Miette
Miette looked at the site of the Rabbit's Hole.
"Not very impressive, is it boys?" she remarked to her sex loyal, and rather sexy male minions. "Let's check it out."
She sauntered inside, wondering again just where it was she heard about this place. Oh well, it didn't matter.
"Interesting crowd," Mietter murmered, looking at the various people there.
Spook
Alice flitted through the busy bar to the new arrival. "Welcome to the Rabbit Hole. I'm Alice. Won't you join the mad tea party?" Her face glittered with shimmer, highlighting the crystalline structure of her eyes and the small shining scales that dotted her cheekbones. RK strolled out of the crowd and leapt onto her shoulders. "And this is RK. What name do you wish to use while you're here?" She petted the cat, before turning slightly to get a cup from a passing employee. "Kool-Aid? Finest LSD. Pretty colours garaunteed."
Christina ignored Christian as she chatted with what she knew was a vampire, Master of this part of the city. Christian was standing by her chair, silver collar gleaming around his neck. She was slightly annoyed at him for the present.
Miette
"I can guarrentee pretty colours anytime," Miette grinned. "But thanks for the offer. You can get my boys anything they want though."
She patted one on the chin.
"I think they deserve a break," she added, directing the comment more at the boy, than Alice, as if he were a pet.
Christian
Christian took a deep breath as he looked around the area, then finally settled down onto the floor.
Getting down, he knew, was the easy part. But getting up with your hands cuffed behind your back is something not many people could do on the first go.
He sat back as far as the chain of his leash would let him.
Spook
"Oh, sweet of you," Alice cooed. "There's an area round the back they can go, if you want. Or I can just assign a card to them. And aren't they pretty boys?" SHe looked at them admiringly. "They're trained so well. RK, no scratching," she scolded lightly as the cat bared his teeth in warning. "He doesn't happen to like men very much, but he's such a good bodyguard."
Christina looked around, and spotted Alice. She waved languidly.
"Come and mingle, please do," Alice said. "Come and meet Christina. You can talk about things to do with pretty boys. She's traiing one herself, you see."
Miette
Miette's eyes brightened. But not as literally as she intended.
"Fun!" she said, then giggled. "Very well trained indeedy. This one is a massure! Oh the fun!"
She gave Christina a delighted smile.
"Is your boy as sexy and droolable as mine?"
Christian
"Why don't you find out for your $#!+ing self?" Christian frowned, twisting his wrists.
"And I'm not hers."
Spook
"He has issues," Christina said, smiling. "But this is only a temporary arrangement. If I could trust him not to run off..."
"Ah, trust. So does conscience make cowards of us all."
"You know, even for you, Alice, that was random."
"What can I say? I'm mad." Alice giggled.
"And you've been drinking the Kool-Aid."
"Whee!"
Miette
Miette giggled.
"I had a little... mmm... sex slave once. Of course, he was a telekinetic so I had to blind him. A shame - if I felt I could have trusted him it would have been so much better to let him keep his powers," she paused, and then giggled some more. "But then he escaped anyway. And somehow, even though he was blind, he still managed to use his powers! I should pick him up again some time, but I'm not sure how to do it without him escaping again. Isn't that alluring? I do like a challenge."
She looked at Christian, considering for a moment.
"I say, is that you Taylor? And if so I looooooove what you've done with your head."
Christian
"I'm not the one with issues," Christian raised his eyebrows.
"And I'm not Taylor $#!+ing Hanson. Guess I couldn't even get away from that."
He gulped a little, the collar pulling on his neck.
Spook
"Poor Christian. You dye your hair, and go through a complete new look, and you still can't get away from it. Doesn't it suit him though?" Christina smiled. "So, what's your deal? Christina Terry, also known as Spook."
"Spooky darling has been making a name for herself. Tanya is so annoyed, shh!" Alice giggled.
Miette
"Aww," Miette replied. "Poor wittle Christian. You sound just like him. 'Fraid you're not gonna escape your clone that easy. Ikey told me all about you he did."
She grinned at Christina.
"You are sooooo lucky to have such a bad boy on your... staff," she giggled.
Christian
"Did he now?" Christian sneered, "you're 'Ikey' is lucky I didn't snap his $#!+ing neck when I had the chance."
He shook some hair out of his eyes again.
"And $#!+ing oath."
Spook
"Swearing is bad for the soul," Alice sang. "Such a darkling child, raging and wild."
"What she said." Christina nodded. "But it's working for the moment. Such a shock, to be able to have powers." She grinned. "Yay for Kansas."
Miette
"I love my Ikey," Miette smiled. "But I don't think he loves me so much any more. I'll get him back, you'll see. I'll find out why blinding him didn't take away the use of his powers."
Miette bounced delightedly.
"Kansas! Such a great tourist spot! I went there too, and now..." she giggled. "My powers just exploded with new tricks. Fun, fun, fun!"
Christian
Christian groaned and rolled his eyes.
He brough a knee up to his chest and leant his chin on it, not particularly interested in joining the conversation further.
He'd never been the social type anyway.
Spook
"Never had any, got one. Try and use your tricks." Christina smiled, and stretched lazily, shades firmly fixed over her black eyes.
Alice whispered to RK, then put him down. He brushed up against Miette's legs for a moment before stalking regally away. "Darkling, do you need anything? Spooky? Missy?" She looked around. "Anything for your boys?"
Miette
A sly smile crossed Miette face as she attempted to use her powers.
"Oooooh," she said. "How fun! You can stop that?"
She clapped her hands gleefully.
"Such fun! Oh, and no, no, I don't want anything Alice-sweetie, but feel free to get my boys smashed. I am feeling generous today!"
Then Miette paused.
"Your power isn't all that fab though... I'm still overly hot..." she mused. "Very strange... ever since Kansas it's been so hard to keep cool. One does get a new appreciation of cotton, sandals, and covering only the essentails when one is always hot. And in more ways than one I might add."
Spook
"I'm always cold," Christina said thoughtfully. "But I can cope with it. It's not so fun for the people I touch though." She shrugged her shoulders. "I couldn't even begin to control Christian without this. Not that we didn't have a truce of sorts. And then Tanya just had to come home early that day...screwed that to hell. Damn, I hate telepaths."
Christian
Christian scowled at the mention of Tanya, remembering that day all too clearly.
He should have done something then. Offered to kill her maybe? Before it got too freaking late.
Miette
"Oh telepaths aren't so bad. When they're working for you," Miette replied with a malicious twinkle in her eye. "Why, I, myself have one on my... payroll, so to speak. He works for me, and I let him live. He can't touch me telepathically without me sensing it. Another little side effect of Kansas I suppose."
She grinned broadly.
"Perhaps you've heard of him," she said, knowing the odds were pretty damn good that they did. "His name is the Eye."
Spook
"Pull the other one dearie, it's got bells on," Christina sneered. "I don't believe you in the slightest."
"While the cat's away, the mice will play. You've got a tiger by the tail, and you better hope he never ever gets loose, or you'll be snap! Gulp! Swallow! Gone!" Alice clapped her hands together.
Christian
Christian froze, not believing what the girl was saying.
"Craig?" he spoke up, "Craig works for no one."
He almost growled.
Miette
Miette's grin grew broader.
"You can choose not to believe me, if you want," she smirked. "But next time you see him, ask him to take off his shirt."
She motioned for one of her minions to do just that. She sighed admiringly for a moment, and then indicated her now trademark M.
"He'll have one of those on him. Ikey-sweetie has one too. All my people have them."
Spook
Christina frowned. This girl was really starting to piss her off. Alice caught the look in the woman's eye and started to giggle.
"Scratch, claw, bite! Cat fight!"
"Quite, Alice." Christina reached out with her powers, and twisted. The 'M' faded before their eyes, and the man shook his head dazedly. "Hmmm. That type of thing just doesn't sit right with me. What say we find Craig, and offer him your life for his freedom?" Christina looked at Christian. "And a bucketload of money, of course."
The man looked around himself with increasing comprhension. "What the...?"
Christian
Christian growled slightly, pulling on the cuffs around his wrists.
"If Craig doesn't want to be found, he won't be," he said sternly, "and like he would give a flying $#!+ anyway."
Miette
Miette gave Christina a dark look, although not as dark as she might have attempted. Then a grin appeared on her face.
"Cute," she said. "But I'll have you know my little minions here were put under, so to speak, by my pal Li. I have many others though, and they do as they're told for another reason. Just like Eye. Oh, once he thought he had command of me, but he was very, very mistaken."
She giggled.
"One doesn't need powers to command people. They help, but you don't need them."
Spook
"Something's in your head..." Christina mused, taking her shades off and blinking her black eyes. "Some one's twisted you all up inside."
"Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly," Alice said. "Nursery rhymes and lullabies hold a great deal of truth in them."
"Quite, Alice dear." With a wrench, all the men with Miette went to their knees in pain. "Awaken from your dreaming."
Christian
Christian jumped as they hit the ground, then scrambled backward as far as the chain would let him.
Which wasn't very far.
"What the hell are you doing to them?" he frowned, keeping his breathing steady.
Miette
Miette smirked.
"Don't you see? She thinks that by releasing Li's command, these pidgons are going to fly the coop."
She turned to the nearest one and prodded him in the side.
"Remember Casey?" she said.
The man looked up to her, frowned and shook his head.
"No, really. Big guy. Lots of hair. Especially on his back," Miette mused. "Looked kinda pretty with the laser holes and the multicoloured blood, don'tcha think?"
"Casey..." another man murmered.
"Oho, we have a winner," Miette beamed. "Remind your buddies and then get ready to leave, sweetie."
She turned back to Christian and Christina.
"T'was lovely talking to you," she said. "But as you can see, I have just a tiny bit of retraining to do now. Ta ta!"
Spook
Alice hissed at her. "Out of the Rabbit Hole you go." She made the sign of the Cross with her fingers. "Your business is not welcome here. Don't come back."
"Tell her, Alice." A knife appeared in Christina's hand, and she swung it by the handle idly. "I can still kill you, so I'd suggest you leave. If they can't manage to get away from an incompetent bitch like yourself, they deserve it." She readied to tap her heels if she needed to.
"Cast out." Alice's eyes glittered. "And I hope Craig eats you UP! He was a Spider before he was the Eye." A flurry of skirts and Alice moved behind Christina, out of her line of sight. RK spat and the crowd watched the owner of the club for what would happen next. "If you don't want to be diamond and shining so pretty like that man over there," she pointed at a statue, "go now, little girl. You're not welcome among us."
Miette
Miette giggled.
"Such fun! A new challenge! I love a good challenge. What fun it shall be. Come boys."
She flicked her fingers and started for the door. Then she noticed they weren't following and wagged her fingers.
"Tsk, tsk," she replied smiling.
They followed her out. Even Spook's taking away of Lisha's command couldn't block their memories of the past few months.
Fear was a terrible weapon.
Christian
Christian watched her leave, and gulped.
"Whot he $#!+ was that?" he half murmured, his thoughts turning to Craig.
Now he was even more worried about him.
Spook
Alice hissed, and ran fleetly after where Miette had disappeared. She was too late to get Miette, but she did manage to hit the hand of one of her men, turning it to sparkling diamonds. Alice spat on the ground again, then retreated back inside. "I *don't* like her. Maxie! You got a piccie?"
"Got 'em all, Alice," a tall, severe looking black man said. "What you want done?"
"Send 'em to all the freeholds, the YIRAAAS, freelancers, whoever the hell you can," Alice said in a business like tone, totally devoid of her usual whimsy. Christina laughed quietly.
"She's annoyed the wrong woman, that girl. I did tell you not to be fooled by her exterior. Alice is more dangerous then Craig, in her own way. Hours from now, no one will deal with her. Alice has even got connections in the purely human world." The knife disappeared again, and Christina stretched slightly. "So. Where to next? Of course, after your stunt last night, we do need to move. And after this, it makes it even more urgent."
"Max, I want her blacklisted with everyone we know, and their friends, and their enemies. I want her cut *dead* from anything. And see what the hell has happened to Craig."
"On it, Alice."
"*That* worries me more then anything else." Alice nibbled her lip. "Craig's an old player. Let's starve this girl out, and tell everyone to watch out. She's dangerous. Complete bungler and amateur, but she's powerful. That makes her more dangerous. She's stupid if she thinks she has Craig under control..."
Christian
"Craig doens't work for anyone, least of all a freaking girl," Christian snarled a little, before turning away.
He twisted his wrists again, his arms getting sore from being held behind.
Spook
"You know that, and I know that, but she was very sincere." Alice paced slightly. "Kit!"
"Called?"
"You're a path, what you see?"
"She's pretty sure she has him. I saw the memory," a teenage male with blue and green streaked hair said. He blinked a double set of eyelids, somewhat like a reptile.
"Damn, damn, damn. Go, Spooky." Alice whirled to face her somewhat friend. "I'll have to call in the YIRAAAS..."
"Already gone," Christina said, standing up.
"Your van's round the back, full tank and supplies." Alice hugged Christina briefly. "Be safe."
"As much as I can."
"RK!" The cat ran up. "Take RK. He don't even mind Christian."
"I couldn't take your cat..."
"Go, take. He wanted to go with you, anyway."
Christina nodded slightly, then unlooped the end of Christian's leash from the chair she was sitting on. "Let's go then."
Christian
Christian gulped again as the collar pulled on his neck, and he had to stand up. He glanced at the cat, before looking to the doorway Miette disappeared through.
"Where exactly are we going?" he frowned.
Spook
"Don't know. Not sure. Running sounds like a marvelous idea though," Christina said thoughtfully. "So, let's start doing that thing. I'll see you, Alice."
"Don't stay away so long next time!" Alice said cheerfully. "I'll see you when you come back around."
"Ok, Alice baby."
Alice turned back to her people. "Right, Kit? Can you get your clan to put a telepathic block on *everyone* here on everything except what happened here today? YIRAAAS will have telepaths..."
"Alice is used to this sort of thing," Christina said shortly as she left with Christian. "And YIRAAAS telepathic agents are the worst type of peeping toms there are." They went quickly through the maze of corridors Alice had constructed to emerge in a garage. She went to her van. "Gonna have to dump this in case the Val'eristi blocks don't hold...but Kit has Veela blood, so they should." Christina unlocked it, still keeping a hold of Christian's leash.
Christian
"The YIRAAS have their reasons. They're just doing their jobs. What they were trained to do," Christian glared.
"It's their duty to track down scum."
Spook
Christina turned around and slapped him hard across the face. "Don't you *ever* say anything like that about Alice again," she said in a cold voice. "Or even let me think you've said something like that abour Alice. I know what I am, but she's nothing like me. She helps more people then you know. And don't go high and mighty on me. There's blood on your hands too. Doing their jobs...didn't save the Nazis at Nuremburg. Blakesley's just doing his job too." She turned back to the van and wrenched the door open. "Get in and shut your mouth or I'll put a gag in it. When you can be civil, feel free to open it again."
Christian
"Thought you wanted someone to talk to?" Christian raised his eyebrows, looking down on her.
"And I know Blakesley's just doing his job, and if that was it I wouldn't mind so much. The fact that he's a $#!+ing sadist and takes pleasure in it makes me sick."
Spook
"Hey. Killing agents is my job," Christina said. "Shouldn't take it personal then when I off Tanya. Van. In. We have a flight to catch."
Christian
"And you don't have a reason for it anymore now you have your $#!+ing power," Christian glared.
"And what flight? Where the $#!+ ar eyou taking me?"
Spook
"On the contrary, the power's just making my job a hell of a lot easier. A flight I'm taking you on. Somewhere unspecified. Cessna, probably. I've got my pilot's liscence. In now, or I get out a gun. Your choice."
Christian
Christian gulped again, feeling her pull on the collar, before looking up towards the door they'd come through.
"Fine. Freaking fine," he shook his head.
He got into the van with a little difficulty, then sat back and closed his eyes.
Spook
Christina closed the door behind him and walked around to her side getting in. "So, you know that girl at all? All I know is that she *was* Ike Hanson's girlfriend, she's from England and she disappeared with a friend a while back. Obviously, went to Kansas in the mean time, and somehow for the moment has turned the tables on Craig. Any thoughts while we get the hell out of Dodge?" She started the car and drove out of the garage into the main city traffic, setting a course for the nearest airstrip.
Christian
Christian was trying hard to remember, but once Taylor's echo had been removed, so had his memories. And he knew that girl was in them somewhere.
"No," was all he said, not moving.
Spook
"Pity, would be useful to know," Christina said regretfully. "I remember she was a light manipulator...she won a prize at the big tournament for it. Must've been what she was babbling about with lazers. Because after all, a laser's just a fancy, extremely painful light."
Christian
Christian opened his eyes again and turned his head toward the window. He decided he'd better keep watching where he was going, in case he had to find his way back on his own.
Spook
They drove on until they reached an airstrip. Christina leant down, and closed her fingers around a syringe. With a swift movement, she pressed it into Christian's vein and depressed the plunger. "I'm sorry..."
Christian
"AH!" $#!+," Christian jumped, not being able to duck away.
He ground his teeth with his head turned away until she removed the needle. Then he panted a little and leant his head against the window.
"What the hell are you doing to me?" he almost moaned.
Spook
"Just something to make you sleep," Christina said sadly as she got out of the car. "I'm not that big. And I can't take the risk that you'll try something on the plane."
An Indian looking man made his way from a small shack near the airfield to her.
"Mubarak ho." (Greetings.)
"Mubarak ho," Christina called out to him. "Mera naam Katinka Muskowitsc hai." She quickly concluded her business with him, and went to the van. She lugged her stiff out and he took it to the small Cessna that was waiting for her and Christian.
Christian
Christian groaned and rolled his head, feeling dizzy. The fact that he could touch his head made it worse.
He took a deep breath trying to calm himself down, before leaning down onto the seat so he wouldn't wake up with a headache.
Spook
Christina moved her few belongings into the plane. Then she came back for Christian. With the grumbling aid of the man, she moved him into the passenger seat. Just in case, she strapped his arms to his side and put shackles on his feet so he wouldn't be able to kick anything. Then she put the flight harness on.
Soon, they were flying high and Christina rubbed her eyes tiredly. East Coast. Let's hope YIRAAAS were stumped by Shiva's many contacts. He could hide the van and make it so it never reached the airport. And he knew about alien telepaths and regarularily got a block applied by what would be the Ga'Revali Master equivalent, if the Master hadn't been a Yogth'disku demon.