lillith, and that was what he would do.

He had grown bored and annoyed by the lack of response to his knock. His tounge was running along his fangs out of his increasing annoyance. He tapped his foot for a moment before he lost his patients and called out, bearing his fangs to their fullest degree, "I have come to speak to Lillith! Open the door Clan Annex!"

[Moridanu]

*The reason for the lack of the response to Zarick would soon become evident. After many passing minutes, a tall pale willowy vampire dressed in black leather pants and a torn purple shirt opened the doors. She had five earrings in one ear, one stud through her nose and tattoo of a yellow and blue butterfly peeking out from behind one collar of the purple shirt.

As her amber eyes fell upon Zarick, it was clear she was disappointed by who she had found at the door.

~You can yell all you want to stranger, you will not find Lilith here. She and her crew have cleared out completely.. left us all to rot in our own filth!~ The vampire spat onto the doorstep, narrowly missing Zaricks feet before she narrowed her eyes and glanced back up at him.

~You aint her replacement are ya? The gang.. well whats left of us.. we were all kind of expecting someone else to show up and run things…? Is that you?! ~ she stood with her hands on her hips and waited for his reaction.*

(( No pressure Catrux, but if you want to be a Clan leader, heres ya chance! *grins * I’ll leave it up to you babe..))