Alcyone Green's Story

Alcyone Green

Alcyone stepped into the smoky bar, knowing full well she looked out of place amongst her patrons in the girly heels, floral summerdress and white suit jacket. She smiled to herself as several heads turned to meet hers as she made her way towards the bar, heels clicking on the marble floor.

"Because everyone should have PETS!"

She whipped her head around at the voice she hadn't heard in years, eyes widening as she realised who it was. She walked up behind the dark haired woman and touched her back lightly as she whispered into her ear.

"Now now, Malice, play nicely with the puppies," her eyes glowed playfully in the low lighting of the bar. "We don't want you causing any more brawls, now, do we?" She laughed lightly, stepping away from the volatile woman in front of her as she felt her tense up at the unexpected intrusion of personal space.


Edit: OOC - I can't figure out how to tag characters and I don't know if its just me but the post u responded to isn't showing up :( is there a way for you to do it for me babe? I havent worked this site out yet haha. I think I need u to show me around! Its different to what u said on the phone :(

Malice Whateley

Malice watched as Keeva walked away, chancing a glance down at the girl’s backside. “She’s got good spirit.” She smiled lecherously, her attention turning quickly back to Okada and Choi. “You would carry on working?” She asked slightly confused, “Why would you want to do that, you’ve just been given the gift of eternal life and you would squander it working for humans, saving them no less.” She had no intention of hiding her prejudices.

“Processed…?”

“They remove the coagulant from it, so it keeps permanently. In theory it will never go solid. However it ruins the taste and it’s just so much better fresh.” Malice explained taking another long drag of her cigarette.

“I want to safeguard as much of his humanity as possible.”

Malice had to run the sentence through her head a second time, “Why would you want to do that? The mortals don’t think the same of us?” She asked gesturing off towards the hunters behind her. “Well either way, suit yourself more for me.” She smiled darkly.

Malice turned hastily at the touch ready to fight off her attacker only to be greeted with the face of her now long term rival and the owner of the bar itself, Alcyone. “I was wondering when I would see you again. Still trying to rule the city?” She asked sardonically, turning herself around to face the witch.

The bar’s door swung open signalling the entrance of another of the bar’s dark patrons. Though this one was obviously of the hunters side, the nods of respect coming from the others in respect making bile rise in Malice’s throat, how she would love to slit every single one of their throats. She was distracted by this notion by Okada’s return with Ezra.

“You… you can see me…?”

“Well… Yes.” Malice answered bluntly, shifting in her seat as though she’d just been asked if the ground was beneath them. The sound of a blade and the gasps of someone being injured broke the conversation, causing Malice to swing herself around.

"This man’s bleeding! Quickly! Someone get him a cloth!"

The bar went close to silent as the rooms occupants looked across to one another all hands on weapons, waiting for someone to make the first move, no one wanting to break the neutrality. "He's so juicy." Malice herself had already grabbed hold of her Berettas but the sound of the young vampire returning made her take second thoughts, she launched herself across in front of Keeva, grabbing her by the scruff of the neck and lifting her around a foot off the floor, anger and bloodlust flashing in her eyes. “Not in here!” she growled her ferocity evident in her voice before launching the girl backwards away from the quickly dying hunter. “This is neutral ground!”

Malice Whateley

Malice bared her fangs at Keeva’s struggling form, luckily escaping the new-turn’s flails, although a well-placed scratch cut across her cheek, a small trickle of blood marking out a quickly healing trio of lines. “You need to learn when to fight and when to step the fuck back!” she growled up at the young woman.

“ENOUGH!”

Malice turned towards the sudden outburst but didn’t otherwise relinquish her hold on Keeva, she could feel the spells effect taking hold around her, she was all too familiar with Alcyone’s spells. Slowly Malice lowered the girl back to her feet giving her a push for good measure. “Your sister needs to learn her place!” She snapped as Keira burst in, “And you should be careful who you threaten mortal!”

As soon as the spell was dissolved from around her, Malice marched angrily back towards Alcyone. “She will do as she’s told or I will personally remove her…” her cold eyes gradually returned to their emerald green. “And her sister.” She answered in passing to Alcyone’s command, not that she particularly listened to the witch normally but Malice had always had a great respect for the traditions of war and neutrality was one of the fundamentals.

She took to her seat again, downing her glass and calling for another from the nearby barman.

"I apologize for cutting into whatever is the problem, but I really need to know if any one you are associated with a hospital.”

“Hmph, looks like you might still be able to continue your pointless career after all Choi.” Malice stated, tossing coins at the barman, her tone more sarcastic then before.

She glanced over to the slumped form of the hunter who was still bleeding heavily upon the bar. “Seems like a terrible waste to me. All that blood and it’s just spilt on the floor, if it weren’t for the hunters we could always drag him outside and finish him off.” She mused, more to herself since Okada was not a mortal drinker and Choi seemed entirely against the idea altogether.

((OOC: Just as a thought people, don't forget to tag the place you're in. The box is in the top right corner of the post box in the 'Posting' tab.))

Ezra Underhill, Okada Sasaki, and Choi Jin-Sang

“You… you can see me…?” Ezra asked. However the others seemed a bit un-phased and unsurprised by this discovery. Erza was very confused, more so than before.

“Well… Yes.” Malice answered bluntly, shifting in her seat as though she’d just been asked if the ground was beneath them. Ezra was truly baffled however the others seemed a bit un-phased and unsurprised by this discovery. Erza was very confused, more so than before. He had no clue that ghosts could be seen by Vampires and Werewolves or most all other supernatural beings for that matter.

The sound of a blade and the gasps of someone being injured broke the conversation, causing Malice to swing herself around. "This man’s bleeding! Quickly! Someone get him a cloth!"

Ezra, Sasaki and Choi were confused as to exactly what was going on. “What’s going on?! What just happened?!” Ezra questioned in a panic.

Sasaki replied, “It looks like someone couldn’t stick to the rules and didn’t keep their damn attitude to his or her self. That human hunter has just been brutally slashed.” Sasaki was not at all happy to see the scene that unfolded before him. He didn’t drink freshly drained blood anymore, however when freshly drawn blood was in the vicinity, it was hard to keep himself under control, even though he looked so composed on the outside.

Choi was having a very hard time controlling his impulses. He could feel his whole body trying to lunge at the bleeding hunter. He didn’t want to but it was like his body had a will of its own. Sasaki quickly wrapped his arms around Choi’s waist to restrain him lightly. Choi was fighting to remain calm, a fight in which he won.

"Take these two to my apartment as fast as you can, let them in and make sure the door locks when you leave. The girl is feeling very sick, and she should rest, very soon." The man said to the Driver. "It's your choice whether you trust me or not, but again, it's in your best interest to do so, I'm going to go see if anyone in the bar is a doctor." A man said. He seemed to be a Vampire. "I apologize for cutting into whatever is the problem, but I really need to know if any one you are associated with a hospital. I really need to get to one, and not for myself" the man spoke while looking across the line of people sitting at the bar.

Choi was hesitant to speak up. After settling his initial reaction to the bleeding hunter he didn’t think it was a good idea for him to be near the man. He could ditch the urge to kill him that floated around in the back of his mind.

“Hmph, looks like you might still be able to continue your pointless career after all Choi.” Malice stated, tossing coins at the barman, her tone more sarcastic then before. Choi seemed to give a slightly startled jump at the sound of the suggestion.

She glanced over to the slumped form of the hunter who was still bleeding heavily upon the bar. “Seems like a terrible waste to me. All that blood and it’s just spilt on the floor, if it weren’t for the hunters we could always drag him outside and finish him off.” She mused, more to herself since Okada was not a mortal drinker and Choi seemed entirely against the idea altogether.

Sasaki nodded his head in agreement with Malice. He didn’t feed, he drank. However that didn’t stop him from feeling bad about wasted blood. Sasaki gave Choi a nudge of confidence. “You can do it love. Just focus on the life in need of saving and not his blood. You’ll be fine. I believe you will.” Sasaki encouraged Choi.

Choi finally spoke. “I’m a doctor. However I have no supplies here. It would be difficult for me to treat him without the proper equipment. Are you opposed to taking him to a hospital?” Choi asked as he stepped forward. He was beginning feel less threatened by the site of the blood, which was a good sign.

Malice Whateley

Malice rolled her eyes at John’s show of bravado. “Oooh, well aren’t you such a big brave man!” she commented sarcastically, otherwise showing no emotion about the hunter’s demise. She remained at her seat as the others left. Malice had no interest in that much work for one mortal who probably deserved it anyway.

Finishing her glass she left her seat, walking back in through the throng of people, intending to follow after Alcoyne. After she’d managed to shunt her way through the throng of people she was confronted by two of the bar’s bouncers, one appeared mortal though the faint smell of wet dog gave away his werewolf nature. The other was obviously a hunter from his self-righteous glancing down at the vampire. Both were at least 6” 5’ and bore the scars that were common in both of their line of works.

“What do you want, Vampire!?” The hunter growled down at her sneering. “This room’s private.” He seemed pleased with his stand, though the werewolf next to him seemed totally stoic.

“Fuck off, Hunter! I’m here to see Alcoyne. She wished to see me.” Malice answered, matching the gigantic hunter’s glare, her piercing green eyes locked with his brown.

“You don’t think that’s really going to work do you?” The hunter asked folding his arms and raising an eyebrow.

“Well I’m going through whether you give me permission or not but really you’d much rather that nothing happens within the building so if you let me through there’ll be less shit. Ok?”

Alcyone was sitting at her desk going through some paperwork when she heard raised voices coming from the bottom of the stairs. She rolled her eyes; her line of work could be so taxing, she thought. Taking a large mouthful of her wine, she leant back in the large chair, straining her ears to listen to what was being said by her door.

"Boss! There's a bit of a commotion going on down here, some goth chick wants to see you, said you asked to see her. Shall I send her up?"

Alcyone huffed and reached to the battered packet of B&H laying on her desk. The only goth girl she knew was Malice, and an audience with that woman always had her reaching for those little cancer sticks she kept close by for just these reasons. "Yeah," she called down, lighting her fag and taking a deep drag. "I'm in the office." She sat up straight as she heard the loud thuds of Malice's heavy boots trudging up the staircase and opened the door with a slight flick of her fingers.

"I thought you left with your little... friend," the blonde witch said sardonically, "Or did you decide that you haven't stirred up enough shit for your amusement yet?" She knew the vampire quite well, and was more than familiar with the games Malice liked to play when she was bored and in a bar, and so assumed that the altercations downstairs were somehow related to her.

"What do you want, anyway? Not that its not good to see you, but I'm a busy woman and I don't have time for pleasantries." Alcyone took another drag, taking in her old friend. Physically, she hadn't changed a bit, but there was something new about her eyes, she just couldn't work out what. Anger, perhaps? No.. she'd seen that before. Bloodlust? Again, no, she'd just been clearing out the bar's blood stock. Then it hit her. Hope. This instantly intrigued the witch, having known Malice for just under a decade, she'd never looked like this before.

Malice Whateley

Malice glared at the hunter as he called up the stairs, wanting nothing more than to pull out one of her guns and grant him a few more scars but sadly her agenda required her to stay on Alcyone’s good side and killing her staff was probably not the best way to go about doing so.

“The boss says you’re good to go up.” He repeated back to her, evidently ignorant of her vampiric enhanced senses. He pushed the door to the stairs open in front of Malice gesturing with his arm for her to enter. “Thank you.” Malice growled, glaring daggers at the almost sniggering hunter.

The smell of smoke reached her nose as she reached the top, Alcyone’s habit seemed as bad as her own, though it’s effects were somewhat lost on someone incapable of enjoying them such as a vampire; not that that stopped Malice of course.

"I'm in the office."

Malice turned to follow the voice, her hand reaching down to the door handle before it swung away from her. “Hmph, fucking show off.”

"I thought you left with your little... friend,"

“Well now, we’ve known each other ten years and no hello?” Malice smiled back, her general cold demeanour hardly shaken. “No they left to help some mortal or something, far too much work for a girl who probably deserves it anyway. She was quite a looker though.” Malice added as she pulled up the chair in front of the large desk.

"Or did you decide that you haven't stirred up enough shit for your amusement yet?"

“Oh you know me. If someone nearby has a pulse, I will stop it for ‘em.” She picked up the crumbling box of cigarettes from the table and held it up to Alcyone, “Do you mind?” She had already begun withdrawing one from the packet before the reply could come.

“What do you want, anyway? Not that its not good to see you, but I'm a busy woman and I don't have time for pleasantries.

“Well someone is grumpy today, aren’t they?” Malice smiled, sparking the cigarette up and taking a long drag. “I actually have a proposition for you if you’re interested, one that could benefit you greatly.” The pale woman blew a long plume of smoke. “I have heard word of my sire and I require your help.” Malice’s green eyes met Alcyone’s her piercing gaze searching for that glimmer she so desired. “In return I will tell you who is responsible for your father’s death.”

“Oh you know me. If someone nearby has a pulse, I will stop it for ‘em.” Alcyone chuckled, shaking her head as her old friend helped herself to her "in case of Malice" pack, watching the vampire make herself at home.

“Well someone is grumpy today, aren’t they?” "It's been a long day," she glared playfully at the dark haired woman in front of her, "not made any easier by your showing up. You have this uncanny ability to drag trouble of some sort with you wherever you go." She said, having another sip of wine. "So what is it this time?"

Her eyes widened and snapped up to meet Malice's at the news of her having had news from her sire, a man she hadn't seen nor heard from since she was turned some 800 years earlier. "How can you be sure it was him? I thought you said he was long dead by now?" She held the thick smoke in her lungs, savouring the dizzy high she felt as she exhaled, blowing rings as she did so. This was huge. She knew Malice had been searching for her sire since her change, and was more than happy to help her in her quest considering the favours she owed her.

“In return I will tell you who is responsible for your father’s death.” Alcyone's heart flew into her mouth, not expecting to hear that statement from anyone in the near future, let alone Malice. Suddenly Malice shot across the room, chair included, held there by the fizzy gold aura conjured by the sheer volume of adrenaline coursing through the witches veins. Watching Malice struggle against the hold for a few seconds, Alcyone calmed herself down, dissolving the wall of magic holding the vampire in place and lowering her gently back to the floor.

"Shit! Sorry!" She apologised, grimacing at her uncontrolled actions.

Her gaze met Malice's once more, eyes crackling fiercely. "What do you know? How do you know? I've been looking for anything concerning his death and there's been nothing! Tell me!"

Malice Whateley

"You have this uncanny ability to drag trouble of some sort with you wherever you go."

“Now that’s not true, it doesn’t follow me at all. I don’t leave anything to follow me.” Malice smiled cruelly. “Though for once, I am entirely innocent of the problems downstairs. Some hunter decided to drag a mortal in by her hair and evidently someone took offence. Serves him right too, even I’m not that rough with my toys.”

“I thought you said he was long dead by now?"

“Wrong sire.” Malice blew another plume her eyes scanning the ceiling above her. “He just turned me, no I mean Maccus Dudwine. The vampire who trained me to become the soldier I am today. We were separated after being chased by hunters some eight hundred years ago, I hadn’t seen him since but recently I’ve heard in the wind of a vampire held by a coven of witches who matches his description. He gave me the life I have now so I owe it to him to at least try and save him.” Malice’s words although sentimental didn’t betray any sign of emotion across her face.

Malice braced herself as she felt the greasy feel of magic in the air, she had been wondering what exactly Alcyone’s response would be and she had prepared for this eventuality but it’s unfolding still caught her slightly off guard. She grimaced through the force as Alcyone sat quietly, Malice’s words obviously sinking in; perhaps things were going better then she had thought.

"Shit! Sorry!”

Malice caught herself as she dropped down to the floor, lifting the chair back onto its wheels and reseating herself before answering. “You’re not the only one with contacts, Alcyone. I have a good few people who bring me news in the world. Evidently more capable then yours too.” Malice smiled, she was already beginning to enjoy herself.

“I will tell you but I need your help in return, I cannot take out an entire coven of witches alone. All I want is your help in destroying them and in return I will not only tell you who killed your father I will take you to him and help you discover who was behind it all. Would knowing who ordered his death not be so much more befitting then just killing the pawn in it all after all?”

Malice Whateley

“I’m glad to hear it.” Malice smiled taking a long drag of her cigarette. “Generally I would agree, they would all be lying dead before they ever knew I had been. However this particular coven has made themselves well known for being powerful and warded against those with my personal heritage and with Maccus prisoner they’ve probably anticipated his rescue so are almost definitely going to be ready and waiting for an ambush by vampires. No what I need is someone of totally unexpected origin, someone who they won’t block entry all the way up to his cell.”

“Where are they based? I'm not going all the way to bloody Russia, it's too fucking cold"

“Bloody hell, do any of you mortals ever stop complaining?” Malice asked sardonically. “It actually requires very little travelling at all, since that seems to troubles you so. In fact you know the coven well; very well I would go so far as to add. “It’s called the Pendle Coven, if you must know.” Her sinister smile had crept its way back onto her lips, although Alcyone was the closest Malice came to friends these days she couldn’t hide her sadistic tendencies.

“Still interested?” Malice asked; smoke slowly flowing from her nose, “I really do hope so, as I would hate for your father’s death to go in vain. That bastard is still getting away with it you know.” She baited, knowing that Alcyone would bite. “It would be easy to find him, from what I hear is very unprofessional with his tendencies.”

“All in return for my masters safe return from your coven’s custody of course.” Malice added leaning back in her chair taking a deep drag of her cigarette. “Though, of course I can always leave.” She added knowing full well Alcyone was as good as sold.

Alcyone Green

“It’s called the Pendle Coven, if you must know.” Alcyone's blood ran cold as Malice smirked. There was no way, no way on the Goddess' green earth that her coven could be involved with vampires without her hearing of it.

"Bullshit, the elders wouldn't capture a vampire for no reason, I'd know about it if they had!" Secrets didn't exist in her coven, especially ones as big as holding a vampire captive. She couldn't think what they needed with him though.

“Still interested? I really do hope so, as I would hate for your father’s death to go in vain. That bastard is still getting away with it you know.” "I dont get what you mean- who's getting away with what?" Alcyone breathed heavily, trying to keep calm as Malice revealed the shattering information- it seemed that nothing was as she was lead to believe. She could feel her finger tips tingling with electricity and the hairs on her body seemed charged.

“Though, of course I can always leave.” She quickly jumped out of her seat as Malice stood to leave. "No, no, stay. I'll help. Please, just explain yourself. What would my coven want with a 1000 year old vampire?" She asked, staring confusedly at the vampire in front of her, dreading what she was about to be told.

Malice Whateley

“Then let’s assume there’s a reason behind it.” Malice answered her evil smile remaining, “Though you knowing about it is dubious. You run the neutral ground after all Alcyone, if you knew about it and the vampires found out about your involvement then they would be unlikely to remain in your establishment, thus losing your coven your insider information on us.”

This meeting had been weeks in the planning, as soon as Malice discovered the coven responsible she had begun planning out how she was going to bring Alcyone to her side, of course discovering the assassin of her father was not an easy task but it would all be worth it to watch the Pendle’s destroyed by one of their own, freeing her old master was merely an added bonus.

“I mean that your father’s murderer is still out there, laughing; knowing that he is responsible for the death of one of the most powerful mortals in this part of the world.” Evidently Malice’s deal was to Alcyone’s interest, the witch’s magic was visibly crawling across her skin her hair crackling with electricity; it was quite a sight to behold especially with being a definite sign of interest from Alcyone.

"No, no, stay. I'll help. Please, just explain yourself. What would my coven want with a 1000 year old vampire?"

Malice smirked as Alcyone jumped up, it was a sure thing now. “I’m glad you agree.” She answered sitting herself back down and resting her elbows upon the table and leaning forward. “Necromancy.” Alcyone’s eyes widening at the idea, she wanted to rule but not by those means. “Though I do not presume that Maccus is there by choice, from what I can gather he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Though if your coven were successful in their endeavours so then we would know by now so we can presume that they are still struggling with the concept. Though I don’t think we can hold onto that hope for long, if they are successful before we intervene then a certain bar that is filled with members of the undead will soon become a starting point for an invasion.”

“Generally I would walk in the front door and shoot my way to his cell, however with witches that’s not a tactic that’s worth bothering with, so in this case it could be worth either sneaking in whilst you distract the coven in the front. What do you think?”


((OOC: It's Turtlesoup, forgot to log into my account. xD ))

Alcyone Green

Alcyone sat in silence with her hands over her mouth as she listened to what Malice had to say, her heart beating wildly and her stomach churning in disgust at her coven's secret antics. 'How dare they degrade themselves in such a horrific manner?' she thought to herself, screwing her nose up at the very thought of her loved ones lowering themselves to necromancy. 'They were supposed to represent the light and everything that's good in the world- that's how we gained so much respect; because we were fair and only used light magic.' She knew they had to be stopped.

Lowing her hands from her lips, the blonde witch snapped her green eyes up to meet the emerald ones of the woman in front of her.

"Ok," She sighed, grabbing the vampires hand. "Lets do this." A blue glow pulsed from Alcyone's chest, enveloping the two women in the dazzling light as they disappeared from the small office.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alcyone gasped as she took in a lungful of oxygen, dropping Malice's hand as she braced herself against her knees. "Fuck I hate that," she breathed. "Sorry for the lack of warning, how are you? Are you ok?" Feeling less dizzy, she straightened up and took in their surroundings. "We're about a quarter of a mile away from home, I couldn't get us any closer without being detected. We just have to go across this park and we'll be there. So what's the plan?"

6Malice Whateley

Malice was used to the warm glow of magic but when the spell actually took hold of them and pulled them from their seats it was a totally new sensation, she felt as though she had just been yanked from the world itself the chair beneath her disappearing from under her and being viciously replaced with the hard ground, she had to steady herself quickly to save from falling. “Yes, I can understand why…” Malice growled in answering, taking in her surroundings. They were still within the city limits that much was evident however they were definitely not in the bar anymore, above their heads was a sign she’d seen often in her night time wanderings; Ghost Forge Park.

“So what's the plan?”

“They outnumber us so any kind of frontal attack would end badly for us, what we need is misdirection.” She pulled a small beaten packet of cigarettes from within her jacket and sparked one up, tossing the packet towards Alcyone. “Go in as you would on any other day and go for a wander, find Maccus’ cell and allow yourself to be captured. It is imperative that your coven believe your ignorance and that they think that you have stumbled across his cell by accident. Whilst they are worrying about lying to you I will sneak in behind you and get Maccus out.”

Gesturing up towards the coven’s secret home Malice pointed out one of the downstairs windows. “I will get in through that window, it leads down to the kitchens which usually are warded at night time to stop anyone trying to get brazen whilst the witches sleep however tonight there is some form of gathering going on so the staff are still in there and thanks to their mortal heritage they are hardly going to be getting in the way, nor are your coven going to keep them particularly well-guarded.” Smoke rose steadily from her mouth as she spoke but there was no betrayal of emotion.

“All I need you to do is keep them distracted long enough for me to rescue Maccus, so don’t do anything stupid. No magic duels or anything…” Her cold smile crept across her features. “Not yet anyway.”

((OOC: Did it again. Sorry.))

Alcyone Green

Alcyone couldn't help but smirk at Malice's obvious discomfort at her methods of travelling and watched as she tried to figure out where they were. She accepted the packet the vampire offered her and pulled out her lighter from her small bag, sparking the cigarette up as they walked through the park.

Seeing the small hamlet occupied by her coven, she felt a chill wash over her. She couldn't believe how blind she'd been to her own family's secrets and to have such a big one right under her nose... it was a disgrace! If she hadn't been so wrapped up in finding out who killed her father then she would surely have figured out what they were up to much sooner and stopped them.

Then it hit her - so violently it made her stagger backwards as the force of the knowledge struck her very core - it was all a distraction. She finally understood who was responsible for her fathers death... and the answer sickened her.

“All I need you to do is keep them distracted long enough for me to rescue Maccus, so don’t do anything stupid. No magic duels or anything… Not yet anyway.” She looked up at Malice and chuckled darkly. "Oh don't worry, I'll distract them alright."

Alcyone swallowed the white hot rage threatening to boil up inside her and stalked forward towards the collective of cottages. "Meet me back at the gates in about half an hour, ok?" She called behind her.

As she neared the small well in the centre of the cottages, she closed her eyes and muttered a locating spell to find Maccus, following the tugging in her stomach to the small barn where they kept the sacrificial chickens. Placing her hand on the latch, she took a deep breath and opened the door, not prepared for the sight before her. There was a man who appeared to be in his thirties with deep gashes on his chest over his heart stripped of his shirt, secured to the beams with heavy silver chains and a protective circle cast around him, keeping him in place and constant agony. Alcyone gasped and ran to the man, kicking the candles away and scattering the salt drawings with a gust of wind from the palms of her hands.

"What have they done to you?" She whispered, tears welling up in her eyes at the sight of someone being treated in such a way by her own family. Just as she reached out to touch his face, a familiar voice broke the silence.

"Get away from him, darling, he's dangerous!" Alcyone jumped and turned around to face the one woman she most desperately wanted to see tonight. Her eyes flashed as her green eyes met the almost identical ones of her grandmother in front of her.

"Dangerous? How dangerous can he be when he's been completely incapacitated?"

Elizabeth merely smiled at her granddaughter and held out her hand as if she was leading a child. "Come, we will talk inside with some tea. I'll explain the abomination there." Alcyone looked from the small hand to the vampire behind her. Now was her chance to distract everyone whilst Malice snuck in.

As she followed her nan the short distance to her house, she contemplated just how evil the woman in front of her truly was.

"Come on then. Explain why there's a vampire chained up in the barn like a scene out of some cheap horror film! I seriously hope that it isn't what it looked like from what I saw!" She said as they walked into the small kitchen.

Her grandmother's eyes held a slight glint that if Alcyone wasnt paying attention she would have missed. "And what do you think it looked like, love?" Alcyone kept her eyes on her once-beloved nan as she took a breath. "Necromancy." She replied, watching as Elizabeth's face went slightly pallid. "Necromancy? Thats absurd! How could you think we would mess around with that sort or magic... black magic! No, the idea is laughable!" The old woman laughed lightly. Alcyone knew that her nan was lying through her teeth, but as she opened her mouth to retort three more witches from their coven came in through the back door. 'Shit,' she thought, 'there's no way I can carry this on without screwing everything up!"

"Then why was that vampire chained up back there?" She asked, playing into her grandmothers lies.

Elizabeth looked towards the other women and sighed, feigning sadness. "We didn't want to tell you just yet, but that man is the one responsible for your dad's murder. We wanted to make sure it was him before giving you any hope of much deserved revenge."

Alcyone's mind was screaming at Liz's blatent lies and the hairs stood up on the back of her neck as she realised that everyone else was involved too. She had to get out of there before she did anything stupid. "I'm sorry nan, but I have to go. I need to think about what you've just said." As she stood to walk through the back door, she heard shouts in the distance. 'Ah Malice, just in time," she thought. "I'll be back soon," she promised everyone in the room, giving her relative a kiss on the cheek. As she got to the end of the pathway, she heard someone burst into the kitchen.

"Liz, he's escaped! He's gone!"

Alcyone quickly turned on the spot, seeing her old friends and family turn towards her and reach out, before she disappeared in a flash of blue back to The Ghosts Forge Park gates to await Malice and her Sire.

Malice Whateley

“Be ready to run when you do, your coven aren’t going to let him go easily.” Malice answered bowing slightly, watching as the young witch ran off ahead of her. She waited until she had finished her cigarette to move in after Alcyone, it would do her no good to follow the witch in and get captured too. As soon as she saw Alcyone exit from the nearest cottage with another of the witches Malice began to creep towards the building, apparently they weren’t expecting any other visitors tonight.

Malice snuck in through the window, drawing her small pistol as she did so, just in case. The kitchen was empty other than a young cook who had her back to the vampire, she was singing quietly to herself whilst she washed up plates in the sink, evidently oblivious to Malice’s entrance.

Continuing through the house Malice found the door linking the barn to the house and silently pushed the door open. The room was surprisingly well lit for a barn but that was probably for the witches convenience over Maccus’, following the shadows across the room Malice was confronted by the form of Maccus’ tied body, there was blood covering the majority of his extremities but no visible wounds now, good they hadn’t been in recently.

“Maccus?” Malice whispered quietly, testing whether her sire was awake. ‘Nothing, damnit!’ Malice cursed to herself; quickly she began to cut the bonds across his wrists and hefted the old vampire onto her back. It had taken her some time to creep through the house due to the surprisingly old building’s creaky floorboards, the cook was no concern to her but everyone can scream.

Hefting Maccus onto her shoulder Malice headed towards the doorway, being sure to step quietly. Though this was apparently made useless when an ear splitting scream came from behind her, turning angrily she was confronted by the small cook a look of fear and panic across her pale skin. “Please don’t hurt me!” the girl begged shielding her obviously crying face.

“Really?” Malice asked sarcastically, with one eyebrow raised. “You scream really loudly at the person obviously wanting to get away silently and THEN ask them not to hurt you? Urgh. Well I’m busy at the moment so I suppose I won’t.” Turning her back to the now cowering girl Malice half ran out of the building, the witches would know she was here by now and the shouts of anger from one of the other cottages confirmed that fact.

Taking the quickest path she could Malice ran to the gate under which Alcyone was waiting for her arrival. “How was the reunion?” She asked coldly, baiting the fires. “Fruitful I hope?”

Alcyone Green

Alcyone looked up sharply from her post as she heard heavy footsteps coming towards her. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was Malice.

“How was the reunion? Fruitful I hope?” Alcyone screwed her nose up at Malice's harsh words. "Fuck off," she spat, colour rising in her cheeks. "She tried spinning me some bullshit story, I went along with it. Simple as."

She still couldn't believe the barefaced lies her grandmother told her so easily.

"And anyway, what was with the screaming girl? So much for stealth, a heard of elephants would have been more subtle than you were!" Alcyone shot at the red-head next to her, eyeing the battered man she had slung over her shoulders with concern. "Either way, it doesn't matter. We need to get back home before anyone else comes looking for us. Brace yourself and make sure you've got hold of him." she said, grabbing Malice's shoulder tightly before disappearing once more in a flash of blue light.

Malice Whateley

Malice smiled at Alcyone’s response, “You’re so beautiful when you’re angry.” She teased flirtatiously. “The cook saw me as I left, I would’ve killed her earlier but I thought I’d save myself the lecture when I got back.”

She readied herself as Alcyone reached out to grab her arm, the flash of blue light enveloping them quickly before the wood of Alcyone’s office floor reformed under her boots replacing the soft grass. “I will never get used to that.” Malice commented, lowering Maccus’ sleeping body down into a chair, stepping back as Alcyone busied herself with cleaning him up.

“You know chances are the Witches will blame you for Maccus’ departure.” Malice commented, walking across to the other side of the office, reading one of the certificates that littered the walls. “You were there at the right time after all. It might make sense to either go back and continue to feign ignorance or totally come out as opposing them.”

Turning around Malice leant against the wall, her boot resting against the wall. “I personally think it’s high time we had a change of scenery around here and with the Penumbra under your name you’re hardly without supporters.”

“In fact I think it’s high time you made your imperial move. You’ve been craving that kind of power for years anyway.” Malice put a hand into her coat and removed a pack of cigarettes she had taken from the house and sparked one up, tossing one over in Alcyone’s direction.

“And if you don’t make some sort of move then this opportunity would be wasted. It’s not often when you have such a momentous advantage as proof that they are dabbling in forced control of the Vampires.” Smoke rose from Malice’s mouth as she spoke. “It’s time to raise an army, Alcyone.” She smiled sinisterly.

Alcyone Green

Alcyone gasped as the three of them landed- two people was hard work, let alone an extra person added to that. Standing up straight, she transfigured the chair Malice had placed Maccus on into a table and started gathering various items from around the room.

Placing the herbs on the table next to Maccus, she flicked her hand ridding him of his clothes so she could examine his wounds more clearly. "Shit," she muttered, seeing the massive welts marked on his skin along with the slowly healing hole in his chest. "They've used silver on him, it's gonna take a bit more effort to rid his body of any excess silver but he'll be okay." She said to Malice as she poured vials of herbs and mixtures into a mortar, grinding them up into a paste with her black granite pestle and rubbed them into her patient's injuries.

Ensuring that every cut, stab and graze had a thick coating of medicine, she sat back to wait for the mixture to work its magic, listening to what Malice had to say.

“In fact I think it’s high time you made your imperial move. You’ve been craving that kind of power for years anyway. And if you don’t make some sort of move then this opportunity would be wasted. It’s not often when you have such a momentous advantage as proof that they are dabbling in forced control of the Vampires. It’s time to raise an army, Alcyone.”

"You're right," she said, lighting the cigarette and taking a deep drag. "They're gonna blame me no matter what and shit is definitely gonna hit the fan. But where do we start? It's silly, but I've wanted and planned for this moment for years but never once did I think it would be against my own coven. Sure, I know their weaknesses, but they known mine just as well." Taking another drag, she stared at the woman in front of her. "We need to pool our contacts together. This goes beyond mere power play. You need to contact every vampire you've come across to warn them and offer them an opportunity to set it right. If you don't mind, we can use certain bloodsuckers as bait. We have to plan this to every minute detail. This cannot go wrong or we both risk everything."

Coughing interrupted any further planning as both Alcyone and Malice's attention snapped towards the figure on the bench, watching as he gingerly sat up and looked around in confusion.

Malice Whateley & Maccus Dudwine

Malice only half listened to Alcyone’s report on Maccus’ wounds, her mind flitting back to her own experimentation in the more recent years of her life. “I’m glad you agree.” She answered as Alcyone’s change of subject brought her back to the matter at hand. “The vampires won’t stand against something like this and even the dogs would be less than impressed so really all you have to do is go downstairs and call war against the witches, with Maccus’ testimony to support your claims you would easily be able to bring hell to their gates.”

Malice took another slow drag of her cigarette, clearly enjoying the promise of chaos. “Or we can always make it small; forcibly remove the coven through murder and assassination. Either way we are literally standing on a goldmine of forces.”

A cough broke Malice train of thought bringing her attention over to her adoptive sire.

A gradual wash of relief was beginning to take hold over Maccus’ body, the searing pain he had been experiencing since his capture at the hands of the coven slowly starting to wane as his vampiric abilities began to kick in and heal over the sores. “Urgh.” He managed to groan as he sat up, his surroundings starting to filter in, the style he recognised as being one of a witch and the small motifs signified that it was still of the Pendle Coven but this was definitely a different building to the one that Maccus had seen.

Slowly he turned to see his captors though this was where the similarities ended, the witch he had never seen before but she didn’t bare the markings of one about to practice necromancy nor did her accomplice, in fact her accomplice looked as much vampire as he did.

“I know that face.” He whispered, turning his legs and pulling himself to his feet, gingerly he took steps towards the sinister woman who made no move towards him but she didn’t seem to push him away either. “Engelieth?” he spoke calmly, moving his hand up to touch her face. “Is it really you?”

Malice inched backwards moving away from his hand. “It isn’t anymore. It’s Malice now.” Her cold voice seemed to visibly sting her sire as Malice took another drag of her cigarette.

“I have searched for you for almost half a millennia, Engelieth!” Maccus spoke again, ignoring Malice’s new name. “What happened to you?”

“Projekt Bosheit.” She growled coldly the German words rolling off her tongue with ease as she turned her back and walked towards the door her heavy boots thudding against the wooden floors. She stopped at the door and turned back towards the young witch whom was now stood with her mouth agape. “Look for a vampire named Sasaki he will be able to extend our contacts.” With that Malice turned her back once again and disappeared through the doorway.