One More Reflection In The Mirror

Setting

Lillith's Home (Basement)

Cast

Scene

Lillith will likely be pissed when she realizes the roof has been breached, but it was the only way someone unskilled like Eric could get in without setting off a security alarm. He came in through the attic, and has been following the scent of sleeping vampire…

First the scent of a sleeping vampire leads to one of the bedrooms on the main floor.

The shotgun comes out. Nose open, breathing quickly and deeply to catch the scent of anyone else, ears peeled for the sound of footsteps or breathing, Eric hurries to the door. He reaches out, tests the doorknob…

No lock. The door swings open on a bland but tasteful room. And there is a bed. And there is a woman sleeping there. She doesn't rouse. The windows have been bricked up. There is no sunlight in. But the woman in the bed.. she isn't Lillith. Her hair is too dark for one thing. And she's far too young looking. No this is a vampire that Eric has never met. She looks like a little girl sleeping, innocent..

Shit. Shitshitshit. He pulls back, closes the door. There has to be someone else here. Liz was telling the truth. He goes looking for the next door.

The rest of the house seems empty, but he picks up the scent that leads.. down. A basement.

Down, then. To the basement. He's moving quickly, nervous, now, the scent of fear trailing him. It doesn't show on the outside - and wouldn't, even if he weren't in a mask and helmet and body armor - but any who are sensitive to the scent of it would know. A little girl? Why would there be a little girl vampire? Shit. Shitshitshit.

The basement. Down there is two coffins. But.. sitting ontop of one of the coffin's is Lillith. Except there seems to be that black hole around lillith. She senses no power what so ever.

Oh. Shit. Shitshitshitshit. Eric stops, at the top of the stairs, and looks down. "So," he says, quietly. "Just, uh. Don't blame the others. I came alone. They'd never have tried this."

Lillith yawns at Eric, looking quite bored indeed. She says, "You know, Rat King. I really tried to give this city a chance. I really did." Lillith sighs and hops down off of the coffin- the movements are all wrong, not quite fitting in the female's body -and walks toward Eric.

"I -didn't- break the truce." The gun slowly lowers. It would do no good, anyway. "I swore the fucking truce, and I fucking meant it, and she called for my head. I'm acting in the only way I can. I was told you weren't going to take me yourself. And I believed it. What changed your mind?" If he's going to die, he might as well know the reason.

Lillith smiles toward Eric and reaches out to touch his face, if he doesn't pull back. She smiles brightly at him and says, "Oh no. Mr. Jameson. I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to tell you, you're making a very, big big mistake."

Eric's entire body tenses, muscles tight. The shotgun could raise. At this distance, surely the silver would tear up into the body cavity, tear the heart to shreds. But then, the Traveler would just bring the little girl from upstairs. And Eric isn't quite sure he could deal with that. "I'm doing the only thing I can do," he growls out, quietly. "I kill…Lillith. Then Tobias. And then every other vampire who has ever threatened the Rodere. And the others will value their lives enough to never threaten us again. Peace. Peace like after fucking Hiroshima. Call me Truman."

Lillith shakes her head at Eric and responds to him, "Oh. Except you see. There is one within the city who is lying. Lying to the Master of the City. Telling her you want to kill her. That is why she put the price on your head. Do you really want to kill innocent people over a lie, Mr. Jameson?"

"She was foolish enough to believe a lie when I told her the truth to her face. She called -me- a liar. Her pet tried to lure me into an ambush. She broke the truce over an -idiocy-. She'll do it again. You know she will. She wanted peace…until the first difficulty. And then she shattered her word over a lie, against the word of the fucking King of Rats. That might not be more to you than a sewer rat is to me, but in this city, it means that if you weren't here, six Masters would be dead tonight, and peace tomorrow…or another dozen dead. She should have killed me quietly in my sleep." His hand tightens on the grip of the gun, but it does not rise. "Am I to live in fear that another will not lie to her -tomorrow-, and her word will break again?"

"No." Lillith responds, sliding her "hand" down toward his chest. She grins at him softly and says, "No. I expect you Rat King. To realize that I went through alot to find a Master of the City I put my faith in. And you will have to forgive the fact that she didn't catch the lie. No one else in the city did. And you are a violent creature of rage and darkness. You will have to forgive her for not trusting you anymore than you trust her."

"If she comes after me again, I will raze this Kiss to the ground. Your eye can't be on them forever, and I've let someone live to plan my death and the death of my rats once too often. If Lillith apologizes, repeals her demand, and reinstates the truce, she lives. If she breaks it again, I won't leave a Kiss in Chicago for you to appoint a Master over. You'll not be annoyed by us again." Where Lillith's hand trails, Eric tenses further. Every touch reminds him of just how easily he was skinned. Fear pours off of him in waves.

Lillith's hands suddenly grab ahold of Eric's face, and she twists. And with strength that cannot possibly be hers, he is suddenly thrown- hard -to the floor.

He is thrown to the floor easily - there's no way to resist that. There's a pop in his neck, not broken, but certainly painful until the sprain begins to heal. The scent of blood comes from Eric's face slamming into the basement floor, and the gun skitters away to thump against one of the coffins. Eric rolls immediately, his nose snapping back into place, the wounds sealing slowly to a trickle, but remains on the ground, staring upward. "There will be war as surely if I die as if she dies," he manages to say, keeping the quaver in his voice low. "Are the terms unreasonable?"

Lillith is ontop of Eric instantly. Face-to-face. Flaring of inhuman rage in Eric's face. The Traveler says, "Listen to me you stupid little rodent. I am trying to keep war from happening, you stupid little fuck. I am so tired of you ants acting like you can just shrug off whatever I /say/." Those fangs snap at Eric's face, grazing the skin. "Why the hell do you think I told your female about her bounty on your head? Because I understand that there would be war if they killed you. That I see the fires that would burn this city to the ground. DO YOU THINK THAT I AM SO BLIND? DO YOU NOT THINK THAT I SEE FAR MORE THAN YOU CAN?"

«OOC» Melpomene says, "It's no longer Lillith's voice. It's a man's. And he's pissed."

There are a few moments of catatonia. "I think," Eric murmurs, finally, "That if you were going to kill me, you would have. If you're going to hurt me, go ahead. I hear what you say. And I do not ignore it. You killed my friends, and I can't do anything about it. Except set the terms for how I am going to do exactly what you want when it will likely get me killed eventually anyway. You and I want the same things, although only god knows why. Let me do my job so you won't have to anymore. I'll keep the goddamned truce."

She is still in his face, still angry. Traveler informs him, "I shall be talking to Lillith when she awakes. And informing her of the lies and how she has been -weak- by letting herself be manipulated like this. I suggest, Mr. Jameson. You use that time to reflect on the fact that I am the nicest member of the Council. And what would have happened if it were not me here in the city."

«OOC» Eric says, "I don't suppose it would be wise to ask Traveler to give Lillith a little sign that says 'boom' for her coffin…"

«OOC» Melpomene says, "It won't get you killed, but.. ;)"

"Sir, I have no illusions as to my mortality. You do not need to remind me. You did that quite well by stripping me of my skin." A pause. "It hurt. And I saw what you did to Mia's daughter. If there's nothing else, I think I'd like nothing more than to run away, now. Before I piss myself."

"You may leave. And it wasn't your mortality I was talking about Mr. Jameson. Is was your manhood. Your virtues. Padma likes nothing better than to rape and break men like you." Traveler says. But stands up and lets Eric go.

Slowly, Eric pushes himself up to his feet. He moves to retrieve his gun, and slides it back into the sling at his back, under his coat. "Sir, for a man in a woman's body, you are awfully concerned about manhood. I think I am going to flee, now. Tell Lillith I said hello." And, with that, Eric makes extreme efforts not to look back over his shoulder as he also makes extreme efforts not to actually run as he heads for the stairs.

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