Blood Donation Gone Bad

[kiddcody2001]

Cody stood in the long, seemingly never ending line to pay his monthly blood taxes, just like everyone else, except on this occasion he was in misery. He had been in line for an hour before the first big pain had pelted the inside of his stomach, and the extra hour since that time had been excruciating. Whatever he had eaten earlier must have been rotten or poision. Whatever the case, he needed to use number two bad, with more urgency than at any other point in his life. After struggling a few more minutes he simply could not take any more.

"Out of my way." He growled.

The man offered no apologies as he rudely pushed people from his path, using his strong build to bully those around him in his bid to secure the sanctuary of the nearest bathroom. He didn't get far. A mighty hand slammed against his well-built chest, stopping him dead in his tracks. It was a VSF guard.

"You know the rules. Once you cross the red line back there, you can not get out of line for any reason until you have paid your blood tax. We know the shennangins you humans are famous for. Back in line." He ordered.

Unlike his fellow humans, Cody isn't such a skerdy cat. He stood face to face with the equally tall and strong security force specialist and shared a fearless stare with the creature, until some of the more reasonable people around him began to pull him away. They knew all too well what could happen to Cody if he pissed off the guard; these aren't rent-a-cops, they're bad ass vampires. Defiant as always, the maverick shoved his helpers away.

"Dude, I need to go BAD. This is a medical emergency. If you don't let me go I may let loose in my pants and also puke everywhere, surely you would want to be around all that. Right?" He bargained.

The guard was stoic and shed no concern.

"Not my problem. If you do, you'll just have to stay in line smelling bad, and afterward you would have to clean the mess up anyway. Never the less, you must stay in line and that is the end of it. Now go before you raise my ire. I have been professional and patient enough as is, which is saying something compared to my counter-parts." The undead advised.

Cody pointed at him, his lips furled up in a snarl.

"You listen here and you listen good, TWILIGHT!!!!" Cody stopped.

Not only did Cody stop, but the world itself seemed to stop. He had uttered one of the dirtiest, most besmirching insults one could give a vampire - he had called him Twilight. Ages ago there was a series of movies out that depicted vampires in a, well, very gay way. A Wimpy way. A way unbecoming of any self respecting vampire. Calling a vampire that to his face would mean a very, vary bad fate for you, up to and including death. All eyes were focused on Cody and the nameless but very fearsome vampire. It would have been wise to for Cody to stop, maybe try to reason with him at this point, but nope that's not Cody.

"... Why you being such a douchebag, man? Did Bella finally grow old and die, and leave you here all by your lonesome patrolling a blood tax line? Is that why you're being a prick? You know what? Nevermind. I think we can reach a compromise." Cody thundered, no longer giving a damn.

If Cody's words were not defiant enough, his next action would more than make up for it. Undoing his pants, the crazy death-wish kid dropped his trousers and boxers, revealing his naked frame from the waist down for all to see. From there, with all watching and the VSF officer too shocked to implement a beat down, he emptied his bowel movements all over the floor. All hell broke loose next. A near riot broke out in the line, with humans scattering and gagging, while others stayed and walloped Cody with punches and kicks. The VSF guard stepped in for his own revenge and quickly restored order as other VSF officers arrived.

Despite the chaos around him, Cody was at peace. The pain was gone from his belly, but soon he would wish for that pain over the pain he was about to feel at the hands of VSF.

TBCB Anybody (Open Thread)

[Margaret Rosier]

Maggie loathed this day every month. Blood taxes were against everything that she believed in and yet, for the past fourteen years she had gone about the ritual with a smile on her face. Her father had always told her though that in war, battles were won and lost- it was the ultimate victory that one must keep in mind. Going through the motions of city life was just one battle that Margaret needed to force herself to lose in order to accomplish a greater goal. It was tedious standing in a line of people waiting to have blood harvested from you like you were some type of cattle- it made her feel like livestock being led to the slaughter even. Maggie's skin crawled with the notion of it. How loathsome vampires were in their ways, how refined they tried to make the true horror of their abomination of an existence out to be. In public, Margaret did her best not to let these thoughts enter her mind never knowing what devilish trick the vampires had up their sleeves.

Sitting in the chair Maggie looked up at the medic watching carefully as he pulled out a new needle setting it up to pierce into her skin. The cool touch of an alcoholic swab dampened the crook of her arm before the tip of the needle was eased into a vein extracting her monthly due. Looking up into the man's face her gaze took in every imperfection that he had, from the permanent wrinkles at the corners of his eyes to the lines dipping around his mouth compliments of year's worth of smiling. It made her wonder what exactly he had to be happy about, but then what wouldn't he when he was in the position that he was, a lap dog for the high and mighty?

Feeling the slight tingle from her blood emptying out into a vial Maggie always felt so weak after the process- the problem that she faced with hypoglycemia being a direct result of this. It was worth it though for all the advantages she had over other humans, that next step in evolution. As he was finishing up a ruckus occurred outside in the line drawing the attendants away to help the VSF with whatever was going on. The medic however remained calm finishing up his duties, he marked Margaret off the database and released her to go on about her business, not a single concern for her as to what she might be walking out on.

To her amused astonishment it seemed that a scuffle, as well as panic, was in progress. Keeping out of the path of violence Maggie observed until the VSF had their way with the culprit who had disturbed the peace. There was a foul scent in the air that had Maggie holding her breath. It brought the literal meaning to beating the shit out of someone. As the VSF cleared away revealing a beaten man on the ground, who seemed happy enough to be in the position that he was, she shook her head. Some people had no tact. There was some discussion amongst the group of VSF before they left their victim to lay where he was and bring the order back to the scattered line.

Standing over the injured man she looked down on him regarding him carefully. ”Do you often tangle with the guards or was your idiocy on a high note this afternoon?” She questioned smiling sweetly at him, rather condescending. She didn’t like being here any more than the next sane person but there were better ways to rebel than being obvious about it. Glancing at the per-occupied guards Maggie thought it a good idea to make the best out of a bad situation. ”Get up, I’ll get you out of here.”

[Mathias Leveque]

Mathias was at the station when he got the call. There was a human at the donation station causing trouble. Normally this would not be something of his concern but lately, there had been so many incidences that he was frankly getting tired of the discord and the chaos.

The repeated updates over his headset had him puzzled and perplexed. All humans received a copy of the laws in New Vegas. All citizens were taught the laws in a class before they could be released into the population of New Vegas. They knew the laws, only some chose to break them anyway. Of course, he had backup and the row of black electric cars behind him were running silent. He knew far too often, the humans could hear them coming and rabbit. There were no other cars on the road anyway other than a few who obediently pulled over. Vampires were so good at following the rules. Probably because Mathias was harder on them then he was on the humans.

The silent cars pulled up and the VSF officers poured out. Lead by Mathias who made a beeline for the offender. Most turned and looked away, hoping to not be noticed, other stared after moving out of his way, some in awe, others in fear. Mathias was not one to be trifled with. He stopped short of the woman who was conversing with the man. Perhaps she was an accomplice or a witness. The words he heard her speak were “I’ll get you out of here.” Was an indication of being an accomplice. “You will do nothing of the sort, madame.” He remarked to her statement. His eyes turned to the man and sought eye contact with his piercing bleached blue gaze. All humans knew that the paler the eyes were, the older and more powerful they were.

“You are under arrest by order of the Vampire Security Force.” He stated simply. “You will come with me down to the station while I decide whether you are to be a blood slave or be remanded to the custody of the lab. Then again, I may have to kill you, you understand, to make an example of you. I can’t have humans just shitting wherever they please when there are facilities right there along that wall.” He pointed at the non-gender specific water closets. He turned his attention to the woman. “As his accomplice, you are also under arrest, I will decide what for later.” He looked up, snapped his fingers and spun around so he was facing his vehicle, “Arrest them.” He ordered then began walking toward his car.

[Margaret Rosier]

That was the risk of sticking your neck out for other people. It had been a stupid move on her part but one that she had done against her better nature anyway. The sense of rebellion in her, rather than a true concern for the idiotic man, had been what fueled Maggie to put herself out there. As the old vampire came over to them speaking at her Margaret bowed her head, respectively. She already knew what she would say when the opportunity to arose, but for now she well was aware that silence and compliance were in her best interest if she expected to get out of this mess. Silently, and expressionlessly, she was loathing the man on the ground. She couldn’t understand why some people were so blatant about things, it was against what her father had taught her all her life and what did it do for them other than put a quick stop to accomplishing anything?

The inferiors seized Margaret, who didn’t resist in the least, though her companion was this thrashing about as though he were some type of animal. If the circumstances had been different she might have respected the animalistic resolve, that he was a fighter and would do whatever it took to prevent capture. That was something that Maggie could relate to. She wasn’t much for repressing herself or being someone’s slave but she internalized all of that, let it boil inside for the time that she could let it out at the right time. Here, now, it hadn’t been the time and the arrest was proof of that. There had been too many of them, too close and this incident had been nothing but a death sentence. Though Margaret was all for getting one over of the vampires, she went about things in a smart way.

Keeping her voice timid, obedient- though it did kill piece by piece- Maggie met the authority’s gaze for the briefest of moment’s not daring to stare him down. That could easily be construed as challenging him, which if Margaret wanted out, she couldn’t risk doing. She had to play into the cattle role, had to pretend as though she idolized these wicked creatures whose oppression she was supposed to be thankful for. ”I understand.” Margaret was led away from the crowd to be taken away wherever they saw fit for the offense. The man was still trying to resist behind her but it was futile. It appeared that, or so she assumed, his idiocy must have been a common thing for him. This was just what she had needed today. In retrospect, she wouldn’t have made the same choice that she had but it was time to put her skills to use.

[Mathias Leveque]

Mathias was half way back to his vehicle when he realized the human was not going to go easily. He turned and looked at him. He thrashed and fought, biting at the VSF officers. Mathias noticed there were children in the line with their parents. Some of the other young men began to have looks on their faces that he didn’t like. They were looks of rebellion, hope that the man would get away, thoughts of why should they be used as cattle. He had seen it before.

Mathias growled and strode back over to the man. “I will not have this in my city!” he scolded the man. He looked at the humans who were watching. “Mothers, turn your children’s eyes away. I am passing judgement on this individual. The crime, treason and attempting to incite a rebellion.” He pulled his gun and held it to the man’s head. “Verdict, guilty. Sentence, death.” With that, he pulled the trigger. The man went down like a sack of potatoes. Mathias turned back to the crowd and waited for the screams to die and the chaos to calm with a little help from the other officers doing crowd control. “This is not a prison but it is not a democracy. It is a Monarchy and Drake Legends is our king. You are all guest of his majesty and as such, will act like one. If you do not like his rules, you are welcome to leave. See the rations unit for a supply pack and leave. If you leave, you will not come back.”

As the other officers picked the body up by the arms and carried it into the medical center for processing, Mathias grabbed the woman by the arm. “You, come with me.” He growled and began pulling her toward his car. As a vampire, she had no choice but to go with him. Once at his car, he opened the back door, “Get in.” he commanded and waited for her to comply.

[Margaret Rosier]

Staying composed wasn’t the easiest of tasks, not when the actions of the man could only lead to one result. To keep order in a place like this tolerance was short, it had to be so that authority could be maintained. Examples had to be made to sever any bright ideas from the masses. Human beings were fragile creatures, easy to kill, but they still had strength in them. It was what Haven had taught her as a child. Strength came in numbers and in the combined conviction of their sense of freedom- it could certainly be more than the vampires wanted to deal with. Discouraging that within the city was the best course of action to take. The majority of these people were even less ill equip to go up against an adversary as powerful as this one than that of those who had been properly trained all their lives in Haven. Seeing that glimmer of rebellion sparking in the people around her was pleasing but the cost of doing so only to have that glimmer snuffed out within an instant wasn’t worth it.

She could have stared straight on, held her head high taking the man’s death without so much as flinching but that would have contradicted the timid nature she was projecting to the VSF. Maggie had saw it coming. Zero tolerance was afforded for the series of offenses that the man, whose name she had never gotten and probably would never be told, had carried out and the sentencing had been swift and unforgiving. Her eyes squeezed shut, winching at the sound of the bullet leaving the barrel, head snapping away so that she wouldn’t witness the death herself, childlike almost if not for her very womanly figure. Margaret was used to playing roles and today was no different. Squeezing them as tight as she could Maggie manage to force some tears to glint in her eyes before looking back to the head vampire, keeping the anger out of her expression to leave only sadness.

Shivering at his touch, which could have been construed as shyness Maggie looked up at him wide eyed, innocence dazzling in her persona. ”Yes, sir.” There was no need to pull her she went with him willingly. What was Margaret to do? Resist and end up like the now dead man. Maggie slid into the back seat all the way to the opposite end of the vehicle, adjusting the skirt of her dress once she was settled in. An extra hint of thigh, though nothing that would be obvious but instead written off as accidental, at best. Where he was carting her off to was still a mystery to Margaret but she was certain about one thing, she highly doubted that she would like it.

[Mathias Leveque]

Mathias was wraught with frustration. Why had the man had to force his hand? Why could he have not just behaved like...well, like a human being, rather than an animal? He had a feeling that the woman didn't have a clue who that man was and that he would simply set her free after she was processed. He never even noticed the tears in her eyes because he was not capable of caring about that.

Mathias sat behind the wheel for a moment and closed his eyes with his fist clenched against the steering wheel. He had to compose his anger. Anger was one of the only emotions he knew how to deal with, anger was easy. It was the other ones that eluded him. "You understand that I had no choice." he muttered, almost looking for redemption but mostly trying to convince himself. "I didn't want to kill him..." he added before putting the already running car in drive and pulling away from the curb.

He drove in silence, the memory of what happened gnawing at him. Not because he felt something about it but because he didn't understand why some humans just had to look a gift horse in the eye. They didn't have to be in the city where their every need was cared for in return for a simple blood donation each month. They could live in Haven and struggle to survive in the zombie wasteland. They had a choice.

Mathias pulled up in front of the station and got out. As he opened the back door and waited for her to emerge, a thought occured to him. "Did you donate? Do you need nuritment? I can have some food and drink brought to you." he offered. Mathias was a firm believer in treating the humans well, if they allowed him to. He liked things the way they used to be, where vampires were stealth. Mathias was one who only fed on those willing to be fed from. He was never a predator. "This way." he opened the door to the station and waited for her to enter.

[Margaret Rosier]

Her gaze turned toward the window peering out of it to the people who just moments ago had been scattered from all the commotion inside. What had happened had, by that point, already been passed along and the orderly manner was regained by the VSF within moments. The message had successfully been sent and any real notion of a revolution was nothing but a fleeting idea to those people yet again. To her, as she perceived it, the humans in that line were nothing more than shadows of their former selves, or what they had the potential to be. Yes, the vampires provided every materialistic thing that was a necessity to live, but what they didn’t provide, and with the tyrannical rule they never could, was free thought. Those of New Vegas were prisoners of conscience. What made people individuals was being able to think for themselves, having the option of uninhibited expression without the constant fear dangling over their heads- without this Maggie didn’t think that the citizens of New Vegas were really any better off than the zombies in the wasteland, they served no real purpose in life but to be a source of food for the vampires. In Haven there was a sense of community, they took care of each other, it wasn’t perfect, life wasn’t easy but it was meaningful and Margaret missed it. That wasn’t the fate that her father had in store for her though, she had been brought to New Vegas for a reason and year-by-year Maggie was inching her way toward that goal, playing it smart.

As the vampire spoke up she turned her attention back to him. What she understood was that he had to kill him to keep order. There was a brief moment of surprise hearing that he hadn’t wanted to kill him before her cynical and biased nature toward his race took control again. He didn’t want to kill a human that could have a source of food harvested from him by keeping him alive. Vampires had laws to abide by too. Their basic instincts were to be regulated so that the need to feed was confined into a supposedly more humane way of treating human beings, but really it was a pre-emptive move for their survival meant to stretch their food source for as long as they could, they only had an eternity to consider. ”You always have a choice.” Margaret spoke softly knowing full well he could hear her crystal clear. The choice came with consequences, questions to answer, and it wasn’t an easy one but that didn’t mean that their still wasn’t a choice to be made.

What of the choice that she had made, first to extend help and then to step back when the VSF response had been quicker than she had anticipated? Even if Maggie had been up to her full strength, if not for the recent blood donation making her weakened, absolutely famished by that point and she imagined that, by the sluggishness she felt sitting in the back of the car, that her blood sugar level was at an unfortunate low- it still would have been a bad idea to make any move of resistance. She had been outnumbered to the point that she didn’t even stand a chance even with her heightened abilities she wasn’t a priest it was too great a risk and one that she wasn’t willing to take at this time. Maggie still had more to do before she could risk herself like that.

A headache was developing as they drove, she felt a bit nauseous and the hunger pains were beginning to stab at her stomach. A bit slow getting out Margaret used the door to brace herself as the dizziness spun around in her head. Maggie tried to get it together closing her eyes for a moment so that the dizziness didn’t make her even more nauseous. ”Yes, please.” Her pride almost had Maggie refusing the offer, but if she didn’t get something in her soon then the results of that weren’t worth being too proud. Following him to the door Maggie was able to get just inside before the faintness of her strength caught up with her. She leaned her shoulder against the wall beginning to slip down it, just too weak to even hold herself up. It had been a mistake trying to help that man, she should have slipped past and gone straight out to replenish herself but it seemed that her goodness for human beings hadn’t allowed that. Her judgment was impaired, ”I just wanted to help.” Were the words murmured in the slightly delirious state.

[Mathias Leveque]

Mathias was incapable of feeling empathy of the human but he knew her basic needs. It was his Vampire senses that allowed him to smell the scent of her blood and know that her blood was alarmingly low on sugar.

He looked at her as she slumped against the wall with mild concern for the human before he realized her knees were buckling. Being that he was extremely fast, he managed to catch her before she actually hit the floor. He scooped her up, bridal style and carried her into the nearest interrogation room, calling for juice and food to be brought in immediately.

Mathias placed the woman gently in the larger of the two chairs in the room; the padded one used by the interrogator as opposed to the stiff plastic one that usually had some poor guy handcuffed to it. "Hang on, we'll get you something." he tried to be a comfort but he was unsure of the inflection he should use. These situations were so awkward for him, even before he was turned into a Vampire.

Mathias didn't just plop her in the chair, he stood behind her and held her shoulders so she would not slip out of the chair if she actually fainted. He was quite releived when the human receptionist came in with a cup of fruity smelling liquid. She was so full of empathy and understanding, talking softy and comfortingly to the woman and pressing the cup to her lips, "Come on, drink this, Honey, its just fruit juice." One glance from the girl and Mathias knew it was OK to back away. She knew he was uncomfortable. He was a lawman, not a politician.

Mathias stood against he wall and waited while a plate of food was brought in. "Leave the door open." he ordered as the last person filed back out, "This is just an inquiry." he stated flatly. This woman was too well behaved to have any relation to the man who was killed. "Let me know when you are ready to begin, Miss..." he stopped because he had not yet had time to aquire her identification and did not know her name. "Well we can begin with names. I am Chief Leveque, and you are?"

[Margaret Rosier]

She expected to feel the hard ground beneath her as that slow motion falling sensation tugged at her, but it never came. In fact all effort to stand on her on was lifted. It took her a moment to realize what had happened, to glance into the ice blue eyes of the vampire. Margaret was conscious still, could take in everything that was happening to her but it all seemed to lag, get to her a few moments after it had already passed. For the first time in a long time Maggie felt vulnerable- there in the arms of someone that she was supposed to hate and have the life’s mission to kill at some point in time, that very well could kill her right then and there if that whim struck and claim that she had resisted too to justify his actions. She didn’t know the first thing about this man and yet she was supposed to hate him and did, twenty-one years of the same stuff drilled into her mind made it so.

When they had stormed into the donation center the last thing Margaret had predicted was that she would be treated so delicately by this vampire. It was almost laughable really the concern that he was going through the motions to show her. She was just too tired to outwardly laugh. There was something in his eyes, just the slightest of tells that if she had been at her fullest Margaret would have been able to pick up on in an instant, but under the circumstances it went unnoticed by her- she had no idea that it was a struggle for him or that vampires were even capable of feeling uncomfortable over something like this. But then what would Margaret have really known about the situation? This was the first time anything like this had ever happened to her and probably the first time for him too.

Maggie could feel that she was being restrained, but it wasn’t that of confinement but rather to keep her sitting upright, still it made her slightly uneasy. As soon as she got something in her she would start to peak back up, the color would return to her cheeks, the sparkle to her eyes, and most importantly to Margaret her wit would be restored as well. Thinking clearly would be key and she was thankful that the vampire seemed more concerned with getting her in better health than he did about bombarding her with questions. She could smell the fruit juice that filled the cup, brim against her lips along with the soft coaxing that she drink. While Maggie could have easily let her ravenous nature take over and greedily gulp down the offered drink she somehow managed a slight bit of composure to gingerly sip at the drink instead. Her body welcomed it, the liquid feeling good as it cooled her throat and the sugar in the juice began to slowly work its way through her system.

Her coherency was regaining the more that she drank and pretty soon Maggie was able to hold the cup for herself. Her gaze flickered over the woman realizing she was human immediately and that in itself aided in making her feel better, at least on a personal level. Hearing the vampires words she wasn’t sure if it was semantics at play of if he truly meant that she wasn’t going to be grilled relentlessly. Looking over to the vampire as he spoke again, this time directly to her Maggie tried to offer a small smile with her introduction, which was a weak still compliment of her current condition. ”Maggie. I mean Margaret Johnson.” It wasn’t her real name of course, but rather the identification her father had given her when he first brought her to New Vegas when she was seven. Her surname would have drawn too much attention at the time, though now it was probably a long forgotten name. As much as it killed her to do so there was the necessity for it and it had been earned. ”Thank you.” He had taken care of her, made sure that she was taken care of and the nicety was part of playing into the compliant upstanding citizen. ”I’m ready to tell you what you need to know.”

[Mathias Leveque]

Mathias had been around for a very long time. He had been in the military as an interrogator as a human and then worked some kind of investigation and police type work since he was changed into a vampire. He could hear the heart beats of humans and even the slightest changes in their bodies. He could tell she was lying. But why was she lying.

There was something off in her mannerisms and he immediately told himself to be very careful. He pushed himself away from the wall and walked to the other side of the table, across from her. He crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t know why she was lying since there was nothing forcing her to stay in New Vegas if she didn’t like the rules. Maybe she broke the law and was currently wanted.

He sighed and shook his head. His day was going to get longer. “You know Miss…whatever your real name is.” He began without making eye contact. “Your visit here was only going to take, perhaps, 20 minutes of your day. I would ask you a few questions, you would answer them, sign a report then go home.”

He lowered his hands onto the table top and looked her in the eye with his intense steely pale blue orbs. “But, because you lied to me on the very first question, the easiest one to answer most likely, our days just got much, much longer.” He did not remove his gaze from hers, nor would he until he got the answers he wanted.

“If you would like to begin again, and test me on my ability to tell if you are lying, why don’t you tell me your name again and I will try to forget what you told me the first time and we can get on with it.” He stood up and began to pace the floor in front of the table, “And you really should eat what’s on that plate.”

Far be it from him to have her faint on him . That would make his day even longer and he had a bad feeling about something that had to do with Ryan…his gut instincts, which he trusted, were making him feel uneasy. Ryan’s strange behavior probably meant he was headed for a meltdown. Mathias knew it was a possibility when he took on a Techa, he was not going to grieve over it.

[Margaret Rosier]

Lying was subjective. The name that she was registered under was the one that she had given; it was partially true as well in that her given first name, Margaret had always been the same since the day she was born. If she were to tell Chief Leveque her real name wouldn’t that too be lying considering it wasn’t a name that would be recognized as a citizen in the database. It was the name they checked off during the blood donations, the one that she had gone by for the past fourteen years of her life so by all intents and purposes it was the one that she needed to give. The dead man was causing more problems for her than she would have liked, If she had been dealing with a technahuman- granted that they weren’t a mutant previous to their experimentation that made them more perceptible to it- she wouldn’t have had this problem. Luck wasn’t on her side today it would seem. She didn’t so much as flinch at the notion of being caught in a lie.

He had that intimidating way about him already from his strong, stoic type but when the vampire leaned in like that forcing her to look into his icy gaze it could rattle almost anyone, and did rattle her a little. Maggie had conviction though and if she cowered now it wouldn’t serve any purpose but to seem as though she were being condescending toward him, an insult to his intelligence. Looking down at the plate of food that had been brought out as well she was still rather ravenous, her strength not up to par. The blood sugar problems that she had were worth the enhanced abilities that she possessed on her own account. Taking a bite of the food she thought over the best way that she should answer him, to be truthful without being too revealing. ”I’ve been Margaret Johnson for fourteen years of my life. Forgive me, I assumed you wanted to know who I was here in your fine city versus someone who no longer exists.” It brought her mind back to Etienne a ghost from her past that seemed to have left Haven for all the wrong reasons.

It was a dangerous game that she was playing here. Testing his ability to tell if she was lying wasn’t as much of a gamble as testing his patience. A riddle had been given under guise of a straight answer. What was the worst that he could do to her though? Kill her? Make her a salve? Funny that it never occurred to her but becoming a salve, though loathsome on every level that she could think of, held potential in being even further inside the lion’s den, so to speak, to be the eyes and ears that could pass along information at whatever convenience could be found. Maggie wasn’t afraid of death, would welcome it when the time came, but she just didn’t think now was that time for her. It was why she had heeded caution when the VSF stormed in, it was why she had resisted being hauled off to the security station, and it was why she wasn’t being completely disrespectful of the vampire staring her down.

Life in New Vegas, much like the Vegas of old- always a gamble. Margaret, thus far in her long twenty-one years had been lucky enough to never hit that eventual rock bottom. She had played her odds to her favor, folded when it was in her best interest and took that chance at other times in order to get the pay day. In this particular situation she found herself at a stalemate as to which course of action to take. Chief Leveque was a difficult one to read, the possibility even that there was no emotion hiding behind those too blue eyes to be read, and that didn’t sit well with her- not at all.

[Mathias Leveque]

Mathias really didn't know what to do with this woman. Something about her was off and to just let her go would most likely be a mistake. He could hold her on any number of charges; aiding and abedding a criminal, accessory in attempting to incite a riot, lying to a public officer, conspiring to aide in the escape of a known criminal...all these were charges he could find her guilty on. But something was off... what could it be?

He decided he would not let her go but he could not place her in his own home because for some reason, his gut told him he didn't want her close to him. He would not put her with a member of the council, again, his gut told him it would be a bad idea. Then it occurred to him what to do. A look of decision came across his face. "There will be no more questions, Miss Rosier." he walked over to the rotary phone and picked it up, dialing a four digit number. One of the things he liked about their phone system, being less than 2000 phones in the city, the numbers were only four digits, less to remember.

"Bonjour, mon ami. Il est Mathias. Oui, je vous remercie. J'ai un esclave qui a besoin de sang de placement. Il ne sera que temporaire, j'ai juste besoin de garder un oeil sur elle. L'être humain? Pourquoi aurait-il besoin d'un esclave de sang?" he paused and listened to the voice on the other end of the line. "Je vois. Oui, je pense que ce serait bon pour Billy Ray et Mathias. Un mois. Je vais vous envoyer les détails avec la femme. Je vous remercie, mon ami." He hung up the phone and turned to look at the woman.

"The charges are, aiding and abetting a criminal, accessory in attempting to incite a riot, lying to a public officer, conspiring to aide in the escape of a known criminal, verdict is guilty, sentence 30 days service as a blood slave." he stated flatly. "You will be remanded into the custody of one Billy Ray Blackwell as a slave for the duration of your sentence or until he sees fit to set you free. You will not leave Stoney's Dance Hall unescorted for the duration, or you will be shot." As if he was heard from outside the room, a uniformed Techa came in with a file and handed it to Mathias. He opened it up and began to write. "Escort Miss Rossier to the cowboy club outside the limits Officer Jacobs." he ordered, "I'm assigning you to do daily checks on her progress."

He handed the file back to the officer and turned to leave. He looked back at Maggie one more time, wondering if he was doing the right thing. One thing was for sure, if she messed with the posse, especially Billy Ray, that group of Vampires had its own laws. He shuddered slightly, "See you in 30 days for review Miss Rossier." he turned and walked out of the room.

[Margaret Rosier]

She hadn’t been called by that name in ages. As proud as she was of who she was and where she came from to hear the name Rosier uttered from his lips made her shudder. It didn’t seem right from him, an vampire actually, to be allowed to speak it. The name Rosier was scared to her and Chief Leveque, even with the innate charm and grace that his species possessed, to her, sounded as though it had just been butchered in the most offensive of ways. Being made was never a good thing. Only seconded to not being caught, it was the most important rule that her father had taught her. There was a pang of sadness coupled with rage at the reminder of him. Roman Rosier, the once great and respected resistance fighter with his classic ploy and defiant glory who had spent ten years grooming his daughter to be a devil in disguise and being a thorn in the VSF’s side all the while- it felt insulting to hear the name her his lips.

Becoming a blood slave wasn’t nearly as harsh a fate as the one, unbeknownst to her, that her father had suffered. He proved to more useful alive than he had dead and four years of being imprisoned and extracted for every ounce of information that he had- except regarding his beloved daughter, in the cruelest of fates he was turned vampire himself. It would have explained that feeling of being watched that she got from time to time, the instinctual tell of the hairs on the back of her neck that was almost, if not a completely ridiculous notion, familiar and comfortable to her. What would his thoughts be now, or when he discovered that she was found for who she was? At least that was all that had been found out about her.

He was a tough customer and as she ate, watching him go over to the phones she could barely understand what the details of the conversation were. Her French was limited, but she could identify it easily. The conversation, to her best guess, regarded something about blood and a man named Billy Ray. Her gaze stayed looked on Mathias not daring, if it was possible, to let him out of her sight, taking in every single gesture, expression, and even reading into his stance. He didn’t give off much in his stoic persona, but what she did pick up on with just a twinge of tell, was that he wasn’t quite sure about himself, or the situation that he was in. It was a small victory in her eyes. Vampires weren’t often easily shaken.

Hearing her sentence she remained undaunted to the best of her ability. It had just been a passing thought, something that Maggie had considered the possible benefits from it, not that she really would expect or accept it actually happening to her. The news caused a knot in her stomach, made her nervous and upset. Having finished eating her stomach churned at the idea of it and she hugged herself, curled up as small as she could get in a ball, knees cradled to her chest. Being a blood slave to some old western type outlaw group, or posse as they seemed to be known by. The western themed had always reminded her too much of Haven and had generally been avoided by her… now it was to be her home for the next thirty days. Margaret wasn’t sure how she would deal with that. Looking on after Mathias as he left she could feel the hot sting of tears welling up but refused to let them spill down her cheeks. Big girls didn’t cry.

[Rome Dextaris]

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