To Cry Ophelia

By Azure Dragon

NOTE TO READERS: I wrote this under the influence of a very bad cold that 
I think is becoming a flu. So don't flame me unless it's major. 

WARNING: This story involves an abusive relationship, if this bothers you, 
don't read it. 


Part One 

Lilly took her usual table and cast a glance around her domain. She 
spotted Cash and his people near the bar and he nodded to her. 
Returning the greeting she cast her eyes to the rest of the club. She saw 
another familiar face appear from the staircase. Although the girl had no 
name, she had been coming to the club for the last two weeks. Always 
taking the same table and leaving just before close, she never ordered 
anything but water and never spoke to anyone. It was as if she wanted 
to disappear from sight and stay hidden. The girl had caught the 
Toreador's attention a couple days ago. There was no outward reason as 
to why she had, just a feeling. Lilly never got a close look at her face, just 
a hint of it. Just as the vampire was about to get a good look at her, one 
of the waitresses stepped in the way. 

"Can I get you anything?" The waitress asked. 

Her voice stirred the girl from her thoughts, " Just water." Came the soft 
reply. 

The woman departed, making her way over to the bar that sat under the 
stairs. A song by Enya floated through the posh club. The girl recognized 
it as Pax Deorum from the Memory of Trees album. It was haunting and 
sad with a hint of joyful.  Dim lighting detracted from anyone being able to 
see very well. But it didn't keep the beauty of the club or it's patrons from 
being noticed. Not looking too closely at anyone in the club she sighed 
and leaned back into her little corner. Here she was hard to see and very 
easy to miss. No one too much notice of corners these days. So she could 
sit back and for awhile forget the reality that was her life. 

** 
At closing the girl huddled into her coat and stepped out into the street. 
Lifting her face to the slowly lightening sky, she pulled in a breath. Her 
chest hurt and reminded her of what she was returning to. Pale blue 
washed over the dark ink of the night as she headed toward her home. 

The stairs were chipped and needed to be fixed, a new coat of paint was 
needed on the exterior of the house. Opening and closing the door as 
softly as she could, the girl shrugged off her coat and hung it up. It was 
as she crossed the kitchen to the stairs that she caught sight of the living 
room. Weak sunlight spilled in from the bay window and lit up the 
destruction of last night. The coffee table had been overturned again and 
the couch was a mess. Broken glass glittered in the sunlight as the 
fingers of light crossed the worn carpet. The light crossed a huddled form 
on the floor and the girl let out a sigh. 

She crouched next tot he form and pulled back the blanket. Her sisters 
face was three different shades of red and dark purple. Her clothes were 
ripped away and hung off her in tatters. 

"Regan." The girl whispered and received no answer. 

Shaking her she stood up and went to the kitchen. There were signs of 
dinner and she could only guess what had caused this fight. The phone 
was against the wall, near the door and she dialed a number from 
memory. 

"Jason," She said softly, "This is Ophelia, I need a ride to the 
hospital....No I am fine, it's Regan....Yes, thanks." 

Hanging up she went back to the living room and found the afghan for 
the couch. Shaking loose the bits of glass she knelt and wrapped her 
sister in it. The front door opened just as she was in the kitchen getting a 
cloth to wipe off the blood. 

"Where?" Jason asked as he took one look at her. 

"Living room." Ophelia gazed too hard at the sink and it's dishes as Jason 
went in and got Regan. She followed him silently to the front door and 
out to his car. " Should I come with you?" 

Jason shut the car door and shook his head. " No. Someone should be 
here incase the police come." 

"The fight was hours ago, surely they would have come by now." Just as 
she spoke her ears detected the wail of sirens. They sounded to be 
coming in her direction and she could cross her arms. " Best get going." 

Jason reached up a hand and brushed back a strand of her hair. "I'll get 
her to safety." 

Ophelia backed up a step, " Just go." 

She watched as Jason drove away and the sun rose over the city. It was 
another day and nothing was any different from yesterday. Turning to the 
house she saw the police cars approaching. 

"Here we go." She muttered as the unmarked car pulled up and two men 
got out. 


Part Two 

Sitting at the kitchen table while the police went through the house 
suited Ophelia just fine. What annoyed her was the intent stare of the 
two detectives across from her. Not that it mattered, she had nothing to 
hide from them. 

"Let us go through the facts one more time." The dark one said, from the 
badge he had shown her, she knew his name was Sonny Nillson. " You 
came home at just past dawn and found your sister on the floor of the 
living room?" He glanced at her. 

She nodded. "That's right." 

"Then you called Jason Peters, a friend of yours and he took her to the 
hospital." Sonny continued and she nodded again. " Why didn't you call 
for an ambulance?" 

"My sister was unconscious Detective Nillson, I was worried. Jason has 
always been the one to help us. I saw no reason not to turn to him." 
Ophelia rubbed her eyes with both hands. 

The second one, Detective Kohanek, spoke up. " Where you when this 
happened?" 

She regarded him for a moment and sighed. " I was out." 

"That was convenient for you."  He muttered and she frowned at him, " 
Are you 'out' all the time?" 

"No Detective I am not." She spoke in a cold voice. " I am just...I went to 
a club okay?" 

"The Haven?" He said lightly, nodding to her hand. 

Ophelia gazed at the stamp on the back of her right hand. " Yeah, I was 
there and I didn't leave until close." 

"Do you have friends there too Miss Shaw?" 

She gazed at him and found that his tone was slightly strange. " What 
are you implying Detective? That I would let this happen to my sister?" 
Anger warmed her words, " For your information I was there because I 
happen to like the club. I don't know any one or have any 'friends' of any 
kind." She stood up and pushed back her hair. " Is there anything else?" 

The dark man put his hand on his partner's arm and stood up. " Do you 
know which hospital Mr. Peters would take your sister?" 

"The main one." Ophelia waved a hand, " I have no idea, we're new 
here." 

"Thank you for your time." Sonny handed her a card, " If anything 
happens give me a call." 

She took it and stared at the plain white and black, " I will." 

They showed themselves out and it was then that Sonny glared at Frank. 
"What is with you?" 

"I don't like it Sonny." Frank muttered. "She leaves and her sister gets 
put in hospital. Why go to The Haven? There are places closer to this 
neighborhood and it would make more sense." 

Sonny leaned on the hood his car and shook his head. " Frank, you have 
to learn to trust people. The girl said she liked the club now leave it 
alone. There are other reasons for this Frank, not all the answers are 
Kindred related." 

Frank stared at the house and then his partner. " Still...Something feels 
off." 



Part Three 

Pulling open the heavy door of The Haven and descending into it's dark 
depths was comforting. Not bothering to look at anyone, Ophelia went to 
her table and sat down. Just as she was settling in, she saw someone 
look over at her. There was no mistaking the fact that they had seen her. 
There was a look in those eyes that held her as they stood up and 
walked over. 

"Just water right?" 

Ophelia blinked and found herself face to face with a lovely woman. " Ah, 
right." 

The woman smiled and sat down across from her. " I've been watching 
for you. Tell me something, if you don't mind." 

"Umm, I guess not." Ophelia shifted in her seat and felt the shadows 
close in her. 

"Why do you always come to this table?" The woman's eyes were 
intensely bright in the dark. " What brings you here?" 

Her words spilled out before her brain could stop her. " This is a place 
where I feel safe." 

"Safe? From what?" The woman asked lightly. 

For a moment the words were stuck in her throat before they spilled out. 
" My life I guess." 

Something moved across the light causing Ophelia to blink and shake her 
head. The woman sat back and watched her as she sipped at her water. 
Her hands were shaking and she didn't know why. 

"Well in that case," The woman said as she stood gracefully. " This is the 
last place you want to be." 

"Then why did you call the Haven?" Ophelia met those eyes and there 
was no pull to them. 

The woman regarded her for a long moment and then smiled. " Just be 
careful is all." 

"Why?" Ophelia couldn't explain the sudden rush that over came her. " 
What do I have to be afraid of?" 

"I thought you knew." The woman left her with that and disappeared into 
the crowd that had swelled into the club. 

When close came that night she still hadn't seen the strange lady. 
Although she had searched for her, it was like she had actually 
disappeared. As the doors closed and locked behind her, she drew in a 
breath of damp air and felt exhausted. She hadn't slept much the day 
before and Jason still hadn't called her. Making her way down the street 
she chased pebbles with her shoes as she made her way home. As much 
as she wanted to know about her sister, she was tired of it all. How many 
times had she begged Regan to leave him? How many nights had she 
suffered because her sister refused? 

A cold hand slid down her back and she stopped a second. Searching the 
shadows of dawn she shivered and quickened her step. It wasn't her 
fault that Regan was in the hospital. It wasn't. No matter what people 
said about it. Opheila had stopped blaming herself years ago. After five 
years of putting up with the pain and the torment, she had lost her ability 
to really care about anything. There just wasn't anything left that 
mattered. 

"Hey there." 

The sudden voice made her jump, what she saw made her want to 
scream. " Carl?" 

"That's right," His voice was a whispered promise of pain. " Where's 
Regan?" 

"I...I don't know." Opheila moved back and step and his hand lashed out. 
The blow staggered her and she hit the wall. She spit blood out and 
leaned against the broken brick as he loomed up in front of her. " 
Honestly, I don't know." 

A cruel smile cut across his features as he stood over her. " That's okay," 
He said gently, " I was waiting for you anyway." 

With the sun rising over the city it turned a blind eye to the scene on the 
street below. 

Part four 

The harsh ringing of his phone dragged Sonny from his bed and into his 
shadowy living room. Snatching the phone from it cradle he looked at his 
watch. Just after ten in the morning. 

"Yeah?" 

"It's Frank." Came the rough voice on the other. 

"Yeah Frank?" Sonny stretched as his partner briefed him over the phone. 
"She awake?" 

"The doctors say the injuries weren't enough to make her unconscious. 
Just to her hurt." Sonny heard the flip of paper as Frank checked his 
notes. "One of Cash's people found her not far from the club." 

The Kindred sighed and knew where this was going. " I don't think one us 
did Frank." 

"Just the same I want to ask Lilly about it." 

"Come on Frank," Sonny snapped and forced himself to breath in. " You 
just won't leave her alone will you?" 

"How many crimes have happened in her area?" Frank countered. " Too 
many for comfort. First it was Starkweather, then it was Zane and then-" 

"Shut up Frank." Sonny closed his eyes a moment. " Let me get dressed 
and talk to Julian. I'll meet you at the Haven later." 

Slamming down the phone, he got dressed and went to his Prince. As he 
drove onto the grounds he felt it. Something had happened. Running into 
the house he saw Cash sitting on the stairs. His head in his hands and a 
cloud of misery around him. 

"What's going on Cash?" He asked as he looked around the foyer and 
saw nothing out of place. 

The man lifted his head as red tears went down is cheeks. "It's Sasha, 
someone...She might die." 

"What?" Sonny looked up at the second level and shook his head. " 
When did this happen?" 

"Late last night." Cash stood up and put on a brave face. " According to 
Cameron, an unidentified man broke into the compound and attacked her. 
The security cameras didn't pick up anything that could be used to identify 
him." 

"Where's Julian?" Sonny asked quickly, " Does he know?" 

"Yes, Cameron brought her here so that Dadelus could try and help." 
Cash nodded to the conclave room and shook his head. " I have never 
seen him so angry, not even when...when Eddie had her embraced. 
Cameron is pleading innocence and there's nothing to say he did it." 

Sonny approached the doors, behind them he could hear the raised 
voices of angry men. Pushing open the door he stepped in and closed 
them. Lilly sat in her chair and glanced at him, there was a panicked look 
in her blue eyes. 

"I warned you in the beginning," Julian shouted. " This will not go 
unpunished." 

"Glad to hear it." Cameron returned the harsh tone, " But I had nothing 
to do with this. I keep telling you that I wasn't even in the compound. I 
was at the Haven when the attacker broke in." 

Julian shot a look at Lilly and she met his eyes. "Was he there?" 

"Yes." Was all she said. 

The Prince looked at the Brujah and noticed Sonny over his shoulder. " 
What can we do for you Sonny?" 

Stepping forward he glanced at Cameron who spared him a flicker of 
eyes. " Frank thinks that a recent attack on a human was committed by a 
Kindred. He wants to talk to Lilly about it since it happened a few blocks 
from her club." 

"That man is more a nuisance then he is of use to us." Cameron 
muttered, casting a look at Julian. " Who do you think he blames this 
time?" 

Lilly lifted her head. " Did he say who it was?" 

"From the sound of it, the girl was one that he and I talked to a few days 
ago. Her sister was put in hospital and Frank thinks the girl was in on it. 
We couldn't find the boyfriend. It is possible that he followed her to the 
Haven and then waited for her." 

"This happened when?" Julian asked as he sat down in his chair at the 
end of the table. " Just after sunrise according to the doctors." 

"Has she said anything?" Cameron asked. 

"Something about a mystery woman and brightly blue eyes." He glanced 
at Lilly and saw the woman take a breath. "Know anything about it Lilly?" 


Part five 

A little over two hundred years had passed since Lillie had ever 
considered pain. She had never bled or faced any serious injury in over 
two centuries. Now she stood in the door of a hospital room and looked 
at the face of suffering. With her dark hair fanned out from the bandages 
it seemed slightly like a soap opera. There should have been music 
playing, some kind of haunting song as the vampire watched the girl. 
Indeed there was music, it came from the monitors at her bedside. A 
single light glowed to her left, illuminating the stitches that closed up the 
deep gash on her cheek. Her right was also cut and stitched back 
together. There were thick white coverings on her wrists and under the 
sheets there were more. From where Lillie stood she watched the pale 
face of the girl from her club. Her name was Ophelia and she had just 
moved here from a small town in the Eastern United States. Her sister 
Regan was in the hospital too but on another floor. This one was 
reserved for critical patients. From what the doctors had told her she was 
in danger of never waking up, ever again. 

Lillie drew in a breath taking one step then another, at her back was 
Sonny who was watching the hall. Even though it was past midnight, one 
could never tell when someone might show up. Sitting down next to the 
constant beeping machine, the vampire let out a rush of air and reached 
a white hand toward the sheets. Touching the rough woven cloth the 
vampire felt the hand underneath it. Cold and still. Reaching with more 
then her hands Lillie called on the girl's mind to respond. Give some sign 
that she was still in there. 

The first stirrings of consciousness came like soft little fingers. Touching 
like a child and tickling her senses. Ophelia knew she was still alive and 
Carl had been stopped by someone. That was all she knew. Still there 
was something pulling at her, asking for her to wake up. It was difficult to 
open her eyes and they fought her. She tried to wiggle her toes and 
fingers, they didn't respond. It was then that she realized just what the 
damage could be. Fear was warm as it rolled up from her gut and into her 
blood. It flooded her with strength and she opened her eyes. She jerked 
her arms and forced her hands to move, her toes to curl and her body to 
function. At first she thought it was a ghost who was next to her, but 
slowly the memory shoved it's way up and she found it was someone 
real. 

"What the hell?" She asked and found her throat hurt. 

Her hands couldn't move well enough to touch her neck, so she turned 
her head and found thick padding was against her skin. That meant that 
the nightmare about being choked wasn't a dream. It had been very real. 
She wondered just what else had been real. Her mind didn't allow her to 
think that far back, instead it focused on the woman beside her. 

"Hello Ophelia." She said gently and smiled a little. " I am glad you heard 
me." 

Looking from the woman to the dark shadow at the door. " What is going 
on?" 

"I friend of mine found you a few blocks from my club. They brought you 
here." Lillie said gently as the girl stared at her with little understanding. 
" You were at the Haven, remember?" 

Ophelia did now that she mentioned it. "I do now and Carl was waiting 
for me." 

"Is that the guy's name?" The shadow asked. 

"Yeah. He's Regan's boyfriend and he was waiting for me outside. 
Something about..." Her brain stopped her from remembering and she 
glared at the sheets. " I guess he did a bang up job if I can't remember 
anything." 

Lillie blinked and sat forward. " You can't remember anything?" 

'Not a thing. Just that I was at this club and there was  woman with 
glowing blue eyes." Ophelia looked up and stared at Lillie. " I guess that 
was you." She sighed and found her neck was hurting even more. " Sorry 
to involve you in this." 

The vampire smiled a little. " Doesn't matter, just tell me something." 

The girls watched her and shrugged, it hurt but she managed. " Sure." 

" Can I take a look at your neck?" 

Ophelia arched a brow and smiled slightly and that hurt too. " You aren't 
going to bite me or anything?" 

Lillie blinked at her, " Why would  I do that?" 

"People don't look as white as you or have the eyes that you do without 
having fangs." Ophelia shrugged again. " I read about it. Go ahead and 
look." 

Reaching up the vampire gently removed the bandages and found what 
she had feared. A cut was on her neck and had nothing to do with her 
bruises or any other injury. But it did fit with the memory loss and the 
pale skin. Gently she reapplied the padding and sat back. 

"Thanks." 

"Find anything?" Ophelia asked as she watched the woman stand up and 
shook her head. "I still don't know your name." 

Lillie paused and gazed at her, " Lillie Langtry." 

"Nice to meet you, Ophelia Shaw." The girl smiled but didn't offer a hand. 

Lillie left the room with Sonny at her side and glanced at the police officer. 
" Did you see the mark?" 

He gave a slight nod. " Call this a wild guess, but I think I know who 
attacked Sasha as well as Ms. Shaw." 

"You think it was this Carl person?" Lillie asked as they stopped at the 
elevators as he nodded slowly. "He hunted on my grounds Sonny and 
nearly killed a human not two blocks from my haven. Then attacking 
Sasha like that, in Cameron's haven, it's clear this man is a danger to all 
of us." 

He nodded. " I'll talk to Julian about it. Just keep your guard up until 
then." 

"What about the girl Sonny?" 

The Ventrue shrugged, " So far she doesn't suspect anything. But I'll have 
someone keep any eye on her. 

Lillie wasn't satisfied. "Sonny, she was trying to find safety in my haven. I 
feel this is my fault." 

"She told you that? About finding safety?" He asked and was a dark 
question. 

"Ophelia said that when she was at the club, it was an escape from her 
life. That she felt as though she could belong." Lillie stared at the glossy 
metal doors of the elevator. " He was hunting her Sonny and she was 
hurt on my grounds." 

The cop sighed and put a hand on her arm only to remove it a second 
later. " We'll get him Lillie." 

She tried to smile and look reassured. " I'll see you at Julian's place." 

The arrival of the elevator broke the conversation and she disappeared 
as the doors closed. Sonny rubbed his neck and shook his head. Just as 
he turned he saw Frank and closed his eyes as he realized how long the 
night was going to be.