Caldarium Confessions

[Alice Hart]

Once more Alice awaited her Coterie mate in the Caldarium.

This time her feet were not jerkily kicking in the water, in fact her feet were still encased in socks and worn leather boots. Her legs were not shown by the knee high hem lines she normally preferred. Covered by denim, and stained by blood. Her t-shirt was likewise uncommonly seen on the Haunt, and stained with blood.

A menagerie's, her's...
...and Bea's.

Above the collar of the t-shirt was Alice's neck, covered in lacerations, to the experienced eye they were definitely caused by a weapon shared by all kindred; their fangs.

The wound wasn't bloody, Alice wasn't consciously pushing Blood to it, nor was she healing it. Something that had her ghoul silently fretting, but Alice didn't feel like she should spare the Blood to heal just yet. Maybe after a better meal or several.

Standing in the space between pools, a pillar of inhumanity, never before had Alice seemed more like a vampire to Lyssa then she did in this moment.

Alessandra Orianna

[Alessandra]

There wasn’t anything going on, so it didn’t take long for Ale to show up at the Caldarium.

She was rather casual this evening, black skinny jeans, which supposedly was all the rage according to her Herd, and a black tank top. Her hair was long and dyed a red color, even though Alice couldn’t see her, she didn’t know if Lyssa relayed what others wore or not.

Walking into the pool area she stopped in her tracks. It was a mixture of both the smell of blood and the sight of Alice. Covered in said blood and wounded. Eyes quickly look around Alice and the room, looking for a body or pile of ash.

Her mouth hangs open for a moment as she analyzes the scene. Alice appeared calm and not in a frenzy, which was good.

Once she gets over her shock, she feels her anger begin to build. It was slow and it burned in her stomach, and had she been breathing, blood would have been pounding and racing through her veins.

“Alice….” Says the Italian, her voice confused, “Are you ok? What the hell happened?!” concern was now in her voice, but she didn’t move any closer.

[Alice Hart]

Alice didn't need Lyssa to tell her when Ale made her way down the metal grated stairs, the twisting coils of the icy Wraith violently pulled. Her instincts her on a hair trigger after her stint in the throws of hunger frenzy, and Alice nearly gave in...nearly fled the presence of her Coterie mate, but the calming serenity of the Caldarium worked it's magic and Alice stayed put, and forced the Wraith back.

"Lyssa...please step out. See to the girls...and bring me back something to drink." Alice says to her ghoul, not wanting her near for this conversation, and Alice did need the blood her herd could give her, but she didn't trust herself to take it straight from the vein, not yet.

Alice waits in the stillness and the silence until she hears the door close behind Lyssa.

Alice turns her face to Alessandra. Her trust in the Savage was shaken, but she did trust her Coterie mate, and if she'd keep Alice secret, then a secret they shall share, but if the Savage, as Reeve, needed to bring her actions to the Prince's attentions...well, Alice trusted her Coterie mate, and she'd been named Reeve for a reason.

"Miss Connolly called me. She said she had information to show me about the Brood. I went to meet her. She had nothing new on the Brood, she called me to needle me, be her belligerent self, but she said somethings...which I do want clarified, but before that I should continue. She threatened me, tried to blackmail me...I did not take that well. We fought. It was inelegant...she frenzied...then I did. I know I sent her to torpor...but I couldn't stop. I didn't stop until I glutted myself upon her vitae...I came to with her remains in my mouth."

[Alessandra]

Dark eyes shift to the Ghoul, watching her leave the room.

As Alice turns back to her, her eyes return to the Haunt, still on edge, not knowing what the hell was going on, what had happened.

And then it came out, what had happened, and what had driven Alice to be in the state she was.
Eyes widened then narrow in anger. Alice fought Bea, and the filthy Carthian had the nerve to try and blackmail her?! Alice….the Seneschal and Ale’s Coterie Mate. But then it came full circle, he fight and ended in Final Death of Bea.

It was self-defense, if Bea tried to blackmail Alice and then attacked her. But putting her into Torpor and then continuing the attack until Final Death made things tricky. She had been there, she had caused the ashing of her Cousin. Went to the Reeve to confess, who called in Asa and she was forgiven. Would the same be the case for Alice? Did Ale want to bring Asa in on what she just learned? Was there a benefit to it?

A shaky breath was taken as she processes the information. Her duty as Reeve told her to call Asa and let him know. But Alice was her Coterie Mate, and she found herself torn. You protect Family, but would she be doing Alice any favors by keeping her mouth shut?

“I honestly don’t know what to say, aside from wishing I was there.” Cause she would have ended the brats life herself. Not allowed Alice to have to go through the emotions of it.

“Are you ok? I can see you’re hurt, but emotionally, mentally, are you ok?” she wasn’t sure if Alice had ever ashed another Kindred before, but it could cause a huge mess of emotions. Had Alice ever Frenzied before? “Frenzies are a nasty thing to witness, even worse to experience.” She needed to know where Alice’s mind was at right now.

“That aside, this could create a problem. As Reeve, I would notify you of such an incident, as it violates the Laws. But with you being the Seneschal, the only other one to report it to is His Grace.” It was obvious in her tone that she wasn’t sure what to do, “Then again, it was a self-defense action and every Kindred can tell you that you lose complete control when in the throes of a Frenzy. As Seneschal you have the power to call a Blood Hunt, which is what would have happened had she prevailed in her attack. So it’s a weird situation for me. There is also the concern of the Amaranth, do you remember if that happened? I don't have the sight of the Shadows, and I'm sorry, but I have to ask about it." it wasn't any easy thing to ask the Seneschal about, of she committed a violation of the Third Law, but it needed to be asked.

"But my main concern right now, is you.”

[Alice Hart]

In the silence it was like she was awaiting final judgement, and perhaps she was. Alice keeps herself inhumanly still and quite and in that moment when the Italian's gathering her thoughts she'll notice that the Haunt looks a little more doll-like, and a little less human.

"It would have gone differently if you were there...I wouldn't have lost my head attacked the bitch." self-deprecating tone was heard strongly through her hollow voice. She had swung first, and it lead to the death of the Carthian.

"I'm...I don't know. I feel...different. But not as impacted as I thought I would have been...I killed someone I knew, and frenzied....I've always been so careful. I've never really been in a frenzy...well. Not one brought on by hunger. The Fear though...when I was new, I didn't know how to push back the Beast." But Alice thought that was true with every Kindred.

"If you think it's best, we can go to the Nox and bring this to the Prince's attention." Alice says, "As officers of the Court we should follow the Laws we enforce, right?" Alice was strangely revealed that Ale wanted to bring her actions to the Prince's attention, it meant that no one, not even Family was above the Law.

"I wasn't trying to consume her...just her blood. I was tearing off limbs to get at it, and licking the fucking carpet for just another drop. Find a Shadow to give me a look, but I just wanted to satiate my hunger...not."

To consume another's soul...even in the throws of frenzy Alice wasn't far gone enough to do that.

[Alessandra]

The Italian did notice the change in Alice. It wasn’t uncommon for Kindred to remain still and appear inhuman, it usually went hand and hand with age and a loss of humanity. But for Alice, the blood and wound in her neck were a startling sight, like a doll that had been abused and then left on the shelf, forgotten about. In a way, it was sad, cause that’s not the way she saw Alice.

“You wouldn’t have because I would have.” It was said matter of fact, because Ale wouldn’t have given the woman a chance to touch Alice. She would have splattered across the walls, entrails hanging off her Claws. “But I am curious to hear what she said to make you lose your head and attack her. Clearly it was worse than what happened in Court, so knowing what exactly was said would be great. And then I’d like to go on record for saying that meeting with unstable Kindred should be done at Elysium, with others nearby to prevent something like this.” She wasn’t trying to tell Alice, the Seneschal, how to do her job, but what she did was dangerous and stupid. “I’m not blaming you, so don’t misunderstand, but meeting her somewhere on her terms, alone, was dangerous.” And she wasn’t blaming the Haunt, she couldn’t have known what was going to happen.

Different, well, that was one way to put it. “The Beast and hunger can drive us to do unimaginable things. Things that we would never do in our right mind.” This was why she needed to learn the trick Victoria used on her to calm her Beast when she almost frenzied.

Eyes close as Alice agrees with her about alerting Asa, “Yes, we are not above the Laws we enforce, even as Coterie Mates, we are not above it. If I can be honest here, I’m torn. I know the Laws and know what is required of me, but on the other hand, I don’t want to tell him. There is this part of me that believes she got what was going to happen at some point, but the other part of me knows how dangerous it is to keep secrets from the Prince. He was compassionate and understanding when my incident happened,” yes, incident, she wasn’t sure how else to word it, “and I can see him being compassionate with you as well.” This was why she had spent so many years alone and not getting attached to anyone. Attachments could cloud judgement. “I just want to do what is right for you and the issue at hand. What are our thoughts on it, where do you stand?” knowing that would show her Alice’s mindset. “Bringing it to his attention also prevents anyone from finding out and using it against you or as leverage.” Deep down, she knew what the right thing to do was, but could she do it? If she didn't, was she fit to hold the title of Reeve?

“If I find a Shadow to bring in and check, we bring another party into this before it’s been settled. Which is another Kindred who knows what happened and could use it against you. I’m not willing to do that until we decide what the plan is. You just dealt with one person trying to blackmail you, I won’t let another one try it.” And licking the carpet, that just made her and her beast cringe. She’d heard stories about hunger frenzies, and it sucked that Alice had to go through one.

“Are you going to tell me what she was going to blackmail you with? You said there were things you wanted answers to, things you wanted clarified.” There was confusion in her voice, cause she wasn’t sure what would need to be cleared up. Did she have something to do with this? Had something she did or said lead up to this? The Savage couldn’t think of anything, so she was going to assume it wasn’t about her.

[Alice Hart]

A rueful hollow laugh, "Somehow I knew you'd say that. And I know it was stupid. Well...I know it now. At the time I wasn't thinking...It hasn't been that long at all, but long enough that I apparently forgot just what's been keeping me alive all this time." The Haunt's voice echos in the room, it's hollow and cloying falseness apparent with every words spoken, "Maybe blackmail wasn't the right word...I don't know what to call our interaction...but it was..more? It was definitely worse then our interactions at Court." Pausing to consider how'd she words this, "She likened me to the Brood. Called me an Invictus bitch. Grabbed me, shook me. Told me I had strings that she'd pull. Then told me if I didn't work with her, or give her a good enough reason for her not too, she'd kill me, and Lyssa. And you. Desiccate our graves. And she'd blame the Brood. And since she's-was an able body, a worker or a warrior. whatever. The Prince needed her. What was it...'If he wants to keep his throne'." Alice didn't even bother to mimic the Deava's voice. "I just...snapped."

Alice doesn't nod, she now realizes the power and will of the Wraith, it wasn't just an annoyance to be beaten down when speaking to other kindred...the enormity of forever without sight wasn't what she'd struggle with the most, but the Ice Bound Wraith.

Suddenly the motionless doll stamps her foot, her head tilts, and she moves across the room, avoiding the pools until she reaches a bench to sit on.

"We're not above the Law." Alice nods, slowly, her strings lulling, before being pulled taut, "We'll finish speaking. Then We'll both go to the Nox, and if the Prince wants me checked out, then he can decide if a Shadow needs to look me over." Alice folds her fingers together and moves the Blood. If she was going to be talking to the Prince she didn't want to appear before him with a hole in her neck.

"How did you and Bea meet?" Alice asks her Coterie mate, she needed to know if the Daeva had been telling the truth about the Golden 1 Center, "Was Bea there when you dealt with Strax?" She needed to know if Ale'd forgotten, or didn't think it was important to mention, and not that her Coterie mate was lying to her.

[Alessandra]

Ale wasn’t the type to say she told you so, so she didn’t say anything. “Well, we’re getting you some sort of weapon. And please, just promise me you’ll be more careful.” She was growing a little attached to Alice.

“Likened you to the Brood?! An Invictus bitch? But you’re not even in the Invictus, or was it a jab to our friendship? I’m really starting to think she was missing a few key pieces upstairs. Really unstable, and defiantly full of herself.” Perhaps she was more dangerous than Ale gave her credit for.

Hearing that Bea put her hands on Alice really pissed her off. Had her veins had blood in them, it would be boiling. Hands clench into fists as she listens.

Kill her?! Crazy and delusional, bitch didn’t stand a chance against her, but it seemed inappropriate to say that. Ale never feared Bea.

“The Prince needed her?! Pretty sure he doesn’t need anyone to protect him or to keep his throne. She was fucking insane. And if he had needed her, then I’m pretty sure he would have taken her side in what happened in Court. I should have paid closer attention to her, she had unstable written all over her face. I would have snapped too, especially if someone had put their hands on me.” The nerve the Daeva had.

Ale watches the stomp and the movement, eyes studying the Haunt as she sat. She’ll move closer, crouching near Alice.

“I will vouch for you, though I really don’t think you’ll need it. But I will do everything in my power to do whatever needs to be done.” Asa was a reasonable man, but the Laws were the Laws.

“How did we meet? Uh, it was a couple months ago, maybe more. I was out checking out this area my Herd had been talking about. Wasn’t really all that great in my opinion. But I happened upon her, and then Her Grace appeared as well as Lady Ishani. Though I think I saw her in Court before that, I’m not sure, but the first time I spoke to her was that night. She was full of attitude even then, including a problem with those in authority, even offered me a favor.” A lot of good it did her. She could have used her for the gang problem.

Ah, was that was this was about? That Ale didn’t mention Bea in her letters?

“She was, not sure if someone called her or if she just showed up, but she was there.” There was irritation in her voice, “She felt very strongly that I was making the wrong call and again was more attitude than useful. There was another Kindred there, the doctor guy, uh, what the hell was his name? William maybe? But he seemed to have left before I got there. I didn’t see her as been useful in the matter, spouting off rude comments before leaving. I didn’t include her in my letters because she didn’t contribute anything useful to the situation.” It really wasn’t a big deal to her, but something must be up for Alice to mention it. What did Bea tell her? What lies had she tried to sell the Haunt?

[Alice Hart]

"I was a fucking idiot who forgot my knife. I had to resort to my fangs...which probably didn't help my frenzy." Alice heaved a sigh, even as the Blood moves once more. "I wish I could use your Clan's skill...Claws. Hell then I'd never have to worry again."

Alice nods, unstable didn't just describe the Daeva, but with that passion Alice understood why she'd been appealing to who ever sired her. "I don't think it was my being in the Invictus or not. Just that I'm in your Coterie, and I was being a little anal about titles....maybe she just wanted something to shot at me."

Alice's head tilts, she attempted to think of the logic behind the Daeva's actions. Hopefully there was logic behind them. "Well, if she succeeded in killing me, and you. Who else would have been left in the Domain to fight those blasphemous wretches? I care for Vivian, but she'd prefers to socialize...maybe Maddox if you could convince him to leave his studies...I don't know the Domain's newest members, it might have been a moment for them to prove themselves..." Alice trails off before she continues down that rabbit hole.

Ale's stronger Beast moves closer to her, Alice thought that Ale would sit beside her, but the Italian stops short to crouch or kneel in front of her.

"Thank you." What more could Alice say in the face of that?

Alice doesn't speak as Alessandra answers her questions.

The tight node of anxiety and fear began to loosen, Golden 1 was just like how the Daeva said, though minus her spending over twenty thousand dollars to help Ale with a task, was that something else that now Bea was dead, Ale didn't think it was worth to mention?

Alice nods. Bea said that the other Carthian had been there, and Alice believed that the Daeva had stumbled into the situation and was as normal, dreadful rude before stalking out, unimpressed with everything that wasn't her ideas given form.

"Bea tried to make me doubt you." Alice explains as the Savage's voice dies down. "Tried to make it seem like you only wanted me around because you could use me."

[Alessandra]

Well, Alice said it so she didn’t have to.

Snorting, “A lot of Kindred wish they could use the Claws. It is convenient, but they are also scary the first time you use them and display them.” She murdered a Family with hers, the memory making her shudder. “We’ll get you setup with something. But it’s also important to always be armed.” What the something was, she wasn’t sure. But it wouldn’t matter if Ale got her a weapon, if Alice always forgot it, then it was useless. And teaching her the ability to grow Claws was a whole other level of uncertainty. She’d never taught her Families trade secret to anyone other than Savages.

“I personally don’t think you were being anal, and like Ishani said, there could have been worse consequences. The problem was with her not wanting to respect what was said by someone in a position of authority. I know I gained a whole new level of respect for you when you spoke up and stood your ground. When you speak, you speak for The Prince, and she forgot that or didn’t want to acknowledge it. And even if we were not in a Coterie together, I would still have your back in Court.” She respected rank and Alice outranked her. But that aside, the Haunt had shown strength.

“Well, lets not play with the what if’s. I would have loved to have seen her come after me, not to talk myself up or anything, but I’m not one to be underestimated in a fight. And obviously, neither are you.”

She wasn’t expected to be thanked, she hadn’t done much so far.

“Doubt me? About what if you don’t mind me asking. Cause I have nothing to hide from you, I’ve always tried to be open and honest. And if something seemed off to you, I hope you’d ask me about it.” Ale had always been forthcoming with Alice. “Because I could use you? Well, I hope don’t think I’m doing that. Using people isn’t really my thing, I mean, sure, I have in the past. But the thing with using people, it comes back to kick your ass and then you lose potential allies. Do you feel like I could use you or that I am?” point blank. She needed to know how much of Bea’s bullshit got into the Haunts head.